Author: FishHead.Greg

September is here!  With cool dry air and easterly swell in the water, it sure feels like fall!  The new moon was Tuesday and it marked a new stage in the season’s progression, an exit from summer. I’ve shared recently that the bait is staged up and abundant. Some is moving out front; peanut bunker, bay anchovies, spearing, soon to be mullet!

Yesterday might have been the best weather day of the week for those looking to get our front and fish the ocean via boat. However areas of the bay in the leeward side of the island and sod banks will offer protection. The surf will be a little churned up but that isn’t a bad thing for surf anglers. The second half of this week, we will have onshore winds and easterly swell. A large slow moving low pressure system offshore will keep the conditions sloppy and fall like. Expect 3-4’ surf on the beaches Thursday – Friday – Saturday, then fading Sunday. The tropics are waking up so all should keep an eye and ear out for developments.

Tune into my latest LBI Fishing Report video…

Current Fishing Info – What’s on tap? 

My morning charter yesterday wasn’t bad today. We had a fun trip starting out with quick action with small blues on light tackle. After a few minutes everyone aboard caught a few and we went to hunt albies. It was sloppy with the north easterly blow making it more challenging but we founds some not far from Barnegat Inlet. Since the trip’s main focus was fluke we didn’t spend too much time with the albies before running out to the Barnegat Light Reef. First drift we had a 20″ keeper, a handful of shorts and some perky sea robins. The fish were not cold to the touch, so the bottom temperature was not cold. That was great news and most likely the reason the bite was active for the rest of the trip. The cold bottom was a curse for most of the summer season.

We finished the day with three keepers up to 21″ in about a three hour fluke session drifting the reef. Somehow I caught all of the keeper. The best action for me was on the jig. I was using a Magictail Round Head Jig 6oz Glow baited with 8″ Gulp Grub, rigged with a naked 6″ Gulp Grub teaser above. Salmon (orange) and Fire Tiger (orange /chartreuse) were best. Pink shine and white glow, my two favorites over the past couple of years didn’t come close in terms of productivity.

September Offers Lots Of Good Fishing Opportunities

We are in the final stretch of the fluke season, but in my opinion, some of the best weeks of the season. NJ summer flounder (fluke) season closed on Wednesday September 25, 2024. There’s still good fluke fishing right now in the bay and inlet. The west side of the bay as well as the main thoroughfares linking the open bay to the inlet are great spots to fluke fish all season long and they are producing right now.

With water temperatures hovering around the 70 degree mark, both in the bay and the ocean offer an active bite. With regards to the bay even on both side of the tide.

Summer Flounder

This is not just a boat game. Surf and jetty anglers get good late season fluke fishing too. The inlet is a great area to fish as all fluke departing Barnegat Bay in route east funnel through. These same fish can staged up along the sand beaches feeding on shellfish and other baits (fluke love mullet) in the pockets and wash.

Tautog

There’s action but mostly smaller critters. Anyone looking to go is just about guaranteed to get into an active bite but go into it knowing you will need to earn a keeper size fish. While the water is still warm in addition to the tog, there are sheepshead, triggerfish and porgies as well as smaller class of black sea bass on nearshore structure. We expect tog fishing to only improve from here. Once colder weather and water settles in the tog bite will be prime.

To Target Tog: Fish either a jig (Bottom Sweeper Jigs & Magictail Tog Jigs) or a rig (Simple Hi-Lo Blackfish / Tog Rig). Keep it simple and bait up with crab. Both sand fleas and green crabs are great baits.

Inshore Hardtails

False albacore, bonita and Spanish mackerel as well as mahi are present in the nearshore – inshore – midshore waters. If wanting to hunt these fun and fast small pelagics feeding under the small quick moving bird plays you have to use light tackle. The only way to effectively use small lures which are needed to match the hatch, is to fish light line and a light outfit (rod/reel) to long cast.

My three favorite and best producing lures this season and previous years…

• Hogy Epoxy Jig
• Savage Glass Minnow Jig
• Deadly Dick Lures

Color is the least of my concern. I’m most particular with the weight and size/length. Fish the smallest possible. On calm days I use the smallest sizes (3/8, 1/2, 5/8) and these are fished on my lightest rods. When fishing windy days I will go up to the 7/8-1oz sizes. I would suggest staying away from anything over 1oz and larger than 4″ unless you are fishing a heavy rod or looking to fish deeper in the water column. I refrain from both in this scenario

With regards to rigging, light line and leader is a must. I prefer 20# braid with a 20# fluorocarbon leader which connect via line to line knot (FG, double alright, uni to uni). I tie a perfection loop at the end of the leader and then loop on the jig. There’s no hardware needed and I can quickly change the lure if needed. I’m not a fan of jewelry (terminal tackle hardware).

