The ocean is flat, Lake Atlantic! We have another great day ahead tomorrow before conditions turn sour on Sunday. The LBI surf temperature is holding in the mid-60s and anglers are finding a mixed bag of fish along the beaches. Recent catches include kingfish, blowfish, bluefish, brown sharks, a couple striped bass and out-of-season fluke. Kingfish and tautog are two of the better species to target right now. Also it’s surprising how many fluke are still hanging around the bay, inlet and surf. Striped bass action remains spotty, but there have been a few notable catches. One standout was a 52-inch striped bass caught by Greg O’Connell during last Saturday’s ASAC tournament hosted by the Long Beach Island Fishing Club. Round two takes place tomorrow, hosted by the Merchantville Fishing Club.
Boat anglers are doing better with bass in the bay, inlet and ocean. Captain Dan aboard Hog Moon Fishing Charters out of Forked River shared this photo with us this morning. Captain Dan is in the center holding the striped bass with Coach Jeff Stoutland (former Eagles offensive line coach) on his left side. Each day we get more reports of nice striped bass. Dan runs a Parker 21SE out of Barnegat Inlet so he couldn’t be too far.
On the bait front, the mullet run appears to be winding down or possible done. Maybe we see a few stragglers. We’re also seeing a transition from spearing to bay anchovies along the Jersey Shore beaches, including LBI. For anglers heading out, we’ve got live eels (great striped bass bait), live green crabs (great tautog bait), live sand fleas (everything eats them from tog and sea bass to striped bass, kingfish and much more), fresh bunker (chunk for striped bass or blues) and plenty of quality frozen mullet (fish whole or chunk for striped bass, bluefish, kingfish, fluke, etc) available at the shop.
It’s a beautiful fall weekend to get outside and enjoy Long Beach Island! The LBI Kite Festival is in town as well as another ASAC surf fishing tournament tomorrow and we are in the middle of the LBI Surf Fishing Classic which runs until the end of November. The weather looks great for enjoying the beach, fishing, crabbing or clamming. For those looking to get out clamming, we have a great selection of quality USA-made clam rakes from KB White and Killer Clam Rakes, along with more affordable imported options too.
Earlier this week here at Fisherman’s Headquarters we received our fall apparel orders so we are loaded up on beanies, hats, hoodies and t-shirts.
Here are two recent video reports from this week…
Notice to Mariners: There is an active dredging operations in the western area of Oyster Creek Channel between the 37 – 41 cans (green). Mariners must pass on the north side of the dredge. Pass between the white poly ball and the dredge. Use VHF channels 13 / 16 if needed.
