LBI Fishing Report Update – November 24, 2018

Black Friday’s Arctic Blast Was No Joke! The morning’s frigid temperatures, stiff northerly wind, freezing spray and dicy seas kept a lot of boats tied up at the dock. It was enough for a lot of others which made the attempt to turn around. Those that got out and braved the conditions were rewarded with a good pick of striped bass! Fortunately for those tough souls, conditions improved as the day went on. The mid day and afternoon session had beautiful conditions with little to no wind and lots of sun.

I had Matt Rand and his father aboard Friday. I notified them of the extreme cold days earlier in week but they wanted to fish. Due to wind and cold, the night before I checked in again and asked if they would like to cancel or reschedule. They wanted to fish! It was cold and rough so we took it slow.  Once our lines were in, it only took about 15 minutes for the first bite. From then on the blood was flowing and we all warmed up with a consistent troll bite all day. The 9er Shad Umbrella Rig was the MVP! We finished the day going 12 for 16 on bass up to 17 pounds. Every fish we caught was on the same rod and rig!

Store staffer Dan DiPasquale was out Friday and got into some awesome fishing late in the day. Fishing further up the beach than most, he found a large body of bunker that eventually came alive with quality bass. Dan shared, “Crazy snag and drop bite this afternoon. Endless bites fishing into dark, not another soul around. We chased bird plays all morning and in the afternoon we found the mother load.”

Saturday’s conditions were much warmer but not pretty. A lot of boats went on the hunt and some did good. Captain Billy aboard the Reel Trouble found some nice fish today. Got three up to 40″. They also dropped a few more fish. Rick Bragg marked a bunch but only got one bass trolling an umbrella. He said it got real sporty so the trip was cut short. Store staffer Pat DiPasquale was out and got a couple bass on white Magictail Mojos.

Miss Barnegat Light caught a boat limit today. Mate Captain Kevin Carr stopped in and reported, “The trip started slow but finished strong. Late in the day the birds came together and a jig bite came alive. With fish feeding on sand eels, diamond jigs were working. go 38”. We had a good amount of keepers (up to 38″), bonus fish and throwbacks. We’ll be back out tomorrow at 7am! See you aboard.

LBI Surf Fishing

Good, not great reports of small bass along the surf. The sand eels are around so if fishing lures you’ll want to target accordingly. Our top lures are Super Strike Needlefish, Diamond Jigs and Hogy Epoxy Jigs (in store only). Rigging up with a teaser will greatly increase hookups especially with smaller fish!

LBI SURF FISHING CLASSIC UPDATE: Two striped bass were checked into the tournament today. Both were caught on bunker. For more details: www.LBIFT.com

Tog Fishing

The fishing on the tog grounds has been very good. Now’s the time to get our and enjoy this great fishery!!! Don’t pass up an opportunity to jump on a boat. If you can’t find one the land based fishing still is productive.

Today Austin Pounds caught three keeper blackfish working the Barnegat Inlet rocks.

Yesterday Dante from Magictail got out on the water with Jeremy aboard East Coast Hooked. He reported, “We crushed them fishing structure in 50-60′ of water! The Magictail 2oz tog jig was on fire. I caught 35 keepers! This included a 13, a 10 and ten 8lb fish. All of these were caught on the Magictail Tog Jigs baited with live crab.” Dante suggested, “Use big baits and make sure you leave the legs on. I bait up my tog jigs inserting the hook through a leg socket and out another socket. Gotta have the bait on securely and the hook exposed.

Anyone looking for live green crabs and white leggers should call asap. We have a limited supply.

Happy Thanksgiving – Fishing Report Update

From all of us here at Fisherman’s Headquarters, Happy Thanksgiving! We’ve got a lot to be thankful for. For those that enjoy the water we must be especially thankful for the brave.

Here’s a short Thanksgiving Day Fishing Report update… It’s cold outside but it will not last long. Anglers out putting in time today found fish. We got a couple reports off the surf and from the boats. With November’s full moon on the 23rd, it’s prime time… Let’s go get some striped turkeys!

