Category: Fishing Reports

The Double Creek Channel Shoaling situation is a hazard to navigation. This was originally published on 4/19/2021 but since the hazard still exists we’ve updated this on 8/12/22.

Barnegat Bay’s Double Creek Channel is well know for shoaling and shifting sand bars and in recent years it was closed. Right now (04/2021 and still in 08/2022) there’s two areas of potential navigation hazard in Double Creek. Shallow draft boats have no issue however at mid and lower tides some vessels are grounding.

Notice To Mariners – Double Creek Channel Shoaling – Shallow Water Hazard.

The best way for medium and large size vessels is always Oyster Creek Channel.

South End Of Double Creek – Hazard “A”

The southern end of Double Creek Channel at the elbow is pinching off again. For many years this area has shoaled. It was dredged a number of times, but never enough. At the time of this post there are two danger buoys at the site alerting mariners of the shallow water here. The area is very narrow with little to no room for error.

North East End Of Double Creek – Hazard “B”

On the northern eastern portion of Double Creek Channel, west of the tip of the Dike, there is a very shallow area inside the marked channel. It is marked by a danger buoy which is right by at Red #8 Nun Buoy. The danger buoy and #8 are both in ~5-6′ of water (depending on tide) however just to the west it is very shallow. The Green #7 Can Buoy is in very shallow water especially at low tide, +/- 1-3′ of water and even less.

This shallow area should be known by all operators/captains. Proceed with caution!

West End of Oyster Creek – Hazard “C”

Many small boats navigating westerly through Oyster Creek with a southern destinations short cut off to port in the areas of buoy 37-39. No more unless you really know what you are doing!

There is a new sandbar (sort of mini-island) that is dry even at higher tides. This is west of the classic Oyster Creeks West Dredge Spoil Island (not to be confused with OC Island East) and was the spoil site for the most recent Oyster Creek dredge work over the winter. I was told by a dredge company working this new island was named Trump Island because someone staked it out with a few Trump Flags which stood for a couple weeks.

It is not in the channel however it can catch someone off guard.

This original blog post was to highlight the shoaling in Double Creek however it is worth mentioning an area which has caught many boats high and dry. There is a sand bar creeping south and into the channel in the area of Buoy 38. Do not run this area offset to the red / north side because it might not end well. There’s much more water on the green / south side of the channel. Running straight from 37 to 39 is clear and safe water.

Navigate With Caution

Mariners must always navigate with caution. Be aware of shifting sediments which impact the entire bay. Each spring it’s best to review your common routes and adjust waypoints accordingly. This way when navigating in conditions with limited visibility you are aware of the dangers. It’s always good to have a handle on the lay of the land.

I hope this alert helps save someone from grounding and possibly injury to boat or passenger. Recently a friend witnessed a mid-range center console hit bottom (Hazard A) running on full like a brick wall. Hazard B has caught a lot of boaters too. It’s no joke!

Right now there’s no telling if and when the situation will be address.

By Capt. Alex Majewski, Lighthouse Sportfishing

Entering my 18^th year of being a professional saltwater fishing guide I have learned that I can often rely on my back bay bluefish strategies to bend the rods and put smiles on my client’s faces. Beginning in late April or early May, until the end of my season, I am dialed in on the bay’s fishery including bluefish.

Fishing artificials, early morning after sunrise or the magic hour before sunset may be best. On the flats I love throwing poppers. However, sometimes you need to stay off the top. There is nothing like a visual strike! Working the bay’s shallow flats, bright sun will often put the fish down. Still, cloudy days may extend surface action. When that occurs, my go to lure are soft plastics.  Use the lightest jig head possible to keep you below the surface but off the bottom. Usually that is about ¼ – ½ ounce. On the flats boat traffic is always a factor but in the channels it may not have a negative effect. More on that later. Although you may not get into all-out blitzes with hundreds of birds working, subtle signs of just a few birds picking can give the location away of actively feeding blues. The passage of a spring cold front followed by a wind from the northerly quarter can often turn the bite off.

When working artificals, I do it on the drift. And when on the flats I have my clients cast down drift or to side drift of the Debbie M since the boat may spoke fish when fishing in two to three feet of water. Yes I fish that shallow. When in the channels, fishing bucktails tipped with fresh bunker strips, I make sure my offering is close to the bottom. One thing to note is to always keep the slack out of your line so you can set the hook as efficiently as possible. Closer to the inlet you can get away with metals in the ½ to 1 ounce range.

