When the dogwoods are blooming, the bass fishing is booming! Here on Long Beach Island we’ve had a great run of weather and a great run of fishing. Striped bass are being caught up and down LBI with reports coming from the north end, mid-Island and south end. The surf action is definitely a week or more earlier than last year. We expect this to continue and hopefully only get better as we enter May, one of the best months out of the year for surf fishing Long Beach Island.

Here’s video report update on 4/19/23 at 10AM, click above.

LBI Surf Fishing Report

A good wave of fish arrived a handful of days back and they have stuck around! Great striped bass reports continue for a number of days now with anglers catching on both bait and lures.

Fish Heads Team Member Frankie, our in house Van Staal Reel Tech Guru, has enjoyed good fishing in the LBI suds. On Monday evening he was out fishing the mid-Island surf and had good fishing. He reported he as well as other anglers fishing in the area were hooking up with multiple fish. “It’s great to see rods up and down the beach bent!”

Here’s (above) Frankie with one of mnay striped bass he caught off the LBI surf the last couple of days.

It seems that the majority of striped bass on the front beach are being caught on clam. Right now at the time of this post we have fresh clam in the shell, fresh shucked and also fresh shucked salted. There is also striped bass on the surf eating worms; both bloodworms and sandworms are great spring time on the surf. HOWEVER, if fishing bait right now be sure to prepare accordingly! There’s a good showing of blowfish right now in the surf and they are notorious bait nibblers. Bring some extra bait. Rigging up with a small hook rig isn’t a bad idea either. Why not take advantage of the tasty critters? It wouldn’t surprise me to see kingfish soon.

Anglers fishing lures are also catching. The standouts right now on the surf are slender swimming minnow style lures. The two best being the Daiwa SP Minnow and the Yo-zuri LC Minnow

Both are slender, tight swimming, long casting lures that striped bass love. These two lures are very universal and they produce season after season so if you haven’t fished one yet, I suggest you ad one to your arsenal today. Better late than never. As far as color… an angler can never go wrong with a bone and a natural with a chrome/flash finish.

This morning Greg Davis reported good action plugging. He stopped in to share the report and also hook up the team with PIZZA… HUGE thanks! Fish Heads Team Member Paul, who is usually running the front counter weekday mornings, enjoyed the sunny afternoon plugging for bass.

Here’s (above) Paul with a nice striped bass he caught Tuesday afternoon off the LBI surf on a bone Yozuri LC Minnow lure.

LBI Spring Surf Fishing Tournament

Click here for the live results page. Here’s the top three striped bass.

Tautog Fishing Report

NJ Spring Tautog Season: April 1 to April 30th, Four Fish Bag Limit, 15″ Minimum Size

Great tog reports from the boats and land based tog anglers continue and point to a strong second half of the month/season. Land based anglers fishing live green crab and sand fleas are doing a number on blackfish at Barnegat Inlet. Positive catches reports from the local wrecks and reef sites are also common. There, green crab and white crab are best. We’ve heard numerous double digit reports.

Here’s (above) one of many monster tog that Dave Moores has caught this spring.

NJ Fluke / Summer Flounder Fishing

Summer flounder fluke fishing gonna pop off here really soon. May 5th is opening day and the regulations re the same as last year… 2 slot fish 17″ to 17.999″ and 1 18″ or greater.

Every year the early part of the season offers some of the best back bay fluke fishing. With the way other fisheries are a head of schedule there’s no doubt that early fluking will be good. We have already heard of some caught as back bay bass bycatch.

No better time than NOW to gear up with essentials for the season ahead!

Are You Ready?

Be sure to check your rods and reels are in good working order, clean and lubricated because if you put them away wet and salty last season, chances are you’ll have some issues right now or in the near future. The worst way to start off spring is broken down. Also be sure to check rod guides for damage as a cracked ring or no ring at all will almost certainly result in a lost fish. Here at Fish Heads we are a full service bait and tackle shop offering professional rod and reel service.

Now is also the time to respool with fresh new line and replace rusty hooks with sharp and strong new ones. Here at Fish Heads we have all of the essentials and are open seven days a week or shop 24-7 online at fishermansheadquarters.com. There’s no better time then now to prep for the season that is upon us or the season ahead; striped bass, fluke, tuna, or what ever species is on your list.

