The youngin’ striped bass continue to cruise the surf biting baits along the Island’s beaches. These bass are providing action, holding over those surf anglers itching for the classy bass to show. Don’t fret they’ll be here soon. Until then we’ve got blues and drum as the largest line pulling species to test your tackle.

Bothers John and Greg hit the mid-island surf at about 1pm today. They started getting bites right away on bunker and ran short on bait. A quick run back to our shop to re-up and they were back in ’em. John said, “The conditions were prime with onshore breeze and clean water. All fish on bunker. Not a bite on clam. All bass, six total, one keeper.”
Here’s a photo of Dom C who found his first 2017 spring season striper. He caught this one a few days ago on a rubber shad. Take note of the beautiful clean ocean water. 

Hutch Jr. (Jim) from the Fisherman Magazine was out on the bay today fishing the south end of the Island. While he set out in search of black drum, he caught a hand full of short bass and a few big blues. No drum.

With a little more than 10 days left in the season, now is go time for tog! It has been good. There’s very productive inshore fishing at the near shore wrecks and reefs sites. It’s also good for land based anglers fishing the rocks.

After a solid few days over the Holiday weekend the bluefish action at the Barnegat Inlet became very spotty, which should be expected with early season fishing. The abundance and location of bait is most important but also controlling their every move… the water temperature. The spring’s large swings from chilly (high forties along the surf) to warm (high sixties select areas in the bay) have the arriving fish confused and looking for comfort. The past couple days, the blues found comfort and food in the mid-island bay.

Yesterday we had a couple bluefish weigh ins. Bill K. of the Village Harbour Fishing Club checked in a 15.10 pound bluefish. He it as well as well as many others fishing the mid-Island bay. Dave Spendiff has been out the past couple days and found good action too. Dave report, “I found a very large pod of 12-14lb fish in the bay. After boating 25+ fish, I simply got tired!” Monday his largest was 14.5 pound. Another report came from Stephen Amoriello…”Got the bluefish good thanks to the Yo-Zuri Mag Darter compliments of Fisherman’s Headquarters.” His photo is below.

Prime perch fishing… Pete recently took his kids Mia and Peter (1 & 3 years old) to catch their first perch. They did good. Another solid perch report came from the DiPasquale brothers. Store staffer Dan and his brother Patrick had a fun evening yesterday. “30+ in under and hour!” Patrick said, “Perch sure don’t tug as hard as blackfish, but they are really fun on light tackle especially when you’re catching one after the other.” The brothers gave thanks to Austin Pounds for putting them on the meat!

A nice box from Super Strike came in today. They are up on the wall but will not last long. Here’s our current selection.

Steve Burin hit the mid-island surf early this morning. He said the tide was out so reading the beach was easy. He staked up and soaked bait for the flood. He caught one small bass on clam.  Steve stopped by the shop to get more bunker and clams for the top of the tide. “I had to get out of the waders. It warmed up quick! Heading back now to fish the drop.”

I headed up the Inlet rocks this morning and put a couple hours in. Bluefish wise it was dead but the tog fishing was good. 

Hope everyone had an awesome Easter Celebration. That must have been one of the most beautiful Easters on record. Lots of sun, very warm summer like temps and fish on the chew! Vinny Iosso tagged us in a photo, “Can’t beat a weekend of family, friends and fishing fun.”
 

Three to four days in a row now the bluefish have produced line screaming fun. Dew and Lucy got into the fun! Lucy said, “My wrist is sore from Saturday.” Dew said, “Bluefish bonanza for an hour! Good times. ”

Store staffer Luke fished this morning and got a nice bass. Photo below.

The tog bite has been good both land based and in the boat. Darren Hutchinson got ‘em on the rocks. “Found some black Easter eggs!”

Bill Bassant reported, “First time tog fishing since I was a yougin’. Had a good day Friday. Can’t wait to get back out there and land the ones that came off.”

Jack Wolfburg weighed in a 10.68 pound black fish today. He reported very good fishing about 10 miles off. They caught 60 and were in by 11.

Patrick DiPasquale was on the water today and also did very good.

