Author: FishHead.Greg

Today Thursday June 18th is National Go Fishing Day! It’s officially in the calendar but in our bok everyday is Go Fishing Day!!! Let’s grab a rod, hit the water and enjoy! Be sure to take some photos and send them our way!

Here’s the Fishermans Headquarters Fishing Report Update for Thursday June 18, 2020

Surf Fishing Report

Recent reports from the surf are themes around blues, fluke and kingfish. But some black drum and striped bass are around. As expected, the latter, are beginning to fade as expected at this time o the season. If looking to get after a linesider or two… don’t delay.

Our mullet man Jimmy shared a positive surf fishing report today, “Blues on bunker and black drum on clam.” It’s was great to hear about good size drum from the surf.

Still some striped bass roaming the suds. Today Trevor Jones was enjoying the beach fishing with the family today. He caught a nice keeper slot size striped bass.

Here’s a quick look at the Long Beach Island surf this morning before it cleared up and turned into a beautiful day.

Fluke Fishing

The fluke fishing around Long Beach Island is good. Reports from the surf, inlet and bay are all promising.

From the surf Steve at Night Strikes Surf casting Guide Service reported fluke fishing continues. He was out enjoying the afternoon today fishing the surf right into sunset.

Sam Forlenza stopped in the shop and picked up some bucktails. He reported back today he caught this 26″ fluke on one fishing Barnegat Bay this morning.

Grey Colston fished Barnegat Bay this afternoon and reported both fluke and blues fishing bucktails with live minnows. Another bay fluke report came from shop Ambassador Swagmattic. He reported a great afternoon in the kayak, “Lots of fluke but only one fish close to keeper size.”

The newest Fish Heads Team Member Jared Grady made the trek up and out east earlier this week. Here’s his report rom his trip. “Non-stop action aboard the Miss Montauk. Landed well over 30 fish, two came in over 5 pounds and this beauty that measured just under 29”. Bounced around between 8.6-9 pounds. My new Shogun rod paired with my 3k Shimano Stradic loaded with 15lb Cortland Master Braid handled this beast with ease. Had another dozen fish that just missed the mark between 18-19” that would have made the cut back home. This fish took a 3oz Salmon Magictail Squid Hoochie which was the key. It outproduced all other baits/rigs by a lot! It was awesome seeing all the heads turned and questioning as I pulled in fish after fish on light tackle. Everyone else was using 12oz of lead dragging bottom. If you haven’t fluke fished Montauk I highly recommend it. Almost makes me not want to fish Jersey anymore!”

Sea Bass Fishing

Sea Bass fishing continues on 10 fish at 12.5″ until June 22nd. At that time it will close until July 1st when it opens at 2 Fish 12.5″.

Jeremy Muermann went out to the sea bass grounds and found some nice fish. He caught his new personal best sea bass as well as some ling, winter flounder, cod and tog.

Tuna Fishing

Recent reports have been few and far between due to the recent weather conditions. The three day blow kept most boats tied up at the dock. Finally things have settled down and the weather looks to serve a couple days of fair seas and conditions. So far this early part of the season has been full of solid reports. Loads of bluefin tuna reports with lots of false albacore (some big ones) in the mix too.

Seems like it picked up right where things left of last year. Anglers on the troll are catching pulling natural baits (BALLYHOO!) as well as bars to create a commotion. Both the Chatter Side Tracker Bars and Chatter Floating Squid Splash Bars continue to be studs. Also on the jigging front, theres piles of sand eels on the mid-shore grounds. The same smoker is still hot… The Nomad Streaker Jigs are a best in breed slender sand eel jig that bluefin tuna can not resist.

The only report we heard today was from shop regular Joe Franckowiak. He did a quick trip after the weather cleared up today. He reported seven false albcore in the two hours session. He’s heading back out in the morning.

Captain Cody from Jersey Nuts Sportfishing stopped in the shop today to pick up some premium Baitmaster Ballyhoo. We are stocked up but there’s no telling how long these baits will be in stock for. If you need baits… NOW IS THE TIME TO GET THEM!!!

While at the shop Captain Cody gave us heads up that the Jersey Nuts has been on the fish offshore, “Fishing started out good this season. The last trip we battled the weather but got out and got the job done quick. We caught eight solid big eye tuna and five yellowfin. The coolers and boxes were packed early so the meat wagon headed in.” Any one looking to get out to the offshore tuna grounds should give Captain Cody at Jersey Nuts Sportfishing a text message at 609-354-2734

The story remains the same so this report update will be short and sweet. Long Beach Island has a lot to offer those who want to get outdoors and enjoy the water. Crabbing, clamming and fishing are all great. Get out there!!! Here’s the Fishing LBI Fishing Report Update for Sunday June 14, 2020.

