Author: FishHead.Greg

Born, raised and living in Ship Bottom at the heart of Long Beach Island, Greg's surrounded by the Barnegat Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Greg is an accomplished angler with great knowledge of saltwater fishing from the light tackle back waters to the surf and jetty as well as inshore and offshore big game fishing. Whether you are new to fishing or new to Long Beach Island, Greg wants to help. Questions about knot tying, fishing rods and reels, problems, techniques, locations? Just ask. Stop by Fisherman's Headquarters and say hello.

Bluewater Bonanza

Fishing the offshore waters has offered up awesome action for local angler. Both the shark and tuna fishing have been very good. Here’s some recent reports from this past weekend. Let’s hope this weather clears and allows for more time out on the edge.

Captain Jeff Warford aboard the Reel Innovations got into them good AGAIN! The captain and crew fished the 16th into the 17th and mo-hawked ’em. The crew headed and fished a canyon way down south (100+ miles run) where the yellowfin bite has been good. Here’s Jeff’s report from the epic trip.

“We headed out for an overnight canyon trip and was greeted with flat calm seas. Arriving on the grounds at 5pm on Friday afternoon, it only took four minutes to put the first FOUR yellowfin in the box! The rest of the evening saw much of the same action, boating 12 quality yellowfin from 35-55lbs. We set up at night in 70 fathoms and quickly had mackerel and squid in the lights. About 45 minutes in we were hooked up to our first double header of makos. By midnight we had 5 makos and 2 brown sharks before calling it quits for the night. We kept one 100lb mako for the table and released the rest. The largest was about 175lb. Up on the troll in the morning we quickly boxed another 5 yellowfin before the boat traffic took over and became too much. The guys were anxious to try some tile fishing so I decided to go to an area up the line. We planned one scouting an area on the way and boy did it pay off. After coming across what looked like nat-geo, we were back into a hot bite. Our first pass threw the area and four bluefin piled on at once. We kept our legal limit and continued on to the tile grounds. In less than an hour we had a 50/50 mix of 20 nice golden/blue line tiles. What an awesome trip!”

Captain Bill aboard the Reel Trouble reported nice fishing on the tuna grounds. Check out this round one.

Blue Runner Sportfishing reports the yellowfin tuna are here! “We recently had Greg Steinman along with Bill, George, Don, Ken and Tom out for an extended day trip. Fishing got off to a good start first thing in the morning with the very first rod in the water getting nailed 10 ft off the stern. It was steady most of the day with flurries of red hot bites. By days end we landed 43 Yellowfin (only keeping 12) and 11 Bluefin to 120lbs. We also saw our first Mahi of the season. With the weather holding out, we decided to try for a Mako before heading in. First bite was the right one and a very fat 80″ Mako hit the deck. The fish was easily 200 lbs. Got back to dock very early morning so guys could spend Fathers Day at home. Looks like we will be sitting out next few days with bad weather.”

Andrew Moody reported, “Recent offshore trip was really good. We caugth 10 big eye, four yellowfin and one bluefin. It was nuts! We had a wolfpack pile on… Four 80 pound class tuna all at the same.”

Brandon and Alan Kape fishing with Jeremy Gers got it done. “Slob bluefin and a nice 150 pound bigeye to spice it up the sushi plate the weekend!”

Angler Pete Nork aboard the Las Sofias caught and weighed in a 176 pound mako for the Beach Haven Marlin Tuna Club’s mako and tuna tournament. They were fishing the waters outside of the fingers.

While the offshore fishing stole the spotlight on this post, we would like to share info on a doormat fluke that was weighed in this past weekend. Giuseppe Rubino caught this 28.25″ 8.9 pound fatty in the bay a couple days ago. He got it on a bucktail with a live minnow.

Here’s some info from the state…

The recreational summer flounder (fluke) season that began on May 25 keeps intact an 18-inch minimum size limit for fluke, instead of the 19-inch size limit originally mandated by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC).

NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife biologists provided data demonstrating that the 19-inch size limit will:

– Result in excessive harvesting of breeding females that are key to ensuring a healthy and sustainable resource
– Negatively impact the fluke population by increasing the discard mortality to levels that are higher than the anticipated harvest
– Adversely affect recreational anglers and businesses, as fluke, is one of the state’ most popular sport fish

New Jersey has been found out of compliance by the ASMFC which has reported this determination to the Secretary of Commerce. An appeal will be heard on June 20th in front of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In order for New Jersey to support its case for a smaller size limit, it is critically important anglers do their part to reduce the mortality rate of fish that are caught and released. This can be done in many ways including proper handling and release of fluke caught and the use of larger hooks that help reduce the catch of smaller fish (sizes 7.0 – 9.0 are recommended).

The Division of Fish and Wildlife has posted information regarding the 2017 fluke season and information on how to reduce fluke mortality at www.njfishandwildlife.com/fluke.htm. Information will be updated throughout the season.

Please do your part to reduce discard mortality of fluke, and ensure healthy fisheries and great fishing for the future!

Fishing Transitions into Summer

As the spring season winds down and we transition into summer new fishing opportunities arise… Read On!

Crabbing has been on fire all spring and it continues! We are looking forward to an awesome summer of crabbing. Here’s a photo of Richie Southwick with one of many nice blue claw crab hauls. Richie is doing great with the feisty blue crabs.

This is the last push for Black Sea Bass! The NJ Black Sea Bass Fishing Season closes Sunday June 18th. It will reopen on July 1st with a bag limit of two fish at 12.5″

The Carolyn Ann III reports, “The last two days of fishing were pretty good. Still a lot of shorts to weed through but the keepers are there! This Sunday is the last day for us to go Sea Bassing as the season closes. Starting Monday we will be targeting everyone’s favorite flat fish, the summer flounder aka fluke. Come aboard!”

Austin Pounds shared this yesterday,”Fluke are in the wash! Toss out a 1/2oz bucktail topped with a Gulp white swim mullet and they are all over it.” Austin has been targeting and catching fluke off the surf all season. He has some really nice sized fish to show too. This surf based fishery traditionally is great all summer long. Just a heads up there’s a possibility that we’ll get some upwelling. Depending on how drastic the temp swing is with the event, it could effect things. A quick cold snap in the water temperature due to upwelling shocks fish and can lock jaw a bite like a flip of the switch.

Another report came from Austin on the beach shark fishing. “And so it begins! They are here so gear up and soak some whole bunker. We got our season’s first sand tiger off the surf yesterday.”

Another surf sharking report came from ApexAnglers… “The 2017 NJ surf shark season begins with a bang! Two personal bests. Dan’s largest sand tiger to date measuring 8’2″. Seconds after Dan’s fish a 6’2″ sandbar shark takes the 9/0 with an eel. Then towards the end of the night a massive 7’7″ sand bar shark. The largest we’ve seen and possibly the largest caught off the surf in NJ. What a super successful early season trip. The action will only heat up from here.” Check out Apex Anglers for more details on NJ’s premier land based shark fishing guide service.

Sharking inshore/offshore has been good. We’ve heard reports of a couple large makos. Numerous customers reporting blue sharks out the wazzoo making for frustration but action non the less. In the past week we got some positive news on threshers 3-6 miles off the beach.

Like always, Joe Shute Lures are pulling tuna! These lures are about as consistent as they come. Don’t leave the dock without ’em! Store staffer Dan DiPasquale got offshore recently and has this report to share… “Our first offshore trip of the year resulted in our first bigeye. The good water we were after unfortunately pushed off making it all very difficult. Fished three different canyons with a water temp of 59-60 degrees. Took a couple hours but we finally got the right bite. It went for red headed Joe Shute. Nice way to kick off the year on the boat, still very early. There is a very good bluefin bite and yellowfin bite to the south of us right now, hopefully we get another good push of water soon!”

