The fish are here and anglers are catching on the beach and boat. Get in the game!

John Bell stopped in the shop this afternoon to gear up for an afternoon fishing trip on the surf. He sent in a couple photos just a few hours later.

Happy Thanksgiving

May you and your families have a safe and health Thanksgiving filled with the warmth and happiness.

Upcoming Hours

11/25/20 Wednesday: 6am to 8pm (Normal Hours)
11/26/20 Thursday: 5am to 2pm
11/27/20 Friday: 5am to 9pm
11/28/20 Saturday: 5am to 9pm (Normal Hours)
11/29/20 Sunday: 5am to 7pm (Normal Hours)

Get Reel Bass Fishing Visits LBI

Paulie Spikes from Get Reel Bass Fishing came down and visited the LBI area last week. While here he stopped into the shop before heading out to fish. Here’s a Vlog from trip which includes a trip aboard Fish Head Charters… Check It Out!

This past weekend was a GOOD ONE! Saturday was an awesome day! Great Fishing & Great Weather! It was great to see a crazy number of boats on the water and most were catching fish. There were a crazy number of surf anglers too but unfortunately the bite was not as good for them. BUT some caught fish. This weekend might have been the best three days for surf anglers all fall so far. With the ocean and surf temps in the mid to lower 50’s (52-54 degrees) it’s prime time fishing here on LBI.

If you’ve pulled out and wintered the gear for the year there’s no doubt you are missing out on a ton of great fishing opportunities. Now’s the time to get out and enjoy all the LBI and the surrounding waters have to offer. Let’s Go Fish!

LBI Surf Fishing

The Long Beach Island surf has not offered epic fishing; however, it has produced fun fishing for many anglers. Lots of mixed reports but one thing is for sure… right now is a good time to get out hunt down striped bass.

Since Halloween the invasion of dogfish has made bait fishing the suds challenging. However some of those that weed through and adapt are rewarded with quality striped bass. Some anglers have abandon bait fishing all together and they are scoring fish on lures. This weekend we heard through the grapevine of a 42″ striped bass that was released on the south end of the Islands. We also heard about scattered reports of short striped bass on metal/ teaser combo early in the mornings. Keeper striped bass were also caught. Here’s some details…

Sunday morning Tom Smith enjoyed the beautiful conditions (sunrise, north east winds, low tide) on the North End surf and caught a healthy striped bass for the dinner table. The 33″ striped bass went for a fresh Fish Heads bunker chunk.

Gavin Kowalski got two striped bass on green tube tail AVA Diamond Jigs rigged up with a teaser ahead of it. This is an old and effective trick to get the smallest presentations (little flies/teasers) way out a long distance. Diamond jigs and other metals cast like rocket ships.

Willy B – “Hey thanks for the help this week Had a great day. Lots of fish casting deadly dicks and AVA jigs. All fish were around 27″!”

Long Beach Island Surf Fishing Classic

It’s Day 44! Today (Sunday November 22, 2020) at 6pm the Second Segment ended and we are currently in the third and final segment of the LBI surf fishing tournament. So far there are 562 anglers participating. no bluefish, 37 kingfish and 16 striped bass. There have been a number of over and under legal slot (28-<38″) fish that were caught and released.

Today Steve Roderick weighed in a really nice fish for the LBI Surf Fishing Tournament… a 22.92# 37 7/8″ striped bass just before the 6pm (5:46pm) cut off. This fish unofficially qualifies as the winner of the second segment. Steve caught the bass fishing bunker on the south end of LBI at about 5pm.

What’s special about the LBI Classic is even though there’s a large fish on the board that will be very hard to beat (due to the new NJ state striped bass fishing regulations) there’s still lots of great fishing and competition ahead.

We’ve got a whole new segment full of great prizes. Get geared up and get out there! For The Live Results Page & More Info www.LBISFC.com

Bayside Striped Bass

Usually striped bass hang around our bays all year long and this year seems so far like that will be the case. Usually we see striped bass active in the back bay waters into December (depending on weather and temperatures). So far we continue to get positive reports from the bay.

Konrad recently picked up some essential fly tying materials at the shop to tie up some flies now and over the winter. He sent in this photo…

Striped Bass Out Of Barnegat Inlet

The striped bass fishing the past couple weeks has been nothing short of phenomenal. Recent days have kept the level very high. Even with the oodles of boats on Saturday the fish chewed. Sunday was rough but some went out and they caught. This week ahead doesn’t look the best but there will be some windows to get out.

