Author: FishHead.Greg

Here’s a short fishing report update to supplement yesterdays deeper dive. Today Tuesday 29th was another really great day of striped bass fishing on light tackle. Top water and the jig were crushing fish. The large body of striped bass has not moved much. If anything they pushed a little north into the morning wind/current. They are still HUNGRY too. This is about as good as it gets! In the morning fishing was good. As the day went on, the wind dropped out and the fishing ignited. It fired up even better going from really good, to great, to well… you had to be on the bite. Fortunately there were not 100’s of boats driving over the fish so was much better!

I tried to keep today’s video short on the report side of things to prevent being a broken record. I wanted to share some helpful tips on strategizing your approach with lures. I hope it brings some value and better fishing to you!

The back stretch of November and December is traditionally very good to anglers of Long Beach Island. Whether hunting striped bass or tog there’s great opportunities right now for both beach and boat fishing.

Here in the final days of November we must look back on recent days and weeks to give thanks for a November To Remember! BUT also keep focused and keep a wet line as the biomass of striped bass is still here now and feeding on their southerly migration. If you got in on the recent fire fishing, great! We are stoked to hear. If you haven’t, now’s the time to give a go. I don’t see any snow or wintery mix in any of the upcoming weather systems. Below normal temps Thursday night and Friday but likely above normal Saturday and normal temperatures to follow after the weekend so things look promising!

Here’s my most recent video report update which I forgot to post here on the blog in a timely fashion. This is one good reason to subscribe to the Youtube Channel to get notified as soon as they go live! I’ll do my best to get another one up to close out the month or kick off the new month of December. Stay tuned.

For the most part the past two weeks LBI was left out (a touch too far south) of the historic day after day bass blitzes. But anglers fishing the Island have caught some fish (more so since Thanksgiving day), just nothing like the magnitude or day to day consistency like up north. Hungry striped bass ranging from schoolies to overs (and more than occasionally some trophy size fish in the mix) rolling on bait; peanut bunker, scattered adult bunker, butterfish, squid, herring. Some days bass feeding for miles. It’s just an absolute beautiful “Nat Geo” site to see and witness the what seems to me as a really health striped bass stock (despite what data and managers are say, the opposite). Top water, metal lips, gliders, spooks, on the fly, light tackle or trolling umbrellas and mojos… Take Your Pick, Pick Your Poison.

Looking back on November all I can say is it proved to be one of if not the best month for local striped bass fishing out of the year. Fishing comfortably in t-shirt and jeans, just about the whole first half of the month. It was mild until about November 13/14/15, when the cold snap came and temps fell fast.

The Barnegat Inlet water temperatures dropped from 61º to 51º on the 13/14th and it was then that the back bay bass activity, arguably one of the best “bay runs” this area has seen in many many years, shut down. The inlet bite, also one that was phenomenal, came to somewhat of an abrupt stop. The fish didn’t disappear the activity just stopped due to the cold snap. As things settled and fish acclimated, it crept back but not nearly a crumb of the cake we had. What a sweat cake it was! I shared info on the bite as it materialized and cranked on and on, so I hope each and everyone got a piece of it. I know Jason Peak (photo below) amongst many others put in a lot of time and scored numerous great nights of fishing on the bay.

With all of that said, there’s a good showing of bait still in the bay, lagoons and coves. Soon this will exiting and join the party out front. I’m still fishing hard as I know there’s a lot more to come, especially for the Long Beach Island beaches. More on that topic below.

The Barnegat Inlet tog fishing was on fire during this same time period. It too was slowed by the cold but the tog fishing held up significantly better. Eventually, the majority moved off to the many inshore/mid-shore wrecks and reef sites that they will call home for the winter. Sure there’s still some land based tog fishing to enjoy but for the most part that season is setting. The ocean areas are most productive now and will be into the New Year. Fish live green crabs and white leggers on a rig or jig and enjoy the fun! As of today (Monday) we have both greenies and whites in stock available for sale in half bushels (15#) or full bushels (30#). As always we sell greenies by the dozen too.

