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LBI Fishing Report Update – October 3, 2018

LBI Fishing Report Update – October 3, 2018

The bait and resident striped bass continue to offer fun in the bay. Store staffer Jordan fished last night and got two bass fishing Kettle Creek Paddletail Softbaits. Other reports came from the bayside haunts up and down the Island’s west side as well as the mainland.

The bay’s water hold blowfish and weakfish among other species.

Bill Bannon of West Creek was on the jetty today and caught a 5.38 pound triggerfish while targeting blackfish. Word from other anglers up on the rocks is the tog fishing is very good!

Also roaming the inlet; blues, striped bass and the occasional surprise false albacore. Be ready with an Hogy Epoxy Jig (gotta stop in to buy… not enough for website demand) or Deadly Dick Metals for fool the fat alberts!

64th LBI Surf Fishing Classic

The nation’s oldest surfcasting tournament is only a few days away! Sign up now for 9 weeks of surf fishing fun and take advantage of the early registration promotion… While supplies last free collectible hat and t-shirt. This offer ends on October 15 at which time all shirts will be $20.

Kick off the “Classic” Saturday October 6th with the Opening Day Seminar.

Save the dates for all of the bonus days! The first bonus day is October 7, $500 cash prize to the largest striped bass. The second bonus day will be October 12, $250 cash award for the largest Striped Bass. Don’t miss out on these great opportunities.

LBI Fishing Report Update Sept 30, 2018

LBI Fishing Report Update – Saturday Sept 30, 2018

September draws to a close and the fishing front looks good. We are getting closer to sea bass fishing and the real deal fall run. The NJ Black Sea Bass season opens on October 8th with 10 fish bag limit at 12.5″ minimum size.
October is always a great month for fishing and this is what’s happening right now….
Tog fishing at the Barnegat Inlet Jetty is good. We expect the tog fishing to be good for the next couple weeks, possibly beyond. While the water is cooling there are still some of the warm water species present. We heard of a triggerfish caught Saturday.
On the surf small blues dominate. Other species like kingfish, pompano and fluke are present. Yesterday afternoon Joe and Mike Polladino of Beach Haven West stopped in and asked, “Set us up and send us to the fish.” We gave them some options and they chose to target the small blues in the surf. We shared a nice looking stretch of water on the mid islands surf not far from the shop. An area I surfed the area and witnessed fishy activity; schools of mullet with predators on them. They headed up and gave it a go. A couple hours later they returned with smiles and shared this report…
“Two-four pound blues were there just like you told us. We caught ten blues and then decided to leave even though they were still biting. Lots of fun! There was another angler fishing about 100yds away and didn’t get a bite. You put us in the right spot. Thank you!”
Saturday morning, Dan D. was on the water and found some good action with striped bass and blues. He reported catching on lures early then switching over to live bait. He got a 24″ fluke on a live spot.
Ronald Diorka of Pendleton KY stopped in with a 15.48 pound bluefish that he caught offshore in the boat this weekend. He entered the big yellow eye into The Fisherman Magazine Dream Boat Challenge. Word on the street is there’s some big blues out at the Mud Hole. Let’s home they slide our way and crash the beach!!!
Konrad and Nate (see Saturday’s Fish Head Charters report below) fish the bayside this morning.  Fishing the Nomad Chug Norris popper and reported, “We got some follows and even connected with one striped bass. The fish absolutely choked on the thing… fully engulfed! It’s safe to say the Chug Noris works.”
The blowfishing in the Barnegat Bay continues. Some good reports from customers anchoring up and fishing clam and squid. Once angler plugging the sod banks reported catching a monster blowfish on a Rat-L-Trap.

