September is here!  With cool dry air and easterly swell in the water, it sure feels like fall!  The new moon was Tuesday and it marked a new stage in the season’s progression, an exit from summer. I’ve shared recently that the bait is staged up and abundant. Some is moving out front; peanut bunker, bay anchovies, spearing, soon to be mullet!

Yesterday might have been the best weather day of the week for those looking to get our front and fish the ocean via boat. However areas of the bay in the leeward side of the island and sod banks will offer protection. The surf will be a little churned up but that isn’t a bad thing for surf anglers. The second half of this week, we will have onshore winds and easterly swell. A large slow moving low pressure system offshore will keep the conditions sloppy and fall like. Expect 3-4’ surf on the beaches Thursday – Friday – Saturday, then fading Sunday. The tropics are waking up so all should keep an eye and ear out for developments.

Tune into my latest LBI Fishing Report video…

Current Fishing Info – What’s on tap? 

My morning charter yesterday wasn’t bad today. We had a fun trip starting out with quick action with small blues on light tackle. After a few minutes everyone aboard caught a few and we went to hunt albies. It was sloppy with the north easterly blow making it more challenging but we founds some not far from Barnegat Inlet. Since the trip’s main focus was fluke we didn’t spend too much time with the albies before running out to the Barnegat Light Reef. First drift we had a 20″ keeper, a handful of shorts and some perky sea robins. The fish were not cold to the touch, so the bottom temperature was not cold. That was great news and most likely the reason the bite was active for the rest of the trip. The cold bottom was a curse for most of the summer season.

We finished the day with three keepers up to 21″ in about a three hour fluke session drifting the reef. Somehow I caught all of the keeper. The best action for me was on the jig. I was using a Magictail Round Head Jig 6oz Glow baited with 8″ Gulp Grub, rigged with a naked 6″ Gulp Grub teaser above. Salmon (orange) and Fire Tiger (orange /chartreuse) were best. Pink shine and white glow, my two favorites over the past couple of years didn’t come close in terms of productivity.

September Offers Lots Of Good Fishing Opportunities

We are in the final stretch of the fluke season, but in my opinion, some of the best weeks of the season. NJ summer flounder (fluke) season closed on Wednesday September 25, 2024. There’s still good fluke fishing right now in the bay and inlet. The west side of the bay as well as the main thoroughfares linking the open bay to the inlet are great spots to fluke fish all season long and they are producing right now.

With water temperatures hovering around the 70 degree mark, both in the bay and the ocean offer an active bite. With regards to the bay even on both side of the tide.

Summer Flounder

This is not just a boat game. Surf and jetty anglers get good late season fluke fishing too. The inlet is a great area to fish as all fluke departing Barnegat Bay in route east funnel through. These same fish can staged up along the sand beaches feeding on shellfish and other baits (fluke love mullet) in the pockets and wash.

Tautog

There’s action but mostly smaller critters. Anyone looking to go is just about guaranteed to get into an active bite but go into it knowing you will need to earn a keeper size fish. While the water is still warm in addition to the tog, there are sheepshead, triggerfish and porgies as well as smaller class of black sea bass on nearshore structure. We expect tog fishing to only improve from here. Once colder weather and water settles in the tog bite will be prime.

To Target Tog: Fish either a jig (Bottom Sweeper Jigs & Magictail Tog Jigs) or a rig (Simple Hi-Lo Blackfish / Tog Rig). Keep it simple and bait up with crab. Both sand fleas and green crabs are great baits.

Inshore Hardtails

False albacore, bonita and Spanish mackerel as well as mahi are present in the nearshore – inshore – midshore waters. If wanting to hunt these fun and fast small pelagics feeding under the small quick moving bird plays you have to use light tackle. The only way to effectively use small lures which are needed to match the hatch, is to fish light line and a light outfit (rod/reel) to long cast.

