Just trolled this 48 pounder on a Green/Chartreuse Maja #4 bunker spoon off of Seaside Park in 63 feet of water. Rich Walton of Pine Grove PA caught him. Here’s the video:
Tomorrow (Sun) and Mon mornings are booked but I have both of those afternoons available for charter or Open Boat. Noon to 6PM.
Capt Dave DeGennaro
Hi Flier Sportfishing
732.330.5674
Joe from Hopewell caught this 32″ striped bass off the LBI surf yesterday. Joe was fishing the south end with bunker.
Matt Sorrentino got a 21″ keeper fluke yesterday fishing a local public dock. He reported, “Got my first fluke of the season after work!”
Offshore fishing is heating up! Good bluefin reports off the Jersey Coast. Some boats found large fish about 30 miles off. A smaller but better quantity are being boated out at the Hudson Canyon area.
June is here and that means one thing… It’s Shark Fishing Season! Captain Rick Woerner and crew from Carnivore Sportfishing recently hung a monster mako… 537 pound 108.75″. The Avet Reel and Costa Sunglasses Pro Staff reported their first trip of the season turned out to be a good one.
Speaking of sharks… Mary Lee seems to really like the Jersey Shore in the spring (May/June). As reported previously she has spent time in our local waters. The 17′ white shark was tagged in 2012. In 2015 she came for a visit in early May now again this year she’s back again. Recently she pinged a number of times. Last Sunday in Cape May, then Wildwood. Wednesday she was about 7 miles off Atlantic City then off Long Beach Island. Yesterday she was off the northern Jersey Coast.
The Carolyn Ann III out of Barnegat Light reports good black Sea bass fishing, “There are some quality fish but you have to weed through the shorts. Several anglers had their limits and lots had five or six. We started catching a few short fluke around the wrecks. It’s a good sign for the coming weeks. Depending on fishing we’ll be mixing it up with both species.”
The 10th Annual Striper Shootout and Fish Fry hosted by Harvey Cedars’ High Point Vol Fire Co is Saturday June 10th. It’s an awesome tournament that is a great time for the whole family. Live Music, Food and Raffel. For more info www.hpvfc.com
The 9th Annual Battle on the Beach Surf Fishing competition occurred on Wednesday, May 31st on the Barnegat Light surf. Barnegat H.S., Lacey H.S., MATES, and Southern Regional H.S. competed for the coveted Surf Fishing Trophy in the annual event. All four teams did a great job fishing the 9th through 12th street stretches of beach for a solid 3 hours. Teams rotated four sections of beach every 45 minutes from their lottery drawn pick. In the end, Barnegat H.S. won its third title with a total score of 69 points, which came from two Bluefish and a small Striped Bass. Southern Regional was a close second with 44.5 points tallied from two Bluefish, followed by Lacey and MATES with 0 points. Although several other species were caught (Stargazer, Skate, Dogfish) by the four teams, only gamefish count towards points. In addition to the victory and trophy, Barnegat High School Fishing Club was awarded a $500 scholarship to graduating seniors for the 2017 school year. The scholarship was donated by the LBI Surf Fishing Classic Committee. All four teams would like to thank some of the area’s business for donating and helping out with bait, tackle, and gear. Fisherman’s Headquarters in Ship Bottom and Tony’s Bait & Tackle in Manahawkin have supported this high school tournament from the 1st year. Also special thanks to Village Harbor Fishing Club, LBI Surf Fishing Classic committee, and the Barnegat Heavers for their help in running the event. Again, great job by the kids and fishing club advisors.
A couple reports flowed in from the surf today.
Local angler Dan stopped in for some hooks and fresh bunker. He reported catching on the mid-island surf yesterday… two bass (23″ & 25″) and a few blues. All on bunker.
Johnny Bui also got a couple bass and blues of the surf yesterday.
Johnnie Commiso got this 37″ bass off the mid-island surf yesterday.
Reports along the beach have been slow but there are a couple bass being pulled by anglers trolling. Those that are being caught are good size ones. The snag and drop bite doesn’t seem to be stacking up to previous years. Let’s hope it materializes soon.
Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association Fishing Report
by Jim Hutchinson Sr.
The 2017 summer flounder season has opened in the Beach Haven area, and the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are anxious to put their anglers on these fish.
Recent reports have decent amounts of keeper fluke around with quite a few meeting the New Jersey state minimum size of 18-inches. Recent hot spots have included the ICW south of Beach Haven along with the waters of Great Bay. An added attraction for fishing in the Great Bay waters is the continued presence of feisty bluefish. Goodly numbers of 2-4 pounders can be found all over.
The striped bass bite in the ocean is not hot right now, but the fish being caught on the troll with bunker spoons and Mojos are large ones. A recent local tournament had the two top places taken with fish weighing over 50-pounds.
BHCFA Captain John Lewis reports that he has his boat the “Insatiable” back at its mooring in Beach Haven and is ready to chase stripers, blues, and fluke. Captain John adds that he has heard of some bluefin tuna up to 450-pound being landed offshore this week, and he is anxious to find some anglers who want to test themselves against these big fish. He is also looking forward to the arrival of some mako sharks.
Captain Frank Camarda of the party boat “Miss Beach Haven” is ready to sail for fluke from his berth at Centre Street in Beach Haven.
Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.BHCFA.net
Sorry for the late report but being somewhat tech challenged I had a few “technical difficulties ” that slowed me up for last week’s report.
First, Thank YOU to our Military men and women who have served and continue to serve us all and allow us our daily freedoms that we generally take for granted.
Lastly my Deepest and sincerest Thank YOU! To our men and women and their families who have paid the Ultimate Sacrifice to serve and protect our homeland ,Freedoms liberties that we enjoy each and everyday.
Barnegat bay and inlet’s abundant fishery continues to offer up solid to excellent opportunities for light tackle enthusiasts with species such as blues, stripers and fluke.
Excellent Seabass action has offered up plenty of drop and reel action with black seabass and catch and release Tog for those looking for the available offshore wreck fishery available .
Trolling and snag and drop for large striped bass continues to be a hit or miss proposition with regrettably more misses than hits.
Remember to join us on Face Book and now Instagram [ work in progress] .
Also the our calendar continues to fill at a rapid pace for those looking to get in on our very sought after Fall fishery. Book and reserve today aboard the Reel Fantasea to see what our Fall “Reely” can offer!!
Lastly check out the Van Staal instagram photos that we were fortunately captured in while fishing the inlet.
Wishing everyone fair winds and calm seas,
Captain Steve Purul
Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters
609-290-1217
Positive reports of fluke, blues and bass.
Alex Weinstein stopped by and picked up a new Van Staal surf reel. He downsized from his VS250 to a VS150. He is stoked with his new set up. He just sent in this report, ” Thanks for setting me up. Got some big blues and bass on the north end surf recently. Sunset this past weekend and Tuesday were good for me. At low tide if you can wade deep to get out past the surf there are fish. You have to get behind the wave line. Alex got this one on a Deadly Dick Metal.
Store staffer Steve-o limited out fluke fishing yesterday. He got two nice ones and one right at 18″ mark. He was fishing live minnows on the north end.
A customer was in the shop reported picking at fluke bucktailing with Gulp. He got two keepers. An angler fishing close by chunking got three bass. The largest was 30″ and one had a full belly. It was stuffed with a few bunker heads and an extra large butterfish.
Captain Mark of the Laura Sportfishing stopped in today and picked up a spool of Power Pro line. While here he shared his morning report, “Got some bass and blues then switched over to fluke in the bay. Fun fishing!”
Ryan Szelc just stopped in to get more bunker this afternoon. He reported they are catching blues off the surf on chunks, “It’s weedy but fish are in there! We’ve been picking at bass.”
Store staffer Max sent in this report… “My dad Michael fished the bay today. Got four keepers up to 23 inches. As always they want the Gulp and Spro bucktailing combo.”
Mary Lee the 17 foot white shark that frequently pops up in our local waters is back. She continues to head north up the coast and has pinged six times in the past 24 hours. This afternoon she was off the south end of the Island.
I have 2 of 3 spots left for open boat Magic Hour Trip this Thursday June 1. 4-8 PM Bay / inlet bass, blues, & fluke $125 pp Weather looks great and the fishing is hot!
Capt. Alex 609 548-2511
The Bonnie Anne is back fishing and booking trips. Memorial Day Weekend is always reserved for trips with family.
Saturday we went wreck fishing and had to sort through lots of shorts. We did box 12 nice sea bass and it was my 5 year old Owen stealing the show with a 23″ humphead he brought to the boat solo.
Sunday we went fluking in the bay. After 3 hours we had 6 keeps to 23″. This time it was my 7 year old Eric ending with high hook and boxing 23″ and 22″ fatties. The fluke were on the chew!
We have openings this Sunday, June 4th for fluke, sea bass, or stripers. All bait, ice, tackle, and fish cleaning is included. Come out with us and catch fish!
Old Barney Charters – 267.918.1746 – Captain Kevin Schmidt
Paul Taurgrasso of Barnegat had fun fishing aboard the the Carolyn Ann III this past weekend. He caught ’em up to four pounds.
Here’s a report from the CA3, “Fishing was better Sunday as the current slowed down. Besides better fishing it was a beautiful day on the water. Seas were calm, sun was out and just warm enough. There was nice sea bass up to four pounds. Everyone had plenty of action with lots of short fish.”
Another sea bass report came from Dylan Fisher, “Took a break from stripers and gators to get into sea bass. Lots of life on the wrecks. Had a great time with the crew as we had action on the deck!”
Still blues and bass cruising the surf. Early June is prime time surf fishing here on LBI. We expect the next couple weeks to offer some awesome fishing. Here’s a photo of store staffer Nick D. He put a couple hours on the beach and found some blues. Best of luck to all the students fishing the Battle On The Beach tomorrow!!!
Here’s a recent photo from Captain Ken Nutt aboard the Striper out of Barnegat Light… 40.9 pound bass caught this weekend aboard the Striper by Adam Eastburn.
Some really nice reports of large bluefin tuna. One customer Zach was recently in the shop spooling up his Shimano Stella with hollowcore line and gave us heads up he caught a 450 pounder on the troll about 20-30 miles off central NJ coast just days ago. There were others caught but today we heard the boats fishing the area struck out. We did here of some smaller 30-40 pound bluefin further offshore in the area of the Hudson.
Look who’s back in town…
609-494-5739