Probably the most overlooked method for spring bluefish is bait fishing. It is simple and a deadly method. Anchoring up in prime locations such as the channels or even in the open bay where blues are roaming, fishing bait can result in nonstop action during the right tide.  In the spring the bay warms up much quicker than the ocean.  The closer to our inlets you are fishing, the further into outgoing tide you will need to fish. Pay attention to your fish finder’s temperature gauge and note when the bite turns on. My experience has shown that the bite turns on when the temperature gets around 58 degrees. For this method I fish conventional outfits with a fish finder rig. While at anchor, use enough weight to securely hold bottom. I can’t say enough about circle hooks here. Most times I don’t go to wire and use 18 – 24 inches of 50 lb. fluorocarbon and a 6/0 to 8/0 circle hook. If the fish start running into slammer territory I may switch to a wire leader. You can’t beat fresh bunker from Fisherman’s Headquarters, but if that is not available other meaty baits like frozen salted mackerel or mullet will get it done.

Anyone that knows me knows that trolling is my least favorite way to fish.  I’m a live bait specialist and will leave it that. The best areas to troll is the open water of the western side of the bay.  When trolling for spring blues, leave the heavy bass trolling gear home and go with tackle rated in the 8-12 lb. range. You can even use spinning gear if you want. Suggested lures are: pony tails; swimming plugs; Clark spoons with a 1-3 ounce drail (depends on speed and line test-the heavy the line or the faster the speed to more trolling weight needed). Trolling bucktails or plastics will even be effective as long as you keep them greater than two to three feet from the surface. I usually do not troll the bay any faster than 3kts.

Even though our summer inshore bluefish fishery seems to have hit rock bottom, there has not been any change in Barnegat Bay’s spring bluefish run.  Some years we see fish over 10 pounds. Like we did in the years of 2016-2019 where I had several fish around 15 pounds. Hooking a 10 pound blue in 2-3 feet of water rivals world class flats action offered by species such as bonefish. Most years we see fish from a few pounds on up the eight. Regardless of their size, when you match your tackle to the size of the spring blues invading the bay, there is nothing like a screaming drag after a bluefish explodes on your popper!

Are you looking to get out fishing Barnegat Bay and the Surrounding waters of Island Beach State Park and Long Beach Island? Give a call to Captain Alex at Lighthouse Sportfishing today!

Captain Alex Majewski – Lighthouse Sportfishing – 609-548-2511

As we get further into Spring we begin to see better size striped bass show and the tog fishing kicks into high gear. Recently the local Long beach Island area saw both. If you’re looking to go fishing on LBI, now is the perfect time to get in on some great fishing that Long Beach Island has to offer. Stop in, geared up, get dialed in and go catch some fish! Here’s the Fishing LBI Report Update for Tuesday April 13, 2021.

LBI Surf Fishing Report

This past weekend we got our first striped bass reports from the front beach. It’s great to see!!! The next big milestone will be seeing the first bluefish. With the LBI ocean temp right at 49-50 degrees (it has been above 48 for 48 hours) and April’s new moon behind us they could be hear NOW!

Our first LBI surf fishing catch report came in from John Moran of the LBI Fishing Club. He caught two striped bass off of the surf on clam this past weekend.

Jason Kemp “My brother caught size bass on the surf this past weekend plugging Saturday. Too bad I had to work. I’ll be out there as soon as possible.”

LBI Spring Surf Fishing Tournament is underway. Join this spring run to win!

Bayside Striped Bass

Recently some better size striped bass were caught in both the back bay (Barnegat Bay and Manahawkin Bay) as well as the waters slightly south of us (Great Bay). Striped Bass fishing in our local bays has been very good over the past 2 weeks.

Multiple keeper sized striped bass were reported with plenty of nice sized school fish in the 22-26” range. Soft plastics have been doing best for many people. Some have reported 10+ fish nights. Top producing soft plastics are the Kettle Creek shads as well as the two classics Lunker City Fin-s and Storm Shads. Small swimming plugs like the 3.5″ Yo-Zuri Inshore Minnow, 4″ Yo-Zuri Mag Darters and 13F Daiwa SP Minnow have been our best selling back bay plugs as of recent.

