LBI's Premier Fishing Report By Fisherman's Headquarters
Author: FishHead.Greg
A Long Beach Island native with life long experience fishing and navigating the local waters, Greg is a distinguished Master Captain (the highest qualified operator license), holding a US Coast Guard Masters 50T Near Coastal License with Towing Endorsement. Raised in and now managing his family's bait and tackle business, Fishermans Headquarters (Since 1962, The Saltwater Fishing Bait & Tackle Experts) Greg is daily immersed in fishing. He is the Chief Contributor of FishingLBI.com (Long Beach Island's best fishing report blog) as well as the Admin for the shop's social media pages (on Instagram and Facebook). Be sure to follow!
The first eleven days of November have offered beach and boat anglers good to epic fishing. Some locations and times were truly special. Hopefully you got in on the fun and made memories. If not there’s still time to get in the game! But don’t procrastinate! Here’s a quick fishing report for the the Long Beach Island area on Thursday November 11th.
Huge thanks and honor to all of the Veterans who served this great country and defend our freedom. Thank you for your service!
LBI Surf Fishing Report
The LBI surf is not offering epic blitz fishing however anglers are getting out and finding fish. And some really good ones at that! It’s awesome to hear customers in the shop talking about great recent fishing experiences.
Greg Sadowski from Doylestown and his buddy Ernie Ernst were in the shop today and had an EPIC report! Greg shared, “Today at about 4pm Ernie and I caught twin 43″ bass about 15 minutes apart. Both on small fresh bunker chunks placed in the trough.” They were only fishing five ounces of lead. Due to conditions, the short game with small baits was the only option. “I’ve been shopping at your store for 20+ years. It’s always my first stop when coming onto the Island.” Greg said, “I’ve put in a lot of time fishing. This is my biggest ever off the beach. I enjoy your reports! Thank You!!!”
Here’s Greg (left) and Ernie (right) with their double striped bass catch off the Long Beach Island surf.
Another big fish from the beach today came in from Mike Brophy. We caught a large and beautiful striped bass off the LBI surf in the late morning hours around slack tide. Big congrats Mike on your first surf side striper. A photo of this catch os included in the video forecast shown above.
Marc Diaz caught this bass off the LBI surf at about 2pm on fresh Fish Heads Bunker.
Last night (Wednesday) Mike Cline caught four bass up to 41″ off the beach. He was chunking bunker around the top of the tide.
Central NJ Striped Bass Fishing
Striped Bass Fishing in the boat continues on as strong as it’s been. There’s really no need to dive into details. Daily boats are getting out of Barnegat inlet and enjoying great fishing utilizing their favorite methods; live bait fishing, trolling, jigging and casting. We haven’t heard any direct reports from the south end out front.
A lot of great fishing has gone down this past week and good fishing continues with quality from the beach and boat. We are smack dab in the middle of prime time fall fishing here on the central Jersey coast. Find a weather window or fish in the thick of it. It’s game time!
Here’s an updated fishing report video I posted yesterday Sunday November 7, 2021.
While I was away Fish Heads ambassador Swagmattic was kind enough to share a video report update on the the 4th.
Fall fishing on Long Beach Island is in full swing with this weeks arrival of the first wave of migrating striped bass. The ocean bite has been on fire the past couple days with mostly over slot sized stripers. The big bass are feeding heavily on bunker pods. There are still a good number of smaller fish on the bayside and we should see the quality there increase this week as well. Surf fishing is just starting to heat up as these larger bass are being caught off the beaches as well. Blackfish season opens 11/16 with a 5 fish bag limit. Seabass, Porgy, False Albacore are all still very much in play. Get off the couch and get out and FISH!!
Happy Halloween! Here at the end of the month we have reached another major stage of fall fishing here on the centers Jersey Coast. The weather patters are shifting with more consistent stormy weather and westerlies in between. The air and water temperatures are trending down and the days are getting shorter. We are RIGHT NOW entering prime time striped bass fishing. The first week of November is a great time to be fishing Long Beach Island from the beach, bay and/or boat. Quality striped bass first arrived in our waters last week and over the recent days more and more are being caught. Expect this trend to continue as this week looks promising! Anglers are catching using all of three proven classic approaches; live bait fishing, chunking, trolling, jigging and popping. Pick your favorite and get salty!
We had a nice weekend on LBI and heard lot of great reports from both land based and boat anglers. Some quality striped bass showed adding some new spice to the already great spread. But the next couple days will be challenging with an active and gnarly weather pattern.