Yesterday (Wednesday) I had Chris Lutz and friends aboard for a fun day of fishing. We started off right where I left them on Tuesday’s afternoon trip (was a fun one casting with light tackle to school sizes bass). Things were scattered so we got on the troll and picked our fish fish right away. The entire morning was a good steady pick of bass from 10-30 pounds. I found bunker spoons and mojos were getting the bigger fish while the umbrella rigs were getting more consistent bites but smaller class of fish. After having a ton of fun cranking on trolled up fish we switched over to a drift/jig. Our first drift was productive with two bass, a sea robin, a bluefish and a horn dog (spiny dog fish). The next drift only one bass and a blue. The third drift nothing so we called it a day. I’ll be back out on Friday looking for some bass on the fly with a back up plan to fall on the troll if things aren’t popping. Hope to see everyone on the water. It’s gonna be a busy one!

LBI Surf Fishing Classic

TJ Loughran Jr. got a 9.54 pound striped bass this morning off the Ship Bottom surf on bunker.

So far 33 striped bass were checked in with the top five all over 20 pounds. For live results… www.LBIFT.com  Just because the leader board has large fish doesn’t mean you are out of the game! The best part of the Fall Derby is everday and every week there’s a prize to compete for. In addition to the standard daily, weekly and segments prizes…

Today Nov 22 $250 Cash Award to the largest Striped Bass in Honor of Bruce Hoagland from the Hoagland Family founders of Bruce & Pats Bait and Tackle

December 2 – $250 Cash Award for the Largest Striped Bass

Fish Head’s Weekend Prizes – $100 Store Gift Certificate to the Heaviest Bass each Saturday and Sunday.

Gobble Gobble!!!…

LBI Fishing Report – November 20, 2018

Striped Bass Fishing

Fish Head Charters Update

Monday – Endick Party

Tuesday – Oak Leaf Media

LBI Fishing Report Update November 18, 2018

Another really nice day of fall fishing today. We are looking forward to the weather windows ahead. It’s prime time and the fish are here. Let’s get out and fish!

LBI Surf Fishing Report

The surf fishing reports were on the slow side today. No weigh ins but a few anglers shared some intel. One anglers chunking frozen bunker got a couple doggies and said the crabs were chewing.

Another report came in from Dante from Magictail Lures. He said, “There’s small bass eating in the suds. It’s fun on light tackle. Go find a nice cut and fish it!” We suggest rigging up with a teaser rig and using needlefish, diamond jigs, bucktails or plastics like Kettle Creek Paddletails.

Striped Bass Trolling and Jigging

Another good day in the boat with some awesome fishing.

Justin, Chris and Seth were on the water today and got into good bass fishing. They trolling bass up to 42-lbs. Justin reported, “We released two and kept two. Got the big one on a bunker spoon. During the fight the reel handle broke to it made the fight a tough one. Once boatside we tried to release the fish but it would not revive so it was harvested. The battle was too much.”

Store staffer Kelly was out on the water with his buddy Dan today. They went three for six with fish up to 30 pounds trolling the fleet off of Seaside.

Tim and Ed were aboard Fish Head Charters this morning for a fun day of striped bass fishing trip. We finished the day with 11 bass from 15-35 pounds on the troll and casting lures (bucktails and SP Minnows).

Tog Fishing

It’s prime time tog fishing here on the Jersey Shore. The boats are pulling some big ones out of the wrecks. Rob Vallone was fishing today and got 10 pounder today.

The Barnegat Light Jetty tog fishing has been slow due to dirty water but it’s cleaning up. Today Dante and Frezza hit the rocks for an afternoon session and got five. Frezza reported, “No keepers for us but another anglers close by got 8 fish and one keeper.

LBI Fishing Report Update – November 17, 2018

It’s settling down after an extreme blow. The local waters were churned up leaving the bait and game scattered and the water murky. We are looking forward to things coming together. Get out and take advantage of the beautiful fishing weather Sunday and Monday! It’s Game Time!!!