Bryan Coccia caught a 29.75″ 10# bass on the bayside.

Shop regular Paul Lindsey has been putting in a lot of time fishing every chance he gets. He reported, “Had fish up to 27” in the past week with some quality schoolies in the mix. Live bloodworm and sandworms from Fish Heads have been the ticket for me!”

Black Drum

Bobby Capri reported good fishing on Sunday. He said the bite was on. “I released five bass in an hour and also got a drum. The guy next to me had 8 in a two hour session.” He also shared a review on his new Lamiglas rod, “I’m a huge fan of my new Lamiglas surf rod. It matches up great with my Van Staal 100.”

Tautog Fishing Report

Tog fishing will be good all month. See previous report post for details.

White Perch

The White Perch fishing has been excellent with anglers catching consistently on Grass shrimp and panfish style plastics. Local creeks and rivers have been most productive for everyone’s favorite ultralight tackle fish.

Winter Flounder

Winter Flounder reports have been few and far between. Now’s the time to get out and hunt them down with some chum and worms (sandworms/bloodworm) or small pieces of clam.

Count Down To Fluke!

Countdown to NJ Fluke! At the time of this post there’s only 38 days to New Jersey Fluke Fishing! Click here for more info on fluke fishing the Long Beach Island Area.

Good early spring fishing continues for anglers hunting the waters of Long Beach Island. Striped bass, perch, tog, winter flounder, black drum and kingfish are all on tap. Here’s an update on the fishing front here on Long Beach Island.

Local Striped Bass Fishing

The Causeway Bridges are getting better and better as well as other mid-island areas. Catch reports from the north and south end’s bayside areas are also becoming more frequent from anglers fishing live bloodworms and artificial lures. The Barnegat Bay’s westside sod banks, points and tributaries are fishy right now and soon the flats will turn on. The Great Bay and Mullica River continue to produce.

Craig Harkness reported, “Perfect day today. Started off fishing the bridges with artificials (softbats) in the morning. Got two bass and then hit Fish Heads for live bloodworms. Then set up on the sod banks fishing 3/0 circle hook hi/lo rigs. Got three striped bass.”

The LBI Surf

The Long Beach Island beaches usually starts up with slow fishing in April and then rev up in May. If blues show this year, they would be a front running catalyst.

The Spring Surf Fishing Derby kicks off!!! Click here for more info.

Tautog Fishing Report

April is the one month spring tog season. Each year it offers some of the best fishing of the year. The best part is it’s good for for both land based and boat anglers.

Jeff Crabtree is one angler who puts a ton of time in and it shows with his consistent catches season in and season out. Yesterday he struck again! Jeff caught and weighed in a solid 8-LB tog. This was one epic fish for land based togging.

Boats fishing the wrecks put together good catches this week. One recent report came in from Capt. Jeff Warford. He has been out a couple time in recent days taking advantage of the great weather. He shared, “I’m loving the new Rhodan GPS Anchor. It’s a Game Changer! I’m loving the Rhodan Life.” Jeff and crew were recently locked in over some good structure and they pulled a nice catch together. Here’s Captain Jeff with one of the biggest of the day.

Kingfish… What the heck!

It is not a common catch for early April but it proves there are a few here this early in the year. Yup a northern kingfish! Paul Lindsey caught this king today on his new rod and reel. He stopped in and set up a new ODM DNA surf rod matched up with a Penn Battle DX. Couldn’t dream of a more perfect weapon for the local area fishing. It’s a great pair with a balance of performance and quality at the reasonable price.

Raritan Bay Bass Fishing

Raritan Bay has been good and it’s just the start of a great spring run. Lots of anglers with nice fish coming on top water spooks and metal lips.  Some big fish are in the mix too. Lots of great fishing still to come!

Winter Flounder Fishing

Dave Moores made his first winter flounder fishing trip a few days ago. He managed two flounder. The next couple weeks are the time

Saturday I was able to get the boat up to Keyport and get settled into the slip for the early spring striper run. I had my Mate Dan Rosetto and Mike Brazaitiis with me for first trip and it was lights out fishing first thing in the morning until we packed it in around noon. Guys were trolling 9er rigs and doing very well. We were focusing on jigging and that produced for us as well using SP Minnows, Nicholas Lures Magnum Spoons, and Tony Maja Shad jigs. I still have some dates available if you looking to get in on the early season fishing. Call / text Capt. Ryan Horton for availability 609-276-8032. Price is $150 pp up to 6 anglers.

