I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend!  It was a hectic weekend with my son playing 5 baseball games in 2 days.  But with his travel season finally winding down, I’m in full swing for charters.  The inlet and surrounding waters had a decent bite on Bluefish & Striped Bass, and Fluke are cooperative on the tides if you find clean water.  The bigger Bass are still being caught mostly on the troll, but the snag-n-drop has started to get better. Regarding fluking, you can definitely see the effects of the rain runoff from fertilizers as the bay has a ton of algal slime right now.  Just a reminder: I have weekends and weekday afternoons available through June 18th, and starting JUNE 19th will run 7 DAYS A WEEK UNTIL SEPTEMBER.

I did manage to get out and had Emil Slane, James D, and Xavier S. of New York, NY on a 4hr Bay/Inlet charter for a variety of species.  The crew tried fishing the inlet for Striped Bass, but it was covered up by feisty Blackfish with the slow current.  The guys boated Blackfish to 5 pounds as it was hard to get the bait to the Bass.  All the Blackfish were promptly released as they are out of season.  We spent the remainder of the trip fishing the backwaters, but the crew could only muster short fluke with the biggest being 17 inches.  All in all, the guys didn’t do too bad for their first time fishing the salt.

With a quick window in the morning, I took my wife and son on a brief Fluke trip to check a different part of the tide. Jen struck first with a solid 19.5 inch Fluke on the first drift, followed by Luke’s first Striper on the bucktail. This one he caught all by himself. After several drifts of short Fluke, Luke jigged an 18-incher that made it into the box. With two Fluke in the box and enough for dinner, we headed home and left them biting. We released about 15 Fluke and 1 Striped Bass in about 2 hours, keeping 2 Fluke for the table. It was definitely a better bite on the tide.

If interested in booking a charter, book through the website (reelreactioncharters.com), or call/text 609-290-7709 .  As always, we use the highest quality gear and everything is included all gear, tackle, fish-cleaning, and ICE – it’s “no worries” fishing.  Just come aboard and FISH.

Capt. Brett Taylor ~ Reel Reaction Sportfishing ~ Call or Text: 609-290-7709

There are some nice Striped Bass around, but the trouble is trying to get out as the weather windows have been pretty narrow this Spring, especially for weekends.  There are plenty of Bluefish around, and now that Fluke has opened it gives another viable option.  I tried a few locations in the back, but the recent rains have made for some serious snot-grass.  The trick has been finding cleaner water and frequently cleaning off your offerings.  It’s been a tough go as of late with multiple cancellations due to poor weather, wind, and sea conditions.

This past week I did manage to get Jim Bennet, his son Michael and Frank Baer from Media, Pennsylvania for a 5hr Ocean/Inlet charter. With the guys game for anything that swam, we started working close to home with the sight of birds on Spearing and 3 to 5 pound Bluefish. After moving on from the Blues, we decided to look for marks and trolled spoons for about an hour with two good-sized knockdowns. Unfortunately, we couldn’t come tight and with daylight waning we headed closer to home. The guys finished trip hooking up with 8 to 12 pound Bluefish on both live bait and artificials. Michael recently graduated from Lafayette University with an engineering degree so “hat’s” off to him. 

Later in the week, I had the opportunity to do a quick 2hr recon trip with Tom Duralek for Fluke after work.  Although we had to deal with some dirty water and steady winds to 20 knots, we ended with 1 keeper to 21 inches among a bunch of short fluke and some sea robins. Tom lost another nice one boatside, so they are definitely in the backbay areas.  The west side of the bay had some decent water temperatures up to 68 degrees. The conditions were pretty tough (dirty water & wind against tide), but at least managed to pull the 1st one of the season.

I have weekends and weekday afternoons available through June 18th, and starting JUNE 19th will run 7 DAYS A WEEK UNTIL SEPTEMBER.

If interested in booking a charter, book through the website (reelreactioncharters.com), or call/text 609-290-7709 .  As always, we use the highest quality gear and everything is included all gear, tackle, fish-cleaning, and ICE – it’s “no worries” fishing.  Just come aboard and FISH.

Capt. Brett Taylor ~ Reel Reaction Sportfishing ~ Call or Text: 609-290-7709

The big bass are here and we plan on targeting them by artificials, live bait, and trolling.  I have been pretty busy with my son’s baseball schedule with less time on the water, but that is changing as his season is winding down.  With that, I was able to squeeze a last minute opening for Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.  With favorable ocean conditions, we would most likely plan on fishing for Ocean Striped Bass, but working the inlet is also an option.

If interested, please call/text 609-290-7709 or book through the website (www.reelreactioncharters.com).

Capt. Brett Taylor

I had Bruce Conner of Illinois, Paul Covine, and Tom Duralek of Manahawkin on our first charter/open boat trip of the 2017 season. The trip’s goal was to have fun on shallow-water Bluefish and we got into them at our second spot. There is nothing like throwing a popper or plug, and having Bluefish destroy them in 2.5 feet of water. Some of the Barnegat Bay’s shallows produced some epic bites with fish nearing the 40 inch mark and up to 16 pounds.  Bruce was lights out working the Tsunami popper, followed by Paul on the SP Minnow, and Tom on a variety of lures. We had a busy morning scoring Blues on nearly every drift until it slowed. As we neared the end of the trip, we took one long drift along one of the lagoon fronts and scored a small Striped Bass and another monster Bluefish.

As we wait for the arrival of the bigger Striped Bass, I can run WEEKDAY afternoon bay Bluefish / Striped Bass trips from 3 to 7pm either full charter or $120 per person OPEN BOAT, in addition to WEEKENDS.  Once the OCEAN Striped Bass scene starts and tide is much less a factor, I can run weekends (anytime) and weekday (afternoons).  Again, as full CHARTER, or OPEN BOAT $150 per man for 5 hours.  All open-boats need 3 to run.

If interested in booking a charter, book through the website (reelreactioncharters.com), or call/text 609-290-7709 .  As always, we use the highest quality gear and everything is included all gear, tackle, fish-cleaning, and ICE – it’s “no worries” fishing.  Just come aboard and FISH.

Capt. Brett Taylor ~ Reel Reaction Sportfishing ~ Call or Text: 609-290-7709

My family and I went on vacation (first one in a long time) and had a blast on Sanibel Island, FL.  We saw lots of wildlife (Ospreys, Dolphins, Otters, Manatees with calves, Gators, etc – too many to mention).  But it was most enjoyable to see my 9yr old fish on his own.

But now we’re back to Jersey fishing and the JENNY LYNN has officially made it in the water.  We have some big Blues and smaller Bass in the bays which can be targeted with artificials.  May and June are prime months for Striped Bass and Bluefish, and I have both weekend and weekday afternoon availability.   Once this coastal low pressure front moves through, I’m available to run afternoon weekday bay trips for Bluefish and Striped Bass (3 to 7pm) as long as the tide matches up.  We can run as full charter, or as OPEN BOAT $120 per man (but need 3 to run).

Once the OCEAN Striped Bass scene starts and tide is much less a factor, I can run weekends (anytime) and weekday (afternoons).  Again, as full CHARTER, or OPEN BOAT $150 per man for 5 hours (need 3 to run).

If interested in booking a charter, book through the website (reelreactioncharters.com), or call/text 609-290-7709 .  As always, we use the highest quality gear and everything is included all gear, tackle, fish-cleaning, and ICE – it’s “no worries” fishing.  Just come aboard and FISH.

Capt. Brett Taylor ~ Reel Reaction Sportfishing ~ 609-290-7709