Ryan Duffy geared up Friday night at fish heads and shared this report, “Had a productive day with 15 total striped bass keeping one 30″ for the table. Lots of boats were working the 3 mile line, I found a nice stretch of bass at the 1.5 mile area closer to the bottom and they were chewing 9ers shad umbrella rigs and sand eel umbrellas. About 9am we found the birds and had top water boils catching on needle fish lures and SP minnows. For the volume of boats it was a good day. Shout out to Greg Cudnik. and Fish Heads for always putting us on the fish with intel and the right gear!”

Fish Head Charters

All recent trips have been very good! It’s light tackle striped bass fishing at its finest. I’ve been out every single good weather day I possibly can and even some sour days too. The abundance of striped bass is phenomenal. I expect we’ll have a couple weeks of great fall fishing so long as the weather allows.

So far I have not had the need to break out the trolling gear. All action has been on light tackle spinning gear or the fly. Catching striped bass on top water boat side is exhilarating to say the least.

If you want to jump aboard send a text or call as there are a couple dates still available. Reach out to Captain Greg at Fish Head Charters Today 16093899963

LBI Tog Fishing

Tog fishing is good right now and should be right into the end of the year and beyond. The local reefs and wreck sites are producing. For land based anglers the Barnegat Inlet Jetty is still holding tog and anglers are catching with live crabs.

As of November 16 there is a five fish bag limit with a minimum size of 15″ (same all year)

Saturday Store staffer Frezza went out fishing aboard the Gabagool with Fish Head Alumni Dave DeFeo. They got into a great bite and were limited out by 9am.

Zachary Ellwood reported, “I was out fishing the Lighthouse and caught a lot of small stuff and nailed two keepers! It was a beautiful dead with the sun shining and not a lot of wind. I was in my t-shirt for most of the day!”

Paul Lindsey reported, “Probably caught close to 60 fish the last couple of days. All of the fish are fat and fun fighters.”

So here we are… Friday the 13th, approaching the middle of November and the new moon is tomorrow. Looking back at the first half of November it’s easy to say it has been a great month so far. Until recent the weather was unbelievable and so was the fishing. Even now with unstable weather there’s action to be had.

Here’s the Fishing LBI Fishing Report Update For Friday November 13, 2020.

Don’t Wait… Go Fish!

If you are sitting back, waiting for the “fishing to kick off” you are 100% missing out on great fishing opportunities. Anglers have and are catching striped bass on both the beach and boat.

This morning Jay Shayne caught a pair of big bass. He stopped in this afternoon for two new surf reels and shared a great report. “I had a good morning fishing the mid island surf. I stopped by Fish Heads and got some fresh bunker and then hit the beach not far from the shop. First cast, not more than 15 minutes I got 47″ bass. Then shortly after a 44″ second fish.” We would have to say that is about as good as it gets right there!

Here’s some other recent reports from the Long Beach Island Surf…

Today Mike Cucinotta caught and released a 47″ striped bass off of the LBI surf.

Rob Vallone stopped in the shop yesterday. He was up on the beach in the morning and got one striped bass. He said, “Fish the deep troughs in close with a metal and a teaser rig. You’ll find them.” He reported, “My buddies are picking a few too using the same as well as small rubber swim shads, sand eel soft baits and Deadly Dick Metals.” Robbie hit the LBI surf in the afternoon too. He got the skunk but his dad got one small bass and his buddy Andy got two. Biggest was 24″.

Dante from Magictail Lure Company was in the show today. He reported catching two small bass off the surf today on soft baits, Kettle Creek Paddletail Shads on a led head.

Recent LBI Surf & Jetty Catches

In the past 5-7 days land based anglers fishing the beaches of Long Beach Island have found some quality fish. Numerous fish over 40″ were reported. Here’s some photos of a couple.

These big fish aren’t the only catches from the LBI surf. We’ve also got first hand report from others. Anthony Ventriello recently caught this 26.5″ striped bass off of the LBI surf fishing the south end surf with a Deadly Dick Metal Lure.

Thursday morning Pete Evangelist reported the bass were blowing up on bait just out of casting range. Gary Grippaldi shared he is bucktailing schoolies on the surf. He said that he caught a fish off the surf the last few evenings.