 LBI Surf Fishing Report

Four fish checked in today for the LBI Surf Fishing Classic. For updated info check out the live results at www.LBIFT.com

Fish Head Charters

Anthony, Frank and Matt from Central Jersey Anglers (@CentralJerseyAnglers) jumped aboard for a morning trip. We pushed off early. Found some birds not far from the inlet and stopped with good marks. Frank for one on a bucktail and released it. The marks quickly scattered so we got on the troll. The first half hour was slow but we started picking fish. The smaller lures were getting the bites; a custom Cedar Run Lures metal lip got three, a jointed swim bait got one and the other was on a White Magic Tail Mojo. It was a fun day on the water and we are looking forward to tomorrow’s (Sunday) trip.

LBI Surf Fishing Report Update – November 14, 2018

Nice to see some life on the beach!

Robbie Vallone was out on the surf this morning and then again in the afternoon/evening. He caught some small but fat striped bass. Rob reported, “I plugged the mid-island surf and found bass. In the morning I got six fish, most between 18-22″ with the largest 26″.  Everything was on a diamond jig with a sand eel teaser.” In the afternoon/evening I got a dozen. They were stacked up in a couple cuts. I was doubled up once! All of the action was on the mid island surf.

New load of fresh bunker arrived this evening. We’ve got the primo freshies ready for chunking.

LBI Fishing Report Update – November 13, 2018

The Fall Run Is On!!! It’s mid November and fishing in the Long Beach Island area is good. If you can make the time… get out and go! Anglers are catching fish on the beach and boat. The past couple of days were great weather wise but today (Tuesday) was not. Right now it looks Saturday and Sunday will be two days full of great fishing opportunity. Until then there will be some windy conditions that some anglers will dive into in search of trophy stripers.

The troll bite is on fire with anglers catching big striped bass on Magictail Mojos (singles and via three way tandems) as well as bunker spoon trolling with Tony Maja Bunker Spoons and Spoon Fed Bunker Spoons. Here’s some recent reports…

Andres Hernandez got this monster trolling on Monday. It was 48.6 pounds!

Mike also got a 48 pound striped bass trolling yesterday.

Rick Lamb on the Sea Eagle went 6 for 9 on the troll.

Store staffer Mike Frezza got out on the water yesterday with Swagmatic (Matt Sorrentino) aboard. Frez reported, “It was an awesome day black fishing out of Belmar on the Barb Gail with Captain Chris. Consistent action on Magictail Tog Jigs tipped with green & white crab.”

Frez detailed, “Bait rigs did the job as well. We released a bunch of keepers including one 14lb TOGZILLA and a beautiful 8lb female. The bite started out slow with green crab, but once the we broke out the white crab the bites totally changed and became more aggressive. All of our larger fish came on white crab.” If you want whities act now and call Fish Heads today. White leggers are special order only due to limited availability.

Anglers on the hunt for ghosts are finding fish not far from home. Positive reports of big bluefin in close proximity to Barnegat Inlet.

LBI Surf Fishing Report

The LBI surf fishing action is somewhat shifty. Some days more fish than others. We are excited to be in prime time and we are looking forward to the awesome surf fishing opportunities this month.

LBI surf fishing tournament’s top five fish are all over 20 pounds. Don’t let that keep you from participating!!! There’s some Bonus Cash Days coming up.

For updated information on the LBI Surf Fishing Tournament.  www.LBIFT.com

Bonus Cash Days

November 16 – $500 Cash Award For Largest Striped Bass, In Honor of Frank Panzone

November 22 – $250 Cash Award For Largest Striped Bass, In Honor of Bruce Hoagland from the Hoagland Family

Fish Head Charters Fishing Report Update

John Bentley from PA On The Fly (@treeworx814) came all the way out from Jefferson County PA to get out on the brine. We fished together last fall and had a great trip so John booked again this year. November 5/6/7 was booked but pushed it back to 12/13/14. With a cancellation on Sunday the 11th and good weather set up for Sunday/Monday we modified the dates and fished on 11/10 an 11/12.

