LBI Surf Fishing Report Update – November 14, 2018

Nice to see some life on the beach!

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

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

LBI Fishing Report Update – November 13, 2018

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

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

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

Mike also got a 48 pound striped bass trolling yesterday.

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

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

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

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

LBI Surf Fishing Report

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

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

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

Bonus Cash Days

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

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

Fish Head Charters Fishing Report Update

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

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

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

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

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

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

John managed to feel his fly to a pig.

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

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

LBI Surf Fishing Report Update – November 9, 2018

Some big fish on the LBI surf today!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Other LBI Surf Classic Weigh-Ins

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

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

LBI Fishing Report Update – November 8, 2018

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

It’s on!!!

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

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

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

Dan Seagull was also in on the striped bass action.

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

LBI Surf Fishing Report

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

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

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

Fish Head Charters

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

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

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

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

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

LBI Surf Fishing Report Update – November 7, 2018

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

LBI Surf Fishing Report – November 6, 2018

Shop regular Tom stopped in the shop this morning. He got a nice bass off the surf this morning. He tagged a 22lb bass and released it. This would have taken the lead in the surf tournament but Tom is confident he’ll get a much bigger bass. He re-upped with fresh bunker and is heading back out on the water. He’s on the hunt!

As far as the surf tournament goes… John Gallen took the lead today with a 14.88 pound bass on bunker mid-island surf.

For results on the LBI Surf Fishing Tournament www.LBIFT.com

LBI Fishing Report Update – November 4, 2018

The first few days of November offered tough conditions but some fish were caught. It’s great to see some quality fish showing up. We just now need the weather to cooperate.

LBI Surf Fishing Report

Fish are moving into our local water but are still waiting for them to hit the beach. Still only a few surf side stripers.

As far as an update from the LBI Surf Fishing Classic… A couple fish were caught off the mid island surf. Wendy Essinger got an 8 pound bass fishing bunker late morning. James Worobetz got a 10 pound bass on clam yesterday afternoon. A few days ago Chris Masino got a seven and a half pounder on a plug.

At the time of this post the Top Three Fish are all under eleven pounds but with bigger fish moving in this should change very soon.

Another ASAC Surf Fishing Tournament went down on Saturday. The anglers battled some fierce winds and rough up surf.  Greg O’Connell reported, “It was brutal!  One Striped bass 18″ and three sand sharks.”

LBI Boat Fishing Report

Some great reports flowing in from the local boats fishing up the beach! Not epic fishing but a pick of nice fish non the less.

Despite the very poor weather, the Maximilian Foundation Fishing Tournament went down this weekend and there were surprisingly good results; 15 bass weighed in with Son Of A Fish’s 43.5 pound fish taking the win.

Fish Head Charters

Finally got back out after tied up for too many days due to weather. We decided to opt against the troll and fish the waters where we had loads of fish (small but active fun) previously. Unfortunately we were greeted with water like PORTER! Things were not good. We tried a few different areas with lures and live bait but no love. To make the most of the day we called it early and rescheduled.  I’m tossing this up because I got an email two weeks ago asking, “You only post the good reports. Why not share to poor ones?” Right now I’m looking forward to redemption!

Halloween Fishing Report Update

Happy Halloween!!! Here’s the Halloween Fishing Report Update for October 31, 2018

It’s finally here… what we call the meat of the fall run, Halloween to Thanksgiving. Sure enough, right on time, the fish showed up. And some nice ones at that! We are looking forward to awesome fishing ahead. Let’s get in the game.

Both today and yesterday talk from the boats were good, “large striped bass feeding on bunker.” Anglers live lining and trolling caught fish. Most of this action was from Seaside north but soon these migrating fish will fill into the local waters of Long Beach Island.

Here’s two solid boat fishing reports today. Shop Alumni Yonnie got a 25 pound striped bass fishing off Seaside this morning. Bill Shoemaker weighed in a 35 pound striped bass he caught on snag and drop.

LBI Land Based Fishing Report

Anglers fishing crabs are catching tog. This bite has been good for well over a month and still continues to be productive. We expect tog fishing to continue on strong.

Today a new leader is on the board for the LBI Surf Fishing Classic! TJ Loughran Jr got a 10.98 pound striped bass this morning off the mid island. He caught it on bunker. John Chrzanowski’s 9.42 pound striped bass (caught on 10/26) hold second place.

Fish Head Charter Report Update

I had a fun night session with Kelley and Blake last night. We checked out some night time haunts on the boat and found a couple hungry striped bass.

My most recent trip out before last night was on Friday before the blow. I had Lee and Seth from SaltwaterHeartFishing aboard for a dawn patrol session. The trip started off hot and stayed that way all all day. Lee and Seth traded off one after the other with numerous double ups.  Lee was high hook in the early part of the trip bucktailing but later in the day Seth caught up and he dialed in on an X-Rap lure from Rapala.

It was a great day (best quality fishing on the Fish Head this fall). I look forward to having the brothers aboard a couple more times this fall!

With the new arrivals hungry I’m stoked for the run. I’ll be out fishing every chance I can get. Jump aboard Fish Head Charters and get in on the fun!