LBI Surf Fishing Report

The weigh ins for the LBI Surf FIshing Classic (Live Results Page) trickled in, a couple a day, up until the 19th when there were none until the 25th. The 6 day period (19-24)was for the most part dead on LBI while areas north had epic fishing. The good news is, the LBI surf fishing got going on Black Friday 25th and is rolling along, slow and steady. At times some great fishing took place, on the north end one day, the south end the next and a couple flurries in between. Nothing consistent but we hope to see things kick into another gear.

Sunday afternoon Dante from Magictails (and a long time LBI surf rat and sharpie) reported on his first trip out on the beach in weeks, “The exist! I was told there are not fish on LBI! I caught a dozen in the 24-34” range on bucktails and metal lip swimmers. Fishing my new Magictail Rods, 8′ medium one piece rod it was a blast. We smoked the bass on the boat with the rod all fall but today it proved to be perfect for the surf too. It’s exactly what I designed it for, an all around versatile saltwater fishing rod.” There aren’t many one piece 8′ rods in the market place yet there should be since it’s the perfect size for a rod that can do all with tog and striped bass… Fish the surf, Fish the boat, Fish the jetty. Check them out today at the shop. We have them in stock and on display.

Bill Tyson shared this report, “I fished the mid-island south during this afternoon’s outgoing tide and got into a few striped bass in close. Lost one in the wash but was able to land one 26″ fish. Used my bonus tag to score it for dinner. A big shout out to the team at Fisherman’s Headquarters! I caught this fish on my new St.Croix and Penn Slammer combo with a 6″ paddle tail that the team recommended. Paul at the shop helped me and also let me know that the bass were biting on the south end today.”

Pat Ciervo caught a red drum off the LBI surf on bunker Monday. The fish was over the 18-27″ slot so it was safely released.

It’s been windy and cold but the fishing has been hot. This past weekend had two awesome days (Friday and Saturday) full of great fishing. The last couple days (Sunday and today, Monday) were slow. They can’t blitz and full on feast everyday. Be on the lookout for good fishing opportunities the rest of the week and right into the end of the month.

Here’s a quick look at the local water temperatures from the Barnegat “Bay” (Inlet) USGS Tide and Temperature Gauge. Note this data shows bay water temp on the outgoing tide and ocean water on the incoming tide. Right now the outgoing bay water is significantly colder than the ocean due to the recent Arctic blast. Ocean waters further from the inlets (like Ship Bottom/ Surf City) are warmest right now at approximately 54º. Beaches such as Chadwick down to the Bather’s Beach also fall into this too. Take note of the bottom one with the green heading showing this same 7 day period from last year. There’s a significate difference this year having a ~20º range with a low of 38º and last year having a ~10º range with a low of 45.5º. The weather forecasts are calling for a return to normal temperatures mid-week so our fingers are crossed the temps will bounce back some or at least slow the plummeting trend. In the past we’ve had epic bass fishing in 54-48º ocean waters.

Here’s an older fishing report video that was never posted here…

At one point or another this past weekend (Friday/Saturday/Sunday) had just about every type of weather. From warm to cold, from gale to dead calm, rain, fog, it was all dished out this weekend. For the most part the weekend will be remembered for its very powerful Sou’Westerly that pounded the beaches with 6-8′ surf (buoy 44091 peaked out at 10′ on Saturday 11/12) which then left the waters churned up and dirty, turbidity wise and weedy.

On this Monday afternoon fishing report update, I don’t have a lot of great local catch reports to share. But I do have one good one… Carl Hartmann caught and released a 52″ striped bass off the LBI surf on bunker this weekend.

What I can also share… I fished every day in the past 5+ days. Some were GREAT days and others were slow. I know with confidence the body of fish I was catching has most likely moved on. We are in a waiting period, hopefully seeing a new wave of striped bass soon. I expect that wave to show this week with a short NE blow followed by a stretch of westerlies.

