LBI Fishing Report Update 5/11/26

The spring fishery is as good as it gets for surfcasters working the sands of Long Beach Island. The past couple of weeks were great and it keeps on grinding. There’s NOT blitzing fish breaking under birds; however most of the cuts, bowls, toughs and gutters have fish. The spring run is alive on the LBI surf and anglers putting in the time are being rewarded with great catches. Here’s the Long Beach Island Fishing Report Update for Monday May 11, 2026.

Anglers are finding striped bass and black drum on the beaches of LBI both day and night, many times in all of the tide phases and some days in gorgeous and others foul weather. Here’s my latest fishing report video that was published on Friday May 8, 2026.

Last week we have had a lot of firsts…

  • First week of fluke fishing season! The opening on May 4th and the first week wasn’t lit up with great fluke fishing but we did here some scattered catch reports. Two challenges were chilly ocean water on the incoming current and weedy conditions at many areas. Let’s hope it get’s better.
  • First bluefish of the season! Store staffer and Van Staal Reel Tech caught a toothy yellow eye chunking off the surf. After sharing Frankies catch a few other bluefish reports have come in. Usually around Mother’s Day we see some. Maybe a bunch! Happy belated Mother’s Day to all of the moms!
  • First sheepshead of the season! Cooper Adams caught a 21″ sheepshead while hunting striped bass and drum on the LBI surf.
  • First 50# black drum of the season! Jamie Gramley shared a photo that he took of a friend’s catch, a monster surf side black drum.

Author: FishHead.Greg

Greg Cudnik is a Long Beach Island native with lifelong experience fishing and navigating the local waters. He is a distinguished Master Captain—the highest level of operator licensing—holding a U.S. Coast Guard Masters 50-Ton Near Coastal License with Towing Endorsement. Raised in and now managing his family’s bait and tackle business, Fisherman’s Headquarters (est. 1962, The Saltwater Fishing Bait & Tackle Experts), Greg is immersed in fishing on a daily basis. He is the Chief Contributor of FishingLBI.com, Long Beach Island’s leading fishing report blog, and serves as the administrator of Fisherman’s Headquarters’ social media channels on Instagram and Facebook, where he shares real-time fishing reports, conditions, and tactics. Be sure to follow along.