The striped bass bite off northern NJ as been very good this week. Lots of anglers out of the northern ports reported an awesome bite. Many local anglers headed up that way to get in on the action and had a blast. Both Waterman Charters and Shore Catch Guide Service has been dialed in on the bite. Here’s one report from Captain Gene from Shore Catch, “Last night was one for the record books! Epic cast and blast on topwater poppers. Kept one for the table and released over 20 all over 40 pounds.” Now that’s some great fishing. Below is Captain Gene boat side releasing a quality striped bass that fell for a pencil popper.

Pete Utschig wanted to share this post. The photo below is a beautiful striped bass that Pete caught one morning earlier this month. He had three nice bass that morning.

Moments like this, shared with friends, family, and even strangers is what makes it all worth while! It’s been a tough spring up and down the east coast. Besides some very spotty big fish bites the bass have been almost non existent. We need to WAKE UP!!! No more excuses or pointing fingers. We need to educate our friends and neighbors to stop killing breeder bass. We need to protect our precious resource and pastime. Until regulations change we can’t stop the endless charter boat slaughter, but if you have friends going on a fishing trips take five minutes to tell them about your love of fishing. Explain why instead of fishing in their local bay or inlet they have to steam 3 miles out to find the only body of fish we have left. Try and convince them to keep one fish per group not five fifty pound fish. We all love fishing for different reasons. I love it for the smile on a kids face when you hand him your pole on the beach and let him reel in his first fish. I love the 4am excited call from a buddy that you helped teach how to fish after he gets in on his first reel big fish bite. I love meeting guys just like me who just want to travel, laugh, (drink a couple cold ones) and catch fish. I just love fishing for the fun of it! Let’s protect our resource before we lose it forever!

With a sad and heavy heart I share the news on the recent passing of John Sweet. I had the pleasure of knowing the kind, generous man who did so much for others. He’ll be greatly missed in our community. Here is John’s obituary from Maxwell Funeral Home.

John F. “Tiderunner” Sweet, 78, of Ship Bottom, NJ passed away June 14, 2017 at his home. Born in Camden, NJ, son of Helen and John Sweet. He moved to Cherry Hill and married Lois Zuzga Sweet who passed away too soon. Together they had three children, Susan Lucas, Amy Smalfus, and Jane Faiola. He is survived by 9 grandchildren: Zachary and Melissa Johnson, Alexander, Nicholas and Gabriella Faiola and Rachael and Amanda Smalfus and Alexander and Victoria Duffy. He is survived by his loving wife, Joan Duffy Sweet, of 31 years, and her children, Christopher and Kathryn, who have been a great blessing to him.

He lived Medford, NJ with Joan for 18 years just prior to Ship Bottom where he resided for the last 14 years. His passion for fishing was well know, and he served as President and Treasurer of the Long Beach Island Fishing Club. John initiated a fishing program for the LBIFC for wives, children and significant others called the Powder Puff Derby. He was an active member of the LBIFC for over thirty years and served in many other capacities: teaching fishing at the Surf City Library, teaching casting and fishing at the Hooked on Fishing Not on Drugs and participated in numerous fishing tournaments throughout his life. He has many “winning plaques” because of his knowledge of the surf and the correct fishing gears to use. He leaves a huge emptiness in the countless lives he has touched. He was an active member of the Ship Bottom Fire House, and served as a Fire Police. John volunteered at Southern Ocean County Medical Center for 8 years where he helped out in the Same Day Surgery Department. In addition, he was an active member of the Kiwanis and participate in their many events. John was active in St. Francis of Assisi Church serving as a Eucharist Minister as well as assisting the Secular Franciscans in their activities. John was loved and respected by all and he deeply changed many lives for the better. He always wanted to be remembered “as doing his best for everyone.”

A Memorial Mass will be held at St. Francis Church, 4700 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach Twp., NJ 08008 on Thursday, June 22, 2017, 11AM. Relatives and friends may greet the family from 10AM to 11AM in the church.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the St. Francis Food Panty at the same address as the Church.

BHCFA Report

Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association Report

By Jim Hutchinson Sr.

