Author: FishHead.Greg

LBI Surf Fishing Reports

Todd Luyber reported, “I fished the outgoing last night. Thick with sharks and skates. I managed to put one bass on the beach. Was 25 on the boga. Released.” Fish photo below.

Greg O’Connell reported, “Felt good to be out working the night shift for the first time this spring. Fish were hungry and chewing.”

Austin Pound and Ryan Fredrickson were fishing the mid-island surf last night and found some good bass action. “We had them good. Fish up to 41 inches.”

Boat Fishing Report

Offshore Big Game Report

Get out to the edge for some early season fishing. Bluefin tuna reported on the last weather window in the local northern canyons. Some boats had them chunking and trolling. It’s game time!

Fishing Report Feedback

Mid May… New Moon… Right on time nice bass are showing.

Scott Shirey sent in this report, “We got into bass on the surf. Small bass on bucktails and big bass on fresh Fish Heads bunker. Chunks did the trick. Also hooked into a couple blues and fluke. All on the mid-island surf on the back half of the incoming tide.”

Scott’s largest bass was this 43″ bass that he released. “It felt good to watch her swim back into the suds so she could fight another day. By the way, we had just gone back to Fish Heads for fresh bunker.  I told my buddy that is new to surf fishing that the fresh bait would make all the difference in the world.  It wasn’t 10 minutes later that this girl took the bunker chunk. Great fish! Great Times!”

Store staffer Jordan found some fish on the surf this morning… “I got three bass and 20-30 blues in the 4-10 pound mid-island. All on Daiwa SP Minnow Lures. Bunker were getting worked a little beyond the breakers. Left them biting.”

Ryan Matthews fished the storm last night and got into great fishing. Check out the four photos above. “The storm was fun but it was snotty. Lots of nice fish caught up to 27 pounds chunking with 12oz of lead. Lost a real nice fish at my feet on a bucktail.”

Store staffer Willie was out this morning in the boat. His report, “Holy gnar dude! Seven fish over 35lbs.” Epic fishing went down! Check out this photo of the three amigos all with trophy bass. Right as they are taking the photo another rod doubles over screaming!

Avet Fishing Reel Sale

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Dan D. and Kelley jumped aboard Fish Head Charters for a four hour session this morning. We pushed off at 6am and worked the waters of the Island’s North End.  It wasn’t long before Kelley hooked up on his MVP Daiwa SP Minnow. Shortly after he released another on the same lure. I managed one striper on a bucktail tipped off with a Jig Strip. With the wind cranking we switched gears and took a look along the sod banks. Turns out some small bass were active. Only minutes in I had a striped bass follow my fly right to the boat but would commit. Next drift I got this little guy to eat. Super stoked to watch it eat a clouser i tied last night right beside the boat!

Here’s some other fishing reports….

Lots of school size striped bass are hanging around with some larger bass showing too.

Today is Day 25 of the LBI Surf Fishing Spring Derby. First place bass is held by Patrick Presutto with a 22.64 pound striped bass. Patrick caught the 37.5″ striped bass on bunker fishing the mid-island surf this morning. First place bluefish is still held by Kurt Horensky’s 12.7 pounder from May 5th. For more details on the tournament go to www.LBIFT.com

We also head talk of another 20 class bass off the LBI beach today.

Don Ingling was in the shop today getting some hooks and tackle. He reported catching a keeper bass off the mid-island surf on a plug yesterday.

Another customer in the shop had small bass today fishing salted clam. He was in late morning and then back again around lunch time to rebait.

Carl Vallone called in a report this afternoon. He said, “Last night I caught some fish. Had a bunch of blues. No bass. Bait fishing the surf.”

Torr Cohen got into some bass off the south end surf yesterday. He reported, “Funny how things work… every time you have too much bait there are never fish. When you take a few clams for a cast they start hitting. This session I ran out of bait quick. I give thanks to this beautiful morning on LBI.

One of the Comanche Surfcaster’s Darren reported his girl friend (@miss_stonian) caught her first bluefish.

It’s Mid May and the some bigger fish are showing up!

Store staffer Blake was on the surf this morning and got a nice size bass on a wood swimmer. Here’s a link to the landing video.

“I finally put a reel on a rod yesterday and hit the beach. I didn’t see a sole for 8 miles. Bite was on! 20 bass from dinks to 40” and 10 blues from 3-8 pounds. All out bucktial bite, 1oz white with a curly tail. Why does no one fish anymore? Get to Fish Heads and pick up some Magic Tail bucktails and get on the beach. Stop waiting for the reports the fish are out there.  Here’s a video from sunday afternoon.

Kenny Nielubowicz was on the beach yesterday and caught his first surf striped bass. “Thanks Fish Heads for the killer fresh bunker!”

This work week was LBI’s best stretch of spring surf fishing action. Striped Bass and Bluefish are here and cruising the Island’s beaches. Anglers caught fishing meat (bunker and clam) as well as using lures. For more details see the week’s previous posts; Thursday May 10th, Wednesday May 9th, Tuesday May 8th, Monday May 7th.