This past week’s full moon marked another new stage of the season. The waters are warming up and fishing is on all accounts on or ahead of schedule. On the surf side we almost at that magic 50° mark where things pop off. The forecast is looking good for this upcoming week and into next weekend; sunny and warm. Further warming will have result in more/better fishing activity. I have a positive outlook for the next few weeks as we transition into the prime time spring fishing season here on LBI.

Happy Easter! The Easter Bunny was good to anglers fishing Long Beach Island this holiday weekend! Here’s a fishing report update for the Long Beach Island area. Gear up with us at Fish Heads and let’s go fishing!

Long Beach Island Fishing Report

Striped bass hold the spotlight as the most popular target species both in the bay and surf, but others, especially tog, perch, winter flounder and black drum are great options too. We heard of a weakfish caught in the South Jersey backwaters and when there is one, there is more. The next month or so it traditionally the time for spring time tide runners. Our fingers are crossed for some blues to show one of these days!

Fish The Bay

Fish the bay and rivers for striped bass, winter flounder, black drum or perch. Rig up for striped bass with a simple hi/lo or single dropper rig and bait up with live bloodworms or clam. To target winter flounder or perch you’ll need to use a small hook, while on the other hand a larger (6/0-8/0) hook with a short leader for black drum.

The Causeway Bridges offer numerous public access points with good proven fishing over the past coupe of weeks. Other areas like public street ends, docks and bulkheads are worth a shot too.

Cooper Lachowicz sent in a photo of a bass caught the other night off a bayside private dock.

Recently some better size bass in the lower 30″ ranger were caught, so keeper size fish are not out of the question. Here’s a photo of one caught by Bayside Dave.

Black drum are in Great Bay as well as the surf. We expect to see these drum propagate into the Manahawkin Bay as well as the lower Barnegat Bay. Gary Adair has been out in his boat catching a few nice Black Drum on the night shift. He said, “Fresh surf turkeys were the ticket!”

*NJ Black Drum Regulations – 16″ minimum size, 3 fish bag

Fish The Surf

Fish the LBI beaches for striped bass or black drum. Rig up with clam and/or worms and soak. The surf of Long Beach Island has produced both striped bass and black drum in recent days.

Shop regular Jamie Gramley caught and release a nice black drum off the mid-Island surf Sunday. He was fishing clam looking for a striped bass.

Another Easter Sunday catch report from the surf came in from Chris Painter. He caught this 36″ bass (photo above) on live bloodworms as well as a short striped bass. He reported, “No takers on the clam.”

The LBI’s Spring Surf Fishing Tournament Simply Bassin’ is on. Join now and participate in this simple and fun surf fishing tournament.

Tautog Fishing Report

The Barnegat Inlet area has tog. Anglers are catching on green crabs and sand fleas using jigs and rigs. Also reports have come in from wreck anglers. Right now we are in the one month April/Spring Tog Season so taken advantage while it lasts because once closed it will not reopen until August.

*NJ Tautog / Black Fish Regulations – 15″ minimum size, 4 fish bag, April 1-30th

Tony Butch got out to some snags and reported good fishing.  Anglers fishing the Mary M out of Barnegat Light caught some fish too. Bayside Dave reported a solid tog bite this weekend. “I got three keepers and took a 16.5″ fish home.”

And just like that April is here and “Spring Has Sprung!” The mainland areas have serious bloom-age and the island’s buds are popping. All signs are pointing to fun fishing. The April Full Moon is Wednesday night. The return of the laughing gulls to the area mean any day, usually 7-14 days later, the arrival of migrating striped bass and bluefish. Saw some of the season’s first gnats and that means the black drum will be here soon, most likely on this moon. The drum could be here now!

The radical weather and wild temperature swings are a challenging part of the spring transition. Anglers closely monitoring and riding the storms like salty cowboys get rewarded. This time of year more than any other, picking and choosing location and time/tide is of the utmost importance. Fish smart!

Fish Smart – Pick & Choose Wisely

Fishing after a cold blast chill isn’t the best way to find an active bite. Fishing after a heavy rain usually isn’t a good option either. Fishing in the early mornings after a cold night will more than likely be slow.

