Here’s a look at the Long Beach Island surf on Monday October 26, 2020.
This past weekend kingfish and a couple striped bass were caught. Also tog fishing has been good at the Barnegat Inlet. Get out and have fun fishing!
There were a couple of resident bass reported off the surf this past weekend. Soon we expect more fish and larger fish to move into our waters. Right now they are hanging around the state’s northern waters.
Nick Brewer stopped by Fish Heads and spooled up his reel before hitting the surf. He caught this striped bass on bloodworms. Anglers are also catching kingfish with bloodworms and Fish Bites. Another surf side striped bass was reported by Liam Velit. He reported catching a striped bass on a teaser super close into the beach and the fish spit up sand eels. Good to know the sand eels are still around. They were plentiful all summer and if they stick around all fall things could get really interesting.
Here’s Nick Brewer with a resident bass.
Store staffer Grey has been catching squid at night. This isn’t a one time thing. He has caught a number of them on his recent trips.
Captain Jeff aboard the Reel Innovation shared a report from his most recent offshore trip this past weekend. “Took a while to find them but on the last drift of the day we managed to kill two nice ones. Also pulled another one off next to the boat. I think the swell was doing something down deep and that threw off the bite. It was great having young Hunter out for his first canyon trip. This kid is hooked for life and I’m sure he is going to put a ton of swords across the dock throughout his life”
The weather so far this fall has been very uncooperative. We have not been given many days to fish since Labor Day weekend. Let’s home the weather breaks as we enter into November!
Sunday 10/18 we were able to get one trip in. We had new client Sam and Kenny along with their sons Sam and Mike out for a wreck fishing trip. A day that was forecasted to be beautiful ended up being the complete opposite by the end of the trip. It was a tough pick for sea bass as we could not fish where we wanted to, but the jumbo porgies made up for it. We had to end the trip a little early due to deteriorating weather conditions, but the crew ended with a nice mixed bag of some quality sea bass, jumbo porgies, triggerfish, blackfish, and even a bonito. The Rhodan trolling motor worked awesome even in the rough conditions!
Thursday 10/22 was our next fishable day and we threw together a last minute wreck fishing trip with our friends Ryan and Keith. We got a late start but once we made it to the first wreck, the Rhodan trolling motor worked perfectly and we easily boxed our full boat limit of sea bass in under 2 hours. We also had a dozen big porgies up to over 3lbs as well as a triggerfish! We were greeted with pea soup fog on the way in, but great day on the water with some great friends as well as great weather!
Saturday 10/24 we had return clients Jay and Suzie along with their friends George and Matt out for a wreck fishing trip. As we made our way through the inlet in the morning, we were greeted by a huge ground swell along with an outgoing tide making passing through very sketchy. We ran back out to where we had a full boat limit 2 days prior, but the big swell definitely effected the fishing. We had to move around to a few wrecks to put together a decent catch. Every single wreck was also covered up with spiny dogfish which made it even harder to get down to the sea bass as the dogfish were hitting the baits on the way down. The crew fished hard all trip and ended with 2 dozen sea bass, a dozen nice size porgies, and a couple tog up to 5lbs. Great job fishing through the swell and spiny doggies, we’ll see you guys in a couple weeks for striped bass!
As we are coming up on November, we have Election Day, 11/3 available for a tog trip and possibly striped bass if the water temps drop a few more degrees. We only have a couple of dates left in November for striped bass and tog. December is also filling in for striped bass and tog so don’t wait to book! If you are interested in getting out please contact us to book your trip. Call or text Captain Mike to get out on the water or send us a message through our website! (609)-709-7264
Here we are with a week left in October. There’s fish here now and we expect things to only get better. Currently solid energy is in the ocean from Hurricane Epsilon. It will be pumping powerful long period swell all weekend. On the beaches of LBI expect 4-7′ Friday and Saturday with easing 3-5′ swell on Sunday.
Here’s the Long Beach Island Fishing Report Update for Friday October 23, 2020.
