December 31, 2011 ————————————————————————————————-

What a beautiful morning and a great way to close out the year! It sure doesn’t feel like winter.

Blake (store staff) hit the beach for a little bit this morning up on the North-end of the Island. He released one bass that went for his teaser.

There are still fish here so if you want to get out, go! There’s no telling how long our striper run will last. One thing is for sure, it will last into the new year.

This is Fish Head Greg and the entire staff at Fisherman’s Headquarters thanking everyone for allowing us to serve you this past year and wishing everyone all the best in the year to come. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

December 27, 2011 ————————————————————————————————-

Received: Dec 27, 2011 6:46 PM Subject: Fishing on 12-27

Fished the North-end of the island at dawn for a couple hours. Hooked up with about 8 bass using needlefish. Most were 24-28 inches, one went about 34 inches. Lots of birds as the sun rose, sandeels were present. The bite died down by around 9:30 AM which is when I stopped although probably could have picked at them a while longer.

~ Bill, Marlton, NJ

December 26, 2011 ————————————————————————————————-

Received: Dec 26, 2011 11:29 AM Subject: Sorry Art

Sorry to hear that Art did not get in on the striper action this fall. It was a record season for me and my 16 year old son. We started catching fish on Nov.12 and went right through Dec.11 with 6 to 8 fish a day each, every weekend. Greg said use AVA 17 or 27 in color Black and you should do good. Well we did, we are thankful for the great year, see you in the spring.

~ Joe & Al Z

December 25, 2011 ————————————————————————————————-

The management and staff of Fisherman’s Headquarters wish everyone all the best during this holiday season and a special wish for a Very Merry Christmas!

December 24, 2011 ————————————————————————————————-

Even though it’s winter the temps are still mild and the bass are still here! This epic fall Striper run just will not end. Rick Zane caught one bass and Mike Mitryk caught 4 bass this morning. Both guys were fishing the surf on the north end of the Island. Tie on a teaser and fish metals or needlefish!

~ Fish Head Greg

Received: Dec 24, 2011 9:08 AM Subject: Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters – season wrap up- going out with a bang!

With a small craft warning in place and a marine forecast with North winds gusting to 30-kts for Friday, I reluctantly canceled Fridays trip only to awake to find the winds quartering from a more favorable NW direction. A quick early morning call back to the crew had 2 out of the 4 still able to go, so off we went. Again, we were only minutes from the dock before we were tight with striped bass on our first casts! From there we were singled, doubled and tripled up with bass from start to finish!

Regular Dave Cammarata was joined us with new comer US Fish and Wildlife Coastal Wetlands Biologists Bill Crouch for what will likely be our last trip of an AWESOME 2011 fishing season! We not only managed an easy limit for the 3 of us plus 1 bonus tag but plenty of catch and release with both keeper and short stripers. As per usual of late, Dave earned “Hot Rod” honors hooking 25 stripers. We ended the day and the season on a high note with us leaving the stripers still biting before heading for the barn.

Although we will not be sailing during the Holiday Season if the weather continues it’s mild pattern we will be welcoming the 2012 fishing as early as January 5th for stripers and or blackfish. There appears to be no end in the foreseeable further for us to “pull in the sidewalks” just yet! So let’s keep it going!

I wanted to sincerely thank all who have fished with me this year and can only hope that you enjoyed yourselves as much as I did! It was awesome meeting and fishing with so many new friends but also getting to fish and see old friends as well. There is no question on how blessed I find myself being able to do what I am most passionate about and enjoying everyone’s company and camaraderie .

For those who frequent the various winter boat and seminar shows over the next few months…

1.) I have the privilege and honor to have been selected by George Poveromo’s Salt Water Sports National Seminar Series to be held in Tinton Falls on Saturday Feb 11. www.nationalseminarseries.com as a faculty member.

2.) Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) Jim Hutchinson jr. at the Atlantic City International Boat Show – Early Spring Back Bay striper tactics Feb 2nd at 4pm.

I hope to see you there. If you can make it, please say hello while your there.

My Sincerest Thank YOU and best wishes for you and yours for a Happy, Healthy Holiday Season! Wishing everyone fair winds and calm seas,

~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217

Received: Dec 24, 2011 10:38 AM Subject: Fishing Report

I fished the Reel Fantasea on 12/23/11 with Capt. Steve Purul (one of the best in the business). There were only two of us on board plus the captain and we caught close to 40 stripers and filled the limits plus a bonus tag. Not bad fishing for the day before Christmas Eve. I have to throw a plug in for Capt. Steve. I have fished with him 5 or 6 times now and I have not caught less than 10 stripers and have exceded 20 on two of the trips, including yesterday. Simply awesome fishing.

~ Dave C., Mt. Laurel, NJ

December 23, 2011 ————————————————————————————————-

Received: Dec 23, 2011 11:51 AM Subject: Fishing Report

Took the boat out on Thursday morning and ran from the inlet to seaside heights casino piers. Marked a good body of fish with light bird play about 4 miles north of Barnegat Inlet in 30-40 feet of water. Unfortunately couldn’t get any of them to bite. About ten boats out and didn’t see anything caught. Ocean temp was 46.5 degree. Hopefully the action will last a couple of weeks more and the weather stays mild!

~ Jason

Received: Dec 23, 2011 4:48 PM Subject: Report

Time to vent my striper fall season. I am 73 years young with quite a few years of fishing experience. I agree if you fished from a boat it was a great year, if you fished Island Beach State Park it was a great year, if you fished LBI is was a lousy year. There were 848 entrants who caught 381 stripers. That is less than one fish for every 2 fisherman. I watched your daily reports and some days there were only 6 fish reported, that is 1 fish for every 3 miles of the island. In 8 weeks of the tourney I went to the shore 14 times, in that time I seen only 2 fish get caught, remember this was a great year. 14 trips to the shore using bunker and metal, never got 1 hit, 8 weeks and not 1 bite remember this was a great year. 8 weeks 848 fisherman and women and 381 stripers. boo hoo. Ok thanks for letting me vent, MERRY CHRISTMAS

~ Art Manion, Manahawkin
P S you guys do a great job

Art, thank you for your comments. Your not alone, many angler did not hookup. However, it is a shame that some angler may have missed out this year. I’m sure we’ll hear from anglers who were involved in the early morning blitzes that went on for weeks like clockwork. Many individual anglers were hooking dozens of Stripers each morning on the beach. You just had to be at the right place at the right time. The minimum length for the derby was 34″ if 28″ were allowed then this year we would have seen the senseless slaughter of a lot of Stripers. One record that I personally don’t want to see. Many anglers should agree that this year’s Striper fishing including the beach was definitely one for the record books… and anglers are still trying to hookup even today! That’s almost unheard of. We can all be thankful for the appearance of Mr. sandeel this fall and his lengthy stay in our area. May next year be as good or better for us all and a Merry Christmas to All !

~ Fish Head Stan (Fish Head Greg is busy in the store helping Mrs. Santa and all the elves with last minute decisions)

Received: Dec 23, 2011 7:55 PM Subject: Art’s letter

I feel Art’s pain, we have had days where we could not buy a fish. However, I think that the statistics may be a little misleading. On many days we caught multiple fish and did not weigh in any. Many of the anglers are now practicing conservation catch and release with these fish. I and many of my friends and family only weigh in one or two fish during the derby although we caught dozens. A testament to that was the mornings in Cedars where I watched dozens of anglers catch and release multiple fish. Boy was I happy to see that.

I will agree that we didn’t seem to see the larger fish in any great numbers and it seemed that once the sand eels moved in the larger bass (30 plus) didn’t seem to be as prevalent.

But like all sports fans we take the good with the bad, and say “wait till next year”.

~ Keith Weidenhof, Manahawkin

Received: Dec 24, 2011 3:49 PM Subject: Reply to Keith

Hi Keith, this is Art again, I’m glad you caught and saw people catching fish. My luck was I could see 17 spikes in the sand, in 3 hours no one runs for a pole, another day 8 spikes, in 3 hrs and no one runs for a pole. I fished from Barnegat to Brant Beach and saw only one person catch a fish. First time in 8 weeks that I never caught a fish and it was a GREAT YEAR. MERRY CHRISTMAS to u.

~ Art Manion Manahawkin

December 21, 2011 ————————————————————————————————-

Mike C stopped in the shop late this afternoon to get some more Red Gill Rascals. He caught two bass this morning at about 8 AM up on the North-end on the Red Gill he was using as a teaser!

~ Fish Head Greg

December 20, 2011 ————————————————————————————————-

Paul Seyler stopped by on his way off of the beach this afternoon. He got his line tight up on the North-End of the Island using a Super Strike Needle Fish at about 5:00 PM when he caught a Striper estimated to be 10-lbs.

Our good friend Rick Zane was skunked today on the North-End but did see two other angler land Stripers.

Received: Dec 20, 2011 10:20 AM Subject: Fwd: 1 spot left for Dec 23rd open boat stripers

One (1) spot is still available for 6-hr open boat 8-2 PM Stripers Trip for this Friday Dec 23rd. All tackle/rods and fish cleaning included – $150.00 pp.

~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217

December 18, 2011 ————————————————————————————————-

This evening, Bruce DeRites of Pittstown weighed in 18.3-lb, 30-1/8″long x 22″ girth Tautog aka Blackfish. He caught it aboard the Search II with Capt. Wayne Eble. Bruce said, “A lot of other anglers had big fish. Tog in the 5-8 pound range.” We entered Bruce’s fish into The Fisherman’s Dream Boat Contest and also submitted it for the NJ Skillful Angler Award. Congrats Bruce!

Scott Simpson had some bass on the beach today. His biggest was 15-lbs on a metal mid-island.

Received: Dec 18, 2011 8:05 AM Subject: Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters – Latest recon/intel and 3 spots available for Dec 23rd

The latest intelligence report from my last recon has a large body of striped bass still to our North and sliding slowly Southward! Again loads of bait and ideal water temps have extended our season and with the striped bass action continuing its’ strong showing it is hard to throw in the towel just yet! The stripers are still here and continue to remain in our waters and show no signs of urgency to continue their sojourn South!

Again , the extended weather forecast is looking favorable for this coming week with temps still flirting with the 50’s and what looks to be WNW winds [inshore ocean flattening] . I have 3 spots available for Friday December 23rd for a 6-hr open boat Striper 8 AM to 2 PM. There is no need for early departures as the heavy boat traffic is now non existent and we get to enjoy this fishery with little to no pressure!!!

C’mon let’s go fishing and start your healthy [more fish] New Year diet now! You can eat Striper for the holidays and take advantage of both the weather and the action while it last!

Wishing everyone fair winds and calm seas,

~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217

December 17, 2011 ————————————————————————————————-

We had a customer stop in shortly after noon time to pick up some lures. He reported, “great action off of the North-end surf this morning, the bite was hot, but short lived”.

~ Fish Head Greg

Received: Dec 17, 2011 4:21 PM Subject: One keeper!

Got one 30-incher yesterday, early AM.
My friend Tom Smith got one this morning, same length but heavier.
Black needlefish! Surf temp was 51.

~ Rick Zanes, SBBP4L

Received: Dec 17, 2011 12:53 PM Subject: 12/17/2011 Report

Fished northern half of the island from dawn until around 10 AM. Some birds were around, but not diving. Foul hooked a couple skates, but no fish were hooked.

~ Piercer Mike

December 16, 2011 ————————————————————————————————-

Received: Dec 16, 2011 8:06 PM Subject: Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters – Stripers continue to entertain anglers and fill limits!

Forecasted Strong SW winds 15-30mph and 4-7ft seas shut us down for Thursday but by Friday we were back at it with an Open Boat. The stripers are still here! Left the dock a little later today (7:30 AM) due to Gale warning and found the Stripers where we have been finding them on a regular basis, just minutes from the inlet! Open Boat with Regulars Jay Simmons and Tony Maffie were joined by Tony’s friend Alto enjoy more fantastic late fall action. The guys had solid action with stripers from start to finish with both keeper and schoolies. Limits were are little more trickier but catching was still very rewarding with most fish in the 24- 27″ range. The crew was only -1 from a full boat limit before heading for the barn.

With the extended forecast continuing it’s mild trend we will be again extending our season as long as participation and weather continue to warrant it. Whether open boat or private charter for stripers or blackfish or a combination of both, come join in on the action. It sure beats “armchair fishing “!

Next available Open or Private charter – Dec – 22nd & 23rd

Wishing everyone calm winds and fair seas…

~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217

December 15, 2011 ————————————————————————————————-

We are getting a lot of emails and phone calls asking if the fish are still here. Yes, it is definitely worth going! Our season may go on for some time more. The water is still in it’s prime and the bait is still here in mass quantities.

As far as report: Ray Sullivan stopped in the shop this afternoon. He reported catching three bass on a loaded super strike bullet (stubbie needle) this morning. Ray mentioned that the wind was cranking making the conditions difficult, hence the weighed lure.

Bait fishing has been on the slow side.

Anglers are picking during the morning hours with metals and needles. Some anglers are doing better than others. Word on the street is that last night it went off. (Went off… meaning great catching)

~ Fish Head Greg

December 14, 2011 ————————————————————————————————-

4:30 PM

We spoke with our good friend Rick Zane this afternoon. Rick has been up on the beach just about every morning. He said that today and yesterday were very slow for him, although he saw some fish caught by other anglers. From the sounds of some reports we might see some more fish any day. Anglers are catching to our North so we will have to wait and see what happens.

Received: Dec 14, 2011 9:00 PM Subject: Hi-Flier Sportfishing Report

The striper fishing is excellent right now. I put the Hi Flier away for the season but have joined up with another captain to run open boat trips on his 28 ft sportfisherman. We will be running open boat this Sat and Sun, Dec. 17 and 18. 6 AM to 2 PM. Limited to four passengers. $175 per person. Leaving from his residence in Toms River with the option to leave out of either Manasquan or Barnegat Inlets, depending on our up to the minute fishing report and/or weather conditions. Right now the forecast is for very favorable sea conditions. I just hung up the phone with this captain and he just returned from an awesome day of striper fishing. 40 plus fish, all jigging and casting. The amazing part for this time of year was that 3 out of four were keepers! December usually finishes with the smallest fish of the season, but not this year. The water temp was 47 degrees. Tons of sandeels, lots of birds working, and very few boats. The fish were spread out from the wash to 40 feet of water between Lavalette and Seaside. This will probably be the last open boat for me this season. I look forward to one more shot at these fish this weekend and then it’s time for the Holidays.

Thanks to everyone who sailed with us this year. It was a season to remember. One of the best trophy striper/live bunker runs in the history of the planet, that rolled into three weeks of blue water, bonita, mahi, and bluefin tuna at the Barnegat Ridge, wrapped up with one of the strongest Fall striper runs for quantity and average size that anyone can remember. This season will be remembered one day as “The good old days” and we were lucky enough to be in it instead of hearing an older generation wax nostalgicly about it.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Looking forward to seeing you onboard in 2012.

~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674

December 13, 2011 ————————————————————————————————-

Received: Dec 13, 2011 6:50 PM Subject: Tuesday, December 13 Blackfish Report

Finally got out to fish. I had Five Keeper Blackfish, Three Ling and Twenty Five short Blackfish. I was high hook. Something interesting……… All fish were caught using clams. The ocean was nice today. A little cool out, but it was nice.
~Take care, Jim T. of Bridgewater, NJ

Received: Dec 13, 2011 11:16 AM Subject: Fwd: 1 spot available this Friday

Stripers are still here! 1 spot left for this Friday open boat [ total 4 ] – 6hrs striper/blackfish combo – $165.00 pp

~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217

Received: Dec 13, 2011 8:54 AM Subject: Awesome fishing

This fall has been the best for bass fishing. As of late, while it has been cold, I have still been knocking the stripes off the bass in the surf. I love the fishing when there is plenty of beach to walk and no one else is around. I know I don’t need to tell you but those who don’t put the time in will go home fishless. Just yesterday I caught too many stripers to count with several keepers released and two were for the dinner table. All fish were from the Surf City beach on plugs. AWESOME FALL FISHING.

~ Mgni

December 11, 2011 ————————————————————————————————-

47.8 degree surf temp this morning. 4 degrees down in two days.

Fishing yesterday afternoon was great; however, this morning fish were caught but the action was slower.

December 10, 2011 ————————————————————————————————-

This morning they smoked ’em again! In the dark of the early morning there were sandeels being pushed up on the beach in several spots. But when the light peaked it went bonkers. It was spectacular action again! Lets hope that this fishing continues on the other side of the moon, today is the full.

December 9, 2011 ————————————————————————————————-

Fishing is still smoking!!!

The name of the game is still needlefish and long metals. Night and early morning are best but some days like today the bite carries on longer into the day. Let’s hope tomorrow is half as good as this morning and everyone will be hooked up and happy.

Word on the street is that those inshore bluefin are still present in large numbers; however, they aren’t taking the hooks. Maybe they will stick around too.

Received: Dec 9, 2011 5:36 PM Subject: Fwd: Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters- open boat Dec 15,16th

Mild December temps/weather continue to produce steady action and limits of stripers + catch and release along with big blues as well! Gale warning shut us down on Thursday but by Friday we were back at it with Village Harbor Fishing Club alumni, Bill Dapney joined by son in law Daryl and son Kevin Dall. The guys had a solid day using plastics and live baits on stripers to 15-lbs and managing a near limit catch of stripers. Grandson Kevin (age 14) earned ” Hot Rod” honors with most bass, best variety – stripers, blues, fluke, ling and shark plus he landed the biggest fish. The guys were doubled and tripled up at times throughout the day with stripers in some of the prettiest conditions of the late Fall! With the extended forecast looking more like early Fall we will continue to fish as long as weather and participation continues to warrant it, because the action surely does! So get off the couch and come join in on the prolong season! Remember to join us on Face Book at Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters and “like us”.

I will be running Open Boat Trips next Thursday and Friday for both stripers and blackfish for those who would like to get in one more trip before we put the Reel Fantasea to bed for her well earned winter slumber .

Wishing everyone fair winds and calm seas,

~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217

December 7, 2011 ————————————————————————————————-

Received: Dec 7, 2011 4:07 PM Subject: 1 spot Dec 9th open boat striper/blackfish

Stripers are still here and biting! Friday’s Dec 9th marine forecast is for 2-ft seas and sunny 51 degrees!
I have 1 spot left for striper/blackfish combo – leaving at 6:30 AM and returning at approx 1:00 PM.

~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217

December 6, 2011 ————————————————————————————————-

The Ocean Surf Temperature this morning was 54 degrees. It’s still prime time. Lots of reports still coming in. Bass and blues on lures (metal and needlefish) and also on bait (bunker and clams).

Rick Zane reported consistent action this morning on a black Super Strike Bullet. He also shared the water temperature which was reported above. Thanks Rick!

December 5, 2011 ————————————————————————————————-

Received: Dec 5, 2011 6:55 AM Subject: Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters – report and open/private charter for stripers and or blackfish

The mild weather continues holding both bluefish and striped bass along our coast for anglers looking to get in on the Fall action. Although not the “slam dunk fishing” that we have gotten use to, we still continued to get our limit + catch and release on all trips for those anglers seeking some holiday striper fillets. The mild weather that we have been enjoying is forecasted to remain intact for the next week or so and with water temps still in the ideal zone and tons of bait thickly spread over a wide area we coild see action into the New Year!

I will be offering a striped bass and blackfish combo strips trip for either open or private charter this Friday Dec 9th .

Sorry no photos this week as it looks like I will be asking Santa for a new camera due to “hitting the deck” one too many times.

Wishing everyone fair winds and calm seas…

~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217

Received: Dec 5, 2011 8:26 PM Subject: Lighthouse Sportfishing Report

Yesterday I had a friend onboard for a quick late season trip. We broke the inlet at false dawn and fished to about 9. Not drop and reel fishing but no complaints with about a dozen bass two of which made it home for diner. Most of our fish came from shallow water on plastic baits. Sandeels are still around but not as thick as the past few weeks. We may see some more move in on the full moon coming up. Also look for Atlantic herring to start showing up.

For those that like birds the old South Jetty is holding a raft of over 200 common eiders and two female king eiders. Along the South Jetty, usually tight to the rocks on the inlet side, are a dozen or more harlequin ducks which are one of the most spectacular looking waterfowl we have.

Enjoy the weather!

~ Capt. Alex, Lighthouse Sportfishing Barnegat, NJ 609-548-2511

December 4, 2011 ————————————————————————————————-

This morning, Steve from West Chester PA just weighed in a 13-lb 7-oz striper that he caught using Bunker up at the South Jetty. Steve also hooked two more Stripers. One on bunker and the other on an A27 Diamond Jig with a yellow teaser ahead.

The surf temperature mid-island yesterday was 55 degrees.

Received: Dec 4, 2011 10:37 PM Subject: Fishing Report

Caught two nice keeper stripers in North LBI. They were full of sandeels! Caught on Sluggos… Match the Hatch 🙂
~ Tony C

Dillon McFarlin of Chesapeake City weighed-in a 14-lb 9-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 7:00 AM this morning.

Jerry Bush of Burlington weighed-in a 17-lb 3-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Bunker at 5:30 AM this morning.

December 3, 2011 ————————————————————————————————-

Century Fishing Rod Casting Demo – Century Fishing Rods came to town today!
We hope you took your chance to cast the whole line of Stealth and Sling Shot Blanks (among others) from Century Rods. The Casting Demo was held from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM at the Ship Bottom Bay Beach (On the Bay, West 14th Street in Ship Bottom). Thank you to all the anglers who took their time to participate. Also, a big thank you to Century Rods and “On The Water” Magazine’s Angler of the Year Chris Buchta (Century Pro Staff) for the fantastic demo.

Frank Marchesand of Tuckerton weighed-in a 14-lb 10-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 9:00 AM this morning

Josh Goldman of Princeton weighed-in a 18-lb 7-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Bunker at 9:00 AM this morning.

Dave Smith of Beach Haven weighed-in a 16-lb 14-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using a Diamond Jig at 8:00 AM this morning.

Robert Muller of Pack Ridge weighed-in a 18-lb 0-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 8:00 AM this morning.

Dave Smith of Beach Haven weighed-in a 16-lb 14-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using an AVA Diamond Jig at 8:00 AM this morning.

December 2, 2011 ————————————————————————————————-

3:50 PM

We have a new Leader in our shop Fall Derby Striped Bass Calcutta! Gerard Ladzinski of Cape May and a member of the LBI Fishing Club took the lead with his 31-lb 9-oz bass. He caught it shortly after 10:00 AM off of the mid-island surf on fresh bunker. He successfully released the bass on the bayside after checking it in for the tournament.

Zack Dunne of Manahawkin had his limit by 9:30 this morning North of the inlet on small diamond jigs. The boat had five fish and called it a day.

Brian Andersen of Spray Beach weighed-in a 17-lb 5-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Bunker at 4:00 PM this afternoon.

Richard Sherman of Spray Beach weighed-in a 11-lb 4-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 3:15 PM this afternoon.

R. Oliver of Manahawkin weighed-in a 12-lb 14-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 3:00 PM this afternoon.

Chris Masino of Beach Haven weighed-in a 8-lb 14-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 2:45 PM this afternoon.

Wendy Essinger of Manahawkin weighed-in a 19-lb 1-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that she caught in Harvey Cedars using Bunker at 1:30 PM this afternoon.

Gerard Ladzinski of Cape May weighed-in a 31-lb 9-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 10:15 AM this morning.

R. Oliver of Manahawkin weighed-in a 9-lb 5-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 10:00 AM this morning.

Matt Gogojewwicz of Manahawkin weighed-in a 15-lb 0-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 8:30 AM this morning.

December 1, 2011 ————————————————————————————————-

Received: Dec 1, 2011 2:32 PM Subject: Open Boat Stripers– Tomorrow, Fri Dec.2

Only one guy signed on so far, so there is room for two more on tomorrow’s Open Boat Striper trip. I am sailing, regardless. 6 AM to Noon. Perfect weather window. My next available dates are Sat Dec.10 and Sun Dec 11 for charter or open boat. .

~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674

Received: Nov 30, 2011 10:36 AM Subject: Open boat – Thursday [1] spot left , Sunday [1] spot left

Remaining spots for open boat – 1spot available for Thursday and 1 spot for Sunday for open boat striper – Cost is $150.00 pp . All tackle, rods, lures and fish cleaned at the end of trip is included! The action and weather is still hot! Come join the fun and meet new friends!

~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217

Allen Smith weighed-in a 14-lb 6-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 2:00 PM this afternoon.

Dom Savasta of Tuckerton weighed-in a 10-lb 8-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 11:45 AM this morning.

Chuck Perkins of Riverton weighed-in a 10-lb 9-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 9:45 AM this morning.

November 30, 2011

Received: Nov 30, 2011 8:52 AM Subject: BHCFA Report

The torrid striped bass action in Beach Haven continued right through Thanksgiving weekend before it started to slow a bit. The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association were in the middle of the action and were joined by boats from as far north as Long Island and Ocean City to the South.

Captain Fran Verdi of the “Dropoff” said that limit is the word that comes to mind for the last several striper trips. His Thanksgiving trip limited out but 9:30am with 8 keepers, and they released fish for another two hours before calling it a day. His black Friday’s trip was another trip that had its limit of 10 keepers and we 15 more released. Because of the large number of boats that moved in to enjoy the fishing, Captain Fran spent time away from the fleet looking for smaller pods of fish and doing some trolling. He plans to keep fishing the stripers until the bite stops. For information on the 25′ “Drop Off” contact Capt. Fran Verdi, (609) 868-8970, or Email: fpvmdv@comcast.net

The head boat “Miss Beach Haven” and Captain Frank Camarda had planned a half day trip for striped bass but headed back early since the boat limited out early. The pool winner tipped the scales at 23-pounds. The “Miss Beach Haven” will be splitting its trips between jigging for stripers and heading out to some productive wrecks for some strong blackfish action. For information on the 80′ “Miss Beach Haven” contact Capt. Frank Camarda, phone: (609) 978-9951, email: MissBeachHaven@aol.com

(If you contact any captain for a charter, please mention that you read their report on the Fisherman’s Headquarters Fishing Report. Thank you)

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

~ Jim Hutchinson Sr.

Joe Handley of Eastampton weighed-in a 11-lb 7-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 6:30 AM this morning.

November 29, 2011

40 to 50-lb class Bluefin tuna reported at the Barnegat Ridge.

Received: Nov 29, 2011 10:58 AM Subject: Hi Flier Open Boat Stripers

The stripers hit hard again today on jigs and soft plastics off of IBSP. Sat and Sun, we made the right and fished south of Barnegat Inlet from 2 to 5 miles in 30 to 50 feet of water just to steer clear of the few hundred boats that have been congregating North in the area of the Coast Guard Station on Island Beach.

We will be running open boat trips this Thurs and Fri, Dec 1&2. Leaving at 6AM, and returning at 2PM each day. $150 per person, limited to three people, all fish are shared. There is a separate body of fish up North on the Shrewsbury Rocks now, so the good news is, besides the current bite we have near the inlet, those new fish will filter down our way, as well. With the temps the way they are, and the gobs of sandeels along the coast, we should be in for an interesting couple of weeks.

Here is some video of a triple header, including 11 year old Max DeGennaro on an 18 pounder he decked this past Friday on a 10 pound spinning rod: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwgfdJnVkGk

Saturday, the boat is chartered and Sunday I will be putting on my Freehold Fishing Flea Market at Park Ave Elementary School, 280 Park Ave., Freehold from 9 AM to 3 PM.

My cell is the best way to reach me, 732.330.5674.

~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674
Jim Corson of Beach Haven weighed-in a 11-lb 6-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 2:30 PM this afternoon.

Steve Warren of Beesley Point weighed-in a 12-lb 3-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 12:00 Noon.

Thomas Law of Beach Haven weighed-in a 10-lb 10-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 11:45 AM this morning.

Paul Montrey of Delran weighed-in a 11-lb 7-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 11:00 AM this morning.

Bruce Hannah of Manahawkin weighed-in a 11-lb 15-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Surf City using Clam at 11:45 AM this morning.

Larry Weidner of Manahawkin weighed-in a 10-lb 8-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 10:50 AM this morning.

Terry McGlynn of Beach Haven weighed-in a 14-lb 13-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using a Hopkins lure at 10:45 AM this morning.

Ed Osmond of Medford weighed-in a 18-lb 5-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 10:30 AM this morning.

Ray Samalonis of Barnegat weighed-in a 20-lb 4-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Surf City using metal at 10:00 AM this morning.

Jonathan Law of Manahawkin weighed-in a 14-lb 0-oz Striper and an 12-lb 1-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using a Bunker at about 9:45 AM this morning.

Robert Vallone of Little Egg Harbor weighed-in a 17-lb 2-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in North Beach using metal at 9:30 AM this morning.

Harry Befumo weighed-in a 20-lb 0-oz Striper and an 11-lb 3-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in North Beach using a Diamond Jig at about 8:30 AM this morning.

Joe Kovacs of Lumberton weighed-in a 8-lb 12-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 8:30 AM this morning.

Chris Masing of Beach Haven weighed-in a 9-lb 2-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 8:30 AM this morning.

Vinny Rossi of Cedar Run weighed-in a 17-lb 12-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in North Beach using a lure at 8:00 AM this morning.

Rick Zanes of Little egg Harbor weighed-in a 16-lb 4-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using a Diamond Jig at 7:30 AM this morning.

Ray Sullivan of Brant Beach weighed-in a 16-lb 11-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 6:30 AM this morning.

Joe Handley of Eastampton weighed-in 9-lb 17-oz and 12-lb 0-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using lures between 6:00 to 8:30 AM this morning.

Received: Nov 29, 2011 7:00 AM Subject: Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters – Open or Private boat – this Thursday, Friday and Sunday

The weather window looks great until Sunday with mild temps into the 50’s and “ocean flattening” NW winds. You know the fishing and weather conditions are going to go South sooner or later so get’em while it last! I have this coming Thursday, Friday and Sunday available for those who would like to fish in some of the mildest weather and best fishing our back yard has ever seen in late Fall. Either private or open boat opportunity – Open boat = 150.00pp for max 4 anglers [ min 3]. The weather and the fishing doesn’t get any better so don’t delay call today! 609-290-1217

Hope you can make it, winter is coming!

