609-494-5739 Updates on the Long Beach Island fishing front…
LBI Surf Fishing Report
Jonathan Czarnecki was fishing the mid-Island surf yesterday evening and caught a nice redfish about an hour before high water. The red took a whole mullet. Jonathan said, “The 32″ red put up a great fun fight!” Each year October is the month that offers anglers on and around Long Beach Island the best shot at targeting and catching redfish. It’s also prime time to target pompano!
The Long Beach Island surf anglers are primarily catching kingfish and bluefish. Some days better than others. For kingfish use live bloods and/or FishBites. For blues use fresh mullet or any type of lure that matches.
Barnegat Inlet Fishing Report
You can’t beat the Barnegat Inlet Jetty this time of year! It offers the best variety of opportunities for angler who want to fish lures or bait. In recent days there has been a variety of species caught from blues, striped bass, weakfish and albies to tog, triggerfish and sheephead.
For the most consistent bites/action target tog with green crab. They are stacked along the entire stretch of the Jetty from the inside on out to the tip. Expect the entire month to offer great fishing fun.
Bayside Dave shared,”I was on the jetty when the albies came by around 8am on Saturday. I was ready with a Hogy Epoxy Jig and managed to land three. Four other guys were there with me and including my three, ten other albies were caught.”
Recently we’ve received a lot of questions and interest in false albacore fishing. Here’s a great blog post Running With Albies by Steve George.
Barnegat Bay Fishing Report
Still the same story line as last reported with little change. Weakfish, blowfish, striped bass and blues.
Missy Fillman shared, “Looking for a fun day with non-stop action? Blowfish are plentiful on the Ship Bottom bayside.”
The striped bass continue to offer early fall light tackle fun in and around the local bays. Here’s JP with one of many from recent trips.
Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association Update
The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are eying the cooler evening temperatures and thinking about the arrival of striped bass. Meanwhile, they are finding good inshore wreck fishing, good numbers of blowfish and even some weakfish in the bay, and eying the continued presence of tuna offshore.
Captain Gary Dugan of the Irish Jig had some recent noteworthy trips. He has switched gears and is hunting for the many species of wreck fish. One recent trip yielded a few nice blackfish, sea bass, and monster trigger fish. On Saturday he had a group working some ocean structure. Despite all he could do, they could not locate any blackfish. They did catch some very nice out of season black sea bass which had to be released in addition to plenty of small bluefish and some very nice trigger fish. He has done some bay charters for small stripers and blowfish. He is getting tackle ready for the striped bass run that will be here shortly.
Question & Answer
Tyler Harkins questioned, “Thanks for the great reports. Are there still sharks in the surf at night this time of year?”
Yes there’s currently sharks on the beach. At this point in the season it’s the transition from the summertime warm water sharks to the cooler/cold water sharks. Spinners and black tips really like warm waters in the upper 60’s and 70’s. They are still here but will be leaving soon. Browns also like this warmer water but will tolerate a slightly cooler water. Sand tiger are some of the first to arrive in the spring and tend to hang around the longest in the fall. Threshers (while might not be abundant) will be around in our local coastal waters for the fall. We usually see these sharks on the bunker pods near the beach but rarely caught from the surf. Also dogfish (smooth and spiny) will show up in full force soon. We already saw some show this week. Usually around Halloween they invade. As always know the state and federal laws. Know before you go!