The Beach Haven Charter Fishing association will be starting its highly popular Junior Mates Program on Thursday, June 22. Normally, the sessions are held both out in the field and at the Maritime Museum on Dock Road in Beach Haven.

However, due to a scheduling conflict, the first class will be held at The Beach Haven Marlin & Tuna Club which is located at 420 N. Pennsylvania Ave in Beach Haven. Any interested teenagers are urged to attend the session which will begin at 7pm.Questions can be answered by calling Captain John Lewis at 609-670-5980.

The fishing action for black sea bass on the inshore wrecks and reefs continues to be very good. Captain Ray Lopez of the “Miss Liane” had Rich Hamburg and his two grandchildren out for a day of bottom fishing. The group had nonstop action with over 60 feisty sea bass boated. The group took six nice fish home for dinner. Captain Ray reports he is also pleased at the fluke action thus far.

Captain Dave Kreines of the “Byte Me” has had a couple of bay fluke trips recently. Last Saturday he fished alone on a “scouting mission” that resulted in just a couple of short fish. On Monday he had Mike Delin and his father out on a half day trip and the pair boated two nice fluke of 20 and 21 inches along with a few shorts and a skate. The pair of anglers was celebrating the elder Delin’s birthday, and they are already eager to return for more action.

The offshore bite has started with some nice tuna being boated already including some bigeyes over 200-pounds. In addition, there are reports of some big mako and thresher sharks in the area.

Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.BHCFA.net.

LBI Fishing Report June 12th

Fishing LBI offers lots of options for anglers both from the beach and boat.

Prime time beach sharking is quickly approaching! Now is the time to prepare and gear up for the season. We’ve got all the essentials from hooks to wire and cable as well as the terminal tackle and accessories to make simple rigs as well as tournament style – kayak deployed versions. The year’s first land based brown shark and sand tiger reports just came in!

Store staffer Willie said, “The surf is warming up and surf sharking has begun!” Here is a photo of him and a couple friends with a small sand bar shark aka brown shark they just caught. Willie mentioned they lost a sand tiger in the wash.

Kenny Depierro caught this sand tiger off the surf this past weekend. Kenny was chunking bunker in search of a linesider when this toothy one picked and ran.

Striped bass fishing continues to be slow through what normally is a very good section of the season. Participation is way down but those putting in the time are finding fish. We’ve got reports from the beach and boat. Anglers are catching the occasional bass trolling. Those fishing the beach and inlet are finding striped ones.

Rich Beverley of Cedar Run earned himself a new personal best striped bass off the LBI surf yesterday. He caught it in the morning fishing bunker off of the mid-island surf.

The local summer flounder fishery is prime with action in full swing. For bay anglers the areas of Double Creek and Oyster Creek Channel as well as the waters around the 42, BI, and BB are producing. There’s been some good size ones. We’ve heard of and seen numerous fish over four pounds. Bucktails tipped with gulp, live minnow and or spearing are getting it done!

Mark Spranger reported a good day fluke fishing today. His biggest was a 23″ 4.5 pound beauty!

For land based anglers fluke fishing off the LBI surf continues to crank with some outstanding catches.

Willie “Hits” Kayhart has the touch! On his first trip to the beach this past weekend he pulled this 21″ flatty.

Jon Kelly shared a photo today with a comment, “Who needs a boat? Got this 20″ off my beach today.”

Austin Pounds reported, “No boat needed! The beach has fluke everywhere.”

Chris Bender reports the weakfish are in. Here’s a photo of a small one.

Crabbing is solid! Now’s the time to soak some bunker. Here’s a photo from Matt Cornman.

The NJ Recreation Sea Bass Fishing Season Closes Monday June 19th. Now’s the time to get in on the sensational bite!

“Sea bass fishing is crazy right now.” Jacob Bowles reports, “The offshore wrecks are loaded with active fish. Today we had them good. You had to work through the shorts to find the larger fish. I got six keepers to just under five pounds. My largest was big enough to win the pool!”

“Flag-Pole” Jim Kuhl agrees the sea bass fishing is very good on the reefs and wrecks. He said, “We limited out by 9am!”