Big Bass In The Local Waters

Barry Baxter caught and released a monster fishing the waters of LBI. He reported, “I took my wife Nicole for a boat ride around LBI yesterday. Saw some birds picking a mile off the beach. First cast… personal best 52″ fish. Then three casts later another big fish in the 40# class.”

What a great run of fishing we had before this recent weather. Thursday (5th), Friday (6th), Saturday (7th), Sunday (8th), Monday (9th), Tuesday (10th) was a great stretch of fishing and phenomenal weather. Not sure what was better… Top water bass fishing with striped bass ranging from teen to 40 class or fishing in shorts in early November.

It’s great to see a smorgasbord of bait here; sand eels, micros baits, bunker and squid. Anglers are finding fish using just about every application one could imagine. Those doing the best are matching the hatch.

Mojos are a great way to match squid and bunker. Umbrella rigs with tubes match a sand eel and shad match peanut bunker. Bunker spoons match a herring or bunker to the tee. Get in the game and have fun!

Bottom Fishing

Bottom fishing at the local wrecks and reef sites is goofd with anglers catching quality tog as well as porgies and sea bass at select areas.

Big Game Fishing

Fall Tuna, Swords & Tiles

When the weather allowed reports came in from anglers fishing the deep for swordfish. Big game anglers were also finding big eye, tilefish and bluefin. Fred Soper reported catching a 68″ big eye and going three for three on swords.

Inshore Tuna Fishing

Captain Adam Sherer gets on some bluefin tuna each year as they move through our areas. Just the other day he found them and got one on the deck! “We avoided the striper crowds and did our own thing. It paid off big time. We had a great day chasing pods of bluefin tuna busting all by ourselves. It’s great to see Jersey bluefin tuna within sight of land.”

Recent days have offered awesome fishing in the local waters of Long Beach Island and the surrounding areas. There’s a large body of striped bass here NOW! It’s time to fish.

If you want to score… be sure to HATCH THE HATCH!

The remnants of Zeta was a doozie here on LBI with high winds, lots of rain and some serious flooding. It brought back memories from eight years ago of Sandy. The storm cleared out and very chilly temps filled in.

Daylights Savings Ends on Sunday November 1st!

So here we are at the end of October with a big bright shinning full moon and daylight savings. Sunday we gain an hour in the morning… Saturday sunrise was at 7:25 am. Sunday sunrise is at 6:36am. Sunset on Sunday will be at 4:53pm.

Jersey Shore Fishing Report

Last week! This Week! Hopefully Next Week! Great fishing is and had gone down over recent days when wether allows. Some days are non stop feeds. Get out and enjoy the awesome early season fishing opportunities that are upon us. The fish are here NOW! Great catches recently on lures, live lining and trolling.

Here’s Fish Heads staffers Jordan (left) and Willie (right) with two quality striped bass that they caught and released on Saturday afternoon fishing off of Monmouth County.

Who knows… Will get closer and stage up? If they do all the more better. But we aren’t waiting. We are going fishing! Historically speaking Long Beach Island and the local waters sees the first wave of quality striped bass in the early days of November.

Last year in 2019 November 5th was a solid day for a number of anglers and an especially great day for Jeremy Mill, Shimmerhorn and the boyz aboard the Who Cares. They caught five quality striped bass on this day. Two of the five classy ones were on the same rod, tandem rig.

Another memory from this time of year that stands out is from 2017. November 1st was the date John Matt caught a 48 pound striped bass off the LBI surf. With this fish Matt won the 63rd LBI Surf Fishing Classic.

LBI Bayside Waters

Striped bass are abundant in the local bays; Barnegat, Manahawkin and Great Bay. This should be news to anyone who’s following along with our fishing report updates. These areas have had bass and will have them all of November.

Tom Lewis reported having a blast with his son fishing light tackle Tuesday evening. They caught a handful fishing in the bay off of Beach Haven using top water and jerk baits.

Store staffer Grey is catching squid regularly fishing the lights at night. He said there’s squid hounds lurking.

Store staffer Max was out in the boat on Saturday evening and shared some water temperature data. Take it for what it’s worth… 53 degrees in Oyster Creek Channel, 57 degrees in the inlet.

LBI Surf Fishing

The Long Beach Island surf temperature is ocean is finally below the 60 mark at 59 degrees. We expect this downward water temp trend to continue.