Fish Head Charters

Saturday was another awesome day aboard the Fish Head. Konrad and Nate from the Eastern Shores of Maryland were in for a fun filled dawn patrol four hour trip. Both have experience fly fishing fresh water but never tried saltwater. This was their first. Some how both hooked up on their first cast. You can’t be introduced to saltwater fly fishing for striped bass any better than that! Konrad and Nate caught fish, just about one after the other for the first hour of the trip. Then, things slowed down. We looked around and found a couple big schools of mullet in the waves. We tried out best to get in tight but the long periods swell made it difficult. After wasting too much time we shifted gears and headed into the backwaters where we hunted the flats. Working the shallows we found small bait and had a blow up right away, on one of the first casts. Our expectations went up but it didn’t pan out. There was life but no hungry striped bass willing to commit. Only follows and swirls. Luckily Konrad pulled out some magic and fooled one on a Stillwater Smack-It Popper. It was a great way to end the trip.
Sunday store staffers Blake and Mike were aboard. We went for a quick morning session. The early morning bite was good with striped bass and a few bluefish eating poppers and small swimming plugs. The sun came up the bite went down. Early bird got the worm! We switched and tried out the flats. There was very little bait and once again not many fish. We could only muster up two boils.
With the cool nights the bay waters in Barnegat Light are in the mid 60’s. I expect the fishing in the bay to be productive for the next month plus. I also look forward to the run ahead. The striped bass migration isn’t far away and I’m geared up and ready. Until then I’m daily looking for resident striped bass and bluefish. I’ve also got an eye out for albies but have yet to find them. A commercial friend reported a couple in the gill net this weekend. It’s proof there are a couple around. Hopefully more show up!

LBI Fishing Report Update – Sept 27, 2018

LBI Fishing Report Update – Sept 27, 2018

Well into the second full week of the Jersey Shore Mullet Run and it’s going strong. This is definitely LBI’s the best mullet run since Sandy. The weather hasn’t been pretty but manageable especially in the backwaters. While not for everyone there’s good fishing to be had. We aren’t talking big fish but really fun light tackle entertainment.

Jeffrey Fiedeldey sent in this report…”Wednesday Barnegat Inlet was on fire with cocktail blues 1-3 pounds. The afternoon low tide was good with them hitting mullet and top water poppers and SP Minnows.”

LBI Surf Fishing Report

The Long Beach Island surf is alive with bait and fish. Surf anglers are reporting lots of blues. Most are small but there are 1-3 pound cocktails around. There’s also STRIPED BASS, kingfish and other species too! Just a heads up to surf anglers fishing this weekend, extra lead will be required with rising easterly groundswell on the beaches. It arrives Saturday and will last into much of next week.

Chris O’Neill was up on the beach this afternoon and found the little blues (12-15″) were snapping. These feisty devils are taring up rigs baited with mullet and also piling on lures like

Anglers targeting kingfish are picking. Some better then others. Occasionally other species are coming up… Andre from Ohio stopped in the other day and report, “Pompano in the surf! I’m fishing FishBites in the surf at low tide looking for kingfish. I’m catching pompano.” Andre got them two days in a row so there must be a good number of them around. This isn’t our first reports of these.

Today (Thursday) we got a report from our bait guy, “You don’t see this everyday… Fluke were on the mullet in tight to the beach eating on top. They are well know for being very aggressive fish but top water fluke sightings are something special. Major bummer the season’s closed because this is the best time of year for land base flounder pounds to get into good quality flatties.

64th LBI Surf Fishing Classic –  The LBI surf fishing tournament is only days away! Sign up not to take advantage of the early season sign up incentives… Free T-Shirt and Free Hat!!! Reminder the Kick Off Seminar is Saturday Oct 6th at 10am. There will be free coffee (sponsored by How You Brewin?), donuts from Crust & Crumb Bakery and some awesome giveaways.

Surfcaster’s Journal broke 50! The Surfcaster’s Journal Issue 51 is Live… check it out.

Barnegat Bay Fishing Report

The bay is loaded with good fishing opportunities. From blowfish to weakfish and striped bass to bluefish there’s fun fishing.