The bluefish action continued into the weekend with an abundance of smaller sized fish. There’s some larger ones but few and far between. Nothing in the double digit range that we’ve heard about.

Kingfish, Striped bass, black drum and fluke were all caught off of the LBI surf this weekend. One customer reported 47 kingfish Saturday! Another angler reported catching more than a handful and said, “Two were bit in half.” With the warming surf temps the sharks have arrived.

Rick Zane reported, “Finally this week the LBI surf has broke and stayed above the 60 degree mark. Even after the southerly blow. It was 61 degrees on Saturday. I caught a couple short bass recently but can’t find a keeper.’

Threshers have made their presence know for a couple weeks. More recently the sand tigers with bite offs. Sandbars will show soon if not already.

Fluke fishing is strong with anglers catching in the open areas of the bays, main channels and out front. Yup! We already got an ocean fluke report. Expect this to improve over the coming weeks. Here’s Ryan DeGennaro with a pair of nice fluke he caught with his dad Chris on Saturday.

The midshore tuna fishing game is on! Get out there!!!

The offshore tuna fishing game is on! Get out there!!!

Here on the downside of the early June moon approaching the last quarter, the Long Beach Island area has a lot to offer. There’s something for everyone; enjoying the beaches fishing with toes in the sand, drifting the waters of Barnegat Bay, big game fishing the midshore / offshore waters.

The recent stretch of good weather allowed everyone to get out and wet a line. Nearly all feedback had a similar good theme. Everyone stretched out their fishing lines tight with fish. At the time of this post the wind is blowing out of the south. A cold front will cross our are tonight and another on Friday. Then high pressure takes over for the weekends. We are looking forward to a great weekend of saltwater fishing the LBI region.

Here’s the Long Beach Island Fishing Report Update for Thursday June 11, 2020.

LBI Surf Fishing

Right now anglers enjoy the beaches of LBI soaking bait and casting lures with a target of bluefish, striped bass, fluke and kingfish. This past week could have been the apex of the Long Beach Island striped bass fishing for the 2020 spring run. With that said there’s still lots more action to be had however we expect a trend down. It’s safe to say at this point the spring run was one of the best if not the best spring run in the past five years, possible the past decade. If you still want a piece of the action fish bunker chunks off the surf.

The bluefish action continues in the Inlet and on the beaches. Yesterday Jim Crane fished with his nephew Miles Nippes and they caught some fish.

Fluke fishing on the surf is strong and reports of quality catches are common. Store staffer Jared got a 20″ fluke off the surf a day or two ago. He reported, “Sloane’s fish made mine look small.”

Kingfish are becoming more abundant on the surf. Live bloodworms are best for them but the artificial offering can get the job done.

Jamie Gramley reported catching from the beach. “I caught a 21″ fluke, 37” black drum and some blues as well as some sharks.

Midshore/Offshore Fishing

It’s great to all the positive reports from the inshore, midshore and offshore waters. Big game anglers gear up and prepare all year for the action to heat up. Well… it’s game time! It you are looking to get out and have yet to check off your list we are here to help.

This past week the bluefin tuna fishing exploded with an abundance of fish and a great stretch of weather. Everyone got out even the small boats and had a blast. Great reports from the Resor to the AP to the Glory Hole with anglers catching on the troll and jig. It shouldn’t be a surprise once again Nomad and Chatter are the key products putting fish on the deck. We currently have a selection in stock (there’s holes) and anticipate more arriving next week.

Further offshore fishing some good reports came in from local anglers. Shop regular Dan Latoof fished out in the deep and caught a blue marlin on a big bally. Fish was 112″ about 500 lbs.

The crew aboard the Reel Innovation went to the edge and caught some good ones. Jeff reported, “We had some bigeyes eating right off the transom.” The crew went 3-5 on eyeballs and also had a handful of bluefin tuna.

After a great day on Monday catching a bunch of bluefin tuna Jeff Thummel fished again for a second strike mission with the Kulinki bros. They ran out for a two hour tuna trip and had a great quick morning session.

Not only is the tuna fishing good… there’s big tilefish coming up. Some anglers got into big tilefish on recent trips. Here’s Ryan Schramm with a big golden tilefish. He reported a good tilefish trip aboard the Mud Duck.

Store staffer Willie caught a monster blueline (grey tilefish). This could have been a contender for Mark Milici’s 23-lb 4-oz NJ State Record which was weighed in at Fish Heads back in 2015.

Early June is a great time for inshore, offshore and land based fishing in the Long Beach Island area. There’s so much going on it’s hard to choose which species to target. The abundance of life in the local waters is great to see. Here’s the Long Beach Island Fishing Report Update For Sunday June 7, 2020.