Are you ready for the fall run? If not now’s the time to prepare for the best four weeks of the fall. Every year I say it and will do it again… Halloween to Thanksgiving is the best time to be fishing LBI and the central Jersey Coast for quality striped bass.
Right now the fishing in town goes to tautog. Land based anglers are catching very good numbers but keepers are challenging. Bait up with live green crabs and go! Boat anglers are also doing well with tog on the inshore wrecks too. I had return clients Matt and Joe aboard on Saturday. We caught out four fish limit in the first 15 minutes and had drop and reel fishing for the whole trip.
Here’s Howard with a quality tog!
On Thursday Howard Clark weighed in a big 10.9 pound tog. He caught it fishing an inshore wreck using the Magictail Tog Jigs baited with green crabs.
Striped Bass Fishing
As mentioned in the first paragraph, quality striped bass showed this weekend! Not just one unicorn and no these aren’t Raritan Bay reports. There were a handful a big striped bass caught north of Barnegat Inlet this weekend in the waters of Ocean County!
Fish Head’s alumni Dan D. got a good one trolling.
Another report came in from Illesor Retep, “My buddy and I were in the shop last week. We picked up some bunker spoons and mojos. Your team is extremely knowledgeable, very courtesy and helpful. They were great and deserve credit! I was out Saturday. Bunker was stacked up and at one point a thresher was breaking water. No marks so we trolled to cover ground. Caught and released this big bass (photo below). Another boat fishing nearby picked up a 48″ bass on a green spoon too.”
LBI Surf Fishing Report
On the surf there’s still kings and small blues being caught. Also skates and dog fish are present which the latter tend to show up in full force right around Halloween each year. A couple striped bass were caught so far this fall from the sud but so far they have been few and far between.
Seventeen days into the LBI 67th Annual LBI Surf Fishing Classic surf fishing tournament it is all kingfish on the board. No bass or blues yet. They may change soon.
We’ve got unruly conditions on the beaches of LBI today Monday October 11, 2021. It’s very windy (42mph gusts this morning) and the surf is rough. The Station 44091 Barnegat Ocean Buoy was at 10-12 feet today. The coastal flood advisor is still in effect and even though the area has had little rain there’s water in streets. The persistent onshore winds from this long living low pressure system have the waters stacked up. Slowly the system will let loose and pull out. But lingering easterly swell will be in the water this week.
This past weekend anglers fished the sheltered bayside area and caught fish; blowfish, tog, blues, weakfish and striped bass. There were a few that even battled the rough surf and caught a couple fish. Case and point, Ted Schmid’s and Derek Mason’s kingfish weigh-ins for the LBI Surf Fishing Classic (both on bloodworm). Long story short, there’s fishing opportunities to take advantage right now and it’s only getting better as we progress into prime time fall fishing!
Later this week the weather looks beautiful with unseasonably warm temps. Let’s get out, go fishing and enjoy every bit of it!
From tog, triggers, sea bass and sheepshead to bluefish, striped bass, albies, kingfish, blowfish and weakfish there’s a lot of options for angler fishing the waters of Long Beach Island. The unseasonable warm water and air offer a comfortable feel to the great early fall fishing.
Today October 8th, NJ Black Sea Bass fishery opened up to 10 fish at 12.5″ adding another great species to target.
Every day more bass reports from the bay, inlet and surf. He’s one Sloane caught last night aboard Fish Head Charters.
We also heard of a nice striped bass caught off the surf today. Speaking of the surf…
The 67th LBI Surf FIshing Classic kicks off tomorrow morning. Sign up now! It’s kind of late for a notice now but the annual opening day surf fishing seminar is at 9am at the Ship Bottom Firehouse. See you there! Click here for more info on the surf fishing tournament.
Here’s a recent fishing report video I posted yesterday…
Lots of bait around… mullet, bunker, spearing, bay anchovies, butterfish, SQUID and much more! Last night I caught a bucket full with Sloane and Swag. Lots of fun and it will be a great feast tomorrow!
Jonathan Czarnecki was fishing the mid-Island surf yesterday evening and caught a nice redfish about an hour before high water. The red took a whole mullet. Jonathan said, “The 32″ red put up a great fun fight!” Each year October is the month that offers anglers on and around Long Beach Island the best shot at targeting and catching redfish. It’s also prime time to target pompano!
The Long Beach Island surf anglers are primarily catching kingfish and bluefish. Some days better than others. For kingfish use live bloods and/or FishBites. For blues use fresh mullet or any type of lure that matches.
Barnegat Inlet Fishing Report
You can’t beat the Barnegat Inlet Jetty this time of year! It offers the best variety of opportunities for angler who want to fish lures or bait. In recent days there has been a variety of species caught from blues, striped bass, weakfish and albies to tog, triggerfish and sheephead.
