609-494-5739 Spring is here and the fishing is only getting better! The past couple of weeks have offered up good early season fishing at times with anglers catching perch, striped bass and winter flounder.
For early season spots think creeks, rivers and the west side of the bay. These are the areas that produce first every year. With the recent sunny days the water temps are creeping up and fish are beginning to get active. One would have thought that Thursday/Friday’s weather would have jacked things up but that wasn’t the case. It didn’t put on the breaks. It pushed on the gas peddle! The waters are very clean clarity wise, the fish are feeding and they are moving around some more. As the days get longer, more sun light warming things up, it’s only getting better.
There’s a couple bass starting to be caught on lures from the LBI bayside waters. We expect this to improve in the coming days and weeks.
Scott Hill caught a couple striped bass fishing the bayside waters behind LBI on Saturday at sunset. He caught two fishing lures and said that other anglers fishing live bloodworms were catching too.
Nate Kirby has been fishing the Island’s bayside and finally today he got his first of the spring. “Just got my first striper of the spring. It hit right at dusk on a black and purple swim shad. It was a health clean fish about 23″.”
Tom Lewis headed out this afternoon in the boat on the hunt for bass and perch. He found both of them. His report, “We really good today fishing live bloodworms. In four hours we caught 14 bass (some keeper size) and 40+ perch with some really big ones in the mix.”
Matthew Denora and his wife were out today and enjoyed the beautiful day fishing the sod banks. They caught a couple striped bass, biggest was 26.5″.
Some of the team members from the shop have been out catching. Max has been fishing just about every afternoon in his boat and he’s catching consistently. He’s fishing the west side of the bay not too far of a ride from his lagoon in Forked River. Jordan has been into the fun too, fishing with his buddies the Winton brothers. They are stringing up good sessions one after the other. Jordan said the bass are crushing small lures with aggression.
We heard of a couple winter flounder about a week or so back but this weekend we only heard one report. Scott Grove reported, “I was fishing for perch on the mainland bayside and was catching winter flounder.” Now’s the time to hunt for them!
Paul Lindsey is keeping the streak alive fishing every single day since the season opened on March 1. He has been in the shop just about everyday stocking up on live bloodworms and essential fishing tackle. Recently he has been into some big white perch and more striped bass. His biggest bass so far was a 29″ that has a whole bunker in its mouth. For a photo check out our Instagram Page. Here’s Pauls report from today… “Day 21: Clean water clarity and light winds to kick off the day with temperatures starting at 25 degrees and warming to 60 degrees. I fished with my buddy Herb and we did well. A little slower than earlier in the week but we caught a good number of bass including a double header. We’ll be back out at it tomorrow. Thanks Fish Heads for the primo juicy works. Tight Lines!”
Some spots in springtime are all about the water temperatures. Knowing the tides and the ocean’s effects will better help your plan your sessions. It can make or break your time on the water. Here’s a look at the recent readings at the Barnegat Bay Buoy. The rising temperatures represent the outgoing tide and the falling water temperatures are the incoming tide which is influenced by the cold ocean water. Spots close to an inlet will have this effect. Areas far away from inlet may not. Next time out fishing bring a thermometer. You might be shocked at how your fishing starts and stops based on the water temperature change that is very tide dependent.
Just a heads up the spring time sands on the surf are soft! It’s common this time of year as the sand is naturally stacking back in as the winter storm activity tapers off. They new sands are unsettled and can be hazardous to 4×4 buggies. As always drive the beaches prepared, aired down and with the proper proper gear in case of emergency.
