Happy Veterans Day to all of the past and present veterans out there. Yesterday we ran a free trip for veterans in honor of Veterans Day. I had the pleasure of having Scott from Philadelphia on board for a striped bass trip. Scott is a career military veteran who just recently retired from the Air Force. I expected a fairly large crowd due to the holiday and weather forecast but when we got out there, we were all alone. After getting the rods in the water we had our first fish on within the first 15 seconds. It ended up being a 26” slot fish but it was also Scott’s first ever striped bass. Since I made the mistake of forgetting our bonus tags at the dock, we released the fish and hoped for good karma. We worked the area looking for bait and fish but there was not much life. After 2 hours of looking around, we hooked up with a nice fish. Shortly after, we boated Scott’s second ever striped bass weighing in at 40lbs and taping out at 47” long. There was not a ton of action today but we were able to get Scott on his very first striped bass and at 40lbs it is a fish he will never forget. Thank you very much for your service Scott, we look forward to having you out with us again and hope you enjoy your fish.
The marine forecast looks beautiful for this upcoming Thursday and Friday. I am available for charter or open boat both days. The weekend forecast is looking less than favorable with strong northeast winds forecasted, so I expect these fish to feed before the blow.
If you are interested in getting out please give us a call to book your trip. Call or text Captain Mike to get out on the water or send us a message through our website! (609)-709-7264
The striped bass have finally pushed into our area in decent numbers. We have missed out on them a few times due to bad timing but they are here. I am available for chart or open boat tomorrow 11/10 and Veteran’s Day 11/11. Call or text me at (609)-709-7264 get in on these trips!
This morning I had return client Jay along with his 7yr old son Justin, nephews TJ and Ryan, and father in law Bob out for a 6hr striped bass trip. With hundreds of boats in the area we started working an area away from the crowd hoping to find some fish that weren’t scattered. After a couple hours we marked some bait and fish and put 2 keepers in the box within a 15 minutes. As the fleet moved in to the area, the fish scattered and we could not find any more bites. It was a great day and a successful one as well since we were able to get 7yr old Justin on his first ever striped bass.
This past Wednesday I ran an afternoon trip with new client Matt from Beach Haven West. With some great intel from Fish head Greg we headed into the area looking for the great bite that he was on. When we got into the area, we were late and missed the bite by minutes. We set up on the troll and were able to box 1 keeper bass. All afternoon we had several humpback whales around the boat along with unlimited bait. We marked tons of fish but they didn’t cooperate after their feeding frenzy.
If you are interested in getting out please give us a call to book your trip. Call or text Captain Mike to get out on the water or send us a message through our website! (609)-709-7264
A good chill has arrived and the fall fishing is heating up! Now’s the time to get in on the action. The recent days were full of solid striped bass fishing. Here’s a quick update to supplement our most recent “complete report” post on 11/5/19.
Here is Swagmattic with one of many big beautiful striped bass that was caught and released aboard Fish Head Charters on Wednesday. The fish this day were eating bunker, sand eels and anchovies. It’s rare to find schools of fish eating a variety of baits at the same time but this day all of the fall’s forage was stacked up just a couple miles from Barnegat Inlet.
A good wave a striped bass marched in this week. What started on Sunday/Monday continued on everyday since. Striped bass from 15 to 50+ pounds were caught; troll, jig, live bait, top water, what have you… This large body of fish is here now! However there’s no telling how long they will stay. For all those that always complain how bad the fish is… Please Get Out & Fish! If you need assistant… stop in that’s what we are here for.
The LBI Surf Fishing Classic had a new leader take over yesterday. Here’s the top three.
35.72# Mike Curtin 25.12# Brandon Pomykacz 17.18# Chris McIntee
Just a heads up we currently have a reel promotion running… If you need a new reel and are looking for made in the USA quality, look no further than Avet.
We fished for stripers last Sat, Sun, and Mon and it (we) sucked! I was networked with captains from Barnegat Inlet to Atlantic Highlands on Saturday and I did not hear of a single fish. I went back for more punishment on Sunday, each day running as far as Asbury Park. They did catch on Sunday, right outside Manasquan Inlet, about two miles off, but by the time I found them and put the lines out, the party was over. Thank God for the Barnegat Inlet jetty where we caught three schoolie size bass on light tackle before heading back to the marina. Monday was not much better until the ninth inning with two outs, 9 hours in to our 7 hour trip (I know, that’s some tricky math right there) my homemade umbrella rig gets smashed and we deck a 34 lber. Another schoolie bass at the jetty and we head for the barn.
