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!
There is just one more week left before Labor Day and the fishing action for the captains of the Beach Haven Charter fishing Association continues to be hot and heavy. As is typical with late summer action, a wider variety of fish are showing up.
According to mate Max Goldman, the last week on the boat “Starfish” with Captains Carl Sheppard and Vic Bertotti “has been extremely action packed.” Many times, the boat is booked for two trips a day with catches of 70-90 fish a trip not uncommon. Making up the bulk of the catch have been black sea bass, fluke, weakfish, and the ever-present sea robins. One interesting trip caught a goodly amount of kingfish and weakfish which was a bit of a surprise to all.
On one trip Captain Carl had a group out who caught over 40 fish including sea bass, robins, blowfish, and a triggerfish. The sea bass ran up to 18-inches. Another trip produced all of the above plus some bluefish and a blacktip shark.
Captain Gary Dugan has been making regular trips on the “Irish Jig” fishing inshore reefs and structure. He reports he is averaging 4-5 keepers on each trip.
Captain Brett Taylor of Real Reaction Sportfishing reports that before the remnants of Laura came up, he had Joe Tocyloski, his son Steve, and friends Scott Boyer and Eric Boyer on a 5-hour ocean trip. They worked a bunch of different spots, but the fish were very tough on the bite. Despite that they eked out 4 keepers to 7-pounds as Eric landed a solid 27-inch fluke on a bucktail.
Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter fishing Association can be found at www.bhcfa.net
Here in the third week of August, a lot of awesome summertime fishing is going down right now. From light tackle inshore fishing to big game offshore fishing, now is a great time to get out and catch fish on the waters of Long Beach Island!
The past few days fair weather perfectly suitable for fishing allowed anglers to get out and enjoy the outdoors. The next few days look great with good winds and near Lake Atlantic conditions. BUT… Come early to mid next week expect an uptick in south east swell from Tropical Storm Laura. Nothing crazy at this time, but 2-3′ swell which with some wind on it will limit the possibilities of most small boat anglers.
Here’s the Long Beach Island Fishing Report Update For Friday August 21, 2020.
Fishing LBI’s Bay & Back Waters
Summer on Barnegat Bay is a special time where a plethora of species take up reside. By far summer flounder take the spot light but there’s A LOT more opportunities on the bay from crabbing and clamming to all sorts of fishing. Fluke, weakfish, blowfish and kingfish are plentiful.
It seems the fluke are making their move out of the bay. Some big doormats have been caught the past few days. Common theme amongst the catches; slower moving tide, larger bait, close proximity to the inlet.
Matt Messina caught this fluke fishing in the bay close to the inlet.
Recent report from shop regular Jay Simmons spoke of kingfish. While Jay was in loading up on live bloodworms, he shared. “I caught four on the beach and then went to the bayside. I was surprised to find more and better size ones bayside.”
Swagmattic was out today (Friday) with his friend Chris and his cousin Adam aboard the Lazy Daze. They started off fluke fishing in the morning one of the local reefs and caught a few keepers. The pre fishing session for Saturday’s tournament didn’t yield anything special. Swag said, “The wind picked up early so we shifted gears and moved inshore to look at some near shore structure. We caught blackfish and triggerfish.
This was one of the dinner plate sized triggerfish. It hit the scale at just under 3lbs.
Store Staffer Jared fishing today’s Fluke Tournament hosted by the South Jersey Saltwater Anglers in collaboration with Fish Heads. He was aboard the Just N’ Tyme with Capt Justin Swanson. The crew took the cheese with a solid cooler full of big fluke! A 5.86 was the smallest of their four fish bag! Their biggest was a 8.96, followed by two 7 pound fish.
Here’s the crew from the Just N’ Tyme
Justin reported, “Have had the tuna bug so I haven’t fluke fished much. Today was just one of those days where everything went right for me and the team. So proud of how hard we all fished! My brother who hasn’t fished much at all in the last couple of years came through HUGE for us with a 8.9 pounder to take the Big Fish Calcutta.”
Swagmattic fished with Captain Tony on the Flounder Wet Spot and scored Second Place with their largest being 7.5-lb. Congrats to all of the anglers who who fished. Thanks for participating. Keep an eye out for the next one in mid-August 2021.