The keys to spring fishing this area are fishing the sunny days and fishing the afternoons when the waters are at their warmest. Warmest water is when the fish will be most aggressive and active. Fish the outgoing tide, all the way out and even a portion of the turn. These sections will be the warmest. Get back. Way way back and you’ll find them in the back bays, river mouths, sod banks, tributaries and rivers.

Welcome Back To NJ

More fish move into the state and there’s larger, more active ones too. Both the Delaware River and the Raritan Bay have fish. The arrivals are coming into the bays and heading up the rivers. Stacking up and making their move eventually to spawn soon. Photo below is a lot of striped bass stacked up like cord wood on Monday afternoon.

Here’s Kory Fishbein with a 46″ pig he caught and quickly released on Sunday. Kory lives in Philly and fishes the Jersey Coast beaches as well as the Delaware River. He shared the photo shortly after releasing it, “I finally made up for the one we lost!” This goes back a few year to when Kory had a monster bass on and I managed to loose it on him trying to net the fish boat side. Massive wood plug that was in the fish’s face and challenging to steer into my XXXL striped bass net. The net wouldn’t stay open due to the current and the fish pushed into the net and snagged up the plug. Fish was laying on top of the net but too far out of reach. One big head shake and the fish was free. It sat and looks at us for what seems like 20 seconds before tail slapping a splash of water in our face.

The LBI surf isn’t know for having good surf fishing in March and usually early April is slow too. This year the beaches have been quiet (other than some bait and gannets) until today. Corey Perich caught a 14.98# 35.75″ bass off the Beach Haven surf on salted clam. Yes I repeat a striped bass was caught off of the Long Beach Island surf. It was weighed in at Jingles. No the fish was not in the Spring Derby but would have been one hell of a first fish on the board.

We have seen and heard of other keeper fish caught in the local area too. Jbroz C. sent in a blurry night time keeper striped bass photo recently,”Caught on live bloodworms at 1am.” We also had a striped bass weigh in a few days ago but the team failed to record the anglers and catch info. Photo below.

Winter Flounder

Now’s the time (and all month) to catch some winter flounder. Brandy Hillegass caught this 2.35# flounder, just a hair shy of 18″ last week while worming for striped bass at the bay. The belly was loaded with freshly stolen bloodworms as well as native brown worms (unsure of the proper name but they were sand worms, super slender and about 6-8″ long). Not everyday that anglers catch winter flounder (which have super small mouths) on a 4/0 inline circle hook! One more reason to scale down to 2/0 circles this time of the year when light tackle worming. Brandy said, “The catch was a great surprise!” Brandy also caught a short striped bass today (Monday) fishing bloods on the bayside. “Thanks for the juicy worms!”

Tog Fishing

Tog hunters didn’t have a great kick off to the short one month (just April) spring tog season. It was sour with poor conditions. Nate Kirby reported, “The inlet was rough and the water was brown. Fishing around back it was weedy.” He’s looking forward to things settling down. Peter Gan reported catching a couple but, “the bite was real slow.”

Fishing the waters around Barnegat Light docks, bulkheads and rocks anglers should find a couple but don’t expect anything phenomenal like the crazy fall fishing. It’s also a good idea to have a plugging rod and a small plug bag when looking for April tog at the Barnegat Inlet. The toggers are usually the first ones top see a wave of bass or blues show up.

Land based tautog fishing can get good in the spring but for the most part it is a boat bottom fishing game so long as the weather allows. Some party boats further up the coast reported slow bottom fishing. Norma K III said they are catching fish but working hard for them, nothing great. They shared that what life they did find wanted “all crab. Not a touch on clam.” Usually clam is a great spring time tog bait. It’s a soft bait and it’s said that at this time tog prefer the soft baits in the spring. Not this day. The cod will hammer and slurp clams so you gotta have them!

Bait Update

And we will. We expect our first delivery of live surf clams this week! We have both live green crab and live white leggers in stock. While on the bait topic, I will share we plan to have fresh bunker towards the later part of the month.

On the bloodworm front, things aren’t looking promising. I’m told theres a couple issues that we are up against; persistence cold is making worm digging hard, recently poor tides, depleted resource from over fishing and also habitat destruction. Muscle dredging into the high water wares tore up the seed beds and without the beds you can’t expect to have a fishery. There’s large areas that were once prime time that are void of worms. We have managed to get some nice worms but this year more than ever we have got a lot of small pins. I’m sharing this to say we don’t want them either! But when the delivery shows up it’s either take it or leave it and small baits are better than no bait, no? If we refuse it then the next delivery (that might be better worms) isn’t coming our way.