~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217

November 28, 2011

Received: Nov 28, 2011 7:04 AM Subject: Fwd: Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters – More awesome action !

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanks Giving ! I know I must sound like a broken record but doubled digit catches of stripers on all trips made for easy breezy limits of stripers for all anglers on board the Reel Fantasea again this week, we have now limited out on all trips and all anglers with striped bass for the last six weeks straight!

A testament to how good the action is, is how our home waters continue to draw boats from up and down the coast to experience this fantastic action. There are boats traveling 40-50+ miles from either direction to experience the action that we are into within minutes of the dock! And with the mild weather that we have been experiencing [10 day extended continues to look mild as well] the action could easily last into the New Year! Add blackfish and bluefish to the action and the rods have been bending at a fierce rate!

Regulars Jay Simmons and Karl Steffan were joined by Jay’s bother Chris and Karl’s friend Kurt for fast out of the gate action with striped bass. The guys were doubled and tripled up with bass all morning and with an easy limit of stripers + catch and release we switched gears and off we went to the “toggin’ grounds” where the guys found a steady but “tricky bite” on blackfish.

Husband and wife team, Dean and Linda Poetzle from Lancaster Pa were up next for more of the same awesome action with stripers and blues! Both Dean and Linda were doubled up with bass and blues through out the morning! The glassy calm ocean condition provided visual excitement as we witnessed sand eels and stripers erupting all around the boat until they too wanted to try their hand at some blackfish. Linda earned “Hot Rod” honors landing the most and biggest striper and tog of the day!

Regular Joe Franke was joined by step son Ron Wildmann and son’s Joe and Jake for some more fantastic striper action. The guys again were doubled and tripled up in stripers reaching another limit of stripers. Youngest of the group Jake, earned “Hot Rod” honors landing bass after bass until arm weary!

The action continues to be outstanding and with the extended mild weather pattern forecasted we should see this action continue into late December (…Beyond?) I still have prime fishing dates throughout December for those who would like have a chance at this historic action. Stripers, gator blues and blackfish is “what’s for dinner”! Remember to join us on Face Book to view more photos .

Wishing everyone fair winds and calm seas,

~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217

Received: Nov 28, 2011 3:37 PM Subject: Spray Beach One short

Fished Spray Beach today from 10:00 AM to 1:00PM. Caught and released a 24″ bass on bunker and a bunch of skates.

~ Rob Papile

Received: Nov 28, 2011 9:17 PM Subject: Lighthouse Sportfishing Report

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. This weekend the bite continued. Catching double digits per angler makes for an excellent outing. With bass and blues still to our North and warm weather forecasted I am keeping the “Debbie M” in at least one more week. If your interested in getting in on this amazing action give me a call.

On the nature side of things the massive amounts of sandeels have attracted several species of pelagic birds to our local waters. Both Black-legged Kittiwake and Parasitic Jaegers (Winged Pirate of the High Seas) are being seen regularly. These birds usually stay far offshore and are rarely seen along the beach. Kittiwakes are medium sized grey backed gulls whose wing tips look like they have been dipped in black ink. The Parasitic Jaegers are dark birds that look and act like gulls on steroids. They stand out from the crowds of terns, gulls, and gannets as they harass them to drop their catch which they promptly recover. (“kleptoparasitism” hence the “Parasitic” for a first name) Tight lines and screaming drags.

~ Capt. Alex, Lighthouse Sportfishing Barnegat, NJ 609-548-2511
Anthony Cucinotta Sr. of Burlington weighed-in a 8-lb 6-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 12:30 PM this afternoon.

James Eichman of Westville weighed-in a 15-lb 15-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Clam at 11:30 AM this morning.

Lynn Shallcross of Hampton weighed-in a 9-lb 12-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 11:00 AM this morning.

Paul Fearon of Shamong weighed-in a 18-lb 3-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 9:50 AM this morning

Stephen Seeberger of Ewing weighed-in a 13-lb 6-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 8:20 AM this morning.

Mark Jordan of Beach Haven weighed-in a 26-lb 13-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 8:00 AM this morning.

Richard Sherman of Spray Beach weighed-in a 20-lb 12-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven Gardens using Bunker at 6:45 AM this morning.

Felix Cariello of Manahawkin weighed-in a 28-lb 5-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 6:15 AM this morning.

November 27, 2011

Another great morning off of the surf! We found ’em biting in the dark on black Super Strike Needles. South Philly Fred was the standout high hook with 13 bass. His best catching lures was his yellow Super Strike Needle. This morning’s bite seemed to die out much earlier than the past few days. With a little bit of weather coming it sould be interesting how long this legendary fall bass bite will last.

~ Fish Head Greg

Received Nov 27, 2011 11:16 AM Subject: “Rambunctious” Fishing Report

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and is enjoying this beautiful weather. I can’t believe it’s late November and we’re still in the sixties. Usually this time of year we’re dealing with ice on the boat each morning. I have to say this is much better.

As I’m sure pretty much everyone is aware, we’ve been having an absolutely incredible fall striper seasons in these parts. It’s not so much the number of fish being caught, but I can’t ever recall seeing this many “keeper sized” fish this late in the year. For weeks now, the boat has been limited out early every day with quality fish gorging on sand eels. Boats are coming from far and wide to get in on our local fishery. One passed by me yesterday from Orient Point, NY! Larry Shotwell from Scranton, PA came in on Monday, and despite some rough conditions filled the box in an hour and a half. George Selph was back yesterday, and again we had an early limit before catching and releasing enough fish to put an ache in the arms. And there seems to be no end in sight, so this could go on until Christmas.

Sad to say, but this will be my last weekly report for 2011. I’ll be using the next few days to do a few minor repairs and some pre-storage cleaning (and maybe sneak out for a fish or two), then pulling the boat out by the end of the week. It seems appropriate that on this Thanksgiving weekend I offer my thanks to all of you for allowing me the privilege of doing what I do. It’s not often that a person gets to do something that they love every day, surrounded by good friends both new and old. Thank you very much for giving me that opportunity.

Best wishes to all for a happy, healthy and safe holiday season. I’m already looking forward to seeing you next year.

~ Capt. Jack Shea, “Rambunctious”, Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632

Received: Nov 27, 2011 9:34 PM Subject: Harvey Cedars awesome morning Nov. 27th

An awesome LBI morning fishing the surf in Harvey Cedars. Hit the beach before first light and the action came on with the sun. Everyone seemed to be catching numbers of nice size schoolie bass. AVA jigs with black tails and a streamer teaser on a dropper loop were the ticket for me with multiple bass released and some take home keepers. Needlefish lures in green or yellow were working just a well. Thanks again to the store staff member on his way to bag Striped Bass himself for a few moments of advice to put me on top of the Harvey Cedars hot spots.

~ Mike from Coopersburg, PA

Received: Nov 27, 2011 7:21 PM Subject: Fishing Report

Austin Pounds weighed in a 11-lb 10-oz Bluefish for the LBISFT Tournament this evening that he caught in the Harvey Cedars surf on bunker at 6:00 PM this evening.

Received Nov 27, 2011 7:17 PM Subject: Reel Trouble Fishing Report

Maddyn, Max and Anna ages 7-12 were fishing with their family and Capt Bill DuBois aboard the Reel Trouble.

Received: Nov 27, 2011 6:17 PM Subject: Fishing Report

Ashley DeMaio caught a 18.42-lb striper aboard the “Reel Cranky”. One of many caught.
Received Sun, 27 Nov 2011 12:02 – Rich Ehala weighted in two stripers that weighted 17-lbs 12-ozs and 10-lbs he caught in Harvey Cedars at sunrise using a diamond jig with teaser rig.

Received Sun, 27 Nov 2011 09:51 – Jason Koestel caught a 16-lb striper in Harvey cedars on a diamond jig.

Received Sun, 27 Nov 2011 09:01 – A tournament fish weighted in by Stephan George caught in Harvey Cedars on a plug weighted in at 14-lbs 7-ozs (35-3/4″).

Received Sun, 27 Nov 2011 08:12 – Jake caught a 14-lb 12-oz Striper in Harvey Cedars on a needlefish.

Received Sun, 27 Nov 2011 08:27 – Joe Casino caught a 17-lb 14-oz (36″) Striper in Harvey Cedars on a teaser and diamond jig combo.
Bill Fitzgerald of Surf City weighed-in a 10-lb 1-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Surf City using Bunker at 4:15 PM this afternoon.

Mark Milovsky of Philadelphia PA weighed-in a 15-lb 14-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using Bunker at 1:45 PM this afternoon.

Gerald Kiyak of Indian Mills weighed-in a 15-lb 0-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 12:00 Noon.

Ed Youse of Grandy, NC weighed-in a 19-lb 14-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Bunker at 9:30 AM this morning.

Stephen George of Barnegat weighed-in a 14-lb 7-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using a lure at 7:46 AM this morning.

Dave Hiller of NY weighed-in a 11-lb 8-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using a metal lure at 7:30 AM this morning.

Tim Parker of Riverside weighed-in a 13-lb 13-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using a lure at 7:30 AM this morning.

Mike Robey of Medford weighed-in a 16-lb 4-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 7:30 AM this morning.

Linda Gajewski of Secane, PA weighed-in a 13-lb 6-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that she caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 7:20 AM this morning.

John Jasinski of Marlton weighed-in a 34-lb 6-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 7:10 AM this morning.

November 26, 2011

Joe Solon broke the inlet early and got on the bird and bass at first light with “J-Bones”. They hammered the Stripers on Hogy soft baits and metals. They fished until “their arms fell off”.

Received: Nov 26, 2011 7:40 PM Subject: Surf Fishing Report

Fished Friday night and Saturday AM high tides in Barnegat light. Lots of dogfish at night but also one 32″ Striper on bunker. Nothing else. 4 guys fishing 6 hours for one fish…..

~ DRA

Received: Nov 26, 2011 6:41 PM Subject: Fishing report

Fished beach Mid-Island today with several run offs on Deadly Dick lures and finally hooked up nice 34″ Striper on AVA with green tube at around 8.00 AM.

~ Martin Meagher

Jim Basciami of Browns Mills weighed-in a 25-lb 6-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using Bunker at 4:30 PM this afternoon.

Mark Gally of Southampton weighed-in a 19-lb 1-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 4:30 PM this afternoon.

Mark Milovsky of Philadelphia PA weighed-in a 19-lb 15-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using Bunker at 12:00 Noon.

John O’Connell of Vineland weighed-in a 15-lb 9-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 8:15 AM this morning.

George Konowa of Philadelphia, PA weighed-in a 9-lb 0-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using Bunker at 9:00 AM this morning.

George Konowa of Philadelphia, PA weighed-in a 15-lb 15-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using an AVA Jig at 8:00 AM this morning.

Paul Donnelly of Secane, PA weighed-in a 11-lb 10-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using Bunker at 8:00 AM this morning.

Terry McGlynn of Beach Haven weighed-in a 15-lb 6-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using a Hopkins lure at 8:00 AM this morning.

Harry Befumd of Beach Haven weighed-in a 11-lb 12-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Surf City using a needlefish lure at 7:30 AM this morning.

Patrick Phillips of Washington, DC weighed-in a 14-lb 10-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using a metal lure at 7:30 AM this morning.

Vinny Rossi of Cedar Run weighed-in a 21-lb 6-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using a lure at 7:30 AM this morning.

David Welsh of Shamong weighed-in a 16-lb 3-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using a Bomber plug at 7:15 AM this morning.

Kern of Brant Beach weighed-in a 16-lb 13-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using a Hopkins lure at 7:00 AM this morning.

November 25, 2011

The fishing has been absolutely off the hook and consistent every moring at first light and beyond. Surf caster, Boat anglers, jetty walkers… everyone is catching. Customers have been raving about the epic fall which is now closing a legendary year. How long will it last? please remember to fish the species responsibly and with your fellow angler respectfully. If you haven’t got in on the action, you better get moving s

~ Fish Head Greg

John Nonnenmacher of the Village Harbour Fishing Club weighed in a 11-lb Bluefish at about 4:30PM that he caught from a boat off of IBSP.

Kaz Czerwinski of Philly weighed in a 20-lb 9-oz Striper at about 4:15 PM that he caught up on the North-end of the island on a bucktail.

John Parzych of Trumbauersville, PA weighed-in a 15-lb 8-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using metal at 10:00 AM this morning.

Robin Oliver of Manahawhin weighed-in a 18-lb 0-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that was caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 8:15 AM this morning.

Robert Vallone of Little Egg Harbor weighed-in a 17-lb 12-oz Striper for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using a needlefish lure at 8:00 AM this morning.

Steve Warren of Beesley Point weighed-in a 11-lb 6-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Surf City using metal at 8:00 AM this morning.

John Fearon of Berwick, PA weighed-in a 13-lb 6-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using an AVA17 metal at 7:45 AM this morning.

Richard Goodman of Southhampton weighed-in a 15-lb 5-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using an AVA17 metal at 7:45 AM this morning.

John Cannonn of Shamong weighed-in a 13-lb 9-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using Bunker at 7:30 AM this morning.

Joe Handley of Eastampton weighed-in a 15-lb 5-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using a lure at 7:00 AM this morning.

November 24, 2011

Al Asplint reported that earlier in the week that while bottomfishing aboard the Evelyn Ann with Capt. Joel Mick out of Atlantic City 26 Tog were landed up to 13-lbs 4-oz plus 4 Sea Bass and two 20-lb class Stripers.

Steve Warren of Beesley Point weighed-in a 16-lb 12-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 12:00 Noon.

Mike Angelillo of Maple Shade weighed in a 31-lb 4-oz Striper that he caught it off the mid-island surf on bunker at about 9:30 AM this morning. This was not a tournament fish.

Rob Vallone of Little Egg Harbor weighed-in a 19-lb 1-oz Striper for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using Bunker at 8:00 AM this morning.

John Moran of Delran weighed-in a 17-lb 2-oz Striper for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 7:20 AM this morning.

November 23, 2011

Received: Nov 23, 2011 1:54 PM Subject: BHCFA Weekly Report

The Striped Bass bite has been nothing short of phenomenal in the Long Beach Island area for the past two weeks, and the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association have been getting their fill of it.

Captain Carl Sheppard on the “Star Fish” found stripers in water as shallow as 18-feet on out to 45-feet. He termed the fishing “superb” with the average size of the fish caught around 30-inches. Captain Carl kept moving with the schools for continuous action. He also found that although the fishing further from shore was still good, there were more bluefish mixed in with the bass. He says he is hoping the fishing and weather holds up for a few more weeks. For information on the “Star Fish” for 2-20 anglers contact Capt. Carl Sheppard, 609-492-2591, cfsheppard@aol.com

Captain Fran Verdi on the “Dropoff” fished last Friday for outstanding action trolling for big fish. He dragged Stretch 25’s and landed 8 keeper bass to 40-inches, 5 short bass, and 5 slammer bluefish. He trolled a black and silver on one line and a red and white on the other. Because of all of the boats in the area on Saturday, he switched to jigging with short drifts. He had his 4-man limit of 8 fish by 9:20 AM and played catch and release for the next 2 hours. Captain Fran is advising his customers to bring their own bonus striper tags with them if they want to bring home an additional fish over the 2 per person limit. For information on the 25′ “Drop Off” contact Capt. Fran Verdi, (609) 868-8970, or Email: fpvmdv@comcast.net

The “Miss Beach Haven” with Captain Frank Camarda has been finding good numbers of blackfish now that the daily limit is back up to 6 fish. Even when it is raining and the winds are up, there have been dedicated anglers sailing and doing well on the wreck fish. Both days of last weekend were similar with quite a few anglers limiting out on blackfish, and many catching some nice black sea bass. Pool winners have been blackfish in and 5-6 pound class. For information on the 80′ “Miss Beach Haven” contact Capt. Frank Camarda, phone: (609) 978-9951, email: MissBeachHaven@aol.com

(If you contact any captain for a charter, please mention that you read their report on the Fisherman’s Headquarters Fishing Report. Thank you)

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

~ Jim Hutchinson Sr.

Ron Alia of Philadelphia, PA from the Merchantville Fishing Club weighed-in a 7-lb 13-oz Bluefish for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat light using Bunker at 12:35 PM this afternoon.

November 22, 2011

The Forked River Tuna Club held their Fall Bass and Blues Tournament from October 15th till November 19th. It turns out that Jimmy Rogan (of Eddin’s Ice Co.) won some serious cash!

From Fisherman’s HQ, a FRTC High Stakes Sponsor this year, CONGRATULATIONS to Jimmy Rogan for placing 2nd in the FRTC Bluefish Division and winning the 1st ever $10,000 High Stakes Prize! Jimmy weighed in the 14.94-lb bluefish at the shop back on November 3.

I am sure everyone knows that the bass fishing has been absolutely lights out for the past couple of weeks. The boats and surfcasters are catching insane amounts of fish. It’s off the charts and honestly World Class.

Today the ocean was sporty with the stiff onshore wind but that didn’t matter. A number of boats ran into a wall of bass right at the North jetty. “The fish were stacked up in the North pocket!” Capt. Stew Hitchner of the Pez Machine reported, “It was a great day!” Most boats are opting to jig and cast lures but those that enjoy trolling… get ready to be covered up (it might be a mess).

The surfcasting bite has been consistently ON FIRE every morning for a number of days in a row! Some days are substantially better than others (Sunday and Monday) and some days are tough like today. I have had most of my success on Super Strike Needles (Green or Black) and metals (Avas, Deadly Dicks) among other lures (Hogys, Sluggos, Visions). Most of the bass are in the 8-15 pound range; however, there have been plenty of bass over 20-lbs caught. My largest was 38″ and I have had friends get bass that weighed in the mid twenties. Sure these aren’t quality tournament winning fish but in the mix there might be. There is an abundance of quantity. Catching 6-12 fish is a very very slow day. I had a couple days where I lost count in the thirties with a number successive hookups (three casts in a row with three fish). You know it is going to be a great day when your first cast of the morning in the dark is a solid hookup.

Whether in the boat or on the sand, I sincerely hope all who frequent our reports have gotten in on the action. If not, try your best at putting in some time in the near future. With the beautiful holiday weekend approaching, try to break free early one morning. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and their families! Good Luck to everyone fishing this weekend!

~ Fish Head Greg

Received: Tuesday, November 22, 2011 6:57:02 AM Subject: Reel Fantasea Fishing Reports – The action could not get any better!

A testament to the historic striper fishery going on in our backyard, is nearly the entire New Jersey coast fleet from up and down our coast showing up with in a few scant miles from our inlet! The 2011 Fall Striped bass fishing will go down in history as one of the best if not the best ever. Starting a few weeks ago a huge bio mass of stripers parked themselves right outside Barnegat Inlet and have gone on a non stop feeding binge since!

No kidding you can almost make an appointment to go get your limit + bonus tag of stripers and catch and release! Historically these blitz conditions have been interrupted every few days for digestion, moon phase, tide, weather… Not this Fall! as these striped bass have continued their binge through the up and down side of the moon, any and all tides… etc.

Add the Opening of blackfish season and huge bluefish the rods have been bending non stop! With the extended weather forecast to continue it’s mild pattern and vast amounts of sandeels who knows how long we could have this Epic action! Looks like the 2-3rd week in December should continue to offer excellent opportunity for those who would like to get in on the action of either or both striped bass and blackfish. I will continue to fish through the month of December or until the weather dictates otherwise being available for both Open Boat and Private Boat charters.

Wishing everyone fair winds and calm seas and Happy Thanks Giving to you and yours,

~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217

UPDATE – 7:48 PM Subject: Reel Fantasea November 26th Open or Private Charter

I have a last minute available date for this Saturday Nov 26th for striper and or blackfish . Earlier weather outlook looks excellent for this Saturday November 26th [ 2ft or less] and temps into the 60’s ! Add the historic striper bite that is taking place presently and it could be a “as good as it gets kinda’ day”. Call or email asap to reserve!

~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217

Jim Braack of Wilmington, DE weighed-in a 35-lb 7-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 4:15 PM this afternoon.

Richard Flynn of Forked River weighed-in a 19-lb 15-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 3:50 PM this afternoon.

Chuck Korman weighed-in a 15-lb 4-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 9:45 AM this morning.

Chris Moore of North Beach Haven weighed-in a 16-lb 2-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 9:00 AM this morning.

Chris Flowees of Cherry Hill weighed-in a 14-lb 7-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using Bunker at 8:30 AM this morning.

9-yr old Harry Maeglin of Doylestown, PA weighed-in a 28-lb 10-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 8:00 AM this morning.

November 21, 2011

Today from before daylight to 9:00 AM the front beaches at Loveladies down to Harvey Cedars were loaded with 26-34″ (16 to 22-lb) Stripers feeding on sandeels. Surf anglers throwing and retrieving AVA jigs, Hogy and Needlefish lures were getting slammed by Stripers with hook-ups of 30 stripers per angler being common.

Boats off of Harvey Cedars in only 20-feet of water were doing good today also. It was a morning bite and the Stripers were close to the beach.

What the future will bring is not known but the action has been hot and getting hotter for at least 2 weeks.

Received: Nov 21, 2011 9:20 AM Subject: Sunday 11/20 report

Fished aboard the “Reel Fantasea” charter boat with Capt Steve Purul. Once again another great day on the water. Limited out with bonus permits with bass up to 38″. Finished the day with catch and releasing numerous bass along the beaches. Some chopper size blues mixed in as well. Thanks Steve for a fantastic day on the water as always.
~ Tony, Doc, Chris and Dave

Ray Sullivan of Brant Beach weighed-in a 14-lb 11-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 4:30 PM this afternoon.

Terry McGlynn of Beach Haven weighed-in a 11-lb 4-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven Terrace using Bunker at 3:00 PM this afternoon.

Nick Sabatino of Shamong weighed-in a 17-lb 14-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 12:00 Noon.

Anthony Cucinotta of Beach Haven weighed-in 12-lb 12-oz and 12-lb 6–z Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 11:30 AM this morning.

Richard DiMartinis of Manahawkin weighed-in a 18-lb 9-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven Park using Bunker at 11:00 AM this morning.

Terry McGlynn of Beach Haven weighed-in a 17-lb 2-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven Terrace using a plug at 10:15 AM this morning.

Chris Visagie weighed-in a 8-lb 0-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beachs using Bunker at 10:00 AM this morning.

Guy Queck weighed-in a 20-lb 8-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beachs using Bunker at 10:00 AM this morning.

Jason Vogel of Norristown, PA weighed-in a 9-lb 4-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using a plug at 9:00 AM this morning.

Steve taylor of Burlington weighed-in a 14-lb 7-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in North Beach using an AVA jig at 8:30 AM this morning.

Ed Youse of Grandy, NC weighed-in a 13-lb 0-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 8:30 AM this morning.

Nick Nastasi of Waretoen weighed-in 24-lb 3-oz and 19-lb 11-oz Stripers today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach haven using a plug at 8:00 AM this morning.

Vince Orzel of Philadelphia, PA weighed-in a 15-lb 14-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using a Needlefish at 7:30 AM this morning.

John Castrati of Florence Work weighed-in 15-lb 13-oz and 15-lb 11oz Stripers today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using AVA jigs this morning.

Joe Handley weighed-in a 22-lb 0-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using a plug at 6:30 AM this morning.

Tom Law weighed-in a 11-lb 1-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in North Beach Haven using Bunker at 6:00 AM this morning.

November 20, 2011

Yesterday afternoon Danielle and Matt caught and released Stripers in Brant Beach using Bunker.

This morning, Sean Hackney of Ocean City, NJ caught a 13-lb 12-oz Striper using an AVA jig.

Received: Nov 20, 2011 11:12 AM Subject: Barnegat Bay Fishing Report

The outstanding jig fishing we’ve had for the past couple of weeks continued this week, with bass of mixed sizes and jumbo bluefish gorging themselves on sand eels as they make their move south for winter. We seem to be the center of action along the coast right now, as party and charter boats from as far north as Belmar and south to Ocean City have been making the run to our area to fish within a couple miles of old Barney. We’ve had ice on the boat as we’ve left the dock most mornings, but the fishing is so good that the cold is forgotten once the sun comes up and the fish start coming over the side.

The high winds on Monday kept us tied to the dock but Riverside’s Tim Parker made it out with me on Tuesday along with buddies Rob and Dwayne and filled the box with bass to 34″ and blues up to 16-pounds, mostly from the deeper water off Island Beach State Park. Bensalem’s George Selph was up next, again finding a mix of smaller bass and blues fishing ultra lights close to the beach due to rough conditions offshore. Yesterday I decided to head south to try fishing off LBI for a change, and the Hal Gilham party (Hal, son Pat, Bill and Rick) had four solid hours of drop and reel fishing for bass to 35″ and some of the largest blues we’ve seen yet just a couple of miles from the inlet.

The ice on the boat every morning and having to push through skim ice to get out yesterday are sure signs that the season is starting to draw to a close. We’ll be wrapping up our charter schedule after next weekend, although if the fishing continues to be this hot I may try to get a couple of days in the following week weather permitting.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Until next week.

~ Capt. Jack Shea, “Rambunctious”, Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632

Received: Nov 20, 2011 7:21 PM Subject: Lighthouse Sportfishing Report

The incredible bass action continues. There is no doubt Barnegat Inlet is the epicenter of this year’s fall run. The sandeels which continue pouring into our area are holding the fish that we had for weeks while attracting what seems to be more fish every day. Saturday I went out solo and after limiting out in minutes at day break I played catch and release with another dozen bass before tying back up at the dock by 9:00 AM. Today was nothing but spectacular and I one for the record book. The Mike Hodgekiss party was greeted by nasty seas with not only breaking waves but breaking fish. After getting beat up and boating several quality bass we moved in closer to the beach to find somewhat calmer water and bass rolling on sandeels. For most of the morning bass were constantly feeding within feet of the boat, a memory that will be kept forever. When all was said on done the trio hooked over 50 keeper bass with the two biggest being 20 and 25-pounds. Also caught were five shorts and three slammer blues. Once again plastic lures were our “go to” lure of choice. With the ocean still 53 degrees, a phenomenal concentration of sandeels, and a favorable long term weather forecast we should see this incredible action continue into the foreseeable future.

Have a great and fishy Thanksgiving!

~ Capt. Alex, Lighthouse Sportfishing Barnegat, NJ 609-548-2511

Received: Nov 20, 2011 10:12 AM Subject: First time with son fishing for stripers

I visited your shop yesterday and everyone was extremely helpful. Got some bunker and some good tips on where to fish. Although we didn’t catch any Stripers my son had a blast trying. We made a great day of it by going up and climbing the lighthouse. Maybe we can get out there next week for one final shot and we will defiantly stop by the shop again! Thanks for helping us out.

~ Glenn Curtis, Marlton, NJ

Received: Nov 20, 2011 6:38 PM Subject: Blackfish at Barnegat Inlet

Bethany Ferrell and Eddie White together caught a total of three 14″ Blackfish at Barnegat Inlet rocks on green crabs.

~ Eddie & Bethany

Mike deBetta of Staten, NY weighed-in a 13-lb 4-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 5:40 PM this afternoon.

Kyle Gronostajski of Surf City weighed-in a 22-lb 7-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Surf City using Bunker at 5:00 PM this afternoon.

Otto Marglin of Doylestown, PA weighed-in a 20-lb 2-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 3:45 PM this afternoon.

Dan Procida of Waterford Works weighed-in a 8-lb 2-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 3:00 PM this afternoon.

Mike Pomykacs of Williamstown weighed-in a 11-lb 2-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 1:30 PM this afternoon.

Wendy Essinger of Manahawkin weighed-in 21-lb 4-oz and 12-oz 4-oz Stripers today for the LBISFC that she caught in Loveladies using Bunker at around 11:00 AM this morning.

Matt Erickson of Barnegat weighed-in a 13-lb 0-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 11:00 AM this morning.

Matt Gogojewwicz of Manahawkin weighed-in a 17-lb 15-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 9:50 AM this morning.

Dennis Stephen of Medford weighed-in a 14-lb 11-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 9:00 AM this morning.

Craig McAllister of Middletown, DE weighed-in a 18-lb 7-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 10:00 AM this morning.

Brennan McAllister of Middletown, DE weighed-in a 24-lb 4-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 9:30 AM this morning.

Jason Hoch of Ship Bottom weighed-in a 14-lb 1-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 9:30 AM this morning.

John Kirby of Newtown, PA weighed-in a 18-lb 3-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach haven using Bunker at 9:00 AM this morning.

Courtland Foos of Wilmington, DE weighed-in a 31-lb 6-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 8:00 AM this morning.

Nick Nastasi of Waretoen weighed-in a 14-lb 2-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 7:30 AM this morning.

Barry Sandilands of Boothnyn, PA weighed-in a 15-lb 9-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 7:00 AM this morning.

Ken Nielubouvicz of tabernacle weighed-in a 21-lb 0-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 7:00 AM this morning.

November 19, 2011

5:30 PM

Bill Dubois put today’s party on a limit catch of stripers, several throwbacks, and plenty of bluefish on the “Reel Trouble”.

John McHenry of Secane, PA weighed-in a 8-lb 1-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in North Beach using Bunker at 2:30 PM this afternoon.

Scott Simpson of Hainesport weighed-in a 19-lb 14-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Bunker at 1:30 PM this afternoon.

Craig McAllister of Middletown, DE weighed-in a 15-lb 8-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 12:00 Noon.

Kenny DePierro of Yonkers, NY weighed-in a 21-lb 9-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in North Beach using Herring at 11:15 AM this morning.

Terry McGlynn of Beach Haven weighed-in a 17-lb 7-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 11:00 AM this afternoon.

John Hickey of East Fallow Field, PA weighed-in a 15-lb 2-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using Bunker at 11:00 AM this morning.

Jason Hoch of Ship Bottom weighed-in a 23-lb 6-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 9:45 AM this morning.

Randy Swartley weighed-in a 14-lb 3-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker this morning.

Dan Procida of Waterford Work weighed-in a 20-lb 2-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 8:30 AM this morning.

John Castrati of Florence Work weighed-in a 15-lb 9-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using an AVA jig at 8:00 AM this morning.