Fish Head Charters
I had a great week of morning dawn patrol trips this week. Monday awesome surf on the south end. Tuesday bluefish, fluke and blowfish. Wednesday Matt P. put a nice 24.5″ fluke on the deck. Thursday Tony caught some blues and weakfish on the fly rod. Friday Joey Utchig and family shrimped up a slam (weakfish, bluefish, fluke).
Here’e Matt long arming a beauty from Barnegat Bay.
Tuna Fishing
The mid-shore yellowfin mayhem continues cranking! Just about everyone agrees… It has been exceptionally good. It has been awesome… some of the best we’ve had in many years with regards to consistency, abundance, size/quality. The past two days seem to been the best of it. Anglers catching trolling, jigging, popping, and chunking. Recently the chunk bite has really turned on. Nomad Streaker Jigs are lighting it up. Also Tsunami Surface Blaster Poppers are producing top water strikes.
While most of the action is happening 50-70 mile out, some tuna are being found more closer to port… Tony Kratowicz post on Facebook some great local fishing news after his last trip… “Solo, anchored, chummed, 8 miles off IBSP, 80′ of water. Using a 1/2oz diamond jig, 15# fluoro… catching mackerel for bait… a freight train grabs the jig! About an hour light and I sunk the gaff in on a fat 41” bluefin tuna.
Big congrats to the team aboard the MJ’s! Over the years they have got the job done on tournament days. This year was no different. They took 1st and 2nd place heaviest tuna in the 2020 Mid Atlantic 500.
A serious change came this weekend to our weather pattern. The hot and humid dog days of summer got pushed out from a dip in the jet stream. This dip has let in some comfortable cooler temps with a “fall like” feel but some unsettled weather. The tropics have been active. Rightfully so with the peak park of the season coming just a few weeks away.
Current LBI Fishing Weather Situation
Currently north east winds and building easterly swell from Tropical Storm Kyle makes for poor ocean conditions. It’s a bit unruly for surf anglers hunting fluke and kingfish. It would be a totally different story if it was October/November and the big striped bass and blues were around. Monday another area of low pressure will push out over behind Kyle keeping the local winds northerly making the conditions a bit dicey for the region. These conditions will close off the ocean access to most and make drift fishing in the bay difficult except for those leeward areas. There’s a possibility of some lighter winds late morning to mid day but don’t bank on it. Things will be churned up from the blow so it’s a good day to catch up on the To-Do List and make sure your tackle is in good shape for the week ahead. Tuesday on looks like dry weather with fair winds making for great fishable days!
Experience The Fish Head’s Advantage!
The team at Fisherman’s Headquarters has been fishing hard! (See Reports Below) We are confident the team will stack up against or blow away any other tackle shop in the area, state, region or country for that matter. While it isn’t a contest, it should be. We don’t shoot rom the hip and suggest/sell tackle cluelessly. The team here points customers in the right direction sharing first hand information and guidance. It’s out goal to help each and everyone of our customer catch more fish and have a better experience doing so! Experience The Fish Heads Advantage!
So what’s up on the Long Beach Island fishing front? Here’s the Long Beach Island Fishing Report Update for Sunday August 16, 2020.
From beach or boat there’s a lot on offer…
Land based anglers are catching fish on the surf, bayside and inlet. Barnagat Inlet possibly offers the best land based fishing right now with a strong variety of species… fluke, tog, bluefish, striped bass as well as triggerfish and sheepshead.
Jeff fishes the jetty harder than anyone and it shows with his solid catches. Here’s a really good size tog that looks small when matched up against this big sheepshead.
The LBI surf has fluke, kingfish and bluefish. The bayside offers good crabbing and some areas have blowfish, weakfish and fluke.
Here’s John DeBona from The Fishermans Magazine on the LBI surf with his grandson earlier this weekend. John said, “Take a kid fishing and you’ll be rewarded for life!”
Here’s some recent fishing reports from Team Fish Heads…
Jared – “What a great birthday out on the water fishing with by Dad. We had non stop action from the first drop. We had 4-6 pounders flying over the rail with just about every drop. Had an easy limit before the blow came. As always Magictail were the key! The fish can’t get enough of them.”
Here’s Jared and his day with a solid haul!