I plan to dive more into the bloodworm topic in a future blog. Stay tuned!

Here’s a quick report from Store Staffer Frezza…

After an exceptional March full of striped bass fishing (locally and elsewhere in the state) April really came up fast. Time flies when you are having fun! I’m looking forward to black fish this month but will not loose focus on the bass fishing as it’s good and only getting better.

The fishing on the bayside of LBI continues strong with some nice slot fish on both live bloodworms and artificials. The reports from down my way, Tuckerton – Great Bay are starting but not great.

For me and the boys, the No Live Bait Needed paddle tails are working great (as always) around the bridges and sod banks. Store staffer Danny has been on the Bass since March 1st and his lure of choice is the 5” and 3” NLBN in Greenback and White.

As far as other fishing options… We’ve had a few Winter Flounder reports around the Ship Bottom – Surf City and Causeway Bridges area. Some creeks have white perch active on grass shrimp and bloodworm.

The sedges and sod banks have been loaded with Striped Bass and White Perch. Bloodworms have been working best but Store Staffer Frez and Tyler fished  local to him and picked a few school sized Bass on 3” NLBN on a 1/2oz head. 

Store staffer Paul is in on the action with aforementioned, NLBNS, while also scoring on Super Strikes, Yo-Zuri Mag Darters, SP minnows and Kettle Creeks Paddle Tails.  After, the last moon waned many fish were exclusively feeding on grass shrimp and worm from the sod banks, and teasers worked well at that point to match the hatch. Let’s see what this next moon brings us – Tight Lines!

Updated Spring Hours!

Easter Hours: 6:30 to 3PM

Monday – Thursday: 7am – 7pm
Friday: 7am – 8pm
Saturday: 6:30am – 8pm
Sunday: 6:30am – 6pm

Great weather here on LBI this week but things are turning. Tomorrow (Thursday) a southerly wind and wind swell blows in a 2-3′ swell on the beaches which will stick around all weekend with the support of a coastal low pushing through Saturday night.

The cold blast last week has curbed the spring progression but didn’t stop it. Recent days have offered fun fishing for anglers fishing live bloodworms. There’s no better bait at this stage of the game. Early spring striped bass and winter flounder LOVE BLOODS! Right now we are loaded up with premium live bloodworms!

Dave Moores caught a couple winter founder recently fishing the Barnegat Bay.

Mike Nunziato had some fun fishing Great Bay a few days back.

Some sharpies are catching with artificial; however, most are finding slower fishing with lures. Store staffer Frezza has been getting out and catching. Store staffer Paul has been putting in his fair share of time and catching too. Store staffer Eric is catching a lot of bass this spring. Just the other day he caught a released 27″ tagged striped bass. He called it in and is waiting for the details. Each and everyone had a great story.

I went for a walk on the beach this morning and had gannet dive bombing all over! See this video!

Most Recent Fishing LBI Report Video…

NJ Saltwater Expo

This past weekend’s NJ Saltwater Expo was another awesome show. It once again blew out our expectations. Thanks to all who attended and patronized the booth. We greatly appreciate everyone’s support.

Some years start off cold and slow but not this year. So far early spring striped bass fishing the bayside of Long Beach Island has been nothing short of exceptional. The bass are and have been ravenous, chewing baits and lures. The team is getting into good fun fishing. Reports from customers fishing the greater local area are also positive. The local river action continues and spots in the adjacent river mouths/bays are turning on.

Bloodworms are the bait of choice! We suggest fishing bloods on a high-low rig (2/0-4/0 circle baitholder by Eagle Claw) with a 2-3 ounce bank sinker. Fish Heads Tip: DyanBait freeze dried bloodworms or Fishbites BagO’Worms are two great options to get more milage out of your live bloods. Also juice it up with Fin-Essence

In the evenings and nights cast small swimming plugs like a Daiwa SP Minnow, Yo-Zuri Inshore Fingerling in both sizes, Nomad Shikari 95 size and Rapala SXR 10. Swim shads are a go too option and must have in the bag. NLBN 3 inch with a ⅜- ¾  oz head or a 5” Kettle Creek paddle tail has always been a staple.

