It’s prime time mid-November and great fishing went down this past week. It was the best week of fall striped bass fishing by a long shot. Some anglers are reporting epic, legendary, prolific and even biblical! Some days were better than others but all were very good. It’s great to see this large biomass of striped bass in the area heavily feeding day in and day out. There’s a lot more left in the tank this month so get in on the action and enjoy!

Striped bass, tog and inshore bluefin tuna fishing continues in the area. Whether a beach or boat angler, there’s lots of options right now. Consistent tog fishing at the BI rock jetty and bulkheads. Inshore wrecks and reefs have tog on tap too. Bassin’ in the boat has been nothing short of phenomenal and there are bass on the beaches of LBI. Migrating bluefin tuna are also hanging around the inshore waters making for some great big game fishing.  Here’s the Fishing LBI Report Update for Sunday November 19, 2023.

Striped Bass Fishing

The striped bass migration has flooded the central Jersey Coast and a lot of them have decided on an extended stay. There’s striped bass staged along IBSP and LBI with fish being caught daily. While here they are feeding and fattening up on all the bait; adult bunker, peanut bunker, sand eels, butter fish, etc. Earlier in the week it seemed the big bass were on adult bunker schools and live lining or fishing XL lures (7-12″) to match the hatch was best. However as the week progressed large schools of peanut bunker schooled up and the striped bass keyed in on them making smaller 4-7″ presentations far superior; metal lips, spooks, swim baits, etc. Then this weekend the sand eels really made their presence known. Slender lures prevailed; needlefish, AVA Diamond Jigs, soft plastics, Deadly Dick Lures, slender pencil poppers, etc. Some days where crazy boat traffic dampers a bite or swell has bait spread out in a broad areas with scattered fish trolling is an effective approach producing with umbrella rigs (9er’s), mojos, spoons and plugs.

Joe Handley Jr caught this striped bass off the LBI surf this weekend on a yellow/white Super Strike Popper. He reported, “I got into small blitzes of larger bass on the north end. Landed a 37, a 36″ and lost a much bigger bass that shook the hooks. Certainly a nice class of fat fish this year!” Joe alos got a nice redfish off the LBI surf on a recent outting.

Handley Jr has been getting into fish.. Nice red fish he caught off the LBI surf… He also got a nice striped bass on a super strike popper.

Some big blues are showing so be on the look out! Colin McHugh caught this yellow eye gator as well as a couple striped bass this past weekend.

Tautog Fishing

The NJ Tautog Fall/Winter Season opened up to 5 fish on 11/16/23. The local wrecks and reef sites have fish and great fishing is expected throughout this year and into the new year. This weekend Swag jumped aboard the Osprey out of AC and won the pool two days in a row. He said it was a great time but despite winning the pools fishing was not great, “I didn’t catch alot of fish. I ended up waiting all day for the right bite and fortunately got ’em both days.” Here’s a photo of Matt Sorrentino “Swag” with a 13.6# tog.

For more details and info on the New Jersey saltwater fishing laws and regulations, seasons, bag limits and minimum sizes be sure to check out this blog post which includes a link to a PDF which should be saved on your phone for quick access or printed out for reference.

Bluefin Tuna

The past couple of weeks we have seen, bluefin tuna hanging around the inshore waters. I reported earlier this month I had them blowing up while fishing bunker pods in along the beach in 25′ of water. Well I wasn’t the only one. Some anglers reported hooking up and getting spooled bass fishing with live bunker, casting lures and trolling. No striped bass tackle will stand up to these brutes! Those heading out with the appropriate gear are having a field day with them. Store staffer Frezza got a good one this weekend. Dante from Magictail reported going four for four on the troll, pulling Magictail Hoo Magic trolling lures, “Took a day off of striper fishing the LBI surf and went out chasing tuna with Brandon Kape. We set up on the troll and first three fish we caught we large stripers. I was starting to think I couldn’t get away from them. Then the wind came up hard and so did the tuna. We went 4-4 with a triple hookup and a single bite. Fish were 60-95 inches. Three hoos on HooMagics and the jumbo ate the RonZ tail. The Hoomagics are just about cheating and our rods 80-130# rods worked perfectly code.

