Quick one here as I am very busy.  The last two days the action has been great around then inlet and back for blues from 2-10 pounds and bass from shorts to around 20 pounds.  Intel on fluke is that there are around have to fish the right tide. I am open Monday Memorial if you want to get in on the action.

Screaming drags,

Capt. Alex 609-548-2511

Sorry for the delay in reporting .  Over the weekend I ran three trips in two days. The ocean was a little sporty so we stayed in the bay.  Intel has it that the inlet is loaded with fish but I just could not safely fish it this weekend.  Saturday morning the Ernie Dellheim crew from worked hard for the blues.  Fish landed were 4 – 10 pounds and feisty.  For part of the trip I fished in close proximity to my good friend Capt. Bill of Mole’s Charters, who had better success than us boxing thee bass and releasing five others.  Nice job Bill!  Anyone that has watched George Poveromo on TV might know that George always talks about how “subtle differences” can make or break of fishing trip.  Not sure if Capt Bill was doing anything much different than I Saturday morning but Bill if you had a subtle difference, throw me a bone here buddy!  The morning trip also released a nice 20″ fluke that fell to a dead stick bunker chunk on a 9/0 hook with a wire leader. Go figure, but it even gets better from there…..On the PM trip, the Pereni family was out and worked hard to put some fish on the deck as well as back in the water.  Well…. on the same fluke slaying set up used on the AM tri p, they one upped the AM trip with a fat 6 pound fluke. Attached is a picture before it was released. I know where I’m fishing opening day of fluke season this week ;). Sunday I had a crew from Canada for a little fishing and eco-touring. Weeds were the word of the day but they did catch some fish and had a great time.  I am available Sunday and Monday, Memorial Day.  Just give me a call if you’re interested in booking one of those days.

Screaming drags,

Capt. Alex   609-548-2511      Lighthouse Sportfishing

I just got off of Sedge Island, located on Barnegat Bay behind Island Beach State Park, after spending Thursday overnight into Friday with some of my AP Environmental Science Students. Sedge Island is rich in history.  An over 100 year old hunting shack has stood the test of time and weathered every coastal storm Mother Nature has thrown at it. Babe Ruth stayed at Sedge and it is without any doubt it is the pillar to which Ospreys and Peregrine Falcons have made a historical comeback after the detrimental effect of DDT which was banned in 1972. And it was one man, Pete McLain, who had the vision and determination to bring these birds back from the brick of extinction. Knowing that hunting and conservation could co-exist, it was Pete who had the name of the New Jersey’s Departmental of Environmental Protection’s Division of Fish & Game name changed to Fish & Wildlife. Pete is no longer with us, but his legacy is remembered every year with when from the wintering grounds of South America  the first Ospreys returns to Sedge Island in March. Thanks Pete! Now with the fishing report.  It was great to see my students get into some of the bluefish action today.  They landed a handful of blues from 2-4  pounds, broke off one much bigger, and landed a schoolie bass. I had Paul Karner out earlier in the week flyfishing with no success.  Seems like the 40 deg nights put the blues off a little. With the full moon passed us the big bass are starting to show up off the beach.  All we need  is a little warming of the ocean to blow the bite wide open. I have some magic hour dates open later in the week as well as Sunday May 21^st.

Screaming drags,

Capt. Alex 609-548-2511

Well my team worked hard and had fun but the hard work paid off as we took 2nd place in the Level 1 Division – Limited Geographic Area of the World Series of Birding. Have one spot open for tomorrow magic hour trip 4:30 to dark for monster bay bluefish and striped. Cost is $135 and this is a special as on this trip you would only be sharing the boat with one other angler.

Screaming drags,

Capt. Alex 609-548-2511

Quick report here, my World Series of Birding Team, LBIF Ospreys, has been spending every available minute the last two weeks scouting birds for the Big Day, this Saturday. We are competing in the Bird Conservation Challenge – Level I Limited Geographic Area. Our team is staying in Ocean County and hope to make OC proud! You can follow me the day of the event on Twitter @LHSportfishing. Wish us luck! Oh, what does this have to do about fishing? OK, here it is…While scouting birds by boat today around the inlet I saw some terns getting excited so I ran over to get in on the action. I guess fishing trumps birding  My first cast, was my only cast, because after a couple twitches of a white BKD I got hammered hard. It took the better part of 10 minutes to land the beast (bluefish) and when weighed it pulled the scale down to 15.4 pounds. Be warned, this beast is still out there and might be looking to fight with you soon!