An expert muskey fly guy, John is a hardcore angler. I’m always stoked to fish with him because of his intense focus, attention to detail and deep knowledge of fly fishing. He catches big fish on the fly. His goal for the 6 hour travel was to hunt striped bass, preferably classy sized ones.

Sunday we had a good trip catching quality striped bass. We went three for four trolling, dropping one fish. John was happy to be catching but I was not content. I knew what he came for. The day’s conditions were tough; a little windy, very cold, scattered fish. Sometimes you have to choose the best method for the day. Sunday it was the troll.

Monday I prepared to dedicate the entire trip to strictly fly focus. My expectations were good. Breaking tide, calm winds and much warmer. John was early to the boat and I was geared up so we pushed off early and were fishing before 6:15. Only a few cast in and John was hooked up at sunrise. He was dialed in and did a great job putting the fly where it needed to be. In a short amount of time John released five striped bass, two of which were health sized keepers, up to 32″. As the tide picked up and the sun got high the bite tapered off and went dead.

By this time is was about 8am and some friends up the beach reported slow fishing. A couple boats that I was in the loop with had one or none. I expected now that the tide turned the bite would turn on soon so we headed towards the recently productive grounds. While in route I got a call from a friend who just caught two. He shared, “I went to the spot you told me. It looked fishy but no bites. We put in a couple hours and then all of a sudden it came alive on top with sand eels, turns and striped bass.” We headed in his direction and stopped where two whales were feeding.  We found the mother load!!!

It was not all out blitz fishing, but it was very good. Feisty striped bass from 15 to 40++ pounds were chasing sand eels under small bird plays. My first cast on a top water spook got crushed.

John managed to feel his fly to a pig.

I upped my game and got my new personal best on the fly.

We fished until 3pm and called it a day. Leaving a good bite always feels weird. You never know when the time will come again.

LBI Surf Fishing Report Update – November 9, 2018

Some big fish on the LBI surf today!!!

So far today we’ve had three weigh-ins from the surf. We’ve also heard about a number of other fish. It’s safe to say the striped bass are here! We anticipate good fishing from now through Thanksgiving and into December. Now’s the time to get in the game!

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7pm Update: More Quality Bass On Beach!!!

Among Others…
Brian McAllister – 44″ 32.4# Bunker, Brant Beach
Courtland Food – 46″ 36.82# Bunker, Spray Beach
With this weigh-in Courtland leads the shop’s Striper Side-Bet.
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LBI Surf Fishing Classic

Day 35 is off to a good one with an active day for the LBI Surf Fishing Classic. Angler are catching fish on the beach.

Here’s the low down… Wind is cranking and the surf is churned up and some bass are on the feed.

Chris Masino landed his new personal best today off the south end surf. He currently hold the lead in the surf derby. Chris stopped in for fresh bunker this afternoon and while here shared this report. “I hit the surf early this morning. Lost one fish at day break. About a half hour later released a short. Then another one. Things slowed down but I fished out my bait. I was about to leave and the rod went down. Turns out it was a really good fish!” Chris is back out on the beach looking for a 50! He said eight ounce of lead was holding. We can only assume these requirements went up through the day.

Other LBI Surf Classic Weigh-Ins

Chuck Kortman checked in a 36.25″ 15.1 pound that he caught chunking bunker on the surf this morning. John McHenry got a 34 pound bass, bunker surf. John Campbell got a 13 pounder on bunker.

Brian R. weighed in a 37 pound 46.5″ striped bass this morning. He caught it on MULLET fishing the Ship Bottom surf. This fish is not a tournament fish. Photo above.

LBI Fishing Report Update – November 8, 2018

A QUALITY body of fish moved into our waters! The awesome striped bass fishing that was cranking in the state’s northern waters continues AND it has slid down into our waters. The fishing today was our best day yet!

It’s on!!!

