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!
The New Jersey summer flounder season will be ending on Tuesday, September 5. It appears that the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association will be catching their share right up to the final bell.
Captain Gary Dugan of the “Irish Jig” boasts “the fishing has been on fire aboard the “Irish Jig.” He has been fishing the local lumps and reefs to fill the coolers. He has had seasoned fishermen and families with children alike having great success while enjoying their trips.
Captain John Lewis of the “Insatiable” reports strong fluke fishing with double digit catches each day. The keeper ratio varies from day to day, but they find fish to take home every trip. The Prigge family caught their share of fluke in addition to sea bass, bluefish, dog fish, sea robins, and two surprises-a squid and a brown shark that was over three feet long.
Captain Dave Kreines of the “Byte Me” had a pair of fluke trips recently. He had the Pelenski family out to the Little Egg reef for a half day of non-stop action with fluke, two keepers, Fluke and Sea Robins. Two days later, the O’Briens – grandfather, father, and daughter- started out in the inlet where they found a couple of shorts, and then ran out to the Little Egg reef for a slow but steady pick of Fluke resulting in a pair of keepers along with the ever present Sea Robins.
Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.BHCFA.net.
Now that Gert passed and the swell has faded out things are getting back to the normal summertime shuffle. But keep an eye out! There are tropical systems staging up. Earlier this week reports from anglers had the same main characters and scene. Fluke, blues and tuna as well as some others assisting the summertime fishing fun. Here’s an update on the Long Beach Island fishing.
Fluke fishing in the bay, inlet and the ocean is a good bet. Many anglers moved on and aren’t targeting the bay; however, there’s some nice fish that have yet to leave. Ryan Magee sent us this thank you message, “Thanks guys for fixing my fishing rod. I was able to get back out there and find some fish!” Ryan sent in this photo of a nice fluke and said, ” My elbow is fractured but atlas the wrist still works. I found some nice fish like this one as well as a five pounder. Shallow water fishing in the back bay is very productive. I’m doing better there than out front.”
A busted elbow can’t keep Ryan Magee from fishing!
Recent reports from the reefs and wrecks aren’t what they were; however good fishing is available. Those keying in on the right spots and actively fishing bucktails and/or live bait are outproducing. Many locations have anglers battling through sea robins and sea bass. Work through it and reap the reward!
Grey Coleston caught a 28″ 7.5 pound fluke off the North End surf. He got three keepers offering strong evidence there’s fluke are hanging along the Island’s surf.
While on the topic of land based fluke fishing from the shores of LBI… Steve George starred this post recently, “I’ve been throwing a lot of undersized fluke back this summer. Best part! I enjoy tagging them and have already received return data submitted on recaptures. They are healthily moving around and fattening up! It’s going to be interesting to see them grow up and if they will return to the same locations.”
Steve George tagging summer flounder!
We got word about redfish in the bay. Yup! REDFISH!!! Some of the shop staff got direct reports from friends who caught and released more than one. It would be interesting what a morning flats session might turn up.
Brown sharks and sand tigers are consistently plentiful in the local waters. Shark fishing off the surf and in the bay continues to be very good.
Tog fishing the inlet rocks is steady but keepers are hard to find. Those targeting them are having a blast with these quick and hard hitting fish. Also present… triggerfish and sheepshead. Mike Greene sent in this photo of a nice 25″ sheepshead he caught the other night.
Summertime Sheepshead Are In The Local Waters!
On Tuesday before Gert’s ground swell arrived, store staffer Dan D. fished with Captain Jeff Warford on the mid shore tuna grounds. Captain Jeff said, “The weather was beautiful and the fishing was on fire!” The crew beat up on the tuna (both bluefin and yellowfin) trolling, chunking, jigging and they even had the fish on top! Dan reported, “Incredible feed with fish up to 65 pounds. The Ron-Z lures were again the MVP! Tuna absolutely love to eat them like candy. We’ve been on this body of fish for over a month now. It’s awesome they are now staged up and feedings on the 30 line close to come. Looking forward to the end of summer action.” Dan got out again today after the Gert well dropped out. He reported green water slid into the area where they previously caught, “There’s fish there just not on the chew like they were. We got into some mahi-mahi which made the trip.”
Dan D with a solid catch of tuna! MVP Award goes to Ron-Z!
The beaches of Long Beach Island have a lot to offer. Beautiful soft white sand, clean soothing warm saltwater, relaxing sound of the waves on shore and FISHING!!! We all know the LBI surf has some of New Jersey’s (and the eastern seaboard’s) best surf fishing. Come down to the shore and enjoy the best before summer ends.