During the early months of the season the bass tend to hang around the sod banks, bridges, rivers, river mouths and bays. A seven or eight foot rod (Option 1: Tsunami Airwave Elite Light – TSAWESS-762LT $169.99, Option 2: Magictail Inshore Light – MT-701SL $219.99) paired up with a 3-4k sized reel (Option 1: Penn Battle DX 3/4k $149.99, Option 2: Shimano Stradic 3/4k $219.99) make the perfect combo to have fun with some of the local early season schoolies!

Other Fishing Opportunities

White perch are highly sought after during the winter and spring. These delicious panfish can be caught on bait and artificial. Grass shrimp, bloodworms and earthworms are the baits of choice. Small grubs and minnow style soft plastics 1-2″, 3″ at absolute most, work on a small jig or can be fished on a float.

Winter flounder are another tasty species to catch during the spring months. These are best targeted using bloodworms as well as clam and/or a kernel of corn. Chumming is suggested. Winter flounder have much smaller mouths than summer flounder so be sure to use a small hook or use a classic winter flounder rig.

Tide Chasers Podcast

Over the winter I was asked to join in on the podcast and share a little bit about myself, business, fishing, the LBI area, offshore wind and much more. The Tide Chaser Podcast is live now!

The early spring can offer some of the year’s best fishing. With regards to our local area, south central NJ coast, Barnegat Bay, Manahawkin Bay and the areas in close proximity to the north and south anglers have great fishing opportunities. It’s usually special because compared to the fall there is a lot less anglers fishing. But don’t expect great fishing off the LBI surf or at the inlets. In the early spring look around back!

What to catch in the early spring

Striped Bass, Winter Flounder, White Perch

Baits: Baits like live bloods are always best and effective on all three species. No fish can turn down an east to digest worm in the early spring! If the price of live bloods or the necessary care that comes along with live baits is a hassle for you, check out DynaBait’s Freeze Dried Bloodworms. Other natural soft baits like squid and clam are options. Grass shrimp is a prime bait for perch. Also striped bass love them. Last September I was grass shrimping for weakfish and caught a winter flounder so I know they eat shrimp too. For worming bass early season these TNT rigs are perfect. Here’s the classic winter flounder rig options from Tide Rite.

Lures: Soft plastics are great in the spring when fishing shallow water with a slow approach. The Kettle Creeks and Tsunami Swim Shads have worked very well for me over the years. More recently I have fallen in love with the No Live Bait Needed. Skinny minnow pattern plugs are good too as they match the jumbo spearing that are commonly around in the early spring. I like the Yo-zuri Fingerling , Yo-zuri Mag Minnow or Daiwa DSPM13 SP Minnow. Anglers can never go wrong with a small jig like a bucktail or a lead head rigged with a plastic. Also popper draw attention to trigger strikes and are easy to fish in shallow areas. My best catching back bay popper is the Stillwater Smack-It Jr and the Storm Chug Bug.

When to fish the early spring

Fish the warmest water you can find, which is commonly mid to later in the day, shallow areas on the outgoing time.

Where to fish the early spring

Sorry I can’t publish exact spots but stop in and patronize the shop, get to know the team and we’ll help point you in the right direction. It’s best to start out searching for public access on Google Maps or Google Earth. Lots of valuable information can be gathered scouting satellite images as well as the old school method of nautical charts (we have them in the shop) or the new school method of Navionics. Some local fish producing general areas over the years… the Mullica River and the river mouth, Great Bay area, Toms River and the many west side of the bay creeks. All are fishy area to scout. The early spring is all about fishing the rivers, creeks, sod banks and bay!

How to fish the early spring

Generally speaking in the early spring, approach with a slower retrieve, smaller lure profiles. As the spring progresses larger profiles will prevail. On the bait side of the game, nothing beat live blood worm for striped bass and winter flounder. Other details were previously provided in the sections above under baits and lures.

