LBI's Premier Fishing Report By Fishermans Headquarters
Author: FishHead.Greg
Greg Cudnik is a Long Beach Island native with lifelong experience fishing and navigating the local waters. He is a distinguished Master Captain—the highest level of operator licensing—holding a U.S. Coast Guard Masters 50-Ton Near Coastal License with Towing Endorsement.
Raised in and now managing his family’s bait and tackle business, Fisherman’s Headquarters (est. 1962, The Saltwater Fishing Bait & Tackle Experts), Greg is immersed in fishing on a daily basis. He is the Chief Contributor of FishingLBI.com, Long Beach Island’s leading fishing report blog, and serves as the administrator of Fisherman’s Headquarters’ social media channels on Instagram and Facebook, where he shares real-time fishing reports, conditions, and tactics. Be sure to follow along.
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.
The bass are stacked up!
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!”
Magic Tail Mojos Outproducing All
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
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.
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.
Bronzinie held by Bob Burns.
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!
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.
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!
I was able to fish just about every day this past week and had a ton of fun doing it. Thanks to all those who jumped aboard and got in on the action with me. For more on the day to day reports scroll down.
It was interesting to see the mass of trophy fish slid in, move around and then down and out. My feelings… after November’s new moon, the year’s largest fish have pushed on; however, the mother load of bass are just arriving. This new class of smaller fish will offer lots of fun fishing as we transition into colder water temperatures and the holiday season.
The previous week was very good but this week trumped it. Monday kicked off the week with a full on rain day chew which continued through the week. Big bass from 20-40+ pounds on the feed. The Central Jersey Coasts best fall class of fish were present and feeding, falling for live bunker and lures. As the week progressed, fishing continued but soon an influx of the smaller 8-20 pound fish was evident. Friday and Saturday we saw the first strong wave of bluefish (6-16#) and SANDEELS!!!
The troll bite has been sensational with anglers are pulling spoons, mojos, plugs and umbrellas. Both bass and blues are piling on. Fishing from Manasquan to Barnegat Inlet there are areas of water that greatly differ in temperatures. Yesterday we found water as cold as 46 and as warm as 54. The larger bass for us were caught in the 51-54 and the small bass as well as a ton of bluefish were in the colder. Finally good reports of bass from boats fishing along the stretch of Long Beach Island. There was talk of bait off of Harvey Cedars as well as the south end. Some boats got into good fishing trolling off of Beach Haven’s Red Tower.
The 8th Annual Stafford PBA Striped Bass Fishing Tournament this weekend for the most part had good weather and great fishing. Friday started things off with a flawless super clam night that latest right into sunrise. The wind didn’t pick up until late morning but then got cranking at about noon time with a dreaded gusty south. For those that fished it out until they end, the ride back was a gnarly one.
The level of fishing in this year’s PBA was great to see! It blew the socks off all of the earlier tournaments this fall. The striped bass had a strong showing with most boats reporting great fishing. The bluefish really added to the action too. As far as the results, the majority of the bass were in the 15-30 pound range with some larger fish owning the leader board. The bluefish were plentiful in the 12-14 pound range with a good number of 14-16 pounders, lead by an 18.3 pound.
Just about everyone who participated reported great fishing from the Pier in Seaside all the way down to southern LBI. Most boats fishing from BI to the Seaside Pier with a large fleet focus around the waters 3-7 miles north of BI in tight to the beach out to 60′. Bather’s Beach was one area that held fish for most of the day. A great report of classy fish came from an angler trolling off of Beach Haven’s Red Tower.
Congrats to the crew aboard War Dance! They took top honors with a 43 pound bass! Also great work by lady angler Jess Rinck and Captain Mike Villanova aboard the No Limits for taking the Women’s Division with a 25.5 striped bass and the Bluefish Division with a 18.30 monster gator.