In The Bay

Blowfish and weakfish are active in the bay and should offer good fishing all month. Also fluke (mentioned above), blues and striped bass are on tap.

Blowfish are a fairly easy approach; anchor up in 7-10′ of water in the heart of Barnegat Bay, drop a chum pot down and then a rig (small long shank blowfish hooks – Blowfish Rig) baited with clam and/or small pieces of Fish Bites. You very well may catch spot, croakers and some spike weakfish.

Targeting weakfish is a little more challenging. They are occasionally caught by accident/bycatch when targeting fluke or blowfish. To best target them you’ll want to anchor up and chum with live grass shrimp.

Fishing for blues and striped bass is best done earlier or late in the days with light tackle utilizing plugs in the 3-5″ range. Expect this fishing which was really great all summer to continue if not get better as we exit summer.

On The Surf

Kingfish, fluke, blues and a stray striped bass are surf side opportunities. Fishing a small hook rig baited with live bloodworm or Fish Bites is best for kingfish. Catching fluke on the surf is easy use a Gulp baited jig, with or without a Gulp teaser or a simple hi-lo rig baited with Gulp. Fish slowly yet actively working the pockets of water in the cuts and troughs. Blues will hammer any type of lure, but I suggest fishing an epoxy jig or a 4-5″ Jerk Bait. Striped bass and fluke will also eat these two.

Chris Moffitt shared the first surf side striped bass we have heard about in a weeks. Bass have been active in the bay and inlet all summer long and we are looking forward to an increase of linesiders in the suds as the mullet run rolls on.

Speaking of the mullet run, here’s mullet run blog from 2018 that is just as valuable today as it was then.

Fall Derby – One Month Away!

The 70th Annual LBI Surf Fishing Classic kicks off October 5th with the opening day seminar at the Ship Bottom Fire House 9am. Registration has already begun so now is a great time to sign up and score the free goods while supplies last! Be sure to participate in the main event as well as the Surf Master Catch and release division. If you have questions or want to learn about getting into surf fishing and the event I welcome you to stop by the seminar. See you there!

Since my last post, Ernesto gave us a weekend full of waves and that has petered out into the new work week.  Monday’s full “super” moon gave us extreme tides/currents which will slowly wane. The water temperatures have been somewhat stable and warm making fishing more active and consistent. 

The past couple days we have had a taste of fall with some northwest flow and cool dry air. The outlook shows somewhat fair winds and fair seas. So now is a great time to get out and enjoy what’s left of summer… Let’s go fishing!

On the fishing front, we are still playing the same old record with a new addition. There’s a variety of species from fluke, bluefish, striped bass and weakfish to tog, sheepshead and triggerfish. Recently we’ve had some larger (then the common summertime cocktail 1-3 cocktail blues) size bluefish. ALSO… Albies were cracking the past two days! Now is also prime time fluke fishing with great opportunities in the bay, inlet, surf and ocean.

Just a heads up the tropics look clear however towards the end of the month things very well may get active again so keep an eye out.  

Rock The Dock Fluke Tournament

Tournament Date: August 24th, 2024
Shotgun Start: 7:00am Barnegat Light – 6:50am Beach Haven
Lines in/Lines Out: 7:00am / 1:45pm
Weigh ins: 2:00pm-3:30pm / Winners Ceremony 4:00pm

For more information: www.NJFishingClub.com

Prize Categories:
1st – 5th Place Single Heaviest Fluke: (Entrants may take a only a single place)
1-2nd Place Single Heaviest Fluke Female Angler (18+)
1-2nd Place Single Heaviest Fluke Jr Angler Ages 12 and Under
1-2nd Place Single Heaviest Fluke Jr Angler Ages 13-17
1st Place Single Heaviest Fluke Land Based/Kayak Angler

$1,000 BONUS DRAWING: A random tournament entrant who weighs in a legal sized fluke (18”+) will be selected to win $1,000 thanks to sponsors: Fisherman’s Headquarters, Jingles, The Boatyard and Beach Haven Yacht Club

Entry Fee

Private Vessel: $225 (Early Bird Entry $200 Before August 10th)
Land Based/Kayak Angler: $60 (Early Bird Entry $50 Before August 10th)
Miss Beach Haven Angler: To Be Announced

Single Entry Calcutta

Private Vessel $300
Single Angler $60
Calcutta Payouts: Single Entry Calcutta Makes you Eligible for the following prizes
1st and 2nd Single Heaviest Fluke (1 Entry can win both places in Calcutta)
1st and 2nd Combined Three Heaviest Fluke
1st Place Heaviest Sea Robin

The good weather window this past week has come to a close and a big powerful swell is here. Hurricane Ernesto slammed Bermuda early Saturday morning and tracked northward. It is a very large somewhat slow moving storm that has sent the greater region large long period swell. The forerunners showed up Friday evening and all day Saturday was pumping on the beaches. Expect the same all weekend and into the early part of the work week.

