We are doing well with the stripers and now there are blues to target. Most of the bass are 28” to 36” fish. Great sport on light spinning tackle. Mostly we are throwing lures at the inlet jetty for the bass. Anchored up with clams has been producing a few bigger fish like the 30 lber the the two guys below are holding. That fish measured 43 inches and ate a clam bait, flatlined with no weight on the very beginning of outgoing tide in Oyster Creek Channel. The blues are on the west side of the bay. All different sizes, casting topwaters or on the troll.
We will be sailing Open Boat or charter this Wed, Thurs, Fri, May 24, 25, 26.Wed 11AM to 5PMThurs 11:30AM to 5:30PMFri Noon to 6PM$175 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared. Pics: Al Hare of Lumberton NJ (Orange shirt) with a 33 inch bass he caught on a lure at the Barnegat Inlet jetty Ron Pullen of Browns Mills NJ and Wayne Malinosky of Lumberton holding Ron’s 30 lb striper that ate a clam Rob and Taylor Turrisi of State College PA with Taylor’s 29 incher he caught on a lure at the inlet.
We are still connecting with good size stripers on our trips to the inlet jetty. We are also catching blues on the west side of the bay. Running Open Boat or Charter Sat May 13 and Sun May 14, 5AM to 11AM. We are using lures and bait. Also running Tues, May 16 10AM to 4PM. All trips are $175 person. 4 people max. All fish are shared.
Call or text to reserve a spot.
Here is a pic and short video of Wayne Hopkins of Kutztown, PA, landing his bass that hit a surface plug yesterday (Thurs) at the inlet: https://youtu.be/b8RqGeRGoFY
We had a good couple of days striper fishing in Barnegat Inlet. The bite is dictated more by tide than the time of day. They have all been good size fish, 30 to 36 inch bass. Lures and bait have both been producing. We are going to run afternoon trips designed to fish the peak times this Wed-Thur-Fri, May 10-11-12.
Wed 10:30AM to 3:30PM, Thur 11AM to 4PM, and Fri 11:30AM to 4:30 PM. $160 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared.
Four for six on 34 to 36 inch stripers on the FishHead spinning rods. Such a blast floating bait on bobbers to the jetty. Back for more Mon May 8, 6AM to 1PM. Open Boat or charter. $175 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared. Call to reserve a spot.
I have a ton of bait lined up for this weekend. We will be running Open Boat or Charter for stripers and blues this Fri, Sat, Sun, and Mon.
Friday, May 5 10AM to 4PM. Anchoring up with clams on the beginning of outgoing tide for bass and then switching to lures or drifting bait for bass and blues at the inlet jetty and possibly the west side of Barnegat Bay. $175 person. 4 people max. All fish are shared.
Sat May 6, Sun May 7, and Mon May 8 we will start at 6AM to target the stripers on the west side of the bay by trolling plugs on light spinning gear or if we have some visual life, we will switch to casting lures. Each day we will time our effort to catch that outgoing tide with the clams, so depending on our success, we will move on to bait and lures at the inlet jetty and/or the bay for bass and blues.
6AM to 2PM each day. $175 person. 4 people max. All fish are shared.
The new striper regs that just came out today allow us to only keep fish in the 28 to 31 inch slot, so that is the target size. Once we hit May 15, we should also be able to keep our Bonus Slot fish, 24 to 28 inch fish.
I have been hearing about bluefish coming into the bay recently, so this could help round out the action.
I am aware that the 6 hour trip and the 8 hour trip are priced the same. That is because the overhead for each trip is almost the same. The bait costs more than the fuel these days.
We are ready to start fishing this weekend. The water temps on the west side of Barnegat Bay are in the 57 to 60 degree range and that is prime for stripers. Going to try the usual haunts on the west side looking for bird play or swirling fish to cast lures. If there are no visual signs we can troll lures on the light spinning rods until we find some life. This is an early morning bite more than a tide bite so we will be starting before sun up. The bass need to be 28″ or over to keep as the bonus program does not start until May 15.
After a few hours of bass fishing we can try the inlet jetty for blackfish. I have a very unique and effective way to target these early season jetty fish on light tackle. Spinning rods, bobbers, and the majic bait! This technique is also very good for the stripers at the inlet. The blackfish limit is 4 per man at 15″ or over.
Sailing Open Boat or Charter:
Saturday April 22, Monday April 24, Saturday April 29, Sunday, April 30
Also Monday May 1, but we will be targeting only stripers in the bay and inlet as blackfish season closes May 1.
All of these dates are 6 hour trips. 5:30AM to 11:30AM. $175 person. 4 people max. All fish are shared. Everything is provided.
Looking forward to seeing everyone on board again!
Our 4th Annual Philadelphia Fishing Show will be held Feb 17-19, 2023 at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, PA.