Since the Zeta blow few reports have come in but we can share the following…

Bob Capri caught and weighed in this 7.98# 28″ striped bass in the early morning Saturday. He caught the linesider off of the Harvey Cedars surf on a lure.

A few small blues reported (snapper small) as well as dog sharks from anglers fishing bunker chunks. Usually right around Halloween the dogies show up in big numbers. Looks like they are arrvingin on schedule as our friend Swag hit the surf today and reported. “Chunked the surf for a few hours… lotta dog sharks keeping me active.” I’ve found over the years that striped bass roll into town almost lock step with the doggies. They both like similar water temperatures.

Another surf side report came in from Craig Harkness. He sharred, “Not much happening off the surf this morning from 5:30am to noon except for a couple of small black drum on bloodworms and squid Fish Bites.” Craig mentioned he was fishing the south end of LBI down in Beach Haven.

Land Based Tog Fishing

Reports on Saturday were not good but rightfully so. A day after a big storm expectations should be low due to residual swell and chocolate milk water.

Paul Michael got a 15.25″ tog and left the blistering cold to warm up. He came back in the afternoon and reported, “the bite picked up around 5pm with the higher tide.” He caught a couple 14-14.75″ fish and lost a keeper size fish trying to lift onto the rocks.

Here’s a look at the Long Beach Island surf on Monday October 26, 2020.

This past weekend kingfish and a couple striped bass were caught. Also tog fishing has been good at the Barnegat Inlet. Get out and have fun fishing!

There were a couple of resident bass reported off the surf this past weekend. Soon we expect more fish and larger fish to move into our waters. Right now they are hanging around the state’s northern waters.

Nick Brewer stopped by Fish Heads and spooled up his reel before hitting the surf. He caught this striped bass on bloodworms. Anglers are also catching kingfish with bloodworms and Fish Bites. Another surf side striped bass was reported by Liam Velit. He reported catching a striped bass on a teaser super close into the beach and the fish spit up sand eels. Good to know the sand eels are still around. They were plentiful all summer and if they stick around all fall things could get really interesting.

Store staffer Grey has been catching squid at night. This isn’t a one time thing. He has caught a number of them on his recent trips.

Captain Jeff aboard the Reel Innovation shared a report from his most recent offshore trip this past weekend. “Took a while to find them but on the last drift of the day we managed to kill two nice ones. Also pulled another one off next to the boat. I think the swell was doing something down deep and that threw off the bite. It was great having young Hunter out for his first canyon trip. This kid is hooked for life and I’m sure he is going to put a ton of swords across the dock throughout his life”

Here we are with a week left in October. There’s fish here now and we expect things to only get better. Currently solid energy is in the ocean from Hurricane Epsilon. It will be pumping powerful long period swell all weekend. On the beaches of LBI expect 4-7′ Friday and Saturday with easing 3-5′ swell on Sunday.

Here’s the Long Beach Island Fishing Report Update for Friday October 23, 2020.

Attention All Jetty Anglers

Keep an eye out and fish with extreme care. Know the swell forecast and the tides. This might seem like common sense but some don’t check and get into trouble. Case and point… There was a jetty anglers removed from the Inlet’s North Jetty just a few days ago after he was faced with a rising tide and unexpected swell.

LBI Surf Fishing

The Long Beach Island Surf Fishing Tournament is in its third week and going strong. Here is a link to the current leader board and standings. There’s lots of prizes that were won but it’s not too late to join and take part in the fun fishing. Right now kingfish dominate the current catches but we expect that tide to turn in the next week or two as the migrating striped bass show up.

Tog Fishing

Tog fishing continues strong at the Barnegat Inlet Jetty as well as the inshore wrecks and reefs. Things did slow up for a few days around Delta’s stormy weather but it has bounced back. Usually there’s goof fishing on the jetty all of October and most of November. We expect there to be fun fishing

Dave Ho (@symplexfishing) reported fishing the rocks on Thursday, “Took 15 minutes to get ‘er done. Got a keeper tog right away.”

Store staffer Jared (photo below) was out fishing the foggy ocean aboard the “No Moores” today and caught the tog good. Anyone looking to gear up and get in on the great tog fishing we have all the bare bone essentials along with the specialty hot products that will set you apart from the crowd catching more and bigger fish!