I know guys caught some fish on Monday, but it wasn’t good. Tuesday, the fishery lit up with every size fish and it’s been “game on” ever since. Sailing Open Boat Saturday, Nov 9 and Monday, Nov 11, 6:30 AM to 2:30 PM $200 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared. Call to reserve a spot. I can be reached on my cell below from 5AM to 8PM any day and you can call right up until go time.
Since our last post there’s a lot to share on the local fishing front. Hopefully you’ve been following along to our Instagram page for live action. If not… here’s the Fishing LBI Fishing Report Update for the evening of Tuesday November 5, 2019
3 Days Of Big Striped Bass Close To Barnegat Inlet
Captain Jeff has been dialed in to say the least! I talked to a lot of other Captains on a daily basis and he seems to be higher than high hooked. Jeff has been fishing the afternoons and catching consistently. He found the mother load of big bass off IBSP on Sunday afternoon. “We went out for an arial photo shoot for our Reel Innovation Product Line and came across lots of bass. At one point all of our rods were hooked up and with only two of us on the boat tried to feel out the biggest fish and reel that one in first. Turns out they were all monsters. The biggest was 54 pounds!
Here’s Ilan from Reel Innovation, the creators of The World’s Best Outrodder. Here he’s holding up his first 50, this 54# striped bass they caught on Sunday afternoon trolling in 55′ of water off IBSP. Notice in the back the rod is hooked up with another fish and the spreaderbars on the deck. They were doing an areal photo shoot for their products and since there were bluefin tuna in the area… why not pull some bars?
The Reel Innovation Outrodders have had great reviews from everyone using them. Jeff details, “In design and testing it was our goal to make a top quality outrodder for striped bass anglers but we also wanted to satisfy the big game anglers hunting tuna and sharks. There’s been some really big fish caught on them and everyone loves the quality and convenience. Check out The World’s Best Outrodder by Reel Innovation today at Fishermans Headquarters.
Monday afternoon Jeff and crew was right back in the action. He reported, “The southerly wind was cranking and it was sloppy but the fish were chewing. Only if I had a gun or gaff… we had a 250# thresher shark next to the boat going wild but it parted ways.”
“Today (Tuesday) was another good day on the water,” Jeff said. “My buddy Horn called last night and I shared the good word. We met up out on the water and right away we were into fish. Third day in a row!!! The best fishing was Sunday however today was not far behind. Today we killed a thresher.”
Jeremy Miller was out fishing aboard the Who Cares with Captain Horn. He reported, “Epic fishing with the boys today! We caught two 50’s on one tandem mojo rig. Got five fish total and weren’t more than three miles from the inlet!”
LBI Tog Fishing
It’s prime time for targeting blackfish on the inshore structure! Local anglers have been into a lot of fun fishing crabs on Magictail Tog Jigs. Fish Head Ambassador Swag has been in on the action the past few days and reports most days are very good so long as it isn’t to rough sea conditions wise. I’m fishing 60′ of water and doing good with fish up to 9-lbs. There’s some good size fish around and any day once it gets seasonably cold it will get even better. Gear Up Now! *** NJ Saltwater Fishing Regulations for Tog aka Blackfish change on November 16th. It goes from the current one fish to five fish at 15″. ***
LBI Surf Fishing Report
The beach of Long Beach Island have fish, nothing special yet but could be any day! Most of the bass being caught are by anglers matching the slender profile of sand eels; Hogy Epoxy Jigs, AVA Diamond Jigs, Deadly Dick Lures, Super Strike Needlefish. We are stocked up so stop in if you need ’em!
Anglers fishing bait are battling with an abundance of spiny dog fish. While they are frustrating the boat anglers have found that the doggies are on the same bait as the bass so you gotta fish through them.
This past weekend saw solid participation with nearly 400 anglers fishing the 2nd Annual American Anglers Fishing Tournament. The one day event (Saturday November 2nd) had gorgeous weather with a bit of chill around 50 degrees. The water was warm (~60 degrees) but a bit dirty from a blow the day before. There was a spread of fish caught. Here is the report from Carl the Tournament Chairman, “Several species were landed that were score able; Bluefish, Striped Bass, Sharks, Black Drum, several Fluke (Summer Founder) Sundials and even a Lingcod were landed! However, a few were considered shorts and or out of season and were not eligible for scoring. All fish though, 100 percent, were released.”