Attention All Jetty Anglers
Keep an eye out and fish with extreme care. Know the swell forecast and the tides. This might seem like common sense but some don’t check and get into trouble. Case and point… There was a jetty anglers removed from the Inlet’s North Jetty just a few days ago after he was faced with a rising tide and unexpected swell.
A stranded angler was caught by the conditions at the Barnegat Inlet’s North Jetty and had to be rescued by the Coast Guard. Photo: Capt Alan Thomas
LBI Surf Fishing
The Long Beach Island Surf Fishing Tournament is in its third week and going strong. Here is a link to the current leader board and standings. There’s lots of prizes that were won but it’s not too late to join and take part in the fun fishing. Right now kingfish dominate the current catches but we expect that tide to turn in the next week or two as the migrating striped bass show up.
Kamen Kovachev of Philly caught this striped bass off of the LBI surf on a Bomber lure Wednesday morning. It weighed in at 13.52# and is not in the LBI Surf Fishing Tournament.
Tog Fishing
Tog fishing continues strong at the Barnegat Inlet Jetty as well as the inshore wrecks and reefs. Things did slow up for a few days around Delta’s stormy weather but it has bounced back. Usually there’s goof fishing on the jetty all of October and most of November. We expect there to be fun fishing
Dave Ho (@symplexfishing) reported fishing the rocks on Thursday, “Took 15 minutes to get ‘er done. Got a keeper tog right away.”
Store staffer Jared (photo below) was out fishing the foggy ocean aboard the “No Moores” today and caught the tog good. Anyone looking to gear up and get in on the great tog fishing we have all the bare bone essentials along with the specialty hot products that will set you apart from the crowd catching more and bigger fish!
Striped Bass Fishing
Any day we are going to see the first wave of fall migrators show in our local waters. We always see the first push of larger fish around Halloween. Some anglers just can’t wait and trek north. More on that soon.
The abundance of residence striped bass continues strong and keeping anglers tight. One local angler Konrad has been in on the action. He’s fishing small plugs along the sod banks and having a blast. He reports, “Been plugging some spots in the bay before and after work and the fish are showing. Tuesday I had a couple. Thursday I slammed them. Landed at least a dozen fish and lost a few more at my feet. When the fog rolled in it was on! I couldn’t see my cast land it was so thick.”
Here’s one of many striped bass that Konrad caught this week fishing lures on light tackle.
The abundance of classy bass to our north is very promising! I got the invite to fish Tuesday and take part in a new product photo shoot with the crew from Reel Innovation. We went out in the early morning rain and took a ride. Fortunately we found the mother load with only one other boat.
Since it was a product photo shoot for the Reel Innovation Bunker Spoon all we did was troll. We were catching one after the other proving one thing… These spoons catch fish! It was an awesome day filled with too many doubles and triple ups that we could count. Every fish was safely released except one small “slot fish” at 34″ for the dinner table.
Here’s Kyle and Willie aboard the Reel Innovation both holding one of many double ups that were caught on the new bunker spoons on Tuesday.
Right now, the fishing scene in southern Ocean County is caught between summer and fall fisheries. No matter how hard the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association wish for the start of the striped bass migration from the north, the warm water temperatures are delaying their arrival.
Surface water temperatures remain in the low 60’s, a bit too warm for the stripers’ liking. There continues to be an excellent bite on bottom fish around inshore structure, however, to fill the fish boxes.
Captain Carl Sheppard of the “Star Fish” has had several groups out fishing recently taking advantage of the hot bottom fishing. One group with Captain Carl and mate Max Goldman fished several wrecks boating over 75 fish including black sea bass, bluefish, triggers, sea robins, and blowfish. Another trip with a family resulted in over 40 fish caught including sea bass up to 15-inches. A final day with two trips resulted in much the same type of action along with a feisty black-tip shark. The afternoon group had some 80 fish keeping 14 sea bass to 16-inches.