Striped Bass Fishing

Any day we are going to see the first wave of fall migrators show in our local waters. We always see the first push of larger fish around Halloween. Some anglers just can’t wait and trek north. More on that soon.

The abundance of residence striped bass continues strong and keeping anglers tight. One local angler Konrad has been in on the action. He’s fishing small plugs along the sod banks and having a blast. He reports, “Been plugging some spots in the bay before and after work and the fish are showing. Tuesday I had a couple. Thursday I slammed them. Landed at least a dozen fish and lost a few more at my feet. When the fog rolled in it was on! I couldn’t see my cast land it was so thick.”

The abundance of classy bass to our north is very promising! I got the invite to fish Tuesday and take part in a new product photo shoot with the crew from Reel Innovation. We went out in the early morning rain and took a ride. Fortunately we found the mother load with only one other boat.

Since it was a product photo shoot for the Reel Innovation Bunker Spoon all we did was troll. We were catching one after the other proving one thing… These spoons catch fish! It was an awesome day filled with too many doubles and triple ups that we could count. Every fish was safely released except one small “slot fish” at 34″ for the dinner table.

Another great weekend here on Long Beach Island. The weather cooperated and the island was PACKED with a lot going on. The Annual Kite Festival was the main attraction with 100’s-1000’s of people on the Ship Bottom beaches relaxing on the sand. Also two surf fishing tournaments, the American Angler 500 and the start of the 66th Annual LBI Surf Fishing Classic.

Happy Columbus Day! Too bad it looks to be a gnarly day as the remnants of Delta impact our area with strong winds and potentially heavy rainfall.

We hope you have the fall foul weather gear ready. If not stop by and see us. We’ll get you set up in a new set. 

A sour start to the new week but westerlies sweep through Tuesday and clean things up. Looks like another drop in temps into next weekend. Are you ready for the fall run to bust open? I know we are!

Here’s the Long Beach Island Fishing Report Update for Sunday October 11, 2020.

LBI Surf Fishing

The 66th Annual LBI Surf Fishing Classic kicked off this Saturday. Due to the current situation the Opening Day “Kick Off” Seminar was cancelled; however Teddy K (long time LBI surf angler, LBI Fishing Club Member, past tournament winner) and myself would not let the annual event die. We teamed up and put together a two part informative video to help others catch more fish in the surf. We did our best to share info that will bring value to all; rookie, novice and advanced surf anglers.

Surf Fishing 101 Part 1

Surf Fishing 101 Part 2

Fishing started off good for the LBI Surf Fishing Classic with lots of kingfish weigh ins. Kings are a new addition to the 66th annual event. There’s also an abundance of cocktail bluefish on the surf but so far no qualifying bluefish were weighed in yet. There were two striped bass… an 11.12# by Duncan Turner on an SP Minnow Lure and one 29″ 9.12# by Peg Bucci on clam.

Joe Handley Jr reported fishing this weekend was really good, “At times I had bluefish on every cast.” In order to catch something different he had to move. It paid off!. He caught a good size kingfish (1.1#) on a sand crab. King fish was good enough for third place on the leader board…

LBI Surf Fishing Classic Leader Board

Neal Belgam reported, “Small blues had the bait pushed up in the surf” This similar topic was reported by many others up and down the beaches this past week. The photos above by Jay Mann show just a quick capture of the abundance of bait and small blues.

There’s other species still around on the surf too. Stephen Pirrello reported, “Only blowfish (photo below), cocktail blues and herring.” We also head of a few spike weakfish. American Angler 500 had lots of anglers and lots of fish made up of a variety of the small species currently here. Craig and Chris Fortino took the win.

Other Land Based Fishing

The blackfish bite has been terrific around structure. When most hear about tog fishing they first thing wreck fishing in the boat. There’s a super fun land based fishery right here on LBI at the Barnegat Inlet.

Togging at the jetty is still on fire. A lot of shorts but also a good number of keeper class fish. They are chewing on crabs… green crabs, Asian crabs, fiddlers, sand fleas… any thing you can get your hands on will work. [Recently green crabs have been in short supply but we are expecting to get a large restocking in mid week Tuesday/Wednesday.] This super fun fishing is a great way to enjoy the day and work on your hook set game.

David Ho @symplexfishing has been in on the action all fall. He shared, “Logging as much time togging, Defiantly one of the tastiest and hardest fighting fish in the area. I hate bait fishing but I’ll make an exception for these fish. The bait is staging and we should see a huge push of our migratory friends very soon.”