The bay is full of life. The flats and docks are loaded with schoolies eating softies, jigs and poppers. There’s fluke coming up on them too. Store staffer Willie got this one over the weekend. Slowly better sized bass should show soon. The blues came in and are adding to the action. The weakies are in too but it’s going to be interesting to see what happens with the gators in town. The deep bay was 59.9 yesterday, closer to the ends it is cooler. The warm water outflow was hitting 70. Michael Dringus sent in a report, “Big blues in the bay. Shallow water is best. Some bass mixed in.”

Water temps in the surf are in the upper 40’s right about to break the cusp. Here is another recent catch from the Island’s surf.

Jim Crane sent in this report, “Happy Easter!! Fish are here. No touches on plugs. But I caught my first of the year. It’s the earliest I’ve ever got one. It was a 26″ bass on a bunker chunk around 10am this morning in Brant Beach. A friend caught a 10.5 blue and a short bass on clam in pretty much the same spot yesterday. Conditions were great today. What a gorgeous day on the island. I’m fired up!!”
It’s time to go fishing! Tight Linezzzzzzz

The blue dogs have moved in!!! The weather’s good with plentiful sunshine and warming temps. It’s only getting better from here… Let’s get in the game!

Numerous reports from both Inlet and surf… The yellow eyed demons are hitting bait, metals and bucktails. One angler reported they were destroying poppers on top water, “Blasting Out!”
Matt Pratt and Victoria Bates struck out with tog but got into the blues. After fishing the North End’s rocks, they stopped in the shop for a new rod. While here they quickly grabbed some tackle, showed some picture proof and headed back to the scene of the crime.” Here’s a photo of Matt with one of the racer blues.

One caller said, “The BL Inlet is going ape $hit!”

Dylan Fisher and Austin Pounds got out on the CA3 today. Austin Pounds reported, “Hell of a bite today on the CA3. Wreck fishing is on fire! We got our limit with bigger fish mixed in. Stepped off the boat and right onto the rocks. Blood in my eyes, on my face, on my clothes… Gators on every cast. Slaying the blues!” Dylan got into the action on the rocks too. He reported, “Epicness! Go get some wire leader It’s game time.” Here’s a photo of Dylan with a bluefish from today.

Jim Crane stopped in this afternoon for some goods. While here he shared some recent intel off the surf. He said, “There’s bass and blues off the mid-island surf. Both today and yesterday they were there. My buddy got one bass and one blue and also lost a bluefish.” The bass are small but the blues are good fighting size!

Dave Hershberger posted a photo of a mini bass off the surf. He got it off the mid island surf on a Daiwa SP Minnow. Dave reported, “This is one ambitious striper. His eyes are bigger than his belly.” There’s other small line siders cruising the suds.

Earlier today Sam got this a four pound tog on clam fishing the north end of the island. Anglers are also finding white chins on crabs.

Easter Sunday Hours – 7am to 4pm

Current bait selection as of 4-15-17 at 6:30pm… Fresh Bunker, Live Blood Worms, Salted Clam, and we are running low on live surf clams.

The recent plentiful sun warmed things up and has fish on the move. As the water temps creep up, prime time only gets closer. Before it busts open we’ve got good early spring fishing.
The white perch fishing continues strong! Most angler are scraping the bayside bulkheads scratching up live grass shrimp, the ultimate perch bait. Other are fishing small pieces of worm as well as mini grub jigs. Traditionally late in the day is best. This fishing is awesome fun for kids and adults alike.

Jacques Michot caught this nice size black drum this morning fishing a local sod bank. This is the second black drum report we’ve got this spring. Expect more to show. Usually it happens mid April on the moon and goes into May. This can last a month or more. Now’s the time to target these large creatures. Use clam!

School bass are roaming the bay. Soon we’ll see a better class. Until then the small ones are here for fun. Local Ship Bottom resident Paulie stopped in yesterday evening and geared up for a night bass session. He swung back in today to share a positive report. Paulie said, “It started slow. We stuck it out and eventually got dialed in. The bass were on the chew but they were very particular. These picky critters wouldn’t touch a four inch plastic. However, when we scaled down to the shad darts you suggested, it was on. Thanks for the tips!” You got to give them what they want. We suggest fishing small jigs (1/4 to 5/8oz – bucktails, darts, softbaits) slow and low. Let them fall and sweep though the zone. For more on the bass front see below… The Berkeley Striper Club’s Steve George has some promising words.

