The summer sun is scorching and the fishing is even hotter! There’s a smorgasbord of opportunities for anglers fishing the waters of Long Beach Island. Beat the heat and get on the water!

Right now in mid July there’s a variety of avenues for an enjoyable time on the bay, surf, near shore and mid-shore/offshore waters.

Barnegat Bay Fishing Report

Crabbing and clamming are two great ways to enjoy the Barnegat Bay and enjoy a tasty harvest. Fluke fishing is good and should be all summer however a large body has moved out. Weakfish are being caught occasionally as bycatch by flukers and those targeting them are catching. Blowfish do not seem to be as abundant as last year but there’s some around. We’ll have to wait and see if it tee’s off again. There reports of spot (in strong numbers) being caught in Delaware… will they show up here this summer? It has been a few years since we’ve seen big waves of them.

Long Beach Island Surf Fishing Report

The LBI surf is warm and with the summertime surf species; fluke, kingfish, weakfish, small blues, sharks, rays. Just this week the cow nose rays have showed in large numbers. There’s also still a couple straggler stripers (in addition to the small residence)…

Here’s a report shared by Joe Handley Jr. a LBI angler and long time friend of Fish Heads… “Fifty years of fishing, I’ve seen and been part of many crazy and almost unbelievable catches. Tonight might have taken the cake. A quick after work session before dark I was targeting large fluke from the LBI surf. Interesting enough I was consistently catching 12-13″ weakfish and also caught a herring. Not long after sunset, I hooked and landed my personal best striped bass. It taped out at 52.75″, roughly 58-lbs crushing my previous 51” 49-lber. It was caught on a Magictail bucktail. Thanks Date at Magictail for making great products. In New Jersey, mid July, 70-ish degree water… Doesn’t get any crazier! There were sand fleas washing up all over. I was thinking I should be pompano fishing or targeting Spanish mackerel since the water was so clean and warm. Low and behold there was a large striped bass, apparently very lost striped bass.

Nearshore & Inshore Fishing LBI

The same species listed above in the bay and surf report section fall under the near shore section here. The primary star of the current inshore fishing is summer flounder. Right now is the time to fish the inlets, near shore open bottoms as well as the wrecks and reef sites. Black sea bass offer fun fishing in the right areas of structure in addition to triggerfish and sheepshead.

Central NJ Midshore & Offshore Fishing Report

This past week NJ’s offshore angers had great fishing from mid shore to offshore and areas in between. We’ve hear great reports all week from the waters 20-50 miles out of Barnegat inlet with anglers catching bluefin and yellowfin tuna on the troll, jig and pop. I was fortunate enough to take advantage of the great forecast/conditions Wednesday and Thursday. I got out there and didn’t necessarily get into epic fishing but was in the mix of good fishing and caught. Further offshore at the edge, there was talk in the shop of a very good bigeye tuna bite.

Another beautiful day in the neighborhood here on Long Beach Island. Anglers are getting out and catching fish on the beach and boat. From kingfish and fluke on the beaches to tuna and sharks in the mid-shore and offshore waters, there’s a lot of great fishing going down right now! Here’s the Long Beach Island Fishing Report Update for Sunday July 11, 2021.

On the beaches today there was soft lingering surf in the 2’ range. This will be the scene through Tuesday. Finally the water has warmed up. Today the official ocean temperature on the Harvey Cedars surf as per the Harvey Cedars Beach Patrol was 68°. That’s a big improvement from what we’ve seen for the past week.

Warm surf temps means kingfish, small blues, and fluke are active in the suds as well as sharks and rays. If fishing meaty baits be prepared and know the state regulations!

Over the past few days kingfish reports were scattered with catches from Loveladies to Beach Haven. There isn’t one area (that we have heard about) which that is out producing. Traditionally mid-island and south offers better kingfish action. Live bloods, Fish Bites Bag O Worms and DynaBait Freeze Dried Worms are the way to start catching.

Aside from some reports of weedy, eel grass presence in some areas, the recent surf side fluke reports were great. The past couple of days might be responsible for the biggest surf caught fluke of the season so far! Here’s some really good size ones…

In addition to Brendan’s catch/weigh-in we also got word of some big land based fluke from Jimmy Nacion. He caught a pair of quality ones. There is a short clip of them in the video report posted above. Mike Hovan also sent a photo of a nice keeper fluke photo from the LBI surf.

1st Annual Beat The Fleet Fluke Tournament

This weekend was the first Annual “Beat The Fleet” Fluke Fishing Tournament hosted by the NJ Fishing Club. Fishermans Headquarters was one of the central NJ weigh stations and we had about 10 teams/boats check in fish. A common theme reported was slow fishing. Maybe it was because Elsa stirred things up? Who knows? Some teams worked hard, covered ground and pounder productive areas to earn a catch. For detailed results on the tournament and to learn more about the club… www.njfishingclub.com/

FYI: The NJ Fishing Club has a Fish Of The Month Challenge offering a $500 purse!

