A Long Beach Island native with life long experience fishing and navigating the local waters, Greg is a distinguished Master Captain (the highest qualified operator license), holding a US Coast Guard Masters 50T Near Coastal License with Towing Endorsement. Raised in and now managing his family's bait and tackle business, Fishermans Headquarters (Since 1962, The Saltwater Fishing Bait & Tackle Experts) Greg is daily immersed in fishing. He is the Chief Contributor of FishingLBI.com (Long Beach Island's best fishing report blog) as well as the Admin for the shop's social media pages (on Instagram and Facebook). Be sure to follow!
Miles Callisto from Tomorrowland took a break from his space adventures last night and got into some good fishing!
Miles from Disney’s Tomorrowland enjoyed fishing Long Beach Island and catching striped bass.
All joking aside good early season fishing continues. The bay is full of small bass some are super dinks as seen in the photo above. It gets me thinking… How old is a 8-10″ fish? I recall reading or hearing that a striped bass doesn’t leave it’s “home” until it is 1-3 years old. Wonder if these are resident fish, maybe Mullica River Rats? Could these be migrates?
More positive reports from the surf. One local Ship Bottom resident said he caught too many small bass to count, “I lost count at about 50!” They were in tight to the mid island beach hamming softbaits. Recently the conditions got difficult. The pumping south east swell today is forecast to stick around for a few days.
Breaking News: Recent talk of some bluefish showing up not too far south, Atlantic City and South Jersey waters. Then today we heard through the grapevine a couple were caught on the bayside on the south end of the Island.
Here’s the LBI Fishing Report Update – April 25, 2018… Finally some positive reports from the beachfront! After our last post (4/22/18) stating “the surf fishing is dead” some anglers spoke up and shared, “There are fish!”
On Monday morning, I crossed paths with Allen Magrini at the gym. He informed, “I caught FIVE striped bass off the mid-Island surf Sunday. All you need is a small rubber artificial and a teaser.” The afternoon’s dropping tide is what produced. Monday afternoon Alaina (Allen’s daughter) caught her first striped bass off the surf. It was a small one but a first is always a great catch!
Alaina Magrini caught her first striped bass off the LBI surf on Monday.
So far the bluefish have been few and far between. The super early ones hinted at an early bite but didn’t materialize. With focus in or near the warm water outflow they were most likely winter time hold overs. We get calls and emails daily, “How the bluefish bite?” Right now at the time of this post, nonexistent, but could start at any time.
Here’s Captain Sarah Gardner with a racer bluefish she recently caught fishing with Captain Brian Horsley down in the OBX, NC.
Word on the street is we only need a little more time. As seen above there’s racers way south of here. The reports have been strong. Maybe these brutes will head up the coast soon.
The early season spots are still the place to be with striped bass as the main characters. White Perch, weakfish and black drum help with a supporting roll. The bass are stacked like cord wood in some areas in the bay. They are small but some better (can’t really call 25-30″ fish BIG’er) ones are showing up. These fish are offering lots of fun fishing entertainment.
Chris O’Niel has been putting in time and caught this striped bass recently fishing a early season sod bank.
Yesterday (Tuesday) we had some door troubles and made an emergency call to South Philly Fred at NorEaster Door & Lock Co., the commercial door and lock specialist. He showed up and fixed the problem quickly. After the work was done we went over to the local watering hole and caught a bunch of mini’s (super dinks in the 10-20″ range). These bass were all over small artificial baits. It was a lot of fun catching one after the other, sometimes doubled up. Then we turned our attention over to the Sixers at a real watering hole. It was a great game! Super excited to see where this young team can take it.
Bait Update:Currently at the time of this post we have live green crabs and salted pints as well as all of the frozen fixin’s. The live bloodworm delivery that was expected yesterday is now expected at some point today. We anticipate fresh bunker on Thursday and Friday.
Plants blooming and fish zooming! What a great weekend it has been. Spring has sprung!!!
“In celebration of Earth Day please post a blurb about packing out what you bring in! Just did a clean up with the family at the Bridge. The amount of plastic and trash on the bay front is unreal. It’s mostly all left by anglers. ” ~ Ken Sullivan of Ship Bottom
Remember Fishing’s Two Golden Rules – 1) Pack Out What You pack in. If there isn’t a public garbage can (or in the event a public receptacle is full) bring your garbage home.
Early season fishing reports continue strong and we are set for a great back half of April. It’s the same story at early season spots in the back bay with anglers are enjoying the striped bass fishing. The nice run of sunny days as of late has the Barnegat Bay water temp (BI-BB area) at 50 degrees. Austin Pounds recently got into some striped bass on the fly. Store staffer Max has caught bass on lures during his recent trips.
