Author: FishHead.Greg

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!

JCAA Alert – Fluke and Sea Bass

by Paul Haertel, Jersey Coast Anglers Association

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) will have a joint meeting in Annapolis, Maryland from December 11 th to December 14 th to discuss a number of fisheries issues, especially fluke on December 12th and sea bass on December 13 th.

Though JCAA initially considered chartering buses for anglers to attend these meetings, we have now decided not to do so. We had anticipated that the fluke and sea bass meetings would be on the same day but have now learned that there is quite a detailed agenda for these species over a two day period. We do not believe there are enough people willing or able to go to Annapolis for two days to warrant the hiring of a bus. However, JCAA will have representatives there and we are willing to assist in carpooling others who would like to attend.

Regarding fluke we know that the coastwide recreational quota will increase from 3.77 million pounds in 2017 to 4.4 million pounds in 2018. That coupled with the fact that New Jersey as well as the entire coast collectively will have underfished their quota for this year is good news. However, the Council and Commission most likely will act conservatively due to the unreliability of the MRIP numbers. Still, this should result in some liberalization of our regulations for 2018. Modifications to the fluke addendum will be discussed at the joint meeting. The JCAA supports having an option that would allow New Jersey to remain in its own region rather than being forced back into the region with Connecticut and New York. We also support conservation equivalency that would allow the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council (NJMFC) to set regulations independently that would not be tied to what other regions are doing.

The situation pertaining to sea bass is a little more complex. Sea bass will be discussed at length at the joint meeting on 12/13 from 9:00AM until 4:30 PM. Despite the fact that the spawning stock biomass is at 230% of the target, the recreational quota is currently set to be reduced from 4.29 million pounds in 2017 to 3.66 pounds in 2018. The JCAA intends to request a higher quota. Currently, MRIP numbers for this year are projected to be only slightly over the 2018 quota so that could result in status quo regulations for 2018. However, MRIP data for waves 5 and 6 are not yet available so things might have to be revised.

Additionally, the new addendum that is being developed and discussed at this meeting will include options that would change the alignment of the regions. JCAA supports options that would allow New Jersey to become its own region or to be placed in the southern region as opposed to remaining in the region with states to our north. If we are allowed to do so, this could indeed allow us to liberalize our regulations. If in fact the regions are realigned in this fashion, the JCAA supports the quotas being established based on the last ten years or more of the harvest rather than just the past five years. This is due to the fact that in recent years New Jersey’s share of the overall harvest has been reduced significantly due to harsh regulations.

Written comments concerning fluke and sea bass may be submitted by going to the ASMFC/MAFMC on line at www.mafmc.org/public-comment . In addition to having a presence at the meeting the JCAA will send detailed comments on fluke and sea bass to the above web link. Briefly, the JCAA recommends the following:
1. The option to have New Jersey be in its own region for fluke.
2. The option to have New Jersey be in its own region or in the southern region for sea bass.
3. The option to have quotas for sea bass based on the last ten years or more of harvest.
Following the December meeting, the draft addendum for sea bass is expected to be released for public comment. Revisions to the fluke addendum may follow sometime thereafter. Additional meetings of the ASMFC, MAFMC and NJMFC will then be scheduled at which time the public will have an opportunity to comment further. The JCAA will send out Action Alerts when the dates and times of these meetings are known.

For those planning on attending the December joint meeting of the ASMFC and the MAFMC, it will be held at the Westin Annapolis, 100 Westgate Circle, Annapolis, Maryland.

LBI Fishing Report Update 12-9-17

I had another awesome day on the water yesterday (Friday)! Evan and his buddy Mark (both from the greater Philadelphia area) were in for a four hour morning session. We got on ’em working the same area that we’ve been pounding for two plus weeks now. What a great time catching bass on bunker spoons, mojos and plugs. We had to head in at 11am, right as the top water bite exploded.

Most of the fish stacked up are schoolies but there are some good ones still around and in the mix. We got a couple beautiful fatties. Here’s one of them that pulled the Boga to 30+ pounds and was respectfully released to grow up some more. We kept a couple teens for the table.