Dave Werner the advisor of the MATES Fishing Club shared a solid sea bass report from today. Dave said, “We had an awesome trip today aboard the Carolyn Ann III. There was lots of action so the kids had a blast. We caught about 50 keepers and a crazy number of throwbacks. The pool winner was Jake (photo below). There were also some ling and tog as well as one winter flounder caught. A huge thanks to Gina on the Carolyn Ann III for the awesome trip.”

Carolyn Ann III would like to share a schedule update… On Monday June 19th they are going to start fishing twice daily (2x four hour trips). Since sea bass will be closed the target species will be fluke. Sailing in the mornings 8am to 12pm then the afternoon 1pm to 5pm. The price is $45 for adults and $25 for children under 12. Rod rental is $7. Credit Cards are accepted.

Captain Jeff Warford aboard the Reel Innovations out of Barnegat Light was offshore over the weekend with the crew. Here’s their report… “Good as it gets! The tunas just couldn’t resist piling on. We fished four hours then headed in with a crew full of sore arms. Here’s Kyle with our over bluefin!”

Fishing Report June 8th

BHCFA Weekly Fishing Report
by Jim Hutchinson Sr.

The striped bass action for the boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association has been hit or miss lately, the black sea bass action has been nothing short of outstanding. Both inshore artificial reefs and some wreck sites have been producing “drop and reel” fishing.

Captain Carl Sheppard of the “Star Fish” reports that there is a good number of keeper sea bass available for drift fishermen. Captain Carl was out with Wade and two friends of his friends, and they managed to catch over 50 fish in about two hours. He has been using the North Cut to travel through the inlet and has found sufficient water to navigate with comfort.

Captain Gary Dugan fished Great Bay last Friday and had several summer flounder to 17.5-inches and one keeper at 19-inches. Saturday was more of the same as he had several fluke again to 17.5-inches along with 3 keepers in the cooler. On Sunday Captain Gary changed direction and went wreck fishing, He reported non-stop drop and reel action with sea bass and big blackfish that had to be returned. His party brought home a cooler of sea bass for the table. Captain Gary feels the fishing is starting to hear up.
Captain Fran Verdi made two trips last weekend on the “Francesca Marie”. On Friday he and his wife did a half-day trip and for a nice mix of sea bass and blackfish on a wreck in 60-feet of water. On Sunday Captain Fran had his whole family join him for their first sea bass trip to wrecks in 70-90 feet of water. His son got the first keeper and the boat’s namesake, Francesca Marie, decided to show why the boat was named after her landing the most keepers. They had a mix of sea bass, blackfish and ling. On the trip in, Francesca turned to her dad and said “sea bass and wreck fishing blows away fluke fishing.” Next up for the Verdi family is a tuna trip.

BHCFA Captains Ray Lopez of the “Miss Liane” and Jimmy Zavacky of the “Reel Determined” donated their time and boats last Saturday to take out groups of wounded veterans. They were participating in the Project Healing Waters in Waretown sponsored by the Holiday Beach Club.

Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.BHCFA.net.

Here’s an awesome offshore fishing report from the crew on the Canyon Runner…

What a way to celebrate the anniversary of D-Day! 7 BIG-EYES FOR 6 HEROES!!! In what only can be described as possible the best day of fishing we’ve ever had all the stars aligned as we took out 6 American Heroes who fought in 5 separate wars – and as it happens – on the Anniversary of D-Day!

This trip was graciously donated by Chris Durnan who unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) smashed up his hand just a couple days before the trip and could not go. Well one post on Facebook to our 38,000 fans and one email to 20,000 subscribers and we had no less than 105 veterans try to get on this trip. The first 6 to reach out got the spots – and we rewarded with a big-eye for each and one for the money! That’s right in just 8 hours of trolling they caught 7 big-eyes – not to mention 17 bluefin up to 135 pounds!