Bait like bloodworms, clam and cut squid are getting bites as well as lures. The go to lures are be bucktail jigs and soft plastics. One of our best sellers for many years is the Lunker City Fin-s which is a killer bait on bass and weakfish. Also the Tsunami Swim Shads are producing.
This past week more weakfish showed as well as some black drum and speckled trout. Chris Bender stopped in the shop yesterday. While here he shared he’s catching specks and also having fun with bass. He also stepped into a new pair of waders and wading boots. He opted for the Frogg Toggs Hellbender Stockfoot Waders a great value 4 ply wader with double reinforced knees at $129.99 and a pair of Korkers Wraptr Wading Boot.
Korkers Wraptr Boots
These new wading boots are outta this world! These $199.99 boots feature Krokers exclusive Wraptr Tech Armor. This ultimate one piece single seam design and compression molded construction solves the age old problem with all wading boots, seam failures. They are surprisingly light and like all Korkers boots offer the ultimate comfort, support and OmniTrax interchangeable soles!
Yesterday the Carolyn Ann III out of Barnegat Light reported a good day on the ocean. “Bob Wallace won the pool with a nice 10.5 pound tog and Jimmy Mac caught his limit.”
Other anglers aboard reiterated the trip’s success. Richard Ackerman reported, “It’s always a great time fishing aboard the CA3 with a super crew and friends.”
Matt Sorrentino was also aboard. He checked in his biggest at the shop, a 4.72 pound white chin and reported, “Slow start but we finished the day strong. I was one shy of a limit. Nice fish with a mix of shorts.”
Paul Haertel was also on the water this weekend. He shared, “Gave the trout and steelhead a break today (Saturday) and caught my limit of blackfish up to 8.5 pounds.”
It’s great to see anglers getting out on the wrecks with the nice weather. Land based anglers are picking a few small tog. We expect this to improve as the Barnegat Inlet offers prime jetty tog fishing in late April and May.
Long Beach Island Surf Fishing
The surf fishing along the Island’s beaches is dead! The water is just too cold for the bite to materialize. Last we heard it was 44 degrees. Those looking for a productive outing should turn to the bay side until the surf creeps up to 48-50 degrees. Once the water warms things will come alive.
Matt Polito was out on the hunt Saturday. He drove the beaches and looked for life but didn’t find anything. He reported, “I went of the search for a striped one or yellow eye. Covered lots of ground but no fish. All of the anglers I crossed paths with had the same report. NOTTA! Any day it’s going to happen.”
The LBI Spring Surf Tournament kicked off this weekend. Sign up now for the $20 event. And be sure to join the Fish Head’s Calcutta for $10. Half goes to the largest striped bass and half to the largest bluefish. Next weekend there is a one day surf tournament too.
Hopefully with our progression into mid-late April, the current warming trend and the increase in participation (especially with these two events) some reports will fill in. Soon anglers will man their battle stations as the bluefish invade.
This awesome stretch of weather has anglers getting out and finding fish! More reports flowing in from both local waters as well as elsewhere in the state. The fishing is consistent and new arrivals are boosting the fishery setting the stage for a great spring.
School sized striped bass are active on lures (soft baits, jigs and select hard baits) as well as live bloodworms. The early season spots (like the Oyster Creek outflow as well as Great Bay, Graveling Point) offer great fishing opportunities for land based anglers and those “early birds” with their boat in the water. Both of these areas are some of the New Jersey’s most popular early season fishing spots. They are no secret and heavily fished. As with any fishing trip, please follow Fishing’s Two Golden Rules.
Fishing along the Island’s bayside was very good this past week. The action focused on the westside’s docks and bulkheads. More recent striped bass reports tell the linesiders are also stretched out along the bay with anglers beginning to catch from many different areas. Store staffer Dave caught some bass wade fishing off a local bank with lures. A few nights ago, store staffer Steve-o got three bass working a light line with soft plastics.
Rick Zane took a peek at the Barnegat Light House Jetty on Thursday. He reported, “Took some casts but no one was home. Water was 45 degrees.” It’s time to get out and try for some blues. They will invade the area any day.
Still no reports off the surf. We expect that to change very soon. It is our assumption fish are present but few are trying with much more productive areas to fish.
Some anglers opting to travel out of the local area found the spring’s best fishing with quality bass. Both the Raritan Bay and the Delaware River are prime time fishing areas in the month of April and May. Some areas of the Raritan Bay put out non stop action the past few days. Store staffer Dan D was in on the action. Here’s a photo of one beauty.
