The month of May has been very, VERY good to surf anglers. The beaches of Long Beach Island are alive with both striped bass and drum. The fishing is and has been firing on all cylinders. Here’s my latest LBI Fishing Report May 2024 video from earlier this week, loaded with some recent catch photos…

LBI Fishing Report May 2024

CLAM – CLAM – CLAM – This spring the clam bite is strong for both striped bass and black drum. Right now we have possibly the best showing of black drum that the area has seen in decades. It started off earlier in the spring with a great showing in the bay but more recently the suds have lit up with boomers.

For the most part it has been clam, clam and CLAM for these two species. Bunker will yield bass and blues but it has been hard to get. It’s not podded up in the local waters like we usually see in the spring so these migrating fish are coming into the suds to hunt and that is where they find us! Don’t over look live sand fleas (for striped bass) and mullet (for blues) as they are both great baits.

Patrick Howley Jr and his dad Pat got into the surf action!

As you can see the LBI Fishing Report May 2024 is active with goof spring fishing here on LBI. And fluke is just getting started!

Fluke fishing isn’t phenomenal but at the right times and places anglers are putting together catches. We had a 25″ 5.5# fluke weighed in by a kayak angler fishing the bay with live minnow. Sorry the name never got shared with me, just the photo.

Also making their presence know… smooth dogs. Up into this full moon, we have seen a robust showing of large dogfish. These girls put up a great fight and are actually very good table fair but be sure to gut, bleed and ice down immediately. You may be surprised how good eat these are those looking for quality table fair. Give them a try as they have been abundant the past few years and we do our part to keep them in check right now. A lot of these are pregnant females. I’m not sure if they’re here to spawn, but it would make sense based on the time of year and the fact that many other fish spawn in the spring. Below is a mouth watering photo from Dave Minnick “the sea provides”!

Report sent in from Glenn Mattern… On Sunday, 19 May, my brother in-law Ray Peters who was visiting from FL and making only his second striper trip since last fall. His best striper was a 42”. I ventured out of Barnegat Inlet in search of stripers. We went north and marked a number of small schools of bait fish along IBSP. Only few schools looked to be bunker, but not on the surface. No stripers were marked under them. After a while of searching the area shortly after low tide, we trolled back south with a mojo, a bunker spoon and a deep diving bunker plug. There were only three boats seen out since the seas were marginal for small craft, but the Governors Tournament was in full swing on IBSP for surfcasters.

The first hook up was on the plug which Ray, who will soon be 80, pulled in a 51” striper. It was a solid and healthy fish and safely released. About 20 minutes later after we began the troll, I connected with a second striper that was amazingly a 51” twin. It was caught on the bunker spoon and also safely released. These fish were the largest stripers caught by either of us. An EPIC trip catching two fish that were 50+, and possibly 60 pounds!

Looks like we are finally getting a break in the weather here. I am looking forward to getting out this week. We will be in the bay and inlet on the hunt for stripers and blues. We will be fishing a variety of techniques, including anchored with clams, drifting with worms, casting soft plastic and topwater lures, and trolling plugs. Throwing the kitchen sink at ’em! 

We are available Wed May 22 and Sun May 26 for charter or we will be running Open Boat on those days. 6AM to Noon. $200 person. 4 people max. All fish are shared.

We also have one spot available on Friday May 24. There is a group of 3 people looking to add one more. Same hours and cost as above.

Attached pic is Bill Buckham of PA with his keeper striper that ate a worm under a bobber at the inlet jetty on a recent trip.

Hope to see you on board!

Thank you,

Dave

Dave DeGennaro

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

The first half of May was very good to the anglers fishing Long Beach Island. Both striped bass and bluefish are on the beach, inlet and in the bay. Fluke, weakfish and black drum are also great target species. Great reports flood in daily, even today in the rain. Here’s my latest fishing report update from yesterday, Tuesday morning.

Rick, the fishing musician is having a great spring catching striped bass on almost all of his trips to the beach. He is catching on clam. Today in the rain Todd Luyber reported, “Fish the slop! They are chewing!” Bobby Capri reported, “Insane night tonight! I made it to the 40 inch club this years 41 inch striped thing this evening a 36 inch a 26 inch bass and some monster blues!” Another great bluefish report came in yesterday from Chris Moffitt, “Got the birthday blues, about 10 of them on metal.”

Carl Hartman puts in much more time fishing than most and is having a hella good spring fishing the LBI surf. Yesterday he weighed in a spring surf trifecta… striped bass, bluefish and black drum! Now’s a great to fish the surf of Long Beach Island.

We will be running Open Boat trips this Tues May 14 and Fri May 17, the only days in the forecast without rain. 6AM to 1PM. $200 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared. 

We will start out trolling plugs on the west side of the bay looking for birds or swirling fish to cast soft plastics and topwater lures. We will continue the hunt through Oyster Creek Channel looking for life and progressing east to fish the inlet. At the inlet we will use a combination of bait and lures. Bass and blues are the targeted species.

Hope to see you on board!