The Beach Boyz, Austin Pounds and friends are making the most out of the summertime surf fishing on Long Beach Island. “Limit of fluke by day and sharks all night.” Austin said, “No boat needed! Just put your feet in the sand.” Recently the Boyz caught their fluke limit with fish up to 24″ and by far their best night of the year with big sand tiger sharks! “Epic night! Six sharks, two giants. One taped out at 90″ and the largest one stretched 97″.”
Antonio Vitelli also reported releasing a large sand tiger a couple nights ago.
While fluke and shark dominate the surf all summer other species like kingfish, bluefish and striped bass are here. Grey Coleston said his last trip out on the surf produced a couple kingfish.” Bluefish are still in the suds too with an occasional striped bass.
We posted a report about the flare up of striped bass activity on the recent full moon and a reader Louise Warren DeMichele sent in this confirmation, “They are out there! We caught this one off the Ship Bottom surf.” Others that set out to target bass on lures produced fishing the Inlet rocks at night on the incoming tide.
Fish in the bay are having a field day (and night) with all of the bait that’s around. Both peanut bunker and spearing are thick in the Island’s backwaters. The other night anchored up sharking massive piles of bait pushed past with the tide. Achers of bait lit up with breaking fish in the moon light is an awesome sight to see but probably the most frustrating thing when the boat is outfitted with all compact lever drag reels on short medium class stand up rods. Not a lure on the boat and even if we found one in the bilge nothing to cast it more than 10′. Never again!!!
Fluke Fishing:
While some are still hammering out really nice fish in the bay and Inlet, now is a great time to fish the reefs and wrecks.
Captain Mark of Laura Sportfishing reports good fluke fishing especially late week and into the weekend. “Gulp baits are the ticket! The bigger the better. The 5 and 6″ minnow and grubs are what they want.” We suggest fishing them on Spro Bucktails (some bucktails fail to have the proper balance, flash on head and hair but most importantly the proper hook and bait keeper ) with a stinger Gamakatsu assist hook. You’ll put an end to missing short strikes
“I’ve been on the water everyday and right now I’m totally dialed in. Certain areas have been fished hard and picked. If you know where to look there is an abundance of some really nice ones at that. In the past week the boat had 40 keepers. We are mowing through Gulp but you got to give them what they want! Fish the reefs and wrecks and you’ll score!”
James Sonday and Katie Marshall reported a great day on the water recently. They caught fluke up to 25″ managing seven keepers.
Pat DiPasquale fished with Howard Clark and they got on the meat! They pounded out their limit.
Fish Head’s alumni Rob Reale got a nice 26″ fluke recently. As you can see in the photo his dad Rocco was pumped!
Captain Lou aboard the Miss Barnegat Light reports fishing continues with waves of action. “We’ve had some high points but also some lows. Lots of action with short fluke, sea bass and mackerel with a handful of keeper fluke each trip. The fluke that are keepers are all nice fish in the 3-5 pound range. Sometimes the kids show the adults how it’s done! Here’s one youth angler showing off two nice fluke.
Amongst fish, one guy caught a nice quality rod and reel setup off the bottom. It must have just went overboard because it was in great condition. You never know what you are going to catch! Jump aboard for some fun bottom fishing or join us on a sunset cruise!
Offshore Fishing Report:
The offshore report as of late has been up and down. One day the bite goes off then the next… “You should of been here yesterday.” On the midshore bluefin grounds anglers have been pounding Lemkes and the waters around the Edward Cole. Recently the light tackle chunk at Lemkes has produced fish. The ones catching are scaling down to 30/40# flourocarbon leader. The Cole, a spot which produced very well for many seems to have dried up but that may change. Let’s hope it turns back on. Recently we got a solid report of fish at the Star and the Fingers. There anglers caught on the jig and troll. It is anyone’s guess how long they will stick around. Maybe they’ll push up the line and hang on the west side of the Chicken. They could be already making a nice heading for boats out of Barnegat Light. One report of fish at the Little Italy so that area is worth a look.
Out at the edge reports back from a couple boats had a skunk theme both on the troll and chunk. One captain reported, “We smashed them on the moon. Fishing was bonkers!” Sometimes coming off a moon fishing can slow up and that’s what seems to be happening now. The Hudson reports slowed. A couple large 60-80# yellowbirds were taken out of the Toms. There’s boats catching just not a ton. You gotta persevere and take the good with the bad. Keep on keeping on. This season has been great and there’s a lot more season ahead of us!