9-yr old Harry Maeglin of Doylestown, PA weighed-in a 11-lb 14-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using Bunker at 8:00 AM this morning.

Don Savasta of Tuckerton weighed-in a 15-lb 10-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies on a teaser at 7:30 AM this morning.

Mike DiMartinis of Maple Shade weighed-in a 11-lb 4-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 7:30 AM this morning.

Joe Handley of Eastampton weighed-in a 15-lb 11-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using a metal lure at 7:30 AM this morning.

Don Ingling of Surf City weighed-in a 14-lb 13-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using a plug at 7:10 AM this morning.

Michael Mitryk of Burlington weighed-in a 13-lb 13-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 7:00 AM this morning.

Brian Dalton of Tabernacle weighed-in a 31-lb 7-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 7:00 AM this morning.

November 18, 2011

Received: Nov 18, 2011 2:33 PM Subject: Stripers and Turkey

The striped bass fishing shows no signs of letting up. I fished through the wind and rain on Wed and Thurs and the fishing was awesome. Most of the time I am fishing within two miles of our Barnegat Inlet. Anywhere from 15 to 55 feet of water. Flocks of birds, fish swirling on the surface, blackout readings of sandeels and fish on the depth recorder… every day! We have been catching most of our fish on lighter gear, 10 pound spinning outfits with FIN-S aor other soft plastics on 3/8 ounce jigheads. Everyone keeps asking me how that is working in the deeper water… ummm,… we let it sink longer. Once you start with the light rods, it’s hard to go back to heavier tackle. There are times when we put out the trolling rods, but I even have a light version of those. They are 5-1/2 ft, instead of 8 ft, small Daiwa Sealine 50H conventional instead of big 4/0 Penn Senators, and the best part is they are spooled with 150 feet of wireline instead of 300 feet. An all around much lighter, more enjoyable trolling outfit, and instead of shad bars or umbrella rigs, we are using single jointed tube lures to match the hatch of the sandeel run. These outfits let us troll in the 20 ft. depths while we are looking for the next gob of readings or flock of birds. We have also been catching a few on jigs, but vertical jigging has not been producing as well as dropping to the bottom, speed reeling for 10 or 15 cranks, then drop back to the bottom and repeat.

The water is still 52 to 53 degrees. There are a lot of 8 to 12 pound bluefish in the mix, but the striper ratio is still excellent. The bass are anywhere from 26″ to 32″ fish common with a few bigger fish. Every day is bringing limit catches to the cooler and plenty more to catch and release. It doesn’t get any better than this.

We will be running an open boat for stripers on Thanksgiving morning, 6:00 AM to Noon… Sharp! To get you and me back in time for the Holiday. Also, the next day, Friday, Nov. 25, and Sunday, Nov. 27, are both 6:00 AM to Noon days. The cost for any of these trips is $150 per person. If it is your first time sailing with us, payment by credit card is required in advance. We take a maximum of three people. All the fish are shared. Please call me (cell:732.330.5674) to reserve a spot as I am not on the computer much these days, I am mostly on the water.

~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674

John Chaske weighed-in a 16-lb 12-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 5:00 PM this afternoon.

Ryan Schfamm of Beach Haven weighed-in a 18-lb 9-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in North Beach using Bunker at 2:00 PM this afternoon.

Larry Olivetti of Manahawkin weighed-in a 11-lb 2-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in loveladies using Bunker at 1:00 PM this afternoon.

Mike Debetta of Staten Island, NY weighed-in a 19-lb 3-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 1:00 PM this afternoon.

John Buoncuotes of Salem weighed-in a 17-lb 6-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Bunker at 12:00 Noon.

Thomas Zane of Wenowah weighed-in a 14-lb 9-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 11:20 AM this morning.

John Kirby of Newtown, PA weighed-in a 15-lb 12-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 10:30 AM this morning.

Don Adams of Sewell weighed-in a 13-lb 8-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Bunker at 10:00 AM this morning.

Dom Savasta of Tuckerton weighed-in a 11-lb 4-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 9:30 AM this morning.

Pete Utschig of New York, NY weighed-in a 19-lb 0-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 8:00 AM this morning.

Tim Rothrock of Newtown. PA weighed-in a 18-lb 3-oz and 14-lb 4-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 7:20 AM this morning.

Tim Stumpf of Elkins Park, PA weighed-in a 39-lb 1-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 9:00 AM this morning.

Paul Pestritto of Manahawkin weighed-in a 8-lb 15-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 8:30 AM this morning.

Stanley Steinberg of Warrinton, PA weighed-in a 17-lb 13-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in North Beach using Bunker at 8:30 AM this morning.

Brian McAllister of Middletown, DE weighed-in a 29-lb 4-oz Striper and a 12-lb 14-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker between 7:00 to 8:30 AM this morning.

Steve Warren of Beesley Point weighed-in a 17-lb 14-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker this morning.

John Hickley of East Fallowfield, PA weighed-in a 14-lb 12-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 7:30 AM this morning.

Tom Valerio of Ship Bottom weighed-in a 12-lb 4-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Surf City using Bunker at 7:15 AM this morning.

Anthony Cucinotta of Beach Haven weighed-in a 15-lb 11-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using a lure at 7:10 AM this morning.

Ron Salewski of Bernardsville weighed-in a 26-lb 1-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Surf City using Bunker at 7:00 AM this morning

Keith Weidenhof of Manahawkin weighed-in a 19-lb 10-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 6:45 AM this morning.

November 17, 2011

Received: Nov 17, 2011 3:05 PM Subject: Bluefish

Caught an 8-lb 30″ bluefish around 2:00 PM on bunker. Bring bait because it does not stay on the hook long.

~ Rob Papile

Tom Valeria weighed-in a 9-lb 2-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Surf City using Bunker at around 8:30 PM this evening.

John Weske weighed-in a 13-lb 0-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at around 5:30 PM this afternoon.

Andi Knoerzer of Ocean City weighed-in a 16-lb 9-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that she caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at around 5:00 PM this afternoon.

John Campbell of Evesham weighed-in a 24-lb 8-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at around 3:00 PM this afternoon.

Bob Braack of Atco weighed-in a 21-lb 4-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in North Beach using Bunker at around 2:45 PM this afternoon.

John Sanford of Barnegat weighed-in a 14-lb 3-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at around 2:30 PM this afternoon.

Gerand Ladzinski of Cape May weighed-in a 21-lb 7-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at around 2:00 PM this afternoon.

Jim Corson weighed-in a 13-lb 9-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven Park using Bunker at around 1:30 PM this afternoon.

Ray Sullivan of Brant Beach weighed-in a 11-lb 14-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 1:30 PM this afternoon.

P. Andrews weighed-in a 10-lb 14-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that was caught in Beach Haven Park using Bunker at 1:00 PM this afternoon.

Dave Smith weighed-in a 10-lb 10-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach haven using Bunker at 1:00 PM this afternoon.

John Sullivan of Maple Shade weighed-in a 11-lb 12-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 1:00 PM this afternoon.

Ray Sullivan of Brant Beach weighed-in a 17-lb 12-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 1:00 PM this afternoon.

Jay Trivter of Waretown weighed-in a 10-lb 4-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 1:00 PM this afternoon.

Nick Sabatino of Shamong weighed-in a 20-lb 4-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 12:30 PM this afternoon.

Tom Watson of Orangeburg, PA weighed-in a 16-lb 1-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Bunker at around 12:30 PM this afternoon.

Robert Griffiths of Barnegat weighed-in a 28-lb 13-oz Striper and a 10-lb 15oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at around 12:00 Noon.

Dom Savasta of Tuckerton weighed-in a 9-lb 3-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 12:00 Noon.

Lester Smith of Mayetta weighed-in a 13-lb 5-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 11:25 AM this morning.

Pete Utschig of New York, NY weighed-in a 32-lb 2-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Surf City using Bunker at 11:00 AM this morning.

Joe Carmelengo of Long Beach Twp weighed-in a 13-lb 8-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 10:45 AM this morning.

Rob Vallone of Little Egg Harbor weighed-in a 24-lb 7-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in North Beach using Bunker at 10:45 AM this morning.

Richard Sellnow of Yardville weighed-in a 11-lb 4-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 10:45 AM this morning.

Bill MaCool of Turnersville weighed-in a 20-lb 10-oz Striper and a 9-lb 1-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at about 10:45 AM this morning.

John Cannuli of Ship Bottom weighed-in a 10-lb 10-oz and 9-lb 12-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 10:00 AM this morning.

Edwin Youse of Grandy, NC weighed-in a 12-lb 14-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 9:30 AM this morning.

Ed Johnston of Surf City weighed-in a 10-lb 10-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 7:00 AM this morning.

Richard Crosta of Beach Haven weighed-in a 19-lb 14-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in North Beach Haven using Bunker at 7:00 AM this morning.

Anthony Cucinotta of Beach Haven weighed-in a 17-lb 5-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 7:15 AM this morning.

Bill Fitzgerald of Manahawkin weighed-in a 8-lb 11-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Surf City using Bunker at 6:45 AM this morning.

Dave Kendall of Reading, PA weighed-in a 12-lb 0-oz and 9-lb 2-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Bunker at 2:00 PM yesterday.

Thomas Watzer of Oruzsburg, PA weighed-in a 11-lb 6-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Bunker at 2:00 PM yesterday.

November 16, 2011

11:30 AM

Justin Hoffman hit the beach at 11:00 AM this morning to take a break on his birthday. He let us know that he landed three keeper sized bass and one short off of the mid-island surf on bunker. He is on it now and into fish!

Tog limit increased today to a 6 per man limit.

Received: Nov 16, 2011 11:21 AM Subject: BHCFA Report

The striped bass action for the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association has been fantastic for the past week. The only problem has been some poor weather including thick fog, strong winds, and strong seas.

Captain Fran Verdi of the “Dropoff” reports the fishing last week was “off the charts.” He termed last Wednesday’s fishing as “epic”. His open boat group of four anglers limited out in just an hour with eight fish and played catch and release for the rest of the day. Every cast resulted in a fish and most of them were 18-25 pounds. Poor weather over the weekend made ocean fishing difficult, and Captain Fran spent his time fishing in the inlet. For information on the 25′ “Drop Off” contact Capt. Fran Verdi, (609) 868-8970, or Email: fpvmdv@comcast.net

The “Miss Beach Haven” with Captain Frank Camarda had planned to sail last weekend for some offshore wreck fishing, but had a change of heart due to strong winds and seas. Instead of heading offshore, they fished close to the beach for a nice pick of striped bass and some big bluefish. The swells made jigging difficult, but they caught enough fish to make everyone happy and Chumley won the pool with a 21-pounder. Captain Frank has an assortment of trips scheduled including stripers, sea bass, and blackfish. For information on the 80′ “Miss Beach Haven” contact Capt. Frank Camarda, phone: (609) 978-9951, email: MissBeachHaven@aol.com

Captain George Finck of “Sparetime Charters” took Ray McVry and five of his friends trolling for Striped Bass recently. They had a great trip, limiting out on striped bass with the smallest fish measuring 33-inches. They also picked up a couple of nice bluefish. For information on the 38′ Henriques “Sparetime” Beach Haven, NJ contact Capt. George Finck, (609) 618-3877, email: Finck104@comcast.net

Captain Carl Sheppard on the “Star Fish” has been putting together some nice catches of stripers on everyone of his trips. Last Sunday he had Randy Godshall and his fiancée Indy Park of Souderton, Pa., out to try and catch their first striped bass. They went out through the north cut at Holgate and got into fish before they reached Beach Haven. In 40-feet of water the real action started. The best rigs were the stretch lures and umbrella rigs. For information on the “Star Fish” for 2-20 anglers contact Capt. Carl Sheppard, 609-492-2591, cfsheppard@aol.com

(If you contact any captain for a charter, please mention that you read their report on the Fisherman’s Headquarters Fishing Report. Thank you)

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

~ Jim Hutchinson Sr.

Sam Messler age 12 of Manahawkin weighed-in a 17-lb 6-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Haven Beach using Bunker at around 5:15 PM this afternoon.

Dennis Gallacher of Westampton weighed-in a 14-lb 12-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 5:15 PM this afternoon.

Kurty Houndres of Beach Haven weighed-in a 18-lb 2-oz and 16-l 12-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in South Beach using Bunker at around 4:00 PM this afternoon.

Lester Smith of Mayetta weighed-in a 10-lb 10-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in North Beach using Bunker at 12:45 PM this afternoon.

Terry McGlynn of Beach Haven weighed-in a 10-lb 11-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven Terrace using Bunker at 12:30 PM this afternoon.

Gregory Leodlki of Williamstown weighed-in a 9-lb 15-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Surf City using Bunker at 12:30 PM this afternoon.

Glenn Hefmeister of Manahawkin weighed-in a 12-lb 11-oz and 12-lb 7-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Surf City using Bunker around 12:00 Noon.

Peter Kelly of Cedar Run weighed-in a 21-lb 13-oz Striper and Bluefish that weighed-in at 10-lb 2oz and 9-lb 6-oz today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at around 12:00 Noon.

John Buoncuore of Salem weighed-in a 10-lb 3-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 12:00 Noon.

Walter Plewa of Beach Haven weighed-in a 18-lb 8-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 12:00 Noon.

Brent Becker of State College, PA weighed-in 20-lb 0-oz and 17-lb 12oz Stripers today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach haven Park using Bunker at 11:00 AM this morning.

Thomas Law of Beach Haven weighed-in a 11-lb 15-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 10:30 AM this morning.

Joseph Wade of Burlington weighed-in a 10-lb 9-oz and 10-lb 4-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Bunker at 11:30 AM this morning.

Walter Plewa of Beach Haven weighed-in a 14-lb 3-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 11:00 AM this morning.

Joe Handley of Eastampton weighed-in a 9-lb 14-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 10:00 AM this morning.

Jonathan Law of Manahawkin weighed-in a 9-lb 10-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Surf City using Bunker at 11:00 AM this morning.

Ed Modelski of Hohokus weighed-in a 7-lb 10-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 10:00 AM this morning.

Thomas Zane of Wenowah weighed-in a 10-lb 2-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 9:45 AM this morning.

Thomas Sylvester of Philadelphia, PA weighed-in a 23-lb 5-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 9:30 AM this morning.

Thomas Daly of Barnegat weighed-in a 13-lb 3-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in North Beach using Bunker at 9:30 AM this morning.

Gary Deanley of Hammonton weighed-in a 10-lb 10-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 9:00 AM this morning.

Thomas Daly of Barnegat weighed-in a 7-lb 15-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in North Beach using Bunker at 9:35 AM this morning.

Tom White of Ship Bottom weighed-in a 16-lb 2-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 9:30 AM this morning.

Nick Sabatino of Shamong weighed-in a 33-lb 1-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 9:12 AM this morning.

Thomas Zane of Wenowah weighed-in a 17-lb 0-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 8:30 AM this morning.

Anthony Cucinotta of Beach Haven weighed-in a 7-lb 9-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 8:30 AM this morning.

Edmund Flyntz of Ship Bottom weighed-in a 9-lb 0-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 8:15 AM this morning.

Bruce Hannah of Manahawkin weighed-in a 17-lb 12-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 7:40 AM this morning.

November 15, 2011

John Booncoure weighed-in a 19-lb 4-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 7:00 PM this evening.

Richard Crosta of Beach Haven weighed-in a 19-lb 11-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in North Beach Haven using Bunker at 2:30 PM this afternoon.

Bob Watson of Shillington, PA weighed-in a 17-lb 8-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 2:00 PM this afternoon.

Mark Jordan of Beach Haven weighed-in a 11-lb 14-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in North Beach using Bunker at 1:30 PM this afternoon.

Bruce Hannah of Manahawkin weighed-in a 15-lb 9-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 12:30 PM this afternoon.

John Sullivan of Maple Shade weighed-in a 19-lb 10-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 11:00 AM this morning.

Tom White of Ship Bottom weighed-in a 14-lb 14-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 11:00 AM this morning.

Mike DeBetta of Staten Island weighed-in a 20-lb 8-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 11:00 AM this morning.

Bruce Hannah of Manahawkin weighed-in a 140-lb 0-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 8:15 AM this morning.

November 14, 2011

Received: Nov 14, 2011 4:30 PM Subject: 11/14/11 surf fishing

Drove to LBI from Philadelphia and hit three beaches ( LBI, Beach Haven, and Brigantine ). All spots had rough surf and no fish action. We fished from 5:30 AM to 12:00 Noon. The bait we were using was Clam, Bunker, and Herring. We will try back again this weekend.

Received: Nov 14, 2011 10:51 AM Subject: Surf Report for Nov. 13th

We fished Loveladies from 6 am through the incoming tide, there was a school of Bunker about 100 yards off the beach that the birds were working over so I was very hopeful. We had fresh bunker and clam and I was able to wade out to the sand bar to cast and my buddy was fishing the inner trough but we didn’t get a bite. We drove down to Brant Beach for the outgoing and the wind really got hard, we were hiding behind the truck and using 10 ounces which wasn’t holding bottom too well. Oh well, next week…….

~ John Crowe

Stanley Markoski of Beach Haven weighed-in a 20-lb 3-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in North Beach Haven using Bunker at 11:50 AM this morning.

Mike DeBetta of Staten Island weighed-in a 17-lb 7-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 11:30 AM this morning.

Kevin Eichman of Tabernacle weighed-in a 21-lb 0-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Bunker at 11:00 AM this morning.

Barry sandilands of Boothwyn weighed-in a 28-lb 5-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 10:45 AM this morning.

Bill Montrey of Manahawkin weighed-in a 25-lb 8-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 8:30 AM this morning.

November 13, 2011

Received: Nov 13, 2011 11:31 PM Subject: Skunked – Nelson Ave Holgate

Drove up from Maryland to catch the back end of low tide. The wind and rough surf made holding bottom tough, even with 10 ounces. Hooked up a nice big striper on the back half of a fresh bunker less the tail – thought I hooked the bottom for a moment it was so strong. After getting it into the surf I promptly lost the fish. Rod tip up, and tight drag, but a big wave worked to his advantage. Will get him next time…

Conditions on the beach are tough. Sugar sand due to the high winds. Watch that tire pressure and keep moving. Been driving out there on the beach for many years, but almost got stuck today. As you head south toward Washington Ave things get worse. The beach tapers and you can run out of room to turn around. Cliffs, too, so be extra careful at night.

~ Bernie

Received: Nov 13, 2011 12:20 PM Subject: Barnegat Bay Fishing Report

Just as we had hoped, the cooler air temperatures this week combined with the arrival of immense schools of sand eels along the beach to trigger an absolute feeding frenzy of striped bass stuffing themselves for their long migration south. It wasn’t uncommon to see stripers crashing bait on the surface while simultaneously hooking up with other fish feeding on the bottom. Small metals rigged with teasers and soft plastics on light jigs produced solid catches all week long whenever the weather permitted us to get out there.

On Monday’s trip I had Mike & Steve Hoffman along with their buddy Bill out for our first jigging trip of the fall. Finding fish immediately outside Barnegat Inlet, the guys proceeded to fill our limit by 9:30 and continue catch and release fishing the rest of the morning before heading in with sore arms and healthy smiles.

Rick & Gavin Fisher and Rick’s nephew Chris Stewart were up next, and while the action wasn’t frantic they again filled the fishbox with bass to 20 pounds. Blues in the 10 to 13 pound class also joined the party to spice up the action a bit.

A frustratingly dense fog on Thursday morning that refused to burn off kept us out of the action, but I did manage to jump aboard my friend Capt. Alex’s boat for a late afternoon run after the fog cleared that proved the fish were still on the feed and put some tasty filets on our tables as well.

After canceling Friday’s trip due to the forecast gale force winds, we wrapped up the week yesterday with George Selph again joining me and boxing another limit catch before the rapidly declining ocean conditions sent us creeping back in early.

This is light tackle fishing at its finest. The fish are a little smaller than some of the monsters we had a couple weeks back but they’re plentiful and hungry, and the occasional 20+ pounder mixed in keeps everyone on their game. Let’s hope the weather allows us too continue enjoying it through the final couple weeks of the season.

~ Capt. Jack Shea, “Rambunctious”, Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632

Received: Nov 13, 2011 5:43 PM Subject: Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters – Awesome week of striper and bluefish action!

Despite Gale and small craft warnings along with dense fog anglers onboard the “Reel Fantasea” continued to enjoy limits [ all anglers on all trips] of stripers and some of the best Fall action found anywhere! Earlier in the week I got a chance to sneak away and get my favorite fishing partner, son Stephen jr [ 11yrs ] out for a limit of stripers to 24-lbs on light spinning tackle and artificial lures . It was awesome to get a chance to get him in such great action and watch him have so much fun.

Next up was the Mike Hodgekiss Party who was met with a slack tide and dense fog which made for a slower start . As the conditions improved so did the “catching”. Making our way safely out the inlet we were able to find stripers rolling on sandeels on the surface. The three man crew found themselves an easy limit of bass doubled and tripled up with stripers to 20-lbs along with plenty of catch and release until trips end.

“Gamers”, Andrew [ son] and Joe [ dad] Mc Gowan were greeted with a Gale Warning. With the winds blowing from the NW to the offshore and stripers tight along the beach the guys found another easy limit of bass. As the wind continued to climb in velocity we retreated to the safety of the surf line to find some more great striper action within a few yards of the beach feeling only the wind on our clothes. The guys continued to slam the bass until trips end. The “Reel Fantasea” was so close to the beach that we saw surf anglers standing in the “sea smoke” created by the wind shearing the wave tops off and vaporizing the water into “smoke”.

Jim Harbaugh was up next joined by sons Adam and Mike finding more awesome striper action with bass to 20-lbs on artificial lures. The guys were fast into action under a vast bird play with gorging striped bass and blues on sandeels! As the morning progressed and a building strong SW wind reaching 25-30 mph we again were forced to retreat to the beach but not before limiting out with striped bass [ and catch and release] and big slammer blues making the mix as well before heading for the barn.

Regulars Jay Simmons, Ernie Rosenberg, Karl Steffan sr. and Karl jr were again faced with small craft warnings and stiff SW winds . The guys started the day a bit of a slower, finding the sea condition “sporty” and the fish spread out. As the morning progressed the winds stabilized and the fish went on the feed, subsequently finding themselves doubled, tripled and even quadrupled up for another easy limit of bass and catch and release . With a intensifying wind velocity we again were forced inshore to finish our day picking away at a few more striped bass and big blues before calling it a day!

I have this Thursday available for Open or Private charter for anyone interested in getting in on this awesome action! Wishing everyone fair winds and calm seas…

~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217

Love striper? Try this recipe – Courtesy of Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters
** Striper Ceviche**- fish is “cooked ” in lime juice [ no heat/stove/oven]
1lbs striper – red meat removed. cut in thin quaters size slices
1/2 green, red bell pepper
1/2 red onion
1 cup lime juice – approx 6
1-2 jalapeno
3 table spoons of olive oil
salt to taste
1/2 – 3/4 cup cilantro
1 avocado
mix fish, lime, peppers, onion, oil, salt, jalapeno, 1/4 cup cilantro and marinate (for 2 hours minimum – I do overnight).
Serve with chopped avocado and cilantro and tortilla chips- awesome !!!!!

Received: Nov 13, 2011 5:54 PM Subject: Fishing Report

Tyler Kleinguenther and Eddie White went out on the “Super Chic” right outside Barnegat Inlet Inlet and came back with our limit using jigs and plastic

Received: Nov 13, 2011 1:33 PM Subject: Lighthouse Sportfishing Report

Easy report here folks, if you have not been catching bass you have not been fishing. All week long the bite has been good to smokin hot. It looks like even more fish showed up to feast on the abundant sandeels we have in out local waters. These new fish are shorts to small keepers. Catching limits and then releasing double digit numbers is the norm. With ocean temps still around 55 we may have these fish for the rest of this month if not longer. Lets hope! Screaming drags,

~ Capt. Alex, Lighthouse Sportfishing Barnegat, NJ 609-548-2511

Richard Crosta of Beach Haven weighed-in a 20-lb 8-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at about 4:00 PM this afternoon.

John McHenry of Secane, PA weighed-in a 18-lb 3-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 11:45 AM this morning.

John Parzych of Trumbauersville, PA weighed-in a 11-lb 9-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using Bunker at 11:00 AM this morning.

Keith King of Manahawkin weighed-in a 7-lb 13-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using Bunker at 9:30 AM this morning.

Walter Alewa of Kinnelon weighed-in a 15-lb 7-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 8:30 AM this morning.

John Sullivan of Maple Shade weighed-in a 13-lb 5-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 8:00 AM this morning.

Michael Mitryk of Burlington weighed-in a 16-lb 3-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 7:00 AM this morning.

Thomas Law of Beach Haven weighed-in a 10-lb 3-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 6:00 PM yesterday evening.

Josh Goldman of Princeton weighed-in a 9-lb 2-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 5:30 PM yesterday evening.

November 12, 2011

Michael Mitryk of Burlington weighed-in a 15-lb 1-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 6:00 PM this afternoon.

Dave Kendall of Reading, PA weighed-in a 19-lb 12-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Bunker at 5:15 PM this afternoon.

David Cowles of Beach Haven weighed-in a 16-lb 6-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven Terrace using Bunker at 5:15 PM this afternoon.

Joseph Reynolds of Medford weighed-in a 7-lb 8-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 4:30 PM this afternoon.

Marcella Friedman of Oaklyn weighed-in a 11-lb 5-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that she caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 4:30 PM this afternoon.

Tom Rowen of Bensalem, PA weighed-in a 18-lb 9-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 4:30 PM this afternoon.

Terry McGlynn of Beach Haven weighed-in a 20-lb 6-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker this afternoon.

Kurt Horensky of Beach haven weighed-in a 17-lb 11-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach haven using Bunker at 4:10 PM this afternoon.

Dan Ballentine of Port Murray weighed-in a 14-lb 14-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using Bunker at 1:30 PM this afternoon.

Terry McGlynn of Beach Haven weighed-in a 17-lb 4-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 1:00 PM this afternoon.

Brian McAllister of Middletown, DE weighed-in a 10-lb 8-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at Noon today.

Brennan McAllister of Middletown, DE weighed-in a 21-lb 4-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 11:45 AM this morning.

Gerald Kiyak of Indian Mills weighed-in a 11-lb 10-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 11:15 AM this morning.

Allison MacCartney of Barnegat Light weighed-in a 15-lb 14-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that she caught in Barnegat Light using a Bucktail at 11:00 AM this morning.

Chuck Kartman weighed-in a 10-lb 4-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 10:00 AM this morning.

Brenda Gaydula-Cook of Surf City weighed-in a 9-lb 14-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that she caught in Surf City using Bunker at 10:00 AM this morning.

Patrick Phillips of Washington DC weighed-in a 18-lb 2-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Bunker at 9:15 AM this morning.

Steve McKee of Salunya, PA weighed-in a 13-lb 14-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in North Beach using Bunker at 8:45 AM this morning.

Jonathan Law of Manahawkin weighed-in a 10-lb 0-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Surf City using Bunker at 8:00 AM this morning.

Paul Fearon of Shamong weighed-in a 16-lb 0-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 7:20 AM this morning.

Courtland Foos of Wilmington, DE weighed-in a 22-lb 7-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 6:30 AM this morning.

Ralph Vitale of Lincoln University, PA weighed-in a 11-lb 5-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 4:30 AM this morning.

Nick Canaletti of Washington Twp weighed-in a 18-lb 2-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 1:00 AM this morning.

November 11, 2011

Enzo and Alec Fanelli had the Stripers in Ship Bottom using Bunker around 10:00 AM this morning.

Today’s catch aboard the “Reel Trouble”.

Received: Nov 11, 2011 9:41 AM Subject: Al Stella Fishing Report

Al Stella and buddies Tony and Carl had very good Striper action yesterday right outside Barnegat Inlet on tube lures.

~ Al Stella

Received: Nov 11, 2011 9:35 AM Subject: Late Report – Nov 9/10

We picked up a half dozen eels from you guys right around closing on Wednesday night. We ended up getting into some nice bass action around Midnight to 1:00 AM Thursday in Barnegat Light. Tom Duralek caught the biggest bass being 42 inches, and we kept two other bass at 34 inches. Great night fishing with the fog rolling in and out.

~ Capt. Brett Taylor, “Reel Reaction Sportfishing”, LLC 609-290-7709

Frank Hoovet of Mapleshade and a member of the Merchantville Fishing Club weighed-in a 16-lb 7-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 7:45 PM this afternoon.

Chris Masino of Beach Haven weighed-in a 18-lb 6-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 6:00 PM this afternoon.

Paul Castrati of Morristown weighed-in a 8-lb 8-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 5:00 PM this afternoon.

Barry Sandilands of Boothava, PA weighed-in a 7-lb 12-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 4:45 PM this afternoon.

Greg Oshell of Surf City weighed-in a 18-lb 5-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught using Bunker at 4:30 PM this afternoon.

Frank Marascia of Washington Twp weighed-in a 21-lb 7-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 4:30 PM this afternoon.

John Dabose of Philadelphia, PA weighed-in a 14-lb 12-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 4:30 PM this afternoon.

Richard Sellnow of Yardville weighed-in a 20-lb 5-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 4:10 PM this afternoon.

Steve Seebeger of Ewing weighed-in a 11-lb 12-oz Striper and a 12-lb 12-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 4:00 PM this afternoon.

Paul Castrati of Morristown weighed-in a 21-lb 8-oz Striper and a 10-lb 9oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 4:00 PM this afternoon.

Richard Crosta of Beach Haven weighed-in a 13-lb 8-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 4:00 PM this afternoon.

John Weske weighed-in a 17-lb 6-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 4:00 PM this afternoon.

Ernie Fey of Manahawkin weighed-in a 16-lb 2-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 4:00 PM this afternoon.

Edwin McGlynn weighed-in a 14-lb 14-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 4:00 PM this afternoon.

Michael Baverle of Jenkintown, PA weighed-in a 12-lb 10-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 3:30 PM this afternoon.

Terry McGlynn weighed-in a 10-lb 10-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 3:30 PM this afternoon.