More LBI Fishing Information

Black Sea Bass Fishing

Now that Black Sea Bass season is open anglers are getting out and having catching fishing the offshore, inshore and nearshore waters. Usually the sea bass start moving off right about now but the inshore wrecks are producing for those fishing both rigs and jigs. Certain areas have piles of sand eels with black bass on them. Here the jig fishing has been great! It’s a helluva lotta fun light tackle jigging with 60g Nomad Streakers, Tubed 007 & A17 Diamond Jigs and Hogy Sand Eel Jigs.

Store staffer Kelley got out and fished with his day this weekend on some inshore structure. They caught their limit as well as a good number of keeper size tog. Kelley also reported, “There’s lots of small blues and spike weakfish on the bait pods, schools of peanut bunker and bay anchovies.”

Barnegat Bay Bass Fishing

The Barnegat Bay is bearish. The cool nights and shorter days have the water temperatures falling with lower highs (incoming water) and lower lows (outgoing water).

Striped bass are prevalent all around the back bay waters. There’s an abundance of schoolies on the sod banks, bridges, docks and channels. Slowly bass are starting to show on the surf and we soon expect to see a bigger class of striped bass arrive.

Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters

Reel Fantasea Fishing Charter’s Captain Steve Purul reports solid light tackle action with a variety of species. “Striped bass, bluefish, blackfish, blowfish, among others… We are catching on both artificial and live baits. If one species isn’t cooperating a quick gear shift and we’re back into the action. All good fishing in the local Barnegat Light waters minutes from the dock!” Get out on the water and enjoy some saltwater fishing.

Give Captain Steve Purul A Call Today – 16092901217

Offshore Fishing

When the weather allows anglers are getting offshore and catching a variety of fish. There’s albies, bonita, king mackerel and mahi in the midshore waters and tuna, sharks and swordfish further offshore.

Here’s a couple catch photos from the Fisher’s, father and son on a recent trip aboard the Reel Innovation.

Here in early October we have a great mix of fishing on Long Beach Island. With the water temperatures still warm (surf in the mid to upper 60’s) and some areas of the bay in the mid to low 60’s, fishing still has that “summertime” feel especially on the sunny days.

However soon the transition is going to flip like a switch. The shortening days and cooler nights are trending that way.

Land Based Tog Fishing On LBI

By far the best game in town is the tautog fishing. The Barnegat Inlet Jetty tog fishing has been smoking for a number of weeks and there’s no signs of it slowing down any time soon. It’s great to see so many anglers having a blast. We wish we could share all of the reports that have come in. Check our Instagram Story for some of the catch report/photo (reposts).

We anticipate the next few weeks will be very good and we will be doing our best to be fully stocked with live green crabs throughout the fall fishing season. Unfortunately (at the time of this post) we are sold out of live green crabs. This weekend we sold through everything our suppliers could get us. We expect more Tuesday or latest Wednesday.

For those looking to catch their own sand fleas we have a couple rakes still in stock but they will be sold out soon.

Also present and eating crabs among other baits… sheepshead, triggerfish and black drum.

Surf Fishing LBI

Lots of small blues around and they are increasing in size from what we saw a couple weeks back. Some 2-4 pounders have showed up in the mix of smaller ones. Store staffer Paulie fished the mid-island surf Saturday before sunset and got into a bluefish feeding frenzy. He reported, “Cocktail blues had the white bait pined to the beach and they were feeding. I was catching every cast using a Hogy Epoxy Jig.”

The mullet run has been very slow to date. There were some moving this weekend so we have our fingers crossed that it isn’t over.

Joe Handley Jr reports fishing has been very good on the beach of LBI. A few days ago he reported, “Every cut I fished had kingfish.” Today (Sunday) he enjoyed the day on the south end surf catching fish. Here’s his report. “Perfect day on the beach with great conditions and the fish are chewing! So far today two blowfish and a monster pompano. It weighed in at 3.24 pounds.” Unfortunately pompano aren’t included in the NJ’s saltwater state record fish program or this could be a state record.

FYI: As of October 1st, All Long Beach Township beaches are open to 4×4 Beach Buggy Access with valid permit. Permits are available at the Long Beach Township Police Station.