Mike Kelly was out on the bay today (Thursday) got 20 nice blowfish in a morning session. He also caught some kingfish and croakers. While he did not catch any spot there are some around.

Robbie Vallone was working poppers on the backwaters and found hungry bass. He said the amount of bait stacked and staged is very promising.

Rob Vallone found lots of life in the bay. This striped bass went for his top water popper, a Storm Chug Bug.

Fish Head Charters

With all of the foul weather, I took the opportunity to get some boat work maintenance and upgrades taken care of. Why push off something that can get done now?

I’m back in the water and off to a stellar start with fall!

Wednesday I had Brooks from Cortland aboard for some saltwater fly fishing. [Anyone who’s not familiar with Cortland… Let me introduce to you the oldest and best braider in the country! Since 1915 Cortland has been dedicated to fishing line now offering top quality fly lines, Dacron, Master Braid (great spectra braided line) and C-16 (the world’s best hollow core spectra). Best of all Cortland line is made in the USA!] We started out the morning working a number of different areas in the fog. On the hunt bait was found but no game fish (striped bass, bluefish, weakfish). All we had to show for our efforts was a boil but that was all we needed to stay active.

Fortunately by late morning (930ish) the dense fog lifted and the wind started up. Despite the super rough conditions, we made a quick decision to see what was around the Inlet. We were greeted by monster swell and acres of bait! Mullet were pushing in every which direction and fish were all over them. It was ROUGH but the bite was on like Donkey Kong! First cast and Brooks was tight with a screamer on a white deceiver. This nice striped bass in the rough conditions took him for a ride on the six weight rod meant weakfish and small striped bass. We made a couple more drifts each time hooking more fish but we were forced to call it quits when the Brooks got green. These conditions could have turn any good sea legs weak.

Brooks from Cortland Line Co. got this yellow eye on the fly. It put up a great fight on his six weight outfit.

Today (Thursday) I was back on it. This time for first light and sure enough it was the right call. Again acres of bait scurrying for their lives with bass and blues all over them. Within 5 minutes the boat was a murder scene with blood and regurgitated bait all over the deck. The all out blitz went on for about two hours. We surprisingly caught more striped bass than I would have expected, about 10-12 all together. The largest was about a low teen size fish about 13-14 pounds. The rest were blues from snappers to four pounders. Too many fish to count with no one around!

~ Captain Greg Cudnik

This striped bass fell for a Bomber plug. A great choice when trying to imitate mullet.

 

Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association Weekly Report – Thursday September 27, 2018

~ Jim Hutchinson Sr.

Fall officially arrived this week, and recent cooler temperatures have the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association starting to think about the arrival of the area’s greatest inshore sport fish, the striped bass.

Just like “snowbirds” heading down to Florida when winter arrives, the striped bass on their way south for the winter stop by local waters looking for food. When they find abundant food, they have been known to remain for quite some time. Right now with a good supply of mullet and bunker, they will be sure to stop in to fill their bellies.

To commemorate the presence of striped bass in the fall, there are several local striped bass tournaments, most for boats only. To mention a few-the Sea Shell Club, the Maximilian Foundation, the Stafford Township PBA, and the Red Men Lodge in Tuckerton all have e vents set for this fall. Most of these are for charitable causes and come with cash prizes, calcuttas, and various parties replete with good food.

Fishermen do not have to own a boat or be an expert to be competitive in one or more of these tournaments. Some of the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are available to take anglers out to compete in these events. A good boat and expert captain can make a difference in coming home with fish or empty handed.

To see how fishing with one of these experts might be accomplished, go the association’s website at www.BHCFA.net and get in touch with one or more of the captains to see what can be worked out.