Spring has officially sprung in the Beach Haven area despite some lingering winter-like temperatures. The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing have begun preparing for their spring and summer fishing adventures.

One welcome sign is the Association’s announcement that their much-acclaimed Junior Mates Program will be resuming this year after being suspended in 2020 due to the Corona Virus.

Association President Captain John Lewis announced all classes this year will be held outside at the Beach Haven Marlin and Tuna Club. Mask usage and physical distancing will be utilized to maximize safety standards. The first class will be held on Thursday, June 24, at 7pm.

The Junior Mates Program is designed to provide youngsters with a variety of expert teaching and hands-on experiences to educate them about fishing and provide them with the background necessary to become a mate on a fishing boat. Complete information on the Junior Mates and paperwork can be found on the BHCFA website at https://www.bhcfa.net/junior-mate-program.

Meanwhile, Captain Gary Dugan of the “Irish Jig” has splashed his boat and already brought some fish aboard in a shakedown cruise. Some short striped bass provided nice first of the year action for Captain Gary.

Captain Alex Majewski of “Lighthouse Sportfishing” kept occupied over the winter hitting small ponds in the Pine Barrens. He had productive days with catches of pickerel and largemouth bass. Perhaps getting ready for the new regulations on striped bass, he tried circle hooks with live minnows for pickerel with some “excellent” results. His boat, the “Debbie M” has been upgraded with a Rhodan trolling motor, allowing him to stay positioned over wrecks.

Captain Brett Taylor of Reel Reaction Sportfishing took time this winter for some long-awaited projects including a new house and a new garage. He did construct an electric hoist for his spare Minn-Kota trolling motors. He says he is now ready to start fishing.

Captain John Lewis of the “Insatiable” is now ready to resume making boat deliveries to mark time while he is not fishing. Captain John has been making deliveries for both dealers and private owners for many years and makes many yearly trips back and forth from New Jersey to Florida for boat owners.

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

A lot of progress was made this week coming down off the Worm Moon (Sunday 3/28/21) and entering into April. More anglers are getting out on the water and more fish are being caught. Best of all, bigger fish are showing up. Here’s the Easter Sunday Fishing Report from the crew at Fisherman’s Headquarters. Happy Easter!

Attentional Recreational Anglers: Please be conservation minded all year but especially during this month of April. A lot of the striped bass that are being caught right now are pre-spawn. The recruitment of our stock depends on their survival. If you weren’t aware, Circle hooks are required when fishing for striped bass with bait. Bait is defined as any marine or aquatic organism live or dead, whole or parts thereof. This does not apply to any artificial lure with bait attached.

Striped Bass Fishing

The local fishing in the Long Beach Island has turned up a few notches. Other areas, rivers and bays are full on!

Paul Lindsey was in the shop again today gearing up with things. He reported, “Fishing today was slow for me. I hit the low tide and fished all morning. Had to make a couple moves to find action. When I did it was all micros on paddle tails. Some anglers fishing bait near me were picking at fish too. Thursday and Friday was much better fishing even though the wind was kicking. There was a nice size range for our local area with most fish between 25-28″. This is up from last week. On Friday I managed another keeper size fish that I sent back to grow up. Thursday and Friday it was all on juicy live bloodworms. Your (Fish Heads) bloods have been really nice!” Paul mentioned that on Thursday, an angler fishing clam right next to him caught two black drum. We shared the post that day on our social media. This was the first black drum report we heard.

Funny how we mentioned, “Recently some flies showed so it’s safe to say the spring’s first black drum will be caught any day, if not already. With the full moon here it’s time!” on the last fishing report update post and then BANG!

Hunter Dargay has been putting in a lot of time fishing the local waters of LBI’s bayside and it is paying off for him. Friday he stopped in and got two dozen bloodworms. He then stopped back an hour or so later and got another two dozen worms. Later he shared a solid report, “I lost count at 37, might have caught 40. All were in the 22-25″ range and were released. The wind was cranking and they were on the chew. It was a day of fishing I’ll always remember.”

Anglers fishing the various spots of the Causeway Bridges have been catching good with bait and lures. 