Yes I fished through the blow fishing this weekend’s LBI Cup Striped Bass Tournament. It was gnarly and fishing was TOUGH and rough. Out of 19 boats only 7 striped bass were entered. The crew aboard the Endless Summer entered three of the seven. We had a couple other small slot fish and a handful of beautiful overs. The best action we had was fishing the northern ocean county waters on Saturday afternoon livelining.

We have a variety of baits in the local waters right now; adult bunker, juvenile bunker, squid, herring, bay anchovies and still a couple mullet. See the striper stomach contents photo at the end of this post. We also have a LARGE biomass of spiny dogfish adding a frustrating challenge.

Here’s my latest video report…

Fishing continues to be good as the great fall rolls on. The weather has been somewhat of a rollercoaster ride and that looks to remain. All we can do is fish the prime windows and make the most of it. Right now an abundance of adult bunker and squid in the local waters has the body of striped bass sitting like happy fat cats. The waters have stayed unseasonably warm so most fish don’t seem to be flying through the area. So far this fall striped bass and some really good size ones have moved in and called the Barnegat Bay home. It’s been a number of weeks now. These fish are here now and continue to feed offering a lot of fishing fun.

Tautog fishing continues strong for land based anglers. Fishing both green crabs and sandfleas are working well and keeper size fish (15″ minimum size) are common in the right areas. Prime time tog fishing is now! The season opens up to a five fish bag limit on November 16th. We currently have live green crabs, live white crabs and sand fleas in stock.

Frustrated catching dogfish? Each year they invade right around Halloween and usually stick around all fall. This year is no different. For sure doggies are never wanted but since they are around in good numbers and not going anywhere it’s important to know how to fish around them. Don’t quit fishing in frustration! I’ve caught some of my biggest striped bass while catching doggies. Sometimes weeding through them is necessary. If chunking the surf try fishing heads to cut down on dogs. Striped bass will take a bunker head and usually dogfish will not. If fishing in a boat it is very important to understand and know our sounder. Being aware of the differences in marking striped bass vs dogfish is paramount! Also try not putting baits on the bottom. Usually that help. Also fish lures as doggies will rarely touch a lure.

Lure recommendations from the boat? Match the hatch! Right now it is adult bunker and squid… casting mojo, bucktail, metal lip, large top water spook, pencil popper, flutter spoon, glider/slider, large rubber swimbaits. Later this month I expect peanut bunker and hopefully sand eels so some smaller profile lures will be more valid.

Lure recommendations from the surf? Bucktail, Super Strike Lures Bottle / Darter / Popper / Needlefish, Hopkins (with dressed hook), Gibbs Danny Surface Swimmer (or one of many metal lip swimmers) Yo-zuri Lures Mag Darter / Hydro Monster Shot / Hydro Twitch and of course the Daiwa SP Minnow.

LBI Cup Hosted By The Beach Haven Marlin & Tuna Club

Due to the weekend’s weather the LBI Cup Striped Bass fishing tournament schedule was changed. Sunday was added to offer extended fishing through the entire weekend. Registration is 5pm Friday with the Captain’s meeting following at 7pm. Lines in right after the meeting. First weigh in on Saturday 3-5pm. Lines out at Sunday 3pm and the final weigh starts then and ends at 5pm. Awards dinner at 7pm on Sunday night. This is a great local event and part of the three way Striped Bass Grand Champion Series; Sea Shell Derby, LBI Cup, Stafford PBA Tournament (Nov 18/19th).

November is one of, if not the best month for striped bass fishing the Central Jersey coast. So far this month has been off to a stellar start with lots of quality striped bass. There’s a lot of bait in the local waters making it a buffet for hungry migrating striped bass. The recent weather has been unseasonably warm, near record breaking. The water temperatures have actually warmed some the past few days and all signs point to strong fishing in the days and weeks ahead.

The only bummer is there’s lots of dogfish that are also in the area too. There’s some techniques to resist these pesky scavengers. The first and foremost is fish lures. Rarely will dogfish hit a lure. If chunking fish heads as doggies love the meaty parts of baits but usually leave the heads alone. Striped bass will take head like gum drops.