LBI Fishing Report Update – Sept 22, 2018

LBI Fishing Report Update

Update: Saturday, September 22, 2018

Today was the 72nd World Series Of Surf Fishing Tournament hosted by the Long Beach Island Fishing Club. For anyone who was on the island or better yet the beach… the place way jumping. There were 52 teams and a total of 283 anglers fishing (23 women and 27 youth anglers under 18). All together there were 425 fish caught; 320 bluefish, 10 king fish, two fluke.

Harvey Cedars ASAC Tournament Results

1st Place: 35 Fish – 435 Points – SJ Surfcasters A
2nd Place: 27 Fish – 335.75 Points – Anglesea – A
3rd Place: 30 Fish – 316.50 Points – RH Custom Rods A
4th Place: 29 Fish – 225.5 Points – NJ Beach Buggy Ass
5th place: 18 Fish – 185.75 Points – Merchantville FC – C

First place largest fish men’s went to Dave Bosch for his 19″ Fluke. First place largest fish women’s went to Lisa A for her 13.5 ” bluefish.

Alex Thaler got the largest fish youth (14-17) with a 15.75″ bluefish. Brett Clark got the largest fish youth (13 & Under) with an 11″ bluefish.

Most Fish Men’s – Bob Rienir with 159.75 points, 12 Bluefish plus one other. Most Fish Women’s – Lynda Greaves with 57.75 points, 5 blues plus one other. Most Fish Youth (14-17) – Alex Thaler with 64.25 points, 5 bluefish. Most Fish Youth (13 & Under) – Brett Clark with 11 points, one bluefish.

Other Reports From Today

Dennis and Elise Fortuna from Runnemede, NJ had a fun day off the surf today. They fished the mid-island surf and caught a number of kingfish. Dennis reported, “Kingfish were chewing on Fish Bites. Elise got a pompano too. We fished a mullet rig with fresh mullet but it didn’t get a touch.”

Some anglers down on the south end reported lots of small blues and a few fluke on the beach in Holgate.

Swagmattic Matt S. was aboard the Carolyn Ann today for the last day of fluke.  The boat fished the Garden State North. It was good fishing early then it turned off.  Matt was fishing live snappers and got a five pounder. It was a nice fish but not enough for the pool. However it was enough to take top honors in the South Jersey Saltwater Anglers Fall Fluke tournament weigh in. Matt took the top a 5.12 pound fluke.

LBI Fishing Reports Update – Sept 21, 2018

LBI Fishing Report Update

Update: Sept 21, 2018

Fluke season is coming to a close tomorrow on Sept 22th and like every year it’s prime time fishing. Good reports coming from the from the surf, inlet, ocean and bay. Be sure to get out and enjoy the last of it. Don’t over look to power of live mullet… fluke love them!

We had a five pound fluke weighed in today from a boat angler who was working the Barnegat Light Reef. He said it was rough but full of life, catching about forty shorts.

Herb Weikel of Ship Bottom stopped in the shop for some fresh mullet and shared he found good fishing this week, “Fluke and blues are chewing cut mullet! A few days ago I got some some keepers near the Inlet. Wednesday only shorts.”

On the bayside blowfish continue in good numbers. Anglers having fun with them are also getting a couple weakfish and spot.

Anglers fishing the Barnegat Inlet are into tog on live green crabs.  The bite is strong and has been for a couple weeks. We expect this to continue right into October mid possibly later.  Gear up with live crabs and hop some rocks. The NJ Recreational Limit for Blackfish aka Tog is one fish at 15 inches until November 15 when it goes up to a five fish bag. Speaking of regulations, in a couple weeks we will have Black Sea Bass… Oct 8th to Oct 31 is 10 fish 12.5″ and then in November it bumps up to 15 fish.

The Fishing Musician Rick happily reported his magic shad was his ace, “Got a weakfish, fluke, bluefish and a sea robbin. The blowfish were also present and taring me up.” Rick’s land based fishing adventures have been good all summer. He’s looking forward to soon switching gears to the fall striped bass run.

