Author: FishHead.Greg

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.

The powerful ground swell from Teddy has faded out and only small residual line linger on. It looks like we return to a more tranquil weather pattern. Here’s what’s up on the Long Beach Island Fishing Front on Wednesday Sept 23, 2020.

It’s only getting more fishy from here!

The recent cold nights and shortening days (less hours of sunlight) have the local water temperatures cooling a few degrees from the summertime warmth. Right now our best “feel” is the LBI surf temperature is 66-ish degrees. Give or take a degree or two. There’s much colder water in the bay already. For more specific details see the chart at the end of this blog post below.

Today (Wednesday 9/23/20) while walking up on the beach a father and his two sons passed by hiking their fishing gear off the beach. I couldn’t help make small talk as I always do. They reported three cocktail blues on frozen mullet. There’s kingfish and out of season fluke on the beaches too.

On the bayside blowfish, weakfish, snapper and striped bass. Harry Chambi reported, “Awesome morning fishing on Tuesday. We caught 54 blowfish in a couple hours.”

Yup there’s striped bass around. See our previous report update for a surf side striped bass catch. Here some more on the local linesiders…

Another solid report from the bay came from Gio DeMarco and his wife Malian. They shared, “Regardless of the 15-20 mph winds blowing my wife and I went out on the bay and hit the sod banks. We found fish going six for six in just an hour. Resident schoolie striped bass (up to 23″) were loving our top water poppers. They are here and have been chewing all summer. Can’t wait for the big bass to shop up!”

Seems like they are getting a little more active with the cooler temps!

Up at the Barnegat Light State Park’s Inlet Jetty tog, triggers and sheepshead are being caught. Store staffer Frezza caught this triggerfish on Monday along with 5 tog, one keeper size.

Here’s a couple recent video reports from the past couple of days…

This wind machine was on full force this weekend. It has been cranking out of the north north/east for days now. Most are using the time to knock out the to-do list with the house, boat and tackle. These have built up over the summer. But there are some anglers getting out and making the most of the sunny weather.

Solid swell from Teddy was on the beaches Sunday and will continue. The new week starts off with 6-8′ swell and pumps through Tuesday. Then gradually eases on Wednesday.

If it’s blowing Team Fish Heads is going! Store staffer Grey and Dan fished and caught today. They started off on the bayside looking for bass chasing bait but only found cocktail blues and one healthy (out of season) fluke. They switched gears and tried to take advantage of the good bass fishing conditions at the Inlet Jetty today but from what Grey said, “only tog are chewing.”

The cool fall like temperatures has the surf heating up. The wind was blowing this weekend but that didn’t stop James Kain from Moorestown. He caught this 30” striped bass off the mid Island surf on Saturday (9/19) afternoon. He reported, “What made this fish special was I caught it on a custom rod that was given to me 36 years ago as gift on our 1st wedding anniversary. We celebrated our 36 year anniversary this weekend. My wife Cathy was also fishing with me at the time.”

Karl Chen tried to fish the south end surf on Saturday morning. He put out 8oz and bait but couldn’t hold with the swell, wind and current. He reported, “I went to the bayside and caught a 20″ fluke.”

It’s not over yet! Fluke season ends the 19th and the weather recently hasn’t been the best. BUT! That isn’t stopping anglers from getting out and finding fish. Case and point…

Striped bass are here and the reports contiuies to paint a postive picture for the transition into The Run. “Thank you Fish Heads for the live eels tonight. I caught this one at high tide.” Robert Simkins sent us a thank you message with a report, “I caught my first striper this season at Barnegat Inlet fishing slack high tide. It taped out at 32 inches.”

There’s a strong showing of resident bass in the bay too. They are around all summer be definitely becoming more active with the bait now moving. It was highlighted on our previous post (LBI Fishing Report Update 9/14/20 – Under the “Resident Bass” Section) with John Bells report. Today we got another great report from Bill Wright.

“Don’t let the wind keep you from going out. Just get out there!” Anthony Ziegler shared, “The last two days were non stop fish, both bass and blues. Even had them on the fly.”

Tyler Carlson caught this triggerfish yesterday (Tuesday) fishing the Barnegat Inlet Jetty. He stopped by the shop to gear up and hit up the rocks. He caught it on green crab. Another triggerfish was reported in by Julian H.

Store staffer Grey is back in school but finding time to fish whenever possible. He shares that he’s finding good fishing… The tog fishing at the Barnegat Light Jetty is stupid good. You have to work for the keepers but there are a lot of fish chewing. There’s some sheepshead and triggers too as well as blues (mostly smaller) chasing bait. At the right times I’m catching striped bass on plugs. It has been surprisingly consistent for this time of the year.

In the bay the blowfishing is still very good with numerous reports the past 48 hours all themed around good puffer action in Barnegat Bay.

Kingfish in the surf and bay.