Upcoming Boat Fishing Tournament

The 4th Annual Maximilian Foundation Fishing Tournament & Fish Fry is this weekend, Saturday November 3rd. Support this great event which helps our great community with drug awareness and prevention. We have our fingers crossed for good weather. Even if it’s sour, the party will be rocking with live music, local craft beer, special drawings and an auction table.

LBI Fishing Report Update – October 25, 2018

The cold air filled in early this fall but us anglers are fine with it! There’s fat ones showing up in our waters. For over a week the northern part of the state has produced big striped and soon these cows will come home. Some better fish are already showing! If you didn’t already… now’s the time to get things in order. You best be prepared.

Wednesday was the Hunter’s Moon. It was said to have helped illuminate game for hunters but in our book it’s the Fishing Moon! On the Jersey Shores this is a time when the mullet run ends, other baits (spearing, bay anchovies, peanut bunker) make a move, adult bunker pod up and migrating striped bass begin to arrive and take hold in our waters.

This weekend’s coastal storm will produce hazardous conditions for mariners but a setup that surf rats dream about! Such a bummer for the striped bass boat anglers because this weekend is the Sea Shell Striped Bass Derby.  This tournament is well know for being held in some rough weather. Looks like this year will be another one.

LBI Surf Fishing Report

The LBI surf temperatures are just now breaking below the 60 degree mark. All week it was in the low 60’s (61-21) but today (10/25) we got a 59 degree reading. As the fall progresses it’s only going down and prime time striped bass fishing awaits. The mullet run is just about over but there are still a few late stragglers running the shoreline.

A few recent striped bass surf reports…

One customer (who would like to remain anonymous) playing hooky from work Wednesday got two short striped bass. A few days prior another angler Mike Mitryk got a couple bass plugging sunset on the surf. One was a griller, just making 28″ mark.

Better fish are filling into our waters but we’ve yet to see a quality harvest. We expect to see a good weigh in soon. So far the best catch we’ve heard about from the LBI surf came in today.

A local angler from Manahawkin, Ed Gorleski stopped in and shared a nice report, “Fishing the mid-island surf I caught and released a 32″ bass on an SP Minnow lures. It was my only fish.”

More info from the LBI Surf… Last Weekend (Saturday) was Merchantville’s ASAC Surf Tournament on the beaches of LBI. It was tough to get excited about fishing for small stuff when it’s raining and blowing, so attendance was off from last year. The catches were mostly 12-18” bluefish. There were a couple kingfish, one weakfish and a sundial. The top teams were; 1- RH Rods, 2- Surf & Land “B” Team, 3- American Angler.  The largest fish was an 18″ bluefish caught by Shane Ranier. Nick Frungillo took the most points Calcutta. For the women’s division, Margie Skelly had the most fish points and biggest with a 16” blue. Val Vischoric took most points and largest fish for youth.

Fish Head Charters

I was on the on the water Monday with store staffer Max. Right off the bat we were into a couple striped bass and bluefish on plugs. It was a quick first light bite so we took a look for albies. Found bait but no footballs feeding.  Everything seems to be scattered.  After looking around we ran way up the beach. We found some good looking bunker pods but passed them up in search of albies. Finally found some fast moving pop-up feeds where we caught bonita but no greenies.  On our way back in we took a look at some bayside spots and found small bass.

Wednesday (10/24) Brooks from Cortland Line Co was aboard for a morning fly session. We took a look up the beach and found bait stacked. No sooner it came alive with albies. The powerful westerly winds made fly casting very difficult but with proper boat positioning we made it happen. In my opinion there’s nothing better than catching false albacore on light tackle.

Today Thursday (10/25) started off active with healthy bonus tag size (24-28″) striped bass. Both Max and I had these stripers eating bucktails. It was awesome to see that two or three were keeper size fish. After catching about a dozen we switched gears and looked for albies. As far as quantity it was nothing like yesterday but greenies were present. The feeds were quick and small but Max managed to get hooked up with only a few tried. He then the wheel so I could work the long rod. Despite having a number of good opportunities I couldn’t connect.

LBI Fishing Report Update – October 19, 2018

Here’s a quick report update to supplement yesterday’s comprehensive low down on the fishing front.

The crew aboard Fish Head Charters had a great morning trip. It started off with a good dawn patrol bite. We had some small blues and schoolie bass on light tackle. Blowups on poppers and I had one bite on the fly rod but dropped it. Blake was dialed in and got four bass on a lead head tipped with a softbait. After having a solid half hour of fun we decided to make a move and look out front. A short run and found the same bait that’s been stacked up for weeks but this time… it was frothy! Albies busting!!!

Long story short, the bite was on!  Lots of fun with tight lines with screaming drags.  Things got frustrating once the run and gun crowd showed up zig-zagging in every which direction with no patience or respect.  Luckily we already had enough fun and called it a day. I could care less if someone idles by and bumps the boat. But snow plowing through with motors screaming and wake swamping is just inconsiderate.

Got a report from a friend who was fishing close by to us and he jigged up two striped bass. With a couple big piles of bunker, an active whale and brown clouds of anchovies it’s on!

Gotta match the hatch!!! Top: Live Anchovies – Bottom: Hand Tied Anchovies Imitation by me.