Store staffer Kelley is finding fish at night on soft plastics. There’s tons of snappers but if you weed through them there’s bigger fish. Got a nice fluke, some striped bass and bigger blues.

Hot New Products

The all new Heavy Duty Bullet Jig Head from Magictail is finally in.  This is the jig head for anglers who demand a heavy hook jig head. Whether targeting gamefish in heavy water or big pelagics these are the go to jig head. Great for rigging Lunker City’s Slug-go, Ronz and Megashads among many other softbaits. Check them out today!

Today we received a monster delivery of Grundens All Weather Gear. We are  stocked up and ready for the fall weather. Are you? Stop in to check out our selection of bibs, jackets and much much more.

BHCFA Fishing Report – Sept 20, 2018

Beach Haven Charter Fishing Fishing Report Update

Update: September 20, 2018

by Jim Hutchinson Sr.

Beach Haven was spared Hurricane Florence, and the strong winds and large seas which have been present for over a week have begun to subside. The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are ready to catch fish despite the closure of the summer flounder season on September 22.

A recent uptick in bluefish action has been stirring interest the past few days. Naturally, the bay waters are filled with snapper blues, some grown to a pound already, but good numbers of bluefish in the 2-6 pound class have been making their appearance in the ocean.

Captains choosing to troll in the waters not that far off the beach have been finding some pretty good action on these bluefish, Spanish mackerel, albacore, bonita, and small mahi-mahi.

The reports coming from the offshore waters indicate that there is a decent bite on tuna when the ocean conditions permit boats to make it there. Captain Lindsay Fuller of the “June Bug” reports some of these fish can be caught on the troll, but he recommends overnight trips to the canyons with a combination of trolling and chunking through the night hours.

A plethora of bait in the bay and inlet waters is a positive sign, and eyes are already looking to the north awaiting the arrival of the fall run of striped bass. There are small, “schoolie” sized bass in the bay which are being caught casting lures around the sod banks, especially during the hours of low light.

Complete information on the boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.BHCFA.net.

Fall Classic Striper Side Bet

2018 Fall Classic Striper Side Bet

Register Now for the…

64th Annual 2018 Long Beach Island Surf Fishing Classic
+
The Fisherman’s Headquarters Fall Classic Striper Side-Bet!

The Side-Bet is offered by Fisherman’s Headquarters between competing Classic anglers! It is Fisherman’s Headquarters goal to raise the level of competition and motivate anglers to fish hard!

$10 Striper Side-Bet Sign Up Fee

2018 FHQ Fall Striper Side-Bet Prizes
1st – 100% “Cash Pot” Pay Out
2nd – $100 FHQ Store Gift Certificate
3rd – $50 FHQ Store Gift Certificate

All “Derby” rules & regulations apply as well as the following “Side-Bet” Particulars…

The Fisherman’s Headquarters Striper Side Bet (Side-Bet) is only open to Classic registrants. The Classic and the Side-Bet two separate tournaments that run concurrently.

• Side-Bet Sign Up Is Only Available at Fisherman’s Headquarters
• Side-Bet fish must be weighed in at Fisherman’s Headquarters for Side-Bet submission.
• For conservation purposes, only one fish can be weighed-in per day per angler for the Side-Bet.
• A contestant may only win one of the three “Side-Bet” prizes.
• Anglers in the “Side-Bet” must register before catching an eligible fish.
• Minors (under age 18) can sign up; however, a cash prize won by a minor will be awarded to the minor’s parent or legal guardian.
• Cheating will not be tolerated. Any complaints or challenges must be presented to FHQ in writing within 24-hours of the incident. All decisions will be made by Fisherman’s Headquarters Management.
• FHQ weigh master reserves the right to inspect or reject any fish deemed to be questionable.
• All fees are non-refundable.
• The 1st Place Cash Winner (paid by check) MUST FILL OUT A 1099 TAX FORM!

Pass on the word about the FHQ Fall Striper Side-Bet!!!