This last week was a good one. In hind sight, things really got going on and after the late May moon (new moon on 5/22). The late May north east blow fired things up and it kept going right into June. The early June moon did not disappoint. Now on the downside of the moon it wanes but the fishing remains strong. If you are looking for a classy fish do not waste any time! They are here but will not stick around forever. Go Fish!

LBI Surf Fishing Report

The surf fishing on LBI really kicked into high gear after the late May blow and kept up right into now. The reports continue to flow in strong. Al of them solidify this spring season as one of the best in the last decade. And it’s not over!

Here’s a look at the mid-Island surf this afternoon at low tide.

Now let’s dive into some fishing reports from the Long Beach Island surf…

Sloane Endick puts in time and it shows with her rewards. Like always she was dialed on Saturday and got a double. First she shared a photo of a nice surf side striped bass and reported, “The bass were more hungry than the fluke today.” She then went back out and an afternoon fluke session and caught a good one. A four pounder to be exact. She stopped by the shop to get an official weight and it broke four pounds by a couple hundredths o a pound on our digital. A four pound fluke off the surf is a very impressive fish!

Andrea Morris of Lancaster PA is enjoying her time on LBI fishing with her dad. While in the shop Saturday evening gearing up for a night chunking session she shared, “Got a big bluefish on the bayside a couple days ago.”

Dog Fish King Rick Hyers stopped in for a bag of fresh bunker and a new bunker chunking rod Saturday evening. While in the shop he shared, “Friday night I caught a 28″ and a 32″ striped bass on the beach.”

Brandon P. reported good fishing on the mid Island surf this week with bunker, “Got three fish over 36″ and one at 41″.”

Kyle Quillen tagged us in a photo post, “Bunker pods everywhere with an active whale. I caught three blues.”

All week large schools of bunker were found along the entire stretch of LBI. While they were not all actively boiling with striped bass, some were.

Bluefish action continued this weekend again off the surf, inlet and bay.

Barnegat Bay Fishing Report

The bay offers good fluke fishing, blowfish, bluefish, crabbing and clamming. The deep “back bay” is productive. Store staffer Steve reports the fishing fishing is good. He has been fishing the same area for a couple weeks and routinely pulling nice keepers. On his last trip he got a 24″ fluke. Another angler fishing in the same general area (Southern Barnegat Bay) got a 23″ on Saturday.

Striped Bass Fishing Out Of BI

The striped bass fishing out of Barnegat Inlet is good and has been for a couple weeks. This should not be a surprise because late May and early June is the very best time for striped bass fishing in the area each and every season. Get out and get into the action now while the fishing is hot.

Here a great recent catch… Fisher Coulston (12 years old) caught and released this 53 pound striped bass on Thursday. All on his own and all on gear/tackle from Fishermans Headquarters. “It was an epic day with no other boats around. Just bunker and a big bass.” ~ Frank Coulson aboard the Hard Four

Other anglers are catching live lining as well as trolling

Offshore Fishing

This month will be full of good shark fishing and tuna fishing. Gear up and get out there on the weather windows for big game fishing. Reports from the 30-40 line are good.

Recent bluefin tuna chewing on the troll and jig. Here’s one good one from the mid-shore grounds today by “Flagpole” Jim Kuhl. Inshore slobs!

A few reports of blue sharks from anglers looking for makos. A number of thresher sharks reported from right along the beach out 30 miles.

June is here and there’s no gloom. Fishing on all fronts is strong. From striped bass, blues and fluke to sea bass and sheepshead there’s a good offering for coastal anglers in the Long Beach Island area and surrounding waters. Here’s the Long Beach Island Fishing Report Update for June 2, 2020.

LBI Surf Fishing Report

Hike the LBI dunes in early June for great striped bass fishing. The past couple of weeks were good to surf anglers fishing the beach of LBI. So far June is off to a great start. Would have to say it’s one of the better springs runs we have seen in a few years. Anglers chunking bunker, fishing clam and also working lures are catching fish.

Josh Basket hit the surf early Monday morning and was rewarded. He shared, “Good quality fish to start out the morning. The bass can’t resist Fish Head Bunker”

Solid report from customers Dan, Jim and Thomas. They fished the night tide on Sunday and caught. Dan reported, “A night I’ll never forget! We went three for three… Three buddies, Three rods, Three bass! They went 33, 35, 36″ all chunking bunker on the mid-island surf.”

Another good Long Beach Island surf fishing report came in from Mike Villez. He’s getting into them the last couple of nights on plugs on the south end o LBI. Some good ones too. He also caught. 19″ fluke on an SP Minnow. More on fluke further below.