Here’s the LBI Fishing Report Update for Friday May 11, 2018…

Another beautiful day in the neighborhood! This morning was flawless and it continues through the afternoon. While no local spectacular bite was reported, fish were caught.

I had store staffer Kelley aboard the Fish Head for an early morning session. We couldn’t buy a bluefish but saw a couple caught. Kelley was high hook managing two keeper size bass and one short.

Here’s some recent reports…

Andrew Hayes shared with us on Facebook, “I caught a big bluefish this afternoon (yesterday) on an SP minnow.”

Anglers are counting down the days to Sea Bass and Fluke Fishing! Sea bass opens May 15th at 10 fish with a 12.5″ minimum length. Fluke Opens May 25th at three fish with a 18″ minimum size.

Speaking of fluke… our local waters are stacked with quality fluke right now. Dan D went on the hunt today for bass and blues. With no luck he switched over to catch and release fluke fishing. Dan reported, “Got a bunch of fish, biggest was 20″. They were chewing!”

Floating Jig Heads By Tom Scibek

After the On The Water (Angler’s Guide New Jersey May 2018) Floating Jigheads write up by Don Kamienski the Floating Jig Heads by Tom Scibek have been hot sellers. A once underground item used by a select few, now Floaters are main stream! This is the one and only real deal saltwater floating jig head with a good quality hook and long bucktail hair.

As detailed by Don, he fishes them on an 18″ leader off of a Tsunami 3-Way Rolling T-Swivel.  I’ve found this to be very effective when fishing larger baits and especially live baits like live minnow, peanut, mullet and spot. Floaters are lights out in the bay baited with sheddard crab. My personal favorite way to fish Tom’s Floaters is to rig them on a 4-6″ dropper loop that is fished about 20″ above a bucktail jig. When fishing deeper situations it’s a hi/lo style vertical presentation. Standard issue… bucktail and teaser = lots of fluke!

Where these Floaters outproduce for me is in our shallow water bay fishery. Contrary to common line “control rules” I fish this hi/lo bucktail teaser with some extra scope. This horizontal presentation shines when tap danced. The floating jig head comes alive and fluke can’t resist.

Either way you choose to rig Tom’s Floaters, one thing will be consistent… they catch!

Yesterday and again today the reports continued from the beach, inlet and bay. There’s no denying the bas and blue are here in good numbers. Gear up and hit the water!

I was out on the surf for a couple hours this morning with a couple of the guys from the shop. We all caught fish and had a fun time doing so. Both bass and blues were in the wash. Most of our fish were caught on Daiwa SP Minnow Lures and bucktails. Here’s some report that flooded in from customers and other angers…

South Philly Fred was in town for seconds and he found fish again. He reported, “It was a rope session!”  Here’s a photo.

Store staffer Willie was on the water today. He reported a great day fishing on the bay, “Fish were tailing on the flats! Finally they are here and on the feed.”

Jack Bean was on the surf again yesterday and picked up right where he left off. He caught three blues and dropped two fishing bunker.

Store staffer Max fished the bay after work and caught three blues.

Rob Vallone took his Lamiglas GSB 9′ Light for a walk on the Beach… “Got one on a Tsunami Talking Popper. My buddy got a keeper bass and a good bluefish chunking bunker.

Larry from Hightstown fished the south end surf this evening. He had short bass on the high/out going tide. Turns out his Abu reel crapped out so he stopped in for a new reel. Larry chose the Penn Squall 15 Star Drag Reel as his new conventional chunking reel. What a great casting reel featuring an easy to adjust magnetic cast control and super powerful gearing and drag.

Yesterday was a good day and today is continuing on the right track!

Bass and blues reported on the morning’s outgoing tide and still fish here mid day. Mostly of the reports were from the mid-island surf.  Reports from Ship Bottom through Harvey Cedars. As these fish migrate up the coast and move into our area we expect them to be stretched out along the entire island’s beaches.

Store Staffer Davey Wavey & our newest Staffer Jordan both got into blues fish off the surf this morning!  Dave Werner hit the surf early today and got three bluefish on Daiwa SP minnow lures. He reported another guy fishing south of him was also into some fish!

Robbie Vallone called in this report, “Excellent action right to the bottom of the tide.” These big headed racer blues want to eat. Feed them bunker and get’em fat!

One report from the south end… Jay D. got a pair of big blues off the south end beach on bunker. He also got one short striped bass.

Store staffer Steve and Robbie got into good fishing last night. They roamed some bayside haunts and found fish at every stop. Soft plastics were getting chewed!

Here’s the Long Beach Island Fishing Report Update for Tuesday evening May 8, 2018.

Some nice bluefish hit the suds today with focus on the mid island towns of Ship Bottom and Surf City. Numerous reports with some catching double digit yellow eyes, most in the 7-14 pound range.

We got an awesome report called in from local metal detector master Jack Bean of Little Egg Harbor, “I did the fish dance. Then, at about 1pm stopped off at Fish Heads for a couple fresh bunker. Shortly after I hit the mid-island surf and set up. I didn’t expect much but it was a beautiful day with good powerful white water and an easterly wind. Turns out the bluefish came in and beat me up. In my two hour session I caught 8 blues. Two of them were gators. Out of bait and rigs I was done. Never did I expect the fishing to be this good. It must have been the dance!”

