Category: Fishing Reports

There’s bait and fish here on Long Beach Island… striped bass, albies, tog and more! The past five days were awesome with fall fishing well underway. Here’s my report video from yesterday October 13, 2022 LBI Fishing Report Update. Weekend is looking good. Let’s go fishing.

Here are two short video clips from our epic day at the canyon on Monday: https://youtu.be/joalOTWOzXY and https://youtu.be/CRVbylc1B4A
We broke the inlet in the dark around 3AM, arrived on the grounds at 7AM, looked around for a while and found a spot to make our first drift by 7:30 AM. Set up three rods for chunking and bait fishing. By the time the third rod was set, the second rod was already screaming. Set up on that fish and the bow rod goes off, two on! I was clearing the third rod and reeling fast as not to tangle one of the two hooked fish and a big yellowfin hit this squid on the retrieve like a train…..three on! It went like that for three hours. One drift over a mile and a half. We went 9 for 11 on 70 to 90 plus pound yellowfins. Back to the dock by 3:30 PM.

Inshore there are miles of bunker pods up and down the beach from Belmar to Barnegat Inlet. There are 30 to 40 plus pound stripers, whales, and big bluefin tuna on their heels. We plan on leaving early this Sat, Sun, and Mon, Oct 15-16-17 to get on these pods and pursue both the bass and the tuna. I will have the rods and gear for both on board. The rods are stand up 80 class, so we won’t be fighting them from the rod holder if we are fortunate enough to connect with a bluefin. It will be a belt and harness stand up fight. I had these combos built over the winter just for this fishery. We are going to jump from pod to pod looking for the bunker that have some tuna on them. Live bait fishing will be the primary tactic but I will have the heavy popping rods on board, as well. The focus is going to be on tuna with the stripers being our secondary effort, so I don’t want to mislead anyone. Also, our chances of hooking one of these tuna is not great. Sometimes they won’t even look at what you are offering. But there have been some caught off these bunker pods already, so I want to give it our best shot. Anything over 73 inches has to be released. There have been a few in the 150 to 200 lb class mixed in with the giants, that would be best case scenario, as we could actually take one of those. This is a risky trip, it’s not for everyone. When you pursue quality, that’s the risk. There’s a good chance we never hook a tuna and come back with an empty fish box, as almost all of the stripers are over the 38 inch mark, and the regulations say we have to release those fish. The upside: being in the presence of whales is always a humbling experience, catch and release on big stripers is a lot of fun, and just watching bluefin air out on bait makes you say “Whoaaa!” every single time.

$350 person, all fish are shared (if there are any), 4 people max. Sat Oct 15, Sun Oct 16, and Mon Oct 17, 5AM to 3PM.  These dates are also available for charter. If you would like to book a trip for just stripers, we could talk about that, as well. 

Pics: Jeff Frazier of Toms River holding tuna vertical and with the bent rod.

Dave DeGennaro
Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

If you haven’t heard… BIG STRIPED BASS bass rolled into our local waters on Friday evening and are on the feed! Saturday was a full on epic day reported by many and some nice fish were caught today too. Most of the action is focused around Barnegat Inlet with action radiating a mile or two north, east and south. We also heard good reports from up the beach and in Monmouth County.

There’s large schools of bunker that have pushed into the westerly winds and are stacked up near and on some beaches. Fishing live baits if best but those who prefer more of a challenge are catching biggins on large lures too!

Yes the word epic was used and based on all accounts it is justified. It’s time to get in on the great fall fishing that has erupted about a month earlier than usual.

Here’s my mid day report shortly after leaving the morning LBI Surf Fishing Opening Day Kick Off Seminar. After this report I jumped in the boat and got into a great evening fishing session too.

Yup a couple nice bass were caught off the LBI surf too. The photo below was caught by LBI Classic Tom, Angler 408, Tom Ng.

There’s also very large pods of bay anchovies. Small blues as well has hardtails (false albacore, bonito, Spanish mackerel) can be found on this small bait. Use small lures and get in on the light tackle fun. Tommy Smith Jr had some fun on the surf yesterday!