Grey – “Both tog and triggerfish are chewing up at the Barnegat Inlet. I tried a couple of times and struck out but got them good last trip. Gotta use a small strong hook! Lotts black fish up there and fluke too. The fluke fishing has been wide open all summer.”
Here’s an epic catch from Grey’s last trip out.
Frezza – “Had beautiful flat Lake Atlantic conditions on my trip out to the mid-shore tuna grounds. We found life and got into them light line chunking. Also hooked up on the jig and popper. Unfortunately lost the one boat side that ate the popper.”
Here’s Frezza getting bloody with the ahi tuna action!
Greg – Recent trips aboard Fish Head Charters were full of fog but great fishing with Barnegat Bay Slams all around… striped bass, blues and fluke.
Fish Heads Alumni Dad – Dan D aboard the Reel Innovation has been putting some serious weight on the deck. They’ve also released a some big fish!
A big round one on the deck and a big fish down and tight!
Once the weather breaks anglers will be able to get back off to the bluewater tuna grounds. Before the wind machine got going the action was smoking! Numerous boats reporting very good catches of both bluefin and yellowfin tuna.
Jacob Bowles and Zach Michot reported having a good trip aboard their friend Tim’s new ride. They reported, “Started off nasty with fog but we made it out safely and found the fish. Got jiggy with it and put meat in the box
Brian Williams reported catching too, “Another unbelievable day with unbelievable fishing!”
Fluke Fishing Tournament! Save The Date!
The South Jersey Saltwater Anglers Fluke Fishing Tournament is coming up!
This past weekend was a good one! Both Saturday and Sunday allowed anglers to get out and fish. We received some good feedback from inshore offshore and from shore. Here’s a short fishing report update for Monday August 10, 2020.
Fishing LBI From Shore
Store staffer Jared fished the Barengat Inlet Sunday afternoon. He reported, “Got two keeper size tog fishing live green crabs. I also got six shorts. All fishing off the concrete walkway.” Also present at the Barnegat Inlet… sheepshead, trigger fish and a surprising positive showing of striped bass.
The Long Beach Island surf offers fun fishing for one or the entire family. Kingfish and fluke are the best species to target. There’s also some small blues around.
Fishing LBI’s Inshore – Near Shore Waters
Store staffer Frezza was out on the reef Sunday. He reported, “It was a slow day but some nice fish were caught. Got a 22″ and a 25″ as well as two other keeper size fish. Not too many shorts. Got 10 fish all together.”
Dan Harley was out on the reef Sunday and got into some good fluke. He reported, “Quality to 25″ on the slow pitch.”
Gary Adair caught this 28.5″ fluke this weekend fishing out in the ocean.
Store staffer Willie Davis was out in the boat Sunday fishing the North End inside. He caught some fluke. This morning he caught some striped bass.
Fish Heads Ambassador Swagmattic Strikes Again!
This past weekend there was a a couple of the area’s and season’s biggest fluke fishing tournaments. Once again Swagmattic puts meat on the deck when it matters most! Here’s his report…
Jersey Jumbos! What a day to have a day. Ocean fluke fishing hasn’t been as epic as we would have liked. We haven’t seen any real big fish hit the deck at all. Today (Sunday) was the JCAA heavy hitters tournament and we were out hoping to get lucky and defend our win from last year. Boy did the stars align for us.
Absolutely tough fishing with zero visibility in the monring and no wind and drift in the morning. Then a stiff south wind the rest of the day. Shout out to Capt. Tony for putting in work staying on the motor all day.
We didn’t have many bites (with only 9 keepers) but we made them count. I was fortunate enough to land the two biggest fish of the day with a new personal best. Official JCAA Tournament weight was 9.92. It was 9.96 in Forked River weigh in and 10.06 in LBI. [Impossible to have all the scales in the state calibrated together.] Regardless I’m welcoming myself into the double digit club.
Huge Congrats to Fish Head Ambassador Swagmattic! He puts in the time and hones his skills so he is more than ready come tournament day. Here’s the money fish from game day!
