When the dogwoods are blooming, the bass fishing is booming! Here on Long Beach Island we’ve had a great run of weather and a great run of fishing. Striped bass are being caught up and down LBI with reports coming from the north end, mid-Island and south end. The surf action is definitely a week or more earlier than last year. We expect this to continue and hopefully only get better as we enter May, one of the best months out of the year for surf fishing Long Beach Island.
Here’s video report update on 4/19/23 at 10AM, click above.
LBI Surf Fishing Report
A good wave of fish arrived a handful of days back and they have stuck around! Great striped bass reports continue for a number of days now with anglers catching on both bait and lures.
Fish Heads Team Member Frankie, our in house Van Staal Reel Tech Guru, has enjoyed good fishing in the LBI suds. On Monday evening he was out fishing the mid-Island surf and had good fishing. He reported he as well as other anglers fishing in the area were hooking up with multiple fish. “It’s great to see rods up and down the beach bent!”
Here’s (above) Frankie with one of mnay striped bass he caught off the LBI surf the last couple of days.
It seems that the majority of striped bass on the front beach are being caught on clam. Right now at the time of this post we have fresh clam in the shell, fresh shucked and also fresh shucked salted. There is also striped bass on the surf eating worms; both bloodworms and sandworms are great spring time on the surf. HOWEVER, if fishing bait right now be sure to prepare accordingly! There’s a good showing of blowfish right now in the surf and they are notorious bait nibblers. Bring some extra bait. Rigging up with a small hook rig isn’t a bad idea either. Why not take advantage of the tasty critters? It wouldn’t surprise me to see kingfish soon.
Anglers fishing lures are also catching. The standouts right now on the surf are slender swimming minnow style lures. The two best being the Daiwa SP Minnow and the Yo-zuri LC Minnow
Both are slender, tight swimming, long casting lures that striped bass love. These two lures are very universal and they produce season after season so if you haven’t fished one yet, I suggest you ad one to your arsenal today. Better late than never. As far as color… an angler can never go wrong with a bone and a natural with a chrome/flash finish.
This morning Greg Davis reported good action plugging. He stopped in to share the report and also hook up the team with PIZZA… HUGE thanks! Fish Heads Team Member Paul, who is usually running the front counter weekday mornings, enjoyed the sunny afternoon plugging for bass.
Here’s (above) Paul with a nice striped bass he caught Tuesday afternoon off the LBI surf on a bone Yozuri LC Minnow lure.
LBI Spring Surf Fishing Tournament
Click here for the live results page. Here’s the top three striped bass.
Tautog Fishing Report
NJ Spring Tautog Season: April 1 to April 30th, Four Fish Bag Limit, 15″ Minimum Size
Great tog reports from the boats and land based tog anglers continue and point to a strong second half of the month/season. Land based anglers fishing live green crab and sand fleas are doing a number on blackfish at Barnegat Inlet. Positive catches reports from the local wrecks and reef sites are also common. There, green crab and white crab are best. We’ve heard numerous double digit reports.
Here’s (above) one of many monster tog that Dave Moores has caught this spring.
NJ Fluke / Summer Flounder Fishing
Summer flounder fluke fishing gonna pop off here really soon. May 5th is opening day and the regulations re the same as last year… 2 slot fish 17″ to 17.999″ and 1 18″ or greater.
Every year the early part of the season offers some of the best back bay fluke fishing. With the way other fisheries are a head of schedule there’s no doubt that early fluking will be good. We have already heard of some caught as back bay bass bycatch.
No better time than NOW to gear up with essentials for the season ahead!
Are You Ready?
Be sure to check your rods and reels are in good working order, clean and lubricated because if you put them away wet and salty last season, chances are you’ll have some issues right now or in the near future. The worst way to start off spring is broken down. Also be sure to check rod guides for damage as a cracked ring or no ring at all will almost certainly result in a lost fish. Here at Fish Heads we are a full service bait and tackle shop offering professional rod and reel service.
Now is also the time to respool with fresh new line and replace rusty hooks with sharp and strong new ones. Here at Fish Heads we have all of the essentials and are open seven days a week or shop 24-7 online at fishermansheadquarters.com. There’s no better time then now to prep for the season that is upon us or the season ahead; striped bass, fluke, tuna, or what ever species is on your list.