Dan with an early spring beauty!
Here’s one photo from the Delaware River. South Philly Fred reported, “Five hours of fishing, one hit. OG River Rat Tim strikes again with a quality striped bass.”
The Original Gagster “River Rat” Tim puts his time in and gets the reward.
Daniel from Arsenal Lures shared this report… “My son (photo below) stuck some really good fish Friday. I’m proud he did it all on his own!” Turns out those Peanut Gliders are hot! Those looking for one are gonna have to look really hard. You thought those guys at the winter shows waiting in line at 3am were nuts? They are but look who’s laughing now! Those Getting in line at the winter shows at hat anglers.
For those in need and not willing to sacrifice, we suggest these great substitutes… the Sebile Stick Shadd and the Nomad Madscad.
Fishing’s Two Golden Rules
Fishing’s Two Golden Rules go for all types of fishing and really hold merit with all types of outdoor activities.
Pack out what you pack in. If there isn’t a public garbage can (or in the event a public receptacle is full) bring your garbage home.
Treat others how you would want to be treated. Local residents demand the utmost respect. Be mindful and courteous when parking, gearing up or down at late hours. Treat access points like they were your own backyard. Don’t take them for granted because every year anglers around the country loose these precious pathways to fishing. Also falling into this Part 2 of the is… Don’t mob someone who got an early spot. It’s like showing up late to a standing room only concert, pushing to the front in reckless disregard. It’s respectful to give anglers space.
LBI Spring Surf Fishing Tournament
Tournament Registrations Have Begun! Check out our detailed post from mid March or for more details www.LBIFT.com
Spring is late this year. Although warm weather is still behind schedule, some striped bass and even a few bluefish are showing in the waters around Beach Haven. The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association have been putting the finishing touches on their boats and gear getting ready. The recent dredging of Little Egg Inlet will make the passage out the inlet much easier.
Captain Gary Dugan has already had the “Irish Jig” on a striper trip in Great Bay. Despite the cold temperatures, Captain Gary said it was still great to get out on the water. They managed to boat one bass while having a couple more show interest in their baits.
Captain Lindsay Fuller is excited about the maintenance done “June Bug” this winter. The boat received a complete new paint job at its winter storage in North Carolina and is looking spiffy. Captain Lindsay had maintenance himself with a knee replacement. He is noticing improvement with his rehab and anticipates being better than ever. He is looking forward to bringing the “June Bug” north in May for a good fishing season.
“Star Fish” Captain Carl Sheppard reports he is optimistic about the new fishing regulations. He notes that a longer fluke season should help the good local September fluke fishing. Captain Carl has had the “Star Fish” through the new dredged inlet and found at least 10-feet of water the whole way to where the bell buoy used to be. He plans to get in on some of the tautog fishing before the end of April.
Captain Brett Taylor of “Reel Reaction” Sportfishing is new to the BHCFA but has been a captain for quite some time. He is a noted seminar speaker and outdoors writer while also serving as advisor to the Barnegat High School Fishing Club. Captain Brett reports his boat has had some upgrades with new electronics and is ready to get in on some solid spring striped bass fishing.
Captain John Lewis spent time this winter basking in the Florida Keys while his boat, the “Insatiable,” had some cosmetic work done. Captain John is adding sunset cruises this year along with new six and eight-hour inshore shark trips. He notes he is pleased with the new fluke regulations.
Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.BHCFA.net.
Here’s the fishing report update for the weekend of Sunday April 8, 2018.
The early season spots are commonly producing school size bass. More of these and better size linesiders are on the move with classy fish soon to be on their tails.
This past work week our first report came in of a backwater striped bass at a location other than an early season spot. The super calm night before the midweek gale, store staffer Kevin was home at his north end bay front home. He heard activity and gave it a look. The noise turns out to be fish popping, Striped Bass Slurping! Kevin reported, “First cast and I was tight on a Tsunami Split Tail Minnow that was engulfed by a bass.” He mentioned as per his log, this was his earliest experience with bait and bass at his dock. “Years past it was always a week or so later.”
Anyone fish these baits? The Tsunami Split Tail Minnow is one of my favorite softbait when matching the hatch in early spring and early fall. These minnow style split tails resemble a bay anchovy and spearing among many other small forage.
Similar to Fin-s from Lunker City but different, they are pre rigged and weighted. Offering a unique darting action, these lures are deadly on a slow, intermittent and quick retrieve. I’ve done very good using these softbaits for a variety of species from striped bass to weakfish and especially false albacore. If you don’t have a pack you should really think about trying them.