Colette Tallent stopped in and geared up for an offshore trip with the kids. The kids first trip offshore was an awesome experience. This smile explains it all!
The 2017 summer flounder season will be ending in a few weeks on September 5. Meanwhile, the current fluke action off Beach Haven is red hot and at its peak, especially on the inshore wrecks and artificial reefs. The boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association have been returning to the dock with satisfied anglers and in many cases with limit catches of big fish.
Captain Gary Dugan of the “Irish Jig” reports the fishing has been “very good.” He has had multiple trips with limits on fluke and some nice black sea bass and blackfish for good measure. He has seen some big fish come over the rails up to 26-inchers. He has been fishing the Garden State South Reef and some of his wreck numbers.
Captain Ray Lopez of the “Miss Liane” has also been putting in some varied catches. One recent trip had good action on bottom fish early in the morning and finishing up with some bluefish on the troll. He did his fishing off Barnegat Inlet.
Captain Larry Rosica had a group of five anglers fishing on the “Rascal” last weekend off Barnegat Light. The group found all the fluke they wanted as the entire group managed to limit out. John Banach boated the largest fish, a nice 24.5 inch flattie.
Captain John Lewis of the “Insatiable” reports double digit catches of fluke with a keeper ratio some days approaching 2 to 1. Captain John joined Captain Ray Lopez and Captain Jimmy Zavacky on the “Reel Determined” to take the boy scouts from Troop 112 of Jobstown on a group fishing trip. All had fun with plenty of fluke and sea bass to take home. The boys outfished their adult chaperones. Captain John also reports that the offshore yellowfin catches are coming on strong both trolling and chunking during the day time so the night chunk bite should turn on soon.
Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association and its boats can be found at www.BHCFA.net.
Summertime striped bass on LBI show their stripes and hint that fall fishing is right around the corning. These resident bass are around all year but we have a recent uptick in linesider actively with the full moon. Here’s some reports from the surf, inlet and the bay…
Frequent FishingLBI blog readers Will Kocher and his father of Camp Hill geared up at the shop this weekend. They got a pair of new Tsunami Airwave Elite surf fishing rods and put them to work quickly. They stopped in Sunday night and shared their success. “We headed up to the beach in front of our mid-island rental house and had some fun. Caught fish on both bait and lures.” They caught three short fluke caught, a shark and a skate. Will also got a summertime striped bass at sunset swimming a plug by the jetty.
A report came in from a kayak angler who shared while picking up Tactical Angler Clips and Seaguar Flourocarbon leader line. He said, “Launched off the Dike in High Bar Harbor Dike then worked the sod banks and some skinny water. Found fish chasing bait. Caught a pair of bass among a number of small blues fishing poppers and metal jig.” Other reports of bass in the bay came from anglers fishing the docks at night. These summertime striped bass are feasting on spearing and baby bunker.
Here’s Aimee Wool with a nice Barnegat Inlet resident striped bass. She caught some stripers this past weekend aboard the Reel Fantasea with Captain Steve Purul. With all of the fluke and bluefish around now is the time to get your Barnegat Bay Slam!!! There’s weakfish in our waters too, so a grand slam isn’t out of the question! Test your home run swing and take on the challenge.
Captain Steve on the Reel Fantasea had Aimee Wool catching summertime striped bass on LBI this past weekend.
Sharking continues off the Long Beach Island surf. Both brown sharks and sand tigers are caught and released. Soak a large piece of meat (mackerel, bunker, bluefish, skate, etc) and get ready to hold on!
Fluke Fishing
Here’s an article from Jim Hutchinson, Jr. at The Fisherman on the results of the 23 Annual JCAA Fluke Tournament… “For the second year in a row the top fish across the board in the statewide tournament was weighed in at Liberty Landing in Jersey City, with one of the very youngest competitors in JCAA history nabbing top honors in 2017 as 10-year old Dylan Cole of Andover, NJ brought a monster 9.69-pound fluke to the scales. All awards will be presented on Thursday, August 10 at the Clarion Hotel on Route 37 East in Toms River.
Jack McLaughlin, Tommy “The Hook”, Jumbo and Joe fished Barnegat Light’s 14th Annual Mercy Home Foundation fluke tournament this past weekend with Captain Greg Carr of LBI Charters. The crew reported a slow bite but the boyz bounced away! They boxed five keepers with Jack getting the largest at 5.56 pounds. It was good enough to take first place in the great charity event. Nice work, Jack congrats!
Jack McLaughlin took first place in Barnegat Light’s 14th Annual Mercy Home Foundation fluke tournament.