My three favorite and best producing lures this season and previous years…

• Hogy Epoxy Jig
• Savage Glass Minnow Jig
• Deadly Dick Lures

Color is the least of my concern. I’m most particular with the weight and size/length. Fish the smallest possible. On calm days I use the smallest sizes (3/8, 1/2, 5/8) and these are fished on my lightest rods. When fishing windy days I will go up to the 7/8-1oz sizes. I would suggest staying away from anything over 1oz and larger than 4″ unless you are fishing a heavy rod or looking to fish deeper in the water column. I refrain from both in this scenario

With regards to rigging, light line and leader is a must. I prefer 20# braid with a 20# fluorocarbon leader which connect via line to line knot (FG, double alright, uni to uni). I tie a perfection loop at the end of the leader and then loop on the jig. There’s no hardware needed and I can quickly change the lure if needed. I’m not a fan of jewelry (terminal tackle hardware).

In The Bay

Blowfish and weakfish are active in the bay and should offer good fishing all month. Also fluke (mentioned above), blues and striped bass are on tap.

Blowfish are a fairly easy approach; anchor up in 7-10′ of water in the heart of Barnegat Bay, drop a chum pot down and then a rig (small long shank blowfish hooks – Blowfish Rig) baited with clam and/or small pieces of Fish Bites. You very well may catch spot, croakers and some spike weakfish.

Targeting weakfish is a little more challenging. They are occasionally caught by accident/bycatch when targeting fluke or blowfish. To best target them you’ll want to anchor up and chum with live grass shrimp.

Fishing for blues and striped bass is best done earlier or late in the days with light tackle utilizing plugs in the 3-5″ range. Expect this fishing which was really great all summer to continue if not get better as we exit summer.

On The Surf

Kingfish, fluke, blues and a stray striped bass are surf side opportunities. Fishing a small hook rig baited with live bloodworm or Fish Bites is best for kingfish. Catching fluke on the surf is easy use a Gulp baited jig, with or without a Gulp teaser or a simple hi-lo rig baited with Gulp. Fish slowly yet actively working the pockets of water in the cuts and troughs. Blues will hammer any type of lure, but I suggest fishing an epoxy jig or a 4-5″ Jerk Bait. Striped bass and fluke will also eat these two.

Chris Moffitt shared the first surf side striped bass we have heard about in a weeks. Bass have been active in the bay and inlet all summer long and we are looking forward to an increase of linesiders in the suds as the mullet run rolls on.

Speaking of the mullet run, here’s mullet run blog from 2018 that is just as valuable today as it was then.

Best Jersey Shore Mullet Run Lures

Fall Derby – One Month Away!

The 70th Annual LBI Surf Fishing Classic kicks off October 5th with the opening day seminar at the Ship Bottom Fire House 9am. Registration has already begun so now is a great time to sign up and score the free goods while supplies last! Be sure to participate in the main event as well as the Surf Master Catch and release division. If you have questions or want to learn about getting into surf fishing and the event I welcome you to stop by the seminar. See you there!

Since my last post, Ernesto gave us a weekend full of waves and that has petered out into the new work week. Monday’s full “super” moon gave us extreme tides/currents which will slowly wane. The water temperatures have been somewhat stable and warm making fishing more active and consistent.

The past couple days we have had a taste of fall with some northwest flow and cool dry air. The outlook shows somewhat fair winds and fair seas. So now is a great time to get out and enjoy what’s left of summer… Let’s go fishing!

On the fishing front, we are still playing the same old record with a new addition. There’s a variety of species from fluke, bluefish, striped bass and weakfish to tog, sheepshead and triggerfish. Recently we’ve had some larger (then the common summertime cocktail 1-3 cocktail blues) size bluefish. ALSO… Albies were cracking the past two days! Now is also prime time fluke fishing with great opportunities in the bay, inlet, surf and ocean.

Just a heads up the tropics look clear however towards the end of the month things very well may get active again so keep an eye out.

Rock The Dock Fluke Tournament

Tournament Date: August 24th, 2024
Shotgun Start: 7:00am Barnegat Light – 6:50am Beach Haven
Lines in/Lines Out: 7:00am / 1:45pm
Weigh ins: 2:00pm-3:30pm / Winners Ceremony 4:00pm

For more information: www.NJFishingClub.com

Prize Categories:
1st – 5th Place Single Heaviest Fluke: (Entrants may take a only a single place)
1-2nd Place Single Heaviest Fluke Female Angler (18+)
1-2nd Place Single Heaviest Fluke Jr Angler Ages 12 and Under
1-2nd Place Single Heaviest Fluke Jr Angler Ages 13-17
1st Place Single Heaviest Fluke Land Based/Kayak Angler