Team winners were awarded thousands of dollars in prize products. Starting with third place, the Cherry Hill Team scored a bunch of with little Aiden Ruff scoring a Bluefish to put the team in the winnings! The second Place Team goes to RH Custom Rods Team “A” with Gary Born landing the winning Bluefish at 14.5 inches. But, the first place award goes to RH Custom Rods Team “B” with Sammy Cantalano scoring several fish including Bluefish and sharks. Congrats to all of the winners
Individual awards starting with 2nd place was a tie and went to Francine Cutter and Stan Tomporoski. First Place went to Stephen McKee with five fish scored! Congrats!
Ryan and Brayden O’Connell both walked away with youth prizes. So did Aiden Ruff with nice prizes. Largest fish Female went to Sharon Otto with a large Sundial and Sammy Catalano won with his Bluefish.
All in all it was a great day and a great thank you goes out to all of our participants, sponsors and volunteers. Go to www.americananglerus.com in a few days to see the pictures that were taken of this now annual event.
Fish Head Charters
Fished Monday morning and had a lack luster day with only one bass following a plug to the boat, with a “ha-ha-better-luck-next-time” tail slap and turn. No hook ups for us but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. We ran all over. A couple friends I called into the area (where we found the bird plays) caught a couple under some very scattered and erratic birds. Word has it the area was good at first light but it was a short lived bite with fast moving fish. Once back to the dock at 10am I got the call that the fishing starting to come together then the afternoon was good, see Captain Jeff’s report above.
It’s prime time and I’ll be out as much as possible. The main targets are striped bass (migrating class as well as the smaller ones in the bay) and tog. Most all weekend dates are booked but I do have some mid week days open.
Along with good reports, we also need to report the bad. These past three days, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, were very tough fishing for us.
Saturday morning I had return client Mike Lombardi along with his friends Will, Mike, and Noah aboard for a 6hr striped bass charter. After the blow we started north hoping it pushed some fish into our area. The entire area was loaded with bait, but the only action we had all day was 1 knockdown. We ended the trip working the inlet with plugs and poppers but could not get the fish to cooperate. It sounded like the whole coast of New Jersey struggled on Saturday. Several tournaments had similar results as us that day with no fish being weighed in.
Sunday I have new clients Rick and his son Ricky from Philadelphia, PA out for a 6hr striped bass charter. We started back north where we marked all the bait on Saturday, except today the bait was scarce. After giving it a couple hours with no bites we moved to the inlet and bay to drift live bait. With some help from Capt. Brett Taylor and a few practice swings, we were able to tag a 26″ bass for them to take home for dinner.
Monday I had new client Bruce from Chester, NJ along with his friends Steve and Bob out for a 6hr striped bass charter. We headed outside and worked some new areas after hearing of an afternoon bite on Sunday that we had just missed. We set up on the troll and within a half hour we had our first fish on. Steve fought the fish and got it 10ft behind the boat in the wash and as we were about to leader it, the fish came unbuttoned. We put in time and worked that area for a while, marking lots of bait and fish, but that ended up being out only bite of the day.
The ocean fishing can only improve from here as the water temp drops and fish migrate into our area. We are going to keep trying our hardest as these past couple of days there has been a very good afternoon bite that we have been missing by a couple of hours. As the tides change, this afternoon bite should turn into a morning bite soon.
I am available for charter or open boat this Thursday, 11/7 since the weather is going to be beautiful with light west winds. I have Saturday 11/9 open for charter and it is the only weekend date that I have left available for the rest of the month. I have this Monday 11/11, Veterans Day available for charter as well. We also have several weekday dates available including the week of Thanksgiving.
If you are interested in getting out please give us a call to book your trip. Call or text Captain Mike to get out on the water or send us a message through our website! (609)-709-7264
Last weekend’s big push of fish was spectacular with Saturday’s On Like Donkey Kong! Unfortunately this Saturday was the complete opposite. What a difference a week makes. After the wicked Halloween blow things were shook up. Let’s hope it comes back together soon. The next couple days look good weather wise so only time will tell. Can’t catch them if you aren’t trying so let’s go fishing!
Here’s the Fishermans Headquarters LBI Fishing Report Update for Saturday evening November 2, 2019.
Abundance Of Boats But Not Bass
Today had an abundance of boats but not bass. The 5th Annual Maximilian Striped Bass Bash went down and it’s sad to say out of 31 boats, no fish were entered. The Beach Haven Marlin Tuna Clubs also held their Fall Striper Tournament; 30 boats, 84 anglers… no weigh ins. We heard reports from a lot of anglers striped bass fishing out of Barnegat Light today. We know of only two bass caught on the troll. One was near the bather’s beach and another was by the pier.
