Fall fishing continued strong this week with solid reports coming from both the beach and boat. Finally reports from the mid-island and south ends of LBI have started popping. As we enter into December mild temperatures prevail all the way into next weekend. Now’s the time to get in on the great late fall fishing on Long Beach Island. Here’s the LBI Fishing Report for Friday December 3, 2021.
LBI Surf Fishing Report
Abundant striped bass action on LBI this week had anglers catching on the surf with bait and lures. If fishing bait, bunker and clams would be great choices however you’ll need to pick through the doggies.
Fishing lures is highly suggested. Even die hard bait anglers have made the switch and many have reported fun action on the numerous pop up bass blitzes this week.
Best lures choices would be anything that matches a peanut bunker. For the past week plus, peanut bunker rom 3-6″ have been the main forage which striped bass in the area are keyed in on. Always match the hatch! Think bucktails, rubber swim shads, Yo-zuri Mag Darter, Twitch Bait, Pencil & Popper. They have all been good to me!
I’ve also seen some small clouds of micro bait around so teasers could be effective but aren’t suggested because they cut down your casting distance. Usually I fish teasers and depend on them when small slender sand eels are present. Right now that is not the case.
As far as timing, the afternoon incoming tide push into sunset has offered good success. But some mornings have produced too. There’s not tell when the next blitz will hit the beach so go when you can and hopefully you’ll connect!
Recent Weigh Ins At Fish Heads
12/3/21 -Tyler Conrad 28.5″ bass weighed in at 7.4 pounds.12/1/21 – Kevin Laverty 31.25″ bass weighed in at 11.40 pounds
Click HERE for details on other weighs or the LBI Surf Fishing Classic
In light of the good striper fishing and nice weather coming up I decided to keep the boat in for one more weekend. We have been casting lures into migratory fish under flocks of birds. Mostly 24 to 26 inch stripers with a few pushing 30 inches. When that slows down, we go on the troll where we have been getting a few bigger fish for the cooler. The bellies have been loaded with peanut bunker.
Congratulations to Capt Nick DeGennaro and his crew, John Cavaliere and friend for landing our boat’s first Fall/Winter bluefin yesterday. A 60 pounder crashing a popper.
Nick will be working deck on the Hi Flier this weekend and it probably won’t be hard to convince us to give that fishery a try if everyone wants to. For now, I’m going to call these trips striper trips because we certainly are no experts in this winter bluefin fishery. If you add Nick’s fish from yesterday to all of mine, it comes out to a total of one, if that tells you anything. I’ve been in them a bunch of times, watching them air out, and crash bait on the surface, but getting them to eat has been a difficult task for me personally. It’s fine, though, I’m enjoying the ride. If any of you guys on board, want to try, we”ll make the run. We have the gear for it, as well.
Open Boat or Charter: Sat Dec 4 and Sun Dec 5. 6AM to 2PM $250 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared. $950 for private charter.If we go chasing bluefin, either exclusively, or combined with striper fishing $350 person, $1,350 for private charter. Dave DeGennaro
The final week and a half of the 67th annual Long Beach Island Surf Fishing Classic is here, and it appears the striped bass are going to make it an exciting finish.
The last few days of November and those of early December have produced some hectic action on the front beaches of Long Beach Island. Prior to November 29, a total of 13 striped bass had been weighed in for the tournament. With six arriving on the 30th and another five on the 30th, that total almost doubled to 25 fish! Check here for the live results page.
Nick DeGennaro still holds the lead with his 18.02-pound linesider he caught in Barnegat Light on a lure.
Here’s Nick with his fish at weigh in at Fisherman’s Headquarters. He caught the striped bass in Barnegat Light on a lures.
Lures of several types now seem to be catching the most bass as opposed to bunker which was the hot bait early in the Classic. Successful offerings have worked well on the fish including bucktails, Hopkins, Daiwa SP Minnows, rubber swim shads like those from Tsunami. Also topwater plugs are stand out producers. One of the best is the Tsunami Talking Poppers.
Bird play is marking schools of bait and feeding bass. The fish can be seen breaking the surface as they chase and feed on large schools of peanut bunker. At times these feeds have been full on blitz conditions.
Greg Cudnik from Fisherman’s Headquarters in Ship Bottom attributes the success of artificials to the presence of spiny dogfish in the wash. These scavengers feed ravenously on any bait they come across. They do not attack artificials with the same intensity. He recommends anglers try to “match the hatch” using artificials that fit the profile of peanut bunker.
Cudnik says he was pleased as the fish arrived and notes this arrival is in line with previous years. A goodly number of the fish being caught are in the keeper-size range making them eligible for the Classic. “There are still good numbers of fish to the north, and they should keep arriving on our beaches well into December.”