For the most consistent bites/action target tog with green crab. They are stacked along the entire stretch of the Jetty from the inside on out to the tip. Expect the entire month to offer great fishing fun.
Here’s John Bonner with an albie he caught on Saturday morning off the Inlet Jetty.
Bayside Dave shared,”I was on the jetty when the albies came by around 8am on Saturday. I was ready with a Hogy Epoxy Jig and managed to land three. Four other guys were there with me and including my three, ten other albies were caught.”
Recently we’ve received a lot of questions and interest in false albacore fishing. Here’s a great blog post Running With Albies by Steve George.
Barnegat Bay Fishing Report
Still the same story line as last reported with little change. Weakfish, blowfish, striped bass and blues.
Missy Fillman shared, “Looking for a fun day with non-stop action? Blowfish are plentiful on the Ship Bottom bayside.”
The striped bass continue to offer early fall light tackle fun in and around the local bays. Here’s JP with one of many from recent trips.
Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association Update
The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are eying the cooler evening temperatures and thinking about the arrival of striped bass. Meanwhile, they are finding good inshore wreck fishing, good numbers of blowfish and even some weakfish in the bay, and eying the continued presence of tuna offshore.
Captain Gary Dugan of the Irish Jig had some recent noteworthy trips. He has switched gears and is hunting for the many species of wreck fish. One recent trip yielded a few nice blackfish, sea bass, and monster trigger fish. On Saturday he had a group working some ocean structure. Despite all he could do, they could not locate any blackfish. They did catch some very nice out of season black sea bass which had to be released in addition to plenty of small bluefish and some very nice trigger fish. He has done some bay charters for small stripers and blowfish. He is getting tackle ready for the striped bass run that will be here shortly.
Question & Answer
Tyler Harkins questioned, “Thanks for the great reports. Are there still sharks in the surf at night this time of year?”
Yes there’s currently sharks on the beach. At this point in the season it’s the transition from the summertime warm water sharks to the cooler/cold water sharks. Spinners and black tips really like warm waters in the upper 60’s and 70’s. They are still here but will be leaving soon. Browns also like this warmer water but will tolerate a slightly cooler water. Sand tiger are some of the first to arrive in the spring and tend to hang around the longest in the fall. Threshers (while might not be abundant) will be around in our local coastal waters for the fall. We usually see these sharks on the bunker pods near the beach but rarely caught from the surf. Also dogfish (smooth and spiny) will show up in full force soon. We already saw some show this week. Usually around Halloween they invade. As always know the state and federal laws. Know before you go!
It’s finally here! A month that sun tanning beach goers don’t like but anglers rejoice. At this point summer is in the rear view mirror and that means the peak water temperatures are behind us. The bait is moving (peanut bunker, bay anchovies, spearing, mullet) and we are having a blast fishing the waters of Long Beach Island! Here’s the fishign report update for Saturday October 2, 2021.
Here’s the LBI Fishing Report video posted on our YouTube page yesterday Friday October 1.
Right now the weakfish and blowfish bite remains strong in the bay. Schoolie striped bass and small bluefish also offer great light tackle fun. Everyday more reports of striped bass with better fish showing much more commonly now than a few weeks ago when the mullet run first started. The past three days the area saw a great push of mullet. By far it has been the best days of the NJ 2021 Mullet Run so far. Is this the climax?
At the Barnegat Inlet tog fishing has been very good for most anglers. Fishing green crabs is the classic bait to catch them. In the same area there’s blues as well as the occasional striped bass and weakfish. Some day’s tide and conditions are better for these two.
There’s a few albies around. Maybe one of these days it will pop off again! On Friday I found a couple of fast moving and skittish schools of them but couldn’t connect.
Off the surf kingfish are the primary species but there’s small blues and out of season fluke being caught. October is the month that all of LBI’s beaches are back open for 4×4 beach permit holders.
67th Annual LBI Surf Fishing Classic Kicks off Saturday October 9, 2021 – Sign up today!
Fall is here and the Mullet Run is on. Right now there is good fishing for a variety of species such as blues, kingfish, weakfish, blowfish, tog and striped bass. Here’s the LBI Fishing Report for Sunday September 25, 2021.
Here’s a Saturday late afternoon fishing report update video. Just a heads up this is a longer one with some good info on the back half. Don’t check out early.
Things got going last week and really ramped up around this week’s moon (Monday night was the full moon). The Mullet Run here on Long Beach ISland is firing on all cylinders with both bluefish, striped bass and weakfish gorging on finger mullets all throughout the bays and inlets. Sunrise and sunset are undoubtedly the best times to fish during the Mullet Run. However some days you can catch ’em good at high noon.