Todd Luyber fished the Sunday evening sunset session and got a nice striped bass off the surf on wood. Todd reported, “Not just on bunker. Went for the ghost mackerel pencil popper.”

Whether fishing here on LBI or down in the Caribbean fishing the waters of Puerto Rico Jonathan Price always gears up right at Fish Heads. Recently he stopped in and got set up for bass fishing the surf. It didn’t take long and he reported back… “Three great days out back on the beach!” Each trip out he’s catching good size fish off the surf. This evening we got a 50″ beast! “The boys at Fishermans Headquarters did the right thing once again. Give the guys a shout… they are on point.”

Striped Bass

Striped bass reports from the boat anglers are not been epic but there’s fish to be caught. Most boats are getting out and finding fish. Some days they’re taken on live baits and others on the troll. Mike O’Grady released a 48″ bass on the troll Sunday. “Went for a Tony Maja green bunker spoon off Seaside late in the day. A lot of whales and dolphin in the areas.” Acers of bunker schools were stretched out along the beaches of LBI the past few days. Monday and Tuesday large schools were found off the south end and mid island beaches. There were also pods on the north end too.

Bluefish

Right now bluefish of all size ranges are here. Bluefish from 1-3 pounds can be found just about anywhere. They are common catches in locations like the Island’s surf, inlet and bayside channels and docks. Some area have an abundance of snapper and other areas have a few larger bluefish.

Small bluefish make for great fishing fun… especially for kids. Now’s a great time to get outdoors and leave the crazy world behind fro a few hours while on the water fishing. Keep America Fishing by introducing new anglers to the sport. By sharing your love for fishing with a child, friend, neighbor you might gain a new fishing buddy and possibly spark a new life long passion for someone.

Fluke

Fluke fishing is strong and by all accounts we anticipate it to keep cranking the whole month of June. Lukey got a nice the flukey! Luke McCann caught this 24″ fishing Barnegat Bay on Monday.

With striped bass, bluefish and fluke all chewing now is a great time for a Barnegat Bay Slam! Better yet… Try your luck at a Barnegat Bay Grand Slam! The weakfish are here.

Sea Bass Fishing

Sea bass fishing is strong with boats catching limits on a consistent basis. Fishing 7-20+ miles offshore. Grey Colston went sea bass fishing and loaded up. Shop Ambassador Swagmattic was out on Sunday and said they hammers ’em, but due to weather conditions they couldn’t get out as far offshore as they would have like to in search of the big knuckle heads.

Offshore Fishing

This is the time where the mid-shore and offshore waters heat up. Right now there’s cold water stretched over the grounds but that should change soon. Be ready for sharks and also the tuna action should break open again.

by Jim Hutchinson Sr.

The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are slowly getting back into the swing of things after their lengthy layoff thanks to the Corona Virus.

Captains Dave Kreines of the “Byte Me” and Carl Sheppard of the “Star Fish” both report they have complied with all the New Jersey state regulations regarding safe fishing practices. Captain Dave notes he is holding his parties to three passengers with “all precautions taken.” He is currently working on finding some of the first fluke of the season.

Captain Carl says the “Star Fish” is compliant with all guidelines including a recent successful Coast Guard Inspection and an insurance survey. He is looking for striped bass and black sea bass in the ocean and fluke in the bay waters.

Captain Brett Taylor has been running daily trips in the waters of lower Barnegat Bay as well as some of the inshore wrecks. Some days he guides two half-day trips. He estimates that his parties are catching 25-40 flatties per trip with 3-6 keepers per day.

The BHCFA Junior Mate Reef Project was started just one year ago, and it has already been embraced and supported by the local fishing and business community. Association president Captain John Lewis proudly stated, “Our fundraising to date has been greater than anyone would have anticipated.” To date $160,000 has been raised in cash and matching funds, some
$60,000 more than the original goal.

The delivery of a 140-foot barge, a 52-foot crew boat and a 45-foot tugboat are expected to be deployed on the Little Egg Reef very shortly. This will be paid for with funds raised by the Junior Mates combined with dollar for dollar matching funds from the Ann E. Clark foundation and the Sport Fishing Fund, long time financiers of artificial reefs in New Jersey.

A second project is also close to fruition. A pair of 210-foot scows are being eyed that can have concrete rubble loaded in them giving them much more fish attracting habitat. These would greatly increase the amount of material to be used with one on the Little Egg Reef and the other on the Garden State South. At this point the $60,000 remaining from the first project will cover
most of the cost with another $20,000 needing to be raised.