$1,000 BONUS DRAWING: A random tournament entrant who weighs in a legal sized fluke (18”+) will be selected to win $1,000 thanks to sponsors: Fisherman’s Headquarters, Jingles, The Boatyard and Beach Haven Yacht Club

---

Entry Fee

Private Vessel: $225 (Early Bird Entry $200 Before August 10th)
Land Based/Kayak Angler: $60 (Early Bird Entry $50 Before August 10th)
Miss Beach Haven Angler: To Be Announced

Single Entry Calcutta

Private Vessel $300
Single Angler $60
Calcutta Payouts: Single Entry Calcutta Makes you Eligible for the following prizes
1st and 2nd Single Heaviest Fluke (1 Entry can win both places in Calcutta)
1st and 2nd Combined Three Heaviest Fluke
1st Place Heaviest Sea Robin

Just had a last minute cancellation for tomorrow, Wed Aug 21. Two new people already signed on for an Open Boat Bonita/Albacore with a shot at Bluefin Tuna trip tomorrow. I can take two more, and will sail with just one more. Phone is the best way to get me.

6AM to 3PM, $350 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared.

Thank you,

Dave

Dave DeGennaro

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

On Wednesday, before Ernesto rolled through, I had Ray Polikoski and his son Brayden, 14, from upstate NY, on board for their first bluefin tuna. We trolled three tuna between 25 and 40 pounds, and two bonita. Brayden handled two of them by himself. Less than 20 miles from the inlet.

Yesterday, (Sunday), I had Jim Maresca and family out for our first live grass shrimping effort. We caught a bunch of weakies, some shorts, three legal ones, and dropped another legal one. My son Capt Nick DeGennaro jumped on the boat as soon as I jumped off and returned for a bunch more weakies with friends. We also had fluke, snapper blues, perch, spot, and sand sharks. All on 6 lb spinning tackle. I returned there today and it was even better weakfishing. 

FYI: This might be our last season of using this technique as our bait supplier might be retiring and there doesn’t appear to be anyone taking it over. It’s been a good run, though. I’ve been shrimping weakies in Barnegat Light since 1978. If you have never done it, you might want to give it a try. We will be running for them until at least Late Sept.

Also, there have been a lot of bonita on the tuna grounds, as well as in closer. They are solid size, too. We can troll for them or drift and catch them on bait.

I have Wed, Aug 21 available for Open Boat, or charter for Bluefin Tuna, Bonita, or Weakfish in the bay. Call for details. My next available day is Sunday, Aug 25.

Pics: 

Ray Polikoski of upstate NY with 40 lb bluefin tuna (jeans, sleeveless shirt)

Ray with son Brayden holding a 30 lb class bluefin tuna

Ray holding a bonita

Jim Maresca of Levittown, PA with family and friends and weakies (group shot)

Bob Maresca of Levittown, PA with weakie

Cassie St Onge of Davie, FL (Nick’s fiance) and Tessa Jones of Barnegat, NJ with weakies

Jon Cavaliere of Bayville, NJ with a nice weakie

Thank you,

Dave

Dave DeGennaro

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

The good weather window this past week has come to a close and a big powerful swell is here. Hurricane Ernesto slammed Bermuda early Saturday morning and tracked northward. It is a very large somewhat slow moving storm that has sent the greater region large long period swell. The forerunners showed up Friday evening and all day Saturday was pumping on the beaches. Expect the same all weekend and into the early part of the work week.

Once things settle down we are looking forward to picking up where things left off with good fishing in the area.

The past week things were significantly better than the week before. Ocean fluke was sharping up with the reefs and wrecks producing Many areas have an abundance of sea bass as well as ling and most snags have tog too. The sea bass have made fluke fishing in some areas frustrating. We really wish we had the two fish summertime (July & August) bag limit like 2022. Just a reminder NJ Black Sea Bass closes at the end of August. Fluke is open until September 25.

In the bay there are plenty of spot and anglers targeting them are starting to catch some blowfish. Maybe we get a strong late summer showing? Still plenty of fluke, bluefish and striped bass in the bay. Crabbing and clammer are also to great options.