Once things settle down we are looking forward to picking up where things left off with good fishing in the area.

The past week things were significantly better than the week before. Ocean fluke was sharping up with the reefs and wrecks producing Many areas have an abundance of sea bass as well as ling and most snags have tog too. The sea bass have made fluke fishing in some areas frustrating. We really wish we had the two fish summertime (July & August) bag limit like 2022. Just a reminder NJ Black Sea Bass closes at the end of August. Fluke is open until September 25.

In the bay there are plenty of spot and anglers targeting them are starting to catch some blowfish. Maybe we get a strong late summer showing? Still plenty of fluke, bluefish and striped bass in the bay. Crabbing and clammer are also to great options.

In the inlet anglers are catching tog, fluke, stripers, sheepshead, bluefish, striped bass and weakfish. Take your pick just be careful out there. Its not suggested to fish the outer portion of the jetty while the swell is in town.

We have a full moon on Monday so expect extreme high tides. Not sure that we will get the extreme lows too. Be on the look out for the mullet to start moving even more than they have during this next lunar cycle. Ocean water temperatures are warm ranging in the upper 60’s to low 70’s.

The ocean has settled down from Debby’s moderate swell and wind event. Fortunately the waters have warmed up and with it, fishing has picked up. We have a great run of tranquil weather this week. Now is the time to go fishing and enjoy summertime fishing the waters of Long Beach Island. With the lighter winds and also west winds, be sure to have some quality big spray on hand! Our two favorite very effective all natural bug repellants are Captain Rons and Incognito Mosquito.

Tune into my latest fishing report video from Sunday night….

The warmer inshore – nearshore waters are promising an awesome second half of August. Since this past weekend’s blow the action has been good, significantly better than the cold water lockjaw fishing many experienced at times the past few weeks.

Summer flounder aka fluke hang around the LBI surf, inlets and bays all summer long. Right now is prime time to target them from the beach or boat. Store staffer Mark Finelli Jr found solid life on the Surf City recently but nothing keeper size. Work at it and a keeper to two are in there. Open sandy bottom areas (clam beds, inshore lumps) are great places to find fluke this time of year as well as the many wrecks and reef sites.

There’s tog, triggerfish and sheepshead around most of the near shore structures. Lance Kim had a great day fishing the Barnegat Inlet rocks, landing five sheepshead.

Kingfish are biting in the surf on live bloodworms, FishBites. It doesn’t hurt to fish a combo, a small piece of both real and artificial. Just don’t crowd the hook point. Using the same small hooks/rigs and bait as surf fishing for kings will yield spot and croakers on the bayside. There’s also a shot at snappers, blowfish, spike weakies and sand perch too. The spot and croaker fishing has been phenomenal recently using sabiki rigs tipped with FishBites. Now’s the perfect time to load up on spot for the fall run and they are also great baits right now for striped bass and doormat fluke!

Store staffer Frezza and Grey got on some light tackle striped bass fishing the bayside. They caught all their fish on 3” NLBN lures. Fish Heads Alumni Bill Bassant caught this striped bass (below) fishing light tackle in Barnegat Bay.

Weakfish are being caught by anglers who are dialed in and targeting them. John Bonner caught this one the other morning.

Public Service Announcement

Be on the lookout for a swell from an offshore storm coming up this weekend. Boaters transiting the inlets should always know the tides and current windows for safe passage. Outgoing tides with the addition of powerful ocean swells can make for a treacherous ride.

August offers a good variety of fishing opportunities to saltwater anglers fishing the Central Jersey Shore, Barnegat Bay and the Long Beach Island area. During this time of the year the waters have a large variety of species from the fluke, bluefish, striped bass and tog to weakfish, sheepshead, triggerfish, kingfish and more!

Tune into my latest fishing report update video for more information about what’s biting…

Here in the first week of August on the south central Jersey Shore fishing front we have the same situation as most of July. Chilly ocean water temperatures and warm back bay temps making for radical temperature swings through the day’s tide cycles. This is much more prominent and important to track and consider when fishing areas closer to the inlets. A good steady bite can go from hot to cold in a matter of minutes. The opposite can also play out.