The reefs located off the coast of Long Beach Island are the most underdeveloped artificial reefs in the state, by far. The mates are continuing their fund-raising activities, and Captain Lewis notes the BHCFA is a registered non-profit organization and will gladly accept donations from other sources. He can be contacted at [email protected]

Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.bhcfa.net

Updated May 28, 2020

Hope you enjoyed the holiday weekend! The wind kept most inside but today (Tuesday) offered up lighter winds with much better sea conditions. On the final stretch of May and fishing on all fronts is strong. Anglers are producing good catches inshore, offshore and from shore.

Land Based Fishing LBI

Land based anglers fishing LBI have good offerings in the surf, bay and inlet. The primary target species are fluke, striped bass and bluefish.

Striped Bass & Bluefish On The LBI Surf

Consistent reports from surf anglers catching on bait, both bunker and clam. Jamie Gramley stopped by the shop today for baits. He reported, “Every trip out this spring I’m into fish, but I can’t seem to get a good one. Every catch is under 28″ size.”

There are some big bass swimming in the surf too. We have didn’t hear of any 40″ range caught in the past couple days but we are expecting to hear some SOON! Make sure it’s you making the report!!!

Jacob Rice sent in a thank you via message, “Thanks for the new Tsunami Rod. I broke it in good last night!” Below is the photo he included!

UPDATE 5/28/20 – “no 40″ range caught but we are expecting SOON! Make sure it’s you making the report!!!” It happened…

Last night (5/27) was the big fish night we’ve been waiting for! The O’Connell crew got into them chunking bunker on the LBI surf. All fish were over 38″ so they were released. Father Greg O’Connell and sons Dylan, Ryan and Brayden were all into quality striped bass.

This wasn’t the only report. We heard of a few other fish too. Store staffer Steve released a big bass that went for a bunker chunk last night on 5/28.

Fluke On The LBI Surf

The Long Beach Island surf is producing good number of fluke. An LBI surf rat (requested to remain anonymous) reported a solid morning surf fluke fishing this morning (Tuesday). “I got a 23″ fish for the dinner table.” Another surf report came from Mike Ninii and Jared Grady. They are catching too.

Inshore Fishing

Coming out of the late May new moon and transitioning into June. Striped bass fishing prime time here on the Central Jersey Shore. Anglers are trolling and live bait fishing to catch classy striped bass. We expect fishing to be good into June.

In The Bay

The bays of Long Beach Island have a lot to offer in late May. The star is by far fluke, but bluefish, striped bass, blowfish, weakfish and black drum are on offer. For fluke the outgoing tides warmer temperature is the best for consistent action. Bluefish seem to be showing in a hit and run fashion but more consistent bites with larger fish are turning on later in the later day in the shallows. For black drum look to the southern bay with clam.

Recently some larger blues are showing. James Kuhl got some bigger ones recently.

Store staffer Jordan fished the bay on Tuesday afternoon and reported, “The weakfish are around! Got a couple. Also had good action with bluefish and fluke. Boxed up some nice fluke today (below).”

Jim Baily from Ship Bottom caught this fluke in Double Creek over the weekend fishing the mid day tide. Photo below.

Store staffer Steve-o reported the mid-island bay is producing good numbers of fluke. “I’m catching on both the morning and afternoon tide. Fluke (mostly shorts but there’s keepers), bluefish up to three pounds and blowfish. As always for me the chartreuse and white bucktail with a live minnow was the best for me today.”

Offshore Fishing Report

This is when tuna and shark fishing kicks into high gear. Are you ready?

Chuck Snyder posted a recent report, “Great day on the water with our first trip offshore. Fishing about 77 miles off we caught 7 bluefin, 3 yellowfin, lost a white marlin at the side of the boat and two skipjack.

With the good weather we expect to hear some more fishy reports from the deep.

UPDATE 5/28/20 – Captain Jeff Warford aboard the Reel Innovation out of Harvey Cedars reported, “Fun getting back to bending the rods. Limit of sea bass, 40-50 bluefin tuna and a couple of yellowfin tuna. There’s lots of life out there. We even got to jig some of these small bluefin tuna. Side tracker spreader bars caught most of the bluefin and Magictail Hoo Magic caught all of the yellowfin tuna.

Linda Lee Sportfishing Report

From May 23rd

We set sail at 4:00 am took a slow ride out threw the dense fog Saturday morning straight east out of Barnegat Inlet. Ran 60 miles before we saw some life 2 tones, tuna chicks, and shear waters. We set out the lines and kept heading east marking a lot of bait and from what the screen looked like some nice size tunas. We pounded  that area hard for 2-3 hrs before making the call to run another 25 offshore after getting a heads up on some school size Bluefin being caught. Once we got to the edge we hit a 15-17 degree temperature break and the fog lifted. There was a lot of life out there humpback whales breaching, shark finning, tuna chicks, shear waters, and it smelled fishy. After trolling for 15-20 minutes working the breaks we hooked up on a Chatter Lures purple side tracker it was a 20-25lb school bluefin. Then went off a purple Joe Shute rigged ballyhoo. Purple was the color from there on landing 10 school bluefin and releasing 8 to swim another day.