Jingles Bait and Tackle in Beach Haven reports the surf temperature on the beach recently has been slowly dropping with the most recent reading coming in at 52-degrees. They are especially encouraged for the upcoming actions as the heavy surf fishing action has reached Surf City and is moving south. Earlier in the week they heard of a ”peanut bunker frenzy” with particularly good action in Harvey Cedars.
They officially weighed in a striper weighing 8.72-pounds caught by Frankie Lenetti was weighed in on Tuesday. Frankie works at Surf City Bait and Tackle and Fisherman’s Headquarters. As per Classic rules, he brought the fish to a shop he is not associated with.
Aimee Welsh from Surf City Bait and Tackle calls the arrival of the striper schools “a breath of fresh air.” She is hoping for “neck and neck excitement” for the last week of the Classic especially since the fish are in the 8–12-pound range.”
Welsh expects the next couple of weeks to be just as good for bass and perhaps even better. She admits being pleased at the success recently of bass being taken on artificial presentations rather than bait. “I think that adds to the sport of it.”
The Classic will conclude on Sunday, December 12. It is not too late to register for the contest. Registration can be handled at any of the bait and tackle shops mentioned above. Complete information on the contest can be found at www.LBISFC.com.
The northern Ocean County waters have been hot for five days plus. Finally this blitz fishing arrived to the shores of Long Beach Island. Yesterday 11/29/21 was a great day for surfcasters on LBI. Fortunately again today surf anglers got into flurries of bass blitzing. Late fall fishing offers some of the best opportunities for surfcasters on the beach of LBI. Let’s go fishing!
With true fall-like temperatures finally showing up and water temperatures dropping into the mid and lower 50’s, the striped Bass action in the 67th annual Long Beach Island Surf Fishing Classic is showing an uptick.
Although no bluefish have been entered in the contest yet, the number of striped bass entered continues to rise.
While the bite along with weigh-ins in the Classic has been spotty at times, there have been enough good catches scattered in to inspire optimism for the upcoming days. In addition, fish caught by anglers registered in the contest, other fish have shown up the length of Long Beach Island.
In fact, the three top fish on the leaderboard have been caught in the past week. Currently sitting on top is a bass weighing 18.02-pounds caught by Nick DeGennaro on November 20 in Barnegat Light. Taken on an artificial presentation, the fish measured out to 34.5-inches.
Richard Bergman rests in second place with an 18.0-pounder also caught in Barnegat Light on mullet. Merle Van Liew beached a fish weighing 17.06-pounds on bunker in Beach Haven good for third place at the moment. The fish measured out at 37 and seven-eighths inches.
With the four-day Thanksgiving weekend on the horizon and plenty of prizes left in the Classic, there seems to be optimism for action to pick up.
Aimee Welsh from Surf City Bait and Tackle says she is keeping her fingers crossed that the ocean water temperature continues to drop. “If the cooler weather continues, I think the action will get better and better.” She feels the action will be strong right into 2002.
Connor Smilon from Jingles Bait and Tackle in Beach Haven says he expects the 4-day Thanksgiving weekend to be a good one for catching bass on the beach. “I am looking forward to a push of bigger stripers and maybe even some bluefish.” He added that he has heard of some large blues appearing north of Long Beach Island.
Smilon also stated that he anticipates striper action in December to be much like last year when the fish were around throughout the month.
One problem that has been plaguing surf anglers this fall has been a surge of spiny dogfish that attack natural bait. Their aggressive presence makes it difficult at times keeping the bait around long enough for the stripers to get to it.
Although the stripers continue to prefer natural bait, artificial presentations have been catching fish. Greg Cudnik from Fisherman’s Headquarters endorses the use of artificials to avoid the pesky dogfish. One of his customers picked up one on a Kettle Creek soft bait paddle-tail on a lead-head. The same anglers also beached a linesider on a diamond jig.
The Classic will run until December 12. With lots of prizes still up for grabs, it’s not too late to register for the contest. Registration can be handled at any of the bait and tackle shops mentioned above.
Complete information on the contest can be found at www.LBISFC.com.
Recent history has shown that the next two or three weeks ahead produce the most fish weighed in for the tournament.
From the wicked westerlies (Monday and Friday) to the full moon eclipse early Friday morning, this past week has offered an interesting string of event and some good fishing all along the way. Right now we are in the heart of the fall fishing season on LBI. Let’s go fishing and enjoy time on the water before winter sets in. Here’s the Long Beach Island Fishing Report Update for Sunday November 21, 2021.
Tog Fishing Report
Tog fishing opened up from one to five fish on November 16th. So far solid reports have came in from anglers fishing the wrecks and reef sites. Also the Barnegat Inlet Jetty continues to produce good fishing.
James Walsh sent in this photo and said, “Thanks for the green crabs!” On Saturday he caught his limit on the jetty.