Due to the upwelling’s chilly ocean waters anglers on the water have had a marine layer most mornings which some days persists through the day. This is advection fog. All boaters must be aware of it and know how to safely navigate the waters. Fog is challenging and will bewilder any novice operator. For your safety and the safety of others, if you don’t understand and know, don’t go out!

How long will this continue?

I see a short term break with onshore winds Wednesday and Thursday. This will hopefully offer a rebound in surf temperatures as onshore winds winds push the surface waters into shore creating downwelling (opposite of upwelling, cause of the cold). BUT! I don’t think we are totally out of the cold. Stiff southerlies are currently in the forecast for Friday and Saturday, then west south west Sunday and Monday. At that time there looks to be lighter winds in the forecast. But a lot can change especially with the remnants of Debby coming up the eastern seaboard. Keep your fingers crossed for anything but hard southerlies day after day and we will be ok.

The cold waters have resulted in a great summertime striped bass fishery this summer. There’s bass throughout the bay chasing peanut bunker (what’s left after many large large fish kills in lagoons due to low oxygen) and mullet.

Local caught fresh mullet is back in stock! Weakfish, fluke, bass and bluefish… they all eat them!

More recently fluke fishing has been better at times. I expect now until the end of the season to be strong. But anglers need to play their cards right in order to capitalize. Fish deeper areas that are consistently cold or fish shallow areas where the fluke will lay up to warm in the sun. These deeper areas could be the main channels (ICW and thoroughfares) in the bay as well as the many holes and sloughs. These shallow areas could be the many pockets in the flats or edges and table top shelfs along a channel edges as well as the rolling sandbars in the surf. Also bluefish are around the bay, inlet and surf spicing up the action.

Kenny Huff

The bay is loaded with spot and they are aggressive for their small stature. Small hooks baited with just about anything will get bites. Worm or artificial worm options are best. Many who are looking for blowfish are catching a bunch. There are plenty of areas to fish for spot from LBI’s landbased bayside access points.

Weakfish are also on tap with some nice ones around. Mostly spikes in the mid-bay with some better size class fish in the classic weakfish honey holes. Reports from the north end and south ends (around the inlets) are promising.

Owen Alquist

Fluke and tog at the Barnegat Inlet are good. There are plenty of both however primarily shorts. Some anglers are working and finding keepers. This is a prime time to find big fluke near the Inlets as they making their way out of Barnegat Bay. It seems that tog fishing has started off strong with quantity but not quality. Maybe once we progress into the month of August we see a wave of fish move in and take up residence along the jetties. Sheepshead, trigger fish are also here.

This end of July fishing report wrap up cover a quick overview of the current fishing in and around the Long Beach Island and Barnegat Bay waters. The fishing during the month of July (as well as June) was dominated by cold water temperatures. Fishing activity and success has been very dependent on working through these challenging conditions to trigger strikes when fish for the most part have been lethargic. The past week we had a warm up of water temperatures; however in the past 24-48 hours we have seen a break in the warming water trend. How low does it go? How will the fishing action be effected? Only time will tell. Right now it doesn’t look like the 30 day low will be touch so that is great news. A little more on this topic at the end of this post.

Here is my latest video report from Monday afternoon…

Currently on tap in the local fishery…

Fluke fishing has been more active recently in all of the areas; surf, bay, inlet, open bottom ocean, reefs, wrecks. This is the time where the inlet, beaches in the vicinity of inlets and the ocean get going with quality size fluke. This year has been a weird one so it’s hard to say how things will play out. But there is no denying this is my favorite time of year to be fluke fishing. It’s a prime time and we should have a great shot at quality fluke fishing from now to the end of the season (ending Sept 25th). Yes the bay is full of fluke, primarily smaller sized fish but there are keepers if you work and weed through them. On a recent charter we earned two keepers, both on Gulp. We had more fish on live minnows but no keepers. When the water was colder the live bait excelled for me.

Below is a photo of a recent weigh in from Gavin Black… a 10.5# summer flounder.

The bay (north, mid-island and south) are loaded with spot. These make for fun light tackle fishing from the many bayside bulkheads, docks and crabbing piers found on Long Beach Island. Now is the time to load up the pen with premium fall striped bass baits. Use small hooks baited with live bloodworms (in stock now) and/or FishBites Bag’O Worms and/or a great new product Bait Fuel GO2 Bloodworms. With this same approach an angler can fish the surf side and catch kingfish which are in the suds. With the great spot activity it is surprising that more blowfish aren’t being caught. Yes there are some around; however, not as strong as past years. There are some spike weakfish in the bay too.