Another Major Considerations…

Current Water Temperatures

The water temperature is one of the most important factors to consider in the spring. Much more so now than in the fall. Why? Because the waters are cold and the fish are on the lethargic side. As the days get longer (March 17th will be the first time we have 12 hours of sunlight 7:06am – 7:06PM) the sun warms the rivers and shallow areas of the bay first, especially darker mud bottoms. As we get into spring the average daily temperatures help turn up the dial too. As these shallow waters warm the bottom water temperatures especially in deeper areas stay cold. This stratified water column can make or break an outing. Tide plays a huge role is spring time fishing success too. It’s even more important when fishing closer to the ocean or ares that have ocean water tidal flow/influence.

Here’s current water temperature data for the Barnegat Bay from USGS. The top chart details the west side of the bay near Waretown. The bottom chart details the east side of the bay, near the inlet in Barnegat Light. The Barnegat Light location gets both bay (outgoing) and ocean (incoming) waters temperature readings depending on the tide. The Waretown location gets much less influence of ocean water.

Looking at the past 30 day chart… The Barnegat Bay water temperature at Waretown is currently (3/1/23 2:30PM) at 45º. It had a low of 30º on Feb 4th at 2:49am and a high of 48º on Feb 17th at 3:45pm and then again on Feb 21st at 3:54pm. Barnegat Light is currently at 42º (3/1/23 2:30PM). It had a low of 32º on Feb 5th at 3:30am and a high of 45º on Feb 17th at 2:49pm and then again on Feb 24th at 5:30pm.

The ocean temperature yesterday record by IBSP Park ranger 44º.

The last weekend of February is over and I can hardly believe that this Wednesday is opening of back bay striped bass fishing. Winter flew by! Well it isn’t officially over until March 20th and Punxsutawney Phil (groundhog) back on 2/2 said six more weeks of winter (which would be March 16th). Fortunately the 10 outlook doesn’t seem too warm nor too cold, but we do have an active pattern of coastal lows this week, one after the other. Here’s the Fishing LBI Fishing Report Update for Sunday February 26, 2023.

At this point in the season usually there aren’t reports to help better plan an approach. In this case, fishy anglers look back to their logs and past info to guide them. Link coming soon… “How The Sharpies Fish The Early Spring”. This year it all hold true but things could be accelerated a week or two due to the short, mild winter. Also the positive fishy news has flowed through the grapevine of great winter bass fishing. Since illegal, we do not condone or would have posted about them all winter long. I’m here to share the news.

I expect anglers to enjoy a great month of early season in the local waters targeting striped bass, winter flounder and perch. As mentioned, there’s striped bass here and are waiting. Perch fishing is an all winter long thing for those that know where to go and know what to do. Winter flounder rounds out the trio and should be hungry and waiting in the back bay areas, usually around the bridges and creek/river mouths in the early part of the season. In the not so distant future I expect a showing of weakfish because the past couple years I’ve had an uptick in my catches of weakies. We’ll see. Maybe there’s a return of the bluefish?🤞

Salt Water Expo

We’ll be there again in full force and for sure bringing the heat. Save The Dates – March 17-19th!

LOCATION: New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center97 Sunfield AveEdison, NJ 08837
DATE/TIME: March 17-19, 2023Friday: 12pm – 8pmSaturday: 10am – 6pmSunday: 10am – 5pm
WEBSITE: https://saltwater.sportshows.com/

Reminder – March 1st Tog Fishing Closes

LBI Spring Derby Surf Fishing Tournament

The 21st Annual LBI Spring Derby runs April 1st to June 25th. Registration is $20 and will begin soon. Stay tuned for more information.

Here’s Part 3 of a three part blog series to help you Better Fish Circle Hooks! Read the first two parts for more information on many the fundamentals include defining and confirming inline circle hooks, hook terminology, characteristics and most importantly choosing the best inline circle hook for striped bass fishing.

Part 1 – Circle Hooks & Striped Bass

Part 2 – Fishing For Striped Bass With Circle Hooks

Baiting Up Matters!

There are a variety of great ways to hook live baits on circle hooks and there is a wrong way. Do not choke the hook gap! Let me repeat. Never block or obstruct the hook’s gap! 

Top Five Natural Baits & Matching Hook Sizes For Striped Bass:

When riggin up to bait fish striped bass the angler must ask. What bait is going to be used and how big is the bait?

