Category: Fishing Reports

Time flies when you are having fun!  So far this summer has been a great one. We had some good weather and good fishing. Hopefully everyone enjoys this Labor Day Weekend and the late summer fishing. We have a nice weekend ahead with conditions looking prime. Let’s go fishing! Here’s the Fishing Report Update for the Long Beach Island Area on Labor Day Weekend.

Before diving into the fishing report I must first share a couple fishing events…

Save The Dates!

This Saturday Sept 4th is the 2nd Annual “Rock The Dock” Fluke Tournament – Registration is live now online at https://www.njfishingclub.com/rockthedock. For the full rules and details, click here. Last year’s inaugural event was a success and it was built upon and made even better this year having a dual gun shot start (conveniently having one on the north end and one on the south end) and weigh ins via water or land at The Boatyard right on the LBI Causeway. This tournament is open to boat anglers, kayak anglers, surf/land based AND there’s spots open with Captain Sammy on the Mary M charter boat out of Barnegat Light. Sammy is always on the fish and last year Jake Bayak got the second place overall heaviest fluke as well as the Mary M Calcutta. For 2021 results… https://www.njfishingclub.com/rock-the-dock-results.

The 68th LBI Fall Classic Surf Fishing Tournament kicks off October 8th and runs to December 11th. Registration has begun, $30. Stop by and sign up today!

LBI Fishing Report Details

Warm water and great weather coupled with a large variety of target species from both the beach or boat makes late summer one of the best times to fish the waters of LBI. Here’s what’s happening on and around Long Beach Island.

LBI Surf Fishing Report

To kick off the month of September, the LBI Surf Temp is 73º as per the Harvey Cedars Beach Patrol.

In recent days on the surf fluke, kingfish and spot as well as at times blues offered fun fishing for surf anglers. With the warm clean water surf anglers could see a couple croakers, puppy drum and possibly a pompano. A variety is available to catch fishing a small hooked hi/lo rig baited with live bloodworms, live sand fleas, Fish Bites or DynaBait.

Steve George shared that he had some sand eels on the beach when fluke fishing Monday. It’s not a bad idea to start fishing “fall style” teasers to match the slender baits!

With the warm surf temps there’s also rays and sharks. All summer long they are cruising the Jersey Shore but right now could be the peak. There’s black tips, spinners, sandbars, sand tigers and yesterday we heard of a tiger shark (NOT sand tiger) which caught and released off the Sea Isla beach.

Barnegat Bay Fishing Report

The local waters have an abundance of bait and the Mullet Run is right around the corner!

Back bay anglers are still catching good numbers of fluke drifting the main channels working out towards the Inlet. Blowfishing is and has been great. Blow toads offer great light tackle fun on the water and they are good eats too. Anchor up in the open Barnegat Bay and put down a clam chum log. Fish a simple small hook rig, baited with clam, squid or our favorite because it stays on the hook great… Fish Bites! Don’t hesitate to thread on a piece of Fish Bites and then top off with a piece of clam, squid or a morsel of Gulp. Gotta save those short bit off baits for this purpose.

Weakfish are here in good numbers and if you know when and where to look they have been for most of the summer. This is the time when shrimping weakies is a ton of fun! Land based anglers are catching under the lights at night.

This time of year offers some of the best crabbing and it is also a great time to go clamming!

Barnegat Inlet Jetty Fishing Report

All summer the Jetty offers great fishing opportunities! Casting small plugs and jigs you’ll find cocktail (1-3# class) bluefish and possibly some hardtail species like Spanish mackerel, bonita and albies. Fishing baited rigs you’ll catch tog and the occasional triggerfish and sheepshead. There’s always resident striped bass roaming too. There’s a lot of bait in and around the inlet almost daily. As the days get shorter and the water cools expect to see even more exiting the bay. Then we should see more activity with striped bass and sometimes a couple larger blues. Later in September and October offer great fun fishing for these two species as well as TOG!