Mid-July Means The Heat & Meat Of Summer

Approaching middle of July with warming waters means summertime is in full swing. With it come the summertime species… Today Dan D. from Barnegat Light caught a big hound fish working a Yo-zuri 3D Twitch Bait Lure. A clip of the catch is in the fishing report video above.  There’s also sheepshead and trigger fish as well as cobia. 

Father and son, Mark and Luke Haley caught this unicorn while out on the tuna grounds hunting tuna on the jig. Yup! This monster cobia ate a Nomand Streaker Jig!

Tuna fishing has been and is on fire!!!  Boat caught and are catching from as close in as 15nm (maybe closer) on out to the edge.  Both bluefin and yellowfin are chewing on the troll, chunk, jig and casting poppers. Everyday is different with many different areas holding fish. It seems the jig bite bas been most consistent and best most days.

Marine Layer Haze Or Smokey Skies?

Did you notice the hazy marine layer in the sky last week? Well this time of year a marine layer is very common however this time it was actually smokey skies, possibly a combination of both. Here’s some info from the National Weather Service, “Have you noticed the smokey skies the past couple of days? Or the red sun rise and sunsets? That’s not smoke from the fireworks. It’s smoke from the wildfires out west.”

Here’s some comments sent in on social media as well as a question…

Nik Mar – “I caught two keeper fluke from the surf this morning (Wednesday). Thanks for doing all of these reports.”

IFeelFishy comment on our last video report post, “I’ve been putting in about 2 hours a day on the front sand of LBI for fluke over the past week. I have NOT been disappointed. I’ve been catching fish every trip. Largest so far has been 22″ (Thank you’s are deserved for the crew at Fish Heads and Magic Tail jigs). Jig em up!!”

Question: Are there fluke in the ocean yet?

Answer: There’s always fluke in the ocean it’s just a matter of location and if they are feeding. Fluke migrate to the outer continental shelf to spawn in the winter. A large portion come into the coastal waters and bays in the spring and early summer. Right now there’s fluke in the bays and inlets as well as on the inshore and offshore wrecks and reef sites. With many areas producing, it’s time to get out and fluke your favorite spots!!!

Reports of fluke are still promising in the bay. Just a few days back there was a 28″ doormat caught in the Barnegat Bay. We’ve also heard about some fat fluke from Barnegat Inlet. The ocean waters are dialing it up too. Fluke were caught on the wrecks and reef sites in June but nothing special. It has improved since then with the warming waters. July and August is the best time for fluke fishing the wrecks and reefs. Recently we’ve received good reports from every local reef site from the Axel down to the Little Egg Reef. Get out there and catch ’em… be prepared for sea bass, triggers and possibly porgies.

Question: Michael Borum asks… Did the bluefish arrive in the back bay?

Answer: The spring bluefish run this year was not all that we hoped for. There were spurts of fun fishing but nothing like the spring runs of the previous five years. However with that said there are and have been small bluefish present this season. Most are in the 1-3# cocktail class. The past couple weeks anglers fishing the waters of LBI have caught them fishing the inlet, bay and occasionally on the surf. In recent days I caught some of the largest (not large by any means) bluefish of my year so far. Some chubby ones pushing to 4-5# range.

Here’s the Long Beach Island fishing report update for Thursday July 1, 2021.

We welcome July with open arms as we enter primetime summer here on LBI. Fishing aboard Fish Head Charters has been great with lots of fun. We are catching Barnegat Bay Slams regularly with striped bass, blues and fluke. Unfortunately no weakfish YET!

On the surf there’s fluke and kingfish. Store staffer Jack and Tyler got into kingfish on the surf fishing live blood on the surf. Live bloods are best! We have some good ones right now fresh in from Maine.

On the bay you can’t go wrong with live minnow for fluke. Blowfish are in the bay and anglers are catching. Expect this to improve as season progresses.

Soon the reef sites will be one fire. They are producing fluke and sea bass now and will only get better.

The LBI surf is chilly due to a upwelling event from the south winds. The surf temp is NOT 70 degrees. It is 58-64… Ship Bottom is 60 degrees!!! Do not believe what you see on the news or sources that can not be verified. These temps were confirmed by Ship Bottom Beach patrol and also my sounder on boat which was calibrated at the beginning of the season (as I do each and every season).

Offshore fishing reports are good when weather allows anglers get out there. Angers are reported some albies are mixed in certain areas.