Big Inshore Critters
As reported on our last update… these two big critters are still around.
Dan Rosetto was fishing with Linda Lee Sportfishing’s Captain Ryan Horton they hooked into and landed a thresher shark. Dan reported, “Finally got my first thresher shark today! We were looking for bass on the troll near the Seaside Pier. We caught the shark on a Tony Maja Bunker Spoon Rod and a Tony Maja #4 White Bunker Spoon. It was an epic battle on the spoon rod combo. In the area there were three hooked up. Heard one got spooled but not sure about the other. A week or so ago my buddy got a 300# one.”
The boys aboard Waterman Charters were into bluefin tuna again today on spinning gear close to home.
LBI Surf Fishing Report
The surf hasn’t tee’d off but it’s producing. This past week a few reports came in from anglers fishing bait and lures. Baits like bunker and clams will get bites but you’ll need to weed through the horn dogs. Anglers looking to stay away from all that are opt for the lure game. The classic slender profiles are best right now… Daiwa SP Minnow Lure, Super Strike Needle Fish, Deadly Dick Metals and Tubed AVA Jigs.
This morning we had a nice 17.18# striped bass weighed in by Chris McIntee. He caught the linesider on the south end surf on a Daiwa SP Minnow Lure. This puts him into second place in the Derby. For more results go to www.LBISFC.com
I had return client Kory and Friend aboard for a Saturday morning trip. We started out hunting bass. After putting in an honest two hours with no results. We switched gears and got on top of some structure. It took a little bit of time but we got a bite going. Caught a dozen tog in about an hour’s time.
All health fish. Every one was a keeper ranging from 3-7 pounds. All on live green crab fished on Magictail Tog Jigs. Thanks to Rhodan for keeping us in position!
Another calendar page has turned and we find ourselves nearing the later but certainly the most exciting time of the 2019 fishing season !!
This is what all “striperdom” has been waiting for !! Stock Piles of bait, cooler temps, prevailing NW’esterlies and the horizon darkened by thick flocks of feeding noisy gulls giving up the location of vast schools of feeding striped bass!
We employ various spinning tackle tactics utilizing both artificial lures and live baits keeping the rod in the hands of our anglers and will also troll when conditions or opportunities dictate
Blackfish will also be in our gun sights as the season progresses combining both stripers and tog for some of the best tasting fillets found anywhere!!
The stripers are here and they are big. Averaging 20 to 40 pounds. That is huge for the Fall run, but it has become the pattern for the last five years or so. It’s probably no coincidence that we are getting a bunker run during that time, as well. There’s also sandeels in the mix.
On Friday, I made the left and ran 38 miles to the Highlands. We passed up closer fleets that had fish but a lot of boats. In those fleets, every time the fish popped up, four or five guys would run them down. Further north, where we wound up, there was very little pressure and the fish were swirling and crashing bait on the surface and down deep. We caught them on poppers, swim shads, and jigs. We had six fish between 25 and 40 pounds and released quite a few, all on spinning rods. Saturday, I returned to the scene of the crime but there were quite a few more boats and the fish were not surfacing. I got called in by a friend, Gene Linder on the Side Chick, who was working on his third big troll fish off of Long Branch. I doubled back, we put out the rods, and soon after we boated a 35 pounder on one of my homemade umbrella rigs. Another pass, and the same rig gets clobbered and we added a 30 pounder. I’m sailing Sat, and Sun, Nov 2 and 3, Open Boat, 6:30 AM to 1:30 PM $175 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared. We are probably going to troll to put fish in the box but if there is any indication that we can catch them casting or jigging, we are rigged and ready to do that. If for any reason, we do not find them locally, like as far as Seaside/Lavallette, we will run as far north as we have to and the price will go to $200 person to cover the extra fuel. We will also be returning later. The best way to reserve a spot is to call me on my cell from 5AM to 8PM. You can call right up until”Go Time”! Dave DeGennaro
Heads up for those 4 x 4 going to Loveladies. The beach about one block north of the public tennis court access ramp in Loveladies is almost unpassable. The beach is very narrow there, extremely wet and soft, with most of it sloped downward. I got stuck really bad and had to get towed off. While stuck, I watched another 4×4 try to make it only to get hung up and then turn around. Then the truck that came to pull me out got hung up in the same spot and had to turn around. He had to approach us from the north, coming in at East Coast Ave. I have been driving the beach for years and have never seen a spot like this. I now call my truck the “sand trap” LOL
