609-494-5739 It was nice to finally have Thursday & Saturday, days without a horizontal flag all day. The winds were light and the ocean was fair. The conditions were prime and anglers took advantage, got out and found fish! There’s some positive news buzzing around… Here’s the Fishing Report Update For Saturday April 25, 2010 but first…
Belated Earth Day
A little late but better late than never. Let’s all take the Earth Day holiday as a reminder… It’s everyone’s responsible to do their part each and everyday.
Respect The Environment & The Fisheries With These Tips
- Kick Plastic! This campaign was launched by Costa a couple years ago at ICAST to help reduce the amount of plastics finding their way into our waterways. Eliminate single use plastic from your everyday life! Strive everyday to recycle and reuse.
- Carry Out What You Carry In – Always prepare by packing light and making it a point to never leave anything behind when done fishing. Pay It Forward by carrying out trash that was left behind by someone else.
- Always keep trash secure because on the beach or boat things can blow away at any moment. Most trash isn’t left/dumped on purpose. It’s accidental. Take steps to prevent this beforehand.
- Keep The Waters Tangle Free – Recycle your fishing line properly! Here at Fish Heads we are part of (and have been for 20 years) Berkley’s Line Recycling Program. Each year, we ship them 10-12 large boxes packed full of used monofilament line. Anyone is welcome to drop off used line at the store for recycling.
- Harvest Responsibly – Only take what you need. Future generations depend on the fisheries. Practice catch and release.
Are You On Social Media?
If so be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. We will not disappoint. It’s health to get a break from the constant news roll filled with virus and political talk.
All of the questions our followers and customers have are very important to us. We spend a lot of time on a daily basis replying to and helping customers. For this reason we’ve decided to set aside time a couple times a week to share the questions and answers. We also toss in some shop news, current events, trending fishing topics and occasionally have a special guest. So far we’ve shared some awesome stuff, really letting the cat out of the bag.
Get on Instagram and give us a follow to be notified when we go live next this way you can Join in on our live broadcasts. So far we’ve done about ten and are floored with all of the love. All feedback has been positive and motivating to keeping it going. We are doing our best to slowly archive as many as possible to our the Fisherman’s Headquarters YouTube Page. Unfortunately, some of the live sessions have had the same glitch on the IG platform which prevents us from saving and sharing. Due to these limitations some of these broadcasts are a one time thing. Don’t miss out!
Above is one recent video. Feel free to look at the timeline in the video comments and jump around if you don’t have a full hour to watch. Please leave a comment and let us know what you would like to hear discussed on the next one.
Now onto the fishing report update!
Final Days Of Tog
It’s the final stretch of the tog fishing season in NJ as it will close at the end of April. So far the entire month of April has been good and we expect it to finish out strong. Get in on the action now because the inshore wrecks are loaded with tog and producing big fish! Another plus… there’s cod present too!
On Thursday we got two great reports of togzillas. The first report we’ll share is from none other than Paul Haertel. Paul, a master multi species angler and bottom fishing extraordinar, hunted down this new personal best. This monster weighed in a 15.85#. There’s no one more deserving than Paul. It’s great to see all of his hard work and dedication pay off.
Paul said, “With this social distancing, I’ve been fishing by myself or just taking one person on my boat. Thursday I took a ride out deep to look for big fish.” He did not catch a bunch of tog but got the right one. He went on to say, “Thanks to Dante at Magictail for teaching me how to jig fish for tog and also for making such great products. Magictail Tog Jigs This one is getting mounted and going up on the wall.” Paul – It looks like you will need to reinforce the wall first because you already have a solid display of hefty trophies hanging!
Paul got out again on Saturday and reported, “Another great day on the tog grounds with quality fish up to almost 9# and a bonus cod just under 10#.”
The second big fish report came in from Ron Redrow, with both a photo and a video submission. The photo is posted above and the video (of the release) we published on our Instagram page. Ron was out fishing with Swagmattic and Captain Tony out of Waretown. Ron reported, “Finally joined the club! Thanks to Tony for putting me on my first double digit. It weighed in just under 16 pounds (15.15) on the boat’s digital scale. Released it to fight another day.” Big props to Ron and crew on the catch and the release!
Some other anglers shared reports recently from the inshore wrecks as well as land based anglers all are catching good number of fish. Get crabs and go fish!