This past weekend, store staffer Willie weighed in a couple of fish his buddies brought by. Taylor and Nick fished the Garden State South and put together a good catch. Here’s a photo of the largest fluke and a keeper seabass. The classic minnow and squid combo was hot!
Taylor and Nick put together a good catch fishing a local reef.
Here’s a short update on the local fishing, more specifically an update on the fluke fishing in the ocean. But first…
Public Service Announcement from Captain Brian Williams – Through education we can prevent ghost fishing and stop trashing the reefs! When snagged up, don’t cut above the water line. Break off! A straight pull will eliminate blowing up your rod. If using spinning tackle make sure the spool is down in its lowest oscillation position. This way the spool shaft doesn’t bend from excessive pressure. It’s best to have a dowel onboard for breaking off purposes. A couple quick wraps and it’s an easy pull to break off the proper way. Most of the time you’ll straighten the hook or break knot on the mono leader. This allows to gather and remove the length of braided line from the water.
Store staffer Kelley Lutz with his lucky Hawaiian shorts and a 23″ fluke.
Before work on Sunday Blake, Kelley and I put a couple hours in on the water. Since it was a quick trip we chose to focus on the BL reef. The site has been active with great fluke fishing the past week. We arrived, had a great drift and were instantly into bites. On our first drift Kelley got a thick 23″ fluke. For the next hour or so all of us were carefully releasing undersize fish and fighting to get through the piles of sea robins, sea bass and skates. Absolutely mowing through Gulp and natural baits! A number of the undersized were good healthy thick ones with fat bellies. About 5 five were right at the 18″ mark but went back to grow up. It would have been nice to have a full day trip on the grounds but it just wasn’t in the cards because we had to be back at the shop. Finished the day with only one true keeper fluke as well as one 15.5″ black sea bass.
Sonny Shepanski was on the water too. He started off in the same area and picked away. He said, “There’s tons of sea robins and skates but we managed to get five keepers in the low 20″ range. We had a strong showing of shorts. The Gulp nuclear chicken grub was the top killer. Also the classic meat strip and squid/minnow sandwich did well.”
The past week, the Carolyn Ann III has been on the meat! Were you there? You should have been! All joking aside that’s a serious spread of fluke! August is a great month for fluke fishing. Jump aboard and enjoy your day on the water.
Awesome catch from the boyz aboard the Carolyn Ann III
Chris Siegert sent in this photo… “Great day on the water fluke fishing with Manic Sportfishing! 20+ fish this size… Thanks for setting us up Fish Heads!”
Chris Siegert with one of many quality keeper fluke.
Grey Colsten reports, “Tons of small blues in the surf. They took over the suds so targeting kings is difficult. I’m only catching one or two kingfish each trip. The snapper blues are so aggressive, I can’t keep a bait set. There’s some big blues around too! Chunking bunker in search of a ray or shark… ended up getting a gator! There’s some guys fluke fishing the surf but the area I’m fishing doesn’t have a ton. Head up to the north end if you want to fluke fish the surf.”
The storm last weekend produced days of north east winds. At the time only surfers jonsin’ for swell rejoiced. Right now anglers can look back and see those weather days were worth it! The onshore winds created a downwelling event. The sun warmed surface waters pushed into the shore and down into deeper areas of the ocean. This ignited the inshore fluke fishing in the local Long Beach Island area and the surrounding waters.
Fish are actively feeding on the local reefs and open bottom areas. Were these fish present for the past month, sluggish due to cold bottom temperatures and just not biting? Very well possible!
Two things came together; time and temperature! Time – August is when most of the summer flounder local biomass move out of the bays. On their way out fluke move into the inshore areas that offer structure or forage. Sometimes this is on the reefs and wrecks or open sandy bottoms where bait like sandeels and crabs are easy pickings. Temperature – August is the year’s warmest combined air and water temperatures. Fluke in warm waters actively feed with a quick metabolism. Best of all they are aggressive.
This receipt is something all anglers love and can really use more of! Looking at the forecast it might stick around… North winds Tuesday, then east Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. A lot can change so now is go time! Get out and catch fluke!!!
Yesterday went down as the Fishiest Fluke Friday of the 2017 season. All day the shop was filled with anglers raving on the solid fishing. Literally selling boxes of fluke rigs, hooks, bucktails, teasers, Gulp and bait! ***Make sure you stop in and get a free Flounder Sample Pack of hooks! Thanks to Eagle Claw and the NJ Fish & Wildlife for the public awareness campaign “If you can’t keep it save it!” We all need to do our part to help protect undersized fluke.fishinglbi.com/2017/07/27/come-get-free-hooks-supplies-last/
Now today backs up yesterday with another solid set of reports. Here’s the low down from various anglers who shared.