As always Magictail Bucktails are the go to. The Jigging World Shogun medium light made easy work of this monster. I’m super happy I made the switch this season. Big shoutout to Mike Kim, of course Fishermans Headquarters and Fish Head Greg for stocking the best of the best always. If you want to fish the best and learn from the best drop on in, they’re located on the causeway in LBI. Thanks Cortland Line Co for the best line in the game (made in the USA) and even though it blew up later in the day the Quantum Accurist got the job done when I needed it (if you guys wanted to send me a new one I’d be cool with that). We worked hard for it, we got lucky, we took it down. Back to back full fluke sweeps!
Fishing LBI’s Offshore Waters
Offshore the tuna are jumping in the boat. Just about everyone making the trek out to bluewater are killing it! Dan Rosetto left the trolling stuff at home and got ’em on jigging and popping gear. He reported, “Sunday was good. Got out and made it happened and was back to the dock in time for Sunday church.” Ryan Degraw went 4-6. Jeff Haly had five jig and pop. Rick Bragg reported a great day, “3 nice yellowfin two small bluefin and a bonita.” got one them too. Lots of other reports too all with the similar theme… it’s Sea World Out There!
A few days after the storm, things are bouncing back. The water is cleaning up a few reports are coming in. This is what we can share on this Friday morning report… Here’s the Long Beach Island Fishing Report Update For Friday August 7, 2020.
The surf has settled down and the LBI water temperatures have rebounded from their upwelling lows to now in the mid 60’s. It was in the mid to upper 50’s a couple days ago. With the settling comes a welcome return of reports! Already surf anglers are getting back into good fishing along the beach of LBI. On Thursday we had numerous customers in the shop reporting the kingfish are still present. They were all buying Live Bloodworms, Dyna Bait Freeze Dried Bloodworms and Fish Bites. Others reported fluke from the beach. One group of anglers came in and reported tryin for striped bass with clam and bunker. They caught some small blues, skates and dogfish. One striped bass catch was reported by Jaime Grant. Her husband got a 27.5″ striped bass off the mid Island surf.
Fluke fishing reports in the ocean yesterday (Thursday) were slow (from two different sources). We expect this to flip back soon because August is a great moth for ocean fluke fishing!
The bayside activities have a lot to offer. From fishing for blowfish, snappers and weakfish to crabbing and clamming. Store staffer Grey Colston is reporting lots of bait (both spearing and baby bunker) and active game fish. He has caught striped bass, bluefish and weakfish the past couple of days.
The Barnegat Inlet Jetty is a great spot to fish all season long but especially right now! The fluke are present and transiting the inlet on their way out to their late summer early fall hiding spots. Tog, sheepshead and triggerfish are hiding. One customer reported catching five tog, three were keeper size. Also resident striped bass and bluefish are there too. Jetty Master Jeff got a large black drum a few days back! Bayside Dave stopped by late morning and shared a early morning report. He said, “I had a good morning before the rain. Got a keeper tog and a keeper fluke.”
Already got reports of both yellowfin and bluefin tuna as well as mahi from the midshore and offshore waters.
The fishing over the past week in the Beach Haven area has been very strong. However, the captains of the Beach Haven Charter fishing Association are casting a wary eye at the development of Hurricane Isaias. Although the storm is still south of the United States, Isaias is sure to influence the fishability of local waters for the next few days.
The water temperature in the bay waters behind Long Beach Island have been reaching 80 degrees and even warmer. As a result, most of the fluke have made their move into the ocean. That is where the captains have been concentrating their efforts with much success.
Captain Frank Camarda reports the party boat “Miss Beach Haven” has been finding some nice sized fish on both its ocean and bay trips. One recent pool winner took honors with a 25-inch fluke. Their 6-hourtrips on Saturdays and Sundays have proven to be very popular and advance reservations help secure a spot at the rail.
The “Starfish” with Captain Carl Sheppard has been fishing inshore structure regularly. A recent trip with a local family experienced action-packed fishing all day. The crew fished many wrecks and caught over 60 fish including sea bass, sea robins, and fluke. The crew kept sea bass and fluke for dinner. Some sea bass have measured up to 16-inches.
Captain Gary Dugan has seen the rods on the “Irish Jig” bending with large numbers of short fish with some fluke making it into the cooler along with some sea bass and even a ling. Early trip had decent action on short fish with these 2 keepers. Captain Gary had a shark charter for the birthday girl Kim, and they managed a 4-foot tiger shark among other fish.