Offshore Fishing

The past couple of months could be summarized with two nouns… First a place… Triple Wrecks. Second a thing… Yellowfin. This historic bite has been on fire consistently for about three months straight. Still this weekend solid reports from anglers catching chunking and jigging. Reports from the edge (further off) have been on the slow side but this weekend we did hear of some big eye tuna and a few makos. Anglers deep dropping are catching swordfish and tilefish.

Upcoming Fall Fishing Tournaments

The 2020 Fall LBI Surf Fishing Classic kicks off next weekend! The 9 week land based tournament runs from October 10th to December 13.

Due to change in striped bass fishing regulations, where anglers are allowed one striper in a “slot” (28 to less than 38 inches), the LBI Surf Fishing Classic has adapted the rules and prize structure. There is no more $1000 Striped Bass Grand Prize, BUT there now is three $1,000 segment prizes. To spice up the competition a new species, Kingfish was added with cash prizes for the largest (daily, weekly, segment and grand prize).

Another Upcoming tournament is the LBI Cup… The 2020 LBI Cup Striped Bass Tournament, hosted by the Beach Haven Marlin & Tuna Club, is on Friday, November 13th – Saturday, November 14th.

Our last report post highlighted “It’s only getting more fishy from here!” By golly the fishing has been great since! Here’s the LBI Fishing Report Update for Sunday September 27, 2020.

By all accounts the fishing right now is very good for this point in the year. Usually late September is a doldrum with slow fishing. Not this year!

The resident bass are all fired up and actively feeding in the bay! Small bluefish are making their presence known in the bay and surf. The blowfish are still here in really big numbers. Weakfish run the tides. Blackfish are holding on structure and snapping. There’s triggerfish and sheephead too!

In The Bay

There’s a lot of opportunities fishing the back bays. Reports from the Barnegat Bay, Manahawkin Bay and waters further south are good.

Jim Shearn reported, “Non stop action with blowfish. They are plentiful in the Barnegat Bay” Pete E reported having a great day on the bay with his kids, “Got a bunch of blowfish for dinner.”

The weakfish continue to show strong. Chistine and Brain got this one fishing the Barnegat Bay. This year the local area saw a resurgence of these amazing light tackle game fish. Let’s hope this is just the start of their rebuild back to a once vibrant fishery.

The local striped bass fishing has been very good both day and night for land based anglers as well as kayak and boat anglers.

Store staffer Max caught ten bass on Saturday evening up to 28″ on topwater. “The fish were stacked up on the screen and they were chewing!” He said, “There’s some cocktail blues mixed in. They are both chasing spearing.”

Jason Wilk shared, “The back bay of LBI has bass everywhere. Fish poppers at the crack of dawn or late afternoon into dusk.”

Konrad caught this striped bass Sunday morning fishing the bayside of LBI. Konrad reported, “Was skunked the last few outings so I was really stoked to pin this one! Thank you for the recommendations!” Striped bass love top water lures and one of their favorite is the Stillwater Smack-It Popper.

On The Surf

Consistent reports this weekend of small blues on the surf. They are chewing mullet. Anglers reported catching on both fresh and frozen. Pat Canti shared, “Non stop blues for over three hours on old frozen mullet and clam.?

Jaime Grant had a fun Saturday afternoon fishing the LBI surf catching snapper blues and a fluke. She also shared a photo of a nice blue claw crab haul from the bay. Expect crabbing to be good for another month or so. All depends on when the cold sets in.

Rob Switft reported that he’s catching a lot of (out of season) fluke on the south end surf. He reported, “I’m fishing the holes at low tide and catching.”

Barnegat Inlet Jetty

The tog were snapping this weekend! slaying blackfish. So many positive but we can’t share them all. David Ho (Symplex Fishing) reported, “Fish Head crab getting it done!” Jaws512 posted, “Thanks Fish Heads for the hook up!” R.Grimshaw was also in on the action amongst many other anglers. For photos check out our Instagram feed.

Offshore Fishing

The tuna fishing is far from over! After two months of lights out yellowfin fishing, the “secret spot” is still producing. The yellowfin chunking has been very good and anglers are still catching on jigs and poppers. Hard of a couple fish on the troll too. If chunking be sure to fish light leaders 30-40# and live peanut bunker make a big difference raising fish into the slick.

No only is it the yellowfin that are biting… swords, mahi, tilefish and big eye tuna reported this weekend.