Magictail Tog Jigs changed the game and they keep on providing for so many anglers. Providing much more fun (than rig style bottom fishing) and more and bigger fish. Yesterday the boys from Magictail were out and reported good fishing. Peter boated this 11# tog with aboard’s Zach’s boat. They caught a four man limit.
Striped Bass Fishing Report
Reports right now can range from poor to great all depending on who you talk to, the waters they focus and the techniques they employ. Without question there’s a very strong range of size class in the Central Jersey waters from unders to slots (28 to <38″) as well as overs (38″+). Land based and boat anglers are catching striped bass in the bay, inlet and surf.
LBI Surf Fishing
The LBI surf is spotty. A few anglers are catching but no spectacular reports fired up this week. We have our fingers crossed that this week and next week will shine. In regards to quantity of striped bass, usually these two weeks are the best dates for Long Beach Island surf casters.
Regular customer Dave Glassberg from the Tackle Tank shared a video report which was added to the most recent video report post (link above). He caught a nice striped bass off the Ship Bottom surf this weekend chunking fresh Fish Heads bunker. Most anglers fishing bunker chunks are reporting pesty dogfish. There’s no delaying they are running rampant and a major nuisance. Fish through them and hopefully you’ll be rewarded.
Anglers fishing lures are staying away from the dogs. They are also finding some striped bass. Chris Masino caught a bass today fishing a Kettle Creek soft bait paddle-tail on a lead head. A few other striped bass were reported off the surf on lures.
This weekend we had one weigh in for the LBI Surf FIshing Classic. Nick DeGennaro caught and entered a striped bass that weighed in at 18.02 pounds.
Striped Bass Action In The Boat
Some anglers are finding fun fishing while others are struggling. The reports along the inshore waters of LBI have yet to really fire up. But we did hear of a couple. One big bass reported by Tom Ryan, “I caught this bad boy a few das ago off of LBI.”
Another report came from Dante of Magictails. He found a good body of fish on Wednesday afternoon just off the northern beaches of LBI. Doubled up on a tandem Magictail Mojo rig.
Most of the action for me as well as a lot of other boats has been from Barnegat Inlet north. Some days way up the beach. In the past week 5-7 days I’ve found good fishing from the Inlet’s north pocket (Monday 11/15 was epic) up to Seaside (Wednesday had a solid bite there) and some days the upper reaches of Ocean County (Saturday).
Quality striped bass had bunker pinned in the hard west wind on Monday 11/15. Fortunately the wind kept most at the dock and it was only me and the Hi Flier with Captain Nick in on the action for the first couple hours. Days like these make hunting all fall, day in and day out worth it! Take a look at the Hi Flier’s recent post for some photos of Nick, Colbi and Frezza
As far as it seems that the troll bite was hampered on the days around the full moon. We are expecting the action to open up as we finish off the month strong.
We heard of a couple blues this past week. Nate Caloiaro caught one. Also heard of a few others that were caught trolling umbrella rigs on the hunt for striped bass.
BHMTC LBI Cup
Congrats to Captain Mike Villanova and the crew aboard the No Limit! They won 1st place overall, 1st and 2nd place striper calcuttas and top female angler. Captain Mike reported, “Awesome day on the waters with great friends! It was a slow morning but we ended up finding the right bites, going 4/5 on bass up to 35 inches.”
“The stripers are here! The stripers are here!” These words could be heard on the beaches of Long Beach Island the past few days as the contestants in the Long Beach Island’s Surf Fishing Classic found striped bass on the ends of their lines.
After the first few weeks of the tournament that began on October 9 were dominated by large numbers of big kingfish, bass making their way down the coastline are making some surf casters happy.
As of Friday afternoon, November 12, six striped bass have made it to the scales for the Classic. The first fish entered was a 31-inch bass caught by Paul Donnelly in Barnegat Light on October 30 on a clam bait. The fish weighed in at 11.12-pounds and is currently in second place in the entire tournament.
The top fish so far was caught by Randall Krieg on Friday, November 12, in Surf City on bunker. The fish weighed 12.32-pounds and measured just over 34-inches. A 12.32-pounder caught by Randall Krieg resides in third place.
Surf City Bait and Tackle reports that Tyler Leary weighed in a fish caught on an artificial lure weighing 8.88-pounds. Tyler, a high school student, leads the tournament in the juvenile division.
Of the six fish currently entered in the Classic, three were caught on bunker chunks, two on clam, and Leary’s on the lure. All stripers weighed in thus far have been caught on the beach at the northern end of Long Beach Island from Surf City to Barnegat Light. Fish have been active both in the day and at night.