1st Place: 43.05 War Dance
2nd Place: 38.50 Marine Max
3rd Place: 37.70 Holy Cannoli
4th Place: 35.15 Donuts
5th Place: 33.75 Son Of A Fish / Pottsea (TIE)
Youth Division: 20.12 Jacob Reed
Women Division: 25.50 No Limits
Bluefish Division: 18.30 No Limits
This great community event raised approximately $25,000 for youth programs and scholarships.
Fishing Reports
Today (Sunday) Captain Lenny on the Miss Barnegat Light had a crew on the water and they found fish off southern IBSP. One customer in the shop was on the trip and said it was good fishing with heavy jigs, “The gannets were all over and we pulled on some nice fish! The heavy jigs were key to get down because it was rough and the drift was fast due to the wind. I was on the boat Saturday too and today was much better.”
Captain Mike Villanova of No Limits Sportfishing shared his report from yesterday, “We trolled up fish all day working off IBSP. We released about twenty fish and kept three that managed to place and put us in the running for the PBA Tournament. We won the bluefish division and the women’s bass. It was a good day!”
Jimmy Nacion fished the PBA striper tournament aboard the Pottsea. They got into good fishing on the troll. Their biggest was 33.75 (photo below), large enough for a 5th/6th place tie.
Ryan Dellane helped out with the tournament but still found time to get out and fish. He reported, “Great morning of striper fishing! Two fish on snag and drop and one on troll. Wind kicked up as called for and it got really snotty.”
Ryan Curtis was out fishing yesterday morning and reported, “Doesn’t get any better than it was today. Limited out by 7:15am.”
Here’s a photo of Calli who fished with Ryan.
Dan Piazza “Excellent day of fishing today! Limited out early and then it was all catch and release fishing with Jacob Bowles.”
Whales have been actively feeding every day. Kevin Fresno got this photo of a feeding whale while fishing aboard Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters with Captain Steve Purul. This whale was active and happened to pop up right beside the boat.
Kevin managed to snap this photo at the perfect time. He get the breach as well as Austin Pounds and Greg working the beach side of a large bunker pod.
Wreck Fishing
Solid reports from the inshore wrecks. Tog fishing is very good and anglers are also catching sea bass and pories. It must be noted that the land based tog fishing is still very very good! With the NJ recreational tog limit at 6 fish, now is go time!
LBI Surf Reports
The Long Beach Island surf is producing fish. Most are in the 8-10lb range with some teen size linesiders around. Occasionally a 20 pound class bass is caught. A large body of fish that was parked about 10-15 miles north of Barnegat Inlet has moved south. These fish were stretched out over the weekend and there’s a really good change they are crusing the Island’s beaches this week. With talk about sandeels from the boat guys, keep an eye out to see if they stage up and hit the beach!
Ryan O’Connell took the lead in the LBI Surf Fishing Classic’s Youth Division with a 24.36 pound bass on Saturday. He was fishing the night shift off the north end surf with his father Greg. The bass went for a bunker chunk.
Here’s Ryan and his bass. Awesome fish for the surf!
For up to date info on the LBI Surf Fishing Classic be sure to check out the live results page. For anyone fishing the surf you should seriously consider joining the tournament. There’s still a couple weeks left with lots of prizes up for grabs. A $100 daily prize is just one of them.
Here’s the Special Prizes for the 7th Week…
Monday November 22nd – $50.00 Gift Certificate To Surfcity Bait & Tackle In Memory Of Harold Ferrari. This Will Be Awarded To The Juvenile Angler ( 17 Yrs Old & Younger) With The Largest Striper During The 3 Rd Segment. If None Entered It Will Be A Random Draw. 2 Pappy’s Pride Plugs To The First Fish Entered Caught On Artificial Today
Tuesday Novmeber 21st – OTW Aluminum Sandspike With Attached Clip And Rag Goes to The 2nd Largest Bass Weighed In Today
Wednesday November 22nd – Fisherman Magazine Subscription –random Draw From All Anglers Weighing In A Fish Today
Thursday November 23rd – Thanksgiving – $250.00 Cash Award For
Largest Striped Bass In Honor Of Bruce Hoagland
Friday November 24th – 9′ Viper Rod To Smallest Striper Entered Today
Donated By Ep Sales
Saturday November 25th – $100.00 Gift Certificate To Fisherman Headquarters For Heaviest Bass. 9′ Shakespeare Alpa Combo For Biggest Striper Entered By A Juvenile Angler Donated By Ep Sales.