Central NJ Ocean Fishing Report

Inshore / Near Shore Fishing: Ocean fluke fishing has been good and it should remain good right to the end of the season, Sept 27th. Reports from the reef sites as well as wrecks and open bottom have been good. Action has been productive on the open bottom off of Island Beach State Park and LBI, 30-50′ (some are catching drifting in closer to the beach too) fishing the lumps and old clam beds that striped bass anglers fish all fall. The local party boat, Miss Barnegat Light has had happy customers on recent trips with good catches of fluke and some days mackerel in the mix. The past two days they reported, “Really good day of fluking. Everyone went home with dinner.” And. “Great day fluking. Quit wishin’ and go fishin’!” They are sailing right now but after Labor Day Weekend they will be shifting gears to tuna canyon trips so be sure to call the boat to confirm their schedule.

Remember NJ Black Sea Bass Fishing is closed as of Sept 1.

Today we got a delivery of fresh bunker and our local boat shared he saw some foamers on the way in. That’s right… hardtails hammering bait pods. He said were albies and bonita. Both species have been around these parts as well as Spanish mackerel. There’s a surprisingly strong showing of dorado (mahi mahi) around the inshore waters. We got some mahi reports from from fluke anglers fishing the reefs.

Midshore / Offshore Fishing: Now’s a great time to be offshore. With the summer waning down there’s less boats now than during the heat of July and August. And fishing at times has been really good. We’ve heard some good catch reports of yellowfin, bluefin, swordfish and tilefish. Reports of both day troll and night chunk as well as deep drop action both day and night. Harry on the Parrot Dice reported on his last trip he chunked up some yellowfin and also caught a small but legal (keeper size) sword. Today we got a report from Capt Mark on the Bluerunner, “Found some yellowfin on the troll, chunk and jig. Then added a 75″ bigeye to finish off the trip. Also had some mahi.” Word is the Magictail 3oz HooMagic Heads did the pretty work and then the crew down down and down the dirty work.

Mahi seem to be everywhere and some big ones too! A nice one was weighed in by Austin Pounds on Monday. There’s a good showing of wahoo. Most are catching them by accident but there are some high speed trollers focusing on them.

It may be the unofficial end of Summer here on the Island after this Labor Day Weekend. 🏖

But the Summer Fluke Fishing will continue to be very good at times well towards the end of the month, NJ Summer Flounder Season Closes 9/27/22.

Still some really nice “overs” to be found if you work for them 😉 and with the success of the “slot fish” regulations now on the table this year there are still some great opportunities to catch some table fare 👍

Add in the pending “Mullet Run” with all that baitfish heading Out of the Bay – Thru the Inlet – and Down the Beach plus with a little help from Mother Nature it could be a September to Remember 👍

EVERYONE Have a Great / Fun /Safe Holiday – Happy Labor Day – Catch’em Up 🎣

*Stay Tuned for News about some “Fall Run” Surf Trips I have planned to close out the year here on LBI.

Nightstrikes Surfcasting Guide Service LLC / Steve George call 609-276-6983

So our bonita/albacore trip sucked last week. Ran 26 miles north to where the bite had been good for a few weeks just to hear the “What happened?” chatter on the radio. We eeked out one nice bonita on bait and that was that. The only good thing that happened was I broke in one of the six new Fish Head rods I just acquired from Fishermans Headquarters on that fish, and they are awesome! Flexible enough to enjoy the fight but has enough backbone to control the fish. Love them! Paired with 5000 spinning reels, these are going to be our “everything” outfits. Bonita, albies, mahi, stripers, blues and anything else that shows up.

We are crushing the weakfish and big blowfish in Barnegat Bay. All on six pound ultralite rods. The weakies are ranging from 11 to 18 inches, with most in the 13 to 15 inch range. We are available for your private charter for these trips Fri Sept 2, 5, 6, and 7.

We have been laying low on the tuna trips because, frankly, we were not scoring. It’s been a tricky season. SO, I do what most boats in my size class do (25 ft), we wait and watch the marine weather, and wait, and watch, sometimes we watch and wait, and then BAM! The weather window is there and I have some good intel from a friend who just got back from a good yellowfin trip. So we are headed east in search of the bite. Should be mostly bait and jigs. I will have the trolling gear on board but I am hoping not to use it unless we are scouting. Saturday Sept 3, 3AM to 5PM, $450 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared. We need to fill all 4 spots to sail. The boat is also available for charter for this day, but only for tuna. I need a shot of blue water once and a while to stay sane. Saturday is that day. Call to reserve a spot, that is the best way to get me. 
Hope to see you on board,
Dave
Dave DeGennaro
Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

Pic: Billy Fellows of Absecon NJ with a nice bonita

Notice To Mariners – The Barnegat Light Channel has officially changed!