Tog Fishing

Fish Heads Store Staffer Jared was out on the Barnegat Jetty today on the hunt for tog. he reported a decent day but a slow bite, “I really had to work for them. They were hitting clam much better than crab. The water was right at 45 degrees. Once that warms up a few more degrees things should start getting really good.” 50 degrees is the magic number!

Anthony Gagliardi and buddy fished the jetty too. They found some shorts but no keepers.

Tony Butch fished out on some snags in the boat. He reported, “Headed out late and fished the afternoon. We fished fished deep and then shallower. Had bites all day with lots of shorts. The last stop on the way in was lights out!” Here’s five for the table.

Paul Haertel was out today and reported, “Nothing big but we did manage to catch our boat limit.”

Raritan Bay

The Bay offers great fishing every spring. You just can’t miss out on it. A few nights during the past work week, Fish Heads Alumni Dan got into good fishing. These were some of the first reports we heard of quality fish and then photos of some monsters from the kayak crew. More recently this weekend boat anglers go into the action.

Fish Head store staffer Max and Swag had good fishing today. They said both shads and swimming plugs were getting smoked. Max reported, “Most fish weren’t up top but there was a good buddy of striped bass. Anglers trolling were picking at fish pretty good. We drifted and casted which producing a good catch count.”

Fish Heads Alumni Nick Deg was on the water today with his buddy Neal. They reported a great day, “Fish were active in the shallows and eating the fly. Neal managed a 39.5″ bass on the fly. Watching the eat was awesome! I got a 43″ bass too on top water.”

White Perch

Store staffer Frezza and Tate fish the local waters for white perch and they caught 15 fish in a short session and reported, “Non stop action!”

Another great week of early spring fishing in the books! We saw one major change this week compared to last… the fish are moving around and feeding in many more areas. While the early season hot spots are producing other areas are beginning to shine especially Long Beach Islands stretch from North End, Mid Island and South End. Individual Fishing Reports Further Below

Fishing on Long Beach Island and the surrounding areas is consistent offering anglers fun spring fishing. Back Bay Striped Bass anglers continue to have good action fishing the sod banks, bridges and rivers with both bait and artificials. The majority of fish on the sod banks are taken on live bloodworms. Some customers reported multiple double digit catches fishing areas in the local bays and rivers. Also, Perch are plentiful so be prepared with smaller hooks and extra baits.

The time for Winter Flounder fishing is now! Store Staffer Steve-O reports that the bay has warmed up significantly. He has been lurking around and catching striped bass after dark but we will soon fit in some daylight hours for flounder. There’s only one way to go… live bloodworms, clam chum and some corn. The latter is like an ice cream sundae without the cherry on top.

Recently some flies showed so it’s safe to say the spring’s first black drum will be caught any day, if not already. With the full moon here it’s time!

It’s kinda of nice to check back in with the a report post from one year ago.

Temps – Moon – Tides

Approaching today’s Worm Moon (the full moon of March) the tidal range increases (higher highs and lower lows) during the waxing moon phase. Now on the down side of the moon tides will wane into April. These tidal flows are important to understand how the water is moving in one direction or another and how much is moving. Looking at the Barnegat Bay Buoy (below) it’s great to see the water temperature warming trending continue.

This past week’s average temp was 51 degrees here on LBI. With a dew point right around the same we had a dense marine layer some days. It’s a common Spring thing but the high on Saturday of 80.8 degrees was extraordinary. We need these mild and warm sunny days to continue to push along the spring’s progression. With a cold front coming through it look the final days of March might not help much but that’s ok. March was very nice to us, especially the second half. In a few days it will be April’s turn to shift us into the next gear.

Here’s Some Individual Fishing Reports

The “abundance of bunker” reports in the bays and rivers continued this week. They stuck around all winter, so let’s hope they stay all spring too! A couple customer reported snagging bunker fishing lures the past couple of night.

Bobby Capri reports, “There’s small striped bass are all over the back bay right now. Saw some bunker flipping too. I was out fishing bloodworms on the banks with my son Mason on Saturday. He caught his first perch and striper. My buddy caught a handful of fish too.”

Hunter Dargay is fishing and catching LBI’s bayside. He reported, “A little windy but they were chewing good. I’m having fun fishing for the small ones while waiting for the big boys to come around soon.”