Sunday November 26th – $100.00 Gift Certificate To Fisherman Headquarters For Heaviest Bass. Subscription To Fisherman Magazine To The 1 St Fish Entered By A Youth Angler Today.
Today was another good day fishing the bunker pods. Those that took the ride north were again into classy fish.
One guy in the shop said, “I’ve been hearing all the reports. I couldn’t wait for the weekend, so I took off work today. Happy I did because fishing was great. We got 6 bass between 25-35 pounds.”
The snag and drop is producing. For those into trolling, the method is also working very effectively. It’s been good. Bunker spoons and mojos are absolutely mohawking the bass. Reports spoke about limiting out in an hour, “Fish are piling on before we can set out the spread!”
Austin Pounds jumped aboard this morning. We got an early start and went back to where we’ve been fishing the past week. The area looked good but no bites for us early. We made some moves, bobbing when we should of weaved but eventually got into some activity. Wish we could have stayed out all day but obligations back on land had us packing up at noon. We finished the day with only two bass, but they were both nice ones. Our numbers would have been better but we had some mouthings and run offs. I also dropped a fish that wasn’t hooked good.
Here’s Austin Pounds with a nice bass that couldn’t resist a live bunker.
Captain’s meeting beings at 7pm (Location: St. Mary’s Parish 100 Bishop Lane, Manahawkin, NJ 08050) with FREE BEER and Hors d’oeuvres for all registered anglers. This location is also where weigh-ins take place.
Fishing begins at 9 am and continues until 3pm (11/18). On Saturday Weigh-ins start at 1pm and end at 5pm.
Here’s a photo of Kemp with a linesider from Thursday morning
Although the weather was not the best, today was a great day of fishing. I headed out early with Chris Colasante of Surf City and we started off with tight lines quick. Live spot had stripers piling on every drift. Thanks to Captain Mark from Laura Sportfishing for offing some live baits at the dock in the morning. It paid off big time because the little striped ones did not want to touch our lures. After boat pressure took over we headed up the beach into dicey seas. With the forecast calling for easing winds we figured a trek north to the promise land was a good bet. The ride was long and bumpy but it paid off big time. We got into the same body of classy fish in the 20-30 class live lining bunker.
Here’s Chris C with one of the nice bass we caught today.
On our way back we crossed paths with Captain Cody aboard the Heavy Metals heading out to the grounds. Turns out they got into the fish too and some bigger ones!!! This evening the crew weighed in a 48.4 pound monster bass they got live linging bunker.
Here’s a photo from the Heavy Metals Crew.
Now is the time to get out fishing! Both the beach and boat offer great opportunities to catch migrating striped bass.
Anglers fishing the surf are catching bass fishing cut bunker. The entire stretch of beach is worth a shot. Recently reports came in from the north, mid and south end. Tuesday morning we got a call from the town of Holgate on the south end that spoke of a whale breaking on bait. Monday morning there were two whales on a big mass of bunker right at the mouth of Barnegat Inlet. These whales are also up the beach along IBSP and further north.
The he LBI Surf Fishing Class surf fishing tournament is active. For updated results go to the tournament website at www.LBIFT.com.
Today Wednesday November 15 is the last day of tog at the one fish bag limit. Starting Tomorrow November 16th the bag limit goes up to 6 fish until the end of the year. Sea Bass is 15 fish bag limit at 12.5″ this is until the end of the year when it closes.
Wreck fishing reports are strong. Mike D was out fishing a piece of structure not far off and said the tog fishing was very good. Anglers fishing the Barnegat Inlet Jetty are still into tog on a daily basis.