Recent days have been good to anglers fishing LBI and the areas a little north (IBSP) and a little south (Brigantine). LBI surf anglers are catching striped bass on lures as well as bait with a great size ranging from bonus slot, slot and overs. It seems like after the new moon a new wave of smaller striped bass arrived but there are still big classy fish in the mix and at time dominating. There’s bunker stretched out along the island with striped bass feeding as well as occasion whales and bluefin tuna. I suggest to surf anglers who want to fish lures… blast pencil poppers (Guides Secret, Gibbs, NorthBar Flying Pencil, Cordell among many other chjoices) and trash them to raise stripers. Also Yo-zuri Twitch Bait and LC Minnow are two other studs. Here’s a video report update from yesterday afternoon.

Here’s a quick update to supplement yesterday’s report.

This morning started off like many other recent trips with a good bite of big bass live lining early. Commonly my early morning feeds have been phenomenal until broken up with boat traffic. While that did happen today it was a blessing we had stiff northerly winds which made for less boats, more challenging sighting of bait and much faster drifts. All of which were bonuses in my book!

I started the same area I fished Saturday (5-10 miles north of BI). In the dark I found the bait and in grey light had an active whale breaching. It put on a show but I’m not sure if it bet yesterday morning’s three boat side bluefin leaps through bunker. Just a moment after the whale’s third breach big striped bass came up on top crashing bait and we were hooked up with a couple good ones. The whale, bunker and bass were pushing south, down wind so I worked the same way. It wasn’t easy given it was against the grain (morning traffic along IBSP pushes north up the beach). About an hour or two later working and catching along the way, we ended up all the way back near the inlet where a crazy good bunker / bass feed came alive and pushed right into the north jetty and east. We caught a couple more in that, but the boat traffic got crazy so I spun around and ran back up the beach again. And I’m very thankful I did!

That is when things fired up and really crazy. A large, I’ll call it massive body of striped bass (IMO a new wave of fish moving down the coast) were stacked up and gorging from top to bottom on peanut bunker, adults and BUTTERFISH! It was a very broad area, stretched out for a few miles and from 30-60′ of water. Top water lures were working but due to windy / sloppy conditions and fast drift jigs and subsurface – sinking lures were superior, hooking up every drop. This was as close as it gets to striped bass jumping in the boat. Large jigging spoons and 6-9” swim baits were money! Metal lips were getting lots of follows and bites too but they are tough to fish when windy if not proficient in casting, stopping the line to turn the lure and swimming them with the right speed/action. Not easy to teach an 8 year old during a hot bite. I’m sure anyone who dropped trolling gear were tight in the matter of a minute.

Christmas trees of striped bass on the sounder (really wish I took some photos of the screen) and they were popping up on the surface chasing bait with the birds picking too. The best part was the spastic run and guns were absent which made for a gentleman drifts. It was the first day I fished in awhile the fleet wasn’t playing jump rope (jump boat) all day. Nice long active fish filled drifts!

Looks like this fall just keeps getting better. I’m looking forward to more of this great fishing and hope you all are enjoying it too. If not now is the time to go!

LBI Surf Report

The LBI surf has not contended with the action from the northern reaches of the state; however there are striped bass being caught and a whole lot less anglers. Today store staffer Paul got a nice striped bass off the LBI surf today after work! He reported, “I had to weed through the hickory shad and a couple sea trout to find the bass on an AVA Diamond Jig.”