The Crew was Made up the Following Heroes: Art Snyder – USAF pilot – Korean War, Walter Klauser – Navy – Vietnam War, Bill Reynolds – USCG 22 years, Lawrence Harris – USMC then Army – Operation Desert Storm, Dan Smoot – ARMY – Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq), Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), Jim Young – USMC – Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq)

They stormed into the canyons on not the nicest of weather days with Capt. Phil Dulanie on the helm and Capt. Ryan Britt working the pit – with the chance of a lifetime and fishing that is as good as we’ve ever seen it – we waited until the last minute to go to make sure we made the right call – and man did we. Arriving at first light it was immediate action on Canyon Runner Mini-Mamba Bars, Canyon Runner Squid Spreader bars – 6″ – and Joe Shutes with ballyhoo. Most of the action was overboard in deeper water and they never went more than a few minutes without a bite. The big-eyes came as a single early – then the big bluefin of 58″ – then the wolf pack of eye-balls of going 5 for 5. Arms were shot by 3pm and they decided to call it a day then as they big fish box on the 60′ Ritchie was topped off!

We’ve done tons of these trips – took over 200 veterans fishing for free – have another free trip coming up on July 4th – but by far this is the best one yet and perhaps one of the best fishing days we’ve ever had!

LOOKS LIKE THE ONLY DATE LEFT UNTIL LATE JULY IS JUNE 18-19 ON THE 48 VIKING – CALL ASAP. WHOLE BOAT OR OPEN BOAT – WHICH EVER FILLS UP FIRST

You Better Call ASAP if interested: 732-272-4445

Fluke & Blues In The Surf, Sea Bass On Wrecks

Fluke and blues are in the surf and sea bass are on the inshore wrecks.

Store staffer Dan D reported, “Nice first day fluking on the sand with Greg DeMello.” The two caught well over 30 fluke with the biggest going 21″. Dan said, “The fluke were practically beaching themselves! We caught a lot shorts and then capped it off with bluefish out the wazoo.”

Here’s a couple other fluke reports…

Austin Pounds has been on the fluke surf side. Here is a recent photo.

Les Spickler Jr stopped in the shop and reported putting together a good catch. He fished the bay in the rain and got four nice keepers.

The blues are racing the suds. Numerous reports recently

Chris Masino caught this one.

Dan Parker got this one.Posted got this guy off the surf on the south end.

Sea bass fishing is good right now. Get in the game before it closes on June 18th! Captain Jeff Warford hit a local wreck yesterday and had a fun trip. “Cold, windy and rainy but a good way to kill some time.” Jeff said, “A little inshore fun while waiting for the next weather window to get offshore. Will this wind ever stop?”

Above is Captain Jeff and below is Kyle Kosiba both showing off a fun way to burn a rainy day.

LBI Fishing Report June 5th

Good fun Jersey fishing in early June with anglers catching both inshore and offshore.

Mary Lee stopped by for some fresh bunker this morning!

It’s the same story here… Good fun Jersey fishing in early June with anglers catching both inshore and offshore. The main target species inshore are fluke, sea bass, striped bass and bluefish with the occasional sharpie stalking weakfish. The offshore guys are sharking and tuna fishing.

Here’s some info to supplement the recent posts.

Some nice bass are around! Captain David D on the Hi Flier caught a nice bass trolling off IBSP today.

John Hildreth got some Penn Reel parts from us last week. He sent in an email with a photo, “Perfect timing. I just got the reels fixed and got this one!”

J-Bird and Greenie got first place in the Beach Haven Marlin Tuna Clubs striper tournament this past weekend. Here’s J-Bird double fisted with a pair of bass. He reported, “Catching bait was a struggle and fishing was a slow pick. There’s nice fish around but you gotta work for them!”

Jim and Rich from Waretown aboard the 50/50 had a great week and weekend. They started off with a 60 pound bass then finished up the weekend with three more nice classy bass. They reported, “We are fishing the three mile line off of IBSP and the waters north of the Bathers Beach. Trolling Mojos is working best for us.”

There bass on the beach too. Yesterday, Jason Hoch weigh in 25.94 pound 42″ bass.