Tuesday was another great day of fishing. I got out early with store staffer Dan and run up the beach. We pulled into where I had them yesterday and the screen lit up. In 25-30’ of water the sounder was reading 8’ with big bass blobs on the side scan. Dan casted out and before I pulled the boat out of gear… “I got one!” Dan exclaimed. I told him, “Nice, let the bunker drop down. The blobs are deep.” “NO! I got a fish!” As the drag goes screaming! It started off with a bang and continued for us. Every single drift we had one or more fish until 9am when it slowed up.
My biggest bass of the day pulled the Boga Grip to 40 pounds.
We even raised some bass on top water lures. Again the Doc Top Water Spook was the MVP! For me in the past two days, this lure has produced more than a dozen fish… most in the 30 pound class. Over the years, I was told by some sharp striped bass hunters that I had to have this lure. I’m ashamed to say I never took action.
One of the best top water spook baits for striped bass, the Doc!
Big thanks the Stormr and Grundens for making top quality foul weather gear. Here at Fisherman’s Headquarters we are proud to be an elite dealer with both brands. Running a center console fishing boat I depend on their gear’s performance. I can say neither have ever let me down. This past weekend I was happy to be warm and today I was happy to be dry.
We got a weigh in and report today from Ken Daimond and Ray Hartmax. They were out trolling off of LBI’s mid-island beaches. They reported good fishing catching quality bass on Mann’s Stretch deep diving plugs. They had a couple fish in the thirty class; 33 & 37#.
One for the record book! Today’s fishing was the real deal. Definitely in the top ten best bass on bunker bites I’ve experiences on the New Jersey Coast. The cold snap really turned it on.
Bass On Bunker Explosions!!!
I got out on the water earlier this morning. Ran up the beach in the dark and found massive piles of bass blasting bunker out of the water. The first two hours were great with classy bass blasting top water lures. With only one or two boats in the area with what seemed like every boat in the world flying north like a flock of geese in summer. Fortunately they were just a bit too far off the beach to see the unfolding mayhem frothing on top. By about 8-9 the masses came in and everyone was in on it. By that time it turned into a snag and drop bite which was very consistent for a good length of time.
For me the Doc Top Water Spook was the MVP. Big hungry bass just can’t resist the Doc’s slow top water walk the dog action. In my opinion, nothing beats a top water explosion especially from a trophy striped bass.
By all accounts, fishing was great. I lost count with the biggest 42 pounds on the boga grip, three in the 30 class and numerous twenties and teens. Here’s to many more bunker breakfast sessions like this right into the Holiday Season.
Here’s Tim W from the Boobie Trap.
Store staffer Dave was on the water with his buddy Chad. Dave reported, “We smoked the beast! Legendary snag and drop session today. We had a dozen fish up to 45 inches on the snag and drop. Epic-ness!!”
Here’s Dave with a big one!
The Smith clan was into them today! “We got a late start but found them chewing on bunker, catching six on the snag and drop. Biggest was 46″ 31 pounds. Young gun Justin Smith got a 28 pound 41″ bass.”
The Smith Family
Store staffer Max was in on the action today too. He reported, “We headed up the beach early and found good fishing. Good fish on the snag and drop in the morning. Then later in the day we switched over to the troll and caught some more. Tony Maja spoons were getting bites!”
Here’s Max with a nice striped bass.
Side Note
While stoked out of my skull, part of me felt serious pain with the mass slaughter. I saw a lot of fish caught but I didn’t see many go back over. I don’t want to be the catch and release broken record so I will not preach. I would like to remind all to harvest responsibility. Don’t get caught up in the excitement. These classy migrating fish are the life blood of the striped bass fishery.
Surf Fishing
The surf produced some fish but nothing close to what the boats did. This past weekend was a big improvement and we look forward to better fishing soon as the migration fills into our local water. Check out www.LBIFT.com for live results from the LBI Surf Fishing Classic.
Tog Fishing
Charles Young from Warminster PA checked in a 10.66 pound tog today for the Fisherman’s Magazine Dream Boat Challenge. He reported good fishing out on the Garden State North with live green crabs.
My biggest bass of the day pulled the Boga Grip to 40 pounds.
One of the best top water spook baits for striped bass, the Doc!
