Striped Bass Season was pretty much in gear since Day 1, very productive fishing and action each trip out with good quality Bayside Schoolie Stripers from 25”-30” attacking artificial presentations. Mother Nature provided good weather conditions around the Moon and it was Fish’On.
Pictured Here: is a good fish that just recently smacked a Yo-Zuri Twitch Bait that I bought at Fishermans Headquarters LBI NJ
So the NJ Striped Bass season is off to a great start and will only get better as we now head into April.
“ April Showers brings Big May Stripers”
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The striped bass remain active, a little less active than earlier in the month, but both bait and lures are catching day and night. The early season areas remain the epicenter, back bays, rivers and tributaries. Here on Long Beach Island there has been good fishing the entire month of March on the Ship Bottom bayside as well as the Causeway Bridge access points. We expect this to continue for all of April. A bigger class of striped bass have moved into the greater region with classy fish recently in the Delaware River and Raritan Bay. April is always a great month and we are looking forward to it.
Monday April 1st is opening day of New Jersey’s blackfishing season opens. Right now we have both green crabs and white crabs as well as all top tog tackles. Stop in and gear up today for this short but awesome one month season!
Just a heads up we are closing early today but will be back on Monday.
For the most part targeting wahoo in the region has been an underground thing. In the past couple years wahoo have become a more popular target species and the demand for info and specific tackle has increased significantly. Captain Dave Adams (from Tormenter Tackle, base out of West Palm Beach Florida) shared his plan for a couple fishing seminars in the north east and asked me to help.
Save The Date! This Saturday April 6th we are having a Wahoo & Tuna Fishing Seminar at the Beach Haven Marlin & Tuna Club House. Bring a friend, enjoy the seminar, ask questions, network with other anglers and talk fishing with an ice cold beverage.
This event is free and open to the public. Cash Bar. There will be door prizes, tackle raffle, giveaways and special sales. Also Tormenter is offering an opportunity to participate in a chance to Win A Trip To Cabo.
When: Saturday, April 6th from 5:30PM to 7:30PM Where: BHMTC – 420 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Beach Haven, NJ 08008
Even with the recent chill, heavy rain and windy conditions, striped bass fishing continues to be good in the back bays and rivers. Today, Monday March 25th is the full moon of March which was named by the Native Americans, the Worm Moon. So far the early spring fishing has been good and things look promising as we approach Easter. We are looking forward to more fun striped bass fishing as well as perch, winter flounder, black drum and in the not too distant future… weakfish and blues! {Fingers Crossed}
Right now we have a beautiful batch of live bloodworms available at the shop, both regulars and jumbos. These are the best baits option to catch both striped bass and perch. We also have small jars of preserved grass shrimp which are fantastic for white perch too.
Also if you are looking for a new rod or reel for this season we are stocked up with great options in a variety of price points all at competitive prices. Stop in at Fisherman’s Headquarters to get geared up.
Beautiful weather has really turned on the early spring fishing here in the Long Beach Island area. Recent days have offered good fishing for striped bass in the bay with bloodworms. Some days bait was hard to get but, this afternoon we got a nice delivery of bloods and we expect more tomorrow so we should be stocked up for the weekend.
Be sure to check out the Saltwater Fishing Expo this weekend… Friday, Saturday, Sunday! We will be at booth 401. Stop by and say hi.Click here for more info on the show.
By now we hope you have seen either the gannets in person or the videos we have been sharing on social. For a number of days, we have had a lot of gannets hammering on bait. This afternoon we got our first striped bass report from the LBI surf… here is a link to a short video.
This week with the opening of back bay striped bass (on 3/1/24) we expanded our hours a little bit. In a few more weeks we will extend some more.
Right now we are Open 7 Days A Week At 7am. Monday thru Thursday we close at 6PM, Friday and Saturday 7PM and Sunday 5PM. Stop in and gear up for the season.
Live Bloods & Grass Shrimp
The two best early season baits for striped bass and white perch are live bloodworms and grass shrimp. Right now we have both and will do our best to have both all spring.
Stay tuned for a bloodworm blog that will be published soon. On the grass shrimp side of thing… We are now carrying preserved grass shrimp. They come in a small dish like container at $8.99. See photo below.
Grass shrimp are a killer white perch bait and work great for many other species like weakfish, fluke, winter flounder, striped bass, snappers and blowfish. Everything eats grass shrimp! They are small baits so scale down with a small hook and light leader.
NJ Saltwater Fishing Expo
Reminder: Saltwater Fishing Expo is next week, March 15,16,17th! Be sure to stop by and See Us At Booth 401. Show Hours: Friday 12PM-8PM, Saturday 10AM-6PM, Sunday 10AM-5PM. It’s the best show of the year by a landslide so don’t miss out on the great event packed with informative seminars and demos. Explore fishing tackle hands on from A to Z.
Also, Sunday is family Day! Children 11 and under are free when accompanied by a paying adult and the first 100 kids 11 and younger will receive a Daiwa rod/reel combo!