Brendan Craig and Todd Luber were on the water yesterday and got into the action! They reported having a blast with bass on top! Below is Dr. Todd with a linesider that fell for a Super Strike Popper.

Local angler Kemp was also in the bite aboard Captain Jeff Davis’s Let It Fly. Kemp reported, “Lots of fish on the feed today! We got them on plugs right off the local Township beache. All fish were caught up on the surface with over forty boated. Medium size pencil poppers, specifically the fluorescent green/yellow was the MVP getting bit just about every cast.”

Brendan Craig had a blast catching bass on top with lures!

Today I had fun at the Barnegat High School Fishing Flea Market. Despite the weather it was a good time and we were happy to support the HS Fishing Club. While at the show I got the call from Rick Bragg. “The bite is on in the snow! Where are you? Spoons, mojos and plugs… we are doubled up on everything. Great fishing just no overs.”

Another report today came in from from Due Fratelli was also out today. He reported, “It’s snowing and we caught our limit and threw back dozens!!!”

LBI Surf Report

The surf has bass. Seems like the past week as been the most consistent action of the entire fall run. Numerous reports in the shop as well as verbals while talking to anglers at today’s show.

Rob Swift stopped by this evening and shared some positive news from the mid-island surf. He reported fishing mackerel and got a small bass, “Another anglers fishing beside was dialed in on lures, catching fish after fish. All small size bass.”

Today Bill Montrey got a 8.4 pound bass off the Harvey Cedars surf. Yesterday there were a pair of bass checked in for the LBI surf fishing tournament. One was 9.18 pounds by Matthew DiFilippo out of Surf City. The other was out of Loveladies at 8.46 pounds by Donald Tharp.

Just a heads up tomorrow the tournament ends at 6pm.

LBI Fishing Report Update 12/7/17

Fishing continues off the beach and boat…

Chris Masino stopped in the shop this afternoon and reported picking some bass off the south end surf today. He reported there’s bass on the beach but most are undersized. He mentioned another anglers got a nice keeper.

George Sowney I got this beautiful girl last night off the surf. It was 38″ and in the mid 20 pound class.

Chris O’Neil was out on the water yesterday. Here’s his report, “Crazy day of fishing! Three guys and we were limited out in two hours. Three fish were really nice fish in the mid 40” range. All trolling in 50-55′ of water off of LBI. All white spoons and mojos.

Today, I had a fun morning on the troll working the grounds. Got a late start but managed to find fish in the same area I’ve been fishing for the past week plus. Only a handful of other boats and it seemed most were picking fish. Nothing like the red hot bite as of late but lots of fish still around.

Barnegat Fishing Flea Market

This Saturday December 9th (9am to 1pm) is the 9th Annual Fisherman’s Flea Market hosted by the Barnegat High School Fishing Club. Location is the Barnegat High School at 180 Bengal Blvd, Barnegat, NJ 08005. Admission is $4 per person (kids under 12 are free) and all proceeds help supports the High School Fishing Club. There will be tons of deals on all sorts of fishing tackle. A couple of the guys from Fish Head will have a table with some awesome deals. Be sure to stop by and say hi!

LBI Fishing Report Update 15/5/17

Boat Fishing Report

Kenny Updegrave out today fishing with his uncle. Get caught five striped bass up to 25 pounds trolling off of northern LBI in 40′ of water. They caught on both Magic Tail Mojos and bunker spoons.

Surf Fishing Report

“The surf has been good this past week. Scale down your hooks and baits to get hooked,” Merle Van Liere was in the shop today and shared he’s finding fish on the beaches of LBI. “I got three yesterday. Another anglers fishing close by caught five.” Merle mentioned both clams and bunker are catching but the bait size is important! They are little fish so you have to rig up appropriately. With that said there are still some high teens and twenty pound class fish around so don’t scale down too light!

Weekend Recap Report – 12/4/17

Lots of trailers flying around this weekend. I made a mistake last year and couldn’t stop thinking about missing the last hurrah all winter long. Colder temperatures are in the outlook but there’s still LOTS of fishing left in the tank! The fish are stretched out all along with Jersey Coast with the largest fish found in the state’s southern waters. Locally LBI’s waters has a great mix of size ranging from teens to 30 class plus. I’m looking forward to late prime season fishing! Are you?