If you’re looking to get in on some tuna fishing this summer give me a call 609-276-8032 to book a trip. Most of June is booked but I have July dates available through the rest of summer. All trips are weather permitting. Cost is $400 pp + tip for mate.

Capt. Ryan Horton, Linda Lee Sportfishing

Finally Memorial Day Weekend Is Here! It’s the unofficial start to summer and we are are looking forward to a safe, health and enjoyable time. As always, the outdoor activities on LBI are plentiful. From boating, fishing and kayaking to crabbing, clamming, swimming and surfing, LBI is the place to enjoy summer. If you want to get out and enjoy life on the water we are here to help. Open daily (curbside services for now) offering bait, tackle, service and local information.

Here’s the LBI Fishing Report Update for May 22, 2020

LBI Fishing Report

The fishing on Long Beach Island is good on all fronts. The striped bass and bluefish continue, sea bass is red hot and summer flounder (fluke) is now open. It’s time to go fish!

On the bait front, at the time of this post, we have live minnow (quality size right now), live eels, premium fresh bunker (daily deliveries) and salted clam. We also have all of the fine frozen fixings like squid in many ways, spearing, smelt, mullet, mackerel, chums and much more. If you need bait we got it! Don’t for get the ice! We have 7#, 20#, 100# offerings. Now to the report!

LBI Surf Fishing Report

The Long Beach Island surf is settling down from the midweek North East blow. For the most part of today the winds were tranquil and it made for a beautiful morning. A power 3-4′ plus east south east swell is in the water which will ease slowly today. This swell is putting some beautiful white water on the sand bars making for prime fishing conditions.

So far today we received a good report from Fish Head’s store staffer Kevin McNeil. He caught and released a 27″ striped bass off of the North End surf this morning on bunker. He mention, “It was a little weedy but fishable. There was a good rip with a lot of water moving from the swell. It took 8oz to hold.”

Lee Saxton reported, “rough surf today, but got two gators. A 32″ and a 34″ bluefish.” Below is the pair he caught.

Another bluefish report came in from Ryan Matthew. He caught a good size yellow eye on a white bucktail. He said they were cruising through the inlet today.

Here is a short video report to give you a look at the mid island beach today.

Another LBI surf fishing report came in from JP. Some surf anglers love the wind and JP is one of them. He’s a passionate angler from Beach Haven and knows good fishing conditions when he sees them. He geared up and fished the heart of the blow and was rewarded. JP reported, “I caught one during the blow, photo below. I also caught two bass on clam a night ago (previously). I recently caught one bass on a popper too.” The fish are here!

Fluke “Summer Flounder” Fishing Report

Today is opening day! As reported for the past few weeks. The fluke would be waiting and they were! Here’s just a handful of the many reports that flooded in today…

Bill Bassant (above) was out on the bay on the North End of LBI this morning. He enjoyed opening day catching seven fluke, three keepers up to 20″.

Another fluke report came in from Pete E. and Tiger M. (above) who fished one of the main channels of Barnegat Bay. They got two nice keepers.

Jared Grady reported, “Not too shabby for a few hours off the surf. Two keeper fluke and two cocktail blues.”

Dave Werner reported , “Lots of shorts. I managed two keepers.”

Jack Keating kicked off his fluke season with a 22″ to start the year off a the right note.

Striped Bass Fishing Report

Striped bass are on the surf (reported above), inlet, bay and ocean (one report below).

Grey Colston continues to routinely catch striped bass bass on the night shift. The action is good with bass taking jig and lures. Grey is catching cocktail blue in the mix too.

Dan DiPasquale reported good bass action on the bayside docks. “I got them good yesterday hitting poppers.” Also fishing the Barnegat Light Inlet this morning. There were a lot of blues just nothing size-able.

Luckey Stripes Charters

Captain Mike Green aboard Luckey Stripes Charters is a big fish magnet! He’s always working hard to find trophy fish and even harder to stay with them season in and season out. Heres two recent catches… Yesterday afternoon he caught a big black drum.

Then today he puts another 50# striped bass on the deck, below. Going back to before the blow, “Pretty good bite on Monday. I got seven bass from 38-52#.”

If you want to fish… Give Captain Mike Greene A Call Today 17186446087

Striped bass fishing is fun! It’s great sport and with responsible harvest, good eats too. One of the most effective way to target striped bass is trolling. Trolling allows boat anglers to cover ground, methodically searching to hunt down bites. It’s also a great way to get away from the fleet of taxi cab like boats chasing surface feeds. Each season, patience on the troll is rewarded with some of the largest striped bass of the run.