The New Jersey back bays opened for striped bass at on March 1st. There were chilly westerly winds but some anglers got out and fished. We received catch reports from locally here in the early season spots of Barnegat Bay as well as others in the state. We had one weigh in from Carl Hartman who checked in a keeper striped bass which was caught out of town.
UPDATE: Added March 3 fishing report video…
The water clarity is murky and in the 40-43º range in the bay mid island. We got heads up from a friend who was moving his boat yesterday. “Down in Tuckerton Creek the water was 47º. But it dropped fast once I was in the bay. Most of the bay running up to Beach Haven West was 43º.”
For the next month or more with the cold water temperature live bloodworm will be the best bait.
At times the right lures will get the job done too. Great spring time bass lures are soft plastics such as 3-5″ NLBN’s, Kettle Creeks Paddle Tails, Z-man and Tsunami shads. Hard baits like the smaller size Rapala X-rap jerk baits, as well as the Guides Secret Slim Twitchy and Mucho Minnow are awesome small profile lures that stand out in the back bay spring fishery. All of these and much more are available in store or online at Fish Heads.
Reports of white perch continue at the local lagoons as well as rivers and tributaries. One customer reported that the perch have been in his lagoon since the last warm stretch before the snow. Others are catching in the Mullica.
Stop into see us at Fisherman’s Headquarters and get geared up with early season essentials. ~ Tight Lines!
Next week is our 2024 Philadelphia Fishing Show in Oaks, PA, Feb 16-18. This will be our 5th Annual and biggest show to date. There are 145 different companies filling out over 220 booths, as well as boats, RV’s, and attractions. This is a pure fishing show, no junk booths. Only five percent of our floor is non-fishing and I hand pick those exhibits: hot sauce, pickles, mustard, jerky, crab cakes, moonshine, bourbon, and more! Check out the Hawg Trough, a 5,000 gallon aquarium full of freshwater gamefish. The kids can even catch a fish at the show in the fully stocked Trout Pond. There is also a fishing simulator where you can go toe to toe with a tarpon or sailfish. FREE Seminars: there are three seminar rooms going around the clock for all three days with some of the area’s best guides and captains sharing what they know about their favorite sport.
I do have some news about the Hi Flier. I retired from my truck driving job, so I will be available full time, 7 days a week for charters. We will be starting to striper fish in late April and will keep fishing into Thanksgiving. Those of you that fish with us know we fish Barnegat Bay to the tuna grounds and everything in between.
We will have a booth at the show, Booth 426, if you want to stop by and say Hey to me or Capt Nick. I am rarely in the booth, as I am usually all over the show making sure everything is running smoothly. But if you want to book a trip, have a question, or just say hello, have Nick or anyone with a bright green STAFF shirt get me on the radio and I will meet you at the booth.
Looking forward to a great show and fishing season!
Today we got our first delivery of live bloodworms for the 2024 season. Time to get your perch game on. Striped bass fishing opens in the backwaters March 1st.
Considering the date, this week was a mild one with fair fishing conditions. The predominantly west winds and small swell allowed anglers to hunt for striped bass and tautog. Just like the last report post, both offered good fishing. It seems like since the big storm the inshore-midhsore tuna are gone.
On Thursday Bob Haines went out of Barnegat Inlet striper fishing off of Island Beach State Park. He said earlier in the morning marking fish but they were not biting. It took a couple hours and finally turned out. He reported, “Another great day on the water!” Photo of Bob and crew is at the end of this post.
Here’s the most recent Fishing Report Video Post…
On Monday I kicked off the new year the right way and went fishing with my buddy Tony. His drop he hooked a 10# tog (10.22# official weight at the Beach Haven Marlin Tuna Club) and proceeded to roast them all day. It wasn’t full on firing fishing but we did have steady action. I struggled for most the day, basically feeding crabs to small tog and being patient with small scratchy bites. I hooked a few fish but for the most part kept my swing count low. Towards the end of the day we decided to try another piece which I like and previously caught some nice tog on. In route we ended up stopping on a super small snag that we stumbled over and marked. After very little time, Tony had another classy tog in the 8# range. He was dialed in and having his way on a great day. He finally snagged up and broke off. It was getting late, so I said, “One more crab and I’m done. Let’s pack up and go in.” I drop down and within five seconds of my Magictail 2oz Tog Jig touching down I got slammed and I struck back and quickly got five cranks on the handle. Then tug of way with neither side giving an inch. I’m so happy I was fishing my Magictail 7’6″ 2-6″ rod because if I was using my usual 1-3 or 1-4 oz rods I most likely would not have had a chance. Fortunately I had the right tackle for the fish, especially 50# Cortland Master Braid. Finally got it up and decided to keep it boat side in the net to revive and tag. Got a quick weight at 10.12#, a photo and the fish took off strong. I’m hoping it lived and someone else will catch it when it’s even bigger. It was awesome to kick off the new year with a pair of of double digit tog on the boat as well as a solid quality size limit.