In the inlet anglers are catching tog, fluke, stripers, sheepshead, bluefish, striped bass and weakfish. Take your pick just be careful out there. Its not suggested to fish the outer portion of the jetty while the swell is in town.

We have a full moon on Monday so expect extreme high tides. Not sure that we will get the extreme lows too. Be on the look out for the mullet to start moving even more than they have during this next lunar cycle. Ocean water temperatures are warm ranging in the upper 60’s to low 70’s.

After a challenging start to the season with upwelling and cooler water temperatures, I’m pleased to report that this week has brought some excellent fishing conditions. In the back bays, we’ve seen a significant uptick in activity, with plenty of small croakers, spot, fluke, and the occasional weakfish making for a great experience with the kids.

Inshore, our local reefs and wrecks have proved to be productive spots. The summer flounder and sea bass are biting well, with numerous shorts and some impressive keepers in the mix. It’s all shaping up to be a great time for targeting these species.

For those venturing further offshore, the mahi-mahi fishing has been outstanding. We’ve been seeing larger fish start to show up, and if the water temperatures continue to rise, we can expect an increase in yellowfin tuna and wahoo in the mix as well.

Looking ahead to September, I have a variety of dates still available for both inshore and offshore trips. Whether you’re aiming to reel in fluke closer to shore or chasing mahi-mahi, tuna, and wahoo further out, there’s plenty of opportunity to secure a great day on the water! Feel free to reach out to book your next fishing adventure.

Thank you,

Captain Jonathan Kelly

LBISportfishing

856-364-1787

www.lbisportfishingnj.com

I have been doing some traveling with family and friends over the past three weeks, which is why I have not sent any emails or contributed any reports. My wife and I, along with some good friends, left on a cruise out of Seward Alaska along the Inside Passage to Cancouver, British Columbia. I returned from that trip, was home for one day, and drove to Maine with my son Max for our annual Smallmouth/Largemouth trip with the newest addition to the fleet, the Lo Flier. A 16 ft aluminum boat we decked out for bass fishing. The halibut trip was great and produced so many species. Also, caught my biggest largemouth in Maine, just over 6 lbs, on an imitation frog. Pics below.

Time to get back to NJ fishing. Awesome stretch of weather coming up this week. Under 10 knots of wind every day and calm seas. There are 20 to 30 lb bluefin in the 20 to 25 mile range. Mixed in are some bonita, as well. It is primarily a troll bite right now, so that is how we will be fishing. I am still going to bring bait, and we always have jigs and poppers on board, but we will be mostly trolling to try and put fish in the box. If we get lucky and get our fish early, we can spend more time drifting with bait and jigs. If I could get the right bait, we could also try bait fishing for bonita and albies with light tackle. I am careful to emphasize this, as I know we all like to catch them with a technique that offers the most sport. Right now, trolling is the most productive on these inshore fish. Offshore, in the canyons, it sounds like the jigs and poppers are killing it.

Open Boat Tuna: Thursday Aug 15 6AM to 3PM. $375 person. 4 people max. All fish are shared. 

I will also be tuna fishing on Wed, so if you call or text to reserve a spot for Thursday’s trip, I won’t be able to call or text you back until I am back in cell range late afternoon on Wed. Catching me on land today (Tues) is your best shot. Calling is always better than emailing.

See you on board!

Thank you,

Dave

Dave DeGennaro

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

The ocean has settled down from Debby’s moderate swell and wind event. Fortunately the waters have warmed up and with it, fishing has picked up. We have a great run of tranquil weather this week. Now is the time to go fishing and enjoy summertime fishing the waters of Long Beach Island. With the lighter winds and also west winds, be sure to have some quality big spray on hand! Our two favorite very effective all natural bug repellants are Captain Rons and Incognito Mosquito.

Tune into my latest fishing report video from Sunday night….

The warmer inshore – nearshore waters are promising an awesome second half of August. Since this past weekend’s blow the action has been good, significantly better than the cold water lockjaw fishing many experienced at times the past few weeks.