Captain Brett Taylor of Reel Reaction Sportfishing continues to experience excellent action with up to 30 fish on a tide, although most are throwbacks. Recent trips have seen up to 5 keepers along with some sea bass and even a short striped bass on one trip. Captain Brett says his trolling motor was pivotal in keeping them on the edge between the wind and tide.
Captain Dave Wittenborn had the Smale group on the “Benita J” offshore on a tuna trip. The crew put together a nice catch of 50-60-pound class yellowfin tuna. By mid-morning everyone was tired from reeling in tuna, and they headed back home. Captain Dave stressed it was a great group that never once complained about the sporty conditions.
Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.bhcfa.net
Right now is a great time to be fishing the waters of Long Beach Island. Whether fishing from shore, inshore or offshore, there’s a lot on offer. Here’s the Long Beach Island Fishing Report Update for Wednesday July 22, 2020.
Inshore – Midshore Bluewater
By far the most spectacular topic on the local fishing front is the abundance of school bluefin tuna (in the 27 to <47″ range) surprisingly close to port. These fish are and have been hanging around the 10-15-20 fathom inshore/midshore lumps and ridges. Some of these areas have good water (beautiful clean blue water) with bait (sand eels and squid) and that’s the receipt for good fishing. It’s not only bluefin! There’s king mackerel (southern kingfish) and a few small mahi. Soon the bonita and albies will join the party too. Here’s some recent reports from anglers fishing out of Barnegat Light the past couple of days.
This is what it’s all about! Dexter Thomas with his first tuna. Congrats!
Matt Thomas shared, “After hearing some reports that tuna fish were close we tossed together a last minute trip to get my son Dexter his first tuna. We got out there and got one. He did awesome and would not quit! Needless to say he is a very happy kid and I’m a very proud father!”
On Tuesday Sloane Endick fished with her dad and Austin Pounds. She reported, “Even the rookies got it done today. Never thought our center console would be out tuna fishing but here you have it folks! What a day today! Couldn’t have done it without you all!”
Frequent customer Joe Franckowiak has been out fishing every chance he gets and his catch count shows. He was reporting tuna near shore for some time now. Tuesday he had another good day (previous report included on the July 14th post) going four for seven on bluefin.
Fun Trip Aboard The Pal’O Mine
I got the call from Paul D’Aloia (friend and owner of the Pal’O Mine) on Monday, “Let’s go fish!” Tuesday morning we (Paul, Max, Matt, I) pushed off and headed east about 15 miles. We quickly found positive sings (tuna chicks and slicks) and got our trolling spread in the water. First a few good bait marks showed up on the sounder. Then tuna marks and shortly after we were tight on our first fish of the morning. We kept working the area and stayed with it for most of the morning going five for five on school bluefin tuna. Almost all of our bites came on spreader bars from splash bars from Chatter and Tormenter.
Here’s Paul and Greg with a school bluefin tuna that fell for a Tormentor Sidewinder Spreaderbar. This particular fish had a belly stuffed with 6-8″ squid.
There were not that many boats out there, so we did the right thing and shared some intel to help others get blood on the deck. We were happy to get feedback! Richard Applegate said, “Heard you on the radio. Thank you. You helped us get tight on one.” Another thanks came from Mike Pritsch, “You called us in on the bite today. Thank you!!!”
With piles of sandeels and squid, school size bluefin tuna are hanging well within reach for small boat anglers. Gear up and be ready for the right days to get out thee and enjoy this great fishing!
Ryan S. gave us a shout out… “Big thanks to Max, Willie and the crew at Fishermans Headquarters for rigging me up and putting me on the meat! Had one hell of a morning.”
LBI’s Near Shore Fishing Report
Solid fluke fishing reports continue from the ocean’s near shore waters, open bottom, wrecks and reefs. The game is good at certain areas and certain times. Having the right tackle and a skilled hand is paramount! Some of the snags have good sea bass fishing too.
Here’s Jared Grady with a pair of fluke, one the pool winner on Tuesday’s morning fluke trip aboard the Carolyn Ann
One angler with the right tackle and a good hand is store staffer Jared Grady. He was out on the Carolyn Ann Tuesday and took the pool with a health one!