Don’t forget Captain Ron’s Bug Spray!!!

This past week was a good one for anglers fishing the waters of Long Beach Island. Both beach and boat anglers are getting out and enjoying good fishing for a variety of species. Right now at the beginning of summer the the local waters have the largest variety of species than any other time of the year.

Barnegat Bay has and continues to have solid fluke fishing. Recently the fluke fishing in the ocean has picked up. There’s kingfish and fluke on the surf with surfcasters occasionally catching striped bass and bluefish. Large sting rays and sharks were also caught and released by a handful (or more) of surf anglers fishing meaty baits. The summer time species are showing too; sheepshead, triggerfish, mahi, spanish mackerel, king mackerel cobia among others.

Huge Thanks to the Beach Haven Marlin & Tuna Club for putting on one hell of a fluke tournament. Everything from the captain’s meeting to the award ceremony was professional, organized and top notch. It’s awesome to see this great event have a record number of boats and raise a record amount of money for a great cause, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundations.

My crew (right to left: Matt S., Max B., Sloane E.) and I aboard the Endless Summer (aka Fish Head Charters) were more than honored to take the largest fluke, the largest three fish stringer and the largest fluke by a female angler.

Fishing Long Beach Island and the surrounding areas is good here at the beginning of the summer season. The past couple days I’ve had great fishing and reports from our customers are been positive. I had another good day today fishing Barnegat Bay catching both striped bass and fluke before the stormy weather came in. Right now there’s a lot going down for both beach and boat anglers. Here’s a Fishing LBI report update for Tuesday June 22, 2021.

Happy Memorial Day – Thank you for all that have served and all of those who have given the ultimate sacrifice to allow for our freedom and the beauty we call America.

Here’s the Memorial Day Fishing Report For The Long Beach Island Area on Monday May 31, 2021

The weather wasn’t the best this weekend but things are now settled down and the week ahead looks fair. The easterly swell on the beach right now is in the 2-3′ range and it has a light westerly wind grooming it out. The ocean water is tinted but not dirty and in the mid to upper 50 degree range.

I do not have a detailed fishing report to share since the recent days were a washout but I can point out a couple things for an update.

We received one report of a bayside striped bass on the north end yesterday. The only other report came in this morning from Chris Moffitt.

Chris caught a 39″ bluefish off the mid -island surf on bunker.

Flounder will be a good target this week as well as striped bass and bluefish. Striped bass fishing is prime for a couple more weeks and then it will be the summer residences. Bluefish are a good look in the month of June for a feisty drag pull. Weakfish, blowfish and kingfish are also options for lighter tackle fishing. On the big game side of things shark and tuna reports are popping up and that will only get better the next few weeks and months.

LBI Lost & Found

Wes Darcy asked for help… let’s see what we can do! “I fished the Barnegat Light bay side May 23. I dropped my 20 year old Buck knife out of my waders in the parking area. If any one finds it and turns it in I will reward them. Thanks!”

Right now there’s cranking NE wind and the ocean is angry. Things kicked up yesterday and the wind machine will be ON until Monday morning when things taper off. The combination of a slow moving double barrel low with a high pressure over the far north east has set up a tight pressure gradient over a large area. This will produce a solid ENE fetch pumping easterly swell our way.

We would all like fair weather but we have to play the cards you are dealt.

Recent fishing in and around the Long Beach Island area is and has been good. The entire month of May has been good to anglers for that matter. Once the weather clears we hope to be back on track right where we left off. Get out and enjoy spring fishing on Long Beach Island!

Here’s a quick video report from Friday May 28, 2021.

Fluke season opened on a banner weekend. The flawless weather had everyone out fishing. Some good reports came in as well as some not so good reports. It seems like those that got out early and beat the traffic scored. Getting out late meant fishing the bottom of the tide and for most areas that means the warmest and weediest parts of the tide.

The surf side fluke seems to have slowed from what was happening before the opener. But we did hear of one monster off the surf by Kevin Laverty of the Long Beach Island Fishing Club. Possibly the bite slowed up due to the powerful ground swell upwelling, cooling and slowing the bite. Maybe Monday’s stiff onshore wind has pushed the surface waters back up on the beaches and down-welled the cooler water back to the cold pool.

LBI Striped Bass Fishing Report

Striped bass fishing this weekend was good off of the Long Beach Island surf. Reports of striped bass from 25″ to 25# are reported daily and occasionally classy fish much larger bass. So far this spring there hasn’t been one hot spot. Great surf fishing reports have come in from the north end, mid-island and the south end.