Store staffers Max and Kelley were on the water and got into ’em good. They both cranked on some quality fish today. Max (photo below) reported, “Rough seas early  We put the bow into some rough seas early but found fish and had a good day. We released some pigs!”

Justin Marti upped his personal best… While out trolling on a solo mission he hooked into and landed a 49.56 pound striped bass.

Ryan Horton a good 35 pound bass on the troll this morning.

Dan Seagull was also in on the striped bass action.

Captain Billy on the Reel Trouble stopped in for a new Magictail Mojo. While here he shared, “Great fishing today! We limited out with overs and unders!” His schedule is almost booking up but there are a few dates available. Give Captain Billy a call ( 6097090226 ) and jump aboard.

LBI Surf Fishing Report

On the LBI surf more fish are showing and it’s only getting better. The reports of striped bass are becoming more consistent.

One customer in the shop today reported, “Last night I caught a fat 26″ bass chunking bunker.”

There was one report of a few bass at the Barnegat Light Jetty. Also there… tog. The BL tog fishing report has been on the slow side but some anglers are putting in the time and catching. While it is getting late in the prime time land based season, it is not over. The water clarity and rough weather has made unsettled. We expect good fishing if and when things clear up.

Fish Head Charters

Here’s an update… A few days ago I got a call from Chris from Madison, NJ, “Any days open next week? I would like to get out on the water with my son.” Only having a day later in the week I suggested we go Thursday because the weather looked good. It turns out we set up a double; an evening trip then a morning session. Wednesday afternoon/evening trip started off right with Chris landing a nice striped bass on one of his first 10 casts. It went for a Rapala X-Rap swimming plug.  Unfortunately that was the only fish of the two hour session.

It was our goal to put 12 year old Matt (Chris’s son) on his first striped bass. Since my Wednesday morning trip was a skunk session, I had to prepared for Thursday’s morning trip with real expectations. Knowing the father and son were staying in town for the night I suggested we got for a short night shift trip. Fortunately we did! Matt earned his first striped bass! (below) We fished for about an hour total and called it a night.

Our good morning greet from an stiff northerly wind gave us a dicey morning commute to the fishing grounds. We wanted to go back and hunt the same waters as Wednesday but the conditions had us second guessing. We ended up running to IBSP’s Bather’s Beach and starting there. With scattered bait and a few gannets roaming high over head things were looking good but it was a slow first hour or two. A friend picked a fish trolling by us and gave a call. [Thank You Ryan!] Still no luck for us. With conditions improving slightly we made the move further north to where I fished Wednesday and where I wanted to originally start the day. It turns out store staffers Max and Kelley called us in on a bite just a short ways away. They put us on the mother load. Our screen was looking good all morning but this area was the real deal. Big patches of bunker with also scattered bait reading and beautiful big bass boomerangs.

In short time we had three good shots. The first bite came on a plug/mojo combo (Custom Deep Diver Pikie by Blake at Cedar Run Lures fished above a white Magictail Mojo). 12 year old Matt took the rod and cranked in his second striped bass like a pro surfing it right into the net. This 26-28 pound (on Boga Grip) fish was perfect for the diner table and into the cooler it went.  About ten minutes later the extra heavy Tony Maja spoon goes screaming. This time Chris went to work and cranked up a bigger bass. This one was released to swim another day. About 15 minutes later the plug/mojo combo had a good hit but after a second or two it came loose.

I found all of our bites came ON THE BOTTOM. Maybe others caught else where but for us all bites were down deep. Talking to numerous customers in the shop some boats did very good and surprisingly a lot of boats got the skunk. The new moon current and rough sea surface conditions require a little extra attention. Minor adjustments to my routine trolling spread got us down and in the zone. Finding and working the mother load also was a key ingredient to the success.

LBI Surf Fishing Report Update – November 7, 2018

John Sanford from Barnegat stopped in for bait this morning. While here he asked for a suggestion and store staffer Joe pointed him in the right direction. John reported, “It was slow but I fished my bait out. One of my last chunks got the bite.” Turns out it was a 35″ 17.86 pound striped bass.