Captain Gary Dugan had two anglers out on the “Irish Jig”, and they experienced drop and reel fishing inshore reefs. They ended the day with a fish box packed with black sea bass, triggerfish, tautog, and some porgies. Captain Gary reports he is keeping a sharp eye out for the arrival of stripers from the north.
Captain Brett Taylor of Reel Reaction Sportfishing had a busy weekend with the Hank Wright group on a striped bass charter. Strong winds made a trip to the ocean a poor choice, so they landed a limit of tautog around the jetty rocks of Barnegat Inlet. They switched to stripers and landed 6, keeping two with bonus tags. Paul Kaufmann and Steve Sharf fished Sunday with their sons on a bottom fish charter. They worked hard and managed to box a limit of sea bass, 4 triggerfish, and one porgy. They ended the day boxing a quick limit of tautog.
Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.BHCFA.net.
By: Steve George / Nightstrikes Surfcasting Guide Svc. LLC
When I say “Running” after False Albacore I am not lying. These fish are fast and you have to be faster!
No matter what way you fish during the fall when chasing Albie’s whether it’s by boat, off the beach, or around and on the rocks of the inlets you need to be able to move on the instant. As a surf fishermen you also need a lot of luck to time it perfectly. It’s more about being prepared ahead of time so you are ready for the bite and battle.
It’s October and it is finally feeling like fall with crisp cool predawn hours with smoke on the water. The local rivers, bays, inlets draining into ocean with them still being warm with plenty of baitfish swirling on the surface.
Albies feed fast on small bait making feeds exhilarating to watch. Alway try to lead when casting in order to get the lure in front of the moving fish’s face rather than behind ’em.
During civil twilight I can see the sparkling of bait down low as I crossed over the last bridge onto LBI. Making the long walk through the dunes I think back about previous encounters with False Albacore. After hooking up for the first time you are hooked for life. It’s so true you come down with a case of “Albie Fever”
I finally reach the water’s edge and immediately see a huge surface explosion then another and another. It’s on! But out of casting range. Maybe they move closer to shore. With the wind at my back I fire my lure as far as I can cast into the unknown. Within about 10 seconds of whipping my presentation across the surface as fast as I can… Slam-O!
The initial take is great and when the drag starts singing. But my favorite part is when they reach the shallow waters of the beach. They spaz out and make another one or two ripping pulls in every direction imaginable. Finally you win the battle and get a chance to look at those vibrant colors and mackerel patterns. They are beautiful under the sun and always a fish to remember. Their release is interesting with no turning back. They shoot out to sea like a rocket.
For Sure A Bucket List Fish!
This False Albacore could not resist a slender silver metal lure made by Deadly Dick. These lures are one of the best lures for targeting albies.
I didn’t have to be fast on this day but it sure was important to be smart and ready. When hitting the water, knowing the “when” and “where” is very important. BUT! Actually being ready for success starts off with the right equipment.
Choosing The Right Rod & Reel For Albies
When it comes to targeting these speedsters from the surf a well balance light action rod in the 8-9’ range. Matched that up with compact, light, high speed spinning reel (4000 sizes) spooled with quality thin braided line (20-30#). This style outfit makes for a great weapon for land based anglers to effectively fish for albies.
A light action rod that has enough length and a whip allows for long casts with a small lure. A great affordable option is the Tsunami Trophy II Series, TSTIISS862DM. This rod is 8’6″, rated 1/2 to 1-1/2oz and has a special “distance moderate” action which is designed to easily load and launch small lures.
Albies are fast and feed fast! To burn a lure back in super fast (sometimes non-stop) a high speed reel is best. Try to look for a reel with a gear ratio of 6:1 or faster. The Penn Battle III Series is a great choice in either the standard (BTLIII4000, 6.2:1) or the high speed version (BTLIII4000HS, 7:1).
Slick looking spearing or bay anchovy baitfish presentations are key!
Small metal lures and epoxy jigs make for realistic small bait imitations. Anything from small chrome metals (Deadly Dick Lures) to holographic foils of Tsunami’s New Forktail Candy Lures offer a lifelike profile while offering the utmost casting distance. However these lure sink fast.