Paul Lindesy reports, “The past month around LBI and its back bays has been something special. So much fun and beauty to this game and our lands. I’ve now caught bass every day for over the past two weeks. Gear up. Get out there. Have Some Fun!” So far Paul has caught one keeper sized striped bass and a whole bunch of shorts in the 23 to 27″ range. Frank Perricone fished with Paul one day recently and they enjoyed their time fishing and landing a couple. It was blowing but 75 degrees. On Sunday during a break in the rain, “I got one on the first cast.”

Gabe Trevena asked for guidance and we geared him up. He reported back, “Thanks for all of the help! We caught about 20 fish today fishing Great Bay.”

Spring is here and the fishing is only getting better! The past couple of weeks have offered up good early season fishing at times with anglers catching perch, striped bass and winter flounder.

For early season spots think creeks, rivers and the west side of the bay. These are the areas that produce first every year. With the recent sunny days the water temps are creeping up and fish are beginning to get active. One would have thought that Thursday/Friday’s weather would have jacked things up but that wasn’t the case. It didn’t put on the breaks. It pushed on the gas peddle! The waters are very clean clarity wise, the fish are feeding and they are moving around some more. As the days get longer, more sun light warming things up, it’s only getting better.

There’s a couple bass starting to be caught on lures from the LBI bayside waters. We expect this to improve in the coming days and weeks.

Scott Hill caught a couple striped bass fishing the bayside waters behind LBI on Saturday at sunset. He caught two fishing lures and said that other anglers fishing live bloodworms were catching too.

Nate Kirby has been fishing the Island’s bayside and finally today he got his first of the spring. “Just got my first striper of the spring. It hit right at dusk on a black and purple swim shad. It was a health clean fish about 23″.”

Tom Lewis headed out this afternoon in the boat on the hunt for bass and perch. He found both of them. His report, “We really good today fishing live bloodworms. In four hours we caught 14 bass (some keeper size) and 40+ perch with some really big ones in the mix.”

Matthew Denora and his wife were out today and enjoyed the beautiful day fishing the sod banks. They caught a couple striped bass, biggest was 26.5″.

Some of the team members from the shop have been out catching. Max has been fishing just about every afternoon in his boat and he’s catching consistently. He’s fishing the west side of the bay not too far of a ride from his lagoon in Forked River. Jordan has been into the fun too, fishing with his buddies the Winton brothers. They are stringing up good sessions one after the other. Jordan said the bass are crushing small lures with aggression.

We heard of a couple winter flounder about a week or so back but this weekend we only heard one report. Scott Grove reported, “I was fishing for perch on the mainland bayside and was catching winter flounder.” Now’s the time to hunt for them!

Paul Lindsey is keeping the streak alive fishing every single day since the season opened on March 1. He has been in the shop just about everyday stocking up on live bloodworms and essential fishing tackle. Recently he has been into some big white perch and more striped bass. His biggest bass so far was a 29″ that has a whole bunker in its mouth. For a photo check out our Instagram Page. Here’s Pauls report from today… “Day 21: Clean water clarity and light winds to kick off the day with temperatures starting at 25 degrees and warming to 60 degrees. I fished with my buddy Herb and we did well. A little slower than earlier in the week but we caught a good number of bass including a double header. We’ll be back out at it tomorrow. Thanks Fish Heads for the primo juicy works. Tight Lines!”

Some spots in springtime are all about the water temperatures. Knowing the tides and the ocean’s effects will better help your plan your sessions. It can make or break your time on the water. Here’s a look at the recent readings at the Barnegat Bay Buoy. The rising temperatures represent the outgoing tide and the falling water temperatures are the incoming tide which is influenced by the cold ocean water. Spots close to an inlet will have this effect. Areas far away from inlet may not. Next time out fishing bring a thermometer. You might be shocked at how your fishing starts and stops based on the water temperature change that is very tide dependent.

Just a heads up the spring time sands on the surf are soft! It’s common this time of year as the sand is naturally stacking back in as the winter storm activity tapers off. They new sands are unsettled and can be hazardous to 4×4 buggies. As always drive the beaches prepared, aired down and with the proper proper gear in case of emergency.

Finally! There’s clarification on the murky mandates on the circle hook front.

Today the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Council (ASMFC) approved the guidance for state implementation of circle hook measures for the recreational fishery, “Circle hooks are required when fishing for striped bass with bait, which is defined as any marine or aquatic organism live or dead, whole or parts thereof. This shall not apply to any artificial lure with bait attached.”

