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.

Looks like a nice weather pattern coming up so we will be sailing Open Boat or Charter for Stripers Thurs Nov 2, Fri Nov 3, Sat Nov 4, and Sun Nov 5. These cooler temps along with the passing of the full moon should really accelerate the migration. We have been catching 35 to 50 lb class fish on live bunker recently but there should be a good push of school size fish this week. We are going to make a left and trek north each day until we find them. We will be ready to snag, drift bait, jig, cast lures, or troll, whatever conditions dictate. We always have everything on board. We have bonus tags for everyone on board so we can keep one fish between 24 and 28 inches per person, and one fish between 28 and 31 inches per person.

Open Boat or Charter for Stripers Thurs Nov 2, Fri Nov 3, Sat Nov 4, and Sun Nov 5. 6AM to 2PM (or later).  

$275 person. 4 people max. All fish are shared.

Pics are from our Fri and Sat trips this past weekend.Hope to see you on board.

Thank you,

Dave

Dave DeGennaroHi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

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…..

https://fishinglbi.com/2023/10/12/nj-saltwater-fishing-regulations-seasons-size-bag-limit-laws/

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 striper fishery is heating up. I had the Gordon Soda group from Allentown, PA out for some personal best striper fishing. A 45 and 50 pound bass on live bunker off of Island Beach State Park in 10 feet of water. Pics below.

There are now some smaller size fish mixed in so that we could try to put some in the cooler, as well. We will have to trek some miles north for that but I don’t mind if you don’t mind. I don’t have any north or south boundaries when it comes to finding fish. Number one rule: Fish where the fish are. We are armed to the teeth with gear for snagging, bait fishing, jigging, casting, and trolling.

Sailing Open Boat or Charter: Thurs Oct 26, Fri Oct 27, and Sat Oct 28. 6:30 AM to 2:30PM (could be later) $275 person. 4 people max. All fish are shared. Everything is included. We are available tomorrow, Wed Oct 25 and Sun Oct 29, as well, for charters.

We have bonus tags for everyone, so we can keep one fish per person between 24 and 31 inches.

Thank you,

Dave

Dave DeGennaroHi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cellhiflier.com

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.