When the winds are light and conditions call for a lure that matches the hatch, casts great but doesn’t sink like a stone… turn to Epoxy Jigs! These jigs come in a variety of sizes and just about any color in the rainbow.
The Hogy Epoxy Jig is a very VERY fishy lure. They perfectly match a spearing or bay anchovy. They cast great. They hold up to lots of abuse from fish. Best of all they are not crazy expensive.
A few other essentials that are needed to track down your prey are a good pair of sunglasses and small binoculars. The ability to see any surface action and/or baitfish close or out in the distance is paramount
Dress for the weather and stay comfortable. That might mean going in the surf with sandals, a SPF Shirt and Shorts or it could be putting on boots or waders when cool and you don’t want to get wet. If fishing any rocks, jetties or inlets one of the most important pieces of equipment is a good pair of studded cleated boot or sandals with Carbide Spikes. KORKERS! Gotta stay safe!
It’s best to stay light, especially on warm days. You might need to hustle and run after a blitz.
Well, Got To RUN, I See Albies Breaking…
Here’s Steve hooked up to a nice fish off of the surf!
It is a crazy time of year. Mid October will make your head spin with options. We are still a little south of the striper migration but there are plenty of other options while we wait one more week for the bass to be in our range.
We are still catching blowfish in the bay and casting lures at 2 to 6 pound bluefish in the inlet.
The ocean options include big gator blues on jigs, chumming bonita and albacore at Barnegat Ridge, or depending on which way the offshore forecast goes for Sunday and Monday there are still tuna to catch in the 70 to 80 mile range. We could do any of these trips. I am going to leave it to you guys and go with the majority of interest.
Sailing Open Boat or Charter Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, October 17, 18, and 19. Call for info and rates.
Pic: Max DeGennaro with bluefish at the inlet jetty.
I was just recently dropped in and put on a incredible bite of migrating Bass,Blues & Albies that were on a feeding frenzy and also at times just cruising the shallow water without a care in the world just swimming with the school. Just a Amazing Experience & Heading to Jersey Soon , we just need all the bait along the shore line like this ~ Fall Run 2020 call 609-276-6983 Nightstrikes Surfcasting Guide Service LLC
Striped Bass Erupting and feeding on White Bait Striped Bass Cruising the shallows with the White Bait
The Fall sea bass season opener is here and the weather has not been cooperative at all through this past Columbus Day weekend. At the end of fluke season with a couple weeks of down time, we worked on the boat and installed a Rhodan 96” trolling motor with spot lock for wreck fishing. Although the weather has not allowed us to use it as much as we’d like, when we did get to use it, it was a total game changer!
Friday 10/9 was the only wreck fishing trip that we were able to squeeze in this weekend with the weather. We had return clients Mike and Will out for their 7th trip of the season with us. We hit the first wreck and they had no problem boating their limit of sea bass along with a dozen real nice porgies, 3 big trigger fish, as well as a couple bluefish. Towards the end of the trip, we switched gears to target tog much closer to home and they quickly put a limit of tog on the boat while releasing many more before calling it a quits. Great day on the water and an awesome mixed bag of fish to go home with!
We have also been able to get out for some evening striped bass trips when conditions have allowed. There are plenty of local striped bass around that are tons of fun on light tackle poppers and plugs. The Oceanside should also be heating up later in the month with striped bass once the water temps fall a few more degrees as there is plenty of bait around for them to feed on.
We have some weekday dates available in October for wreck fishing as well as limited dates available in November for striped bass and tog, but they are filling quick! If you are interested in getting out please contact us to book your trip. Call or text Captain Mike to get out on the water or send us a message through our website! (609)-709-7264
Another great weekend here on Long Beach Island. The weather cooperated and the island was PACKED with a lot going on. The Annual Kite Festival was the main attraction with 100’s-1000’s of people on the Ship Bottom beaches relaxing on the sand. Also two surf fishing tournaments, the American Angler 500 and the start of the 66th Annual LBI Surf Fishing Classic.