Here’s the Long Beach Island weekend fishing report recap…

Everyone must have enjoyed this great weekend of weather on the water fishing with mild temps. Why? Because the entire fishing community and then some were pounding the grounds! 99% of the boats left in the water were fishing and the stripers were chewing!

This weekend the striped bass put out! Both Saturday and Sunday were very very good especially in the mornings and late afternoons but nothing like Friday!!! Out fishing it’s awesome to see the majority of boats catching… Tight lines and bent rods all around!

With full on fire fishing, I’ve been on the waters as much as possible (daily). Friday I was on the water with Chris Colesante for an all out bonanza! (see previous report, 12/1/17). Saturday I had Matt Polito from Philadelphia in on a good morning trip. We had a blast busting bass on bunker spoons. They out produced everything in our spread. Today (Sunday) John and Dave from Western Ne York were aboard. It was the first time in about 3-4 days that we had the active whales again. We couldn’t muster up a snag or lure bite so we got on the troll and quickly started shedding layers. The non stop meyham troll bite lasted for about 1.5-2 hours and then got shut down, flat out over run by boat traffic. It was awesome working the areas we previously had fish (Friday and Saturday) with literally no boats around for well over an hour. We assumed the fleet to our north and fleet to our south were catching too but we weren’t leaving!

Here’s Dave holding one of our bigger bass from Sunday’s catch. This fish was over 30 pounds on the yoga grip and was successfully released to grow up to one day be a 50+ pound bass.

Store staffer Dave has been on the water striped bass fishing every chance he gets. Recently he’s been on the meat! He got into the bass yesterday fishing off of northern LBI in 50′ of water pulling Magic Tail Mojos and plugs. He said, “Sunday was good. Fun day but a little slower. Lots of boats.”

Bill Bassant got five today up to 30 pounds trolling off LBI.

Dylan Fisher reported, “Finished just like we started. Epic fishing this morning on the Whaler! Now, both boats are out. Hate this time of year, but I need to star resting, prepping and training for next year.”

Here’s Dylan with his last bass for the 2017 fall run.

Jeff Warford reported a great action packed weekend bass fishing. Saturday he out produced most with double digit +++ catches, “Thanks Magic Tail for the best Mojos Trolling Lures out there!”

SURF

This week is the LBI Surf Fishing Classic’s final stretch, ending December 10th. Fish were caught this past weekend off the surf on both Saturday and Sunday. The tournament had five bass checked in on Sunday and three Saturday. Finally! It’s nice to see some activity off the surf.

Greg O’Connell reported today, “Quality time spent with my kids on the beaches of LBI this afternoon and evening. Dylan caught the dinner fish (7.7#) and weighed it in for the LBI Surf Fishing Classic. It was his first ever weigh-in and “red” bass button!” Big High Five!!!

Jason Hoch got a 14.74 pound bass off the mid-island surf this evening on bunker. Rob Swift starred he released a a 26″ bass off the mid-island surf on bunker. Melicca Fillman of Beach Haven West got a 8.22# bass off the mid-island surf on bunker. Gary Grippaldi of Manahawkin caught a 10.24# bass on a ducktail fishing the Island’s south end surf. Merle Van Liere weighed in a 10# bass on clam fishing North Beach yesterday at 4:30pm.

For more details on the LBI Classic… www.LBIFT.com

Other News On Local Fishing

Captain Walter and crew aboard the “Going In Deep” brought a monster sword in from the deep. Look like the November to Remember that was full of off the charts sword fishing is flooding into December. Some went offshore to take advantage of the calm ocean. Some caught bigeye tuna and tilefish.

Jim Kuhl reported, “No tuna but a box full of tiles!”

Word on the street… some ghosts (bluefin tuna) are here inshore.