Back to report… You gotta love hearing the promising news and what’s even better is the following days more bass were caught at the bayside haunts. Long story short, the Island’s west side has fish.
Jeff and Dan enjoying a Saturday night on the bay catching striped bass.
Dan, Jacob and Jeff had a fun Saturday night catching bass. They worked some docks and light lines with lures and got into ’em. They reported the go to lures were small Sebile Stick Shadds and Daiwa SP Minnow Lures.
It’s great seeing the schoolies roam the bay and stretch out a bit. Soon more and bigger fish will move in. Any day now black drum, weakfish and more yellow eye gators!!!
Ryan from Surf City stopped in the shop on Satursday to get new line on his Penn Conflict spinning reel. While in he shared his recent outing was a bust. He fished Tuckerton with a local charter boat. Only managed a skate. Today (Sunday) he headed up to the Raritan bay to try his luck there. No word back from Ryan but we did get a report from another anglers. “I’m on a seven day streak! After a snowy winter, the bass can’t resist bloodworms. The fish are slowly getting bigger and recently started eating lures.”
Prime time perch fishing is quickly approaching. Few reports but the ones we have got were good. Thursday evening Chris Smith reported jumbo perch. He tried but no bass.
Nick DeGennaro with a beautiful snook he caught light tackle fishing skinny water near Tampa.
Here’s a photo from store staffer Nick D. from Barnegat who’s loving life going to college near Tampa Florida. “Lots of fish eager to eat! We are having a blast catching both snook and red fish on light tackle. The Sheild Reel is awesome!” Nick is loving his Tsunami Shield Spinning Reel putting it to work this winter. Let’s hope he is keeping up with class because from all the good fishing photos we’ve seen he must be a time management wizard!
Little Egg Inlet Dredge Project Complete
Little Egg Inlet is one of New Jersey’s widest and most dynamic inlets with shifting shoals. Used by vessels to access Barnegat Bay, Great Bay and the Intracoastal Waterway the Inlet is very important. Due to extreme shoaling in March 2017, the channel marker buoys were pulled by the Coast Guard. This left mariners to navigate at their own risk in unsafe conditions.
After long debate and all sorts of hurdles, the vital Inlet dredge project and the southern LBI beach repair project were coordinated to kill two birds with one stone ($18.4 million). Move the sand from the inlet and place it a few short miles north (where it came from) on the beaches of southern Beach Haven and Holgate. They actually killed three (No Pun Intended! No Birds In Holgate Were Harmed) because of March’s historic run of swell. The Western Atlantic was alive and sent strong ground swell to the beaches of LBI for weeks. The Holgate section of the beach replenishment was an engineering master piece offering surfers a perfectly tapered sand bar point break.
Here’s a photo from one fine afternoon at Holgate in early March. The dredge equipment is staged to leave with a perfect left hander pealing off in the distance.
Soon if not already, the U.S. Coast Guard will mark the Inlet channel and business will be back to usual. That is until the sand moves down again from the Island’s souther beaches. Most of which has already eroded, so only time will tell.
Open Season from May 25th to Sept 22, 2018: 18″ Minimum Size with a 3 fish bag limit. Special Exceptions: Delaware Bay (and Tributaries) 3 fish at 17″, Island Beach State Park 2 fish at 16″.
Black Sea Bass
May 15th to June 22nd: 10 fish at 12.5”
July 1st to August 31st: 2 fish at 12.5”
October 8th to October 31st: 10 fish at 12.5”
November 1st to December 31st: 15 fish at 13”
“At the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council meeting on April 5th, the (recreational) 2018 NJ Fluke Fishing Regulations as well as Black Sea Bass were set. However, problems might exist with the sea bass regulations as states to our north have filed an appeal with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. They threaten to go out of compliance. The process is pretty complicated but they are going after a portion of New Jersey’s quota. Depending on the outcome of the appeal our sea bass regulations may change. [Update: They did not change!] I will keep you posted as things develop further.” ~ Paul Haertel, Jersey Coast Anglers Association
A top priority for the JCAA was to close the gap between the fluke season close and the open of sea bass. This period of time (September) is a great time to enjoy fishing in the state of New Jersey. But government regulations in years past left inshore anglers with weeks of little to nothing. The 2017 NJ Fluke Season closed on September 5th and cut most all of the prime time inshore reef fishing. The early September close also kept surf anglers from working the suds. September is always a great month full of opportunities for fluke fishing and fortunately in 2018 NJ saltwater anglers will be able to enjoy.
