The big bass are here and we plan on targeting them by artificials, live bait, and trolling.  I have been pretty busy with my son’s baseball schedule with less time on the water, but that is changing as his season is winding down.  With that, I was able to squeeze a last minute opening for Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.  With favorable ocean conditions, we would most likely plan on fishing for Ocean Striped Bass, but working the inlet is also an option.

If interested, please call/text 609-290-7709 or book through the website (www.reelreactioncharters.com).

Capt. Brett Taylor

Now that it has settled down more anglers are getting back out and reports are flowing in. The fish are on the chew both on the beach and boat. Here’s some recent reports.

Bass along the beach is getting better.

Fresh off the surf, John Murry stopped in the shop to get a new tip installed on his Lamiglas surf rod. While here John reported bass and blues on bunker. John said the fishing was good where he was on the mid-island surf.

Another angler was in and reported fun fishing with his son on the bayside, small blues.

The crabbing is red hot.  Customers are raving on the blue claws right now.

The Inlet was good yesterday.  Got word from a couple customers who had fun there on bucktails and plugs.

Some good reports today from the boat guys. We heard there’s bunker patches along the beaches of LBI and IBSP. Here’s a nice one from Mark Finelli of Laura Sportfishing. Mark reported catching a couple on the snag and drop today out of Barnegat Inlet. Looking to get out on the water with Mark? Give him a call… 8563416562

Paul Sowney Jr sent in this photo of a nice bass. Caught and released off the LBI surf yesterday.

Matt Polito reported a good day yesterday. “It was a nice day on the beach catching bluefish on the LBI surf.” Here’s a photo of one yellow eye.

The Grundens Deck Boss Boots are in. Stop by and check them out. One of the only made in the USA boot available. Retail $99.99

Here’s Bob Danyluk of Flemington NJ with a 38 pound striper that freight trained that white Mojo hanging out of his mouth. We were trolling in 60 feet of water off of Seaside today. 52 degree water, lots of bunker around.

Here’s the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH-Nhmf8_9I&feature=youtu.be

Going to get interesting. We have room on trips sailing every day targeting these big bass in the ocean and/or the blues in the bay. The weather is mint all week.

Capt. Dave DeGennaro

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674

hiflier.com

David DiGangi sent in this photo and report… “I caught this 45″ bass on Thursday at about 9:30 am trolling a white #4 Bunker Spoon with a complete Tony Maja rig and wire line. We were just north of the Barnegat Inlet in 40′ of water.”

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I just got off of Sedge Island, located on Barnegat Bay behind Island Beach State Park, after spending Thursday overnight into Friday with some of my AP Environmental Science Students. Sedge Island is rich in history.  An over 100 year old hunting shack has stood the test of time and weathered every coastal storm Mother Nature has thrown at it. Babe Ruth stayed at Sedge and it is without any doubt it is the pillar to which Ospreys and Peregrine Falcons have made a historical comeback after the detrimental effect of DDT which was banned in 1972. And it was one man, Pete McLain, who had the vision and determination to bring these birds back from the brick of extinction. Knowing that hunting and conservation could co-exist, it was Pete who had the name of the New Jersey’s Departmental of Environmental Protection’s Division of Fish & Game name changed to Fish & Wildlife. Pete is no longer with us, but his legacy is remembered every year with when from the wintering grounds of South America  the first Ospreys returns to Sedge Island in March. Thanks Pete! Now with the fishing report.  It was great to see my students get into some of the bluefish action today.  They landed a handful of blues from 2-4  pounds, broke off one much bigger, and landed a schoolie bass. I had Paul Karner out earlier in the week flyfishing with no success.  Seems like the 40 deg nights put the blues off a little. With the full moon passed us the big bass are starting to show up off the beach.  All we need  is a little warming of the ocean to blow the bite wide open. I have some magic hour dates open later in the week as well as Sunday May 21^st.

Screaming drags,

Capt. Alex 609-548-2511

Some good reports off the Island surf today. Bass and blues…

Store staffer Rob was on the beach and got fish. Todd Luber reported “Decent morning chunking the surf. Got this one and dropped one. The old man got two nice bluefish.”

More fish pulled yesterday! Anglers slow trolling along the beach are catching classy fish.

Positive vibes are in the air (along with heavy amounts of pollen)! The fishing on LBI is ramping up into the prime spring season.

Classy bass arrived in our local waters and will be here for the next few weeks. Mid May and June is an awesome time to target trophy striped bass on and around Long Beach Island.

Reports off the boats today were good from the waters off LBI and IBSP. Captain David D. of Hi Flier Sportfishing got a good one, mid-thirty pound class. See his report posted separately. Mike Messler of DocksideDiner also got into some good fish trolling too. Mike was fishing off of LBI with Reed Johnson yesterday. Reed recently geared up at the shop and yesterday he put the tackle to work with some really nice fish. This has been the best first hand report we’ve got this spring. It’s time to get in the game! Three nice fish on the troll; 35lb, 34lb and 20lb. Mike reported, “Some bait balls deep, nothing on surface. We roped ’em on a White #4 Tony Maja Bunker Spoon from Fisherman’s Headquarters!”