The blues are trending smaller but there are a couple good size ones still around. Store staffer Luke got this bluefish off the LBI surf after work today. Luke said there’s some bass mixed in up to 15 pounds.

Doug (@dremluk_d) got this bluefish this weekend fishing the Inlet.

Charles Mosley sent in this report today, “Caught some blues on the Inlet Jetty yesterday early morning.”

Carman sent in this report yesterday, “I caught a 22″ flounder in the Barnegat inlet using a high – low rig and cut squid for bait. That was the highlight of the day! I’m sure you can guess what’s for dinner tonight!”

Robbie Vallone and his father Carl fished Oyster Creek Channel today. They had multiple fluke with the biggest 21″ 5.9 pounds on Gulp! Here’s a couple other fluke reports…

Drew Knapp tagged us in a fluke photo post, “First fluke of the year and the first for Luey. Beauty of a day on the water!”

Store staffer Dan D. reported, “Scored big time tonight right before the wind set in! Caught some fluke and managed a quality weakfish. All fish released.

Shop alumni Sam Wisnewski won the Captain’s Cove Flounder Tournament (eastern shore of VA) this past weekend with a 4lb 121oz fluke. The master bucktailing flounder pounder still has the magic touch!

Nick Perello on the Pension Plan of the Beach Haven Marlin Tuna Club had a epic day on the water yesterday. The crew went four for five on bluefin tuna. Two 20 pounders and a double header! Released giant and kept this 224 pound fish. New personal best.

Chris Degennaro on the Kaley Marie went out and had a great trip yesterday too. Chris reported, “Great first canyon trip this weekend. We went six for six on bluefin up to 100 pounds and got a big eye!”

Shore Catch put their clients on the tuna this weekend with their first trip to the tuna grounds. Shore Catch reports, “The bluefin are here and we’ll be on them every chance we get. Get in on it!”

Blue Runner Sportfishing is off to a great start for their 2017 offshore canyon fishing season. They caught their first mako and bluefin in NJ on May 11th. Now their first bigeye tuna of 2017 on June 3.” As always Captain Mark and crew are dialed in!

Lots of boats went out sharking fishing this past weekend. Most all reports we heard back were blue shark, blue shark, blue shark. These local boats fishing 20-40 miles off were covered up in bluesharks. We heard of a couple big makos from anglers fishing waters south of our area. Lets hope the makos flood our waters soon.
14th Annual 2017 Berkeley Striper Club C&R Spring Tournament Results
By Steven Perna

Our tournament and its C&R format was once again a huge success thanks in large part to the generosity of sponsors like Fisherman’s Headquarters. With the changes we made this year to the tournament we were excited to be able to maintain participation levels equal to prior years as we continue to be responsible stewards of the resource.

One hundred percent of the monies raised through this tournament will once again be used to fund the BSC Fisheries Defense Fund which is designed to fund efforts that focus on effective management of striped bass, help provide a clean and productive habitat, and to protect important forage fish in the goal of enhancing our recreational fisheries. We are particularly proud of our continued financial support of ongoing striped bass research through donations to the Marine Biology Departments of Monmouth University/University of Massachusetts Amherst and Rutgers University Department of Marine Science. All told, we have donated over $50,000 in the past 13 years to organizations and research dedicated to the preservation of striped bass.

This years tournament went off without a hitch. The results, listed below, show the winners of the competitive divisions. In addition we also had 6 lucky participants who won one of the “Grand Prize Packages” supplied through the fabulous donations of our sponsors. The fishing during the 5 days of competition was challenging and we received a total 31 fish submissions during the tournament all released to fight again……

Surf Division:
1. Shawn DeVenchenzo 42″
2. Zolton Egyed 40″
3. Bruce Caporale – 38″

Boat/Kayak Division:
1. Sean Seraphin 44″
2. Bob Andersen 43.5″
3. Phil LaGrossa 43″

Once again your efforts have shown your commitment to being a conservation minded member of the fishing community. Thank you for your continued support and generosity.