Brian H of Mystic Islands stopped in the shop and said, “Where should I go fish? It has been 6 years and I’m heading out right now.” We gave him a suggestion and he second guess it but then headed out and fished a few blocks away from the shop. He stops back about an hour , possibly less later and said, “You set me up and I pointed me in the right direction. First piece of bait went down. This particular 37.5 bass was a long time coming!”

The fishing musician Rick stopped in and reported catching a couple. “I fished the north end a few days ago and it was great to get out and catch some fish on the surf.  I got two short bass on clam fishing the outgoing tide. The water was crystal clear and there was a lot of mole crabs (sand fleas) at the water’s edge.”

It seem that clam is still working really well. Recently we’ve seen more and more reports of bass hitting on bunker surf side. Soon we hope some bunker pods will school up to jolt our picturesque beaches into another phase of spring. So far things have been really good. It’s hard to think it could get better.

Anglers are finding some good size striped bass fish in the boats just not many of them. If heading out this time of year there’s two primary best attacks… live bait fishing and trolling. If trolling look around with bunker spoons, mojos and/or deep diving plugs. The striped bass have not really schooled up this spring. It seems they are being caught onesie-twosie and they are not keyed in on bunker schools…. YET! Fishing the bay and inlet area adjacent waters would also be a great shot with lures or baits (clam, eels, spot).

Captain Mike Greenie Lucky Stripes Fishing Charters, “Been a slow pick of bass but at least they are quality fish. Got one 49#!!! There’s lots of thresher sharks around too. I’m praying there’s another wave or two of bass to fill in this week or I’ll be switching to bay fishing and bluefin sooner than later.”

What’s Up With The Bluefish?

This past week more bluefish have showed in the local waters. The majority are on the smaller size ranging from snappers to cocktail size. However there are some gators racing around. The abundance of 10-15# class blues are not here now/yet. We are hoping they show!

Thomas Boyce reported trolling the Barnegat bay over the weekend and caught some medium size bluefish.

I had one monster roll and miss a top water spook on Saturday morning. It was a bummer it didn’t get the hooks. A couple good reports came in from Paul Lindsey, Eli Haegele and Nate Kirby (surf). Nate got a double header fishing a metal with a teaser.

Barnegat Bay Fishing Report

It’s time to fluke fish but let’s not overlook the other great fisheries right now. There’s plenty of striped bass in the bay and also weakfish. Weakies made a great showing in the past week or so.  We had one big one weighed in which was gut hooked while fluke fishing this weekend. Store staffer Grey reported weakfish while he was fluke fishing on the south end of LBI. The same kind of report came in from the north end by Kurt R.

Black drum are an option in the bay and they are also cruising the surf.

Mid-May is a great time for fishing Long Beach Island and the local central NJ waters. Whether inshore, offshore or from shore right now offers arguably the year’s best fishing opportunities. Below is a morning fishing report video from yesterday May 17 and then it’s followed up by a quick fishing report below. To All… Good Luck Fishing!

Striped Bass

It’s prime time spring bassin’ on LBI. This year the bass fish showed up a little earlier and surf anglers have scored. I’ll go out there and say it… so far this spring on LBI has been one of the better if not the best run we’ve seen in a handful of years. As more post spawn striped bass migrate into and through our waters the already lit stage will pop off!

Expect solid fishing from here through June’s new moon (6/9/21) and then things will taper off fast especially if the water stays warm. Some years we get upwelling events that keep the big bass until 4th of July. Once that wave moves through it’s all about the residence bass population which are a special treat to us on LBI! They really showed early this season in a strong way.

Bluefish

So far the blues haven’t showed in the number that everyone would have liked but there have been some yellow eye flurries. A couple gators were caught in the Barnegat Bay. Many more however smaller blues in the cocktail size (1-2#) are frequenting the Barnegat Inlet.

Eli Haegele reported two days in a row catching some small toothy ones fishing the rocks on the north end. Here’s three he kept of the 20 he caught.

Black Drum

Black Drum were caught in recent days in the bay and surf but boat and land based anglers.

Weakfish

They are here. Hopefully is matches up to last years run which was a big improvement from what we have seen over the past five or so years.

Summer Flounder

Very good showing of fluke pre-season! Their abundance in the surf, inlet and bay is telling that opening day May 22 and the beginning stretch will be strong!

Black Sea Bass

Bottom fishing – Wreck fishing for black sea bass is a fun especially jigging. Lots of boats have been out since opening day May 15th with good catch reports to share. Get out there while the weather and fishing is good!

I’ve found that the slender sand eel jigs have been best for me in terms of the jig game. I went out Sunday and we jigged up a bunch. We opted to leave the clam and home and it paid off.

If you are looking for clams we are doing our best to keep a stock in all spring for black bass, rock bass and drum.