Another beautiful day in the neighborhood here on Long Beach Island. Anglers are getting out and catching fish on the beach and boat. From kingfish and fluke on the beaches to tuna and sharks in the mid-shore and offshore waters, there’s a lot of great fishing going down right now! Here’s the Long Beach Island Fishing Report Update for Sunday July 11, 2021.
On the beaches today there was soft lingering surf in the 2’ range. This will be the scene through Tuesday. Finally the water has warmed up. Today the official ocean temperature on the Harvey Cedars surf as per the Harvey Cedars Beach Patrol was 68°. That’s a big improvement from what we’ve seen for the past week.
Warm surf temps means kingfish, small blues, and fluke are active in the suds as well as sharks and rays. If fishing meaty baits be prepared and know the state regulations!
Over the past few days kingfish reports were scattered with catches from Loveladies to Beach Haven. There isn’t one area (that we have heard about) which that is out producing. Traditionally mid-island and south offers better kingfish action. Live bloods, Fish Bites Bag O Worms and DynaBait Freeze Dried Worms are the way to start catching.
Aside from some reports of weedy, eel grass presence in some areas, the recent surf side fluke reports were great. The past couple of days might be responsible for the biggest surf caught fluke of the season so far! Here’s some really good size ones…
In addition to Brendan’s catch/weigh-in we also got word of some big land based fluke from Jimmy Nacion. He caught a pair of quality ones. There is a short clip of them in the video report posted above. Mike Hovan also sent a photo of a nice keeper fluke photo from the LBI surf.
1st Annual Beat The Fleet Fluke Tournament
This weekend was the first Annual “Beat The Fleet” Fluke Fishing Tournament hosted by the NJ Fishing Club. Fishermans Headquarters was one of the central NJ weigh stations and we had about 10 teams/boats check in fish. A common theme reported was slow fishing. Maybe it was because Elsa stirred things up? Who knows? Some teams worked hard, covered ground and pounder productive areas to earn a catch. For detailed results on the tournament and to learn more about the club… www.njfishingclub.com/
FYI: The NJ Fishing Club has a Fish Of The Month Challenge offering a $500 purse!
Mid-July Means The Heat & Meat Of Summer
Approaching middle of July with warming waters means summertime is in full swing. With it come the summertime species… Today Dan D. from Barnegat Light caught a big hound fish working a Yo-zuri 3D Twitch Bait Lure. A clip of the catch is in the fishing report video above. There’s also sheepshead and trigger fish as well as cobia.
Father and son, Mark and Luke Haley caught this unicorn while out on the tuna grounds hunting tuna on the jig. Yup! This monster cobia ate a Nomand Streaker Jig!
Tuna fishing has been and is on fire!!! Boat caught and are catching from as close in as 15nm (maybe closer) on out to the edge. Both bluefin and yellowfin are chewing on the troll, chunk, jig and casting poppers. Everyday is different with many different areas holding fish. It seems the jig bite bas been most consistent and best most days.
Marine Layer Haze Or Smokey Skies?
Did you notice the hazy marine layer in the sky last week? Well this time of year a marine layer is very common however this time it was actually smokey skies, possibly a combination of both. Here’s some info from the National Weather Service, “Have you noticed the smokey skies the past couple of days? Or the red sun rise and sunsets? That’s not smoke from the fireworks. It’s smoke from the wildfires out west.”
Here’s some comments sent in on social media as well as a question…
Nik Mar – “I caught two keeper fluke from the surf this morning (Wednesday). Thanks for doing all of these reports.”
IFeelFishy comment on our last video report post, “I’ve been putting in about 2 hours a day on the front sand of LBI for fluke over the past week. I have NOT been disappointed. I’ve been catching fish every trip. Largest so far has been 22″ (Thank you’s are deserved for the crew at Fish Heads and Magic Tail jigs). Jig em up!!”
Question: Are there fluke in the ocean yet?
Answer: There’s always fluke in the ocean it’s just a matter of location and if they are feeding. Fluke migrate to the outer continental shelf to spawn in the winter. A large portion come into the coastal waters and bays in the spring and early summer. Right now there’s fluke in the bays and inlets as well as on the inshore and offshore wrecks and reef sites. With many areas producing, it’s time to get out and fluke your favorite spots!!!
Reports of fluke are still promising in the bay. Just a few days back there was a 28″ doormat caught in the Barnegat Bay. We’ve also heard about some fat fluke from Barnegat Inlet. The ocean waters are dialing it up too. Fluke were caught on the wrecks and reef sites in June but nothing special. It has improved since then with the warming waters. July and August is the best time for fluke fishing the wrecks and reefs. Recently we’ve received good reports from every local reef site from the Axel down to the Little Egg Reef. Get out there and catch ’em… be prepared for sea bass, triggers and possibly porgies.
Question: Michael Borum asks… Did the bluefish arrive in the back bay?
Answer: The spring bluefish run this year was not all that we hoped for. There were spurts of fun fishing but nothing like the spring runs of the previous five years. However with that said there are and have been small bluefish present this season. Most are in the 1-3# cocktail class. The past couple weeks anglers fishing the waters of LBI have caught them fishing the inlet, bay and occasionally on the surf. In recent days I caught some of the largest (not large by any means) bluefish of my year so far. Some chubby ones pushing to 4-5# range.