LBI Fishing Report June 4th

Bass, Blues, Fluke & Seabass

These four species are offering inshore, near shore and from shore anglers a great opportunity.

The sea bass bite has been very good on the inshore reefs and wrecks. Here is a photo of Vinny Iosso from his wreck trip yesterday.

Striped bass fishing isn’t epic like it should be right now but there are fish here none the less. Anglers are catching trolling along the beaches as well as fishing off the surf. Yesterday we got a report from an angler who got a 20 pound class linesider top water.
The size class of the blues has come down. The majority that are here now are ranging from 3-5 pounds although some larger ones are still here. Most are being caught by anglers chunking the surf. Yesterday a customer reported catching a few on the jetty casting metal.

The fluke fishing season kicked off strong and continues. We got word from one angler who managed one keeper amongst ten shorts yesterday. Lots of great reports from the bay as well as anglers on the surf. Austin Pounds just got a nice one off the surf! First one of the year and it was a beast. They are in the cuts mid-island. ” This is another real deal fluke for the surf.
*What Austin Used*
Andrus Jetty Caster Bucktail (Chart, 3/4oz)

Berkley Gulp! SW! 4″ Swimming Mullet (White)

It’s time for tuna and shark offshore. With the awesome forcast a lot of boats are out fishing today. Here’s a couple reports from yesterday. Phil P. reported, “The tuna were jumping in the boat at the Hudson. It was nice until a line of t-storms rolled in. It got ugly quick.” Right now there’s a mix of Bluefin tuna and Big Eye Tuna that anglers are catching on the troll.

Dylan Fisher reported, “Great day on the water but we could not get away from the blue sharks. The hunt continues tomorrow.”

LBI Fishing Report June 3rd

Joe from Hopewell caught this 32″ striped bass off the LBI surf yesterday. Joe was fishing the south end with bunker.

Matt Sorrentino got a 21″ keeper fluke yesterday fishing a local public dock. He reported, “Got my first fluke of the season after work!”
Offshore fishing is heating up! Good bluefin reports off the Jersey Coast. Some boats found large fish about 30 miles off. A smaller but better quantity are being boated out at the Hudson Canyon area.

June is here and that means one thing… It’s Shark Fishing Season! Captain Rick Woerner and crew from Carnivore Sportfishing recently hung a monster mako… 537 pound 108.75″. The Avet Reel and Costa Sunglasses Pro Staff reported their first trip of the season turned out to be a good one.

Speaking of sharks… Mary Lee seems to really like the Jersey Shore in the spring (May/June). As reported previously she has spent time in our local waters. The 17′ white shark was tagged in 2012. In 2015 she came for a visit in early May now again this year she’s back again. Recently she pinged a number of times. Last Sunday in Cape May, then Wildwood. Wednesday she was about 7 miles off Atlantic City then off Long Beach Island. Yesterday she was off the northern Jersey Coast.

The Carolyn Ann III out of Barnegat Light reports good black Sea bass fishing, “There are some quality fish but you have to weed through the shorts. Several anglers had their limits and lots had five or six. We started catching a few short fluke around the wrecks. It’s a good sign for the coming weeks. Depending on fishing we’ll be mixing it up with both species.”

The 10th Annual Striper Shootout and Fish Fry hosted by Harvey Cedars’ High Point Vol Fire Co is Saturday June 10th. It’s an awesome tournament that is a great time for the whole family. Live Music, Food and Raffel. For more info www.hpvfc.com

LBI Fishing Report June 2nd

A couple reports flowed in from the surf today.

Local angler Dan stopped in for some hooks and fresh bunker. He reported catching on the mid-island surf yesterday… two bass (23″ & 25″) and a few blues. All on bunker.

Johnny Bui also got a couple bass and blues of the surf yesterday.

Johnnie Commiso got this 37″ bass off the mid-island surf yesterday.

Reports along the beach have been slow but there are a couple bass being pulled by anglers trolling. Those that are being caught are good size ones. The snag and drop bite doesn’t seem to be stacking up to previous years. Let’s hope it materializes soon.