The awesome tog fishing reports continue from boat anglers while the land based fishing slows. Still good numbers but less keepers. The inlet is stacked with small ones but from what we have been told the larger fish are not as abundant as they were a few weeks ago. From the reports it’s safe to say the inshore structure is loaded!!! Social media is flooded with great photos and all anglers in the shop getting tog tackle (especially Magic Tail Tog Jigs!!!) are raving on the fishery. Rob Vallone has been putting in a lot of time and he is Dailed in on the jig. Numerous trips with limits and some quality ones in the mix. Another angler stopped in the shop and said that Rob lost a monster right next to him, “I’ve never seen a tog thump and fight with that amount of power before. “

Off The Charts!

I thought it could not get better than yesterday and this past week. BUT today it did. A large striped bass bio mass is staged up in the LBI waters and has this weekend set for great late fall fishing.

Fishing was off the charts today! Quality bass just piling on the hooks. Some of the best fishing I’ve experienced bass fishing out of Barnegat Inlet.

Here’s Chris from Surf City with a pig that went for a bucktail tipped with a Fat Cow Jig Strip this morning. Chris was out fishing today with me aboard the Fish Head. We had a ton of fun.

This bass fell for a bucktail tipped with a Fat Cow Jig Strip.

Steve Warren was in yesterday preparing for fishing today. He sent in this report, “Thanks for your help! Caught non-stop until I stopped when seas kicked up around noon. Never went more than a couple minutes without a fish. Nothing over 25 nothing under 15.”

Dave Sutter sent in this message, ” I was out off of Harvey Cedars late afternoon yesterday trying to get on some fish and was surprised to see George Poveromo, on his boat the Mark IV, fishing in the same group of boats I was in. Just proves that we have a world class fishery right in our back yards! (as if we don’t already know). Lets fish responsibly and hopefully we can keep it that way!”

LBI Surf Fishing Report Update

With the large population of striped bass in our local waters, I’m shocked at how few are being caught on the beach. Recently there’s been a small uptick
in the surf activity. Expect this to imporve more and hopefully offer good fishing this weekend and the upcoming week to close out the surf fishing tournament on a strong note. Everyone is happy we added the 9th week this year!!! There were three fish entered into the surf derby today. For LBI Classic weigh in data check out the live results page at www.LBIFT.com

LBI Fishing Report Update – 11/30/17

As stated in the previous post by the High Flier’s Captain David, “This is possibly the best fall striped troll I have ever seen.” I agree! I’m one of the last anglers to troll so that isn’t saying much but it really has been awesome. The morning and afternoon troll is very consistent. Just about everyday, every boat is limiting out.

The striped bass are stacked up like cord wood!

The bio mass of fish stretched out in our local waters right now is great to see and very promising! It’s also great there’s strong reports from up the coast and in New York waters. Here’s a report from a Captree’s Laura Lee Fleet… Tuesday 11/28/17 – Striped bass blitz this morning!!! Today at 7am we caught 2134 striped bass keeping 34 and two bluefish. The DEC was onboard counting them.” That’s awesome fishing!!!! And they are heading down this way. Can we really have more fish than what’s already here?

Here’s a striped bass that fell for a big wood troller.

Today (Thursday) I had a blast fishing in the boat with Blake. It started off slow but got into ’em! Thanks to Max for putting us in the right area. The fish were stacked up off northern LBI in 50′ of water. More on some other recent fishing Blake and I did below.

Here’s Max with one of many juicy ones today.

Tom Cavanaugh fished recently out of the south end of the LBI he reported good fishing with bass up to 47″ on the troll!

“Yesterday (Tuesday) I had the pleasure to fish with the Fish Heads Crew aboard Captain Jeff Warford’s Tightlines. We headed out early to look for ghosts (bluefin tuna) but saw nothing, so we headed to the blackfish grounds. A few boats were on the spots we wanted to hit so we poked around. We caught fish at every spot, but it was much slower than it has been. The fish were much smaller too. Even though, we still had fun catching on Magic Tail Tog Jigs baited up with live green crab. We boxed 6 fat keepers up to 5 pounds and had too many throwback to count.