Summer flounder aka fluke hang around the LBI surf, inlets and bays all summer long. Right now is prime time to target them from the beach or boat. Store staffer Mark Finelli Jr found solid life on the Surf City recently but nothing keeper size. Work at it and a keeper to two are in there. Open sandy bottom areas (clam beds, inshore lumps) are great places to find fluke this time of year as well as the many wrecks and reef sites.

There’s tog, triggerfish and sheepshead around most of the near shore structures. Lance Kim had a great day fishing the Barnegat Inlet rocks, landing five sheepshead.

Kingfish are biting in the surf on live bloodworms, FishBites. It doesn’t hurt to fish a combo, a small piece of both real and artificial. Just don’t crowd the hook point. Using the same small hooks/rigs and bait as surf fishing for kings will yield spot and croakers on the bayside. There’s also a shot at snappers, blowfish, spike weakies and sand perch too. The spot and croaker fishing has been phenomenal recently using sabiki rigs tipped with FishBites. Now’s the perfect time to load up on spot for the fall run and they are also great baits right now for striped bass and doormat fluke!

Store staffer Frezza and Grey got on some light tackle striped bass fishing the bayside. They caught all their fish on 3” NLBN lures. Fish Heads Alumni Bill Bassant caught this striped bass (below) fishing light tackle in Barnegat Bay.

Weakfish are being caught by anglers who are dialed in and targeting them. John Bonner caught this one the other morning.

Public Service Announcement

Be on the lookout for a swell from an offshore storm coming up this weekend. Boaters transiting the inlets should always know the tides and current windows for safe passage. Outgoing tides with the addition of powerful ocean swells can make for a treacherous ride.

August offers a good variety of fishing opportunities to saltwater anglers fishing the Central Jersey Shore, Barnegat Bay and the Long Beach Island area. During this time of the year the waters have a large variety of species from the fluke, bluefish, striped bass and tog to weakfish, sheepshead, triggerfish, kingfish and more!

Tune into my latest fishing report update video for more information about what’s biting…

Here in the first week of August on the south central Jersey Shore fishing front we have the same situation as most of July. Chilly ocean water temperatures and warm back bay temps making for radical temperature swings through the day’s tide cycles. This is much more prominent and important to track and consider when fishing areas closer to the inlets. A good steady bite can go from hot to cold in a matter of minutes. The opposite can also play out.

Due to the upwelling’s chilly ocean waters anglers on the water have had a marine layer most mornings which some days persists through the day. This is advection fog. All boaters must be aware of it and know how to safely navigate the waters. Fog is challenging and will bewilder any novice operator. For your safety and the safety of others, if you don’t understand and know, don’t go out!

How long will this continue?

I see a short term break with onshore winds Wednesday and Thursday. This will hopefully offer a rebound in surf temperatures as onshore winds winds push the surface waters into shore creating downwelling (opposite of upwelling, cause of the cold). BUT! I don’t think we are totally out of the cold. Stiff southerlies are currently in the forecast for Friday and Saturday, then west south west Sunday and Monday. At that time there looks to be lighter winds in the forecast. But a lot can change especially with the remnants of Debby coming up the eastern seaboard. Keep your fingers crossed for anything but hard southerlies day after day and we will be ok.

The cold waters have resulted in a great summertime striped bass fishery this summer. There’s bass throughout the bay chasing peanut bunker (what’s left after many large large fish kills in lagoons due to low oxygen) and mullet.

Local caught fresh mullet is back in stock! Weakfish, fluke, bass and bluefish… they all eat them!

More recently fluke fishing has been better at times. I expect now until the end of the season to be strong. But anglers need to play their cards right in order to capitalize. Fish deeper areas that are consistently cold or fish shallow areas where the fluke will lay up to warm in the sun. These deeper areas could be the main channels (ICW and thoroughfares) in the bay as well as the many holes and sloughs. These shallow areas could be the many pockets in the flats or edges and table top shelfs along a channel edges as well as the rolling sandbars in the surf. Also bluefish are around the bay, inlet and surf spicing up the action.

Kenny Huff

The bay is loaded with spot and they are aggressive for their small stature. Small hooks baited with just about anything will get bites. Worm or artificial worm options are best. Many who are looking for blowfish are catching a bunch. There are plenty of areas to fish for spot from LBI’s landbased bayside access points.