This is the kind of weather and fishing report you need to react to. There are big yellowfin tuna offshore. We have to run 70 to 80 miles but the fishing is really good. Bait fishing, we shouldn’t have to troll. Leaving at 4AM tomorrow, Monday Oct 10, returning late afternoon or early evening. $450 person. 4 people max. All fish are shared. This is short notice, so call me on my cell 732.330.5674, rather than email.

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674

hiflier.com

Now that Nor’Ian is gone, we are left with a beautiful weekend on Long Beach Island and two great events. Get out and enjoy but be prepared for a chill in the early mornings and evening as a cold front is coming through and giving us the coldest temperatures in a long while. Kite Fest and the LBI Surf Fishing Classic. This year’s 68th Annual tournament kicks off with the opening day (Saturday 8th) seminar at 9am (Ship Bottom Fire House). Stop at the shop to sign up and then attend the event. I’ll be there giving a seminar and will be available for your questions. Kite Fest will have the beaches of Ship Bottom LBI packed with people. It is suggested that anglers steer clear of this area for easier parking, access and space.

Due to the blow (Nor’Ian) reports have been few and far between. For the most part yesterday was the first day anglers could get out. Here’s what I can share. Striped bass, bluefish, blackfish, blowfish, weakfish are all here among other species. The resident striped bass are only getting more aggressive and soon more will show with a mix of a larger class too. The tog fishing is good and will be good throughout the fall season. Fish live green crabs and mole crabs (sand fleas) for the best action. There’s still some blowfish but they are on their way out. Also there’s some weakfish and kingfish in the bay and on the surf.

Current NJ Blackfish Regulations 1 fish at 15″ minimum size until November 15th. On November 16th it opens up to a five fish bag till the end of the year.

Today October 7th is opening day for NJ Black Sea Bass Is Open! 10/7 to 10/26 it’s 10 fish at 13″ minimum size. For more information on how the regulations came about check out the blog post that was put up at the time of the decision… 2022 Black Sea Bass Recreational Fishing Regulations Explained.

NJ’s 2022 Black Sea Bass Regs

It’s a helluva lotta fun light tackle jigging with 60g Nomad Streakers, Tubed 007 & A17 Diamond Jigs and Hogy Sand Eel Jigs.

Here’s the 30 day water temperature graph from the Barnegat Bay tide gauge near the BL Inlet. It shows the cooling and that means one things… fall fishing is underway! Let’s go fishing!!!

Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association Fishing Report

The fishing scene for the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association is entering a transition phase as the fall season develops. The waters are still warm but dropping.

The summer flounder season just ended until it resumes in spring of 2023. The black sea bass fishery is closed until it starts again on October 7 with a 10-fish per day limit. That limit increases to 15 on November 1.

Many of the captains will be chasing striped bass when that fishery starts to show life in just a couple of weeks. Right now, there is a goodly amount of bait around in local waters, and when the water temperatures drop down, that fishery will be a target of the BHCFA Captains.

Currently there is a decent bite in bay waters for a variety of smaller panfish. Captain Bret Taylor of Reel Reaction Sportfishing has been putting his anglers on large amounts of blowfish along with other species such as kingfish and even some weakfish. This is a light tackle fishery with chum used to draw the fish close.

The fishing for the first weekend in October does not look favorable with a strong northeaster expected to hit along with the remnants of Hurricane Ian. Once that passes, the action should begin to pick up.

While mentioning Hurricane Ian, the sympathies of the captains and all others involved in the BHCFA go out to those affected by the storm in Florida and other areas. Our thoughts are with those folks as they pick up the pieces and begin to rebuild.

Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.BHCFA.org

Today is the last day of the 2022 NJ Summer Flounder Fishing Season but there’s a lot of great fishing going down. Here’s the fishing report update for the Long Beach Island area on Tuesday September 27, 2022.

The bay fishing has been excellent. We are anchoring up and chumming with live grass shrimp. Catching anywhere from 7 to 10 different species, but the target is always weakfish. Lots of action on ultralite spinning gear. The water temperature dropped from 71.5 to 63 degrees in just a weeks time but the fish are still holding and aggressively hitting our bait and lures. Strike now while it’s hot. I am hoping we roll into mid October with this fishery but it’s always a wait and see. 