Barry Baxter of Beach Haven weighed-in a 15-lb 15-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 3:30 PM this afternoon.

Patti Dalton of Tabernacle weighed-in a 10-lb 11-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that she caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 3:30 PM this afternoon.

Randall Swartley of Manahawkin weighed-in a 10-lb 15-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 2:30 PM this afternoon.

Robert Gatton of Manahawkin weighed-in a 19-lb 0-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 2:30 PM this afternoon.

Christopher Thronton of Shamong weighed-in a 16-lb 4-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Clam at 2:15 PM this afternoon.

Paul Moritrey of Delran weighed-in a 14-lb 11-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in loveladies using Bunker at 2:15 PM this afternoon.

Paul Castrati of Morristown weighed-in a 24-lb 4-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 2:00 PM this afternoon.

Gregg Oschell of Surf City weighed-in a 14-lb 14-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 2:00 PM this afternoon.

Jeff Suwak of Beach Haven weighed-in a 9-lb 5-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 2:00 PM this afternoon.

Robert Vallone of Little egg Harbor weighed-in a 18-lb 9-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 1:15 PM this afternoon.

Jonathan Law of Manahawkin weighed-in a 10-lb 14-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 12:30 PM this afternoon.

Tom White of Ship Bottom weighed-in a 13-lb 1-oz Striper and a 10-lb 8-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at Noon today.

Eugene Athins of Maple Shad weighed-in a 21-lb 9-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at Noon today.

Paul Fearon of Shamong weighed-in a 12-lb 4-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 11:15 AM this morning.

David Welsh of Shamong weighed-in a 11-lb 4-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 11:15 AM this morning.

Tom Kirk of Nazareth, PA weighed-in a 18-lb 4-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 11:00 AM this morning.

Steve Warren weighed-in a 9-lb 0-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught this morning.

Matt Gogojewwicz of Manahawkin weighed-in a 11-lb 15-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 10:30 AM this morning.

Keith Weidenhof of Manahawkin weighed-in a 13-lb 15-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 10:30 AM this morning.

William Clark weighed-in a 11-lb 0-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 10:30 AM this morning.

Bruce Hannah of Manahawkin weighed-in a 12-lb 0-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 10:10 AM this morning.

Skip Way of Little Egg Harbor weighed-in a 12-lb 0-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Surf City using Bunker at 10:00 AM this morning.

John Cannuli of Ship Bottom weighed-in a 10-lb 10-oz Bluefish and a 12-lb 5-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 10:00 AM this morning.

Joseph Handley of Eastampton weighed-in a 13-lb 4-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 10:00 AM this morning.

Brenda Cook of Surf City weighed-in a 9-lb 4-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Surf City using Herring at 9:45 AM this morning.

Joe Thiel of Manahawkin weighed-in a 10-lb 0-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 8:05 AM this morning.

Don Roberts of Ship Bottom weighed-in a 17-lb 5-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 7:00 AM this morning.

Randy Rosenberger of Tilford, PA weighed-in a 16-lb 9-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 6:15 AM this morning.

Bruce Hannah of Manahawkin weighed-in a 16-lb 0-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 6:15 AM this morning.

Dave Hershberger weighed-in a 16-lb 5-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Haven Beach using Bunker at 3:15 PM yesterday evening.

November 10, 2011

Today, 8-year old Branden Clark won the pool on the headboat “Doris Mae IV” with a 16-lb 3-oz Striper that was caught on an AVA A27 Diamond Jig. The “Doris Mae IV” sales for Stripers every day from 7:00 AM to 2:00 PM thru Nov.30th. Sorry they will not be sailing for Stripers on Wednesday 11/16/11 due to an offshore Sea Bass Trip on that day. You can contact the “Doris Mae IV” for any details by calling (609) 494-1692

Received: Nov 10, 2011 6:33 PM Subject: Fishing Report

Fished most of the day and caught, and released, two keepers this afternoon. Incoming tide seems to be the trick. 12# and 15# on bunker.

~ Rob Papile

Jonathan Law of Manahawkin weighed-in a 14-lb 1-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 5:15 PM this afternoon.

Dennis Gallacher of Westampton weighed-in a 11-lb 7-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using Bunker at 1:00 PM this afternoon.

Randy Matlack weighed-in a 15-lb 3-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven Crest using Bunker at 10:30 AM this morning.

C. Fons weighed-in a 11-lb 15-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using Bunker at 10:30 AM this morning.

Richard Ferguson weighed-in a 19-lb 6-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven Terrace using Bunker at 9:00 AM this morning.

Greg Heizler of Island Heights weighed-in a 19-lb 12-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 8:30 AM this morning.

Peter Weaver of Coopersburg, PA weighed-in a 19-lb 3-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 7:30 AM this morning.

Thomas White of Ship Bottom weighed-in a 15-lb 9-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 7:00 AM this morning.

Dave Smith weighed-in a 13-lb 5-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Bunker at 6:00 PM yesterday evening.

November 9, 2011

Received: Nov 9, 2011 2:53 PM Subject: Hi Flier Afternoon Stripers

Thanks to the red hot fishing the “Hi-Flier” is completely sold out of our open boat trips this Thur, Fri, Sat, and Sun, but read on. Those trips run from 5:30 AM to 11:30 AM. So, I am going to add afternoon trips on all of these days, Thur thru Sun, Nov. 10, 11, 12, and 13, available for charter only. These trips will run from 12:30 PM to 5:00 PM. As it is already getting dark by 5:00 PM. $350 to charter the boat for up to three people. We have the choice of catching them in the ocean or in the bay with live bait. Just bring whatever you want to eat and drink, I’ll supply the rest. The tide for livelining spots in the bay looks good for all of these afternoon trips if we want to mix it up or stay inside altogether, your choice.

If you are interested in booking one of these, or any other dates, please call me on my cell ( 732.330.5674 ) instead of emailing me as I will not be on the computer, I will be on the water. Thank you.

~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674

Received: Nov 9, 2011 9:38 PM Subject: Two keepers

I caught these two fish yesterday with fresh bunker from fhq. The daytime was just under 15 lbs and 31 inches and the night time one was 20 lbs on the dot and 34 inches.

~ Joe Radice

Received: Nov 9, 2011 11:33 AM Subject: boat report

Fished a charter yesterday, left the dock 7AM. 6 men aboard, trolled for a while, no readings. Got to a “certain spot” mid island and hit every pass, all anglers had their limit, all in the 20-lb range. A few blues mixed in, one over 15-lbs. again, no readings, and all the bellies were empty.

~ WAT

Greg Cudnik of Ship Bottom weighed-in a 30-lb 8-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using an eel at 9:45 AM last night.

Willy Kayhart weighed-in a 14-lb 12-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 4:00 PM this afternoon.

Jim McMenamin of Manahawkin weighed-in a 11-lb 8-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using Bunker at 1:00 PM this afternoon.

George Fetz of South Plainfield weighed-in a 18-lb 0-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 10:05 AM this morning.

Ryan O’Connell weighed-in a 12-lb 9-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 9:30 AM this morning.

Keith King of Manahawkin weighed-in a 15-lb 6-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 9:20 AM this morning.

Don Adams of Sewell weighed-in a 12-lb 8-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 9:15 AM this morning.

Felix Cariello of Manahawkin weighed-in a 15-lb 8-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 8:30 AM this morning.

Thomas Zane of Wenonah weighed-in a 9-lb 12-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 8:00 AM this morning.

Austin Pounds weighed-in a 8-lb 0-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 7:30 AM this morning.

Charles Houtz of Soddy Daisy, TN weighed-in a 14-lb 14-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 7:10 AM this morning.

Jack Crowley of Haven Beach weighed-in a 7-lb 14-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Dunes using Bunker at 7:00 AM this morning.

Sam Harner weighed-in a 8-lb 6-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 7:00 AM this morning.

Peter Weaver weighed-in a 12-lb 12-oz Striper yesterday for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 5:00 PM yesterday evening.

Steve Krammer weighed-in a 16-lb 4-oz and 15-lb 2-oz Striper yesterday for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 4:30 PM yesterday evening.

Ron Alia of Philadelphia, PA from the Merchantville Fishing Club weighed-in a 18-lb 5-oz Striper yesterday for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 4:30 PM yesterday evening.

Thomas Sylvester weighed-in a 10-lb 13-oz Bluefish yesterday for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 4:00 PM yesterday evening.

November 8, 2011

8:00 AM

Keith King hooked 12-15 bluefish while fishing Mid-island using bunker.

Received: Nov 8, 2011 4:55 PM Subject: Striper Fishing Open Boat

The striper fishing is red hot. We have been casting light tackle and connecting with typically 10 to 15-pound fish. Lots of birds, surfacing fish and hookups. We have been doing very well with the FIN-S and other soft plastics on jigheads. The best action I have found was in 40 to 50-feet of water from Barnegat Inlet to Seaside Park. Mostly stripers with a few big bluefish mixed in.

We will be running open boat trips on Thursday, Nov. 10, and Saturday, Nov. 12, 6AM to Noon, $150 per person. Three person maximum. All fish are shared. Everything provided. Of course, we are also available for charter on these days, as well.

If you have any questions or would like to reserve a spot, please call instead of emailing as I spend most of my time on the water.

~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674

Received: Tuesday, November 08, 2011 8:39 PM Subject: Weekllyi BHCFA Report

The fishing for striped bass and black sea bass exploded this past weekend as the boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association found some excellent action.

Captain Carl Sheppard on the “Star Fish” had Chris Maest and his 9 year old son Eric of Princeton out Sunday for some striped bass. Because of the recent poor weather, Captain Carl was doubtful about how the offshore action would be. The seas were not that bad, however, and they tried trolling. First young Eric picked up a big bluefish in about 35-feet of water. After more time trolling, a big fish hit. Young Eric grabbed the rod and fought the fish for 25 minutes until a 40-inch bass was boated. These were Eric’s first big fish ever, and he surely is a hooked angler now.For information on the “Star Fish” for 2-20 anglers contact Capt. Carl Sheppard, 609-492-2591, cfsheppard@aol.com

Captain Fran Verdi on the “Drop Off” reports that his November fishing production has seen a dramatic improvement from that of October. Although the main run is still to the north of Beach Haven, Captain Fran has been seeing some very nice bass on his boat with all in the 20-pouond class. His sources tell him that the main body of fish should be arriving any day now. For information on the 25′ “Drop Off”contact Capt. Fran Verdi, (609) 868-8970, or Email: fpvmdv@comcast.net

Meanwhile Captain Frank Camarda on the “Miss Beach Haven” took a crew of anglers out for a day of bottom fishing. This was his first trip since the black sea bass season reopened on November 1. Mate Sal Rosa reports that most anglers limited out while those who did not ended up with an average of 20-fish. Besides the sea bass a striped bass, some bluefish, and some blackfish were brought across the rails. Chumley won the pool with a 3.5pound sea bass. The “Miss Beach Haven” has a 10-hour offshore sea bass trip scheduled. For information on the 80′ “Miss Beach Haven” contact Capt. Frank Camarda, phone: (609) 978-9951, email: MissBeachHaven@aol.com

(If you contact any captain for a charter, please mention that you read their report on the Fisherman’s Headquarters Fishing Report. Thank you)

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

~ Jim Hutchinson Sr.

Received: Nov 8, 2011 3:56 PM Subject: Fishing Report

Fished with Capt Jeff on the “C Witch”. Broke the inlet at 7:30 AM and by 9:10 AM we were limited out with 8 Stripers and 1 Bluefish. Couldn’t beat the fishing or the weather.

~ Burl. Ant

Alan Young of Medford Lake weighed-in a 36-lb 13-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 3:30 PM this afternoon.

John Bonner (Sr) of Parkertown weighed-in 18-lb 4-oz and 17-lb 11-oz Stripers today for the LBISFC that he caught in Haven Beach Terrace using Bunker at around 5:30 PM this afternoon.

John Bonner (Jr) of Tuckerton weighed-in a 13-lb 6-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 5:30 PM this afternoon.

Ralph Vitale of Lincoln University, PA weighed-in a 17-lb 0-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 5:30 PM this afternoon.

Denise Montague of Moorsetown weighed-in a 10-lb 14-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 5:25 PM this afternoon.

George Hawriluk of Pittsgrove weighed-in a 8-lb 9-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Haven Beach using Bunker at 5:00 PM this afternoon.

John Zimmermon of Pocon Lake, PA weighed-in a 16-lb 3-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 4:20 PM this afternoon.

Jack Taylor of Waretown weighed-in a 21-lb 8-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Bunker at 4:00 PM this afternoon and it was released after weigh-in.

Bill Montrey of Manahawkin weighed-in a 12-lb 13-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using Bunker at 1:00 PM this afternoon.

Anthony Riccardo of Little Egg Harbor weighed-in a 15-lb 15-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using Bunker at 11:00 AM this morning.

Joe Handley of Eastampton weighed-in a 11-lb 0-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 11:00 AM this morning.

Mike Kane of Doylestown, PA weighed-in a 13-lb 8-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using Bunker at 10:30 AM this morning.

Kevin Maher of Beach Haven Crest weighed-in a 17-lb 2-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 9:30 AM this morning.

Keith King of Manahawkin weighed-in a 12-lb 15-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 8:00 AM this morning.

Thomas White of Ship Bottom weighed-in a 10-lb 4-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 8:30 AM this morning.

Willy Kayhart of Montville weighed-in a 16-lb 11-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 9:00 AM this morning.

Bill Fitzgerald of Manahawkin weighed-in a 18-lb 11-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in North Beach using Bunker at 7:30 AM this morning.

Ralph Vitale of Lincoln University, PA weighed-in a 16-lb 9-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 7:30 AM this morning.

Joe Handley of Eastampton weighed-in a 26-lb 7-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 7:30 AM this morning and it was released after weigh-in.

Dick Crosta of Beach Haven weighed-in a 18-lb 15-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught on Beach Haven using Bunker at 6:00 AM this morning.

Thomas Zane of Wenonah weighed-in a 17-lb 0-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 6:00 AM this morning.

Dan Procida of Waterford Works weighed-in a 12-lb 5-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 3:45 PM yesterday.

November 7, 2011

Blake Griffith weighed-in a 42-lb 2-oz (45-1/2″x26″) Striper that was caught on the North-End using an eel this evening. No, Blake was not signed-up for the LBISFC… Though maybe tomorrow he might be.

Larry Weidner of Manahawkin weighed-in 15-lb 18-oz and 20-lb 14oz Stripers today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker between 3:30 to 4:30 PM this afternoon.

John O’Connell of Vineland weighed-in a 15-lb 11-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 4:30 PM this afternoon.

William Clark of Shamong weighed-in a 13-lb 4-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 4:30 PM this afternoon.

Robert Pfeiffer of Mt. Laurel weighed-in a 18-lb 11-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 4:15 PM this afternoon.

Charles Houtz of Soddt Daist, TN weighed-in a 17-lb 10-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven Park using Bunker at 3:00 PM this afternoon.

William Montrey of Manahawkin weighed-in a 11-lb 8-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 3:00 PM this afternoon.

Peter Kelly of Cedars Run weighed-in a 19-lb 13-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 4:00 PM this afternoon.

Mike Kane of Doylestown, PA weighed-in a 11-lb 7-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using Bunker at 12:00 Noon.

Spencer Gares of Easton, PA weighed-in a 9-lb 12-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 11:15 AM this morning.

Robert Acer of Milford weighed-in a 12-lb 8-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 8:00 AM this morning.

Barry Sandilands of Boothnyn, PA weighed-in a 13-lb 8-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 7:45 AM this morning.

Kurt Horensky of Beach Haven weighed-in a 19-lb 10-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Peahala Park using Bunker at 7:40 AM this morning.

Dave Kern of Brant Beach weighed-in a 16-lb 14-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 7:00 AM this morning.

Felix Cariello of Manahawkin weighed-in a 21-lb 2-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 6:15 AM this morning.

Gerard Ladzinski of Cape May weighed-in a 16-lb 4-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 6:30 PM yesterday evening.

November 6, 2011

7:00 PM

Dave Wark weighed-in a 13-lb 5-oz striper that he caught on clam while fishing the North-end this afternoon at 4:30 PM. Dave said, “There was a lot of action late in the day”. A lot of fish were caught today from Barnegat Light to Brant Beach.

Boat fishing has been phenomenal. Captain Bill Dubois on the charter boat “Reel Trouble” today put his crew on the fish. Limit of bass up to 22# and a couple of bluefish!

Frank Faustino of Horsham checked in a 9-lb 8-oz bluefish. He caught the bluefish at mid-island on bunker about 4:15 PM.

~ Fish Head Greg

Received: Nov 6, 2011 6:54 PM Subject: Stripers !!!

Amazing! That is the only way to describe the striped bass fishing going on this past Thurs, Fri, Sat, and today (Sun). 30 plus stripers each day between 10 and 18 pounds with a few 10 to 12 pound bluefish mixed in, but the ratio is heavily slanted towards the striper side by 10 to 1. All the action is on light spinning rods, casting to surfacing stripers under flocks of birds. They are gorging on sandeels, so soft plastics like FIN-S are producing well for us. This is Fall striper fishing at it’s best and the bonus this year is the size of the fish. Very few fish under 28 inches. These are fat, clean, stripers, on the feed with a vengeance. Optimum water temp, 52 degrees, has them burning drag on our 10 pound spinning outfits.

The “Hi-Flier” has two open boat trips tomorrow (Mon). The first is 5:30 AM to 11:30 AM, two spots filled, I have one spot left. In the afternoon, I am going to run a second trip from 12:30 PM to 5:30 PM, room for three people. We are going to cast and jig stripers. $150 per man, 3 person max, all fish are shared. Everything is provided and I will clean whatever you would like to keep.

If you would like to reserve a spot, call me on the cell ( 732.330.5674 ), please don’t email me, as I won’t be on the computer again until Tuesday.

~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674

Received: Nov 6, 2011 8:21 PM Subject: Lighthouse Sportfishing Report

The bite right now is classic fall fishing, the way it should be: bass and blues gorging on big sandeels to fatten up for winter. The spread of fish is truly awesome as I marked fish for over a mile! Today’s trip boated bass from 29″ to over 20 pounds and several 6-8 pound blues. Our best action came tossing soft plastics, that are sandeel imitators. Screaming drags…

~ Capt. Alex, Lighthouse Sportfishing Barnegat, NJ 609-548-2511

Received: Nov 6, 2011 10:29 AM Subject: Fishing report 11/4

Fished aboard the charter boat Reel Fantasea on Friday with friends. After heading out of inlet. Capt Steve had us on blitzing bass. What a great sight to see with bass exploding out of the water chasing bait fish. After moving up IBSP a short way, we limited out on 15-20 lbs bass. Called it a day after the winds kicked up. Thanks to Capt Steve for a great day on the water.

~ Tony M.

Received: Nov 6, 2011 10:28 AM Subject: Barnegat Bay Fishing Report

A hard northeast blow on Tuesday and an overblown forecast by NOAA yesterday led us to cancel those two trips, but we did get out three times this week with mixed results back in the bay.

On an absolutely beautiful Monday, Jim “Smitty” Smith was back with girlfriend Janna looking to catch her first ever striper. And that she did, landing five bass to 34″ on a mixture of live spot and jigs before we headed back to the dock with another limit catch in the fish box. Wednesday found Greg McGuigan and John Becker fishing in some rather ugly inlet conditions after Tuesday’s dry nor’easter, and while the fish were there and biting it was only shorts for us and our first (and hopefully last) empty box of the fall. On Friday’s trip a hard northeast winds again kept the Hal Gilham party penned up in the bay, and when inlet action seemed slow a move into the back turned up a fat 28 pound bass for Joe Fabrizio that found our clam baits to their liking.

With some west winds showing up in the forecast for this coming week, we’ll be looking to move outside for some serious jigging along the beach over the next few days.

~ Capt. Jack Shea, “Rambunctious”, Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632

Received: Nov 6, 2011 4:54 PM Subject: Fwd: Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters – It’s ON !!!!

Limits of stripers to 20-lb+ on all trips were the rule this week with only one exception due to weather! This Fall season continues to delight anglers [and myself] onboard the Reel Fantasea with all trips seeing quality striped bass ranging in size from 10-24lbs.

The week started with an Open boat featuring regular Joe Franke who was joined by Herman Diaz, Tony Martucci, and Kevin Rust who found a limit of stripers to 20-lb+ catch and release before trips end.

Next up was the Tony Maffie party joined by the Comcast crew who found bass blitzing sand eels just outside the inlet . The guys enjoyed themselves surrounded by stripers blowing sandeels out of the water within a few feet of the boat making for awesome visual excitement! The guys were doubled up with stripers until a building strong North East wind blew us back to the inlet but not until the guys had their limit of stripers.

The Phillip Smith party was up next with fast out of the gate action with stripers to 20+lbs and slammer blues! The crew were doubled and tripled up until arm weary before switching gears and ending the day while getting their limit of blackfish to 7-lbs before trips end.

Hey a long winter is coming and the time is now to store-up some delicious striper fillets into the freezer [best comfort food around!] and great fishing memories to get you through until Spring I only have November 17th available for either open or private charter for those who would like to experience some of the best action found anywhere! Remember to join us on Face Book to view photos hopefully “like us”. Wishing you fair winds and calm seas.

~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217

Received: Nov 6, 2011 7:46 AM Subject: Fishing report

Fished off of Island Beach yesterday on the “Miss Barnegat Light” and was into Stripers right from the start and most of the day. Everyone had their limits with fish to 25 lbs. The seas were pretty rough but you would never know it with how comfortable and stable that big catamaran is. The crew was great netting all of the fish and cleaning all of our fish back at the dock. They even provide free ice! When we would stop on birds working, fishing until the bite stopped, the Captain would keep moving to get us back into the fish. I’ve been on other boats were they hate to keep moving because they don’t want to waste the gas. Not on this boat! Great day of fishing for all!

~ Dave S, Delran

John Parzych of Trumbauersville, PA weighed-in a 14-lb 11-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 5:00 PM this afternoon.

Tom Kirk Of Nazareth, PA weighed-in a 9-lb 10-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 5:00 PM this afternoon.

Peter Mavractanis of Ship Bottom weighed-in a 10-lb 0-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 4:30 PM this afternoon.

Frank Faustino of Horsham, PA weighed-in a 9-lb 8-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using thawed frozen Bunker Head at 4:15 PM this afternoon.

Tom Rowen of Bensalem, PA weighed-in a 21-lb 8-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 4:00 PM this afternoon.

Tom Rowen of Bensalem, PA weighed-in a 10-lb 14-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 4:00 PM this afternoon.

Larry Weidner of Manahawkin weighed-in a 9-lb 4-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 3:30 PM this afternoon.

Joe Carmelengo of Long Beach Twp weighed-in a 17-lb 10-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 5:05 AM this morning.

November 5, 2011

6:00 PM

Ken Zettel weighed-in a 28-lb 2-oz (42-3/4″) Striper that he caught this afternoon at the Barnegat Inlet off the rocks using thawed frozen bunker.

Received: Nov 5, 2011 3:57 PM Subject: 11/2/11 report

Slow start today. Not much biting. Pulled 1 bass in at about 9:30 AM on bunker and used 13-oz weight to hold bottom. Strong surf still. Striper was caught in Brant Beach around the area of DADDY O’s. from about 7:00 AM till 9:00 AM the birds were working about 2 miles out around 45th street.

~ BjW

Anthony Cucinotta Sr. of Burlington weighed-in a 12-lb 9-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in North Beach Haven using Bunker at 2:45 PM this afternoon.

Ron Stockum of Vincentown weighed-in a 19-lb 13-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in North Beach Haven using Bunker at 2:00 PM this afternoon.

John Jasinski of Marlton weighed-in a 20-lb 14-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 1:40 PM this afternoon.

John Senski of Browns Mills weighed-in a 14-lb 3-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Surf City using Bunker at 1:30 PM this afternoon.

Vince Zoppina of Burlington weighed-in a 11-lb 9-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 10:00 AM this morning.

Greg Legacki of Willimstown weighed-in a 15-lb 9-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 9:30 AM this morning.

Rich DeMartinis of Barnegat weighed-in a 20-lb 0-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 8:20 AM this morning.

November 4, 2011

Robert Muller of Park Ridge weighed-in a 17-lb 7-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 4:30 PM this afternoon.

Paul Castrati of Moorestown weighed-in a 14-lb 5-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 4:30 PM this afternoon.

Jason Hoch of Ship Bottom weighed-in a 15-lb 14-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 4:00 PM this afternoon.

Tim Gatanis of Gibbstown weighed-in a 18lb 6-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in North Beach using Bunker at 4:00 PM this afternoon.

Tim Gatanis of Gibbstown weighed-in a 18lb 6-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in North Beach using Bunker at 4:00 PM this afternoon.

Chuck Perkins of Riverton weighed-in a 17-lb 12-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 2:10 PM this afternoon.

Matt Gogojewwicz of Manahawkin weighed-in a 20-lb 2-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 2:00 PM this afternoon.

Paul Donnlly of Secane, PA weighed-in a 13-lb 9-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Surf City using Bunker at 1:30 PM this afternoon.

Frank Pollock of Souderton, PA weighed-in a 9-lb 5-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 12:00 Noon.

Paul Pestritto of Manahawkin weighed-in a 20-lb 4-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 10:00 AM this morning.

John Campbell of Evesham weighed-in a 16-lb 14-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using a Bunker at 9:15 AM this morning.

Jim Braack of Wilmington, DE weighed-in a 10-lb 0-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 8:30 AM this morning.

Ed Barbieri of Surf City weighed-in a 16-lb 8-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 2:30 AM this morning.

Robert Beelen of Long Beach Twp weighed-in a 15-lb 7-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using a Storm Shad lure at 12:05 AM this morning.

November 3, 2011

Received: Nov 3, 2011 10:13 PM Subject: Mad Dog Stripers!

Awesome day of striper fishing today inside and outside Barnegat Inlet. I had all three spots of our open boat filled today. We started by livelining spots inside the bay. We decked eight stripers in an hour and a half but only one made it into the cooler, a 29 incher, the others were all 26″ to 27-3/4″. We left those fish, made a left outside the inlet and within two miles we had a flock of birds in 40 feet of water. As we approached for our first drift and saw some surface action, then the swirl and crash of a striper. The next three hours were non stop hookups on 12 to 16-pound bass, throwing white 5″ FIN-S with 10 pound spinning outfits. The fish we cleaned were gorged on 6 to 8-inch sandeels. Best day I have seen this Fall so far. Back out tomorrow with another full boat.

Check out the video clip from today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mXH_y34Hm4

~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674

Received: Nov 3, 2011 12:37 PM Subject: Weekly BHCFA Report

After several weeks of waiting for the arrival of a decent striped bass bite, it appears the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Association are getting their wish. Decent sized stripers have been making their way through Little Egg Inlet and into the sheltered waters of Great Bay and Little Egg Harbor Bay.

Captain Fran Verdi of the “Drop Off” spends a lot of time in the fall pursuing striped bass, and he feels the recent cooler weather has been doing the trick to get the bass in the bay. In the past few days he has put several nice sized linesiders in the fish box including a pair of 20-pounders on Wednesday. Captain Fran says that he is fishing with a combination of techniques from chumming with clam to drifting live baits. His choice depends to a large extent on tide and wind. For information on the 25′ “Drop Off” contact Capt. Fran Verdi, (609) 868-8970, or Email: fpvmdv@comcast.net

The black sea bass season reopened on Tuesday, but big swells in the ocean have kept the BHCFA captains from getting out on the inshore wrecks and artificial reefs. They are also looking forward to the increased limit on blackfish on November 16 when the limit rises back up to 6 fish daily from the current 1 fish per day.

(If you contact any captain for a charter, please mention that you read their report on the Fisherman’s Headquarters Fishing Report. Thank you)

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

~ Jim Hutchinson Sr.

Ron Alia of Philadelphia, PA weighed-in a 15-lb 7-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using Bunker at 6:15 PM this afternoon.

Jonathan Law of Manahawkin weighed-in a 15-lb 5-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 6:00 PM this afternoon.

Mark Mauliff of Milford weighed-in a 16-lb 2-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Bunker at 5:30 PM this afternoon.

Steve Philpott weighed-in a 20-lb 0-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven Crest using Bunker at 5:00 PM this afternoon.

Dan Procida of Barnegat Light weighed-in a 24-lb 14-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 4:00 PM this afternoon.

Mark Jordan of Beach Haven weighed-in a 19-lb 4-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 3:30 PM this afternoon.

David Cowles of Beach Haven weighed-in a 14-lb 2-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 3:30 PM this afternoon.

Matthew Gogojewicz of Manahawkin weighed-in a 21-lb 6-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 3:30 PM this afternoon.

Ted Kitvler weighed-in a 14-lb 8-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 3:00 PM this afternoon.

Josh Goldman weighed-in a 15-lb 13-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 12:45 PM this afternoon.

Tom Valerio of Ship Bottom weighed-in a 21-lb 3-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 12:00 Noon.

Dennis Gallacher of Westampton weighed-in a 18-lb 10-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 10:00 AM this morning.

Linda Hollins of Riverton weighed-in a 13-lb 3-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using Bunker at 9:30 AM this morning.

Gregory Cudnik of Ship Bottom weighed-in a 19-lb 5-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Eel at 10:00 PM yesterday evening.

Paul Haertel of Clifton weighed-in a 21-lb 9-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in loveladies using Bunker.

November 2, 2011

Martin Supsie of Forked River weighed-in a 18-lb 3-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 3:00 PM this afternoon.

Richard Metzer of Collingswood weighed-in a 14-lb 1-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven Crest using Bunker at 12:00 Noon.

Nick Canaletti of Washington Twp weighed-in a 14-lb 14-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 2:00 PM this afternoon.

John Mason of Mullica Hill weighed-in a 16-lb 13-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 12:45 PM this afternoon.

November 1, 2011

11:00 PM

To the angler who got washed off of the jetty evening 11/01/11… Greg has the item that you need. Please contact Greg on Wednesday afternoon to discuss.

2:15 PM

Christine and Jason just got off of the beach with a 15-lb 5-oz Striper that was caught on bunker while fishing the North-end.