Black Drum Fishing
Black drum fishing in South Central Jersey is best now and will be good for a few more weeks. In the past couple days, some nice black drum were caught. On this past Tuesday evening, Mateo and Zach from Magictails caught four. Craig Hotter send in the black drum photo below and shared he caught it in the bay behind Beach Haven.
Surf clams are the best bait for black drum. Unfortunately this spring they’ve been hard to get. To catch theirs, Mateo and Zach used hard clams (aka chowder clams or bay clams).
Just a heads up, Friday we got a delivery of live surf clams so if you want some act now! They will be gone soon.
Striped Bass Fishing
The striped bass fishing in the Long Beach Island area continues to be focused around the same early season spots that have produced for the past month plus. These area are seeing the occasional larger class of fish but still nothing classy. Shop regular Grey Colston has been on the bass all spring long and having a blast doing it. Friday night he reported having some fun. “Nothing large yet but more fish in the upper 20″ range. Most are 23-26″ but got three at 28″ tonight and recently a couple over 30″ so they are around.”
To date only one surf side striped bass, as reported on the April 10th update. With the surf temperatures flirting with breaking the 50 degree mark any day we expect striped bass to be cruising the surf however, with the beach access restrictions in place there will be few fishing so reports will be few and far between.
Fishing The Spring Transition – Soon the LBI area and surrounding waters will get rolling into prime sprint time fishing! Right now we just need some warm sunny days to push the water temps up and fire up fishing!
As far a the larger class of fish and the state’s best fishing it should not come as a surprise. It’s old news, the striped bass fishing on the Raritan Bay is very good. It has been for weeks and it continues to be good. Expect it to be strong for a couple more weeks and possible beyond.
I was happy to get out again and fish on Thursday with Max aboard the Mono-E-Mono. We had a great time catching striped bass ranging from 20-35 inches. It was a nice day. The fishing was good but not great. We knew going into it the incoming tide’s cold water wouldn’t help the bite.
This week we got a bluefish report but didn’t share it until now. On April 21st, BPM Fishing sent us a report, “The gator blues are back! I just caught my biggest blue ever.” Any one who wants picture and video proof… go to Instagram and give @bpmfishing_nj a look. For the record it was caught in the Raritan Bay. Unfortunately nothing materialized after that. This was a one and done thing. Maybe a forunner and more will show soon? We have our fingers crossed.
Another area that offers good fishing in the spring is the Delaware River. This year it has been good. One outstanding recent catch was made by Scott Paikin when he caught a monster from the bank, “OMG This just happened!! Landed my personal best 50# striper from land.” Scott shared, “So stoke beyond belief. Had that fishy feeling with heavy steady winds in my face and fresh bait. This river monster took the bait and fought. Landed her, took a fast photo and quickly released the beauty to continue on her journey to spawn.”
Can you Believe It?
NJ Fluke season is less than one month away? We just stocked up on a huge delivery of bucktail jigs and are expecting more to arrive in the next week or two. If you are looking to gear up for the summer flounder fishing season give us a call or shop online. We appreciate the support.
Ship Bottom Beach Access
Hopefully everyone is making the most out of the quarantine and staying busy around the house. Just wanted to share that there’s a small light showing at the end of the long tunnel ahead.
We got the call from our Mayor (who is an avid anglers) and he told us he was making a push to open the beaches to fishing however with strict rules. Residents can fish in the town of Ship Bottom from 6pm to 10am daily. Fishing is prohibited from 10am to 6pm daily! Turns out later in the day an official press release was made. Thanks Ship Bottom for keeping everyone safe and their minds sound.
Any word on fishing in Beach Haven as of 4/27/2020? Any info is welcome. And can i pay cash for curbside. Pickup…even can use exact change if needed
Hi Jeff – Nothing off the Beach Haven surf that we have heard of yet this spring other than the one striped bass that we reported. It was caught a week or two ago by Chris Masino. As of today the ocean temps are cold. They were warmer mid month. Just got info today from a friend that it was 46. We need it to get back to the 48-50 degree mark which it should soon. As far as fishing in Beach Haven right now I would suggest fishing the bayside for striped bass or black drum.
Yes we are doing curbside pick ups however doing everything we can to not accept cash. If it’s the only way we can accommodate but we are requesting credit card.