The bluefish are still in good numbers at the inlet and are attacking the lures we are throwing, usually soft plastics. Mostly 2 to 4 pound fish, big enough to scream line off of our 10 pound spinning outfits.
We are catching big blowfish on the west side of the bay. Chumming with clam chum and using both clams and squid as hookbaits. There are enough jumbos to catch to let the small ones go. Fun to catch and delicious to eat!

Sailing every day for this mixed bag in the bay and inlet: 
Tues thru Fri 10AM to 3PM 
Sat, Sun, and Mon’s 7AM to Noon

The long range marine forecast looks good for Sat Oct 1 and Sun Oct 2 right now. It’s a little early to be planning offshore trips for those days but if they are right and the forecast holds up, we will be running Open Boat or Charter for tuna, bonita, albies…..whatever looks good. Stand by! Departure times will be somewhere around 5AM to 6AM and duration of the trip between 8 to 12 hours. 
These dates are also available for the mixed bag bay charters.

Dave DeGennaro
Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

First Day of Fall Is Here! Personally my favorite time of year. With great weather, warm water, less crowded beaches and waterways topped off with great fishing opportunities (great surfing too) how can you not love early Fall? At the time of this post we have incoming long period swell from Hurricane Fiona which will be very powerful. It looks to peak Friday afternoon in the 6-10′ range. There will be windy NNW wind. This combo will make surf fishing difficult on Friday. The eastern section of Barnegat Inlet’s jetty could be treacherous! It should settle down significantly Saturday leaving as a beautiful yet chilly start to the day, low of 49º to start off the morning.

The bait really starts moving (mullet, peanut bunker, bay anchovies, sand eels, etc) and in the past week that has been very apparent. We’ve received some great videos and photos from customer capturing the bait and feeding frenzies. For some great photos check out our recent post on Instagram sharing Stay Above The Weather’s photographs of bait and active albies. In my most recent video report update (link below) I shared video from Neill McKenna. This past week we have received a couple deliveries of fresh surf caught mullet so the mullet run is progressing. We also got a report today from Bobby Capri, “There’s thousands of mullet but I did’t bring my cast net.” He did however get into great bass fishing plugging!

Fluke, small blues and a couple bass are in the surf. Remember NJ Fluke Fishing Season ends on 27th. Kingfish are on the suds too. Anglers at times also have a shot at albies.

Barnegat Inlet Jetty offers great fishing at this stage in the year. Tog, triggers and sheepshead as well as fluke, blues, striped bass. Yup a couple; drum too. In the bay there’s blowfish, weakfish, striped bass blues.

Jason Houck shared, “Thanks for the awesome reports. Stocked up this weekend and got in on some good fluke fishing off the beach on the north end and that epic bluefish blitz. That lasted a solid 2 hours on the north end and you could catch them at will for almost 4 hours.” Another report came in from XYZ.

Here’s my most recent video report…

Last weekend (9/18) was the America Anglers LBI Fishing Tournament. Here’s the abbreviated results… 36 teams and 20 individual anglers, 248 total anglers. Only 31 fish caught, the majority were bluefish with some kingfish and fluke peppered in.

Results	Team Name	Total # Fish Points	Total # of Fish
1st Place	OCFC Blue	100.50	7
2nd Place	MFC C	54.25	3
3rd Place	LBIFC A	30.75	2
4th Place	The Bobbers	30.00	2
5th Place	Surf and Land B	25.75	2
6th Place	The Squad	19.00	1
7th Place	Salty Sand Sharks	18.75	1
8th Place	Team Speranza	18.25	1
9th Place	Top Notch	18.25	1
10th Place	Ocean County Boys	18.00	1

Largest Fish MEN

Results	Angler’s Name	Team	Species	Points(Length) Girth
1st Place	Jeff Bajack	MFC C	F. Albacore	23.50
2nd Place	Joja Cruz	The Squad	Other	19.00
3rd Place	Andrew Basso	Salty Sand Sharks	Bluefish	18.75

Largest Fish WOMEN

Results	Angler’s Name	Team	Species	Points(Length) Girth
1st Place	Katie Bailey	The Bobbers	Bluefish	18.00
2nd Place	Sharon Zola	WSFC Red	Bluefish	13.50
3rd Place	Heather Goldner	WSFC Blue	Bluefish	12.00