Here’s the Four Best Striped Bass Trolling Lures proven over years on the water!

Bunker Spoon

A big fish lure, bunker spoons are well known for catching trophy striped bass. When slow trolled, these large keel weighted sheet metal spoons wobble with a wide swimming pattern. Their action is something big bass can’t pass up! When looking to present a large bait profile deep in the water column there’s no better striped bass trolling lure than a bunker spoon.

Available in variety of colors and sizes. The larger and heavier sizes are best for waters deeper than 50′. White and chartreuse are two popular colors that will produce on any given day’s conditions.

Bunker Spoons Imitate: Large/Medium Bait Offering: Bunker, Porgy/Scup, Flounder, Butterfish, Mackerel, Herring, Junie Weakfish

How To Fish: Traditionally fished on monel wireline using 8-9′ moderate action e-glass rods. A successful newer school movement is fishing bunker spoons on braided line with an inline drail weight to achieve desired depth. Bunker Spoons are best trolled with outrodders like the Reel Innovation Outrodders, American Custom Fabricators ACF Outrodders, E-Z Outrodder by Tony Maja. Want to learn more about the finer points of Trolling Bunker Spoons For Striped Bass & Blues? Check us out at Fishermans Headquarters.

Top Choices: Reel Innovation Bunker Spoons, Tony Maja Bunker Spoons, Reliable Bunker Spoons, Spoonfed Bunker Spoons. Bunker spoons are one of the four best striped bass trolling lures.

Mojo Lures

Mojo Lures are strong hooked heavy lead heads wrapped with synthetic hair to dress and pulse in the water. Basically they are nothing more than an oversized bucktail jig, one of the most versatile saltwater lures of all time. Mojos are commonly rigged with a large 9″ rubber “sassy” shad. Available in many different sizes/weights, a Mojo Lure can be used in just about any trolling situation. Depending on conditions and the circumstances, the 4/6/8 oz weights are great in shallow waters and the larger 16-32oz weights are best in deeper waters.

Mojo Lures Imitate: Large Bait Offering – Adult Bunker, Squid, Mackerel, Herring

How To Fish: Pick the weigh size and color you prefer and drop down to the desired depth. Kick back and wait. Occasionally pick up the rod and jig it a jig or two. But hold on it can trigger a strike from a indecisive fish that was following the lure. Mojos can be trolled on braid in a more vertical fashion than any other trolling lure. This allows the ability to add more lines (rods) into the spread. Want to learn more about the finer points of Trolling Mojos For Striped Bass & Blues? Check us out at Fishermans Headquarters.

Top Choice: Magictail Mojos. Mojos are one of the four best striped bass trolling lures.

Diving Plugs

Hardbait plugs are the most realist trolling lures an angler can find to imitate live bait. Deep diving plugs have a sassy swimming action and an undeniable attractive vibration which striped bass and other game fish hone in on. Their profile and color patterns can be perfectly matched to the local baits. Quality deep diving plugs swim true and can be trolled in just about any condition and at any speed. All of these features make them a great everyday search bait.

Diving Plugs Imitate: Bunker, Mackerel, Herring, Weakfish, Bluefish

How To Fish: Keep it simple! Rig up with 40-50# braid and a leader 3-6′ leader. We suggest tying the leader directly to the front of the lure. If using a snap swivel and the lure is not tracking straight. Remove it and see if that helps. Some lures are so touchy they are negatively affected by the use of a snap swivel.

Suggested Tackle:Depending on style (there are many) the large diving lip gets the lures deep without the need for wire line or trolling weights. This allows for a much lighter rod. We suggest fishing 40-50# braid with a 15-20 class rod with a softer tip. Use braided line with a 50-60# leader full arms length 5-6′ makes for easy leadering fish boatside. Plugs can be fished in different depths depending on model. Commonly used as a mid water column bait in a spread.

Top Choices: There’s so many deep diving hardbait lures available in today’s market leaving anglers confused. First think about how big of a bait do you want to present and how deep do you want to target? Some of our top choices include… Bomber CD30, Nomad DTX 165 & 200, Mann’s Stretch Plugs. Diving plugs are one of the four best striped bass trolling lures.

Umbrella Rig

The only way to imitate a school of small baitfish is to deploy an umbrella rig. These weighed wire frame bars rigged with numerous baits really stand out when game fish are keyed in on small baits. Certain times of the year striped bass want a small offering. If conditions are rough and fish are deep, getting a small jig in the zone could be difficult. Sometimes these same fish are in small packs but spread out and on the move. Run and gun fishing with lures has left the area frothy with boat wake. Now what? These are just a couple situations which present the perfect opportunity to troll umbrella rigs.

