Author: FishHead.Greg

What an awesome year it was! We had great fishing with some surprising and controversial catches. Check out the photo below for our Top 9 2021 Posts on Instagram. Thank you to all of our customers for a great year! Since 1962 it has been and continues to be our pleasure and passion to help anglers catch more fish and help anglers enjoy fishing to its fullest. Happy New Year! Tight lines in 2022!

Here’s the first Long Beach Island Fishing Report of the year!

Long Beach Island Fishing Info

Anglers are still enjoying fun striped bass fishing here on and around LBI. That’s right… the broken record repeats. With flip flopping colder and mild temps ahead things might change. But right now the fishing is and has been surprisingly good for this point in the year.

LBI Surf Fishing Report

The Long Beach Island surf fishing is not epic but anglers are catching on both lures and bait (clam & bunker).

Joe Handley Jr fished on New Years Eve and reported great fishing on the south end of LBI fishing. “There’s still lots of fish pushing down!” He reported, “I was thinking of hangin it up till spring but not after what I saw today. Don’t quit yet! I had good striped bass fishing from Spray Beach down into Holgate. Not a major blitz but I followed the birds and caught fish along the was as they pushed in and out. Got 6-7 bass from 16-37′. The fish wanted metals and larger bucktails worked slow. They ignored paddle tails, poppers, Redfins and SP minnows.”

Lee Saxton reported fishing NYE too but his trip was slow with three spiny dog fish and one 25.5″ bass at about 10am. His father in law caught one bass 23″ at about 1pm and then another one about 22″ an hour later.

Reports From The Boats

Boat anglers fishing out of the local inlets (Barnegat & Little Egg) are targeting and catching striped bass and tog. Few but very strong striped bass reports spoke of great striped bass activity feeding under bird plays over herring. It doesn’t get any better than that for this time of year!

Jake Kline was out in the fog and got into them really good. Other reports came in too.

Jon Coen (above) had a blast chasing striped bass on his skiff on December 30th. He reported, “50º, no wind, all along and they bit on everything we threw!”

On The Tog Scene: Fishing seems to be what what inconsistent right now. There’s some anglers reporting good fishing one day and then slow the next but that’s fishing! There are some nice ones being caught. Right now is a great parts of the season to get after them fishing white and green crabs. 

Just a reminder now that it is January…

Striped Bass fishing in the bay and rivers is closed. Fishing for striped bass from the ocean shores 0-3 nautical miles is open year round.

Also Black Sea Bass fishing is closed! Expect the season to open back up in mid May.

The local fishing in the Long Beach Island area keeps rolling on. Reports from the beach and boat are positive.

With this great late season mild weather… How long with things push into winter? Right now there’s no end in sight. Only time will tell!

LBI Surf Fishing

Striped bass continue to be caught on the beaches of LBI. Most are in the smaller size class however there’s always a shot at a keeper fish.

On Saturday (Christmas) Jamie Gramley reported two fish so far… 22″ and a 26″ on bunker, both released. He got the 26″ on his first cast.

Chris Masino shared a photo on Christmas Eve of a striper catch. His went for a teaser fished ahead of a Kettle Creek Paddle Tail Lure. Photo shown above.

On Sunday, Dennis McNamara reported catching one 17.5″ striped bass that went for a Daiwa SP Minnow lure. He tagged and released it. Jamie Gramley reported he also caught a bass, a 23″ fish that went for a frozen bunker chunk.

Tommy McCann caught this (shown above) 23″ striped bass fishing Monday (12/27/21) off the LBI mid-Island surf using bunker.

Also on Monday Jonathan Marinari reported a surf side striper on a softbait. Looking at the photo (below) brings back memories of the legendary Vision Sand Eel. Unfortunately they are no longer made but a great substitute that is a proven fish catcher is the Tsunami Sand Eel.

Boat Fishing

We’ve heard a number of reports from the past few days of boat anglers catching along the beaches of IBSP and LBI on the troll and by anglers actively working lures.

Kip Patterson reported striped bass action today fishing in the ocean near shore to Long Beach Island. Dave Werner was out (different boat) and reported finding and catching striped bass. Dave also had great action on Friday morning (Christmas Eve).

Here is my most recent video forecast… from 12/26/21

Not included… reports from boat anglers working the wrecks and reef sites for tautog has been good. Also the inshore bluefin tuna bite continues on with anglers still catching nice fish.