Dave

Dave DeGennaro

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

The fish are here and the anglers aboard the Reel Fantasea are catching! We have done pretty well with striped bass on recent trips catching on a variety of artificial and live bait. Some recent catch photos are listed below. If you are looking to get out fishing, I have one spot available on an open boat trip THI SATURDAY morning 5:30-10:30am sailing out of Barnegat Light. We will be striper fishing first and then finishing up with fluke. Call to secure the spot!

~ Capt Steve Purul – Call: 6092901217 – Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters

Recent days have offered great fishing for anglers fishing the waters of Long Beach Island. Both striped bass and bluefish are biting in the surf, inlet and bay. There’s also good early season fluke fishing too. Today, Tuesday May 7th we have a small yet powerful 2-4′ easterly swell on the beaches so be prepared with a little extra lead sinkers. Get out and enjoy this awesome early May fishing today!

Striped Bass Fishing Report

Striped bass have been action in the LBI suds for a number of weeks now. We are happy to share that the LBI surf continues strong. This past weekend was great and this work week and kept on going. Most reports are focused around mid-island (North Beach to Brant Beach) but that is also the more popular and convenient area to fish so more anglers mean more reports. On recent tides CLAM has been the top producer. Bunker is catching too and it’s also getting blues… more on that in the next section.

Right now there is a full size range from unders and keeper/slots to overs and welllll overs. In recent days fish in the mid to upper 40″ range were reported. Be sure your gear is in order and be sure to test your knots when rigging up. We hear too many, “I lost a big one today.” Spit hooks are one thing but knot failure is unacceptable. If you need an hand be sure to stop in Fishermans Headquarters and we can help!

The bayside while maybe overlooked now that the surf is good has been stellar. With the warming waters the bass are fired up! Small soft plastics like 3” NLBN, 4” Ron-Z and 5” Zoom Flukes have been best for matching the smaller bait profiles. Also top water poppers and spooks are teasing bass to the surface.

Bluefish Fishing Report

The front beach of LBI, Barnegat Inlet and Barnegat Bay all have nice bluefish on the chew. They first showed about 2-3 weeks ago and have since become more abundant and more spread out. This past weekend reports were coming in from all over! Carl Hartman stopped in with three nice bluefish up to 11lbs which he caught fishing frozen bunker chunks off the mid-island surf. We also had reports Monday from the rocks. There was a good bite with some good size bluefish on SP Minnows and metals on the outgoing tide.

Hopefully this trend continues and all can experience old school bluedawg beatdowns like the good ol’ days!

Fluke Fishing Report

With the rising bay and inlet water temperatures, the local fluke fishing is off to a phenomenal start! We’ve had reports of fish up to 26” and multiple limits of fish all over 20” on both Gulp and minnows. A few quality fish we’re caught on large strip baits like Bluefish, Mackerel and Sea Robbin. Fishing a big natural or live bait for fluke weeds out most of the smaller fish and increases the likelihood of a big fluke encounter. Store Staffer Paul had a nice limit of Fluke off the rocks, all over 19” up to 21.5”. All his fish we’re caught on Z-Man StreakZ and Magictail Killshot Jigheads.

The stretch of good weather and good fishing along the LBI surf continues! The suds are alive and consistent producing striped bass of all sizes on clam. There’s also a few bluefish and black drum. Now’s a great time to fish the Long Beach Island surf.

Not much change from the last report shared on 4/23/24… So I’ll start off with sharing and reiterating… “On the striped bass side of things we have both good bass fishing in the bay and surf as well as inlet. Anglers are targeting and catching on both lures and bait. Off the surf, the clam bite has been good.“

The clam bite on the surf has been really good with reports flooding in every day for the better part of two weeks now. We have done our best to share these updates on on social media pages (Our Facebook Page & Our Instagram Page) so if you don’t follow us there, now’s a great time to give us a follow!

Some days have been better than others with this weekend being full of action up and down Long Beach Island. Today (Sunday) we received striped bass catch reports from Barnegat Inlet, the North end beaches all the way down to Beach Haven and Holgate. Now’s the time to get out on the surf and soak some clams!

It’s depressing to say, we are in the final days of the April spring tog season but all good things come to an end. However, NJ Summer Flounder Season kick off May 5th. Crazy it’s time!!!

Here’s a quick video report update from this afternoon…

The sunny warm weather is raising the local water temperatures and with it a positive progression in the spring fisheries. Since the past report update we have seen a surge of black drum to the area as well as a number of kingfish. The spring striped bass bite in the bay continues on and the tog fishing is great. The local fishing has been good and there’s no signs it is stopping. It’s only getting better! Get out fishing and enjoy!

The drum are being caught in Barnegat Bay, Manahawkin Bay and Great Bay on clam. Kingfish were caught on clam and worm in recent days. If you are getting frustrater by mysterious bait stealers, try tossing another rod out with small hooks. Anglers fishing clam, worm and lures are catching striped bass all around the local bays. The early season spots are still pumping. Thanks to warming waters, bass are also stretching out into other areas now too. Since the last report there were a handful of surf side striped bass catches. It’s not a bad bet to try however your best fishing IMO is the bayside BUT that may transition very soon. Now is also a great time to get out tog fishing and soak some crabs as the spring season is only one month long (open only for the one month of April). Reports from both the jetty and the reefs and wrecks have been great.

Here’s my last fishing report update video which is from yesterday Monday April 15, 2024.