Umbrella Rigs Imitate: Sand Eel, Baby Bunker, Eels, Mullet, Tinker Mackerel, Smelt, Sardines, Worms

Suggested Tackle: 30-50# monofilament is doable. We suggest 50-65-80# braided line on an Avet MXL/LX Lever drag reel, Matched on a 6′-6’6″ 20-50# Class rod.

Top Choices: 9’ers

9’ersn offers a great selection of baits, sizes, and colors. The rubber shad and the sand eel are most popular. If bluefish are present the tube umbrella is a great choice as it stands up to the toothy critters. The 9ers umbrella rig is a tree like rig/frame that is nearly tangle-less. Usually fished with a drail weight or wireline achieve target depth. 9’ers umbrella rigs are one of the four best striped bass trolling lures.

Restrictions are easing… Guides, chartered boat services and boat rentals are now open for business. All of the beach on Long Beach Island are open and so are the boat ramps. We aren’t out of the woods yet, so let’s stay safe and Fish Through It! Here’s the Fishing LBI Report Update for May 18, 2020.

Who’s Arthur?

Tropical Storm Arthur is (as of 5pm today) off the Outer Banks of North Carolina moving NE at 16 mph with maximum sustain winds of 50mph. It looks like he will be moving in a curving fashion, clockwise towards the east and then eventually south. During this time it will create a large fetch of wind and waves. This will have the western Atlantic Ocean churned up for most of the workweek. It looks to peak on Wednesday and easy over the rest of the week.

Once things settle down we have high hopes of great fishing for boat anglers. Right now this weekend, Memorial Day Weekend, is looking good and we are looking forward to it.

Right now and into June it’s prime time striped bass fishing on Long Beach Island and the Central Jersey Coast. Here’s what’s being caught from the beach and boat.

Classy Striped Bass

This past week a nice wave of big striped bass moved into the local waters. Lots’ of 30’s, 40’s and 50 pound striped bass were caught. Did you see our last report update, Heaviest LBI Fishing Report Ever?

Long Beach Island Surf Fishing Report

The Long Beach Island surf is producing the occasional striped bass and small bluefish. Blowfish, Kingfish and the pesty dogfish. So far this season we have not seen large bluefish but maybe this storm will changes things ups. Usually when the surfs churned up fish cruising the inshore waters start hunting the surf line where the white water provides prime hunting conditions.

It’s chunking season! Fishing fresh bunker on the surf gives anglers their best opportunity to get sizable striped bass on off the surf. With the new moon on May 22 now is go time!

Inshore Fishing Report

Striped Bass

Striped bass fishing in the boat is good with nice fish caught by boats fishing out of Barnegat Inlet. Most are trolling along IBSP however some are going away from the fleet and fishing the waters off of LBI. Here’s some recent catches.

Sea Bass

After the season opener on Friday, lots of good sea bass reports came in. Shop ambassador Swagmattic was kind enough to post his sea bass report.

Another great report came in from Magictail’s Zach Michot. He said, “Awesome day on the water with Paul Hartel and the boys Saturday. Five man limit of knucklehead black sea bass and a mix of ling. Couldn’t have asked for better conditions.” Then Sunday Zach reported another great day with a quick four man limit.

Tuna & Shark Fishing

This is when the the big game fishing turns on! No shark fishing reports (expect them after this blow) yet but we did receive some big time bluefin tuna reports!

For a stretch of time there we has some beautiful clean water inshore and when that and the abundance of bait coincides it’s fireworks! Here’s two great catches by local anglers and Fisherman’s Headquarter customers.

Hunter, Damien and Ryan got out and found a big one. On Sunday Hunter Gutwein reported, “A great start to the season.” We would agree!

Dan Rosetto shared a positive report, “Jumbos two days in a row within sight of land! What an insane weekend it has been. Saturday I got out with some friends and caught a 94″ jumbo Jersey Giant. It dressed out at 410 pounds. Then went back out Sunday, caught and released another mid 90″ jumbo. You can only keep one a year per boat with the trophy tag. Hard work pays off!”

Jarret Hillman reported, “The chandelier wrecks have some Jersey giants!” Mike Ninii, Matt Lopez

Frequently Asked Question

Are the blues in? – The small bluefish here but the larger ones are few and far between. The majority are large snappers to small cocktails. Anglers are catching these most consistently in the bay casting small lures and also trolling the open bay.

How’s crabbing? – Blueclaw crabbing is off to a great start. Reports are strong from the lagoons and main bay. We are stocked up with baits and crabbing supplies.

Local LBI News Update

Today Monday May 18th, all of the Island’s traffic lights are turned on. Please drive with extreme caution. Also plan accordingly. Now the trip to your favorite fishing spot is twice as long.