• Bunker: 8/0 to 10/0 medium to med/hvy gauge wire hook
• Eel & Spot: 4/0 to 7/0 medium wire hook
• Clam & Worm: 2/0 to 6/0 Light wire hook (Eagle Claw Baitholder Inline Circle)

Tips For Fishing Circle Hooks

Have you tried a circle hook before? Have you had good or bad experiences? When approached and fished properly circle hooks offer anglers no downside. With these tips you will better your results and just might fall in love with them.

• Do Not Fill The Hook Gap! – The more exposed the hook the better. Too much bait on the hook obstructs the hooks ability to find the jaw. When using larger baits some anglers prefer to bridle baits with the entire hook outside of the bait. Keeping the hook free and exposed is a key part of effectively fishing circle hooks.

For best results anglers must fish circle hooks differently than a traditional j-hook.

• With A J-hook – An angler detects a bite and then uses the rod to make a fast and powerful hook set to drive the hook point past the barb. This might be in the fish’s face, lip/jaw, mouth, throat or worse esophagus. This traditional hook set when using circle hooks is a bad tendency.
• With A Circle Hook – An angler detects a bite but must be patiently aware. Commonly pointing the rod at the fish, anglers wait 3-5 seconds before slowly tightening the line and applying firm pressure. This is to allow the fish to first take/eat the bait/hook and then turn with it. As the fish moves, swims away, the hook finds the corner of the mouth (jaw) and then comes tight. Most of the time when swallowed a circle hook slips out of the esophagus safely and perfectly finds the jaw. This is the magic of circle hooks!
• Do Not Set The Hook! – Circle hooks set themselves. Attempting to set the hook (like a j-hook) will result in pulled hooks and lost fish.
  • Crank – Don’t Yank!
  • Once Tight – Begin The Fight! 

Lever drag conventional reels and spinning reels with a secondary free spool drag (Penn Live Liners, Shimano Baitrunners) are great for fishing circle hooks. They make it very easy for an angler to patiently drop back to a fish.

For anglers looking to broaden their horizons and have some tricks when situations call for it, here are some hooking options more specifically for live bait fishing with bunker, herring, mullet, spot, etc. 

Common Hooking Options:

• Across The Nostrils: The nose is one of the best locations for most situations so long as baits are good quality and conditions allow. It allows for live baits to swim and breath freely when drift fishing with a minimally invasive hooking. When bites occur the bait rips off easily so it does not impede the effectiveness of the hook. However if baits rip off too easily try other options.
• Hook Up Through Both Lips: Great hook holding power that’s effective for head hits but chokes and kills baits fast. Good with a cast and retrieve approach.
• Hook In & Through Roof of Mouth – Great hook holding power that is good for casting and slowly retrieving. Must hook with care so the bait is not killed prematurely. Can’t be used in heavy current as the flow opens the bait’s mouth and floods with water killing the bait and making it spin.This hooking is very similar to hook in and through the cheek.
• In The Back By Dorsal – A very popular choice which keeps the bait upright for live lining and kite fishing. Some anglers choose to hook at different locations of the back; ⅓ front, ½ middle or ⅓ rear depending on the baits, conditions and way fish are eating. This hooking option is the easiest to “overhook” and take up too much of the hook’s bend and gap. Be cognizant!
• Underside Breast (Under/Behind Gills) – A very underutilized location that offers good hook holding and also commonly helps get the stubborn bait to swim down. This hooking location allows for the hook to still be in the front portion of the bait but set back from the nose therefore helps when fish are short striking. Yes it kills a bait faster but usually a bite comes sooner. 
• Hook Near Anal Vent Or At the Tail – One of, if not the toughest spots with little risk at killing the bait. This hooking usually gets baits to swim away but commonly keeps the bait at or near the surface. Improves hook ups on short strike tail bites. When utilizing this hooking location/option be aware that the bait’s tail kicks will send pulses and this can mask light touches from skittish fish. Also be aware live bait will need to be given line consistently so it can swim and not be killed by being pulled backwards in the water.
• Edge of Collar (behind the gill and out through the side): Good for lively yet soft baits. I’ve found this option to be very good on calm days when I want my baits to get away from the boat and swim off to the side. This also keeps the baits swimming shallow.
• Bridal – Best hook freedom and for large baits but adds rigging time. Great for trolling.