The past 7-10 days has to be some of the best bass fishing Barnegat Bay has seen in a VERY long time. I first shared info about bigger fish showing up on my Oct 21 report. It then got going with a lot of anglers catching 30-40-50″ bass on lures and live bait (spot, eel) in the bay. This is not normally a daily occurrence but it has been! The team at Fish Heads has been in on the bite every day and night since they arrived. It has been phenomenal. What’s great about fishing the bay is it isn’t blitz fishing mayhem like most times in the ocean. Working the right tides at the right locations with the right lure/bait presentation have provided great fishing!

It seems that we’ve had a fall off after Monday morning’s tide but we have high hopes that November will be full of great fall striped bass fishing. Here’s a recent video report from Sunday evening.

UPDATE 11/2/22 @ 10AM

Monday Rick Bragg reported good striped bass fishing up the beach on live bait. Also store staffer Robbie caught and released a couple bass. One large over on live bait and one slot keeper on a white shad. Both in the bay thoroughfares. Tuesday evening Greg Kopenhaver reported, “What a beautiful night on the bay. We released two 40″ bass!” Sunset catch photo is at the end of the post.

I experienced a fall off Monday, a break in trend for two tides but it bounced back. And strong. I planned a boat engine maintenance (oil change and fuel filters) for the afternoon. Got up to the boat and before I could get on I got a call from Dante at Magictails that the bite was on, “bass going crazy on bait, get out here!” While on the phone Jake at Vans popped out of his duck blind that he was working on and said, “It’s on? Can I jump on?” I ran a straight fly trip Monday so I mainly had fly gear. Jake grabbed his rod and off we went. We had a solid hour of awesome fishing and then the tide faded and so did the feeding. After running the boat all weekend it was great to have Jake take the wheel and put me in position to cast the fly. Conditions were perfect with light wind and the bass were hungry. So stoked it all worked out!

Tog fishing at Barnegat Inlet remains strong! Fred Finger weighed in a new tournament leader, 4.8# tog that he caught in Barnegat Light on green crab.

Also more reports coming from the surf side of shorts, slots and overs. This past weekend Matt Shapiro caught and releases a 46.75″ x 25.5″ bass, ~40#. On Halloween, Tom Beaty weighed in a 33.5″ 13.26# striped bass that he caught on a plug fishing the south end. Yesterday evening, Chris Masino weighed in a 28.5″ 8.94# bass that he caught on a lure fishing Barnegat Light. (photo below) This morning Emmit from Top Notch Tackle weighed in a 28.5″ 8.64# bass he caught on bunker fishing Harvey Cedars.

There’s bait and fish here on Long Beach Island… striped bass, albies, tog and more! The past five days were awesome with fall fishing well underway. Here’s my report video from yesterday October 13, 2022 LBI Fishing Report Update. Weekend is looking good. Let’s go fishing.

If you haven’t heard… BIG STRIPED BASS bass rolled into our local waters on Friday evening and are on the feed! Saturday was a full on epic day reported by many and some nice fish were caught today too. Most of the action is focused around Barnegat Inlet with action radiating a mile or two north, east and south. We also heard good reports from up the beach and in Monmouth County.

There’s large schools of bunker that have pushed into the westerly winds and are stacked up near and on some beaches. Fishing live baits if best but those who prefer more of a challenge are catching biggins on large lures too!

Yes the word epic was used and based on all accounts it is justified. It’s time to get in on the great fall fishing that has erupted about a month earlier than usual.

Here’s my mid day report shortly after leaving the morning LBI Surf Fishing Opening Day Kick Off Seminar. After this report I jumped in the boat and got into a great evening fishing session too.

Yup a couple nice bass were caught off the LBI surf too. The photo below was caught by LBI Classic Tom, Angler 408, Tom Ng.

There’s also very large pods of bay anchovies. Small blues as well has hardtails (false albacore, bonito, Spanish mackerel) can be found on this small bait. Use small lures and get in on the light tackle fun. Tommy Smith Jr had some fun on the surf yesterday!