On the way in we came across some life. Gannets were roaming and a couple free falling. Once a whale breached and the sounder came alive with bait. Then the mother load of bass lit up the screen. We quickly deployed the striped bass trolling spread and instantly we were doubled up. The Magic Tail Mojos were unstoppable! I can’t lie, Mojo fishing is absolute madness. It’s insane how well they produce. Yesterday was my first time ever trolling my Magic Tail Mojo lures. I was impressed!!! Guys we have been waiting all year for the fish to show. Now’s the time!!! We have at least another 2-3 weeks of good fishing. Stop in Fisherman’s Headquarters and load up! Get some tog jigs, Mojos and get into the fun!” ~ Dante at Magic Tail Lures.

Captain Jeff Warford on the Tighlines (27′ World Cat) is running an open boat charter, tomorrow (Friday) $150 an anglers. Need 2 to sail. Weather look great and the fish are on the chew! Call Jeff at 609.377.9136

With all of the striped bass stretched out along IBSP and LBI a couple have hit the beach. Not in the numbers we would all like to see but there are some bass being caught off the surf. Yesterday Pat P got a 21.94 pound bass off the Harvey Cedars surf on bunker. Today Ralph V got a 7.24 pound bass off the Surf City surf on bunker. There’s still some time left in the LBI Surf Fishing Classic. Ending December 10th.

Holiday Weekend Fishing Report Recap

It’s late November and prime time striped bass fishing season! The past week was full of great fall fishing. If you have not got out and enjoyed the action, now is the time to get in on the fun. Before you know it there will be snow on the ground. Jump on a boat, get on the water and enjoy yourself catching fish.

Most local anglers are fishing the waters along IBSP as well as the areas north. More reports along LBI too. Beach Haven and Brigantine have had some classy fishing as of late. It’s great to see all of the family and friend photos flying on social media, especially the youth anglers getting into fish. No better way to spend a holiday weekend than fishing.

Here’s Tyler Medica with a bass he caught on the troll.

Here’s some reports…

Captain Bill aboard the Reel Trouble was in the shop today. He picked up a new pair of insulated Xtra Tuf boots to keep his feet warm and dry. (Nothing is more important this time of year!) While here Bill said, “The troll bite was good today! We go out and had fish right away. The morning started off great. The charters was happy and ready to head in at 10am. This entire week has been really good. Lots of fish here and they are hitting on the troll! Mojos and spoons are the ticket.”

Jacob Bowles was on the water the past couple days and had a blast! “Yesterday inside the three mile line off the Pier and today inside the three mile line off Seaside the fish were on the chew. We couldn’t keep the lines in the water. Fish were just piling on! It’s been awesome out there.”

Some classy bass are still around. Here’s Jacob Bowles with a fat one from today.

One customer in the shop today reported great fishing off of Beach Haven, “Got nine bass trolling in the morning.”

The beach’s surf fishing has been slow but there are some fish around. However, most are struggling.

The ASAC’s Bob Daley has been finding some fish off the LBI surf. Today he weighed a 12.16 pound bass and yesterday he checked in a 12.14 pound bass. He caught both off of the Ship Bottom surf on bunker.

Jim Crane shared this land based fishing report, “Slow… Fished Barnegat Light from 8-11:30pm last night. Plugs and bunker chunks. One 25″ bass on bunker. Nothing on plugs. Saw a bunch of shooting stars on a crazy clear night. Back the next morning in Brant Beach from 7-10:30am. Literally not a sign of life. Frustrating!”

The tog bite continues! Lots of great reports from the togging grounds. Get out on the structure and start hooking! Guys out on the jetty are still picking fish too!

LBI Fishing Report Update – 11/24/17

Some big tog around roaming the inshore waters. Dante from Magic Tail Lures was on the water today with Captain Frank of Finchasers. They got into some good fishing on a local reef site. Dante reported, “Lots of nice fish inshore right now! We only caught one short, all nice fish with three over ten pounds… one going 13.68 pounds! We hammered the fish on Magic Tail Tog Jigs.”

Here’s Captain Frank with a quality tog!

Good schools of striped bass are hanging around our local waters. Anglers are catching in the boat on live bait and trolling. Those working the surf are picking fish but nothing to write home about. Hopefully we’ll see some linesiders take to the beaches soon and offer surfcasters some action.