Another recent LBI surf catch photo came in from Gary Cochran, photo below. Also a short update on the LBI Surf Fishing Classic… Chris Masino holds the lead with his 11.1# striped bass he caught 11/9. Duncan Turner’s recent 9.98# striped bass catch puts him into fourth place. There’s some big fish on the board in the Surf Master Devision (Catch, Photo, Release) and more submissions came in this weekend. Those will be scored and posted soon. For more info see www.LBISFC.com

This week is set up to be a good one! Quality striped bass have moved into the Long Beach Island area in much larger numbers this weekend and today. There are pods of bait and hungry striped here! Now’s the time to chunk bunker or work the suds with plugs. Get after it!

The 7th Annual Striped Bass Bash hosted by the Maximilian Foundation is this weekend! The weather and fishing looks awesome. Join in on the fun!

The captains meeting starts at 7pm tonight, Friday November 3, 2023 at the Manahawkin Elks Lodge #2340. The Elks Lodge is located at 520 Hilliard Blvd in Manahawkin. The tournament is a one day fishing tournament event taking place tomorrow Saturday November 4, 2023.

Lines In: 12AM
Lines Out: 2PM
Weigh In: 1-5PM
Family Fish Fry: 2-6PM

The Maximilian Foundation is dedicated and committed to supporting bona fide programs that work with Children and Adolescents’ insecurities through Counseling, Substance Abuse Awareness and Education. The Foundation’s focus, efforts and mission are to help support those programs designed to strengthen individuals and build character and confidence, thus allowing Children and Adolescents to better handle life’s challenges, develop strong life skills, and learn to believe in themselves.

Saturday was a flash back to summer with sunny warm weather which made a gem of a weekend! But there is a big temperature swing coming this week with the first freeze expected Wednesday night. Waning down from the Hunter’s Moon (full moon Saturday 10/28/23) and the cold snap in combination have us looking forward to shifting gear out of early spring fishing and into prime time fall run action here on Long Beach Island.

The Halloween time frame has great opportunities for saltwater anglers. Striped bass, tog, albies, bluefish, sea bass, porgy and still some weakfish and triggerfish. The back bay has plenty of striped bass from schoolies, up to slot and a couple over slot range. Light tackle approach with lures as well as live bait will catch them. Tog info is detailed below. Albies are popping up on patchy small bait pods along the inshore waters. Some of the deeper water reef and wreck sites have some fun sea bass action but not like it was a few weeks ago. Porgy are in the mix there too. Better sea bass fishing is had for those pushing further offshore. Some anglers fishing for sea bass are catching a couple triggerfish. One angler reported catching sea bass and porgy good on clam at a wreck in 80-90′ of water with some blues, triggerfish and blowfish. There’s a few weakfish still around.

Tony Butch reported, “Caught 10+ species today which doesn’t include any striped bass.” He had a fun day with tight lines and drag pulling albies and bending the rod bottom fishing.

October has been a great month for fishing. As far as striped bass fishing out front, the fishing is better north of BI than south. It has been lights out fishing for Monmouth County anglers. This past week there has been a slow slide south. There have been some very good bites in northern Ocean County. Boats fishing out of Barnegat Inlet are catching on live bait, lures and trolling (mojos, spoons, umbrella rigs).

We have had some classy striped bass caught on the shores on LBI but nothing like up north. The next four to six weeks will be LBI’s best shot at prime time fall fishing on LBI. We are looking forward to it!

Andrea Powell caught and released a big striped bass enjoying the weather fishing the LBI surf Saturday. She reported, “11am to 6pm… All for one bite and a good fight.”

Blackfish / Tautog Fishing Report

The land based tog bite remains strong. Reports from the reef and wrecks are starting up too. On November 16 it opens up to a 5 fish bag limit. Until then it remains a one fish bag at 15″. For more info on NJ Saltwater Recreational Fishing Regulations…..

Phantastic striped bass fishing this past week and it continued yesterday. There’s a quality class of fish out front feeding on the bunker pods. The back bay also has plenty of striped bass action too. Tog fishing has been good. Day or night, now’s a great time to go fishing here on Long Beach Island. Here’s a fishing report video from yesterday around noon time…

The mid month new moon and cooling temperatures have the fish biting in the Long Beach Island waters. There’s good fishing in the bay, inlet, surf and ocean.