We also received word that there are fish at mid-island. Get bait and go, go, go. Make sure you have some lead. 7’s weren’t holding according to Jason. Go with 8-10 might need more. The BreakAway sinkers may be used if your rod is too light.

Received: Nov 1, 2011 9:24 PM Subject: Spray Beach Report – 2 keepers

Persistence paid off today. I caught (and released) my first two keepers! I fished Spray Beach area, morning was rough with 12 oz not holding. As tide went out and winds slowed down I was able to hold with 8oz and get out into a little deeper water. Caught a 30″ bass at 2:30 PM and then a 37″, 14-lb bass at around 3:00 PM. Both were caught on bunker chunks.

~ Robert J Papile

Received: Nov 1, 2011 5:30 PM Subject: Fluke “Flip-Flop” News

Here is a link to a Fluke story that was in the local paper here today.

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20111031/NJSPORTS06/310310041/2012-fluke-recommendations-reconsidered?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Sports|p

~ Jim T., Bridgewater, NJ

Received: Nov 1, 2011 12:37 PM Subject: Open boat Nov 3rd – 1 spot left

Update for Thursday Nov 3rd – 1 spot available for a total of 3 angler, Looks like bay/inlet striper – $150.00 pp. Live spot, lures, rods, fish cleaned included! Fishing been Great!

~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217

Received: Nov 1, 2011 12:30 PM Subject: Barnegat Bay Fishing Report Oct 30, 2011

Wow! That was some storm that came through here yesterday! For a while there it was gusting over 50 mph at my dock, and the bay had so much whitewater it looked like the head of a beer. Thankfully we didn’t get any of the snow that came down elsewhere, since it’s way too early to have to shovel out the boat before heading out.

Hopefully that’s all behind us now and we can get back to fishing. We made it out three times this week between the storms, and things are starting to get interesting. Rich Smith and his son Sam came in from Yardley on Monday to box a mix of bass to 32″ plus a fat 6 pound blackfish from the inlet. On Wednesday, former Jerseyan Ted Edmunds was up from Annapolis to do some striper fishing with buddies John Schultz and Dave Crafts. Moving into the back bay after a slow morning drifting live bait in the inlet, the team boxed a couple of nice bass topped by John’s 38″ fish that inhaled a fresh clam bait. Things started to really look up on Friday, when Lou and Michael Pochettino came out to fish in some “sporty” inlet conditions and quickly limited out on stripers to 34″ before deciding to get out of the sloppy inlet and head in early. Even better was the sight of birds working over fish north of the inlet as far as I could see, a sure sign that our fall jig fishing may be about to take off.

It’s always hard to predict what a storm like yesterday’s nor’easter will do to the fishing, but my guess is that it will be just the trigger we’ve needed to get our fall fishing really underway. The cool weather has dropped the bay water temps down to near perfect levels, so we’ll be mixing it up between the back bay, fishing the inlet and running the beach for the next couple of weeks. I’m down to just a couple of days available between now and our season wrap-up at Thanksgiving, so now’s the time to book that final trip of the year.

~ Capt. Jack Shea, “Rambunctious”, Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632

Received: Nov 1, 2011 12:30 PM Subject: Lighthouse Sportfishing Report Oct 30, 2011

During the week we saw a nice body of bass move into our area. Friday evening I went out solo and fished for an hour and a half. That was all the time I needed to box two keepers and release three others that were over 28″. Unfortunately the weather caused me to cancel both trips this weekend. With a real nice number of bass we have in our area now is the time to get out there and fish! I still have some weekend dates and Thursday Nov 10 and Friday Nov 11 open. I also have 1 spot open for an open boat bay trip this Saturday Nov. 5th. Screaming drags…

~ Capt. Alex, Lighthouse Sportfishing Barnegat, NJ 609-548-2511

Ron Alia of Philadelphia, PA weighed-in 13-lb 2-oz & 13-lb 12-oz Stripers today for the LBISFC that he caught in Harvey Cedars using Bunker at 2:30 and 4:30 PM this afternoon.

Mike Cullen of Little Egg Harbor weighed-in a 17-lb 4-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven Crest using Bunker at 3:40 PM this afternoon.

Lester Smith of Mayeta weighed-in a 15-lb 5-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 3:35 PM this afternoon.

Ted Kamish of Haddonfield weighed-in a 20-lb 12-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven Crest using Bunker at 3:30 PM this afternoon.

Josh Goldman of Princeton weighed-in a 28-lb 4-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Beach using Bunker at 2:15 PM this afternoon.

Kurt Horensky of Beach Haven weighed-in a 6-lb 8-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Haven Beach using Bunker at 1:45 PM this afternoon.

Larry Weider of Manahawkin weighed-in a 15-lb 2-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 1:30 PM this afternoon.

Kevin Maher of Beach Haven Crest weighed-in a 13-lb 10-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 1:20 PM this afternoon.

Dave Weaver of Sellersville, PA weighed-in a 14-lb 8-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Haven Park using Bunker at 11:00 AM this morning.

Bill Montrey of Manahawkin weighed-in a 19-lb 13-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 10:45 AM this morning.

Ed Youse of Grandy, NC weighed-in a 12-lb 11-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven Crest using Bunker at 10:00 AM this morning.

Steve Warren of Beesley’s Point weighed-in a 12-lb 9-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Surf City using Bunker at 10:00 AM this morning.

Will Kayhart of Montville weighed-in a 20-lb 7-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 1:15 AM this morning.

Robby Vallone of Little Egg Harbor weighed-in a 16-lb 3-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 11:51 PM yesterday evening.

Robin Oliver of Manahawkin weighed-in a 9-lb 8-oz Bluefish yesterday for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 5:05 PM yesterday evening.

October 31, 2011

Sam Wasnewski (FHQ alumni) was on the water this morning with his two buddies Rich and Rick. Sam said the bite was on all morning just outside the inlet. They had bass up to 34″ on bucktails and live bait. They also had some scattered bass and blues on the troll earlier in the morning.

~ Fish Head Greg

Received: Monday, October 31, 2011 10:52 AM Subject: Open Boat Stripers

The forecast is for stiff 20 to 30-knot Northeast winds… and stripers. We are catching them in Barnegat Bay, so the wind doesn’t really matter as much. Where we are fishing, there is land on all sides to offer the lee protection that makes it completely fishable. Yesterday (Sun), we had 16 fish from 27 to 32 inches. Five were big enough for the cooler. All of the action was drifting live spots from the inlet all the way back into Oyster Creek and Double Creek channels.

When the ocean finally settles down, we will fish a combination of the bay and ocean on our trips, but the inside bite is excellent right now. We will be running open boat stripers this upcoming Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun, Nov. 3-6. Duration, time of departure, and cost will be determined closer to the dates, so call for info. If the weather allows, I would like to do a mix of the ocean and bay fishing, but, if the wind continues to blow, we will stay in the bay and liveline spots.

~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674

Received: Oct 31, 2011 10:30 AM Subject: 2 spots for Nov 3rd seabass/striper or bay/inlet stripers

2 spots left for this Thursday November 3rd – the plan is to hit both striped bass and seabass. If the weather doesn’t allow for wreck fishing we will stay in the bay/inlet to beat up on the solid striped bass fishing we have going on. Call or email to reserve.

~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217

Received: Oct 31, 2011 9:52 PM Subject: 10/31 beach report

Fished the beach in Barnegat Light this AM from about 5:30 to 9:30. Would have stayed longer, but duty calls. Fished not-so-fresh, cloudy-eyed Bunker chunks in hopes of bass. My buddy and I only managed a date with the skate, as we drug six of the junk fish to the sand. Did not see any birds working, or bait, and did not see any other fish caught. (there were a few other guys out there as well plugging and dunking bait. Held with 6 ounces. Also found a relatively fresh striper left on the beach. He was stiff, but eyes were bright and clear. Very thin fish, but a legal 29-1/2 inches. Quite strange seeing that. Also saw the remnants of a sandeel that had washed ashore early in the morning during the outgoing-slack tide. A little bit chilly, there was almost no wind, not a cloud…really nice day to be out, but no bass. Also, it seemed there were several boats just drifting the inlet, presumably with live spot.

~ Matt

Susan Kirk of Nazarath, PA weighed-in an 9-lb 11-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Herring at 5:45 PM this afternoon.

Tom Valeato of Ship Bottom weighed-in an 11-lb 1-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 2:00 PM this afternoon.

Dominick Savasta of Tuckerton weighed-in an 9-lb 14-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 9:30 AM this morning.

October 30, 2011

Max and Nick DeGennaro just weighed in a pair of bass, one 12-lb and one 10-lb. They got ’em fishing live spot in Barnegat Inlet with their dad Capt David DeGennaro aboard their families charterboat the “Hi-Flier”.

~ Fish Head Greg

Received: Oct 30, 2011 8:16 PM Subject: Fwd: Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters – limits of stripers all week long !

This week offered the best Fall striped bass action so far with every angler on every trip scoring a nice limit of striped bass + catch and release with bass to 22-lbs! Anglers onboard the Reel Fantasea are mixing it up with a variety of techniques such as bucktailing, plugs/poppers, plastics and live baits in various locations. The other nice thing is that we are fishing within minutes of leaving the dock which maximizes the fishing time. Although the weatherman has not been kind to us for our scheduled ocean trips it actually has turned out for the best as all so far. This productive fishing has been in the protection of the bay/inlet area.

Regular Jay Simmons started the week scoring a nice keeper striper on his second cast of the day. From there, Jay continued to secure his limit of bass to 22-lbs with most of the keepers ranging in the quality 30-34″ range with a few bluefish making the mix as well before trips end and with me getting to wet a line I was able to score my own limit of bass as well to 34″.

The Mike Bluem party was up next in stiff NNE winds finding it difficult to employ artificial lures. Changing things up the guys were quickly into stripers to find a nice 4 man limit of striped bass [ + catch and release ] with fish to 20-lbs on live bait. At times the guys were doubled up with stripers through out the trip before we headed for the barn.

Friday Night’s trip was more of an afternoon excursion as the forecasted weather prompted an earlier departure for regulars Shawn Hawthorne , Jerry Kronemyer and Jay Simmons [ for round 2 of the week ] . Our first few stops on bird play found no takers to our offerings other than a few short strikes . From there we switched locations to find immediate response and solid striper bite were the guys were doubled and tripled up with bass through out the afternoon easily getting their limit of stripers to 34″ with catch and release as well before trips end. The bass are here and on the feed! Join in on the party as the action is red hot on live and artificial techniques! I have this Thursday Novmber 3rd and Thursday November 17th available for either open or private charters for those who want to get in on the action!

~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217

October 29, 2011

Yesterday and last night was a great time to take advantage of nice weather and better yet the fishing was on.

John Parzych of Trumbauersville, PA fished the mid-island surf last night. He caught two bass, a 24-lb 9-oz & a 29 incher. This morning he caught some more fish, one bass at 24″ and four around 18-lbs. “This morning I started with 10-oz. It wasn’t bad.” John said, “The weather soon turned and 12-oz did hold.”

~ Fish Head Greg

Richard Martinis of Barnegat weighed-in an 17-lb 3-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 9:10 AM this morning.

Bob Braack of the Barnegat Light Heavers fishing club weighed-in an 10-lb 5-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven Crest using Bunker at 8:45 AM this morning.

Joanne Sullivan of Brant Beach weighed-in an 17-lb 3-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Haven Beach using Bunker at 7:30 AM this morning.

Kevin Price of Barnegat weighed-in an 12-lb 12-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 1:45 AM this morning.

Brennan McAllister of Middletown, DE weighed-in an 16-lb 11-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 11:00 PM last night.

Frank Hoover of Mapleshade weighed-in an 16-lb 14-oz Striped Bass yesterday for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 8:00 PM yesterday evening.

Brendon Craig of Lanoka Harbor weighed-in an 22-lb 15-oz Striped Bass yesterday for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 6:00 PM yesterday evening.

Brian Johnson of Surf City weighed-in an 15-lb 0-oz Striped Bass yesterday for the LBISFC that he caught in Surf City using Bunker at 10:44 AM yesterday morning.

October 28, 2011

Whether tournament fishing the boat or the beach this weekend, we’ve got what you need right now! We got a monster load of Fresh Bunker, Surf Clams and Live Eels! We expect it to last into tomorrow but with how quick it’s flying out the door don’t plan on it. Don’t forget to dress warm with Grundens & Guy Cotten Foul Weather Gear, Deck Boots and warm gloves.

So far today we have had a Number of weigh-ins and we expect it to continue throughout the day…

Paul P. of the Village Harbour Fishing Club weighed in a 2-lb 11-oz tog this afternoon. He was fishing the BL Rocks.

Doug Kirschner of Burlington weighed in a 13.5-lb bass. He caught it off of the north end surf this morning.

Team Mullet’s Matt Gogojewicz weighed in a 18-lb 11-oz bass this morning. He caught it off of the mid-island surf on bunker. Matt caught a few bass and a blue.

Pete Figueroa of Hammonton weighed in a 20-lb 2-oz bass this morning. He caught it off of the surf on bunker.

~ Fish Head Greg

Received: Oct 28, 2011 10:30 AM Subject: Hi-Flier Stripers and Blues

Ran northeast from Barnegat Inlet yesterday and got into stripers and gator blues on topwater plugs and diamond jigs. Big flocks of birds, blackout readings on the machine, like Fall should be. Now the bay is all lit up with fish, as well. Good thing, too, as I am sitting on a few hundred live spots that are about to meet their doom. “Just unders” to “way overs” have turned on, now that the inside water temp hit 58 degrees. Even on the windy days, when the ocean is too rough, we will be catching bass in the bay from now into December.

~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674

Joseph Romano of Long Beach Twp weighed-in an 17-lb 2-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 7:25 PM this evening.

Jim Dobrowolski of Columbus weighed-in an 24-lb 2-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Bunker at 5:30 PM this afternoon.

Lloyd Horvath of Medford weighed-in an 10-lb 5-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Herring at 4:30 PM this afternoon.

Ray Sullivan of Brant Beach weighed-in an 9-lb 1-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Haven Beach using Bunker at 9:00 AM this morning.

Bob Braack of Atco weighed-in an 20-lb 0-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Pahala Beach using Bunker at 7:20 AM this morning.