Heres Jacob Bowles with a nice fluke!
Jacob Bowles was on the water on Friday. He reported it wasn’t the best day out there for us but managed to get a 23” five pounder! We got out a little late in the morning and fished three hours. We worked over hard structure and managed to catch ‘em. Got the largest on a Magic Tail rigged with a big grub.”
Kevin Hughes was also on the water fluke fishing Friday. He reported solid fishing “We hit a two man limit in just over three hours of fishing. They want snappers!” Look at this fluke!
Chris O’neil got two 20” fluke yesterday with the old school high low with live minnow. He reported fishing Little Egg Inlet.
Many other report flowed in from the reefs and Inlet.
Today was the 23rd Annual Jersey Coast Anglers Association Fluke Tournament. Since the early days, Fisherman’s Headquarters has been a proud sponsor of the event and honored to be the Port Long Beach Island Weigh Station. Founded in 1981, the JCAA is one of the country’s best groups fighting for the recreational saltwater anglers of New Jersey. The JCAA offers anglers a strong voice on the state and federal level. The hard working group is responsible for many major accomplishments in fisheries management issues. One of the most important wins was achieving game fish status for striped bass in New Jersey. This fight continues today at the federal level. The JCAA also helped control commercial overfishing of menhaden, a vital forage in coastal waters. More recently and crucial to this summer’s fishery, the JCAA pressured the Mid-Atlantic Council and NOAA to reevaluation the way summer flounder are managed. The group defended NJ’s regulations and is one of the main reasons we have the season and limit this year. We encourage all anglers to learn more about the JCAA and fisheries new by checking out their website atwww.JCAA.org
Weigh-In log for the…
2017 JCAA Fluke Tournament Port LBI
*** UNOFFICIAL ***
PORT LOG – 2017 JCAA FLUKE TOURNAMENT – 08/05/2017
Port: Long Beach Island – Weigh Station: Fisherman’s Headquarters
Place
Entry Number
Registered Angler’s Name
Caught By Angler’s Name
Caught By Angler’s Hometown, State
Weight (lbs)
Length (in)
Weigh-In Time
1
244
Werner, David
Werner, David
Manahawkin, NJ
6.720
24.875″
4:32:00 PM
2
x?x
Howell, Martin
Frazer, Rob
Tuckerton, NJ
5.880
23.75″
4:40:00 PM
3
134
Wolfberg, Jack
Wolfberg, Jack
Fort Washington, NJ
5.790
23.25″
4:32:00 PM
4
94
Hooven, Christopher
Hooven, Christopher
Medford, NJ
5.390
24.25″
3:14:00 PM
5
66
Rust, Edward
Rust, Edward
Cherry Hill, NJ
5.050
22.25″
2:50:00 PM
6
106
Cliver, Kevin
Cliver, Kevin
Sellersville, PA
5.000
23″
4:15:00 PM
7
124
Schell, Dr.Paul
Makitra, Gene
Barnegat, NJ
4.960
22.75″
4:25:00 PM
8
104
DePalma, Vito
McKinnon, Gordon
Lewis, DE
4.840
22.25″
4:25:00 PM
9
217
Paolella, Dean
Paolella, Dean
Springfield, NJ
4.790
23″
2:00:00 PM
10
95
Phillips, Richard
Phillips, Steven
Pemberton, NJ
4.340
23.125″
4:30:00 PM
11
253
Vitale, Bruce
Vitale, Bruce
Toms River, NJ
3.830
21.25″
4:35:00 PM
12
24
Partyka, Bruce
Partyka, Bruce
Manahawkin, NJ
2.900
20″
2:55:00 PM
Dave Werner weighed in the largest fluke today. Heres Dave and friend with the winning fish.
Dave Werner of Manahawkin fished the BL Inlet with live bait and caught 7 keepers today. His largest weighed in at 6.72 pounds and was big enough to win the JCAA Port Long Beach Island.
Martin Howell and Rob Frazer of Tuckerton were out on the Garden State South Reef today. They caught five keeper fluke on the bucktail and Gulp combo. Their largest weighing in at 5.88 pounds. The crew mentioned they were fishing right beside George Poveromo aboard the Marc VI. It’s nice to see George fishing our local water. Hopefully they were filming! It would be great to see another episode of George fishing the waters of LBI.
Christopher Hooven did very good on the BL Reef.