Bluefish continue to race around the bay, inlet and surf. At times mini blitz feeding frenzies pop up. These cocktails are chasing peanut bunker, small mullet, spearing and bay anchovies. These same baits the resident striped bass are feeding on. Speaking of striped bass… The striped bass fishing over the past month has been great. We always have a summertime striper fishery but this past July was one for the record books, both the quantity and the size class. Tons of light tackle fun! I’ll chalk it up to the chilly water temps.

This chilly water has also kept a good body of tog in the coastal waters.

Tomorrow August 1 NJ’s Tautog Fall Season opens!

Anglers fishing the Barnegat Inlet jetty have been reporting tog all summer long, especially those looking for sheepshead (at the right location and time there are a few sheeps to be had). Store staffer Max was hunting sheepshead but all he caught was tog, one was 6#! That is a really good size one considering the time of year. Game time for tog! Tomorrow, August 1st NJ’s Tautog Fall Season opens!

August 1- November 15th: 1 Fish Bag At 15″ minimum size

More info on 2024 NJ Saltwater Fishing Regulations

Water Temperature Swings

Chart below shows the past 30 days of data at the Barnegat Inlet tide and temperature gauge. This shows the water temperature fluctuation from the outgoing bay waters (warmer) and the incoming ocean water (colder). The more radical the swing from highs to lows the further the bay temp is from the ocean. Moreover the large swings portray upwelling events as they come and go. It shows a large part of July had cold ocean water due to upwelling.

The window from July 20th to present was for the most part normal with just one hiccup on July 22nd. The waters warmed up for a short period but in recent days we have seen a minor upwelling occur. For more info on upwelling in the local region check out this blog post.

While at the ICAST 2024 show I saw cameras and product reviews going on in every which direction. Each time I passed the Daiwa booth I saw angler after angler high sticking on their demo machine. In disbelief, I forced myself to walk by what the industry considers the best of the best professionals. On the last day of the show, I had a free window at their booth since our Daiwa rep had to leave early. After reviewing and tinkering with all of their great products I took some time to talk to Daiwa engineer Takuya Oda in from Japan about rods, reels, drag and technique. After our talk he said “shoot video please”! This is for the high stickers out there!

Proper technique and form for landing big fish on light tackle is not all about brute strength. Fish more efficiently and effectively with proper technique for MAX pressure with less effort! It’s important for anglers to learn and understand how to maintain control, increase endurance all while protecting expensive fishing gear from damage.

In the video Daiwa’s super accurate 1/10th pound scale with on screen display really allowed for some interesting looks. I played with the unit for some time. I really had my head spinning when I tried to put the same effort in at different angles. With one approach it was almost 10# and then same effort high sticking was 3.5#. Wild! Not only does the high sticking angle not put pressure on the fish it puts the rod in jeopardy every time. The key that most don’t get is utilizing the power stroke, mid and back section of the rod.

With regards to slow pitch fishing, the rods are soft and parabolic so the angler must use the drag and gearing of the reel as well as only a small portion of the rod’s butt section as the lever since the rest of the rod is soft and folds over for working the jig. As shown in the video at about the 50 second mark there is a good amount of pressure put on the fish with the under the arm approach.

Remember, I could not crank the reel and I could not (was not allowed to) adjust the drag or thumb the spool. So I could have put significantly more pressure using any of those three, but that wasn’t in the cards for this situation. It also was not what Daiwa was trying to convey with their display.

As far as proper technique, I would say whatever is the most efficient approach is the right approach. To each their own. What I have found over the years of fishing and not being a muscle man… technique is everything . Brute strength hardly ever wins. From what I see on the water, in photos and videos TOO MANY times anglers are mistakenly working against themselves and the tackle rather then focusing their efforts on the fish.

While the rod and reel on the display (machine/gauge) was a slow pitch style outfit, what the engineer and I wanted to share is how high sticking is a Major No No! It risks breaking the rod and also doesn’t help the angler. It actually hurts by putting less pressure. That is because the rod tip will never have more power than the mid and butt section. We also wanted to share that there is a proper way to rest during a long battle, while still maintaining maximum pressure on the fish but little exertion from the angler.

One other point I tried to make was how the angle and positioning of the angler changes the pressure put on the fish while not changing the effort exerted by the angler.

I really wanted to link up a stand up rod, popping rod, classic 7′ inshore rod and a surf rod to demonstrate proper technique with proof from the gauge/display. But it too was not in the cards.

All of the above is information on fighting fish without belt and harness. It would be a disservice to leave out some info on stand up fishing. So I dove back into my fishing catalog archives to share some great info from the 90’s. Here is stand up fishing info from Dennis Braid founder and innovator at Braid Fishing Products. Think Braid Stand Up Fishing Belts! Dennis first made a rod belt in 1983 and over time, took it to another level. He was one of the best stand up anglers and not a monster. Actually Dennis was a small guy but used technique to get the job done.