BUY MAJA SPOONS HERE

Chris Degennaro got a couple nice bass on the troll yesterday. Here’s a pair he pulled.

There was talk in the shop about a nice fish that was caught late afternoon off the surf. An customer buying bunker reported an angler near by caught a good size bass.

Anglers continue to pick bass and blues off the surf. Today shop regular Sam checked in a nice linesiders off the surf. Arnold Manresa recently reported bunker has been working in the suds. Got another two fish as well as skates and sharks. Hooked up on something else but after a three minute fight the hook came out. All of my action has been before work on the morning tide (5-7AM). Another report came in from Aaron Ho, photo below. He caught and released his first keeper sized striped bass of the year off the LBI surf recently. Simply Bassing, Long Beach Island’s Spring Surf Bass Tournament is on and currently led by Jeff Crabtree at 18.86 pounds.

Still some nice perch in the tidal creeks and lagoons. Store staffer Willie got a couple nice ones last night off his dock.

I fished yesterday morning on the bay with Blake. We got into some blues. The wind was light so I had to pull out the fly. It was a blast getting them on the white gamechanger.

A couple solid reports from the south end of the Island bayside. Word is it’s hot with with large and aggressive blues. One gental man stoked on the awesome fishing stopped in the shop to gear up. “I gotta get em on the fly. I have so much fun fly roding steel head, I’m gonna turn on the blues.” We out fitted him with a phenomenal saltwater setup that will be very universal for bass and blues among other species too. The unit was made up of the G.Loomis Cross Current one piece 8’10” rod and a Hatch 7 Plus Finatic fly reel. After spooling up, he was off to flag down the angry ol’ yellow eyes with the fly.

There was a time when the local demand disappeared; however, there’s a resurgent in the area. So for this year, after a long intermission we brought back a small selection of premium fly fishing gear.

For me, the past fall was off the hook and this spring has been a great start. I’m looking forward to catching a bunch more fish on the fly this year and I’m especially looking forward to gearing up others to get in on the fun. For those that live for fooling fish on artificials this is the ultimate. While not the easiest is isn’t rocket science and it is so rewarding!

Any one looking to gear up and smash them on the fly stop in and see us. We have a selection of premium made in the USA fly reels by Hatch, rods by G.Loomis and line by Cortland. We are also a St. Croix rod dealer so special ordering a St.Croix fly rods is a quick turnaround.

Dave Spendiff of the Village Harbour Fishing Club found some monster blues in the bay.  Yesterday he weighed in a 18.84 pound gorilla! Shown below

Jacob Bowles got five to 15 pounds recently bunker chunking the bayside.

Chris O’Neill sent in this photo and this short report, “34 inch gator caught in Great Bay yesterday on bunker.”

Here is a report from Gianni Marano, dated May 8, 2017: My father and I were fishing in Barnegat Inlet Sunday around 12pm from our boat. We were working the outgoing tide with swim shads. On my third cast a 34″ 9 pound bluefish slammed on and I was hooked up on lite tackle. Unbelievable fight! We also saw people reeling in blues from the IBSP rocks and other boats drifting next to us.

It looks like we have a developing low pressure with increasing wind and swell this weekend… so now is the time to poke out and fish! If you can’t swing it, the long range looks promising. Next weeks looks to be an awesome stretch of weather. Lets hope it pans out.

After weeks and weeks of relentless wind, the NW finally let us sneak out the inlet to go troll some spoons. Had friends Johnny O’Kinsky (left) and Brian Ewan (right) on board for a spontaneous (Thanks to Johnny) “Let’s shoot out for a couple of hours” trip. We started off the Bathing Beach (Where else?) and had no luck so I ran north of Lavallette where I had heard of a “guy who knew a guy” sort of report that he caught the day before. Nothing. On the way back, we let them out in 60 feet of water off of Seaside Piers and while I was preparing the deck for the ride home, Brian screams: “There he is….That’s a bass!” referring to the rod that was dumping line. He was right. 34 pounds on the Boga Grip. One hit, one fish, and after another short troll we headed for the dock. Didn’t get that hit until 4PM. He went for a #4 white Tony Maja bunker spoon.

Here’s the YouTube clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzckMkpjzRE

Open Boat or Charter trips running tomorrow (Wed) May 10, Thurs May 11, and Fri May 12. Leave at Noon, return around 6PM (probably later). All three days have 5 to 10 knot winds making for a nice ocean, giving us the option to go troll spoons for the big stripers and/or cast light tackle at the blues in the bay. There is a mix of size with the blues now. There are still some gators mixed in but there are a lot of 3 to 5 pound fish now, too. We can do whatever you guys want. Don’t be afraid to check availability right up until “Go time”. A lot of times we will sail with less than a full boat just to go fishing. Best way to communicate with me is on the cell. I’m available from 6AM to 9PM every day. $175 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared. Also available every Sat, Sun, and Mon for morning and afternoon trips. Charter or Open Boat Trips.