Screaming drags,

Capt Alex 609-548-2511

First trip of the year Sunday with John Morley from Manahawkin and his 10 year old son Jack. Going into my fourteenth year of guiding I made a promise to myself to try some areas that I have not fished in a while and to target a new species (have to wait for summer to see if I keep that promise). Well out of the gate first cast Jack get a schoolie striper! Well that was the kiss of death on that bite, because during the next 40 minutes we landed only a 2 pound blue. We fished a spot I have not fished by boat since 1986. Even with that I think the change of spots paid off, and I plan on taking more of my clients there in the future. After that we were in search of gator bluefish and they did not let us down. Blues from 10-12.5 pounds on poppers and swimmers in shallow water. World class action folks. The bite was slower than normal but no complaints with the results. Here is a picture of Jack with the 12.5 lb. blue. I have Wednesday and Thursday (May 3rd & 4th) available for magic hour trips and then the next available date is one (1) spot for open boat Monday May 8th Magic hr trip . May dates are filling in fast so let me know if you want me to hold one for you. Remember I do offer fly-fishing as an option and with the monster blues in the shallows there is no better time than now to fly-fish the bay.

On the nature side of things: I am totally psyched for the World Series of Birding next Saturday, May 6th. Here is my teams page the LBIF Ospreys.  To date I have raised over $1,000 for LBIF and Fisherman Headquarters was one of my pledges. Thanks again Greg!  My team and I have been scouting breeding birds locations every available minute we have. For some, like myself, this competition is not just pick up a pair of binoculars and look for some birds. It takes countless hours of scouting out birds right before the big day. And if you know where a certain hard to find species of bird can be found it is not good enough. You need a backup location, and maybe a backup to your backup. This is serious stuff and I want to bring home the first place cup. Wish me luck come this Saturday.

Screaming drags and clear binoculars,

Capt. Alex
Barnegat Bay, NJ
609-548-2511

I am calling this report Barnegat Bay Watershed Report for two reasons.  First, I fished a Ocean County Pine Barrens Lake this afternoon, which is part of the Barnegat Bay Watershed.  Second to highlight importance of the Barnegat Bay Watershed  A watershed is a region or area bounded peripherally by a divide and draining ultimately to a particular watercourse or body of water. Barnegat Bay’s watershed is eminence.  It is fed by the Pines in areas like Warren Grove, Manchester, New Egypt and Jackson. So what happens in Jackson does not stay in Jackson. It can trickle down all the way to Barnegat  Bay and ultimately the ocean. Now on to the report.  I fished both live minnows and artificials. Landed four nice pickerel a decent bucket-mouth.  Water was clear and I estimate in the mid 50’s  The Debbie M should be splashed this week and it will be game on!  Drop me a line  (heehe) if you want to experience what the Barnegat Bay Watershed has to offer.

Screaming Drags, Capt Alex 609-548-2511

Little out of local but thought I would share. Kicked it real old school yesterday and met my oldest son Damian and his friend Amanda @ Stockton University.  They did some yaking on Lake Fred, I fished. But time well spent together.  Having Graduated from Stockton in 1985 and fished Lake Fred my entire career it was nostalgic to be on it again. This is the first time since 85 that I wet a line there.  I saw three Ospreys, the school mascot, hunting over the Lake. Cool beans. During my Stockton Days it was something special to see an Osprey there due to the devastating effects of DDT. Those were were likely migrants.  But then again, it was something special to be able to see anything during my Stockton Days. LOL For what its worth I landed two respectful pickerel and lost a BIG one due to a lack of respect (its teeth cut my through my line).  I tried to soak in the fact that most of the trees on campus are the same ones from over 30 years ago. They now have 60 more rings then when I graduated. You see trees in temperature climate show two rings a year. Spring wood grows fast and is lighter because it consists of large cells. During the summer, growth slows down and smaller darker cells are laid down.

Enjoying kayaking fishing and kayaking sooooooo much I am thinking about offering kayaking in addition to my boat charters.  If i do it, I would offer guided fishing, clamming, nature, what ever you want type of trip around the backwaters of Barnegat Bay. Let me know if you are interested so I can figure out if I have enough clients interested. If the interest is there I’m game, are you?

Screaming drags, Capt. Alex 609-548-2511

Hit the local lagoons the last two evenings and caught a bunch of white perch. Some of which I invited home to dinner. Monday night’s bite started a few hours before sun down and stayed strong until dark.  Tonight was a little bit slower and a lot more smaller fish.I was using a shad dart with a piece of sandworm. Yes, you can catch white perch without grass shrimp.  On the nature side of things: lets talk sustainability.  Sustainability’s definition is “the ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level.” or “avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance”  It is kind of like investing in the future.  The locale I was fishing the last two evenings was a mob scene. Even with the crowds everyone got along and even offered to give bait to others.  I like when I see such goodness in outdoors people. And what most importantly I observed was that even though there no limits on white perch everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, was harvesting only what they needed.  Lots of fish were being released which is important at this time of year since they are looking to spawn. Can anyone tell me where I can catch white perch in July or August around Barnegat Bay??? Like where do they go?

Screaming Drags,

Capt Alex 609548-2511

Splashed the yak during the predawn hours today.  I fished waaaay south of the power plant and had excellent light tackle action with schoolie bass to 15″.  Once again scaled down white BKD or a small 4″ white Fin-S. Released over 20 fish in under an hour. Lots of fun. Man I love my 7′ St Croix Mojo Surf rod.  It is a little to much rod for these fish but I you never know when the big one might show up

Screaming drags, Capt. Alex 609-548-2511