There are over 230 booths of fishing tackle, guides, lodges, apparel and more. All fishing, no junk! There are also boats, outboards, and RV’s on display. Check out the Hawg Trough, a 5,000 gallon gamefish aquarium. Catch a fish at the show in our fully stocked Trout Pond. See the 3,000 lb Great White Shark replica, get harnessed up and and go toe-to-toe against the rod and reel that caught him. Our newest attraction this year is our Virtual Fishing simulator that lets you battle a variety of species from all over the world.
There are three seminar rooms going around the clock for all three days with some of fishing’s top captains and guides sharing what they know about the sport they are most passionate about. Speakers such as Capt Tom Daffin, Nick Honachefsky, Frank Mihalic, Capt Freddy Gamboa, and Capt Alan Lee, just to name a few. The seminars are FREE and included with your admission to the show. Meet Dave Marciano, captain of the F/V Hard Merchandise from Wicked Tuna. He will be at the Fishing Nosara booth during the entire show. He will also be giving a seminar on Giant Bluefin Tuna on Sunday at Noon. Check out our website for the entire seminar schedule and list of exhibitors.
Admission is $12 for adults, Kids 6 to 12 $6, 5 and under are FREE. FREE parking for everyone. FREE Seminars. Food and beverages available inside the show. For all of the info, visit: phillyfishingshow.com
Hope to see you there! Thank you, DaveDave DeGennaro
The striper bite is relentless. Every day brings blitz style fishing to the shoreline from Belmar to Seaside. Thousands of birds, pick your own flock, surfacing stripers. We haven’t had to troll yet. Everything has been on surface plugs and soft plastics on light spinning gear. This is a migration run for the ages.
Running Open Boat or Charter Monday, Dec 5, 7AM to 3PM. $275 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared.
This is it. This is the weather and the fishing we have all been waiting for. Sure, it’s cold….and windy. But it’s a west wind and the fish are tight to the beach, so the ocean will be flat calm. The harder it blows from the west, the flatter it gets, as long as you are within a mile and a half of the beach, beyond that, you will have some waves. The good news is that the fish have been tight to the beach. It doesn’t always go that way this time of year. A few seasons back, the fish and bait were in the 3 to 7 mile range offshore where you are not even allowed to fish for them. The other positive right now is that most of the fish are less than 38 inches so you actually get to go home with some fillet. Our last trip out we even had some 24 to 28 inch slot fish which I have bonus tags for. So far it’s been all casting and jigging. No better way to catch them!
Sailing Open Boat or Charter: Saturday Nov 19, Sunday Nov 20, and Mon Nov 21 6AM to 2PM $275 person. 4 people max. All fish are shared
Like many others, I am guilty of using the term “epic” in describing the day of fishing we had. With that said, yesterday’s open boat trip was “epic”. By no genius of mine, mind you. It was all because Capt Gene Linder on the Side Chick, currently sailing from Shark River, NJ gave me the call.
We broke Barnegat Inlet early in the morning and made the left. It was not feeling good, the water was still a little murky from the storm, the wind was up hard, and we didn’t have any life until Seaside Heights. We had blackout readings, lots of bird play, but not a touch trolling and casting. We kept moving north and found a small group of boats working a big bunker pod off of Belmar, but no bent rods or nets going over. Just then we got the second phone call from Gene that we should get up there as the bite is now topwater with breaking fish. Up there, as in the Atlantic Highlands.
Off we went, and I warned my crew that I have taken these rides before only to hear how good it was and we should have been there earlier. Also, we were arriving right at slack tide, so I told everyone on board that it was going to be a slow hour or two before we saw action again. Fortunately, that all proved to be wrong. We got into fish immediately and it got better every hour both with casting topwater lures or snagged bunker. Mostly all were 26″ to 36″ fish which meant people were also going home with Ziplocks.
This was the first real workout on the new set of Fishermans Headquarters INS701MHS Spinning Rods I paired with Battle lll 5000’s and they were perfect. Flexible enough to enjoy the fight and still had enough backbone to throw heavier lures and set a hook. Could not be happier with these outfits.
I just looked at the marine forecast and it is going to blow W or NW for the longest stretch I have ever seen. Most of it at low velocity. We will be sailing every day starting Wed Nov 16 thru the first weekend of Dec.
It’s probably best if you don’t use this trip as the expectation for your trip as this doesn’t happen every day. It’s fun to to know that it is possible anytime you go out, but this is not a typical day. But if given the information, we will go wherever the bite is. Number one rule: Fish where the fish are. Also know that our scheduled end time is not always our exact end time, we often go later.
Tues thru Fri 10AM to 5PM. $250 person. Sat, Sun, and Mon’s 6:30 AM to 2:30 AM. $275 person. Four people max on all trips, all fish are shared. Any of these days are also available for charter.
Pics: Roger Rabain of Delaware (black hoodie)
Stuart Lombardi of Demarest NJ (orange hat) Stu also gets credit for the videos
Bill Buckham of Lansdale, PA (red hoodie, black hat)
Phil Falato of Seaside Park NJ (green rain jacket)
609-494-5739