LBI Fishing Report Update – September 15th, 2018

LBI Fishing Report Update

Updated: September 15, 2018

Finally things have settled down and it’s a big weekend for surf anglers on Long Beach Island. Today September 15 is the day beach access opens to four wheel drive beach buggies in Ship Bottom and Beach Haven (permit required). The rest if LBT as well as Harvey Cedars opens October 1st. Due to the recent north east blow and powerful swell some beaches might be closed due to erosion. As always drive slow with caution.

The Holgate Section of the Edwin B Forsyth Wildlife Refuge is open today and access is allowed all the way to the point! This is great news because most the section has been closed since the main entrance gates opened on September first.

One step closer to fall this week… blinking lights on the north end! The trek from shop to Light only takes 10 minutes.

Now’s the time to enjoy Long Beach Island… It’s better in September!!!

News On The Fishing Front….

The rough seas have kept most boats tied up for too many days. Still ground swell from the combination of the week’s Nor’easters and Flo’s rage have the beaches churning. The white water is a beautiful sight (especially if it was late October or November) for surfcasting but also demanding 5-8 ounces of lead to hold.

The mullet run is on! As reported on the September 11th, 2018 Fishing Report Update mullet are active and on the move. Everyday fresh baits are arriving. These baits are prime for targeting bluefish and fluke. Resident striped bass are also on the bait but best targeted using lures.

In recent days few anglers have worked the surf. Most have opted for the more protected areas like the bayside and inside section of the Inlet. There anglers are putting together good catches. This entire week the Inlet has been loaded with small blues ranging from snappers to cocktail size with an occasional bigger ones ruling the roost. Anglers fishing lures (small metal, poppers, bucktails, swimming plugs) as well as cut mullet are having lots of fun.

Other good reports from the Inlet spoke about fluke, striped bass and tog. One anglers that purchased a new Penn reel stopped back with a 20″ fluke from the rocks that went for a chunk of mullet. Maybe due to the wind and swell, the trigger fish reports have disappeared.

Rich Beverley was in the shop today and shared a report from the inlet. He got into good fishing this morning, “The tog bite was on. I caught a bunch of blackfish and some how managed to loose a five pound fish.” The heart break is real! While here he raved on his recent trip to Matapedia Quebec. He caught his first Atlantic salmon and had a great fishing trip.

Boat anglers fishing the bay are catching great numbers of blowfish. Also weakfish are present.

Side Tracker Spreader Bars by Chatter Lures

For the offshore anglers… The Side Trackker Spreader Bars from Chatter Lures took the offshore trolling market by storm this summer. It was impossible to keep up with the demand. Finally now that things slowed we’ve been able to stock up. If you haven’t seen or fished one of these you are missing out. Here’s info about the bars and the advantage they offer.

Just a heads up we expect the all new 36″ Side Tracker Spreader Bar from Chatter to be in this upcoming week.

Upcoming Events

72nd Annual World Series Of Surf Fishing – This tournament hosted by the LBI Fishing Club is on September 22, 2018. The tournament is open to individual ($25) and team anglers ($100). Register now for this great event! For more info call Frank at 856-904-3062

64th Annual LBI Surf Fishing Classic – This 9 week surf fishing tournament event is 21 days away, October 6th. Join and have fun fishing for daily, weekly, segment, grand and special bonus day cash prizes. Registrations has begun! For more information www.LBIFT.com

Fall Classic Striper Side Bet – Be sure to join the Fish Head’s shop side bet! It’s an additional $10.

          Surf Fishing Seminar

The LBI Surf Fishing Classic Opening Day Surf Fishing Seminar is 9am Saturday October 6th at the Ship Bottom Firehall. This is a great learning opportunity and a perfect place to network with other surf anglers.

Everything from the basics of Surf Fishing 101 to diving deeper into the specifics of reading the beach, when/where to fish, lure talk, and much more. There will be hands on demonstrations as well as a segment on the beach (weather dependent).