When casting artificials this time of year it is a must to match the hatch. Fish are keyed in on mullet so topwater poppers, small pencils and spooks will work like magic. Also small swimming plugs in the 3-5” range can be very effective. Our favorite mullet run lures are the three classics: Stillwater Smack-It, Bomber Windcheater and the Cordell Red Fin. A couple new baits that are consistently raising fish are the Yo-Zuri 3D Inshore Top Knock Pencil and the Yo-Zuri 3D Twitch Bait.
Yo-zuri is well know for making very good lures. This here is their Top Knock Pencil which is a phenomenal top water lure that has a perfect mullet profile, puts off a v-wake and has a great top water action when worked with the right candace. Simply deadly!
Barnegat Inlet Fishing Report
At this point of the year there isn’t a better area to fish than inlets. The summertime species exit and the fall species arrive. Add in baits flushing in and out with the tide and we get some great fishing.
Case and point is the bluefish action the past couple of weeks and this morning’s weakfish blitz. We received a handful of reports all themed around active weakfish crashing bait during the morning hours.
Tog fishing is and has been phenomenal with anglers catching 20-30-50+++ fish a day. Good numbers BUT keepers are hard to find. A couple anglers caught keeper tog today but it requires dedication, skill and some luck.
The triggerfish are also chewing and a few sheepshead. Sand Fleas have been more productive with the triggers and sheeps although they will almost always eat any type of crab offering.
Aaron Parker stopped in mid-day looking for bait. He wanted live green crab but we were sold out. We have sand fleas so he got them and hit the jetty with friend Ashley Webb. They reported back, “Caught a bunch of short tog and sea bass. Ashley caught a big triggerfish on a flea.”
LBI Surf Fishing Report
The Long Beach Island surf temperature continues to hang around in the low 70’s. For the most part it’s the same surf story…
Anglers fishing live bloodworms and Fish Bites are catching kingfish on the beaches of LBI. From time to time, there’s also small bluefish present on some beaches. Using mullet or bunker will get these hungry and aggressive blues to bite.
Today was the 74th Annual World Series of Surf Fishing hosted by the LBI Fishing Club. This one day ASAC event had a strong showing with 36 teams and a total of 206 anglers. All together there were 374 total scorable fish caught; 140 bluefish and 182 kingfish.
Sandra Lee took this sunrise photo of the surf anglers lined up for the World Series of Surf Fishing Tournament.
Current Surf Conditions & Outlook
Today’s conditions… South east swell continues on the beach of LBI today. Expect reinforcing swell tomorrow (Sunday) from TS Teresa which is developing near/above Bermuda. Everyone should also keep an eye out for Hurricane Sam which is a small but powerful story that is tacking in our direction. So it should send us swell later this month and then additional, more powerful swell the first week of October.
Barnegat Bay Fishing Report
In the bay there’s a lot of life! From game fish to bait, the variety of species is amazing. It’s crazy to think we’ve seen sardines, cigar minnows and goggle eyes mixed in with the peanut bunker.
The two most abundant game species are blowfish and weakfish but blues make their presence known. Blowfish continue to be caught in good number by anglers anchoring, chumming and fishing small baited (clam, squid, worm) hooks.
So far this year the weakfish are plentiful, possibly the best we’ve seen in quite some time. A lot of weaks in the 12-20″ range with a few quality ones up to 26″. These are mainly being caught on small jigs and soft plastics, with a few being caught on peanut bunker and mullet. Also shrimping for weakfish has been great!
A healthy showing of resident striped bass in the smaller size ranges (20-26″) continue to offer light tackle fun. There are a few keeper size in the mix. Slowly (but surly) bigger striped bass are showing.
Here’s Team Fish Head’s Dan D with a classy bass he caught this afternoon fishing the flats. He caught this 40″ striped bass in 4′ of water on a Smack-It popper! It’s safe to say we have new arrivals here now!
Big Game Fishing
The big game fishing has been phenomenal all summer and it has transitioned right into fall. The past couple of weeks have been crazy with monster bluefin tuna in the Bight very close to the shores of northern Jersey and Western Long Island. Anglers are also still picking away at yellowfin a couple big eyes, a few wahoo and really good catches of mahi.
That’s a real one! TJ has geared up at Fish Heads for many many years. When he called us early in the week and said he needed another big gun outfit we had a new Shimano Tiagra 80 wide spooled and and ready to go! Happy to see our customers getting out and accomplishing serious life goals!