Stepping back and taking a look, it’s great to see the same size and bag as last year. While three fish at 18″ isn’t a perfect world, it is a regulation that most can live with. What’s important to everyone is the additional days. The majority are very happy except some from the southern portion of the state who expressed disappointment. South Jersey fluke anglers really want an earlier start and you can’t blame them! The early season offers great backwaters fishing and anglers want to get in on the action.
Here’s J. Bailey with a pair of quality fluke he caught fishing the backwaters of Barnegat Bay in 2017.
Long Beach Island is unique and sort of caught in a pickle. Being centrally located we call ourselves South Jersey but technically we are South Central Jersey. LBI shares features of both its North Jersey and South Jersey coast neighbors yet still holds unique prowess. With both vast backwaters, two inlets, great surf fishing beaches and a strong network of inshore reefs, LBI’s surrounding waters offer some of New Jersey’s best fluke fishing early, mid and late season. The area is well known year in and year out for trophy doormats.
Dave Auger with a pool winner fluke he caught aboard the Carolyn Ann III fishing out of Barnegat Light in 2017.
We are looking forward to the 2018 Fluke Fishing Season and hope you are too. Now’s the time to prep. The last couple of years bucktailing for fluke has exploded. For many many years sharpies were dialed in and out catching the fleets. However, in recent years more anglers learned and adapted the tap dancing technique. I would be willing to guess three quarters or more of fluke anglers bucktail.
Fluke love Spro Bucktail Jigs especially when tipped off with Gulp and fished activly.
Those looking to learn about bucktailing fluke (very different from targeting striped bass on bucktail lures) should stop by the shop and ask a Fish Head team member. We are here to help and share information.
The past few years our best selling (and out producing the imitators / competition) bucktail was the Spro Prime Bucktail Jig that we stock in a great assortment of fishy colors and in more sizes than possibly any tackle retailer in the country. We have Spro Bucktials from as large as 8oz for anglers working deep water or those fishing rough or heavy drift conditions to as light as Spro’s Baby and Mini Bucktail which go as light as 1/8 and 1/16oz. These little bucktail jigs have accounted for many double digit fish when rigged as a teaser.
For all of those DIY rig tyers, we have a large selection top quality hooks from Gamakatsu, Owner and Mustad as well as all of the hard to find components that are sure to set your rigs off from the rest.
Below are the options for fluke and sea bass that the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council will consider at their next meeting on 04/05/2018 at 5 PM at the Bay Ave Community Center located at 775 East Bay Ave, Manahawkin, NJ 08050. The public will have an opportunity to give their opinions before the council votes on which options to adopt.
A top priority for Jersey Coast Anglers Association (JCAA) is to close the gap between when fluke season ends and sea bass season begins. We certainly don’t want to go seven weeks with little to fish for inshore as we had to do last year after fluke season ended on 09/05/2017. I will post the final regulations on the JCAA Facebook page on Thursday evening. Please “like” our page to keep abreast of the regulations and other important fisheries news.
Here’s a group of happy youth anglers who fished aboard the Carolyn Ann III this past summer (2017). Fluke and sea bass are great summer time fishing species that offer fun for the whole family.
Fluke Options:
1.) 5/25 – 9/22 3 fish 18”
2.) 5/22 – 9/20 3 fish 18”
3.) 5/15 – 9/16 3 fish 18”
(The special regulations of 3 fish at 17” for Delaware Bay and 2 fish at 16” for Island Beach are expected to remain the same)
The early season action has been good. About one month into the “season” it’s safe to say it’s going good. Early season bass, winter flounder, perch and a couple bluefish. Soon we’ll see real fish migrating move into our waters.
Reports from the river rats are good! Bass are chewing live bloods. Further up shad fishing is in full swing.
Anyone looking to get their rods and reels serviced for the spring run should bring them in ASAP. We were caught up; however, recently lots of tackle in need of service has flooded in. First in first out so if you want your gear repaired in time for the first showing of real deal fishing now is the time!!!
Here’s a quick update on the early season fishing.
Yesterday (Tuesday) store staffer Dan D reported that fishing was good. “Almost every worm got a bass. They were on the chew.” A couple bluefish were caught too. But the winter flounder fishing was slow. Maybe the cloudy day had something to do with it?
Today (Wednesday) Dylan Fisher stopped in the shop before heading over to the warm fishy water. He just shared this report and photo. “Fishing is good. At times it’s every cast.” He’s catching on top water, pencil popping them up. Dylan also put some bucktails to work and they did the trick too.
Here’s one small bass Dylan caught on a Magic Tail Bucktail.
Another report today came from Vince (@invinceable-vr) “Nice action at the Plant! Plenty of small schoolies and some fat flatties!”
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