United State Coast Guards Aid To Navigation (ATON) moved a number of buoys this week. The “old” channel running from the “B” Buoy in front of the USCG Station west towards the High Bar Harbor Dyke and then turning north along the Dyke and towards Oyster Creek Channel is no longer marked. The Barnegat Light Cut is now the main federally marked channel when transiting from Inlet/Lighthouse to the bifurcation into Double Creek and Oyster Creek Channels.

Scout it out and get familiar with the change. A LOT of boaters got hung up, high and dry the past couple of days. There should be a danger buoy should be placed to the south of Buoy 19’s current location at about 39º 45.977’N 74º 6.992’W.

Buoy	Latitude	Longitude
14	39° 45.891’N	74° 06.448’W
16	39° 45.885’N	74° 06.556’W
17	39° 45.794’N	74° 06.590’W
18	39° 45.929’N	74° 06.703’W
19	39° 46.089’N	74° 06.990’W
20	39° 46.028’N	74° 06.808’W

Some boaters are coming south along and out of Oyster Creek Channel get confused after passing Buoy 22. Then they see Buoy 19 dead ahead, due south at a new location. Those that have run “The Cut” all along are fine because they are already making the eastward heading towards Condos and then Lighthouse. But those who aren’t familiar with running “The Cut” can hesitate when they encounter the new location of 19. Some mistakenly look at their GPS and think, “I’m too far east.” Then turning back towards the west in hopes of getting back on course of the old buoy locations as displayed on their screen and… BANG! Hard aground.

I saw this happen numerous times on Thursday 8/25. I reached out to Coast Guard Barnegat Light to see if they could share some information. They stated that ATON (federal) moved the buoys because they have been requested to do so for many years. And now the next step (dire need) is waiting for the state to do their part, placing a couple danger buoys to prevent the issue. I thought it was a bad answer since the federal vessel was in the area working and it would have been simple for them to place one danger buoy identifying the shoal at the fork in the road between the new and old channel.

Fishing and boating is fun, but it can be challenging and expensive. Especially when there’s shoaling in the middle of marked channels and changing channels markers (ATON). Things are always changing. Be safe!

The summer may be nearing its end, but the summer fishing season for the boats of the Beach Haven Charter fishing Association are still finding their fill of summer type offerings.

The “Miss Liane” with Captain Ray Lopez recently had a good tuna trip trolling in one of the offshore canyons recently with George Mangione, Andy Goldman, and Johnny from Forked River. The group caught three nice yellowfin tuna in the 65-pound class.

Captain Alex Majewski of “Lighthouse Sportfishing” recently did some bay fishing with great results on blowfish, kingfish, and miscellaneous other species. Captain Alex is just hitting his stride after a slow start due to a variety of reasons that have kept him off the water. He is 100% ready to go now.

Reports from Captain Vic Bertotti and first mate Max Goldman of the “Starfish” term the bottom fishing in the ocean as hit and miss. A recent trip produced 9 keepers with fluke, black sea bass, and sea robins producing most of the action.  

Captain Gary Dugan of the “Irish Jig” recently had a day with two trips to the ocean for some bottom fishing for fluke. The first trip had four keepers to 21-inches and the second crew had five keepers. Young Moah was high hook.

Captain Brett Taylor of “Reel Reaction Sportfishing” has been busy and recently had a limit catch for the Tim Murphy and family crew. On a 5-hour ocean trip they hit a small snag and boxed 12 keepers to 7-pounds. In addition, they released some quality big fish as they were already over the limit. He had Alex Gal and crew out for four keeper fluke until the ocean kicked up and they finished the day with a good catch of 53 blowfish and one kingfish in the bay.