Currently at closing time on Thursday we’ve got live bloodworms and salted clam. Tomorrow late morning – afternoon we expect live surf clams, live green crabs and more bloods. We got our fingers crossed some fresh bunker might show up too.

To all of our blog readers… Happy Easter! PS: Easter Sunday’s hours will be cut short. We’ll be closing at 4pm.

“My spring tagging season is off to a good start and hopefully this will result in some very important information. Based on the size this year, most I caught are too small to tag. I managed to tag a few larger ones. The future sure looks bright! There is a massive amount of very young striped bass both in the surf and back bay along the Jersey coast. Right now you can find 100’s maybe 1000’s of ~12-15″ size fish schoolied up and feeding. I estimate these bass are 1-2 years old from the 2014/15 YOY Index. Things could get really good in about 10 years. Are these Striped bass are born locally? If and when they leave, will they return to our waters in the future?” ~ Steve George

News on the Hudson Canyon National Marine Sanctuary which threatens fisherman’s access to one of the best offshore fishing areas… Be sure to read Hutch Jr’s article about the situation… Fortunately for fisherman the Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council voted down the proposal 15-4.

With some free time yesterday I got out and fished. I thought about fishing locally, but ended up making the hour drive north to fish the Raritan Bay with fellow store staffer Blake. There were just too many good reports flowing to miss out.

Blake and I were greeted with the midday’s super low full moon tide. It made launching difficult but we managed. At the ramp we talked with an angler who was pulling out after fishing the morning. He reported good fishing, catching small bass both on the troll and casting lures. He said the bite got good as the tide dropped but had to cut the session short due to work.

We launched and headed out to the area he suggested. There were a couple gannets roaming around so we started casting. Within the first hour or so the only other boat in the area picked a pair of fish on the troll. No takers for us on poppers, soft baits or jigs. The wind kicked up and the tide started to flood. The water temp dropped from 50 to 48. We decided to make a run west looking for the warmer water and protection from the wind. After searching around trying different areas we finally settled in on the area off of Laurence Harbor and Cliffwood Beach. There were a couple gannets roaming and scattered marks on the sounder. Without luck on lures we were forced into trolling. It didn’t take long and we were into a steady pick of small bass trolling rubber shads right into sunset. There were some other boats that joined in on the area for the last couple hours and from the looks of it everyone was catching. It was a good day and a successful shake down trip.

Late this morning we received a nice bait delivery. We currently have surf clams (both live in the shell as well as shucked salted pints), green crabs and bloodworms. With the awesome weather we have been super busy so we aren’t confident our supply will last long. It’s best to call to confirm bait stock before making the drive.

Here’s some info on local fishing…

Store staffer Steve-o said, “Perch fishing is going in the evenings. Use small jigs, worms and/or shrimp. Winter flounder and schoolie bass are present in the mid-island bay. One customer said he got two small bass clamming the mid-island surf yesterday.” Steve reported a good four hour session fishing a bulkhead with worms. Store staffer Joe C. has been catching on the bayside too. He reported small bass going for bucktails in the mornings. The outgoing tide is best but with weather like this get out and enjoy it when you can.

Lots of questions about Inlet reports. Bluefish? Tog? While we have not received direct reports it’s that time! We should be seeing the spring’s first yellow eye soon. On the tog front, we know some customers are trying because we are selling green crabs; however, we have not heard back. With the positive reports from boats fishing the near shore reefs and wrecks we expect the white chins to be hanging around the Inlet Jetty soon if not already there.

Here’s a weekend report from one of our area’s local party boat, Carolyn Ann III out of Barnegat Light. They got out and and put their clients on fish.

The CA3 reported, “Saturday’s steady 20-25 mph north west wind all day, didn’t affect fishing. The bite was real good with a nice catch of blackfish and some cod. Several anglers had their limit and pretty much everyone caught keepers. Richard Wiesz (see photo) won the pool with a 7lb tog. Sunday was a beautiful day on the water, but the bite was slower. Still a great day with a mix of blackfish and cod. Mike Keane took the pool with a 6.5lb cod.”