Today (Wednesday) Robbie Gagliardi had a great day aboard the Miss Barnegat Light. He caught five keepers. Since others fishing near him were struggling he was a nice guy and shared.
Another great ocean fluke report came in from Tyler Leary. His crew limited out at an undisclosed reef site.
The reports from the two local party boats (Miss Barnegat Light and the Carolyn Ann) are positive the past cope of days. It’s great to see some limited as well as some quality fluke and also knuckle head black sea bass. They are sailing everyday from 8am to1pm. Get out there!
Fishing the Long Beach Island Bays
The fluke fishing in the bay continues strong with an abundance of shorts but still a great number of quality keepers. You just need to work for them. Blowfish and weakfish continue too.
Here’s a nice weakfish from Chris Wright, safely release. “Wind against tide made easy with my Rhodan Trolling Motor!
This weakfish photo is from Mike Lombardi
Fishing the Long Beach Island Surf & Inlet
Right now there’s fun land based fishing opportunities on LBI. Kingfish (northern kingfish) and fluke (summer flounder) are both possibly at the best stage of the season. Anglers fishing the beaches and the Barnegat Inlet State Park are catching fluke, kingfish, small bluefish, Spanish mackerel, weakfish, an occasional striped bass and the sharpies are picking sheepshead too. Be careful of the cow nose rays!. They can be a time consuming handful.
A few days back Brian Wichowski reported having a great weekend on LBI. “Between the three of us we caught over 50 shorts, three keepers and a bunch of rays. Gulp was doing the trick!”
Fishing with worms for kingfish, Gulp fluke, small meaty bait (bunker, mullet) for blues/bass. Fiddler crabs would be the ticket to target sheepshead.
Yes there’s some spike weakfish in the surf. Matt Listor shared a photo and gave us heads up. He got three from the LBI surf. A number of spike weakfish were reported this past week from the surf and bay. It’s great to see they are here. Let’s hope this stick around all summer!
Yes there’s Spanish mackerel being caught off of the Long Beach Island surf. Here is a photo sent in from Greg O’Connell from the Merchantville Fishing Team. He reported, “Landed three off of the north end surf and lost two others.” Some of the best producing lures for these as well as bonita and false albacore are the Hogy Epoxy Jigs and Tsunami Fork Tail Candy among some other small slender metals.
Sorry the FishingLBI.com site was down for a couple of days. We had technical difficulties but got things it updated. Thanks for your patience!
After Tropical Storm Fay gave us a wet and windy couple of days this past weekend, things settled down. Monday was a beautiful day with light winds and residual ground swell in the 3′ range. Tuesday was another day of the same. Two perfect days to get out and enjoy fishing Long Beach Island! Did you get out? Let us know how you made out.
Fishing The LBI Surf
Anglers fishing the LBI surf should be primarily focused on fluke and kingfish. Both are present in good numbers offering fun summertime fishing on the beach of LBI.
It’s best to target FLUKE with a cast and retrieve (slow) using natural (squid, spearing, sandeels, minnows) or artificial baits (GULP!).
Also on the surf right now… STRIPED BASS and BLACK DRUM! Not saying these two species are blitzing the beaches but recent catch reports prove they are present.
STRIPED BASS hang around the Long Beach Island waters just about all year long. In the dead of winter they can be found in the bay and surf and in the summer they are there too. Usually once the surf temperatures peak above 70 degrees for summer they are few and far between however they can’t resist a summer work out in the suds. Case and point – Sunday we were surprisingly happy to hear received four separate striped bass reports. Two of the reported bass were small. One was in the low 30″ range and other was 40″. We’ll chalk it up to…
The presence of small bait (spearing and sand eels) and crabs (calico and sand flea)
TS Fay churning up the surf offering oxygen rich water.
TS Fay’s southerly winds cooled off the surf temp by a few degrees making the striped bass feel more comfortable hunting.
BLACK DRUM call the waters of Long Beach Island home in the spring, summer and fall. They are not one of the most popular species however they are fun to catch and can grow to a surprisingly large size. Black drum are definitely an underrated game fish for surf casters on the Jersey Shore.
A really good size one (well over 25#) was caught off the LBI surf on clam.