My favorite all purpose circle hook for striped bass fishing is the Mustad 39944. This series of hooks is called the Mustad Demond Inline Perfect Circle and that is exactly what I like to call them, the perfect circle. They have a good shape with a slightly shorter shank and a nice curved bend that hooks well, holds well. Even though they aren’t forged, the round wire hooks are strong enough and their needle point is sharp enough too. Moreover it’s available in a full size range from #4 to 10/0 and available in 50 piece packs so it’s convenient for me. They are a much better price than a lot of the other hook options too.

The annual Southern Regional Fishing Flea Market is coming up quick!

Save The Date: Saturday 2/11/23

The event is in the Southern Regional Middle School cafeteria.

Doors open at 8am for public.

All proceeds benefit the Southern Regional High School Fishing Club. The money raised goes to offset the cost of fishing trips for the club/students and also fund the scholarships for four year members of the club.

We are looking forward to seeing you at this year’s show.

Previous year’s post…

First and foremost Happy New Year! Thank you to everyone for a great 2022. It was a fishy fun filled year! We wish you tight lines in 2023. May your many trophy fish dreams come true. Let us at Fish Heads meet and beat your expectations this new year.

This week was much more mild compared to last week’s cold snap. Most anglers getting out are targeting blackfish. Some went deep for sea bass and a few are still catching striped bass too! For a look at the current Barnegat Inlet temperatures take a look at the end/bottom of the post.

On the black fishing front, the rock solid bite that went strong most of December hit the brakes with last week’s cold snap. The inshore wrecks and reefs were very good but the Artic weather took over and sunk to slow the action. Most anglers reported slow to sporadic fishing with better reports coming from the deeper water areas where the bottom temps held up better. It seemed that white crabs were doing best. As the temperatures creep back up we expect the bite to too. Dante from Magictails is fishing as hard as always getting out every weather. He has tagged and released a lot of big monster tog this year. On Wednesday he couldn’t get this one to swim away. It weighed on the shop scale at 18.35#, a true monster!!!

We get asked many times a day… “Are there still tog biting in Barnegat inlet?” We can’t say there is a bite but it’s possible you might find a fish or two. This seal was caught eating some tog in the inlet on Monday by Eric Tell.

Striped bass, Yup they are still around! Few to no reports off the surf but if the temperatures stay mild there will be schoolies in the suds all of January. As far as striped bass in the ocean we had two recent reports. Captain Mark aboard the Waterproof reported finding striped bass on top during their ride to go tog fishing (inside 3 miles). He said catching them was quick and easy. Another report came in on Friday (12/30) from Captain Mike Greene aboard the Luckey Stripes. He said tog fishing wasn’t good, alot of small fish, but striped bass fishing was. “28-34″ bass on bunker. They were all hanging on the surface slow motion rolling only a couple miles from Barnegat Inlet.”

Deep water sea bass fishing was on tap with anglers getting out and catching. A recent report came in from Zach P, a Fish Head’s team employee home from college for the holidays. He was out fishing aboard the Voyager out of Point Pleasant and caught a bunch of black sea bass and a couple weakfish. We received more positive deep water bottom fishing reports from other local anglers getting out there. Unfortunately this fishery is closed Jan 1, 2023.

Reminder, today 12/31/22 is the last day of the 2022 Striped Bass Bonus Program. 2022 Permits/tags are NOT valid in 2023. Be sure to submit logbooks before January 15, in order to be eligible for 2023. All harvests were to be reported at time of event but if not done, get it in now. 2023 Applications usually start up in the early springtime.

Another reminder 2022 Fishing Regulations and Limits remain in effect until official updates are published by the state. Stay tuned to the winter meetings to see how things play out.

Below are two screen shots from the Barnegat Inlet tide and temperature gauge. Before looking know that the location of the gauge is USCG Station Barnegat Light which means that it is in the bay, just inside the inlet. The gauge records bay waters on the outgoing tide/current and ocean waters on the incoming tide/current. The one month chart/graphs show a steep temperature drop on the evening of 12/23. December 24th LBI was frigid, icy flooding, hard west winds. There was a morning windchill of -12º and a wild sea smoke sunrise. The cold stuck around for a few days but since Christmas the temperatures has slowly trended warmer and just got back to the 40º mark.