Received: Oct 28, 2011 9:18 AM Subject: RFA – For Immediate Release

<'///>< <'///>< <'///>< <'///>< <'///>< <'///>< BARNEGAT LIGHT MENTIONED IN CONGRESSIONAL DEBATE Rep. Runyan’s House Resource Committee Hearing Focuses on NJ Fishermen October 27, 2011- The New Jersey coastal fishing community was put into the Congressional spotlight this week, as Congressman Jon Runyan (R-NJ) helped focus attention on the Third Congressional District and the local fishing industry, with particular emphasis on Barnegat Light. On Wednesday October 26, the Natural Resources Committee, of which Rep. Runyan is a member, held an oversight hearing on “The President’s New National Ocean Policy – A Plan for Further Restrictions on Ocean, Coastal and Inland Activities – Part 2.” One of the witnesses included Jim Donofrio, executive director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA), a national angler advocacy organization based in Runyan’s home district in New Gretna. The hearing had two panels of witnesses, ranging from government employees responsible for implementing President Obama’s Executive Order #13457, to industry representatives who could be affected by this order. The second panel included Donofrio, a Little Egg Harbor resident. In an online blog appearing at House Speaker John Boehner’s website, Donofrio was quoted as saying that President Obama’s new National Oceans Policy (NOP) regulations “stifle job growth” and create “too much uncertainty” for America’s angling community. “The recreational fishing industry is ‘Main Street America’ in every sense; it is largely composed of small, family-run, mom and pop businesses,” Donofrio said, going on to add that “creating additional levels of bureaucracy” will reduce the overall productivity of his industry, and that a time of high unemployment “it seems counterproductive to advance and fund the NOP when it will stifle job growth in the fishing sectors.” In his opening five-minute remarks, Donofrio called the executive order “a complete government takeover of our fisheries,” while criticizing NOAA Fisheries and the National Marine Fisheries Service for not funding scientific efforts which he calls the “administration’s complete disregard of personal liberties and state’s rights.” Responding to a question from Rep. Runyan, Donofrio blasted the federal fisheries agency for failing to meet its obligations to help support the coastal fishing communities. “We have bad regulations, we have NOAA not working within their own system there to fix anything and now they’re expecting us to buy this additional layer of bureaucracy with additional councils overseeing fishing,” Donofrio said, adding “I can’t imagine our fleet fishing anymore, I really can’t.” “I’ve got to tell you the guys are really suffering,” Donofrio said in his testimony. Responding to Rep. Runyan, Donofrio said “You’ve had one store close in your district, in Barnegat Light, a tackle store, family owned, they’ve closed, and numerous ones along the coast are closing right now.” Citing one industry trade publication which lists fishing vessels for sale, Donofrio said the list of party/charter boats on the market is growing, which he said was not a good sign. “They’re disgusted with federal regulations that are not allowing them to fish on rebuilt stocks and NOAA’s not doing a thing about it. What they want to do is add more layers of bureaucracy that costs more money when they’re not spending the money to keep us fishing.” “Apparently NOAA claims they don’t have enough money to do the stock assessments on the species they manage,” Donofrio said, telling congressional representatives that boats are tied up at the dock in many New Jersey ports because of stringent regulations which won’t allow fishermen to access healthy, rebuilt fisheries including black sea bass and porgies. Following the hearing, Rep. Runyan applauded the Natural Resources Committee for continuing its oversight responsibilities on the National Ocean Policy. “This executive order has the potential to put into place policies that could negatively impact small businesses throughout the state and specifically the state’s commercial and recreational fishing industry,” Runyan said, adding “we must work to keep New Jersey’s beaches and waterways clean, but we need to do it in a manner that will not impose unnecessary burdens on the small businesses that rely upon these natural resources.” This week’s hearing focused primarily on President Obama’s 2010 executive order, an action which bypassed legislative protocol and led to starting headlines in the national news media last year about the future of recreational fishing opportunities. The House Resource Committee, which for close to a decade had refused to approve the burdensome oceans policy when it was brought before them as legislation, has convened twice in the past month to review the presidential edict which implements the policy despite congressional input. “We have bad regulations, we have NOAA not working within their own system there to fix anything and now they’re expecting us to buy this additional layer of bureaucracy with additional councils overseeing fishing,” Donofrio told Congress on Wednesday morning, warning “I can’t imagine our fleet fishing anymore, I really can’t.” “I was very interested in hearing from Mr. Donofrio regarding his organization’s opinion on this policy,” said Congressman Runyan, adding “the commercial and recreational fishing industries play a vital role in New Jersey’s economy, and I want to be sure that the federal government is working to help small businesses grow and not stifling their growth.” “The RFA has substantial objections to the use of executive orders generally,” Donofrio said in his opening remarks. “This one particular order, in my opinion, represents a complete government takeover of our fisheries, not only in saltwater but every stream and estuary that flows into the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf of Mexico – it is also consistent with this administration’s complete disregard of personal liberties and state’s rights,” he added. “RFA wants to thank Congressman Runyan for helping keep the interests of New Jersey’s fisherman at the forefront of the national debate,” Donofrio said. “He’s already become a great spokesman for our coastal community on the House Resource Committee in a very short time, and we’re glad to have him there.” The full hearing can be heard at: http://resources.edgeboss.net/wmedia/resources/112/2011_10_26_fc.wvx RFA’s complete testimony before the Natural Resources Committee can be found at: http://naturalresources.house.gov/UploadedFiles/DonofrioTestimony10.26.11.pdf The Recreational Fishing Alliance is a national, grassroots political action organization representing recreational fishermen and the recreational fishing industry on marine fisheries issues. RFA’s Mission is to safeguard the rights of saltwater anglers, protect marine, boat and tackle industry jobs, and ensure the long-term sustainability of our Nation’s saltwater fisheries. For more information, call 888-JOIN-RFA or visit www.joinrfa.org Jim Hutchinson, Jr. Managing Director - Recreational Fishing Alliance President - New York Sportfishing Federation Contact: RFA, 888-JOIN RFA / www.joinrfa.org Contact: Jim Hutchinson, 888-564-6732 jhutchinson@joinrfa.org <'///>< <'///>< <'///>< <'///>< <'///>< <'///>< October 27, 2011 Received: Oct 27, 2011 7:36 PM Subject: Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters - things are starting to really heat up Things are starting to really heat as the temperatures continue to drop! Quick update - today we had fish to 22-lbs on a variety of artificial lures and live bait. We scored throughout the day on bucktails, poppers, and live spot all in the backbay/inlet area! We also had bluefish thrown into the mix as well. 2 spots remain available for both Novmeber 1st and 2nd open boat Striper and wreck combo's at $150.00 per person. ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217 Received: Oct 27, 2011 10:22 PM Subject: Thursday 10/27 Fished the surf today in Beach Haven. The weather was better then I expected! Caught a kingfish on Gulp bloodworms, blues on mullet (largest was about a foot or so) and a few skates. My other pole had bunker chunks but I could not find a hungry striper. Did not see any birds working so I don't think there was much bait around. ~ Robert J Papile October 26, 2011 Received: Oct 26, 2011 6:46 AM Subject: Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters - a few spots still available Open boat trips for November 1st-2nd seabass/blackfish and striper combo - $150.00 per angler 3 spots available for November 1st seabass/blackfish and striper combo 2 spots available for November 2nd seabass/blackfish and striper combo All bait, tackle, rods and fish cleaning provided! Hope you can join the fun! ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217 Ronald Nvel weighed-in an 7-lb 0-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Mullet at 9:45 AM this morning. Ed Youse Sr. of Grandy, NC weighed-in an 18-lb 2-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Bunker at 10:30 AM this morning. Randy Matlack of Beach Haven Park weighed-in a 21-lb 7-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Bunker at 7:30 AM this morning. Mark Torbam weighed-in a 25-lb 8-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Bunker at 10:30 AM this morning. John O'Connell of Vineland weighed-in a 28-lb 10-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Bunker at 10:15 AM this morning. October 25, 2011 Joe Solon and Kevin Kennard caught these two bass last night eeling in the bay. ~ Fish Head Greg Received: Oct 25, 2011 7:17 AM Subject: Nov 1st & 2nd open or private charter- seabass and stripers! With seabass being closed for almost 2 months and scheduled to reopen as of November 1st this fishery is ripe for "drop and reel" fishing as these fish should respond almost instantly as the baits hit the bottom. I have added November 1 and 2nd to take advantage of the opening. The plan is to make a stop at the inlet for stripers on the way out the inlet on our way to the wrecks . Open boat is limited to 4 anglers and the cost will be $150.00 per man. Remember these fish have not been targeted for almost 2 full months and at this time of year they will be in full throttle feeding mode to fuel their journey offshore! Come join in on the fun and meet other anglers with similar interest! ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217 Received: Oct 25, 2011 9:49 AM Subject: Weekly BHCFA Report The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association have a lot to look forward to. First, the season for black sea bass re-opens on November 1. Recent wreck trips have shown that there are very good numbers of big sea bass around. Next, although the bite has started off slowly, as the water temperatures continue to drop, the striped bass should be arriving very shortly. The November bite for stripers in the Beach Haven area is traditionally a very hot one. Thirdly, the daily bag limit for blackfish will be increasing to 4 per person starting on November 15. That fact will make ocean bottom fishing a very exciting proposition. Captain Fran Verdi on the “Dropoff” fished a group in the Red Man’s Striped Bass Tournament based in Tuckerton. He began the weekend fishing in the inlet with clams but found the ever present sand sharks too bothersome. He moved into the back bay to fish with live spot where he managed to pick up a 20-pound striper. Captain Fran fished hard both Saturday and Sunday and managed to boat another bass that weighed in at 15-pounds. The two fish gave him a total of 35-pounds, good enough for third place in the contest. For information on the 25' "Drop Off" contact Capt. Fran Verdi, (609) 868-8970, or Email:fpvmdv@comcast.net The head boat “Miss Beach Haven” had a couple of student groups out recently. They took environment science classes from Cinnaminson High School under the tutelage of Mr. Angelini out for a day of catching and tagging whatever fish they could locate. According to mate Sal Rosa they caught a large number of croakers and small weakfish. He noted they were as well behaved group of young adults as he has ever seen. Last Sunday the “Miss Beach Haven" had a group from Rutgers with a special permit to catch, tag, and release black sea bass. In addition to catching over 300 sea bass in 4 hours, they also caught a variety of triggerfish, croakers, and blackfish. The “Miss Beach Haven” has one more overnight tuna trip planned this fall which will take place October 29-30. On the last trip everyone limited out. For information on the 80' "Miss Beach Haven" contact Capt. Frank Camarda, phone: (609) 978-9951, email: MissBeachHaven@aol.com (If you contact any captain for a charter, please mention that you read their report on the Fisherman's Headquarters Fishing Report. Thank you) Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association (BHCFA) can be found at www.BHCFA.com . ~ Jim Hutchinson Sr. October 24, 2011 Received: Oct 24, 2011 8:00 PM Subject: South-end Fished incoming change to out going water was perfect for blues. The crabs where bad. A lot of people fishing but no fish. ~ Todd R. Avery Received: Oct 24, 2011 4:09 PM Subject: Saturday evening surf report Fished the beach Saturday evening from 3:00 PM till after dark without a touch. Tried bunker, mullet, salted clam & few fresh surf clams (thanks to a fellow fisherman that was packing it in for the day). Also had a king fish rig out with live & freeze dried blood worms. I guess it was crabs that kept cleaning off my hooks. Will try again in a week or two. ~ Bill V. Received: Oct 24, 2011 12:52 PM Subject: Fishing Report: King Fish in Surf City, NJ I went today to Fisherman's Headquarters bought 2 dozen of Bloodworms and went fishing in Surf City, this is what I caught in 2 hours! Tide was still coming up and when it changed to outgoing, that is when I caught the King Fish! Thanks a lot to the Associate that at 7:30 AM this morning that told me, "go for King Fish, they are still out there", and that is what I caught! ~ Jack Barbosa TIM Stumpf of Elkins,PA weighed-in a 26-lb 13-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 1:05 AM this morning. Jonathan Law of Manahawkin weighed-in a 18-lb 13-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 10:00 AM this morning. October 23, 2011 Rick P. was on the water (in the boat) this morning. He report no striper action but he did get his line tight jigging a boat load of weakfish and croakers in 40' of water off of IBSP. Received: Oct 23, 2011 8:44 PM Subject: Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters The week started with regulars Jay Simmons, Sean Hawthorne, Carleton Bird in a steep nasty inlet condition that produced a steady striper bit on live spot. The guys went 11 for 23 for striped bass, keeping a total of 5 before trips end. Next up was regular Joe Franke joined by brother in-law George to find a nicer inlet condition but with a much slower striped bass bite ending the day with 3 total bass and keeping 1 before trips end. The week ended with regulars Ernie Rosenberg joined by brother Chuck from Maryland, Karl Steffan and Jay Simmons. The inlet traffic was heavy which made for challenging fishing conditions for the crew. The guys worked hard to produce 5 stripers on live bait , keeping 2 before trips end. With tons of bait along the beaches its only a matter of time [days?] that the lid blows off the action! I have 2 spots open for this Friday evening trip 4-8pm . ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217 Received: Oct 23, 2011 10:58 AM Subject: Barnegat Bay Fishing Report Seems like the weather is going to give us another typical fall striper season this year. A combination of rain and almost constant strong gusty winds led to the rescheduling of one trip and cancelation of another, but we did manage to get out three times this week. Most of the action right now seems to be on live bait, either spot around the inlet or adult bunker along the beach. So far I haven't seen any significant masses of sand eels which are so important to our jig fishing, but it's still early so we'll keep looking. Tuesday I had outdoor writer and ESPN radio host Tom Pagliaroli and his lovely fiance Denise Marie Theiler out looking for some light tackle striper action. When things started out slow in the inlet, a cruise down the beach produced a morning mix of small blues and weakfish. Returning to the inlet on the tide change, the bass and blues had come to life and they boated a handful of bass topped by Denise Marie's 16-pound Striper to complete her Atlantic Inshore Slam. Friday I had Dave Kruge and Brian Murray down from north Jersey, fighting strong howling winds all morning but still boxing a nice mixture of striped bass, bluefish and blackfish from the back bay. Then yesterday the wind finally subsided and it was PA's Bill and Ann Staples aboard, landing three bass topped by Bill's largest of the week which was a 38" Striper that pulled the scales down past the 20 pound mark. The water is still pretty dirty from the runoff from Wednesday's storm, but the fish are there and we should see continued improvement in the fishing as the water cleans up. The water is still pretty warm for this time of year so bluefish biteoffs are an issue while bait fishing, but it seems to be getting a little cooler each day so hopefully we'll be seeing fewer blues and more bass over the next week or two. I still have a couple of dates open before we wrap things up for 2011 around Thanksgiving, so now's the time to book that last trip of the year. ~ Capt. Jack Shea, "Rambunctious", Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632 Received: Oct 23, 2011 10:10 AM Subject: Lighthouse Sportfishing Fishing Report Hope everyone in enjoying fall so far. The late week front that came through mixed things up a bit and brought some nice migrating fish into Barnegat Bay. This new body of fish is a welcomed addition to our resident bass population making for some exciting light tackle fishing. The bay temp dropped into the uppers 50's which has thinned out the bluefish a little. Friday evening I ran an open boat trip. The wind was still up making fishing a little difficult but the boys from Philly boated three bass on live bait with one making it home for a dinner. Saturday morning brought a slight improvement to the conditions and a few better fish. Chris Doran and his son Evan were out landing several fish with three keepers to about 22 pounds. I kept today open to to celebrate my 23rd wedding anniversary. Bassing will only get better so get out there and fish. ~ Capt. Alex, Lighthouse Sportfishing Barnegat, NJ 609-548-2511 Dennis Gallagher of Westampton weighed-in a 17-lb 13-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Bunker at 10:00 AM this morning. Dennis Stephen of Marlton weighed-in a 23-lb 4-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 2:30 AM during the night. Kevin Eichman of Tabernacle weighed-in a 25-lb 2-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 7:15 PM yesterday evening. October 22, 2011 Edwin Youse of Grandy NC weighed-in a 17-lb 8-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Bunker at 9:00 AM this morning. Brian Dalton of Tabernacle weighed-in a 17-lb 7-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Bunker at 12:25 PM this afternoon. Mike Robey of Medford weighed-in a 28-lb 0-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 8:30 AM this morning. Josh Severs of Lumberton weighed-in a 12-lb 13-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 4:00 AM this morning. Dan Ballentine of Port Murray weighed-in a 14-lb 0-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 3:20 AM this morning. October 21, 2011 Mike Debetta of Staten Island, NY weighed-in a 28-lb 10-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 7:15 PM this evening. Chris Thompson of Beach Haven weighed-in a 29-lb 14-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at 7:10 PM this evening. Joseph Romano of Long Beach Twnship weighed-in a 37-lb 5-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Bunker at 7:00 PM this evening. Larry Weidner of Manahawkin weighed-in a 11-lb 3-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 2:30 PM this afternnon. Matt Gogojewski of Manahawkin weighed-in a 14-lb 3-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker at 12:52 PM this afternoon. Paul Donnley of Secane, PA weighed-in a 24-lb 7-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Butterfish at 10:30 AM this morning. October 20, 2011 Received: Oct 20, 2011 9:27 PM Subject: Hi Flier -- Open Boat Stripers Sun and Mon Awesome stretch of weather coming this weekend. West winds for a flat ocean. Air temps in the 60's, water temps in the low 60's. There have been big schools of bunker between Barnegat and Manasquan Inlets. Both stripers and big gator bluefish balling them up. We are chartered for this Saturday, Oct.22 but will run Open Boat Trips on Sunday, Oct. 23 and Monday, Oct. 24. 6AM to 2PM, $200 per person, 3 person maximum, all fish are shared. We will break the inlet at sunup, make a left, and run along the beach hunting for pods of bunker. I will run as far as it takes. We will also be armed with light spinning rods in case the overdue false albacore show up, we can throw small metals at them. I will be packing the trolling gear in case we want to try bunker spoons or umbrella rigs to put some fish on the ice. If you guys don't want to troll, we won't. Give me a call at 732.330.5674 instead of emailing me as I will not be in front of the computer, I will be on the water or getting ready for three days of striper fishing. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 Dan Procida of Whterford Works weighed-in a 13-lb 10-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 4:30 PM yesterday afternoon. October 19, 2011 Received: Oct 19, 2011 2:07 PM Subject: Bunker and Gators We ran to the Monster Ledge area of the Mud Hole yesterday. Heard one guy on the radio that trolled a 40 pound bluefin. We trolled one false albacore in the clean 63 degree water. Lots of draggers. Not much in readings. Tried chunking for a while, but no hits. Ran to Little Italy next, the machine blacked out with what turned out to be all dogfish. Ran due West from there in hopes of finding any kind of life along the beach. We found pod after pod of bunkers being wooshed and rushed by big gator blues. Worked them over for a few hours in hopes of finding a bass in the mix, but it was all blues for us. Found out later they caught some big bass off of those same pods in the morning. Now, three days of wind, and then we will be back at it Sat., Sun. and Mon. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 Received: Oct 19, 2011 12:27 PM Subject: fishing report Fished yesterday afternoon, Tuesday, in ocean out of Barnegat Inlet. Ocean calm, gorgeous day, water has cleared up, caught a cooler full of croaker in 44-55 feet of water but nowhere else. Was hoping to find weakies and blues, but only caught one snapper blue. Caught a mystery fish that looked like a croaker in body, snout and mouth but slimmer and with brown zebra like stripes. Obviously I let it go. What is it, a baby drum? ~ Ed K Reply... It's not a Black or Red Drum... It's a Kingfish which is a member of the drum family. Their colors and patterns may vary depending on genes (heredity) and habitat. There are Northern Kingfish, Southern Kingfish and maybe some combinations of both. We also see this color/pattern variation in many of the Fluke we catch during the Summer that come off sandy bottoms with very light top body color. Then at other times, fluke from muddy bottom come up with very dark tops with pronounced spots. Some fish have that chameleon like ability to camouflage into the habitat. ~ Fish Head Greg Received: Oct 19, 2011 4:36 PM Subject: fishing report Went to beach...heavy wind, and crazy big surf. Caught all the 11 to 14-lb blues I wanted on lures. Got a 22.5-lb 40" Striper on a bunker chunk I was drifting in the surf. Going to be a GREAT FALL run. ~ MF Today, Martin Supsie of Forked River weighed-in a 21-lb 11-oz Striped Bass today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 3:00 PM this afternoon. October 18, 2011 Received: Oct 18, 2011 5:35 PM Subject: BHCFA October 18 Report Some stormy weather has made ocean fishing in the Beach Haven area an iffy situation over the past week. When boats from the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association have been able to make their way out to the inshore reefs and wrecks, they have been finding some solid fishing for blackfish, sea bass, triggerfish, and some porgies. Captain Fran Verdi on the “Dropoff” reports he has heard stories of some striped bass being landed in Little Egg Inlet. With the water temperatures still in the 60’s, Captain Fran is hoping that some forecasted cooler weather materializes. For information on the 25' "Drop Off" contact Capt. Fran Verdi, (609) 868-8970, or Email: fpvmdv@comcast.net There are several striped bass tournaments coming up in the next few weeks for anglers fishing from boats. They include the Redman’s in Tuckerton on October 21, the Sea Shell out of Beach Haven and the Italian American Club out of Little Egg Township On October 28, and the Stafford Township PBA based in Manahawkin on November 11. Captain Fran is booked for the PBA event but may have room for the other contests. (If you contact any captain for a charter, please mention that you read their report on the Fisherman's Headquarters Fishing Report. Thank you) Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association (BHCFA) can be found at www.BHCFA.com . ~ Jim Hutchinson Sr. Received: Oct 18, 2011 4:50 PM Subject: Ship Bottom Oct 18th I fished the beach in Ship Bottom from 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM this morning. Small bluefish were like piranhas. You could not keep your bait on for more then 5 minutes. The guys fishing nearby did not seem to have much going on either. The only other fish that I caught were skates who loved the clams! ~ Rob Papile Received: Oct 18, 2011 7:37 PM Subject: Fishing Report Big bass and big bluefish showed up in numbers today off Seaside under the bunker. Thirty to forty feet of water being the most consistent. We-Ketch-Um ~ Daniel S. Merchantville Fishing Club member John O'Connell of Vineland weighed-in a 22-lb 13-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 5:45 AM this morning. October 17, 2011 Received: Oct 17, 2011 3:09 PM Subject: Mud Hole Open Boat There is a one day weather window tomorrow, Tues., Oct. 18th. We are headed to the Mud Hole in search of bonita, albacore, and bluefin tuna. Leaving at 6 AM and returning in the afternoon sometime. We can stay as long as we want. Maybe troll a little while to find some readings and then set up on the chunk to catch 'em on bait. Calm ocean, blue-ish water, and October tuna at Monster Ledge. It's about a 40 mile run, so put your big boy pants on! I already have one signed on, we have room for two more. $200 per person, room for two more. Call me on the cell if you want to go, don't email me, I will be running around getting stuff ready for tomorrow. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 Received: October 17, 2011 7:21 PM Subject: South-End Fished the out going and incoming tides. The grass was bad. Had one take down and a nice Spiny Dogfish. Mullet was in the wash. Water a little brown. Happy Fishing! ~ Todd R. Avery Received: Oct 17, 2011 8:36 PM Subject: Re: FHQ : Fishing report On Sunday morning 10/16/11; Capt. Horn, Jeremy Miller, Andy Beckert and Justin Crispy caught these three Stripers up to 17-lbs. They were fishing the BL Inlet with live spot. They also got a bunch of throw back bluefish. The spots had to be on the bottom to hookup with the Striper, otherwise the bluefish would get'em. ~ Jeremy Miller Barnegat Heaver's member Dom Savasta of Tuckerton weighed-in a 17-lb 8-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 11:35 AM this morning. Kevin Maher of Beach Haven Crest weighed-in a 14-lb 12-oz Bluefish on 10/15/2011 for the LBISFC that he caught in Spray Beach using Bunker at 11:00 AM that morning. October 16, 2011 Received: Oct 16, 2011 10:15 PM Subject: 10-21 Back Bay Bass Busting Open Boat Magic Hour Trip With the the water temperatures finally dropping and the bass showing I am running an open boat magic hour trip this Friday in the backbay. This open trip is limited to three and will run from 3 PM till 7 PM. We will spend the evening in the bay targeting bass with live bait and plastics. Tide is going to be perfect. Give me a call or shoot me an e-mail if interested. ~ Capt. Alex, Lighthouse Sportfishing Barnegat, NJ 609-548-2511 Received: Oct 16, 2011 6:39 PM Subject: Fwd: Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters Although the weather did limited our participation, the striped bass activity continued to improve as we progressed this week. Using both live bait and a variety of artificials provided the action. Encouragingly in the backbay, inlet and ocean we found striped bass activity in various locations signaling a good spread of fish. With our weather pattern shifting from the Indian Summer we have been enjoying to a more seasonal Fall like pattern I am anxious to see how this will end up as the coming week shakes out. I do have 2 spots available for this Friday Night's trip for those interested in joining in on the evening fun! ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217 Received: Oct 16, 2011 1:08 PM Subject: Barnegat Bay Fishing Report Fall striper fishing is definitely underway, although the weather this week made it difficult to get out to take advantage of it. Early in the week I had Tim Rutecki in from Phoenixville, PA with 12 year olds Michael and Liam taking their first saltwater fishing expedition on Columbus Day. Beautiful conditions produced eight bass from the back bay, topped by Michael's 36" lady, before running out front and turning up blues and weakfish to complete their inshore slams. Today I had George Selph back, fishing in some rather "sporty" inlet conditions but banging a couple of nice bass to around 35". Live spot has been the bait of choice thus far in the bay, but there are plenty of schools of large bunker cruising the beach right now so a variety of other approaches should work out front. Fall's here, the fishing has started, and it should only get better from here. ~ Capt. Jack Shea, "Rambunctious", Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632 Ed Johnston of Surf City weighed-in a 13-lb 13-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Bunker at 10:10 AM this morning. Christian Martin weighed-in a 16-lb 8-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Holgate using Bunker at 6:00 PM this evening. Received: Oct 16, 2011 1:14 PM Subject: Fishing Report Nothing much to report today from the Loveladies surf. Some king fish and puppy drums and 1 small blue. Slow morning. ~BJW October 15, 2011 John Grasso of New York weighed-in a 11-lb 10-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Beach Haven using Bunker at 12:20 AM this morning. October 14, 2011 Received: Oct 14, 2011 9:47 AM Subject: Open Boat Stripers I am not going on any report... the "Hi-Flier" is just going. There have been pods of bunker and some Stripers caught both snagging bunker and trolling spoons. The wind is going to crank out of the west starting today (Friday) and into tomorrow (Saturday). That will level out the ocean to flat calm along the shoreline. I'm going to bring the snagging and livelining rods and go look for some bunker pods between Barnegat Inlet and Manasquan Inlet. I will bring the trolling rods in case we do not find any bunker, we can still try some of the favorite haunts with the bunker spoons. I will have the light spinning rods in case we run into the false albacore that are making their way down from New England right now. Finally, we'll bring some live spots to try around the inlet after we are done on the oceanside. In all, it will be a good eight hour bass hunt. It's October 15, you don't wait for reports this time of year! 6AM to 2PM. $200 per person. All fish are shared. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 Alyse Droge of Beach Haven weighed-in a 29-lb 4-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Brant Beach using Bunker Haed at 6:30 AM this morning. Robby Vallone of Little Egg Harbor weighed-in a 10-lb 9-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 8:30 PM last night. Bob Braack of Atco weighed-in a 19-lb 13-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 8:30 PM this morning. October 13, 2011 12:45 PM - FYI: Access to Holgate is Closed due to erosion. There is not anticipated date for it to reopen. Rob Vallone fished last night for a couple hours one bass (30") and a few blues. He's heading back out for a couple more hours. Received: Oct 13, 2011 12:09 AM Subject: Fishing Report Sunday 10/09/2011 - Report from Brant Beach. Thought I'd chime in on the crazy cocktail bluefish bite. They were literally in the waves as they crashed on shore along with the bait. Fished from 6-730 on the beach. Caught some nice kings, threw some back. The bluefish actually shut down the kingfish bite. I was catching blues on the kingfish rig using frozen bloodworm. Also had two weakfish on the kingfish rig with bloods. Threw them back. All in the surf Sunday afternoon ~ Joe Wittman October 12, 2011 Joanne Sullivan of Brant Beach weighed-in a 20-lb 1-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Haven Beach using Bunker at 10 AM this morning. Received: Oct 12, 2011 12:53 AM Subject: fishing A buddy and I fished 22nd avenue for kingfish. Caught 8 fish in 2 hours using Fish Bites. Decent sizes. Not as good as last week. Seemed better towards lower tides. ~ David Neveroski October 11, 2011 Francis Pons of Surf City weighed-in a 18-lb 8-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Barnegat Light using Bunker at 8:15 PM last night. Richard Sellnow of Ship Bottom weighed-in a 24-lb 11-oz Striper today for the LBISFC that he caught in Ship Bottom using kingfish Head at 7:10 PM tonight. Received: Oct 11, 2011 11:56 AM Subject: 10/10/11 I caught a nice sized Striper yesterday while fishing in my kayak near IBSP by snagging and dropping on the bunker pods. The big ones are around but not aggressive yet, I let the snagged bunker just sit on the bottom til I got my fish. ~ M Received: Oct 11, 2011 11:27 AM Subject: Monday Afternoon - Second Day of the South End Blues "Knot Reel Farmers" got a late start on Monday, but we started marking fish piled up down deep just South of McKinley Ave in Holgate. We were very close in - 12 feet depth and perhaps 100 yards off the beach. Birds were all sitting on the water with full bellies and you could smell the fish. A quick look revealed that none of the boats around were bending rods. VHF 68 chatter also indicated the early morning bite had quit, so it was time for "Plan B" - back on the troll for more small blues. We set up just two rods, with a pink/white feather set W A Y back on the port side flat line, with a blue/white feather behind an 8oz trolling sinker to drop down a little deeper on the starboard side. Ran very slow around 3 knots at first to get the lures down deep, but no takers. After 15 minutes, I got impatient and bumped up to 5.5 knots and within seconds had the first of a dozen 2 pound blues in the box. We picked up a small blue roughly every 5 minutes or so as we trolled to the red tower and every one hit hard. Our black lab, Ludwig, was with us and he got fired up every time he heard the flat line clip release, followed by the runoff. It was quite entertaining. We only had one double header the entire time, and then moved off toward the Garden State South, which produced zero fish. As others mentioned, the bunker were thick and it was nice just to put the boat in neutral and watch them ball up flashing with their silver sides, unmolested by the blues or stripers. Did see two small pods of dolphin, but they were cruising along slowly, apparently uninterested in all the chow surrounding them. Despite no stripers, spikes or kings in the box we did enjoy a flawless Columbus Day on the water. I would trade one long weekend like this for the whole month of August! Its easier to deal with the bluefish bite than the green head bite! Good fishing and tight lines! Sunset after clearing Beach Haven Inlet headed for Morrison's Marina. Courtesy of Knot Reel Farmers. ~ BJH Received: Oct 11, 2011 8:31 AM Subject: BHCFA Weekly Report The Indian Summer weather last weekend in Beach Haven resulted in some outstanding catches from the boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association. Leading the way was a monumental tuna trip by the “Miss Beach Haven". Sailing with its maximum 12 anglers, Captain Frank Camarda guided the group to a limit catch of tuna. Counting the fish caught by crew members, a total of 42 fish ended up on the boat. The trip began with an unproductive troll before stopping and putting out some chum at nightfall. The action then began with fish biting well into the night. A significant bite started again at first light until the anglers were too tired to catch any more. Two more weekend offshore tuna trips are planned for October. For information on the 80' "Miss Beach Haven"contact Capt. Frank Camarda, phone: (609) 978-9951, email: MissBeachHaven@aol.com Captain Fran Verdi turned his attentions on the “Drop Off” to deep water wrecks last weekend, and the move paid off. Making just two stops, he found great “drop and reel” fishing for over 75 nice sized fish. His party quickly limited out on blackfish and caught quite a few nice triggerfish. Captain Fran said they also reeled up quite a few keeper black sea bass in the 16-22 inch range. The sea bass had to be returned as the season is closed until November 1. He reports he is watching the water temperature for a drop to indicate the stripers will be arriving in numbers. For information on the 25' "Drop Off" contact Capt. Fran Verdi, (609) 868-8970, or Email: fpvmdv@comcast.net Captain Carl Sheppard on the “Starfish” took the Stoops family out recently on a half day trip. After picking up some cocktail blues in the inlet on the way out, he bottom fished close to the beach for great action on undersized spike weakfish. He made a move to deeper water and found plenty of croakers plus some larger weakfish. The “Starfish” returned to port with enough fish to fill two shelves of the Stoops family freezer. Captain Carl added that he has heard of at least two reports of limited out catches on striped bass in the ocean under bunker pods. For information on the "Star Fish" for 2-20 anglers contact Capt. Carl Sheppard, 609-492-2591, cfsheppard@aol.com (If you contact any captain for a charter, please mention that you read their report on the Fisherman's Headquarters Fishing Report. Thank you) Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association (BHCFA) can be found at www.BHCFA.com . ~ Jim Hutchinson Sr. October 10, 2011 Erin Irish visited the shop this afternoon and had a little more time today to speak about her catches on this past Thursday. Along with the already reported Triggerfish and Blackfish she added to the report that there were also two Grouper caught. Yes, Grouper. The fish were all caught and released using clam for bait. Francis Pons from Surf City weighed-in a 10-lb 13-oz Bluefish today for the LBISFC that he caught in Loveladies using Bunker at about 3:30 PM. Received: Oct 10, 2011 10:04 PM Subject: Brant Beach Fished from 5:30 AM till 6:00 PM in Brant Beach. The crabs would take the bait if you let it sit for more the 10 minutes. My Brother got 1 snapper blue and a sand shark on bunker... that was it. Nice day but no fish. The water was still too warm. Waiting for better days. My reward was a great sunrise photo and a tan. Good luck to all that Fish the beach. ~ Adam Received: Oct 10, 2011 8:52 PM Subject: Monday - No fish Fished from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM and did not catch one fish! I fished Bunker, Clams and Mullet. Fished the Spray Beach area. What a difference from the last time out. Had a few nibbles but there were no big fish biting. Around 2:30 PM you could see the bait offshore and fish jumping in the bait. Hopefully the fishing was better for others as the tide came in during the evening. ~ Rob Papile Received: Oct 10, 2011 2:17 PM Subject: Lighthouse Sportfishing Report This week hockey season officially started as did my fall bass season. It took less than a minute Saturday morning for first bass of the season to come aboard the "Debbie M". Great job Jack E.! After my fares picked away at bass on live bait and plastics for a total of seven bass. We then changed things up jigging countless numbers of small blues and weakfish. All three on board ended the day with a slam of bass, blue, and weakfish. Sunday was a different story with the bite non existent at first light only to turn on much later. A