Christopher Hooven of Medford reported the BL Reef produced lots of shorts as well as four keeper fluke (largest 5.39 pounds) and one keeper sea bass. He said live snappers were the hot bait.
“Captain Flattie” Ed Rust got some really nice fish, 7 keepers!
“Captain Flattie” Ed Rust of Cherry Hill and Bill Rust fished the BL Reef and did good. Bucktail rigged with Gulp did the trick for the guys, catching about 50 fish with 7 keepers.
Dean Paolella caught six fish drifting Spro bucktails.
Dean Paolella of Springfield, NJ got six fish drifting Spro bucktails off of Seaside’s open sand bottom. His largest was 4.79 pounds.
Most of the weigh ins were caught in the ocean, but a couple good report came in from the bay. Kevin Cliver of Sellersville, PA got six keepers on live minnow fishing the bay. Bruce Partyka of Manahawkin caught 28 fluke with three keepers up to 2.9 pounds. Bruce said he focused on the north end of LBI’s bayside waters. He fished Double Creek and the Inlet with natural and artificial baits.
Here’s some reports from offshore anglers fishing bluewater.
Captain Jeff Warford reported an awesome trip to the edge. “On our latest canyon trip (8/3/17) we saw some of the best action in years. It was EPIC!!! It’s the only way to describe the trip. 20+ tunas in the 55-75 pound class, 36 mahi and 33 tilefish up to 21 pounds. The troll was just on fire. They were smoking spreaderbars. While hooked up the cleared lines dangling lures from the riggers were hanging yellowfin that were leaping air born. They were hanging themselves.
Another solid report came from Steve Fernandez aboard the Five Seas. “A bunch of yellowfin to 70 pounds some huge tile fish two makos and some mahi and a lone monkfish! It was an action packed trip.”
Heres Steve Fernandez with a big golden tilefish.
Store staffer Dan D split out of town to head up the Mass to get into the solid tuna bite. He went up and had a great time. He hooked an 88” slob and said, “These feeds are sites you can not even dream about!”
August starts off with a bang! Good weather conditions have allowed anglers to get out and fish the waters of Long Beach Island. Positive reports are flowing from inshore, offshore and from shore anglers. Here is the update on the August fishing LBI has to offer.
LBI Fluke Fishing Report:
If looking for large fluke, this is the month! In late summer fluke stack up in the Inlets, beach fronts and near shore structures. Bottom fishing the open bottom sandy areas as well as the local reefs and wrecks are producing. Quality fishing right now from the Barnegat Inlet, the local reef sites and the waters from the Bather’s Beach to the Pier.
Here’s a Long Beach Island doormat caught by Michael Petruzziello with Captain Alex of Lighthouse Sportfishing!
Captain Alex aboard Lighthouse Sportfishing put his client Michael Petruzziello on this 30” 10 pound 2 ounce doormat. It went for a live snappers in the Inlet. Captain Alex reported, “This is the second true doormat I have put clients on in the last three years. The last fish was a monster weighing in at 11.5 pounds which fell for a live peanut bunker.” Large fluke want big live baits!!!”
Here’s an update from two of Long Beach Island’s local party boats fishing out of Barnegat Light. After reading the recent update from both boats we all will agree now is the time to get out and go fluke fishing.
Here’s the Miss Barnegat Light’s fishing report from Captain Lou… “After the weekend’s northeast blow, the fluke fishing aboard the Miss Barnegat Light rebounded quickly. Even on Sunday, while the ocean was still settling, we had a fair amount of keepers. The last couple of days we have had great action. Some anglers are limiting. There’s a good mix of keepers to throwbacks. Seems like things are progressing nicely as we enter August. The squid and spearing combos as well as bucktails with Gulp of various colors have done the trick. So far this week, the pool winners are ranging 3 to 6 pounds.
Now those are some nice fluke. August is a great time to jump aboard a party boat and drift up some dinner.
The Carolyn Ann III reports, “The bite is on! The fishing is and has been good on recent trips. Some beautiful fish and limits to be had. Get out now while the catching is good!” Here’s a photo of a recent angler on the CA3 with two nice fish!
Zach M with one of many nice fluke he caught jigging Gulp!
Zach Michot reported a solid day fishing with Capt Paul Haertel and Bill Browne, “Good day on the fluke grounds. The Magictail bucktail jigs with Gulp was the bomb! We finished the day with our three man limit of fluke and sea bass. Released a handful of keepers to catch another day! Adrift Sportfishing reported an epic trip, “Seven fluke over six pounds largest was 8.8 pounds!”
