We hope all the rad dads and fishy fathers had a awesome weekend and an even better Father’s Day. Let’s keep the dream alive and rock all summer long!

I mentioned and showed it on the last video report and it has remained… we have beautiful CLEAN & CLEAR waters in the surf along the beaches of LBI. Father’s Day was a good one. A little breezy late morning and afternoon but it was a fresh northerly sea breeze with no flies and no humidity. It laid down later in the afternoon for the Blessing Of The Fleet.

Here’s the updated fishing report for the Long Beach Island area on Monday June 17, 2024.

LBI Surf Fishing Report

Striped bass surf reports have slowed down significantly as the month of June ticks on. We did get word from Michael Wolfschmidt who enjoyed Father’s Day on the beach. He caught a 31″ bass off the mid-island surf on salted clam.

Fluke fishing on the surf is and has been consistently good. That’s mostly due to the waters temperatures staying mildly warm and clean. There’s still some schools of blues racing through. If looking for blues in the suds, most of the time one or more feisty terns will tip you off to where the small bait is which both the terns and blues are chasing. While I was filming today’s report video there was a small but goo bird play with what looked like blues and bonita busting through.

With the warm “summer” surf be on the look out for kingfish in the suds for the next couple months. Also some whiting! They look like a kingfish but they don’t have the stripes. Whiting are also called a sea mullet by the boys down on the OBX. Here’s a photo of one caught this past weekend by Dan Schmechel.

Also in the surf, dogfish are eating meaty boats and pulling line as well as rays and some toothy critters.

LBI Bayside Waters & Inlets

Blues and fluke are two primaries at the inlet right now as well as striped bass and weakfish at the right times. Also there’s out of season tog at the rocks. The “Bucket Guy” Dave reported catching a nice fluke fishing the south end inlet on Sunday. On a trip he had a nice weakfish.

In the bay fluke fishing which isn’t great is one of the most popular targerts. There’s a good showing of bluefish in a range of size. Also savvy anglers are catching striped bass and weakies. Some sheepshead arrived last week and should stick around all summer. We look forward to this species for the next couple months.

Bottom Fishing Report

The final days of the 2024 Spring Black Sea Bass fishing season are here with this Wednesday June 19th being the last day. Come July 1 through August 31 there is a “bycatch” one fish bag limit at 12.5″ season. For a detailed listing of the NJ Fishing Regulations check out here.

The first bonita report came in last week (Wednesday) from Tony Butch while sea bass fishing. As time as went on, we have heard a few more and some that far off the beach.

Ocean fluke fishing for some isn’t bad. The way I see it there’s a nice body of fluke along the inshore coastal waters and along the surf. Some of these fluke are moving into the bay. Fingers are crossed with have a good open bottom and fluke wreck fishing summer season. Here’s a photo of Ian Medford with a good one from a recent ocean fluke fishing trip aboard LBI Sportfishing with Captain Jon Kelly.

Offshore Fishing Report

The Beach Haven Marlin Tuna Club’s Tuna Open was this past week. The 4th Annual offshore fishing tournament has grown fast and is becoming one of the best spring offshore fishing events in the region. This year 78 boats fished and caught some good fish… 5 bluefin over 100#, 8 big eye over 100# and 11 yellowfin over 70#! It seems each year bigger fish are hitting the scales. There would have been some big bluefin however the larger class fish is closed right now. Congrats to all the anglers who scored a payday. Brendan Graham reported, “All four species of tuna were weighed in (bluefin, big eye, yellowfin, longfin) and that’s what it’s all about.”