Happy Columbus Day! Too bad it looks to be a gnarly day as the remnants of Delta impact our area with strong winds and potentially heavy rainfall.
We hope you have the fall foul weather gear ready. If not stop by and see us. We’ll get you set up in a new set.
A sour start to the new week but westerlies sweep through Tuesday and clean things up. Looks like another drop in temps into next weekend. Are you ready for the fall run to bust open? I know we are!
Here’s the Long Beach Island Fishing Report Update for Sunday October 11, 2020.
LBI Surf Fishing
The 66th Annual LBI Surf Fishing Classic kicked off this Saturday. Due to the current situation the Opening Day “Kick Off” Seminar was cancelled; however Teddy K (long time LBI surf angler, LBI Fishing Club Member, past tournament winner) and myself would not let the annual event die. We teamed up and put together a two part informative video to help others catch more fish in the surf. We did our best to share info that will bring value to all; rookie, novice and advanced surf anglers.
Surf Fishing 101 Part 1
Planning The Trip & Picking A Spot To Fish – You’ll catch more fish if you plan accordingly so we thought it was the best way to start things off. Here’s some info on things to consider in order to successfully plan a surf fishing trip to Long Beach Island. Then… When to fish? What to fish for? Where to Fish? Find A Spot To Fish? There’s a detailed section on reading the beach which help teach how to pick a spot to fish.
Surf Fishing 101 Part 2
Equipment, Gearing Up & Driving The Beach – New to surf fishing? Gear up right with the proper tackle to be ready for catching, not just fishing. It’s half the battle. Both bait fishing and fishing with lures is discussed as well as info and tips for driving the beach.
Fishing started off good for the LBI Surf Fishing Classic with lots of kingfish weigh ins. Kings are a new addition to the 66th annual event. There’s also an abundance of cocktail bluefish on the surf but so far no qualifying bluefish were weighed in yet. There were two striped bass… an 11.12# by Duncan Turner on an SP Minnow Lure and one 29″ 9.12# by Peg Bucci on clam.
Joe Handley Jr reported fishing this weekend was really good, “At times I had bluefish on every cast.” In order to catch something different he had to move. It paid off!. He caught a good size kingfish (1.1#) on a sand crab. King fish was good enough for third place on the leader board…
Cocktail blues (left) are finding the clouds of small bait (right) made up of mostly bay anchovies and spearing. There’s also a few mullet moving around and peanut bunker.
Neal Belgam reported, “Small blues had the bait pushed up in the surf” This similar topic was reported by many others up and down the beaches this past week. The photos above by Jay Mann show just a quick capture of the abundance of bait and small blues.
There’s other species still around on the surf too. Stephen Pirrello reported, “Only blowfish (photo below), cocktail blues and herring.” We also head of a few spike weakfish. American Angler 500 had lots of anglers and lots of fish made up of a variety of the small species currently here. Craig and Chris Fortino took the win.
Other Land Based Fishing
The blackfish bite has been terrific around structure. When most hear about tog fishing they first thing wreck fishing in the boat. There’s a super fun land based fishery right here on LBI at the Barnegat Inlet.
Togging at the jetty is still on fire. A lot of shorts but also a good number of keeper class fish. They are chewing on crabs… green crabs, Asian crabs, fiddlers, sand fleas… any thing you can get your hands on will work. [Recently green crabs have been in short supply but we are expecting to get a large restocking in mid week Tuesday/Wednesday.] This super fun fishing is a great way to enjoy the day and work on your hook set game.
David Ho @symplexfishing has been in on the action all fall. He shared, “Logging as much time togging, Defiantly one of the tastiest and hardest fighting fish in the area. I hate bait fishing but I’ll make an exception for these fish. The bait is staging and we should see a huge push of our migratory friends very soon.”