Stand Up Fishing

Aboard almost all sportfishing boats, you’ll find Braid fishing belts and harnesses or another brand of product utilizing the innovation from Dennis Braid. Nearly everyone utilizes the the fish-fighting tools and accessories that have made the stand-up big game angling possible. Here’s our selection of fish fighting belts, butts and harnesses.

Back in the day skippers and fishermen together learned was that parabolic glass marlin rods and primitive harnesses of the time were nearly ineffective.  Too much brute strength was required to grapple with the giant yellowfin, limiting the game to body builders or salty masochists.

Demands spurred innovation and pioneers first adjusted to shorter rod lengths. Then reels with powerful lower gear ratios and two speed gearing. Certainly huge advancement in spectra line technology, and innovative bucket harnesses.

Each element, in progression, meant the fishermen could actually procure a mechanical advantage.  The new shorter rods could gain needed leverage on huge fish, especially when they were ‘straight down’ below the fisherman. The lowering of gear ratios was only one step.  The movement to two speed reels provided either speed or power on demand as needed, giving even more control to the anglers regardless of physical stature.

By full utilization of the angler’s body weight, spreading out of opposing forces at the pivot point, and using all various elements of rod, reel and manpower to the fullest mechanical advantage, is the true science of fishing.

Braid’s Pro Tip: If you fish 30-pound tackle or heavier,always use a gimbal mounted rod. With the rod butt inserted in the pin of your rod belt, all your efforts are put toward managing your fish, not ‘white knuckling’ the foregrip as the rod twists and turns in your hand. And you don’t need new rods, just replace the butt caps with gimbals.

Fish Fighting Technique

You can break stand-up fighting techniques into two types: simply hip pivot or knee pivot. Hip pivot methods are associated with 50# class gear and lighter (belts and kidney harnesses), while the knee pivot method is related to the 80-130# class tackle (with bucket harness and butt plate gear). Of course, you’ll use the hip pivot at times while in your bucket harness, but only when a huge fish is not exerting its full force.

Dennis prefers this version of the hip pivot method. Stand with your feet a reasonable distance apart, knees bent. You want the weight of your body over your heels, but not so much you are truly flat-footed. You’ll want your weight distributed just enough so you can move left or right or back on the balls of your feet. In other words, you must have balance. With your left hand comfortable and high on the rod’s foregrip and your arm fully extended, keep your arm fully extended, keep your back reasonably straight. When you “pull” on the fish, you do so by pivoting at the hip. When you lean back, turn your body slightly to the left, the force is lower on your body, not up in your arms and back. The key to maximize your power is to grasp the rod as high as possible on the foregrip. In doing so, you are as close to a direct line pull as is possible with rod and reel.

The same effect can be maintained with a kidney belt and harness, as long as the rod is adjusted to approximately a 45 degree angle to the water This gives you enough play to lean forward, draw back, short stroke or lengthen your stroke as needed. Of course, when you’re connected to a harness, you won’t need your left hand to do any pulling on the rod. It rests on the reel and distributes the line on the spool while cranking.

Once you settle down on a truly giant fish with a Braid Belt and bucket harness (Power Play or Brute Busters), you’ll be able to exert maximum force on the fish and still be there at the end of the fight to tell about it. With the fish on the run, all you need to do is get into a semi sitting position, leaning back against the force of the fish. This way you counterbalance the pull and don’t over-tax your back, arms and legs. With your feet about 24 to 30 inches apart, knees bent, with one foot slightly forward or behind for balance, you can raise the rod by squatting. As you elevate or begin to stand, you take quick half to full cranks on the reel to gain whatever line you can. Repeat the squatting-to-lift, standing-to-reel pattern over and over. The bucket method allows you to put a ‘finishing’ amount of pressure on the fish close to the boat for tagging or gaffing.

It takes practice to perfect the method and it is vitally important to keep your knees braced firmly against the gunnel of the boat. Its crucial to have rod harness properly adjusted. Set up with your knees slightly bent. You want to have the rod at about a 35 to 40 degree angle so when you lean back, your rod raises and gives you lifting power. A rod adjusted too high does just the opposite. The key is to exert maximum force, with a minimum of effort… it’s what stand up fishing with Braid belts and harnesses are all about.

Anglers are meticulously tracking water temperatures to best approach each outing. In the peak of summer, cold water is the last thing anglers should be battling but that is the cards we are dealt. [For more info on the chill check out this recent post.] Fortunately the radical upwelling has subsided some so we expect fishing to improve.