Complimentary Coffee Sponsored by How You Brewin.

Pre-registration is recommended for this FREE event Email:  patatnj@aol.com to let us know you are coming. See you then!

Beach Haven Charter Fishing Report – Update Sept 13, 2018

Beach Haven Charter Fishing Report Update Sept 13, 2018

by Jim Hutchinson Sr.

Recent storms accompanied by high winds and large waves have kept the boats of the Beach Haven Charter fishing Association at the dock. These conditions along with the landfall of Hurricane Florence to the south have the captains thinking of their own storm contingency plans.

Captain Dave Kreines of the “Byte Me” says he keeps an eye on the weather and plays it by ear. He adds extra lines and plans to pull his boat out of the water on a trailer if the storm looks bad. If it just looks like a lot of rain he inspects his bilge pumps to be sure they are ready to go with batteries fully charged. .He plans to be back at the fluke grounds when things calm down.

Captain Carl Sheppard of the “Star Fish” feels it is necessary to provide enough scope on the dock lines so that the boat can raise with the water level, and not be held down by the lines.” In Hurricane Sandy there was a rise of about seven feet. The second issue is to assure that the moorings or pilings or dock cleats to which you are securing your vessel are up to the strain, if in doubt, move her to another location that will be secure. If you are thinking of hauling, most insurance companies will pay 50% of the cost of hauling for a named storm hitting your area. Place split rubber hose over the line where it might chafe the boat. Expect to lose power for a while, so take out anything from your fridge or freezer that will go bad when the power goes off. Be sure your bilge pumps are working and the battery fully charged.”

Captain Carl says after the storm it will be time to go fishing. Fluke season will be followed by black sea bass and then by stripers. He was catching lots of short fluke, with a ratio of 20 shorts to 1 keeper, and many sea bass out on the inshore reefs before the storms started.

Captain Lindsay Fuller had run two Mid-Range Tuna trips on the “June Bug.” right before the storm to the 30 Fathom Knuckle finding no tuna but did catch some mahi to30-pounds. Captain Lindsay has made deposits on foul weather availabilty to get hauled at Jersey Cape Yachts in case of a real hurricane threat.

Additional information on the BHCFA can be found at www.bhcfa.net

LBI Fishing Report Update – Sept 11, 2018

Long Beach Island Fishing Report

Update: September 11, 2018

American’s will never forget 9/11. 17 years later we remember the victims and first responders who sacrificed their life for others.

This hard north east blow jump started the fall fishing and has things moving around.  Mullet are active! We got out first delivery of fresh finger mullet yesterday (Monday September 10th). Our second came in today. One Saturday and Sunday two separate reports talked that they were schooled up and pushing around. This might be one of the earlier run we’ve seen in recent years. Let’s hope it goes all month!

The past few days were very poor weather wise. Very few reports came in but those that did were positive. Lots of bait and blowfish, bluefish, striped bass. Today one customer stopped in the shop today and purchased a new rod. He said the blues are chewing on the surf, “We did good from 9-11 around the high tide. Once the tide started dropping it took too much weight to hold and we packed it in. Gonna try again tomorrow.”

Grey Colston enjoyed his last few days of summer (before heading back to school today) fishing in the rain. Grey and his buddy battled sour conditions but caught fish. The young bucks reported an awesome blowfish bite near the Causeway Bridges. “We caught a bunch over the weekend. Got three dozen Saturday morning. The bite continued on Monday. We caught peanut bunker and fished them live for bluefish. Also caught two schoolie bass.”

While down in Holgate this morning surfing I noticed the chain was up. Holgate 4×4 access is closed due to hazardous weather conditions.

Before the weather turned, Richy was fluke fishing aboard the “Always Bent” with Chris O’Neill. They caught a good spread of fluke and this ribbonfish – cutlassfish it ate a Gulp 6″ grub.