Mullet Are Moving On LBI

Another delivery of Fresh mullet arrived today. We have some beautiful medium large mullet in the cooler. Only time will tell how long they last. We expect them to sell fast. It’s good to see the mullet are starting to move. Match the hatch for the mullet run on LBI… Stillwater Smack-It Poppers, Tsunami Talking Popper, Yo-Zuri Top Knock and the Yo-Zuri Hydro Pencil.

Offshore Reports

Offshore tuna bite is still going strong. Some big boats got out and got on the yellowfin tuna. Reports were due to seas there were only a few boats in the secret spot and the fish were feeding on the chunk and jig. The past couple of days we sold alot of bait flats and jigs; Chatter Streaker Jigs & Nomad Streaker Jigs. Hope to hear more reports from boats fishing Thursday.

The first week of “after summer” and Long Beach Island is significantly less dense and slower. But the annual Tumbleweed Tuesday drop off is noticeably not as pronounced as other years. So here we are… 5 days left of fluke season, 8 days left of summer.

Here’s the Long Beach Island Fishing Report Update for Monday September 14, 2020.

We have a week full of waves and with the tropics active, there’s no end in sight. Right now there’s five active storms (Sally, Paulette, Rene, Teddy, TD21). Putting lots of motion in the ocean. The beaches of LBI had 3-5′ ground swell from Paulette with a north/northwest wind for most of the day. The conditions were clean with little to no weed or debris, just a good amount of sediment from the churning surf. Tomorrow (Tuesday) the winds swing back north east and fade later in the day. Then more north east winds in the forecast for the weekend. Things will be getting fishy in the Inlet and surf.

As far as recent surf fishing reports go we have a few…. Kevin Laverty caught more than a handful of kingfish off the surf. Kevin Benedict also got one kingfish too.

Oh ya… there was a redfish caught off the LBI surf in the dark!

Frequently Asked Question As Of Late – “I don’t have the heavy tackle to fish the surf in the strong ocean swell and wind. What should I target and where can I go fish?”

First and foremost crabbing and clamming in Barnegat Bay are great ways to enjoy time on the water. The delicious harvest is a major perk too! As far as fishing goes, there’s opportunities in the bay and Inlet. Get in on fluke while it’s still open, the 2020 Summer Flounder Fishing Season Ends Sept 19th. Weakfish are here in great numbers and offer fun light tackle fishing. The blowfish and snapper blues are still here. Land based tog fishing is promising. As far as locations… the Island’s bayside docks and bulkheads are fishy all spring/summer/fall. Check out the Ship Bottom Bayfront Park, all four of the Causeway Bridges and last but not least the Barnegat Inlet.

Variety Here Now

Late summer is one of the best times of year to fish Long Beach Island especially if looking for a variety. The usual residents are here like striped bass, bluefish, fluke, weakfish, blowfish, kingfish, perch, tog and sea bass. The structure loving warm water gamefish; triggerfish, sheepshead. The inshore pelagic like spanish mackerel, false albacore, bonita as well as the warm water inshore “exotics” mahi, almaco jacks, banded rudder fish among others like the redfish mentioned previously.

Bait Is Here

Lots of bait is show in the coves, marinas, docks, lights and bulkheads. In some areas they are moving. Spearing, peanut bunker and mullet are the three primary. Some mullet were already moving along Long Beach Island’s north end and south end inlets.We got our season’s first delivery of fresh mullet in a few days ago and expect to get fresh baits more consistently as the mullet run is just getting underway.

Creeping

Fish Head Ambassador Swagmattic was out last night creeping while most were sleeping. “Now’s a good time to go catching. It’s especially a great time to catch Jersey Grand Slams.” He reported, “I went out and tried my luck. Ended up running into Sloane. We caught a bass, a few fluke and a few weakfish. Just missing the bluefish which should of been the easy one. The fluke were a surprise. They were very active, hammering the jig. Most were good health size. Sloan got one that was a keeper. The fishing activity lasted all of the outgoing tide and right into slack. Once the tide turned it was off like a light switch.”

Resident Bass

There’s a good showing of striped bass in the back waters. Sunday evening John Bell reported, “The back bay stripers are putting on a top water show! I caught a dozen this evening fishing poppers on the sod banks.”

Barnegat Inlet

Barnegat Inlet has lots of fishing opportunities in September. Reports from anglers fishing the rocks are mostly positive. Tog fishing most are small but there’s keepers roaming the caves. Bring extra crabs because there’s lots of small sea bass. Fluke, blues and bass all call the Barnegat Inlet home in September.

Tuna Fishing

Before the ocean got swelly, the tuna bite was silly good. A whole lotta boat with bent rods for days. When will the small boats be back on the mid-shore grounds again? Keep your fingers crossed. The weather looks poop and as time goes on the days get shorter and the weather windows get tighter.