Anglers are meticulously tracking water temperatures to best approach each outing. In the peak of summer, cold water is the last thing anglers should be battling but that is the cards we are dealt. [For more info on the chill check out this recent post.] Fortunately the radical upwelling has subsided some so we expect fishing to improve.

The past few weeks have offered some of the best summertime striped bass anyone could ask for! Prime time fluke fishing season isn’t great but anglers are catching at the right tides and locations using the technique and baits they want. Bluefish continue to make their presence known offering light tackle fun at times in the bay, inlet and surf. Kingfish, croakers and spot round out the local panfish menu.

Tune in to my latest fishing report video, recorded after a fun Monday morning fishing charter…

Inshore & Surf Fishing

As the water temps tick back up we begin to see a rise with the inshore fishing front. The fluke fishing both on the beach and bay has been better this week than the previous few.

Fish Heads store staffer Grey had a limit of fluke which has been hard to come by this year. He was fishing the North End of the Island at the Barnegat Inlet using 6″ Pearl White Gulp Jerk Shad rigged on a 1/2oz Magictail Big Eye Jig. We’ve also had numerous reports of keeper size fish being caught in the ocean on our local wrecks and reefs fishing 45-70ft of water.

Plenty of kingfish are cruising the surf and being caught on both Fishbites Bag O’ Worms and live bloodworms. Fish the bowls and cuts with baited small hooks and you’ll find them.

Update 7/25/24 2PM: Carl Hartman from American Anglers reported a good productive morning fishing the LBI surf. He said, “I had a solid hour bite with a mix of kingfish and spot.”

A few cobia are plodding the local bunker. There too… whales and a couple TUNA! Yes, a 82″ bluefin tuna first beached in Surf City yesterday chasing bunker. Check out the video here. It then later washed up in Harvey Cedars. One lifeguard shared that bunker, whales and tuna chicks have been present. Seems like some fishy waters… How many more tuna are near shore? This time last year we had some nearshore too.

Midshore / Inshore Fishing

It took time to get going but the inshore and mid-shore fishing has ramped up. Both yellowfin and bluefin tuna are hammering jigs, casted poppers and crashing bars and bally on the troll.

The inshore / mid-shore lumps and some wrecks have bluefin ranging from school size up to 80″+ hammers. Some big 100# yellowfin have made for some epic late July tuna fishing. Areas like the Little Italy out to Lilian, Resor out to Atlantic Princess, Chicken Canyon and Triple Wrecks have had fish.

Fish Heads store staffer Grey caught this one a couple days ago on the jig fishing about 20 miles offshore.

Jigging and casting poppers, stickbaits and Ron-Z / NLBN straight tails are effective and on slow days boats are picking fish on the troll too. Side trackers and splash bars as well as the classic Joe Shute or  Hoohead over a ballyhoo is hard to beat. Season in and season out, they are top producers. 

Offshore Fishing

The canyon tuna fishing for yellowfin and bigeye has been good over the past week. Some nice water slid into the Hudson where guys have fill the fish boxes with yellowfins trolling, jigging and popping. A little ways north of the Hudson a few guys were catching bigeyes on the troll up to the 130-200lb range. On the bottom fish front, solid Golden and Jumbo Bluelines have been caught around the Hudson and Toms canyons in the 350-500ft areas.

About a week back, Tyler Wilk of E-Fish-Ent Custom rods weighed in a 23lb Blueline that was only 8oz off the world record on a 250g jig.

There’s also been a few Swordfish around with daytime fishing seeming to be more productive. Jeff Warford of Wolfpack Tackle landed two solid swords over 100lbs fishing in the daytime along with a mess of Yellowfins and a few Mahi.

Beach Haven Charter Fishing Report

Fishing report for the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association by Jim Hutchinson Sr.

The fishing in the Long Beach Island area for the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association is entering its typical mid-summer selection of fish. There is one surprise in the mix, however. After several years of absence, croakers are making an appearance once again.

There have been multiple reports of croakers in Little Egg Inlet along with various locations in the bay waters. Although these fish are on the small side, they provide great drop and reel action, the keeper sized fish make for great fish fries. This bay action is a terrific way for youngsters learning to fish.

Captain Max Goldman who works on both the “Star Fish” and the “Miss Beach Haven” has noticed these croakers in the bay and adds there are also large numbers of small fluke and baby black sea bass in those areas. On his trips to the nearby artificial reefs in the ocean he has been seeing a pick of larger black sea bass and some keeper fluke.

Captain Brett Taylor of “Reel Reaction Sportfishing” reports his trips will now be in the ocean as his bay action for keeper fluke has slowed. He has been running two trips daily for the past couple of days with his anglers averaging 20-30 short fluke each trip. His recent trip with the Michael Futterman crew managed to box a pair of solid keepers to 22-inches. Captain Brett especially complimented Jakob for a “phenomenal job on the jig.”

Captain Gary Dugan of the “Irish Jig” had a charter for fluke this week. He reports everyone caught fish. Unfortunately, even though there was steady action, none of the fish were big enough to go in the cooler.

Additional information on the captains and boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.BHCFA.org