The unseasonably warm week came to a close and more realistic December weather is here. But we are happy to see the brutal Arctic is staying away for now. Anglers fishing the local waters of Long Beach Island are catching fish. Some are reporting really good things. They way things are going we expect the local fishing to roll right through the holidays and into the new year. We’ll see! Here’s a quick Long Beach Island fishing report update for Sunday December 19, 2021

Here’s the latest fishing report video posted yesterday evening…

Both yesterday and today we received positive fishing reports from anglers fishing in the beach and boat. We are still getting reports of bass in the bay too.

Rob Swift reported in, “I just saw a guy pull a nice fat 31″ bass in on a paddle tail. I tried the same but no luck.” 

From the boats, striped bass fishing was very good the past two-three days. Great reports came in from numerous sources (direct) from both the waters on the north end and south end of Long Beach Island.

Dave Werner was fishing the north end waters reported, ” This morning was the best jig bite I have ever experiences! I had 20+ fish to 38″ without another boat in sight!”

Zach Michot was fishing the south end waters and reported, “Really good bites went down this past week. One day we had them off Brant Beach and another day we worked south out of Holgate. We got them really good in 45′ of water off Brigantine.”

It’s prime time tog fishing right now and anglers are rightfully catching good size fish. Also NJ’s Black Sea Bass season only has a few days left. It closes at the end of the year.

We can’t complain about the cards dealt this late fall. This week we’ve got mild weather and today is a beautiful sunny mid December day. Anglers are still catching fish on the boat and beach in the local LBI waters. Yesterday afternoon was good for some surf anglers on the south end of the island. Here’s a fishing report update for Tuesday afternoon December 14, 2021.

How long will the fishing season go on? Only time will tell. Our expectations are positive given there’s striped bass being caught in our local waters as well as the waters to our north and our south.

The five day forecast (excluding Monday) has the coldest low at a mild 44º. Thursday’s (16th) high of 58º looks encouraging as well as the highs next week in the mid to upper 40’s. Until the arctic freeze sets in we will have good fishing opportunities for striped bass. It’s also prime time tog season! Right Here! Right Now! Now’s the time to get some late season fishing in before a long cold winter. Let’s go fishing!

Here’s the Long Beach Island fishing report update for Sunday December 12, 2021

Update shop hours…

• Monday – Thursday: 7am to 7pm
• Friday & Saturday: 6am to 8pm
• Sunday: 6am to 5pm

LBI Surf Fishing Report

Dave Minnick and Jamie Gramley have put in time all year long and it has paid off for them. They are both still catching on the LBI surf. A few other reports came in too.

Yesterday Dave was out giving it everything he had and reported, “It was well worth the drive and getting pummeled by the wind to catch striped bass in December on LBI. The Sea Provides!”

Friday Jamie reported, “Another fun day on LBI!” He caught two. Today he struck out with just a dogfish to report.

Todd Hirchak caught this striped bass off the LBI surf on a Tsunami Swim Shad on Friday. These lures are always a great choice!

Today was the last day of the LBI Surf Fishing Classic. A huge congrats to everyone who fished and caught. An even bigger congrats to those who won prizes. Everything will be wrapped up soon and final prizes will be awarded soon.

On the final day there was a 30″ 9.88# striped bass weighed in by Rich Sherman. He caught it on bunker in Spray Beach. 

Striped Bass On The Boats

The boat reports have slowed down significantly mostly due to the time of year. At this point in the year the majority of boats are out of the water. However for those still in there’s fish being caught.

Today Zach Michot was out and got into great fishing… actually “silly fishing.” He reported, “Silly December Fishing! 30+ caught in two hours all on jig and plugs.” Just look at that sounder’s graph!

Today was the Miss Barnegat Light’s final day fishing of the 2021 season. Well they closed it out on a good one. One of the mates Jason reported, “Really good fishing! Possibly one of the best days of the bass season. You couldn’t drop a jig to the bottom without hooking one. And best of all not far from the dock.” One of the anglers onboard James Berlanger posted a photo of a beautiful bass and said he had a great trip.

This morning the sun is fighting to break through the marine layer. The ocean is a lumpy 2-3′ with an occasional 4′ wave in the water. A breezy south-southwesterly wind is on the beaches now and it will only increase as the day goes on. Maybe it will blow the fog outta here. The past few days have offered fair to good fishing for anglers on the beaches and boats fishing the waters of LBI. Here’s a gloomy Monday fishing report update for the Long Beach Island Area on December 6, 2021.

Long Beach Island Surf Fishing Report

Last week’s sporadic blitz fishing has seemed to sputter out. Our fingers are crossed there’s still more fuel in the peanut bunker (or we are ok with sand eels too) vs striped bass tank. We’ll have to fish and see. But in the mean time anglers are fishing and catching.