Chris Masino called in a report, “Good fishing this afternoon. From 5pm to sunset blues were on the chew. I was bunker chunking getting fish almost every cast. Toss a chunk and you’ll hook up!”

Store staffer Dave was in on the bite this afternoon too. He reported, “I found some yellow eyes that were hot on lures. Big water and big bluefish! Got an 8 pounder on an SP and a 13 pounder on a pencil popper. Got the blood pumping with bluefish in tight to the beach!”

South Philly Fred was in town and it turns out he came on the right afternoon. He said, “You never know if you don’t go!” After stopping by the shop he went on the hunt. “I took a look up a random street. It looked good so I started casting. All of a sudden the air was fishy. Bing! Bang! Boom! The blues moved in. I got two on an SP Minnow lure. Other blues were hounding the hooked fish right to the beach. Then, POOF! They were gone.”

It’s not all blues! There’s bass here feeding on the surf. Sean Maffei sent in this photo and report from yesterday, “Brandon Johnson got his first keeper bass off the surf. He caught this 29″ bass yesterday fishing the mid-island surf at about 5:15PM.”

Another good perch fishing report came in today. Rob Vallone shared that his friends did very good fishing in the local lagoons. They bought Fisher’s Choice Mini Canned Shrimp at the shop and smoke the fish. They caught some fat ones too! Perch fishing is red hot!!!

The fishing is not spectacular but anglers are getting wet and having fun. Here’s the Fisherman’s Headquarters fishing report update for Monday May 7, 2018.

Mike Green of Luckey Stripes Charters weighed in a 42″ 35 pound striped bass on Sunday for the On The Water Striper Cup. Every year Mike is dialed in with the big bass. Mike wouldn’t share the location where he caught it but he did say the fish went for a live bunker. We guess the fish came from the State’s northern waters where these large fish are much more common.

With the local fishing not “warmed up” and the action just a short drive north on fire, local anglers are making the trek and getting into really good fishing. For four weeks now fishing has been great in Raritan bay.

One customer John Larue sent in this photo and report, “Had a solid day on the water up north jigging… lost count. All nice fish!” Some of the guys from the shop got into phenomenal fishing up there too. Sometimes when the fish don’t come to you, you have to go to them!

Due to recent upwelling, the local inshore water temperatures are chilly. A friend out yesterday afternoon (Sunday) had icy 46-47 degree water in the Inlet.  Only a few days earlier it was in the mid to low 50’s. This temperature should settle out with the onshore winds of today and tomorrow. Once it does we expect the inshore striped bass to chew. Trolling spoons, mojos and plugs will do the trick first. Soon after the live lining bait will follow.

A couple anglers recently got on the troll and worked the inshore waters along IBSP and LBI. The few hunting that we heard back from all did not catch. One customer purchasing new American Fishing Wire Soft Monel Wireline for his one bunker spoon outfit reported, “Most of the bait is focused around the Inlet. Ran up the beach and couldn’t find a scratch. Trolled for an hour and gave up. Snagged and fished the inlet for a little bit. Notta.”

We heard rumor of the season’s first thresher caught out of Little Egg Inlet. They can be a lot of fun to target, just make sure you are up on the new regulations!!!

Locally small bass is the name of the game with an early season light tackle approach. Small swimming plugs like Daiwa SP Minnow, bucktails and swimbaits (like the Tsunami 4 & 5″ Swim Shads and the Kettle Creek Paddle Tail) are the go to for most anglers. These are also the hot lure for weakfish.

Perch fishing is really good right now. Jacob Bowles reported, “Perch fishing was on fire last night. Making bait netting grass shrimp at the bulkheads was easy and the perch were hungry. I easily had 70+ fish!”

The LBI Fishing Tournament Spring Derby is currently underway, on day 17. There are two bass on the board… First Place Greg Legacki 12.56 pound bass, Second Place Christopher Kelly 8.2 pound bass. This year the bluefish division was added. To date no blues were entered. Greg caught his 32.5″ bass on a plug fishing the night shift.

As far as other surf fishing reports black drum and small bass are around. Some larger size keepers are showing. Expect more to arrive as the spring run reaches LBI.

More reports of quality fluke in the inlet and the back bay. Today, an angler fishing bucktails looking for weakfish along the sod banks got two nice fat fluke. He said, “It hurts having to throw back 20 inchers.”

Bluefish have been few and far between. Just a couple showed here and there. Ryan Dellane was out on the bay this afternoon searching for bluefish, “No luck.”

Chet Kosarek sent in this report, “I fished Barnegat Inlet Friday… no one around caught anything. Threw metals and SP Minnows. Nothing. Saturday same. Nobody had any luck. Went to the Barnegat Light Boat Ramp Saturday and spoke to the ramp attendant. He saw nothing coming in. Looks like the water is still too cold.”

Florida Cobia

Summertime store staffer who’s down in Florida soaking in the last of the summertime semester in Florida sent in this report…  “Just got done fishing a bridge with my buddy. Here one of two we got today.” Nice cobia!!!