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

It looks like a really nice marine forecast coming up for the weekend, light winds, and calm seas, so we are headed offshore to target bonita, albacore, and whatever else we could coax into our slick. I am loaded with fresh spearing, and that is the key into getting them around the boat. We are going to anchor up and fish them with bait and jigs on light tackle. Sailing Open Boat or Charter: Sat Aug 27 and Sun Aug 28, 5AM to 1PM, $325 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared. The boat is also available for charter on either of these days for inshore or offshore.

We have been doing really well catching weakfish in the bay on live grass shrimp. They are anywhere from 11 to 17 inchers. Also in the mix are blowfish, hickory shad, snapper blues, spots, sand sharks, kingfish, fluke, and more. Constant action on the six pound ultralite outfits. I am available Tues Aug 30, Wed Aug 31, Thurs Sept 1, and Fri Sept 2, 10AM to 3PM for these trips. Charter only, not Open Boat on these trips. 
There are also sharks to catch just a few miles outside the inlet. Two to three foot Atlantic Sharpnose and Spinner sharks along with 125 to 150 lb Brown Sharks. This could be combined with the bay fishing as well.

Pics:Baxter Thomas of Summit NJ in the red life vest putting the boots to a 130 lb class Brown Shark on 30 class conventional tackle.

Dave DeGennaro

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

Capt. Dave Kreines has been running bay trips on the “ByteMe” with good action.  He had the Krimmel family out to face strong winds and cold water for some short fluke and sea robins. Another day Lori and her daughter caught a variety of fish including fluke, black sea bass, dogfish, and sea robins. High point of the trip was when the daughter hooked a cownose ray and got it to the boat after a 15-minute battle. Captain Dave had John Hadith, his 10-year-old son Hunter, and his 80-something father, George out and they started a drift near the marina. They did the same half-mile drift for the entire trip and caught too many fluke to count including three over 18 inches. 

Veteran Captain Vic Bertotti reports the “Star Fish” has been actively catching a nice mix of black sea bass, fluke, and sea robins over the rails. While many of the fish are undersized, there have been enough keepers to provide some delicious fish dinners. Captain Vic has been working some of his secret hot spots on and around the artificial reefs.

Captain Dave Wittenborn had an epic trip for the Sullivan group on the “Benita J.” The anglers had a limit catch of 15 yellowfin tuna with multiple double and triple headers throughout the day. It was steady action for 5 hours and Captain Dave termed it “The best yellowfin action I can remember.”

Captain Gary Dugan reports a banner day for fluke recently on the “Irish Jig.” He had Mike and Michael Russo out and they boated four very nice fluke including 23.5 and 24-inchers.

Captain Brett Taylor has been very active with “Reel Reaction Sportfishing” often with multiple trips daily. One day with three trips brought in 23 keeper fluke. His top fish was an 8-pounder caught by angler Adam Yee. The doormat was weighed in at Bobbie’s Boats.

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

Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association

Weather continues to be a topic around Long Beach Island with high temperatures, wide fluctuations in water temperatures, and occasional thunderstorms making things interesting. At times these changing conditions make fishing tough, but the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association continue to find fish.

Captain John Lewis of the “Insatiable” reports variable water temperatures made finding fish a challenge, but he has managed to keep his anglers happy with fluke, black sea bass, and a variety of other fish in the mix. One recent trip saw ocean water temperatures in the mid 50’s, but the bite started as it rose to 61-degrees as the day wore on. With Beach Haven packed with vacationers, Captain John reports his sunset cruises have become quite popular.

Captain Dave Wittenborn of “Captain Dave’s Charters” had celebrity chef Graham Elliot out on the “Benita J” filming a television pilot, “Winner is Served.” Fishing was slow but they managed to land a nice fluke for him to cook up. Captain Dave said “He’s a great guy to hang with. Look for us on the Food Network.”

Captain Gary Dugan of the “Irish Jig” had a dedicated group of fishermen out this week who “really kicked butt’” They returned to port with a nice catch of good-sized fluke caught on structure in the ocean.