Today the fishing musician Rick Wieland stopped by with a 29″ striped bass. “Finally got one!” He said. “It was a long time coming.” Rick caught the fish off the Harvey Cedars surf at about 9:30am fishing a bunker chunk. “The ocean was rough. Lots o waves and white water. I was struggling to hold with 6oz of lead.” He said, “There were a few other anglers in the area but I didn’t see any other action.”

Jamie Gramley reported catching 7 bass today in 23-26″ range. He posted a photo (above) of some striped bass he caught with the caption, “Who said rough water is bad for fishing?”

Yesterday Eli Haegele tagged us in a striped bass photo he posted. The fish fell or a yellow Yo-Zrui Mag Darters.

Today, Randy Hampton caught one on his first cast using a bone Daiwa SP Minnow. He reported, “The guy next to me caught one a minute later on black and silver SP.”

Trevor O’Neil reported, “We’ve been keeping the dog fish population well fed these last few weeks. I finally caught a little luck tonight on some fresh bunker rom Fish Heads!”

Jay Hoffman went fishing yesterday and put a lot of hours in on the beach. He had nothing to show for his efforts until late in the day. “I was posted up at a nice cut and as it got dark two bites. One after the other. Boom! Boom! I beached two plump sassy bass. I would have liked to fish the tide all the way up but Monday morning work rolls in whether I’m ready or not.”

Joe Handley reported, “1000 casted in the morning with no luck. Went back at dark mid-island and got three hits, two striped bass in 20 minutes.”

Striped Bass Fishing Reports From The Boats

Reports from boat anglers have been positive for a number of weeks now. This weekend wasn’t any different. Boat anglers had some great opportunities over this past weekend and a lot of them scored.

From the boats… both striped bass and tog are two great targets. Striped bass fishing is still firing on all cylinders. Anglers are catching good under the bird plays and also working broad areas on the troll. It seems the peanut bunker “match-the-hatch” is still the way to go however some anglers are catching going to the classic last all sand eel imitations. Illesor Retep reported seven trips out and have not struck out yet. Got 14 bass today (this was Saturday or Sunday).

Wreck Fishing For Tautog

Tog fishing at the wrecks and reef sites is good and has been since the season opened up to Five Fish Per Anglers (minimum size 15″) on November 16th.

Some great reports are coming in but none better than store staffer Matt “Swagmattic” from Sunday. He’s always fishing hard and it pays off. His report, “Jumbo’s! Fishing has been pretty rock solid so far this season bu t today was a day. I had three over 10# with two more double digits on the boat! Limited the oat 7 times over, sent more of the fish back swimming and kept a couple for the table.”

As far as land based tautog fishing… The phenomenal bite that seemed to run strong all fall at the Barnegat Inlet Jetty has slowed. With the shorter days, longer nights and colder weather patterns comes colder water temperatures. There are still tog present and anglers are catching however most of the tog have made the move or will soon move to the wrecks and reef sites. Based on reports the shallow water fishing has really dropped off in the past 5-10 days and the 50-70′ depths have really lit up.

Late Fall Bluefin Tuna

Late fall bluefin tuna or as some call them “Jersey Ghosts” have been around or a couple weeks. This past weekend had a lot of boats were out hunting and a lot found them chewing. It’s always rewarding to gear up customers through pout the year and then hear their success stories. We’ve heard from of great reports from numerous of customer in recent days.

Fall fishing continued strong this week with solid reports coming from both the beach and boat. Finally reports from the mid-island and south ends of LBI have started popping. As we enter into December mild temperatures prevail all the way into next weekend. Now’s the time to get in on the great late fall fishing on Long Beach Island. Here’s the LBI Fishing Report for Friday December 3, 2021.

LBI Surf Fishing Report

Abundant striped bass action on LBI this week had anglers catching on the surf with bait and lures. If fishing bait, bunker and clams would be great choices however you’ll need to pick through the doggies.

Fishing lures is highly suggested. Even die hard bait anglers have made the switch and many have reported fun action on the numerous pop up bass blitzes this week.

Best lures choices would be anything that matches a peanut bunker. For the past week plus, peanut bunker rom 3-6″ have been the main forage which striped bass in the area are keyed in on. Always match the hatch! Think bucktails, rubber swim shads, Yo-zuri Mag Darter, Twitch Bait, Pencil & Popper. They have all been good to me!

I’ve also seen some small clouds of micro bait around so teasers could be effective but aren’t suggested because they cut down your casting distance. Usually I fish teasers and depend on them when small slender sand eels are present. Right now that is not the case.

As far as timing, the afternoon incoming tide push into sunset has offered good success. But some mornings have produced too. There’s not tell when the next blitz will hit the beach so go when you can and hopefully you’ll connect!