More LBI Fishing Information
Black Sea Bass Fishing
Now that Black Sea Bass season is open anglers are getting out and having catching fishing the offshore, inshore and nearshore waters. Usually the sea bass start moving off right about now but the inshore wrecks are producing for those fishing both rigs and jigs. Certain areas have piles of sand eels with black bass on them. Here the jig fishing has been great! It’s a helluva lotta fun light tackle jigging with 60g Nomad Streakers, Tubed 007 & A17 Diamond Jigs and Hogy Sand Eel Jigs.
Store staffer Kelley got out and fished with his day this weekend on some inshore structure. They caught their limit as well as a good number of keeper size tog. Kelley also reported, “There’s lots of small blues and spike weakfish on the bait pods, schools of peanut bunker and bay anchovies.”
Barnegat Bay Bass Fishing
The Barnegat Bay is bearish. The cool nights and shorter days have the water temperatures falling with lower highs (incoming water) and lower lows (outgoing water).
Striped bass are prevalent all around the back bay waters. There’s an abundance of schoolies on the sod banks, bridges, docks and channels. Slowly bass are starting to show on the surf and we soon expect to see a bigger class of striped bass arrive.
Konrad has been having a blast with striped bass fishing on the LBI bayside.
Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters
Striped Bass, Bluefish, Blackfish, Blowfish – They are all here (among other species) and chewing which makes for fun light tackle fishing on Long Beach Island. The Four man crew above recently fished with Captain Steve on Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters.
Reel Fantasea Fishing Charter’s Captain Steve Purul reports solid light tackle action with a variety of species. “Striped bass, bluefish, blackfish, blowfish, among others… We are catching on both artificial and live baits. If one species isn’t cooperating a quick gear shift and we’re back into the action. All good fishing in the local Barnegat Light waters minutes from the dock!” Get out on the water and enjoy some saltwater fishing.
Give Captain Steve Purul A Call Today – 16092901217
Here’s a monster blowfish caught by Andre from Ohio. It weighed in at 1.16 pounds.
Offshore Fishing
When the weather allows anglers are getting offshore and catching a variety of fish. There’s albies, bonita, king mackerel and mahi in the midshore waters and tuna, sharks and swordfish further offshore.
Here’s a couple catch photos from the Fisher’s, father and son on a recent trip aboard the Reel Innovation.
There was one good weather day over the weekend, so we headed to the Triple Wrecks on Saturday where the never ending yellowfin tuna bite has been going on. I delayed our departure to 4AM as not to hit the last of the outgoing tide into any residual swell coming in against it. That scenario in the daylight can be ominous enough, I don’t risk it at night. We broke the inlet by 5AM and made it to the grounds by 8AM. The radio was alive with chatter of guys with their fish boxes full already. I wasn’t panicking, I was just going to make some drifts and do our thing. We couldn’t buy a hit. I even dropped to 30 lb fluorocarbon leader just to try and get a bite. Finally at 11AM one of our guys hooks up on a 200 gram Nomad Streaker jig. He fights him for 20 minutes and the hook pulls. I up the leaders to 40 lb and in the next few hours we go 2 for 6 on big yellowfins. Managed to boat a 75 and 80 pounder. Both hit live spots on weighted lines while we drifted the whales. So while we didn’t hold our own, we couldn’t have been happier with the two fish on ice. Both were epic battles on 50 class. Here is a video of Matt Tengi’s 75 pound yellowfin:
It’s a long clip, around 13 minutes, so you might want to do some fast forwarding. I don’t know how to edit them down, yet, and honestly when I started recording, I thought we were at the end of the battle.
Sailing Open Boat to Barnegat Ridge this Friday, October 9, 10AM to 6PM. Bonita and albacore on light tackle. We’re going to anchor up and chum. I am expecting other visitors to our slick but I don’t want to jinx it. $250 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared. Call me on my cell to reserve a spot. You can call right up until “go time”. Pics:
Tim Walton of Abington, PA with dark shirt (Capt Nick DeGennaro in slickers)
Matt Tengi of Pequannock, NJ with white shirt (Capt Nick DeGennaro in slickers)
Sashimi platter made from tuna at Makoto Japanese restaurant in Manahawkin. Wow!
Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 cell hiflier.com
609-494-5739 