ADDED / UPDATED on 11/18/21 11/16/21 – 9.46# caught by Carl Gramley on bunker 11/15/21 – 17.06# caught by Marle Van Liere on bunker CURRENTLY 2nd 11/14/21 – 7.06# caught by Robert Braack on bunker 11/14/21 – 18# caught by Richard Bergman on mullet CURRENTLY 1st
In addition to the Classic entries, local bait and tackle shops report catches of oversized fish that had to be released. Jingles Bait and Tackle in Beach Haven heard of two lunkers that were landed on the beach and released.
Fisherman’s Headquarters reports Greg Sadowski and Ernie Ernst were fishing together this week and landed a pair of 43-inchfish just 15 minutes apart on bunker chunks.
A total of forty-three kingfish have been weighed in thus far with Jim Spiewak’s fish topping the field. With none entered since October 25, it appears the water may be too cold for any more entries.
No bluefish or red drum have been weighed in so far.
At this point there are seventeen teams entered in the Classic with a total of 495 anglers.
It is not too late to sign up as there is just about a month left until it ends of December 12. The bulk of the striped bass are still to the north of Long Beach Island and heading south. Many prizes are still available on a daily, weekly, bi-weekly, and grand prize basis.
Registration can be accomplished at any of the official weigh-in stations including Surf City Bait and Tackle, Fisherman’s Headquarters, and Jingles Bait and Tackle.
Complete information on the tournament can be obtained at any of the official weigh-in sites or at www.LBISFC.com
Open Boat Stripers this Saturday, November 20, 6AM departure $250 per man, 4 people max. Snagging, trolling, casting, jigging…… Whatever it takes to put fish in the boat. Return time around 2-3PM.
Only two more available dates: Monday, Nov 22 and 29, available for Charter or Open Boat and then we are hauling out for the season.
This big turkey showed up right around the fish cleaning table at our marina. Thought that was pretty bold considering how close to Thanksgiving we are! The other striper pics show every size class fish is available right now.
The first eleven days of November have offered beach and boat anglers good to epic fishing. Some locations and times were truly special. Hopefully you got in on the fun and made memories. If not there’s still time to get in the game! But don’t procrastinate! Here’s a quick fishing report for the the Long Beach Island area on Thursday November 11th.
Huge thanks and honor to all of the Veterans who served this great country and defend our freedom. Thank you for your service!
LBI Surf Fishing Report
The LBI surf is not offering epic blitz fishing however anglers are getting out and finding fish. And some really good ones at that! It’s awesome to hear customers in the shop talking about great recent fishing experiences.
Greg Sadowski from Doylestown and his buddy Ernie Ernst were in the shop today and had an EPIC report! Greg shared, “Today at about 4pm Ernie and I caught twin 43″ bass about 15 minutes apart. Both on small fresh bunker chunks placed in the trough.” They were only fishing five ounces of lead. Due to conditions, the short game with small baits was the only option. “I’ve been shopping at your store for 20+ years. It’s always my first stop when coming onto the Island.” Greg said, “I’ve put in a lot of time fishing. This is my biggest ever off the beach. I enjoy your reports! Thank You!!!”
Here’s Greg (left) and Ernie (right) with their double striped bass catch off the Long Beach Island surf.
Another big fish from the beach today came in from Mike Brophy. We caught a large and beautiful striped bass off the LBI surf in the late morning hours around slack tide. Big congrats Mike on your first surf side striper. A photo of this catch os included in the video forecast shown above.
Marc Diaz caught this bass off the LBI surf at about 2pm on fresh Fish Heads Bunker.
Last night (Wednesday) Mike Cline caught four bass up to 41″ off the beach. He was chunking bunker around the top of the tide.
Central NJ Striped Bass Fishing
Striped Bass Fishing in the boat continues on as strong as it’s been. There’s really no need to dive into details. Daily boats are getting out of Barnegat inlet and enjoying great fishing utilizing their favorite methods; live bait fishing, trolling, jigging and casting. We haven’t heard any direct reports from the south end out front.
A lot of great fishing has gone down this past week and good fishing continues with quality from the beach and boat. We are smack dab in the middle of prime time fall fishing here on the central Jersey coast. Find a weather window or fish in the thick of it. It’s game time!
Here’s an updated fishing report video I posted yesterday Sunday November 7, 2021.
While I was away Fish Heads ambassador Swagmattic was kind enough to share a video report update on the the 4th.
Fall fishing on Long Beach Island is in full swing with this weeks arrival of the first wave of migrating striped bass. The ocean bite has been on fire the past couple days with mostly over slot sized stripers. The big bass are feeding heavily on bunker pods. There are still a good number of smaller fish on the bayside and we should see the quality there increase this week as well. Surf fishing is just starting to heat up as these larger bass are being caught off the beaches as well. Blackfish season opens 11/16 with a 5 fish bag limit. Seabass, Porgy, False Albacore are all still very much in play. Get off the couch and get out and FISH!!
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