I attended today’s three hour ASMFC Atlantic Striped Bass Mgmt Board Meeting and this is what I can share.

Timeline Of Circle Hook Reqs

To reduce the discard mortality of striped bass, in-line circle hooks are required when recreational fishing for striped bass with natural bait, live or chunk. This is nothing new. It was approved in October 2019 by ASMFC with an implementation mandate deadline of January 2021. States implemented but lots of questions and debates bubbled up! “Things got hairy” at the ASMFC February meeting when things went “‘Round In Circles”.

At that meeting an ad hoc committee was developed to define bait (Task 1), identify methods of fishing that would require circle hooks (Task 2) and also iron out how to handle incidental catch (Task 3). The goal was to create a binding component with consistency across the geographic range of the striped bass fishery. Remember states can always be more conservative, so only time will tell what each state chooses to do.

Bait Definition – Task 1

“Bait is defined as any marine or aquatic organism live or dead, whole or parts thereof.”

Thankfully this wording is specific and to the point. It allows tube and worm fishing. It allows the use of pork rind (as well as squid for that matter) when bucktailing for striped bass. It allows eel skin plugs. And best of all… It allows hair and feathers for the dressing of hooks; flies, teasers, tails. The removal of the reference to terrestrial animals or plants was a huge win (motion failed 1-11) for the fly fishing community!

Personally I was happy to see they did not get too far into the muck and mire with this. It could of got very wordy. Then in turn, hard to understand and adopt by masses. Processed baits like Gulp, FishBites, among others that include fish oils could have been looped in, but they were NOT.

While this might not seem like a big thing on the surface. I personally feel it is huge. Why? It sets precedence when circle hook mandates come down on other species. Yes I see them coming to fluke. How else do recreational anglers reduce dead discard?

Methods Of Fishing – Task 2

There was agreement that the circle hook requirement was intended to focus on static bait fishing where gut hooks are common. It was never intended to apply to classic sustainable methods of active fishing (troll, cast and retrieve, vertical jigging) artificial lures with bait attached. There was consideration to specify active fishing methods. The result was the second sentence, “This shall not apply to any artificial lure with bait attached.”

Rigged Eel Debate

There was discussion on rigged eels. Eels are marine organisms and even when rigged they are not considered an artificial lure; therefore, rigged eels fall into the bait category and must be rigged/fished with circle hooks. There could be future exemptions if requested and pursued by states but for now this is how it sits.

Snag & Drop Fishing

Snag and drop fishing is prohibited. Snagged bunker must be brought in and re-hooked using an inline circle hook. If the scenario plays out where a bass hits a snagged bunker while it is being retrieved, the fish technically must be released. Some anglers will be very disappointed by this however it is a win for the striped bass. Snag and drop fishing was a very popular and effective method BUT it had a very high mortality risk.

Incidental Catch – Task 3

The handling of striped bass incidental catch when targeting other species with bait and non-circle hooks boiled down to two options, To Keep Or Not To Keep.

• A – Allow anglers to keep striped bass that are incidentally caught
• B – Require anglers to release striped bass that are incidentally caught.

There’s valid argument on both sides and the has been in hot debate for months. Why? Proving an anglers intended target species is near impossible; therefore enforcement must focus on possession not intent to target.

Striped bass fishing commonly overlaps other species such as perch early season and bluefish during the season among other species. Plus the social media buzz from wiseass naysayers added fuel to the fire. For example the all too common, “I’ll still use j-hooks while chunking. I’m targeting bluefish,” jeering statements. Due to these loop hole seekers, allowing incidental striped bass catches would make the circle hook law unenforceable.

Fortunately the ASMFC put an end to it with a 12-1 vote for Option B.

Striped bass caught on any unapproved method of take must be returned to the water immediately without unnecessary injury.

In the case of fishing the surf with a mullet rig. It’s the anglers intent to target bluefish with a classic skewer style mullet rig with split double fang hook baited up with a fresh or frozen finger mullet. An incidental striped bass catch is not uncommon. When it occurs, the striped bass must be release. Anglers hoping for a striped bass while fishing mullet rigs should think about rigging up with a circle hook. In the mullet run time frame most striped bass are small but there are keeper size fish in the mix. Take the same rig and use a split ring to attach an inline circle hook to the skewer. Be sure to have a split ring plier because the hook needs to be removed each time for baiting.