The past few weeks have offered some of the best summertime striped bass anyone could ask for! Prime time fluke fishing season isn’t great but anglers are catching at the right tides and locations using the technique and baits they want. Bluefish continue to make their presence known offering light tackle fun at times in the bay, inlet and surf. Kingfish, croakers and spot round out the local panfish menu.

Tune in to my latest fishing report video, recorded after a fun Monday morning fishing charter…

Inshore & Surf Fishing

As the water temps tick back up we begin to see a rise with the inshore fishing front. The fluke fishing both on the beach and bay has been better this week than the previous few.

Fish Heads store staffer Grey had a limit of fluke which has been hard to come by this year. He was fishing the North End of the Island at the Barnegat Inlet using 6″ Pearl White Gulp Jerk Shad rigged on a 1/2oz Magictail Big Eye Jig. We’ve also had numerous reports of keeper size fish being caught in the ocean on our local wrecks and reefs fishing 45-70ft of water.

Plenty of kingfish are cruising the surf and being caught on both Fishbites Bag O’ Worms and live bloodworms. Fish the bowls and cuts with baited small hooks and you’ll find them.

Update 7/25/24 2PM: Carl Hartman from American Anglers reported a good productive morning fishing the LBI surf. He said, “I had a solid hour bite with a mix of kingfish and spot.”

A few cobia are plodding the local bunker. There too… whales and a couple TUNA! Yes, a 82″ bluefin tuna first beached in Surf City yesterday chasing bunker. Check out the video here. It then later washed up in Harvey Cedars. One lifeguard shared that bunker, whales and tuna chicks have been present. Seems like some fishy waters… How many more tuna are near shore? This time last year we had some nearshore too.

Midshore / Inshore Fishing

It took time to get going but the inshore and mid-shore fishing has ramped up. Both yellowfin and bluefin tuna are hammering jigs, casted poppers and crashing bars and bally on the troll.

The inshore / mid-shore lumps and some wrecks have bluefin ranging from school size up to 80″+ hammers. Some big 100# yellowfin have made for some epic late July tuna fishing. Areas like the Little Italy out to Lilian, Resor out to Atlantic Princess, Chicken Canyon and Triple Wrecks have had fish.

Fish Heads store staffer Grey caught this one a couple days ago on the jig fishing about 20 miles offshore.

Jigging and casting poppers, stickbaits and Ron-Z / NLBN straight tails are effective and on slow days boats are picking fish on the troll too. Side trackers and splash bars as well as the classic Joe Shute or  Hoohead over a ballyhoo is hard to beat. Season in and season out, they are top producers. 

Offshore Fishing

The canyon tuna fishing for yellowfin and bigeye has been good over the past week. Some nice water slid into the Hudson where guys have fill the fish boxes with yellowfins trolling, jigging and popping. A little ways north of the Hudson a few guys were catching bigeyes on the troll up to the 130-200lb range. On the bottom fish front, solid Golden and Jumbo Bluelines have been caught around the Hudson and Toms canyons in the 350-500ft areas.

About a week back, Tyler Wilk of E-Fish-Ent Custom rods weighed in a 23lb Blueline that was only 8oz off the world record on a 250g jig.

There’s also been a few Swordfish around with daytime fishing seeming to be more productive. Jeff Warford of Wolfpack Tackle landed two solid swords over 100lbs fishing in the daytime along with a mess of Yellowfins and a few Mahi.

Beach Haven Charter Fishing Report

Fishing report for the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association by Jim Hutchinson Sr.

The fishing in the Long Beach Island area for the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association is entering its typical mid-summer selection of fish. There is one surprise in the mix, however. After several years of absence, croakers are making an appearance once again.

There have been multiple reports of croakers in Little Egg Inlet along with various locations in the bay waters. Although these fish are on the small side, they provide great drop and reel action, the keeper sized fish make for great fish fries. This bay action is a terrific way for youngsters learning to fish.

Captain Max Goldman who works on both the “Star Fish” and the “Miss Beach Haven” has noticed these croakers in the bay and adds there are also large numbers of small fluke and baby black sea bass in those areas. On his trips to the nearby artificial reefs in the ocean he has been seeing a pick of larger black sea bass and some keeper fluke.

Captain Brett Taylor of “Reel Reaction Sportfishing” reports his trips will now be in the ocean as his bay action for keeper fluke has slowed. He has been running two trips daily for the past couple of days with his anglers averaging 20-30 short fluke each trip. His recent trip with the Michael Futterman crew managed to box a pair of solid keepers to 22-inches. Captain Brett especially complimented Jakob for a “phenomenal job on the jig.”