Fishing The Bayside Waters Of LBI
In the bay fluke and blowfish are plentiful. Anglers drifting the channels are putting good catches together. More recently the feedback from customers is positively trending to a lower keeper to short ratio. Fishing small jigs (like the Magictail Tear Drop Hoochie 1/2-3/4-1oz) tipped with Gulp and/or natural bait (Dead: Spearing, Squid – Live: Minnows, Baby Bunker, Spot) is doing it right!
Blowfish are plentiful this year. They started early and been on offer in waves this entire season so far. It’s best to anchor up and chum while fishing small hooked rigs baited with clam or squid. When fishign Gulp for fluke save your the pieces after bite offs. These can be cut up and to be a very effective way to catch puffers and use up Gulp baits rather than waste them. Anglers chumming up blowfish are also attracting some “summertime pan fish” like kingfish, croakers, spot, snapper blues and…
Also showing in good numbers… weakfish. Some spikes and mediums appeared this past week and more reports continue. Store staffer Grey shared, “At night some spots are loaded with bait and the weakies are popping! A couple nights ago I caught them good fishing small plastics on a light jig head.” If looking for more details stop in and talk to Grey. If approached the right way, he just might share some of the finer details.
Another weakfish report came in from @hoven22 while looking for fluke he caught one. “Check one off the bucket list. What a birthday present!”
Fishing The Inshore Waters Of LBI
Fishing the inshore waters of Long Beach Island and the central Jersey coast is great in July for it’s abundance of variety. The open bottom areas and wrecks/reefs are producing everything from fluke and sea bass to porgies, tog, triggerfish and sheephead. These latter two also offer a challenge for all of the jetty jockeys. Targeting them with small shore crabs (fiddlers, Asians, sand fleas) on a specialty jig like the Bottom Sweepers or Magictail Bay Bay Series is the way to go!
Sloane Endick was out fishing the inshore waters today and caught a solid haul. She managed to cross two species off her list… triggerfish and porgies. In the mix were some sea bass too.
Also in the mid-shore/inshore waters are bonita, Spanish mackerel, and king mackerel. Here’s Joe with his first king mackerel of the season. Joe also mentioned there’s bluefin tuna in close!!!
Today, Friday, July 10, the Beach Haven area is being buffeted by tropical storm Fay. All the boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are safely in port. However, the weather report for the upcoming days is a good one, and the captains will be back on the good fishing bite.
The fluke action continues steady even as the fish begin their summer migration into the ocean. This means the inshore reefs and structure will be receiving the best action. Also on these reefs, are a goodly number of black sea bass, many of them above average in size. The offshore bite on tuna and other pelagic species is ongoing, and there has been a sudden influx of warm water fish such as Spanish mackerel and cobia in the past few days.
Captain Dave Wittenborn fished the inshore tuna grounds this week on the “Benita J’ from Captain Dave’s Charters in an area called the “Lobster Claw.” The ride out was beautiful, and he had lines in the water at 5am. There were dolphins and whales feeding on the surface with tuna underneath. After three hours of steady fishing, they boated five 50-pound class yellowfin tuna and released a white marlin. With the anglers soon tiring they headed home by 9:30am.
Captain Gary Dugan has been fishing charters steadily and catching fish on the “Irish jig” with some days having two half-day bookings. As an example, one group had multiple throwback fluke while managing to put 4 keepers to 24-inches into the cooler.
Captain Carl Sheppard has had the “StarFish” booked practically every day and is finding very productive action on his inshore trips. Mate Max Goldman reports black sea bass and fluke are around, and action has been constant. Many short fluke have been biting, along with 16-inch sea bass. On many recent trips they have had upwards of 8 keeper sea bass.
Captain Brett Taylor of Reel Reaction Sportfishing reports the bite in the bay waters is still good with his charters averaging 6-7 keepers per 4-hour trip. He will be targeting the ocean fluke soon in his Parker Sport Cabin. Recent trips included the Bob Reim charter who boxed 14 keeper fluke to 5 pounds and the Ralph Rodio group with 6 keepers. The Jerry Fanelli crew caught their 9 fish limit in just under 4 hours one morning, and the afternoon trip was similar with John Wittlieb and his wife Jenna bringing home 8 keepers – one shy of another 3-man limit.
Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.BHCFA.net.
609-494-5739