Recent Weigh Ins At Fish Heads

Click HERE for details on other weighs or the LBI Surf Fishing Classic

The northern Ocean County waters have been hot for five days plus. Finally this blitz fishing arrived to the shores of Long Beach Island. Yesterday 11/29/21 was a great day for surfcasters on LBI. Fortunately again today surf anglers got into flurries of bass blitzing. Late fall fishing offers some of the best opportunities for surfcasters on the beach of LBI. Let’s go fishing!

From the wicked westerlies (Monday and Friday) to the full moon eclipse early Friday morning, this past week has offered an interesting string of event and some good fishing all along the way. Right now we are in the heart of the fall fishing season on LBI. Let’s go fishing and enjoy time on the water before winter sets in. Here’s the Long Beach Island Fishing Report Update for Sunday November 21, 2021.

Tog Fishing Report

Tog fishing opened up from one to five fish on November 16th. So far solid reports have came in from anglers fishing the wrecks and reef sites. Also the Barnegat Inlet Jetty continues to produce good fishing.

James Walsh sent in this photo and said, “Thanks for the green crabs!” On Saturday he caught his limit on the jetty.

Magictail Tog Jigs changed the game and they keep on providing for so many anglers. Providing much more fun (than rig style bottom fishing) and more and bigger fish. Yesterday the boys from Magictail were out and reported good fishing. Peter boated this 11# tog with aboard’s Zach’s boat. They caught a four man limit.

Striped Bass Fishing Report

Reports right now can range from poor to great all depending on who you talk to, the waters they focus and the techniques they employ. Without question there’s a very strong range of size class in the Central Jersey waters from unders to slots (28 to <38″) as well as overs (38″+). Land based and boat anglers are catching striped bass in the bay, inlet and surf.

LBI Surf Fishing

The LBI surf is spotty. A few anglers are catching but no spectacular reports fired up this week. We have our fingers crossed that this week and next week will shine. In regards to quantity of striped bass, usually these two weeks are the best dates for Long Beach Island surf casters.

Regular customer Dave Glassberg from the Tackle Tank shared a video report which was added to the most recent video report post (link above). He caught a nice striped bass off the Ship Bottom surf this weekend chunking fresh Fish Heads bunker. Most anglers fishing bunker chunks are reporting pesty dogfish. There’s no delaying they are running rampant and a major nuisance. Fish through them and hopefully you’ll be rewarded.

Anglers fishing lures are staying away from the dogs. They are also finding some striped bass. Chris Masino caught a bass today fishing a Kettle Creek soft bait paddle-tail on a lead head. A few other striped bass were reported off the surf on lures.

This time of year you should depend on a couple key lures on the surf. The following are dependable surf staples. Daiwa SP Minnow, Yo-Zuri Mag Darter, Hogy Sand Eel Jig, Diamond Jig with a teaser, soft bait paddle tail such as a Kettle Creek, a slender soft bait sandeel imitation like a Sluggo, Red Gills or a Tsunami Sand Eel, needlefish (Savage Sandeel Pencil),

This weekend we had one weigh in for the LBI Surf FIshing Classic. Nick DeGennaro caught and entered a striped bass that weighed in at 18.02 pounds.

Striped Bass Action In The Boat

Some anglers are finding fun fishing while others are struggling. The reports along the inshore waters of LBI have yet to really fire up. But we did hear of a couple. One big bass reported by Tom Ryan, “I caught this bad boy a few das ago off of LBI.”

Another report came from Dante of Magictails. He found a good body of fish on Wednesday afternoon just off the northern beaches of LBI. Doubled up on a tandem Magictail Mojo rig.

Most of the action for me as well as a lot of other boats has been from Barnegat Inlet north. Some days way up the beach. In the past week 5-7 days I’ve found good fishing from the Inlet’s north pocket (Monday 11/15 was epic) up to Seaside (Wednesday had a solid bite there) and some days the upper reaches of Ocean County (Saturday).

As far as it seems that the troll bite was hampered on the days around the full moon. We are expecting the action to open up as we finish off the month strong.

We heard of a couple blues this past week. Nate Caloiaro caught one. Also heard of a few others that were caught trolling umbrella rigs on the hunt for striped bass.

BHMTC LBI Cup

Congrats to Captain Mike Villanova and the crew aboard the No Limit! They won 1st place overall, 1st and 2nd place striper calcuttas and top female angler. Captain Mike reported, “Awesome day on the waters with great friends! It was a slow morning but we ended up finding the right bites, going 4/5 on bass up to 35 inches.”