Captain Brett Taylor of “Reel Reaction Sportfishing” has had several successful charters recently. He reports finding better action for the most part in the bay waters rather than the ocean. Tom Dillon and crew put 4 keeper fluke and a few bluefish in the box despite strong winds. His last charter featured Bob Dodds, Boston Bob, and Produce Jack for a 4-hour charter. The guys worked some live bait and jigs boxing 7 solid keepers to 21 inches while releasing close to 50 shorts.

Captain Frank Camarda has been piloting the head boat “Miss Beach Haven” into some decent fluke fishing. Several of his anglers have been bringing good sized fish over the rails, and fishing seems to be improving daily.

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

What an exceptionally nice day today… dry air and a much cooler than usually mid-August day. Just a flawless Saturday here on Long Beach Island.

The dreaded upwelling event has eased over the past few days due to a distinct change in weather pattern. It’s a welcomed change from the dog days of summer, Bermuda High, humid, hot and ripping south winds. But as always weather changes. This will break down as high pressure weakens, moves off and a coastal low brews up in the Carolinas and slides up.

Here’s the Long Beach Island Fishing Report for Saturday August 13, 2022.

LBI Summertime Fishing Overview By Near Shore Species

The waters are at their season high in August and the variety of species are also at their peak. Whether beach or boat, right now there is a plethora of species to catch. It’s the best time to catch a Barnegat Bay Grand Slam (fluke, striped bass, bluefish, weakfish) as well as an Inshore/Mid Shore Bottom fishing Grand Slam (Fluke, Tautog, Black Sea Bass, Cod/Ling).

Summer flounder (fluke) fishing the waters of LBI in August is great, arguably one of the best times. All summer long there’s a huge biomass of fluke staged up and feeding in the bay. The bay is still loaded with fluke but now’s when they start moving out (mid-August moon was Thursday’s Full Moon) and activity in the ocean’s wrecks, reefs and open bottom heat up. The surf which is good all summer for fluke can really shine at this stage of the game. Don’t overlook the inlets as everything funnel through! This time of the season anglers don’t need to get fancy. Use all of the same tricks that have caught fluke all summer. Light line jigging with Gulp is the most basic approach and one of the most deadly! Use 5-6″ baits fished on as of a light as possible to effectively feel and tap bottom. A few baits that I add to spice up my arsenal this time of year… live peanut bunker, live snappers, whole squid and mackerel strips.

Kingfish (northern Kingfish) love the clean surf waters on Long Beach Island and south Jersey. They usually show up when the surf temps get into the low to mid 60’s in June. It’s common to see the first good wave right after the larger class of striped bass leave in the spring. Then they hang around all summer long. It’s common to see the kingfish disappear right when the classy bass show back up (usually the same time as the horn-dog aka spiny dogfish invasion) in mid October. Fishing for kingfish is a lot of fun, it’s easy and they are good to eat (just like whiting, in the same family as are croakers and drum). These critters absolutely love live bloodworms (also great Fish Bite Bag O’Worms & Dyna Bait Freeze Dried Bloodworms) as well a sand fleas. Small pieces of clam, squid or shrimp will work too. The most common and effective rig is a hi/lo rig with pill floats and a 2-4 oz sinker (depending on conditions). Remember that kings tend to be in schools so it’s common for anglers to catch more than one. If nothing is happening after 10-15 minutes move around. It’s worth a shot to walk the beach and try to find where they are holding. Don’t dedicate your whole trip to one spot if not catching.

Striped Bass fishing is really good for this part of the year. There are always a body of resident fish that hang around and are a ton of fun. This summer seems much better! It could be the one positive from the numerous upwelling events in late July and early August. Bass love lures! You can’t beat a bucktail, an SP minnow or a Smack-It Popper, especially when blues are also in the area. All three of these will catch striped bass day in and day out and hold up to abuse from bluefish. I love soft plastics but the toothy ones will do a number on them too quick. Looking out September is a great month for schoolie striped bass as they get active chasing the exiting summertime baits (spearing, peanut bunker, mullet). Usually around mid October the run/migration shows, is here all of November and usually into December. We commonly see two to three waves so there are ups and downs during the run. Bigger but fewer at the beginning and more but smaller size at the end. I’m going out on a limb, picking the best week of the fall for both quality and quantity will be… October 30 to November 5. Maybe I’m a week early?