Captain Gary Dugan of the “Irish Jig” had a charter for fluke this week. He reports everyone caught fish. Unfortunately, even though there was steady action, none of the fish were big enough to go in the cooler.

Additional information on the captains and boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.BHCFA.org

The cold water trend continues. While my fingers are crossed it changes and gets back to “normal”, it’s most likely going to stick around some more. How long is anyone’s guess. Here’s my latest fishing report video which is mostly dominated by ocean water talk but there’s a little fishing info with some helpful tips included. I share this because it is very important to understand the dynamics we deal with as anglers on the water.

Here’s a link to a blog I wrote in the summer of 2022 about the cold ocean water and phenomenon called upwelling… Upwelling Events On LBI Explained

It’s just as relevant then as it is today. Long lasting upwelling events are not uncommon. But how long it too long? The chart below shows the number of upwelling days over a four year span. I remember that 2022 was a chilly one which is the reason why I wrote the blog. This summer (2024) definitely contends if not beats it.

The photo below is from the Harvey Cedars Beach Patrol’s social media post on July 13th sharing a notice to the public that the water is COLD! 53º is really cold.

Happy Birthday America!!! It’s the 4th of July.  We want everyone to have a safe, happy and fishy holiday today and the entire week celebrating our independence.

Fishing lately has been a grind. Sharpies are putting together catches, but working hard to earn their bites. There’s no way to cut the mustard… fishing has not been great. It has not been easy. Last week’s rain flooded the roads at time, washed out areas (drop in salinity) and raise concerns with water quality in some areas (Ship Bottom Bay Beach & Long Beach Twp Bayview Park Bay Beach).

As of late we have had our water temperatures bounce back. Surf right now the Ship Bottom surf is 64 degrees. Let’s hope the southerly winds remain fair as they are the cause of the cold water upwelling.

The past 30 days we have had numerous upwelling events plague our waters. One stuck around for almost the entire second half of June. See the data in the graphic below. Sure the cool/cold waters help give LBI it’s break from the heat and humidity that scorches the inlands. But the radical water temp swings really effect the consistency of fishing. And it is for this reason I spend so much time focused on it.

With the prolonged cold stretch but also clean water (usually upwelling events put cold dirty – brown stained water on the beach) I’m beginning to feel that we have a more dominant Labrador Current this year than usual.  I say this because we have cold clear waters stretched along the coast and even the broader region. I’d like to get a oceanographer’s analysis of this.  

I am optimistic that things improve with tomorrow’s (Friday 7/5) new moon giving us more extreme tidal flow and a new chapter as we transition into the first full month of summer fishing.

Here’s the fishing report video update I shot earlier today.

As far as fishing opportunities and species on tap…

Surf anglers have the best shot at targeting fluke along the sandbars. Bluefish or kingfish would be another target to plan for. Also sharks and rays (more on that later). For the most part striped bass can be caught off the Island’s beaches all summer but they are few and far between unless putting in a lot of time and/or specifically set up with live sand fleas and a summertime approach. Stop in and we can share how to fish these bugs in the suds for bass.

The inlet has fluke, bluefish, striped bass, sheepshead and out of season tog.

The bay has fluke, striped bass, bluefish, weakfish as well as a few spot and blowfish.

Out front the ocean fluke fishing at the reef sites and wrecks is improving and should be good this month and rest of the fluke season. Bonita and Spanish mackerel are here. Cobia are in the neighborhood too. Further offshore we heard the good ling bite continues at the deeper water wrecks but with one fish bag limit on sea bass most aren’t making the run.

*Regulation Reminder: Sea Bass is back open for the month of July and August with a one fish bag at 12.5″ so anglers can take advantage of “bycatch” while fluke fishing. For more info on the NJ Saltwater Fishing Regulations here is a detailed listing with a convenience reference chart.

Offshore mahi, tilefish, tuna and marlin are options. Tuna mid-shore hasn’t been smoking as years past but some fish are present.  It seems the best bite has been out at the Hudson and further off, outta range for most small boats.  But the sporties are getting after it.

Sharks are here and anglers must know the laws to be prepared when a fishing encounter occurs. Both sand tiger sharks and sand bar sharks (aka brown sharks) are federally protected shark species that can not be landed or killed. They are illegal to posses. A landed fish is considered possession. Do not remove them from the water! Always use common sense! Fishing has been shut down in other states. Don’t be the one who will ruin it here. Chunking the beach with heavy tackle during swimming hours 10am-5pm is not the right thing to do. There have already been a couple of occurrences this summer and it blew up on social media so we can only assume backlash is coming down the pike. When fishing the surf in the summer focus on the hours outside of prime time beach traffic. For example, fish the evenings after 5/6pm or better yet fish the dark!