In the past couple weeks the suds have seen a big uptick in kingfish and spot in the surf. To me this means two things…

ONE: The way water temperatures are dropping and these two know it is time to move out. On their way anglers fishing the surf are hooking up. The bay temp made its first fall temp breakdown below 60º mark on October 15 and this weekend’s low down to 56º. The fall progression is underway!

TWO: The population of classy striped bass in the area is few. When the posse shows up in full force the kings are usually gone or bait. Be on the look out for these guys to move on and dogfish to arrive. Over the years the doggies arrive on or around the same time as the fall’s most abundant period of striped bass.

Here’s the Fishing LBI fishing report update from the Long Beach Island Area on Monday October 16, 2023

Long Beach Island Surf Fishing Report

The LBI Surf Fishing Classic had a great first week with weigh in activity almost everyday. To date kingfish and tog make up most of the weigh ins with the addition of eight striped bass and no bluefish. For more info check out the live results.

On the LBI surf there are a few striped bass with more coming. Today we heard our first local land based catch over 40”. The report came in from Jeff, a local angler who puts a lot of time in. He caught and released a 46″ striped bass in the morning. Late in the day Richard Rasiul weighed in a 28.25″ 7.82# striped bass. Bobby Capri reported catching a mid 30” range fish recently too.

The Merchantville Fishing Club’s ASAC surf fishing tournament was held on the North Beach and Harvey Cedars beaches this past weekend. The event was full of action with small fish on the surf making for an active day. Greg O’Connell shared, “It was a beautiful day on the beach with a mix of kingfish, bluefish and hickory shad scored.” There were also a lot of spot caught, some short striped bass and out of season fluke.

Anglers looking for blues should fish bunker, mullet or lures. Kingfish and spot are best targeted with small hook baited with live bloodworm, FishBites and/or DynaBait. Hickory shad are fun to target with small metal and a teaser. Striped bass love eel, clam, bunker, mullet or any lures that match the hatch.

FYI this morning we got heads up from our bunker boat… “lots of small bunker off the north end surf.”

Long Beach Island Bayside Fishing Report

Barnegat Bay, Manahawkin Bay and Great Bay have awesome early fall fishing opportunities. The blowfish are still here but those days are winding down. Striped bass fishing is good throughout the bayside waters during day and night. Schoolies in the open bay flats, ICW, sod banks, docks/lights and bridges. Crabbing is also going strong.

“Aloha! My brother Steve Gross and I fished around the island a few times last week while I was in town. We found lots of small to slot size bass on poppers, swimmers, and a few on bucktails. The Shimano reel I picked up for my rod was Slingshot was A+! Great to see you guys at the shop. Wish I could stick around through November! Back to Hawaii. Tight lines…” ~Moose

Barnegat Inlet Fishing Report

The inlet is and has been on fire with tautog. Fish live crabs on a jig or rig and enjoy the hot action. There’s striped bass at the inlet too.

Central NJ & Ocean Co. Inshore Fishing Report

Classy striped bass are moving into our area and the next 4-6+ weeks will be a great time to hunt striped bass fishing live bait as well as trolling the near shore waters. Also on tap; sea bass, tog and albies.

Capt Cole aboard the Morning Wood out of Barnegat Light has been having a blast catching and releasing classy striped bass. He reported the fishing has been great but he is running up the beach aways. Action is hot on metal lips, spoons, paddletails and of course live bait.

NJ Offshore Fishing Report

The big game bite is great when weather allows. We’ve heard some great yellowfin, bluefin, bigeye and wahoo reports. This is also a great time for sword fishing. Store staffer Danny V. reported a fun trip recently aboard the Miss Barnegat Light. He said that he broke off a big eye after a long battle on light leader chunking but they boated a few and had good fishing. He is looking forward to heading back out on the Red Sled later this week.