The land based duo of David and Alex Ho are dialed in and on the fluke. As reported on the July 30th report, amongst other keepers David got a 28” 9.24 pounder and Alex a 23.25” 5.2 pounder. These are some serious fluke for land based anglers and a great feat for landing on the rocks. Congrats gentlemen!
Fish Finder Frank Foley stopped in recently and shared a report, “We enjoyed the day on the water fishing. The bluefish were snapping in the Inlet. Full on feasting on mini snappers. They were crushing poppers on top. It was crazy watching the voracious cannibals. In the area we did good with tog and fluke too.”
Speaking of bluefish… Grey Colston just got this gator bluefish off the surf! Good size blues are still cruising both the surf as well as the Inlet. Fluke and kingfish are also in the suds. This morning Rob Vallone tried for kingfish but got run over by snappers.
As per our last report resident striped bass are around. The small linesiders are hanging around the lagoons and bayside docks chasing bait. It’s plentiful with both peanut bunker, spearing, mullet and mini snapper blues. Anglers are having fun at night fishing small lures Try a small lead head rigged with a grub or split tail plastic. ¼ oz bucktails and 3” swim shads are also great choices.
LBI Shark Fishing Report:
The local warm summer waters are full of sharks! They are literally everywhere from the inshore waters and surf zone as well as the bay. We suggest not swimming in murky water especially if you have an open wound. It’s said that swimming with jewelry isn’t the best idea either.
While these brown sharks (sand bar shark), sand tigers and black tips are plentiful they are not out hunting humans. They’re just cruising and enjoying the waters of LBI like everyone else. If interested in catch and release fishing the largest game possible from shore or near shore this is the ultimate fun!
Monday night I had father and son team from Montreal out for a bay sharking trip. The session was slow due to wind against tide. We unfortunately missed two bites but adjusted and worked through the difficult conditions. We finally got a bite that took the hook and it put up a nice fight. The 14 year old Canadian enjoyed his time battling the bruiser like a champion right to the end with a successful release.
Here’s a monster brown shark that had a serious set of shoulders and was pushing 7′ in length.
Tuesday night’s bay shark fishing trip was different. The conditions were prime and it panned out to be a flawless summer night! Not only did we get a number of bites (released four nice size toothy ones)… we caught our largest brown shark to date. We met Momma Bear the bay monster! She put up an epic fight. The trip will go down as one of our best.
Anyone looking to get out and go shark fishing should go asap! Stop in the shop and we can assist gearing up. You can hit the beach or boat and soak some baits! If looking to get in on a Four Hour Night Bay Shark Fishing Charter with Fish Head Guide Service reach out now by calling or texting Captain Greg at 609-713-9299
Midshore & Offshore Fishing:
The relatively calm ocean waters has anglers heading off and most return with meat. Bluewater fishing is solid with a variety of opportunities. Most reports are from anglers pulling fish on the troll however good action has come on the chunk and jig/pop. We heard some boats were heading to the Hudson to fish a promising stretch of water along the west wall. South of there fish were caught at the Toms. The Chicken Canyon and the waters further off around the Baccardi produced. Further south lots of boats are fishing Lemkes and the Cole. We heard one day was smoking hot then the next day was slow.
Store staffer Dan was out on Tuesday and beat on the fish. Dan said the jig bite turned on and some boats were into them casting on top. He shared his story about fighting a good size yellowfin but breaking it off near the boat after an hour battle.
Tuna and wahoo are being caught mid-shore on the 30 fathom line.
Earlier this week, Tom Bernat and Gil Dilts fished with Captain John Rimmer aboard the Old Grandad. The crew boated two yellowfin and a 50 pound wahoo on the troll fishing the mid-shore on the 30 fathom line.
This beautiful 50 pound wahoo caught by Tom went for a Joe Shute trolled way back in the spread.
The crew aboard the Canyon Runner hit the dock yesterday with a solid catch of yellowfin. Captain Phil and Kevin reported, “The fish are all up on top in multiple schools with some yellowbirds up to 70 pounds. Both the chunk and troll are producing.”
Captain Mark from Bluerunner Sportfishing & Waterproof reports, “Fishing is great! We loaded the boat with yellowfin, Bluefin, mahi, tiles and mako. Solid fishing shaping up for late summer and fall.
Tuna on the deck!
– Fishing LBI Tournament News –
The JCAA Fluke Tournament is this weekend! August 5th, 2017, the Jersey Coast Anglers Association will hold its 23rd Annual Fluke Tournament.