Today and yesterday strong reports from IBSP up the beach to Seaside Area and further above. The pods and bird plays weren’t off the hook. Covering ground and finding fish on the troll was most effective. Pounding bunker spoons, deep diving plugs, umbrella rigs and tandem mojos will produce. Some caught in 30’ while others worked deeper and caught out in the 50-60-70’ water depths.

Store staffer Max went five for five today bass fishing. He was pulling Magic Tail Mojos and Tony Maja Bunker Spoons off of IBSP. His largest fish was 26 pounds.

Here’s store staffer Max with a nice striped bass from this morning.

Matt K. was out and got three bass spooning and two on mojo, “White was working best for us.”

Dylan Fisher was in on the action today. He reported,” Great morning! We went three for three on nice fish. It was great to catch fish with my 95 year old grandpa and also put Jared on his first bass.”

Nice work on your first bass Jared! Here’s to many more!!!

Brian Coen and Kyle Gronostajski got out early and headed up the beac h, They found some fun top water action under a bird play. “Not the slobs of last week but some fun medium fish on top. This beats every Black Friday Deal! We didn’t have to troll!”

Here’s a weekend promo you don’t want to miss!

While most reports came in from BI north there was some chatter about fish off southern LBI and Brigintine. Last year at this time it was game on down there.

Today, I had Matt Rand and his father in law aboard. They opted to leave the trolling gear at the dock. We put in time but managed to catch two bass, both on live lining.

Sorry for the late post update…

Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association

Update: November 22, 2017
by Jim Hutchinson Sr.

Stripers, stripers, stripers! The magic work right now for the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association is stripers. Over the past week the bass have been thick to the north of Beach Haven but within easy traveling distance. With the fish slowly working their way southward, the fishing should continue to be good for a while yet.

Captain Matt Curtis of “Get Reel” Sportfishing reports solid striped bass fishing both on live bait as well as trolling with most of the fish being caught on bunker spoons. His fish have all been in the 20-40 pound class with the larger fish topping out in the mid 40s. He has one boat docked in Barnegat for the fish as they stay to the north and another down south for when the fish show off Beach Haven. Captain Matt is also excited about the tautog season.

Captain Ray Lopez had the Joel Quirk charter out on a striper trip on the “Miss Liane.” The crew began live lining spot and almost immediately boated a nice 30-inch fish. Later they did some trolling and had steady action.

Captain Gary Dugan reports another great weekend of striper fishing on the “Irish Jig.” The crew fished hard last Friday and Saturday with the wind keeping them tied at the dock on Sunday. By the end of the weekend they had finished up with 20 nice stripers boated with limit catches each day along with the dozen big bluefish over the weekend. The “Irish Jig” took 2nd place in the MICA striped bass tournament.

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

Fishing LBI Report Update 11/21/2017

Robbie Vallone was fishing the Barnegat Inlet Jetty this afternoon. He said small bass were on the chew, “Fishing a bucktail tipped with jig strip, slow and low they were hammering it!” Fishing around the top of the tide Robbie landed seven bass and one blackfish. Sounds like some good land based fishing!

Yesterday the boat reports weren’t spectacular but guys caught. Those on the troll picked fish off northern IBSP as well as the waters to the north. Store staffer Dave got one live lineing.

Today we heard about a great bite with quality fish in the mix. Local Barnegat Light boats found fish not far from the Inlet on the troll. It was rough but those out got into ’em.

9th Annual Fisherman’s Flea Market

The Barnegat High School Fishing Club hosts its 9th Annual Fishing Flea Market on Saturday, December 9, 2017.

Time: 9am to 1pm; Admission is $4 for Adults; Children 12 and under FREE

Location: Barnegat High School, 180 Bengal Blvd, Barnegat NJ 08005

All proceeds benefit students of the high school fishing club. The BHS fishing club gives out scholarships, donates to the Annual Toy Drive and local food bank, and provides youth fishing opportunities for students of Barnegat High School. Student also have opportunities to fish from the surf and local head-boats. It’s a great club with a great following. Come out and support the club!