As April ends, the Long Beach Island fishing fires up! The surf has come alive recently with striped bass hitting clam and bluefish have arrived in our waters.

This morning we got a report from Matt Compitello not long after leaving the shop with fresh clam. Sunrise striper on the surf!

Some other recent surf side striped bass reports came in from Greg Davis who got a nice over slot striped bass and also Mike Richter’s about 40″ below.

The active black drum bite has simmered down in the bay, but there’s a good shot that we’ll see another wave of them. Will they hit the surf like last year? Got to be fishing the surf to find out.

The past couple of days a handful of bluefish reports have come in from the bay, inlet and surf. Off the surf you’ll want to fish mullet, bunker or lures for the yellow eyes. The Jetty Jockies shared this bluefish catch photo yesterday that fell for a No Live Bait Needed.

Tom Zaboroski Jr caught a 23.75″ bluefish on frozen mullet this past weekend during the American Anglers Surf Fishing Tournament. In addition to Tom’s catch, there was one small striped bass and a blowfish pulled in. With the rough conditions and lack of catches Tom won over $2k in prizes.

Today is the last day of New Jersey’s one month spring Blackfish / Tautog / Tog fishing season. For the most part the water was cold and the weather was windy. There were some windows, but just like last year the final 7-10 days were the best of it.

As one season closed another opens… this Sunday May 5th is opening day for NJ Fluke Fishing! For a full overview of the 2025 NJ Recreational Fishing Regulations, Seasons, Size & Bag Limit Laws… Here’s a chart I’ve updated and compiled for many years which the state’s “attention angler” graphic leaves out and I also include the hard to find ones too. Most Google and AI searches pull up bad results! You’ve been warned. Printable PDF Here

Tune in now to my latest fishing report update video from Monday. Please drop a comment with your report or latest catches. LBI Fishing Report 4/28/25 – LBI Surf Wakes Up As April Wanes: Striped Bass, Drum & Blues Are Here!

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