Bluefish are around in the bay, inlet and surf chasing small baits. Mostly they are chasing spearing but also peanut bunker. Throw slender metal to match the hatch! Deadly Dick Metals, Hogy Epoxy Jigs, Kastmaster, Krocodiles. Soon mullet will be the bait of choice on the surf, buy never too soon. Remember there is no minimum size however there is a 3 Fish Bag Limit. Yes snappers are bluefish. There is a special 5 Fish bag limit when on charter (for hire) vessels.

Blowfish were somewhat few and far between in the earl and mid part of summer, but they really came on strong the past week or so. Reports from all around the Island’s bayside waters have has a strong uptick. Anchor up, chum and send down small baited hooks with clam or squid. This is also a great time to use those Gulp slugs if you save them when fluke bite the tails off.

Tog fishing at the Barnegat Inlet jetty is offering up a lot of fun and it will continue to do so right through the fall season. The Tautog season opened August 1 at 15″ with a one fish bag limit. It will remain until November 15th when it opens up to 5 per person. If you have never tog fished before this is a great and very easy fishery to try out. First make sure you have protective footwear for safe jetty walking – Korkers!

Other structure loving species on tap right now… Triggerfish and sheepshead hang around structure all summer. From the bridges, docks and bulkheads to the sod banks, jetties and inlet, just about any type of structure can and will hold these two crustacean loving species. Fishing for these is a lot like tog fishing but they are usually not inside the structure like tog. They are usually hanging around or on top of and much more active at the slower staged of the tide.

Black Sea Bass are on the inshore reefs and wrecks all summer. This year the NJ state fishing regulations give angler a two fish bag all of July and all of August at a 13″ minimum size. This offers fluke anglers fishing the snags to bring home a nice sea biscuit or two. If looking to target Sea Bass first you have to find an area holding them and identify their presence on a sonar. They usually look like a Christmas tree when present in good numbers. Then drop a slender jig like the classic AVA Diamond Jig or my favorite the Hogy Sand Eel Jig. Another way is to bait up hi/lo rigs (1/0-3/0 hooks) with clam.

Weakfish were somewhat gone for a number of year; however they are resurged. Last year there was a great showing in the late summer. So far things look good this year too. Weakfish are a great species to catch at night in the lights at the many street lit bulkheads and docks. Their presence is usually give away by their surface feeding smacks when slurping shrimp, crabs and any type of baitfish. Also flashes in the light lines mean they are active. The classic pink softbait must not be forgotten. Bubblegum – Pink Shine is their favorite in either a fork tail, straight taper or a curly tail grub. Fish it on a small lead head 1/4-3/4oz. A small Storm Shad Is also another great lure. As always with weakies, the lighter the better. Light tackle is the only way! Weakfish also can’t resist small bucktail jigs and flies (Pink and White Clousers, Shrimp, Crab Patterns). If you are fishing in a boat and have access to get live grass shrimp, there’s no better way to seal the deal than live chumming and casting the fly rod! (or fishing small hooks baited with live shrimp) There is no closed season for weakfish but there is a 1 fish Bag Limit per angler and a 13″ minimum size regulation. Do your part in ensuring this fisheries rebounds to it’s prior greatness and practice catch and release!

A few summertime species that must not be forgotten… A few Spanish Mackerel are around and were caught recently. They are usually hanging around with the blues chasing bait. Catch them on small lures matching bait. Also anglers troll small metals or spoons in clean warm waters outside of the inlet or in close proximity. Doing this same sort of this will also turn up other hardtails like Bonita and Albies which should show very soon.

There’s lots of bunker pods and stretched out along LBI right now. There’s also a lot of predators on them from whales and porpoise to Cobia…

Sharks & Rays – With the warm surf tempers rays and sharks are also cruising the suds. If looking to chunk and get tight with a substantial pull this would be for you, HOWEVER! Know the laws and know the species. Don’t be that guy who illegally lands and photographs prohibited species! You will ruine it for everyone. Both sandbar sharks and sand tiger sharks are both federally protected species. They can not be removed from the water. There are black tip and spinner sharks present right now as well as cow nose rays among others (bluntnose, roughtail, butterfly) that anglers can catch and release.