609-494-5739 Great summertime fishing rolls on with anglers catching a variety of species from the beach and boat. Hopefully you are getting in on the summer fun! Be on the lookout for powerful long periods of swell this weekend from Henri. Here’s the fishing report update for Thursday August 20th, 2021.
Barnegat Bay Fishing
Blowfish, Weakfish, Fluke, Blues and even cobia! The waters of Barnegat Bay have so much to offer right now in mid-August. Hopefully you are getting in on the summer fun. Fluke fishing is still strong but finding keepers is hard. Blowfish invaded a couple weeks ago and their presence is well know. If targeting them they are quick easy catches. If not targeting them you know they are present by their distinctive small curved bites. The weakfish are here in good numbers to in the 12-16″ range with some larger fish being caught.
Long Beach Island Surf & Jetty Fishing
The surf and jetty of LBI has offered good fishing all summer. By far the best fishing off of the surf is kingfish. Fluke fishing is also and it would be proper to expect surf side fluke to be strong right to the end of the season.
Barnegat Inlet offers great variety with fluke, blues, blackfish, weakfish, sheepshead, triggerfish. Be on the lookout for powerful long periods of swell this weekend from Henri. Venturing out on the rocks could be and will be hazardous.
NJ Offshore Reports
The great tuna fishing rolls on and seems to only get better. With Henri coming, be on the lookout for powerful long periods of swell. I was out fishing the 40miles range lumps on Wednesday and got into a great yellowfin bite. It started out with store staffer Max getting a top water hook up on his second cast of the morning. He then switched to the jig and got his second hook up on his third drop. Saying he started the day with a hot hand is an understatement. From there the rest of the crew started hooking up too. We finished the day with an awesome 1-2 hour top water foaming session. For me it was my best trip of the season. When time allows I’ll post some photos and videos from the day.
Hello Greg – I have been fishing Barnegat inlet for 20 yrs now and my kids are now 13 and 16.
Any suggestions for snarking from the surf or jetty’s on the island?
I would like to get the kids out for ah nite, somewhere they can relax and not worry about falling off the inlet jetty-lol
Thx in advance –
Also any tips for bait would be greatly appreciated and how to rig for sharking
Hi Jesse – For sharking off the LBI surf I must start by saying you must know the rules! Quick and easy if you don’t know what it is release it in the wet water. A catch on dry sand is landed and if a protected species, it is illegal and you can and will get slapped with a fine. Years ago there was no one watching. Not the case anymore. It is taken very seriously. Many sharks are protected. The following sharks must be released: Atlantic angel, basking, bigeye sand tiger, bigeye sixgill, bigeye thresher, bignose, Caribbean reef, Caribbean sharpnose, DUSKY, Galapagos, longfin mako, narrowtooth, night, SANDBAR/BROWN, SAND TIGER, sevengill, silky, sixgill, smalltail, whale and white. The three in all caps are commonly caught here along the beaches in the summer. With all of that said to get up on the beach and look for a hard pulling critter there are rays and other coastal sharks that can be targeting: blacktip, bull, lemon, nurse, tiger, spinner, Atlantic sharpnose, bonnethead, finetooth, blacknose.
As far as tackle and gear… if you have a heavy striped bass chunking set up (10/11/12′ 4-8 or 8-12oz rod with a 7500/8500 reel spooled with 65# braid) that will do. You’ll want a simple chunk rig with a heavy wire CIRCLE HOOK (when targeting sharks it’s NJ state and federal law you must use inline cirlce hooks) with a minimum 12″ wire bite leader connected to a 3-6’+ 80/100# mono chaff leader which is then connected to the main line. Longer the leader the better for chaff however the more difficulty casting. Some anglers will also add a heavier section of braid to their reel, stepping up from 65# mainline to 100# via line to line knot for a 10-25′ section. This is just a general guide to give you an idea of what’s commonly and successfully used to catch big critters off the beach. You could attempt with a simple hook and wire leader bluefish rig. Some anglers set up into really big baits which require paddling out to deploy. In this case it is a much different set up.
Hopefully this helps and isn’t too complicated. You are welcome to stop by the shop anytime and the team can help get you set up. Good Luck Fishing!
Thx buddy