The Carolyn Ann III is fishing every Saturday and Sunday though April; however, they are sailing on Good Friday and this upcoming Saturday. They are NOT sailing on Easter Sunday.

The Carolyn Ann mentioned, “Don’t forget about our charter service! Whether it’s a group fishing, birthday party, corporate event, memorial service or ocean cruise… We will do our best to fit all needs!” They can also arrange catering. Call Gina to discuss your needs and details 856-313-5493

Striped Bass! Perch! Winter Flounder! Drum! Weakfish! Fluke! Blue Claw Crabs!

While the first three are old news the second half is music to our ears! The striped bass fishing is strong. Both early season spots are lit up and activity has spread out elsewhere in the bay too. Softbaits and bucktails are doing the trick as well as natural baits like clam and worm. White perch fishing has been good. Today we got a report that it was on fire mid week with some quality fish size in the mix. We also heard herring were boiling too. Store staffer Steve-o reports there are winter flounder in the mid-island bay. He got a couple fishing yesterday.

Word broke a couple days ago on the season’s first black drum, weakfish and fluke. Only waiting on the yellow eye demons and we’ll have a full house. A customer was in the shop earlier Friday buying clams. While here he reported catching a quality black drum Thirsday but didn’t want to share where. Captain Steve of Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters recently put his clients on the season’s first weakfish and first fluke! See his report which is a separate post.

Yesterday we had a customer buy a bucket full of frozen bunker. He stopped back today with a positive report. “Two dozen blue clabs!”  They are out of the mud or they skipped burrowing into hibernation.

With a good stretch of weather laid out we are optimistic on local fishing. So far we’ve had a great weekend.  We currently have a small amount of live surf clam left as well as live green crabs and salted clam. We sold out of live bloods. If you can’t find worms we have DynaBait Freeze dried blood and sand worms in stock. Try them they work! If you want to wet a line stop in and we’ll hook you up.

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Here’s some news from Van Staal… The super popular Van Staal VR Series family of fishing reels is getting a baby brother soon. Craig at Van Staal stopped by the shop a couple weeks ago and showed us the prototype. We were impressed with it style and feel. Nothing innovative, just a rock solid all metal spinning reel made for fishing by fisherman. What’s so complicated with that? Anglers have been asking for something like this for years.

Here’s a recent photo of Craig putting the VR50 to the test! Stay tuned for its release. We expect it will be shown at ICAST this July.

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Here’s some news on the LEI Dredging…

Little Egg Inlet Dredging Expected to Begin in Early July
Apr 05, 2017
A project to clear dangerous shoals from Little Egg Inlet is projected to start mid-summer, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. The DEP’s Division of Coastal Engineering is expediting dredging of the inlet, which is a major thoroughfare for boat traffic between southern Long Beach Island and Brigantine to the south.

“We’re hoping to advertise the request for proposals this month,” said DEP press officer Lawrence Hajna. “Allowing for the procurement process and fish-migration timing restrictions, we would expect work to begin in early July.”

The project will focus on shoaling of sand on the oceanside of the inlet. Currently, in many places the channel has become less than 6 feet below mean sea level, making navigation very difficult, especially when contending with waves. An estimated 1 to 1.5 million cubic yards of sand will be dredged to create a channel 25 feet below mean sea level.

“This situation has become critical so we are moving forward, using state money, to dredge the channel and make it safe again for everyone who needs this vital access for fishing and recreation,” DEP Commissioner Bob Martin said last month. “We need to take action to get this channel dredged for the safety and enjoyment of the public this summer season.”

According to the DEP, “The project, which will require U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permits, will be designed to have negligible to no impact on the nearby (Edwin B.) Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge or migrations of fish.”

Steve Rochette, spokesman for the Army Corps, said the Corps’ regulatory office received the permit application last week, and is conducting an initial review now.
As Hajna noted, “It’s hard to say at this stage how long the project will take. This will depend a lot on the amount of sand that actually has to be dredged and, of course, weather.”

The dredged sand will be used to replenish beaches on portions of southern LBI.

— Juliet Kaszas-Hoch, The SandPaper