Weakfish are also on tap with some nice ones around. Mostly spikes in the mid-bay with some better size class fish in the classic weakfish honey holes. Reports from the north end and south ends (around the inlets) are promising.

Owen Alquist

Fluke and tog at the Barnegat Inlet are good. There are plenty of both however primarily shorts. Some anglers are working and finding keepers. This is a prime time to find big fluke near the Inlets as they making their way out of Barnegat Bay. It seems that tog fishing has started off strong with quantity but not quality. Maybe once we progress into the month of August we see a wave of fish move in and take up residence along the jetties. Sheepshead, trigger fish are also here.

This end of July fishing report wrap up cover a quick overview of the current fishing in and around the Long Beach Island and Barnegat Bay waters. The fishing during the month of July (as well as June) was dominated by cold water temperatures. Fishing activity and success has been very dependent on working through these challenging conditions to trigger strikes when fish for the most part have been lethargic. The past week we had a warm up of water temperatures; however in the past 24-48 hours we have seen a break in the warming water trend. How low does it go? How will the fishing action be effected? Only time will tell. Right now it doesn’t look like the 30 day low will be touch so that is great news. A little more on this topic at the end of this post.

Here is my latest video report from Monday afternoon…

Currently on tap in the local fishery…

Fluke fishing has ben more active recently in all of the areas; surf, bay, inlet, open bottom ocean, reefs, wrecks. This is the time where the inlet, beaches in the vicinity of inlets and the ocean get going with quality size fluke. This year has been a weird one so it’s hard to say how things will play out. But there is no denying this is my favorite time of year to be fluke fishing. It’s a prime time and we should have a great shot at quality fluke fishing from now to the end of the season (ending Sept 25th). Yes the bay is full of fluke, primarily smaller sized fish but there are keepers if you work and weed through them. On a recent charter we earned two keepers, both on Gulp. We had more fish on live minnows but no keepers. When the water was colder the live bait excelled for me.

Below is a photo of a recent weigh in from Gavin Black… a 10.5# summer flounder.

The bay (north, mid-island and south) are loaded with spot. These make for fun light tackle fishing from the many bayside bulkheads, docks and crabbing piers found on Long Beach Island. Now is the time to load up the pen with premium fall striped bass baits. Use small hooks baited with live bloodworms (in stock now) and/or FishBites Bag’O Worms and/or a great new product Bait Fuel GO2 Bloodworms. With this same approach an angler can fish the surf side and catch kingfish which are in the suds. With the great spot activity it is surprising that more blowfish aren’t being caught. Yes there are some around; however, not as strong as past years. There are some spike weakfish in the bay too.

Bluefish continue to race around the bay, inlet and surf. At times mini blitz feeding frenzies pop up. These cocktails are chasing peanut bunker, small mullet, spearing and bay anchovies. These same baits the resident striped bass are feeding on. Speaking of striped bass… The striped bass fishing over the past month has been great. We always have a summertime striper fishery but this past July was one for the record books, both the quantity and the size class. Tons of light tackle fun! I’ll chalk it up to the chilly water temps.

This chilly water has also kept a good body of tog in the coastal waters.

Tomorrow August 1 NJ’s Tautog Fall Season opens!

Anglers fishing the Barnegat Inlet jetty have been reporting tog all summer long, especially those looking for sheepshead (at the right location and time there are a few sheeps to be had). Store staffer Max was hunting sheepshead but all he caught was tog, one was 6#! That is a really good size one considering the time of year. Game time for tog! Tomorrow, August 1st NJ’s Tautog Fall Season opens!

August 1- November 15th: 1 Fish Bag At 15″ minimum size

More info on 2024 NJ Saltwater Fishing Regulations

Water Temperature Swings

Chart below shows the past 30 days of data at the Barnegat Inlet tide and temperature gauge. This shows the water temperature fluctuation from the outgoing bay waters (warmer) and the incoming ocean water (colder). The more radical the swing from highs to lows the further the bay temp is from the ocean. Moreover the large swings portray upwelling events as they come and go. It shows a large part of July had cold ocean water due to upwelling.

The window from July 20th to present was for the most part normal with just one hiccup on July 22nd. The waters warmed up for a short period but in recent days we have seen a minor upwelling occur. For more info on upwelling in the local region check out this blog post.