The Forked River Tuna Club Presents their 60th Annual Fluke Tournament on August 12 to 19th Check out their website for more details.
The LBI Surf Fishing Classic is right around the corner! This year’s event is now 9 weeks running October 7th to December 10th. The one extra week was added and the format was modified slightly to offer larger cash prizes. There’s other great new things offering an awesome value… tournament collectable hat and shirt to early sign ups (first 300 before October 7th). For more details go to LBIFT.com where tournament news will be added. Prizes and special tournament days are still not finalized. Once done the info will be posted.
It’s settling down and the sun is out. The Barnegat Light Buoy is fading and the trend will continue to ease.
I got some fun surf this morning before the lifeguards came out. While walking up the beach one drift I stopped and talked to an anglers soaking a line. He reported a little bit of weed (most was up on the beach), snappers stealing bait and two kingfish. He mentioned that 4oz was rolling with the low tide sweep.
Grey Colston stopped in this morning and shared he was into fish before the blow, “I hope it continues. The inlet was consistent with tog and fluke and the surf had kings.”
David Ho got a good size fluke today. He said, “Fishing was good. The water was chocolate milk but the fluke are on the chew. I got a new personal best, 28″ fluke! Alex (23.5″) and John (20″) both caught too.”
David Ho caught this 28″ fluke off the rocks today.
Rich Beverley also reported fluke on the rocks. Here’s a photo of a 19.5″ flattie he got bucktailing.
Rich got this keepers bucktailing the inlet.
Still some good blues around… “Not a bad way to end my six week vacation!” Mike Hovan reported. Here’s a bluefish he recently caught off the surf.
Still some bluefish cruising the surf.
And a couple bass! Dave Hershberger posted this photo of a resident schoolie. “Lagoon striper!”
Fishing is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get.
Reminder, the JCAA Fluke Tournament is next weekend.
Here’s some recent photos from the Miss Barnegat Light!
If you didn’t get the memo yet the weather is sour! While not a total weekend rain/blow out everyone would have liked better weather for the completion of the 48th Annual Beach Haven White Marlin Invitational. All can agree it was a great move adding the fourth day this year. The leader board on the WMI site has the Melton Boyz aboard the Jersey Nuts at the top with a 62.5 pound tuna. Looks like there was three white marlin releases as well as 26 tuna, two wahoo and six dolphin boated.
Very fall like weather has shaped up with strong winds and a gale warning is currently in effect through tonight. The coastal storm will offer stormy conditions today with whipping nor’east winds and building surf. As of 11am the Barnegat Light Buoy (Station 44091) has ramped up and is at 8.5 feet. The swell and winds peak tonight. We expect solid surf on the Long Beach Island beaches Sunday which will linger and slowly ease into the work week. As Sunday progresses expect the winds to decrease. Then light winds on Monday and Tuesday; however 3-4’+ swell will be present. The sun is forecasted to be out Sunday, Monday and Tuesday with beautiful low humidity and comfortable summer temperatures. Since there will be swell in the water, these days should be great for fishing the bay. Once things settle down enough it’s time for ocean fluke fishing.
Jacob Bowles sent in this photo with a short report, “Two keepers on bait fishing 60’ of water in the ocean. I also fished the bay three days this week and got a ton of shorts. Had a five pounder boat side but lost him.”
Jacob got this pair drifting bait in 60′ of water.
EJ Davis sent in this photo of a sand tiger shark he released. “We stopped in and got geared up at Fisherman’s Headquarters. You guys hooked us up right with bait and tackle. We headed out of Holgate and set up off the beach some. Got this sand tiger shark on mackerel. It was about 7’ long. You guys are on point!”
EJ released this sand tiger shark off Holgate.
Here’s a report from Captain Louis Van Bergen of the Miss Barnegat Light… “We’ve seen improvement the last few weeks. More and more fluke, although many are throwbacks, are coming up on our hooks. We have also seen a good number of sea bass and a few porgies. Everyone is busy with those pesky bait stealing sea robins and skates. Squid and spearing combos are working, but Gulp has had its moments in the sun. Join the crew and enjoy a day on the water.”
Here’s an update from the Carolyn Ann III… “It isn’t the nicest day of the year but it has to rain sometimes. Thursday one angler limited out and others were catching. Yesterday the boat had an awesome morning trip with lots of limits of quality fish. The storm might have turned it on. There’s fish out there so hang in as the weather passes! We’ll be back on the grounds as soon as possible. Jump aboard and let’s go fishing!
Here’s a group of kids having fun aboard the Carolyn Ann III
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