total of eight bass were caught and released along with nice out of season sea bass and fluke. Live bait once again did the trick. Small blues are still abundant making certain locations almost impossible to fish live bait in. The water temperature creped up a degree or two the last few days due to the warm spell we are having. Fishing is only going to get better so get out there! ~ Capt. Alex, Lighthouse Sportfishing Barnegat, NJ 609-548-2511 Received: Oct 10, 2011 12:28 PM Subject: Ocean Fishing Report for Sun 9 Oct. Went out in the boat yesterday hunting for Stripers and Blues. Ocean was like a crystal clear lake, with great sunshine. Saw vast schools of bunker and some dolphin. Caught a few small bluefish, around the bunker schools. Saw some larger bluefish caught in same area. Caught a small Ling as well. Great day on the water, catching was poor. ~ Chris V. Received: Oct 10, 2011 10:27 AM Subject: Fish Report - Holgate Sunday, had an all out blitz of small blues on metal never saw so much mullet. I went for a swim and the mullet where still in there so thick. It was a great day for fishing ~ Todd A. Received: Oct 10, 2011 10:25 AM Subject: Small Blues - South End Knot Reel Farmers trolled up more than a dozen blues in the 2 pound range yesterday. The fish were scattered without much bird action to mark their location. All fish were caught trolling tight to the beach between Holgate and Beach Haven. They were hitting like mad on a pink/white feather that I normally troll for Mahi. Only one fish took the diamond jig with chartreuse tube that normally takes the prize. The sounder was full of fish down deep balled up in large schools. My guess is they were spike weakies. May give them a try today. ~ BJH Received: Oct 10, 2011 8:44 AM Subject: Sunday Report Fished mid island off of the beach in front of the Red tower late afternoon with Capt Al on the "Rack and Reel" with my son Sean. Located a large school of weakfish in 25-30 feet of water and had not stop light tackle action on weakfish. Bait of choice was small pieces of clam. Fish ranged in size from 10-12 inches. Even had a few ling mixed in the catch along with a kingfish. Absolute beautiful day on the water. ~ Tony Maffei October 9, 2011 Bill Young stopped by the shop to weigh in this 11-lb 15-oz bluefish for the Barnegat Fishing Hole Tournament. Bill went out aboard the Miss Barnegat Light (8 AM fish till 2 PM). The fish was caught at the BL Range Buoy around Noon using a sardine hook bait. The boat loaded up on good sized bluefish. There were also some false albacore caught among the loads of blues. Received: Oct 9, 2011 3:11 PM Subject: Fwd: Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters This week started where last week left off with action from 2-4lbs bluefish and limits of blackfish to 5lbs. As the week ended the first schools of southerly migrating stripers joined the party on both artificials and live bait! Small spike weakfish are also stacked up thick just off the beach to add to more light tackle action for those wanting variety. With things heating up nicely I will be starting the " Friday Night at the Fights" October 14th and continue throughout the Fall season for those looking for either private or open boat opportunities [ email or call to reserve ASAP ] . The Friday night trip will depart at 4 PM and return at 8 PM and is limited to 3 anglers [open boat]. We will be employing both artificials and live bait offerings. I also have this Thursday for either open or private boat for those looking to get in on the action. The last remaing dates for our Fall fishing season are... October 20, 27 November 3, 10, 17 [Nov 16 the Blackfish 6 bag limit reopens] Dec - To Be Determined ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217 Received: Oct 9, 2011 12:13 PM Subject: Rambunctious Barnegat Bay Fishing Report Didn't do much fishing this week due to other commitments (whatever gets into people scheduling weddings during fall fishing season?) but there is a lot going on. I did sneak out one afternoon for a couple of hours and it sure seemed like the cooler weather had no effect on this year's mad dog blowfish bite in the bay. I only fished for about ninety minutes on Thursday, but still managed to land 150+ with a bunch a nice ones in the 9-13" range. But that should do it for me... plenty in the freezer and much more interesting things to bend a rod. The fall striped bass run appears to be getting started right on schedule, with bass being taken both along the beach and in the back bay. I got my first solid reports on albies close to the beach this week, and as reported last week there are plenty of bluefish and small weakfish in the area. So it looks like our fall season is getting off to a great start, and if this beautiful weather holds up we should see some outstanding fishing for the next few weeks. Still a couple of open mid-week dates left this month for anyone that wants to combine some great fishing with this spectacular fall weather. ~ Capt. Jack Shea, "Rambunctious", Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632 October 8, 2011 Yesterday (Friday), early in the day Denny Miller (FHQ Alumni) was up spearfishing in the Inlet. He reported crystal clear water and an abundance of fish. Denny said that there were large schools of bass and hundreds of tog (mostly small) swimming by the rocks. Denny shot a 36" bass for dinner. Also yesterday (Friday), how about this one for your first bass. Way to go Allison! Sam taught you well. Yesterday, Sam Rittenbaugh and Allison Brady were chunking bunker off of the surf up on the North-end of the Island. Allison caught this 33-lb 4-oz bass in the 6 o'clock hour. Too bad it wasn't a day later. It would have been a monster fish to start off the tournament with. Hope you enjoyed this morning's LBISFC Surf Fishing Seminar. A big thank you to all the volunteers plus local and factory sponsors. The Fall Surf Fishing Classic started today, so sign up now! See previous day's report for more details. This afternoon, Pat Howley of Manahawkin weighed in a 43-lb 13-oz Striper. ( Not in 2011 LBISFC ) He caught it off of the surf on the North-end of the Island on a Bunker chunk. Some of today's LBISFC Weigh-ins: Pete Figueroa, Hammonton, NJ 22-lb 15-oz 39" Striper caught 5:30 AM on Bunker in Beach Haven Jeff Schlicher, Surf City NJ 30-lb 5-oz 42-1/2" Striper caught 6:00 AM on Live Eel in Ship Bottom Gary W. Naylor, Mount Holly, NJ 41-lb 9-oz 48" Striper caught 8:00 AM on Bunker in Barnegat Light October 7, 2011 10:00 AM The Inlet has been on fire the past couple of days with a mad dog bite of tog. There are also small blues as well as a few tiggerfish and stripers. Yesterday Chester & Steve had another epic day! [They both did great the day before. Check out Steve-o's tog from Wednesday] Chet caught two keepers (he kept this one for the table) and a number of throw backs, all on live green crabs. Late in the day yesterday, Erin Irish stopped by to report action in the Inlet. She caught this beautiful triggerfish while fishing up there yesterday on clam. She also reported some tog. Erin also reported catching and releasing two small Groupers. The surf temperature is in the mid to upper 60's. There are bass being picked but by those who put their time in. Get sand and you'll be rewarded. Tomorrow is the day! The 57th Annual LBI Surf Fishing Classic kicks off eight weeks of great surf fishing fun. Thousands of dollars in daily, weekly and grand prizes as well as many special prizes. Register now ($30) and also ask to join the FHQ Striper Side Bet ($10) which is a 100% Cash Pot PayOut to the largest striped bass weighed in here at Fisherman's Headquarters. The FREE LBI Surf Fishing Classic Surf Fishing Seminar is tomorrow October 8th. Meet at 9 AM at the Chamber Office for door prizes, coffee and bagels, then join us at the Ship Bottom Volunteer Fire Co #1 Station on 21st St. and Central Ave. where the members of Team Mullet, a local fishing club will share their knowledge of surf fishing equipment, casting, bait, driving a 4x4 vehicle on the beach and much more. The weather is going to be beautiful for the "hands-on instructions" happening at 9th St Ship Bottom beach. Bring a folding chair for your comfort. There's a prize drawing at the end of the Fire House segment of the seminar. You must be present to win. Received: Oct 7, 2011 6:48 PM Subject: Weakfish report 10/7 Fished with Capt. Bob, Joe & Frank on the "La Bella Vita", 1 mi SE of Barnegat Inlet. Non stop weakfish, 15 to 18 ", some doubles and very few throwbacks. Wind changed and the bite stopped. Back at the dock by 2 PM. ~ Capt. Chappo October 6, 2011 Received: Oct 6, 2011 10:19 PM Subject: Thursday report I fished most of the day and caught dozens of bluefish. Largest was around 16". Caught most on mullet rigs. Also caught one small 16" Striper on mullet. ~ Rob Papile Received: Oct 6, 2011 1:05 PM Subject: Hi Flier Friday, Oct. 7, The NOAA update is for light winds and calm seas so tomorrow is a "Hi Flier" Open Boat Tuna Trip Day with a run off to the Barnegat Ridge and/or the Mud Hole. Saturday, October 8 looks like the wind and seas flatten out, so we will once again attempt to run off to Barnegat Ridge and/or the Mud Hole. The water has cleaned up to crystal clear in those places, so we will be packing spearing and live bait to target bonita, albacore, and bluefin tuna. Looking to anchor and bait fish more than troll on these trips. These are open boat trips. Leaving at 6 AM, returning around 2 PM. $200 person. Limited to 3 people. All fish are shared. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 October 5, 2011 Received: Oct 5, 2011 6:49 PM Subject: Surf City Surf City, Wednesday - Caught small Stripers on mullet and kingfish on bloodworms. ~ PBD Received: Oct 5, 2011 1:05 PM Subject: Hi Flier Tomorrow, Thursday, Oct. 6 the NOAA forecast is going to keep us in the bay. We are available for blowfish, and kingfish. The fish have been quality size. We anchor up around the BI and BB Buoys and chum for them. We use ultra-lite 6 pound outfits and when the kings hit they burn some drag. At the end of the trip, you have a nice ziplock of tasty Barnegat Bay fish. We could possibly combo some striper fishing on this trip. I have live spots and there have been some fish caught in the Inlet. This one is available as a 6 hour charter, not an open boat. $450 for the boat, up to four anglers, $25 a head extra if we bring live spots and striper fish. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 Received: Oct 5, 2011 10:18 AM Subject: BHCFA Weekly Report Fall weather in the Beach Haven area has not been real conducive to good fishing thus far. Winds, rain, and heavy seas have forced more than one captain to either postpone trips or make adjustments. When the boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association have been able to get fishing, though, they have found fish. Captain John Koegler of “Pop’s Pride" reports he had a “fun trip” last Saturday. After finding the artificial reef area difficult to fish due to strong winds, he moved closer to shore where he found a heavy concentration of spike weakfish close to the beach. His party had non-stop action on the weakies including several keepers among the over 80 fish they released. There were also some small bluefish mixed in with the weakfish. Captain John said he is encouraged for the future by the sheer numbers of weakfish he has observed thus far this fall. For information on the 38' Sport Fisherman “Pop's Pride” Beach Haven, NJ contact Capt. John Koegler 609-290-3349 The “Miss Beach Haven” with Captain Frank Camarda fished last week with Wayne’s group and found very good numbers of croakers and weakfish. They too released large numbers of weaks but did manage to find a nice bunch of keepers. For information on the 80' "Miss Beach Haven" contact Capt. Frank Camarda, phone: (609) 978-9951, email: MissBeachHaven@aol.com Captain Dave Wittenborn on the “Compass Rose” reports he plans to hold off on trips for a week or so until the striped bass begin to arrive. He said he had to cancel a few trips in early September due to the weather or just slow fishing. At this point, he is excited about the upcoming striper action, especially the hot November action. For information on the 29' "Compass Rose" contact Capt. Dave Wittenborn, (609) 492-5271 Captain Fran Verdi of the “Dropoff” is also anxious for the striped bass to arrive. He is already taking some scouting trips looking for bass. He plans to fish both Little Egg and Barnegat Inlets this year and offering trolling, jigging, and white water fishing. For information on the 25' "Drop Off" contact Capt. Fran Verdi, (609) 868-8970, or Email: fpvmdv@comcast.net (If you contact any captain for a charter, please mention that you read their report on the Fisherman's Headquarters Fishing Report. Thank you) Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association (BHCFA) can be found at www.BHCFA.com . ~ Jim Hutchinson Sr. October 3, 2011 12:00 Noon Gotta love the chill! Yesterday was a unique, next to no wind, tranquil day. The ocean water temp seems to have dropped a couple degrees and with it some change. More and More bass reports each and every day. The kingfish are still here but the mad dog bite might be over. It seems to be fizzling out. Most anglers spoke about blues yesterday and (so far) today. Our fishing in the bay is world class right now and I feel that many are not taking advantage (including myself). Even though we (NJ) don't have a baseball team, it is prime time opportunity for a Grand slam and much more. There are still some fluke (season is closed) here, plenty of bluefish, an abundance of small weakfish and bass. Yes that's right bass in the bay! Last year about this same time (October 7th) Nick Remer boated a beauty (34-lb 12-oz bass) on live eel. To top if off the blowfish still have a very strong presence and the kingfish in the bay are monsters. The mullet run is in full swing. The scale-ley smokey joe forage are schooled up all along the Island's sand. Any day it's gonna break wide open! So far the weather looks good for the Long Beach Island Surf Fishing Classic Clinic Day and Tournament Opening Day on Saturday Oct 8th. ~ FishHead.Greg Received: Oct 4, 2011 2:59 PM Subject: Even more Blues Hit the beach this morning for about 3 hours. The Mullet run is in FULL swing mid island! Mullet jumping everywhere in the breakers. Had a lot of fun bring those cocktail Blues on to the beach, 16 to be exact. That brings my 2 day total up to 25 Blues, largest one was 17 inches! Oh and 1 skate. ~ Dallas Tharp Received: Oct 4, 2011 6:23 AM Subject: Fwd: Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters As the week started I had high expectations for a upward spike in striped bass activity only to find steady action with 2-4lbs bluefish, limits of keeper blackfish to 5-lbs and mountains of Jumbo blowfish The week started with regulars Jay Simmons, Karl Steffan and Shawn Hawthrone joining forces on an bay/inlet open boat. The guys worked hard mixing it up with some light tackle 2-3lbs blues on artificial lures and live peanut bunker, the next stop the guys found a limit of 3-5lbs blackfish on green crabs, with Shawn earning "the tog tamer" honors. New comer Brian Shea was up next for a more robust bite with 2-4lbs bluefish on light spinning tackle before moving around to the back bay to bail some JUMBO blowfish until trips end . ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217 October 3, 2011 Received: Monday, October 03, 2011 7:36 PM Subject: Cocktail Blues Fished the incoming and outgoing tides this afternoon in Ship Bottom. Had a pretty productive day of catching cocktail Blues. Brought 9 onto the beach within a 4 hour period on mullet. All between 10 and 15 inches. Not much else going on. Hopefully better luck tomorrow. ~ Dallas T. Received: Oct 3, 2011 6:32 PM Subject: Fishing report Fished the North-end of the island today with my girlfriend Chrissie. Fished 3 hours before high and 3 hrs after. She caught 19 blues mostly on mullet a few on bunker chunk. All were between 1-4 lbs and a dogfish oh and 1 seagull. I caught 5 blues all on mullet. We lost quite a few in the wash. Great day of fishing. My girlfriend's arms n hands are hurting. ~ Jason P. October 2, 2011 This afternoon Logan Johnson (5 years old) weighed in a 1-lb weakfish. He caught it on bloodworm in the bay on the North-end of the Island. Donna Harris weighed in this 16-lb striped bass this morning. She caught it on bunker while fishing the mid-island surf. Store staff member Steve-W hit the Barnegat Inlet rocks today. He reported catching ten tog, two were keeper size, kept one tog for the table all on green crab. Steve mentioned that there are still a lot of blowfish and snapper blues in the area up there. Received: Oct 2, 2011 7:53 PM Subject: Lighthouse Sportfishing Report Hello fall! Signs of fall were evident this weekend with water temperatures dropping to the mid sixties or lower and the first big push of migrating monarch butteries passing through our area. It is so amazing how the eastern population can fly a few thousand miles to their wintering grounds in Mexico only to turn around and head back north in the spring. Saturday morning at first light I scored a few short bass on plugs. Once the bass shut off the blues turned on. The action was non stop with 1-2 pound blues with a few 4-5 pounders in the mix. ~ Capt. Alex, Lighthouse Sportfishing Barnegat, NJ 609-548-2511 Received: Oct 2, 2011 7:15 PM Subject: Fishing Report Sunday Oct 2 - first light - Popper - Brant Beach - 37", Striper approx 20-lbs. ~ Mike Killough Received: Oct 2, 2011 5:49 PM Subject: Kingfish in Holgate Yesterday I picked up some blood worms and headed for the beach south of Beach Haven towards Holgate. It proved to be a worthwhile trip up for the day from Mount Airy, Maryland. Almost every cast produced a keeper sized Kingfish in the 14 to 15 inch range. The line was barely on the bottom before the quick hookup. All fish caught were just beyond the breakers. Started fishing about one hour after the high tide. Have not caught fish off the beach like that in many years, and I've been a lifetime regular on LBI! With that last thought in mind, I sincerely hope my fellow anglers will consider the impact of over fishing when the bite is this good. It's all too tempting to fill the cooler and just keep reeling in fish, only to toss them back injured. Why not save some for tomorrow? I remember how folks over fished blowfish when I was a kid, and then we couldn't catch them for years. Now they seem to have made a miraculous recovery, so let's be responsible so they are always there to catch in the future. ~ Bernie Hyland Received: Oct 2, 2011 4:45 PM Subject: Bay Stripers We got our first bay striper of the season today on live spot. We didn't fish too long but we managed to pull out our first striper of the fall in the back bay. It was just short at 27". ~ Alex P. Received: Oct 2, 2011 4:23 PM Subject: Inlet Report Hit the rocks again last night. A few small sea bass, a short fluke and 2 tog. ~ Matthew S. Received: Oct 2, 2011 3:23 PM Subject: Surf Fishing Report 9 Bluefish this morning on mullet. 7 Kingfish to 14-inches on Bloods. The Bluefish were 2 to 4-lbs and quick hitters. Had to hold the pole. Great Morning. Had fun fishing the up tide till full then it stopped. ~ Al Asplint Received: Oct 2, 2011 10:37 AM Subject: Barnegat Bay Fishing Report These cool mornings and evenings the past couple of days are a sure sign that my favorite time of year, our fall fishing season, is right around the corner. While the water is still relatively warm, the temperature has dropped four or five degrees over the past three days and looks to continue that movement through much of the coming week. Baitfish are flooding out of the bay, and the fall migration is underway. Thursday looked to be a potential washout but with schools closed, Bridgewater's Dave and Pat Kruge came down with their son Kevin to take a chance and give back bay blowfishing a try for the first time. It sure didn't take long for them to get the hang of hooking those notorious bait stealers, as they proceeded to land 350-400 blowfish before a thunderstorm sent us heading back to the dock by 11:15 AM. Add in assorted snappers, sea bass and a couple of fat jack crevalle that joined the party and it was four hours of non-stop action. Lots of fun, and a big bag of some of the tastiest critters on the planets to take home. George Selph was back on Saturday when we headed out along the beach in search of bluefish and albies. When that only produced a couple of snappers, it was back to the inlet just in time to catch a mini-blitz of bluefish gorging themselves on mullet pouring out of the bay. At one point the water around the boat appeared to be glittering from all the scales coming off the hapless baitfish as they were ravaged by 3-5 pound blues. After landing a couple dozen of them on light rods and tiny jigs, we headed back down the beach and found the mother lode of small weakfish. Breaking out the ultralights and 007's, we hooked well over 150 spikes in the 9-15" range with not another boat in sight until just before we came in. So fall fishing has started. All we need now is for the stripers to join in, and with water temps dropping that should be pretty soon. I can't wait. ~ Capt. Jack Shea, "Rambunctious", Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632 October 1, 2011 8:15 PM Stanley Steinberg stopped in and loaded up with live bloods. He reported catching a load of kingfish... a load of 'em in the 15-16" range. Francis purchased a new rod and while here he said that he has been slamming the small blues. Chester caught two nice tog among a number of shorts. He kept one for the table. He said that the inlet was packed with blues chasing bait. Bill Heade stopped in on his way off of the Island. He gave us heads up that he found some bass on the North end of the island. He caught three schoolies on plugs. His biggest was 29-inches. 7:00 PM Welcome to October, the month we have all been waiting for! Today is the Merchant's Mart down in Beach Haven and tomorrow is Chowder Fest. Yesterday there was a good blowup of blues off of the front beach from mid-island and South. There were also a couple bass picked. This morning there were some blues and kingfish caught off of the front beach. Right here in Ship Bottom there were a number of cocktail blues caught on mullet chunks and small piece of bunker. The kings want live bloods, freeze dried bloods or fish bites blood worm alternative. We received word from a local plugger who beach and released a schoolie size bass on plastic shortly after first light. We expect to hear more and more about the bass in the coming days. The beach is stacked full of bait and the water temps should start to drop soon. Hurricane Ophelia's swell is expected to be in the 2-3 foot plus range tomorrow. The swell will rise throughout the day and peak overnight. Early Monday morning surfcasters will be looking at solid 4' surf heights that will drop as the day progresses. If looking to fish bait, make sure you have enough lead to hold. After the Chowder Fest weekend is over and Ophelia's swell fades we should be looking at a more Northerly flow. Further out, the current marine forecasts are calling for a Northerly wind on Wednesday. After that, a mid-week NE windswell turning more ENE Thursday. Let's hope these winds and waves in combination with the dropping forcasted lows push in a new wave of fish. We will have to wait and see. Bring on some chilly nights/mornings and the striped bass will run! Better late than never... Here are the tournament results from the 65th Annual World Series of Surf Fishing Tournament (hosted by the Long Beach Island Fishing Club affiliated with ASAC, JCAA, RFA, IGFA) which took place last weekend on Saturday, September 24th. 65th Annual World Series of Surf Fishing Tournament Top 10 Team Results Total Combined Points 1st - Fishlanders-B 1127.5 2nd - South Jersey Surfcast 1088.75 3rd - Surf & Land-B 987.25 4th - Del Valley Surf-B 966.25 5th - Anglesea-A 955.75 6th - Woman's Surf-A 867.75 7th - Brant Beach Rod 862.5 8th - NJBBA 837 9th - Del Valley Surf-A 739 10th- Merchantville F.C.-A 647.5 Top Individuals Bob Vicente - Most Individual Points Brandon Pomykacz - Biggest Individual Fish ~ Fish Head Greg Received: Oct 1, 2011 4:58 PM Subject: Fishing Report Fished from 7 to 10. Two of us caught 15 king fish and 8 blues in Surf City. King were non stop. ~ J Viola and E Silva, Cedar Grove, NJ September 30, 2011 4:00 PM This fall is starting off great let's keep it going. Kingfish activity off of the surf is still strong, they are biting like mad dog. So is the tog fishing in the inlet. Steve (FHQ store staf ) store shop was up up on the rocks yesterday and get into 'em good with Chester. Bass fishing is becoming more consistent as the days process. There have been a couple days with great fishing on lures as well as bait. The Fall Surf Fishing Derby is right around the corner so kick it into high gear and ensure you of your tackle is ready to rock. If you haven't already sign up the the Derby as well as our Striper Side Bet. We have a strong interest this year from almost all anglers signing up (probably due to the phenomenal spring). Received: Sep 30, 2011 3:02 PM Subject: Report from the rocks Headed down to the inlet last night around 7. No action for about 2 hours and then the blues came in hard and fast. Almost every cast I was hooking up a 2-4 lb fish. Fished until we ran out of bait around 11pm. No bass yet. ~ Matthew Sorrentino If you didn't see it posted on "Sep 28, 2011 7:39 PM" here it is again. Please take action: JCAA Asks Anglers to Take MAFMC Survey The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council is accepting public input through various surveys. One is a general survey while there are also fishery-specific surveys for fluke, sea bass, bluefish, porgies, and other species that are managed by their agency. This is your chance to critique their agency and to make suggestions to improve our fisheries management. JCAA encourages individuals to take these surveys by going to https://www.mafmc.org/vision Below is and excerpt taken from their site. The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council is looking to you for help in developing a vision for the future of our fisheries. We are seeking your input through surveys and small group meetings throughout the region. Over the last 35 years the Council has effectively rebuilt its managed fisheries. We are now determining how these fisheries should be managed in the future. Creating a "blueprint" for Mid-Atlantic fisheries management will allow the Council to address long-term challenges such as maintaining productive marine ecosystems and the communities that rely on our region's fisheries. We want to hear about what is working effectively, what is concerning you, and how you want our fisheries to be managed in the future. We also hope you will tell us how we can make it easier for you to participate in the Council process. How do existing regulations create economic challenges for fishermen? What issues do you think threaten the sustainability of Mid-Atlantic fisheries? How can the Council better manage recreational fishing to improve your experience? Your participation will help the Council identify long-term goals, a vision, for Mid-Atlantic fisheries. Using your input, the Council will also develop a strategic plan and use that plan to achieve a vision for our fisheries. ~ Eileen Smith, President of the Jersey Coast Anglers Association About Jersey Coast Anglers Association The Jersey Coast Anglers Association is a non-profit organization formed in 1981. The original objective of the JCAA was to combine a loosely fragmented group of marine sportfishing clubs in order to form and promote a united consensus on issues relevant to saltwater anglers in New Jersey. Over the years, the mission of the JCAA has remained unchanged, but now has the added goal of joining forces with organizations having similar objectives in states along the East Coast and national organizations. While the JCAA is relatively young, it has emerged as the most effective organization of its kind on the East Coast. For more information, or for information about becoming a member of the JCAA, please call (732) 506-6565 or visit www.JCAA.org. September 28, 2011 Received: Sep 29, 2011 12:22 PM Subject: Fishing the AM The tide was extreme today. Fished the incoming. Rocks covered up and the tide was still on the way in. Check out your dock lines if you need to. Lots of 2-lb cocktail bluefish. Switched to some clam on the bottom and it loaded with small sea bass and small porgies. Did pick a triggerfish out of the rocks. Got in just before the rain. ~ Robert C. September 28, 2011 Received: Sep 28, 2011 10:52 PM Subject: Great night fishing We stopped by the shop tonight around 6:30 to pickup some mullet. On the beach at ship bottom right after. My son and i had a great couple hours. The blues were snappin! Had about a dozen or so, some were 2-pounders. Had a monster hit at the end. It bent the rod but good, sorry to say it didn't make it to the beach. This surely wasn't a snapper. We will try again on Saturday! ~ John and Shawn Received: Sep 28, 2011 8:12 PM Subject: Lighthouse Sportfishing Report Fall is definitely taking its time getting here and so is the fall run. Water temps in the back are 68 - 69 while the ocean is in the low 70's, however, we should see a change forecast for this weekend. The other morning in between the tons of small blues, I got into some small bass that were eager to please. It is hard getting a live bait down to the bass with all the blues around. Interestingly enough is that there are some weakfish in the 16 - 20" + range in some west-side haunts. Blue crabs are still in good numbers and some are still shedding with the water staying so warm. My bait pens are loading up for the fall run which I predict will get cranking within a week. I still have a few fall dates open for either inlet/back bay bassing or run n gun ocean jigging so give me a call to secure a date. ~ Capt. Alex, Lighthouse Sportfishing Barnegat, NJ 609-548-2511 Received: Sep 28, 2011 7:43 PM Subject: Tuesday September 27 Delaware Fishing Report Not a good day for the only Jersey Guy on the boat. Only four keeper seas bass. About forty or so shorts and a few small snapper size blues and my very first croaker. A small one that went back into the drink. A number of triggers and a huge Jersey size porgy was landed. Take care, Jim T., Bridgewater, NJ Sep 28, 2011 7:39 PM Subject: Very Important I am providing two (2) links. Click on Fisheries Survery. Please have the guys at the shop, customers and your readers give their comments. This first link is for a survey to give comments on the Fluke and Black Sea Bass fisheries. Fluke and Sea Bass survery... https://www.mafmc.org/vision/ This second link is to write to someone about Blackfish. They do not ask for a Blackfish survey but I figure if we write to these people we can give comments about Blackfish. Email people about our Blackfish concerns... https://www.mafmc.org/members/va.htm Thank you, Jim T., Bridgewater, NJ Received: Sep 28, 2011 3:17 PM Subject: Hi Flier Open Boat Tuna I've been netting a good amount of peanut bunker lately. The NOAA forecast looks good to run offshore towards the Mud Hole to set up on the chunk and try for bluefin tuna. I'm going to bring a barrel full of the live peanuts and start a spearing slick for any of the tuna family, bonita, albies, skipjack, and hopefully bluefin. These trips will be Fri, Sept. 30 and Sun, Oct. 2, 6AM to 2PM. $200 person, limited to three people. All fish are shared. Call to reserve a spot. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 September 27, 2011 Bill Taddeo fished just outside the Inlet on Sunday morning. He reported filling his cooler with blues in the 3-5 pound range. He also mentioned that some small weakfish and croakers were also caught. He saw a huge sunfish swimming at the surface which made for a beautiful sight. The past couple of days, the surf has been loaded with kingfish. We had a number of customers throughout the day load up on live bloodworms and report great action. All of the word we are receiving was from mid-island north. Bert Compton weighed in a 14-lb 2-oz bass earlier today. He caught the striper this morning up on the north end of the Island. The “Super New Moon” was today! Expect extreme tides and flood warnings are in effect. [ https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/09/110926-new-moon-closest-earth-dark-supermoon-dark-space-science/ ] Don Miller of Barnegat Light went out to the edge aboard the Doris Mae’s 30-hour trip on Sunday morning. He reported back this evening that the fishing was spectacular! The boat had a phenomenal trip with 250 mahi, 70 tuna (longfin and yellowfin), 5 swords (two of which were triple markers, one ~250 and one ~275), one small mako and one released white marlin. Don mentioned that it was super calm out there. ~ Fish Head Greg Received: Sep 27, 2011 6:03 PM Subject: BHCFA Weekly Report Despite the closure of the summer flounder and black sea bass seasons, the boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association have been managing to put fish in the fish box for their anglers. The head boat “Miss Beach Haven” fished a private party last weekend and after finding very few fluke, headed in and loaded up on croakers. Mate Sal Rosa reports the big boat will be sailing three weekends in October for tuna. The trips will leave around 9am. on Saturdays and return on Sunday in mid-afternoon. The departure dates are October 8, 15, and 28, and the trips are limited to just 12 anglers. For information on the 80' "Miss Beach Haven" contact Capt. Frank Camarda, phone: (609) 978-9951, email: MissBeachHaven@aol.com Captain George Finck had the “Sparetime” out on a trolling trip to the canyons last weekend. He had two yellowfin tuna in the boat by 7 am. The final count for the trip was seven tuna and four mahi-mahi. They also released a white marlin. The trip went well on nice seas despite some foreboding weather reports. For information on the 38' Henriques “Sparetime” Beach Haven, NJ contact Capt. George Finck, (609) 618-3877, email: Finck104@comcast.net Captain John Koegler on the “Pop’s Pride” had a charter last Saturday and decided to fish in the bay due to the high seas in the ocean. The move paid out as they caught over 60 blowfish along with a 15-ounce kingfish, just shy of qualifying for a state “skillful angler award.” They also caught bluefish of all sizes. The anglers kept only the 16 largest blowfish along with some bluefish they trolled up from the inlet area. The blowfish were all over 16 inches in length. Captain John said it was the best blowfish action he has had in several years. For information on the 38' Sport Fisherman “Pop's Pride” Beach Haven, NJ contact Capt. John Koegler 609-290-3349 Captain Carl Sheppard on the “Starfish” had a local Boy Scout troop out on Sunday, and they fished several miles outside the inlet. They caught lots of fish with enough keeper weakfish and bluefish for a good catch. For information on the "Star Fish" for 2-20 anglers contact Capt. Carl Sheppard, 609-492-2591, cfsheppard@aol.com Captain Fran Verdi on the “Dropoff” reports he is wreck fishing for another couple of weeks before he turns his attention to striped bass. With the positive reports he has heard north of Beach Haven, he expects them to be arriving shortly. For information on the 25' "Drop Off" contact Capt. Fran Verdi, (609) 868-8970, or Email: fpvmdv@comcast.net (If you contact any captain for a charter, please mention that you read their report on the Fisherman's Headquarters Fishing Report. Thank you) Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association (BHCFA) can be found at www.BHCFA.com . ~ Jim Hutchinson Sr. September 26th, 2011 We just received word from Jim Perkins that he had a successful trip aboard the "Canyon Runner 48". He just got back to the dock and reported that they caught a dozen longfin tuna (~30 pound class), three yellowfin tuna (~60-70 pound class) and a 80 pound sword. Jim mentioned that all the action was on the troll, except for the sword. Received: Sep 26, 2011 4:00 PM Subject: Oops! With blues and kingfish obliging on your fresh mullet and freeze-dried bloodworms (which I never thought would work…), early Sunday, Sept. 25, was a blast on the Barnegat Light beach -- until I managed to toss the tip section of my brand-new Penn Torque just beyond the last breaker. It never should have happened, but it did. And it was embarrassing as hell -- as the rod was a gift, and one of those who gave it to me was fishing by my side. We tried snagging it for hours, to no avail. Know you're not in the lost and found business, but if any of your readers/customers let you know they snagged a new rod section at the 12th Street area of the bar, I'd sure like to know about it. ~ Terry B. (If anyone locates that Penn Torque rod upper section please let us know and we pass on the info to Terry B. Thank You.) Received: Sep 26, 2011 6:45 AM Subject: Fwd: Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters - open boat Friday Rain , rain go away... and take the dense fog with you too! Again this week was met with plenty of precipitation, thunderstorm threats and with heavy dense fog where we found ourselves tied to the dock most days. When we were able to fish we did find 1-4lbs bluefish more than cooperative on light spinning tackle employing a variety of poppers, plugs and plastics. As bad as the weather pattern was, the days continue to shorten and nights continue to cool the back bays, leading to the inevitable mass exodus of bait joining the Fall migration of striped bass, bluefish and false albacore. With a delivery of live spot [striper candy] and improving weather pattern arriving this week we will be looking forward to getting back to fishing! Last year anglers onboard the Reel Fantasea scored early and often with limits of stripers starting the first week of October. I do have 2 spots available for this Friday's 8-hr open boat marathon, we will start by working the backbay/inlet and then move up the front beach for a search and destroy mission of sight cast for arriving albies. ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217 September 25th, 2011 Received: Sep 25, 2011 11:11 PM Subject: surf fishing today Al Paton & John Dalabes went surf fishing on 13th Street beach from 4:30 PM - 6:30 PM. Caught about a dozen nice sized Kingfish, a bunch of throwbacks and a handful of small blues, all on artificial bait (fish bites and gulp bloodworms). ~ Al P. Received: Sep 25, 2011 9:56 PMSubject: Fishing Report I picked up some blood worms and fresh mullet around lunchtime today. I fished the surf in Beach Haven. The bluefish were hitting all afternoon. My best luck was on whole mullet as it seemed like every cast I got back one with a tail missing or had a fish on. Blues were up to 16" or so. I had so much fun with the blues that I did not get to use many of the blood worms! I fished until I ran out of bait! I'd recommend using whole mullet on a mullet rig. ~ Rob Papile Received: Sep 25, 2011 6:20 PM Subject: sun 9/25 Fished the beach today as suggested at FHQ. Lots of Kingfish on blood worms. When I ran out of worms, they hit spearing, then cut finger mullet, I couldn't believe it! Took a few for dinner, threw back many... kings, blues and one just short fluke. A great 3-hrs till I got back to my truck and saw the drivers door caved in. Hit and run! ~ Fishfool, John F. Received: Sep 25, 2011 5:40 PM Subject: Fishing Report Stopped by your store today and picked up mullet and the freeze dried bloodworms. Had to give them a go after reading Greg's reports. Settled down around the red tower beach front and had blues on mullet and kingfish on dried bloodworms for 4-hours. Largest king was 16 inches. My only question on the day is who is in charge of the NOAA reports. Ocean was flat with nice surfing rollers coming in and very little wind. Will be picking up more dried bloodworms ASAP. ~ Martin M. Received: Sep 25, 2011 5:12 PM Subject: Fishing Report Spent 4 hours today at the North-end using bloodworms. Caught 21 kingfish 12" to 16" and a few hookups were doubles. ~ John P. Received: Sep 25, 2011 11:38 AM Subject: Barnegat Bay Fishing Report Not much to report this week, as we've been getting a little vacationing in while things are Septemberly slow. I did get out one day this week to put a couple of blowfish dinners in the box, and it's still drop and reel fishing for the tasty little critters. Landed what had to be close to 200 of them by myself in under three hours, mostly small but enough nice keepers to fill a bucket. The water is still pretty ugly from all the rain (and runoff) we've had since late last month, but signs of life are starting to appear and our resident population of striped bass seems to be waking up for fall. Just a couple of more weeks and fall bass fishing should be in full swing. I'll probably do a little looking around for albies along the beach this week if the weather is decent as those little torpedos should be around by now, but I've got stripers on my mind and am itching for things to get going. If this year's spring run was any indication, the fall striper run this year should be excellent as long as the weather cooperates. I've still got a couple of openings in late October, and a handful of dates available in November for anyone that hasn't booked their trips yet. ~ Capt. Jack Shea, "Rambunctious", Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632 September 24th, 2011 Received: Sep 24, 2011 9:38 PM Subject: Re: May 14 I stopped at Fisherman's Headquarters today with my two boys to pick up some mullet and had an incredible day at the beach fishing the Brant Beach surf. Fished low and incoming tide from about 10:30 AM to 4:30 PM and picked up a couple foot long kingfish and several blues from 1-2lbs. But it was what happened after that that really shocked me. A few guys stopped down at the beach and asked how I made out. I told them of my catch (kingfish on gulp bloodworm and blues on mullet) and I strongly suggested they get their gear and throw the rods in the water. After about 30 minutes they came back and tried fishing for kingfish with live bloodworms. As I wrapped up my great day of fishing I made my way over to them to see how they were making out and just as I got there one of they guy's rods bent in half and started taking drag like he didn't have it set at all. I thought maybe a monster blue or a 4-foot dogfish but I was shocked when I saw the fish he brought in was low and behold a beauty of a striper - about 30 inches and nice and thick. I'd say 16-20 lbs. Surprised he was hanging around with the water so warm - had to be close to 70 today and he hit live bloodworms was hooked by two little hooks on the kingfish rig. Simply amazing. And I thought I had a good day of luck. ~ Mike G. 8:00 PM Matt Krezel of Philly stopped by the shop this evening to share his catch. He fished the north end surf with clam this afternoon. He landed two nice black drum both about 20-25 lbs. 7:00 PM With all of the geared up trucks racing around on the Island, one would think there was an epic blitz and everyone got the call. The World Series of Surf Fishing Tournament was hosted today by the Long Beach Island Fishing Club. There were an amazing amount of fish caught. Over 1000 fish between all of the teams. Most all of the fish were kingfish but there were some bluefish as well as one fluke and a weakfish. No striped bass at all. We will post the official result one available. Ted Jordan weighed in an 18" 2-lb 2-oz kingfish this afternoon. He reported a ton of kingsfish and some small blues. Ted fished the tourny today with his buddies Joe and Nelson. Rocco Reale stopped by the shop today and reaffirmed Ted's report. Rocco said the kingfish action is red hot off of the mid-island on bloodworms. He said the small blues were tearing up the bait. Our bunker boat said that the croakers are thick out there about a mile off of the mid-island beach. Unfortunately we have not heard any reports yet of these fish hitting the beach. Rudy Egberts fished the Barnegat Ridge today. 26 fluke, no keepers. 3 bluefish up to almost 10-lbs on bunker. Mike Heade fished aboard the "Dumb & Dumber" out of Tuckerton Wednesday into Thursday. He reported an insane yellowfin bite on the jig and chunk. The fish were in the 40-60 pound range. Received: Sep 24, 2011 11:15 AM Subject: Bluefish Fished Surf City 16th St from 7 AM to 9 AM this morning using mullet. Caught 18-inch bluefish. No other bites. Tide was very low by 8:30 AM, too shallow. ~ Jerry Viola, Cedar Grove NJ September 23th, 2011 8:45 PM Brian Coen of Ship Bottom fished Barnegat Inlet today. He caught a 9-lb 14-oz sheepshead as well as another just a little bit smaller. He said there were some schoolie striped bass up there too. 7:45 PM A lot of bluefish today on those schools of mullet. There were also some small scattered bass catches reported in the mix. As of today, Fall is officially here! Fluke is over in a couple of days, September 25th. The annual LBI surf derby is right around the corner. Good luck to all of the anglers and teams fishing the World Series of Surf Fishing that is hosted by the Long Beach Island Fishing Club tomorrow. Received: Sep 23, 2011 5:48 PM Subject: Blues on metal Fished this afternoon till 5:30 PM. Bluefish constantly hitting metal... mid-island in the surf. ~ Cal C. Received: Sep 23, 2011 10:34 AM Subject: Blues in the Surf City Wash Stopped in this morning for mullet. Fished mid-island and after a skate and a few dogs between 6 – 7, I had non-stop blues from 7:00 AM until I ran out of bait around 8:15 AM. I thought of throwing metal but between the light rain and wanting a coffee, I called it quits. I took about a dozen ~1 lb blues home. I caught and released or lost at least twice as many. Will be back out this afternoon. ~ Ed V, Beach Haven West Received: Sep 23, 2011 9:41 AM Subject: Bay report 9/22 Fished with Capt. Bob and cousin Joe on the "La Bella Vida". Stayed bayside due to the weather report. Fished east of the BB in 6-feet of water. Put out six bunker crab lines and pulled in non stop tiny blowfish on squid. But no crabs at all, where did they go? Released about 40 blowfish, I hope they return bigger next season. ~ Capt. Chappo September 22th, 2011 A customer stopped in the shop for his third time today. He said the surf is loaded with blues. He said, "Every cast, blues on fresh mullet!" Last night Vinny Rossi and Joni (store staff) fished the north end of the Island. Vinny landed one bass on a GreenPoint Sharp Eye metal lip swimmer. Joni caught two on a white rubber shad. Received: Sep 22, 2011 5:15 PM Subject: Delaware Fishing Finally was able to fish on Wednesday, September 21. I had eight nice keeper sea bass and a good eating size bluefish. Also had about sevent five or so short sea bass and a good couple dozen snapper size bluefish. Also, if you look on page twenty five of the current The Fisherman Magazine in the upper left corner you will see your very own Jim T. Bridgewater. A fluke I caught on the Angler out of Atlantic Highlands, NJ, ~ Jim T., Bridgewater, NJ September 21th, 2011 Received: Sep 21, 2011 3:55 PM Subject: Hi Flier Open Boat Trips. Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun Sept. 22 to 25 OK, I had enough. I’m throwing the ropes. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday Sept. 22 to 25 are Open Boat Trips for ???... FISH! The sea condition looks good for a stretch through the weekend. I‘m bringing a bucket of spearing, a barrel with live peanut bunker, the wireline rods, and more. The plan is to check out Barnegat Ridge for bonita and albacore. If the water color is not good, then we can head north to the Mud Hole in search of bonita, albies, and maybe some mahi or bluefin tuna. If the word is that the water color is green there also, we will pass on the Mud Hole, and run up to Shrewbury Rocks for the big blues and stripers that are being trolled. The boat has been tied to the dock too long during this awful stretch of weather, we are in prime time, end of September, we’re going to catch something. Even the wirelining can be fun if you do it right. We have these short jigging rods that you hold in your hand and jig the rod while we are trolling. The lure is a 2 ounce bucktail with a strip of pork rind and the hit is a train wreck you won’t soon forget. The big blues and the stripers both hit this way. If we get enough of a workout with that technique, then I'll have the umbrella rigs to put out for a break. Leaving each day at 6 AM and returning at 2 PM or later. The cost is $200 per person. I limit the boat to three people. Everything is provided. All fish are shared among the passengers. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 September 20th, 2011 Received: Sep 20, 2011 9:06 AM Subject: Weekly BHCFA Report A sudden dip in temperatures and some days of strong winds have made fishing more difficult for the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association, but certainly not impossible. Between tropical storms and a series of northeasters, there have been large waves to fight on the ocean and much higher than normal tides in the bay waters inside Long Beach Island. The “Miss Beach Haven” with Captains Brant Whittaker and Frank Camarda and fought the 4-6 foot waves last weekend for a steady day of action for its anglers. Mate Sal Rosa reports the action was constant on sea bass, weakfish, snapper blues, and a few fluke. Although most of the fish had to be returned as they were either out of season or too short, the anglers who made the trip enjoyed the constant action. The “Miss Beach Haven” will be out again this weekend trying to end the fluke season on an up note. For information on the 80' "Miss Beach Haven" contact Capt. Frank Camarda, phone: (609) 978-9951, email: MissBeachHaven@aol.com Captain Lindsay Fuller on the “June Bug” had an offshore trolling trip over the weekend to the canyons and managed to put two yellowfin tuna in the box. The trip was originally slated to be an overnight combination chunking and trolling trip, but the fierce sea conditions nixed that plan. Choosing a window in the bad weather, Captain Lindsay made the trip hoping to get in on some of the hot tuna and wahoo action that had been around earlier in the week. The rough seas made fishing difficult and resulted in only the two tuna and one false albacore being reeled in. For information on the 41' "June Bug" contact Capt. Lindsay Fuller, (609) 685-2839, email: CaptLindsay@Fish-JuneBug.com (If you contact any captain for a charter, please mention that you read their report on the Fisherman's Headquarters Fishing Report. Thank you) Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association (BHCFA) can be found at www.BHCFA.com . ~ Jim Hutchinson Sr. I packed up my gear and headed up to the Montauk "Mecca" on Sunday afternoon. Arrived at midnight, got a couple hours of sleep and hit the beach. Still in the dark I was greeted with fish right off of the bat. It started off red hot and continued strong all day. The fishing was great fun catching schoolie sized bass (about 10-12 pound fish) in heavy current but I was shocked at the lack of other surfcasters. It was for the most part uncrowded. The bass had the mullet pinned to the beach all day ambushing the schools that washed out into the white water and rips. Any one looking to get into 1st Class fishing, pack up and head up to the current Capital of Surfcasting now. I will be back up as soon as possible. Registration has already begun for the Fall Derby which starts in a couple of weeks. When you register, you might want to also consider signing up for our Striper Derby Calcutta. The Long Beach Island Fishing Club held its Powder Puff & Junior Members Fishing Derby this past Sunday. The club reported that the beach front produced small blues (10-12" range) and the bay side of the Inlet was stacked with blowfish. Joan Sweet caught 72 blowfish using a small piece of worm. She reported that the DynaBait freeze dried worms are convenient, easy to use and are a productive fish catching bait. The club wants to remind surf anglers that this upcoming weekend (Saturday, September 24th) is the 65th Annual World Series of Surf Fishing Tournament hosted by the Long Beach Island Fishing Club (affiliated with ASAC, JCAA, RFA, IGFA). Josh (store staff) fished the mid-island bay-side last night after work. He caught a bunch of small blues. He mentioned that there were a pair of weakfish caught by an angler fishing the same area. ~ Fish Head Greg September 18th, 2011 Received: Sep 18, 2011 7:33 PM Subject: Fwd: Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters The back bay and inlet continue to be the best light tackle game in town with sea bass fishing closed and porgy fishing not yet in high gear. Anglers onboard the Reel Fantasea scored a variety of schoolie stripers, bluefish, fluke, seabass, blackfish, porgies, puppy drum, "king size" king fish, tons of blowfish and even a small pompano along with a few other species as well. Regulars Jay Simmons and Ernie Rosenberg started the week teaming up for a back to back double feature in search of blackfish and porgies only to find quality seabass [ catch and release] responding to their offerings. Moving back to the inlet and back bay the guys scored well with bluefish and loads of blowfish. With overnight temps dropping and a brisk North wind the guys started the next day with a solid bluefish bite at the inlet before moving to the back bay mixing it up with schoolie stripers, king fish, fluke, blowfish, puppy drum and loads of blowfish until trips end. Steve Vavricka started his day in sporty inlet conditions due to an amped up North-East wind . With bait and fish breaking water all around us we stayed long enough to connect with some feisty blues before conditions sent us packing up. Heading into the protection of the back bay, Steve had "drop and reel" blowfish and black drum action until trips end. I still have a few dates left in October and November for those interested in striper/bluefish/sea bass/blackfish where you can mix it up between all species for private charters or watch for open boat availability. Remember to join us on Face Book to view this weeks photos. ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217 September 17th, 2011 I plugged the rocks in search of bass last night and then again this morning. I had one good hit last night. It locked up for a few seconds pulling drag; however, the hook slipped out. That was it for the night. Not another touch. Not a touch today, but anglers on the rocks fishing bait caught tog (mostly shorts) as well as blowfish. John from the LBI Fishing Club stopped by this afternoon to get more bait, he ran dry. While here John shared his morning report, "caught 5 short stripers up on the North End of the Island on clam." Next Saturday is the World Series of Surf Fishing hosted by the Long Beach Island Fishing Club. There will be angling teams from all over fishing it down hard! It's always a great time. Registration starts at 6 AM. ~ Fish Head Greg September 16, 2011 Received: Sep 16, 2011 8:20 AM Subject: Ocean report Tuesday 9/13 Fished with Capt. Bob on his Bella Vida out of Lanoka Harbor. Drifted the area of the Sumner wreck just outside the inlet. None stop action on croakers and small blues. Capt. Bob caught a Stargazer which was released along with a double header throwback fluke. ~ Capt. Chappo September 15, 2011 Uncle Moe surf fished the Surf City surf by buck-tailing during the second hour of the outgoing tide this morning. At about noon time he hooked up with a very short Striper. Uncle Moe mentioned a fellow angler landed a 17" Fluke yesterday in the same area. Uncle Moe noticed no mullet or bird action in the surf were he was fishing today. September 13, 2011 11:45 AM A local angler (and once a long time resident of eastern Long Island) George Green weighed in a 34-lb 6-oz bass today. He caught the bass yesterday evening about 10pm (9-12-11) at Montauk on a bucktail. We received our first delivery of fresh mullet yesterday (what a coincidence, yesterday was the full moon) but it's almost gone. We hope to receive more later today. The ocean temperatures are warm, high 60's but they should begin to drop throughout the month. Also expect the air temps to begin to drop with a dip in the jet stream coming soon, the forecasted low on Thursday is predicted to be 48 degrees. Fall is right around the corner. Get your gear ready for the Fall Derby, October 8th - December 4th. Received: Sep 13, 2011 11:53 AM Subject: BHCFA Report The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are working hard to find fish. With the black sea bass season having closed on Sunday until November 1, they are finding one less species to target. Everyone continues to look for fluke, but that species has been playing hide and seek with everyone. The various storms recently have chased practically all of the fluke into the ocean, but they do not seem to be biting at any of the customary spots. There has been some chatter of fluke in the deeper water areas, 85-feet plus, but even there fish are scarce. Captain Fran Verdi of the “Dropoff” says he will be targeting fluke until September 25 as well as hitting some of the deeper water wrecks that are holding blackfish, porgies, cod, and ling. He plans to start striped bass trips in mid October. There are small bluefish around close to the beach, in the inlet, and even smaller ones in the bay waters. Anglers looking for fluke in the deeper water have reported some very big croakers on the bottom that are very hungry. Offshore reports have been scarce thanks to the rough waters recently. Boats that did make it to the canyons have reported a good showing of white marlin along with some decent catches of yellowfin tuna. For information on the 25' "Drop Off" contact Capt. Fran Verdi, (609) 868-8970, or Email: fpvmdv@comcast.net (If you contact any captain for a charter, please mention that you read their report on the Fisherman's Headquarters Fishing Report. Thank you) Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association (BHCFA) can be found at www.BHCFA.com . ~ Jim Hutchinson Sr. September 12, 2011 Navigational Hazard Notice: Beach Haven and Long Beach Township started finding large pieces of lumber on the southern beaches of LBI this morning, appears to be from an old pier or bulkhead. Use extreme caution during the next couple of days navigating the inshore waters. 7:45 PM Chet stopped in this evening. He reported action at the rocks with live crabs. He had 13 tog with only one keeper. Also had a big triggerfish. Another angler nearby caught a pair of triggers and a 19 and a 27" fluke. We also had a customer come into the shop to pick up live bloods and reported catching a 17" kingfish. 1:00 PM This morning I witnessed (along with a couple other surfers in the water) an epic rodeo and air show right up the street here in Ship Bottom. It started off with the school of dolphin rounding up a pack of mullet. Next they were breaking water, pulling off rolls and flips. Just before it was over they caught some waves and moved down the beach. As far as fishing goes... Tog fishing up at the Inlet Rocks has been good! There are a number of customers catching up there on live green crab as well as clam. FYI The Sea Bass Season closed yesterday, opens again on November 1st. We haven't heard any thing off of the beach today; however, over the weekend anglers caught kingfish and small blues off of the beach. The Fall Derby is less than one month away. The registrations are in, but the hats and badge number buttons are not. Sign ups have begun and YES, we are hosting our $10 Striped Bass Calcutta! September 11, 2011 If you can, please offer some prayers for Walter Fenton who is recovering from a stroke that he suffered just before the weekend. The prognosis is good but your prayers are appreciated. Walter has been our friend for over 30-years and a very serious Brigantine Surf Fisherman for many years. He is the surfangler that you see casting the loaded surf rod in the header on our main Fisherman's Headquarters web site. We wish Walter a speedy recovery. ~ Fish Head Stan & Greg Received: Sep 11, 2011 11:19 AM Subject: Barnegat Bay Fishing Report Not much to report this week, as we're still trying to recover from the storms and the immense amount of runoff that resulted. Back bay fluke fishing has pretty much come to a halt, and even the near shore lumps aren't producing real well since the storm. Hopefully the murky water will start to clear up this coming week and we can finally take advantage of the 2011 regulations allowing us the first September fluke fishing we've had in several years. With sea bass closing today and no sign of albies yet, we'll need that to carry us over for a couple of weeks until striper season gets going next month. We'll be taking a couple of days off, but our preparation for the fall striper run gets underway in earnest this week with fresh line going on all the reels, drags checked, several hundred rigs tied, and the bait pens readied to welcome some striper candy. We should have live spot in the pens around the first week of October, and will start running striped bass trips around that time. I still have a number of weekdays open during the prime weeks, so now's the time to lock in some of the best fishing of the year. ~ Capt. Jack Shea, "Rambunctious", Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632 Received: Sep 11, 2011 8:09 PM Subject: Fwd: Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters "Lots of precipitation" and small craft warnings due to Northerly tracking tropical systems lead to "lack of participation" with sea condition running 5-10ft offshore. Tropical systems continue to influence our offshore waters limiting our options to back/back bay. Add a waxing (building) moon that made inlet conditions less than desirable due to a combination of rough sea conditions and strong currents running at warp speed. Thankfully, the back bay continued to offered up it's bounty of light tackle action and variety of blowfish, small seabass, bluefish and a newly found and very cooperative puppy drum bite (small juvenile black drum) to keep the rods bending. As we progress into our late Summer and soon to be early Fall the cooler nights and shorter days will trigger the inevitable "Southerly Sojourn" response of both bait and gamefish resulting in what should be some of the best action found anywhere along the coast! Striped bass, bluefish, seabass (opens Nov 1st) , Blackfish (liberal November 15), porgies are just some of the species we will be targeting throughout the remainder of the season. I have an Open Boat or private trip available for Thursday September 15 or Friday the 16 for a combination of... Back bay/inlet; striped bass, bluefish, blackfish, blowfish, puppy drum... and wreck; porgies and blackfish. We still have a few choice dates still left on the calendar for those who would like to join us for a private or open boat during the Fall migration season. Back by popular demand, I will be also running the "Friday Night at the Fights" throughout the Fall, these trips will be a max of 3 anglers and will leave at 4 PM and return at 8 PM for those who's work schedule does not allow for day time fishing. ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217 September 8, 2011 9:30 AM Joni (store staff) needed to get a line wet so he headed out the other night after work. He hammer the weakies on the bay side an an undisclosed location. Light tackle fun fishing! Yesterday's New from the NJ DEP - The majority of the state's shellfish beds have been reopened! The NJ Department of Environmental Protection has reopened the vast majority of shellfish beds in the state after tissue samples collected over the weekend met federal health standards. The beds were closed Aug. 27 as Hurricane Irene approached New Jersey. Commissioner Bob Martin signed an order reopening shellfish beds in the ocean from Sandy Hook to Cape May Point and reopening estuarine shellfish beds from the Metedeconk River to Cape May Point. The order returns the beds to the harvest classification status that was in effect prior to passage of Hurricane Irene. For more information on the reopening visit https://www.state.nj.us/dep/newsrel/2011/11_0109.htm on the DEP website. Received: Sep 7, 2011 7:34 PM Subject: Long Beach Island H.O.F.N.O.D Surf Fishing Tournament Results The 7th Annual Hooked On Fishing, Not On Drugs Kids Surf Fishing Tournament (H.O.F.N.O.D) was held on Saturday, August 13th. A HUGE thank you to all the members, including their wives, children and friends, who helped make this event another success. Once again we received numerous compliments from many sources on how well the tournament was run. You should all be extremely proud. We would also like to thank the A.S.A.C. organization for their outstanding support and assistance again this year. There were 190 children register and they caught a total of 48 fish – Not too shabby. We didn’t top last year’s total of 177 fish, but a good time was had by all. Mostly kingfish, flounder and small bluefish were caught. The Cummings brothers (who were tied with the most points) landed some nice kingfish. A point was based on the length of the fish. All fish counted. This year’s winners were: 8 & Under Age Group 1st – Matt Cummings (33.50 Pts) 1st – Kevin Cummings (33.50 Pts) 2nd – Dylan O’Connell (25.75 Pts) 3rd – Daniel O’Toole (20.50 Pts) 9-12 Age Group 1st – Ryan O’Connell (26.50 Pts) 2nd – Shannon Devitt (20.25 Pts) 3rd – Holden Lewis (16.75 Pts) 13-17 Age Group 1st – Francis Alvare (15.25 Pts) 2nd – Kelsey Hyland (12.75 Pts) 3rd – Mathew Mazzatta (12.50 Pts) - Doug Brown/John Castrati, LBI Fishing Club September 6, 2011 Received: Sep 6, 2011 6:34 PM Subject: Weekly BHCFA Report The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are looking forward to an improvement in the weather as well as the fishing action. Hurricane Irene churned up area waters and pushed most of the summer flounder out of the bays into the ocean. She must also have done something to the fluke’s appetites as local captains had difficulty finding much in the way of concentrations of fish. Some boats reported some decent black sea bass action, especially on some of the less fished wrecks. The sea bass season stops as of September 11, however, and does not return until November 1. Just as the waters started to settle from Irene, and the bay water color went back from brown to a more natural grayish-green, Hurricane Lee decided to show up and make an impression. Weather reports indicate that the Beach Haven area will experience northeast winds along with rain and some thunderstorms right up to the weekend. The captains are hoping that this weekend will see a return to some decent action on the fluke. The offshore bite for tuna and mahi-mahi was strong after Irene, and if the weather conditions permit trips to the canyons, that should be a good option. Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association (BHCFA) can be found at www.BHCFA.com . ~ Jim Hutchinson Sr. September 5, 2011 5:00 PM Alex and Tommy stopped by the shop today to report their action from yesterday. They fished the Inlet yesterday and caught 2 fluke and a bass on a bucktail tipped with squid. Last night all they had at the Shi Bottom pier was sand sharks. 2:30 PM Hope everyone enjoyed their Labor Day Weekend! The Bay is still loaded with snappers and blowfish. There are also kingfish, small sea bass, (mostly) short fluke as well as weakfish to keep the catch interesting. Crabbing seems to be hit or miss. One customer says there are catching some good ones consistently and another reports that the crabbing is slow. Guess it depends on the location. The Barnegat Light Inlet rocks have action to offer. Blake (store staff) fished up there this morning. He caught a 21" fluke on his first cast using a leadhead bucktail tipped with a Natural Gulp Shrimp. Blake said that some shorts were also caught. More reports of bait on the move, mullet and baby bunker. It's only time until some bigger bluefish show up and then the stripers. Rumor on the street, there were some striped ones were caught off of the front beach on metals. One customer said he was walking the beach yesterday morning and saw a surfcaster land a bass. After chatting he learned that the angler caught a pair of shorts. Just a reminder: Fall is right around the corner. Mark the dates! The 2011 LBI Surf Fishing Classic October 8th - December 4th. Yes, we are running our Striper Side Bet Calcutta again this fall. We got word that the wreck fishing was drop and reel at the Garden State Reefs. Some beautiful tog! There has got to be sea bass and fluke there as well. Too bad the marine forecast isn't better: small craft advisory is in effect and there will be a strong long period swell (with a local wind swell on top of it) from Katia all week. Received: Sep 5, 2011 11:17 AM Subject: Warning & Report Went out of BI Saturday – still some very large debris floating around – huge tree, set of stairs, etc – be careful out there. Caught a few sea bass at the wreck but also got a few blues near the surface casting a sluggos. ~SurferWeb Received: Sep 5, 2011 1:35 PM Subject: Fwd: Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters This week we continued where we left off prior to the hurricane, mixing it up between a variety of species. Although the bays water quality and salinity has dropped significantly the light tackle action was a steady pick at mid week and continued to heat up as the week progressed. The striped bass bite that we have been able to connect with previously was non existent this week but we were able to connect with weakfish, king fish, bluefish, fluke, seabass, mountains of tasty blowfish, porgies, sharks, sea robins, ravens... and even a juvenile lesser amber jack thrown into the mix. There really isn't a better time to introduce kids to fishing as not only will the variety hold their attention but the action is instant and non stop! Once again the tropical conga line has formed [September is hurricane season] and we will be fishing during every window of opportunity, these system can be a boon to the albie and bonito fanatics as they push clean offshore waters into the beach bringing all kinds of fantastic light tackle sight casting opportunities! Remember to book your prime Fall fishing dates! We will be targeting Fall jigging for striped bass and blues, wreckfishing for seabass, blackfish, porgies, and also looking for another inshore bluefin tuna bite. ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217 September 4, 2011 Received: Sep 4, 2011 11:48 AM Subject: Fishing Report Another short report this week as three scheduled trips were canceled due to the widespread power outages and flooding caused by the storm, keeping clients at home with their families tending to much more important matters. A lot of people were severely impacted by this storm, so let's all hope that their lives can return to normal as quickly as possible. We did get a trip in yesterday, but it sure looks like it's going to take some time for fluke fishing in the bay to return to normal. The bay water is still extremely dirty from the continuing runoff from the storm, and with more rain in the forecast and another storm potentially coming in late next week it looks like it could be a slow recovery. The good news is that there are still some fluke around (live lining peanut bunker produced some success in the inlet yesterday), and there's no shortage of small bluefish, blowfish, kingfish and even some small weakfish roaming the back bay areas. Baitfish are starting to move out of the bay, so we should start seeing albies and larger blues making their appearance shortly. The cool air the last couple of mornings is a reminder that fall striper fishing is right around the corner. I still have one weekend date available in November (11/19) and a number of mid-week dates open. As in the past, we'll be mixing it up between live lining spot in the bay and run-and-gun jugging along the beachfront when weather permits. ~ Capt. Jack Shea, "Rambunctious", Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632 Received: Sep 4, 2011 3:17 PM Subject: Sunday report Fished every place inside the inlet looking for fluke - the dike, in the inlet, just inside, double creek... etc. 4 shorts no keepers. One caught on bucktail with gulp, the others on basic squid strip and minnows. Disappointing. Tons of boats in the inlet. ~ DRA September 3, 2011 Rick Hawrylo of Mercerville fished the Inlet near the Lighthouse all day yesterday with his kids (Ricky, Erik, Kelly) and their friends (Matt Knappenberger as well as Adam and Tyler Petris). The group got into some hot action! They caught around 60 bluefish and almost a hundred blowfish. "The bite was non-stop," Rick said, "Kelly even caught a pilot fish." As far as bait they were using clam and baby butterfish (yes baby butterfish that they cast netted in the bay a couple days ago). The group stopped by the shop this afternoon on their way back up to the Rocks for round two. September 2, 2011 5:30 PM Roy Haythorn and his son just reported a great kingfish bite off of the Brant Beach surf. They caught 25 kingfish as well as some snapper blues on both live and freeze dried bloodworms. 2:30 PM The clamming grounds are shut down. Don't stress, we did load up on salted pints of surf clams. It looks like the availability of fresh clams is unknown at this time. For your information here is the situation: State Shellfish Beds Closed Due to Effects of Irene - At sunset on August 27th the NJDEP Closed the Shellfish Beds Statewide Due to Hurricane Irene! It is said to be a precautionary measure to protect public health. Due to the flooding and sewer overflow from Hurricane Irene the water quality may render shellfish dangerous. The NJDEP has condemned and prohibits the harvesting of all shellfish (both recreational and commercial) from all New Jersey State Waters until further notice. Please refer to the "What's New" section on the bureau's homepage at https://www.nj.gov/dep/bmw/ for updates. Any questions can be directed to the Bureau of Marine Water Monitoring at (609) 748-2000. Once again there was bait present this morning! This time it didn't look like spearing (like yesterday, the day before, the day before that, and the day before that and ...) because the body profile was much larger. It looked like mullet. They were not podded up. It was just a handful of scattered bait in the surf zone. While up on the beach I spoke to an angler about 7:30am. He caught two kingfish and a small blue on live bloodworms. After talking to one of our bunker guys yesterday when he delivered. He reported lots of blues and a decent number of croakers being caught. Hopefully the croakers and bigger bluefish will move into the beach with this persistent onshore wind and easterly swell. ~ FishHead.Greg 10:00 AM Alex McLaughlin stopped by the shop this morning stoke to share his report from last night. He stopped in yesterday late afternoon to get some bait and then headed out. He reported that he fished until 11pm because the fishing was so good. Alex got into a variety of fish: a couple kingfish, a couple weakfish, a couple blowfish, about ten sand sharks and a three foot eel. This grom is owning the pier! He's on it everyday trying to one up his brother Tommy. September 1, 2011 3:00 PM We welcome September with open arms! On the fluke scene there is little to report. The rocks up at the "Light" still have action. The beach still has small blues and kingfish. The bay is still loaded with blowfish and snapper blues. Store staffer, Eddy, has been fishing the various bulkheads and docks around town at night, "Snappers, blowfish and kingfish. No weakies for me." There is lots of bait in the area! Mullet, baby bunker and spearing are darting around. The cool nights as of late are getting us in the fall mood. After a long hot summer, I think we are all ready for the fall fishing season to begin. It's about time for the albies to come within a stones throw from the beach. These light tackle screamers love clean ocean water and they come in tight to the beach when bait and water is present. Look for them in the near future! Berkley Striper Club Fall Fishing Derby begins today! Click for more info... www.berkeleystriperclub.org August 30, 2011 Received: Aug 30, 2011 9:30 PM Subject: 1 spot left for Friday Sept 1, bay/inlet 8hr marathon. 1 spot left for this Friday, we will be fishing for everything that swims our bays and inlet! The trip will be a 8-hr Marathon bay/inlet looking to score as many species as possible. I am also looking to score as many Barnegat Bay Grand Slams as possible [3 in the last trip 2 prior to that] along with blowfish [absolutely delicious and not poisonous], blackfish, triggerfish, burr fish, kingfish. Plus hopefully a few surprises. The next available dates are not until Sept 18th , the weather looks great and we will be making the most of it ! Come join us and meet new fishing friends. Also remember that you do not require a license or registry on board the Reel Fantasea. All bait, tackle, rods, rigs, lures, and even fish cleaning is included. ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217 Received: Aug 30, 2011 8:38 PM Subject: BHCFA Report The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association breathed a collective sigh of relief when Hurricane Irene spared the Beach Haven area from any severe damage. Despite the storm not being quite as destructive as billed, the captains did not regret any of the pre-storm preparations that helped to keep their boats and equipment safe. Those with smaller boats pulled them out of the water and stored them safely on land for the weekend. The larger boats were tucked away in safe harbors with extra lines in place and a myriad of tasks taken care of. The question now is just what kind of effect Irene will have on the fishing. Just prior to the storm, Captain Tim Knorr had his boat the “William Knorr” out on four inshore trips and reported a definite improvement in the number and size of the sea bass being caught. He fished the Garden State Reef, the inlet, and the Barnegat Reef where he managed to boat some nice fluke to 24-inches in addition to some nice sea bass. Capt. Tim Knorra of the 34' Wayne Beal "William Knorr" can be contacted at phone (908)963-1190 Anglers wishing to catch sea bass are reminded that the season will close after September 11 until it re-opens November 1. The summer flounder season will close for the year on September 25. Although the storm did muddy the bay waters quite a bit, some captains believe the storm will be a benefit to ocean fishing. The green algae bloom that had been just off the beaches should be dissipated now and the upheaval of water will help add oxygen. Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association (BHCFA) can be found at www.BHCFA.com . ~ Jim Hutchinson Sr. August 29, 2011 This morning, small snappers (bluefish) were on Ship Bottom's front beach chasing bait. There is a small ground swell that should allow a 4 oz sinker to hold. Today the water was not clear yet but nowhere close to the chocolate color it was yesterday. At the rate the water has been settling by tomorrow it should be cleared up. We await your reports. ~ Fish Head Greg The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) have established the 2012 commercial quotas and recreational harvest limits for summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, and bluefish. The Commission's actions are final and apply to state waters (0-3 miles from shore). The Council will be forwarding its recommendations to NOAA's Northeast Regional Administrator for final approval. A table which summarizes those actions/recommendations can be viewed at https://www.asmfc.org/press_releases/2011/pr34Mid-AtlanticSpecies2012Specs.pdf on the ASMFC website. The Commission approved and Council recommended a 7% increase in the summer flounder harvest limits from 2011 using the process detailed in the recently approved Annual Catch Limit and Accountability Measure Amendment. The commercial quota was set at 18.95 million pounds and the recreational harvest limit at 12.63 million pounds for the 2012 fishing year. The Commission approved and Council recommended a commercial quota of 34.43 million pounds and a recreational harvest limit of 10.85 million pounds for the scup fishery. These limits are 66% and 86% higher for the commercial and recreational fisheries, respectively, compared to 2011 levels. The Board adopted a new landing limit to not exceed 50,000 pounds per day for the Winter I fishery (January 1-April 30), previously it was a one week landing limit of 30,000 pounds. For black sea bass, the Commission approved and Council recommended the same commercial quota as 2011, 1.76 million pounds. However, they recommended a lower limit of 1.36 million pounds for the recreational fishery to address the management uncertainty associated with that fishery. A benchmark stock assessment for black sea bass will be reviewed in December of this year that will provide an update on the status of the stock. Finally, the Commission approved and the Council recommended a commercial quota of 10.50 million pounds and a recreational harvest limit of 17.19 million pounds for the bluefish fishery. These levels are about 1% higher compared to the 2011 limits. Received: Aug 29, 2011 9:30 PM Subject: Hi Flier -- Back Bay Mixed Bag Open Boat We are running an open boat back bay trip this Wednesday, August 31 from Noon to 5 PM. We have been doing very well with shedder crab and live grass shrimp from the BI Buoy to the 42 Buoy, anchoring in 7 to 9 feet of water. We are using the ultra lite six pound spinning outfits armed with 1/8 ounce pink or chartruese jigheads tipped with shedder crab. The weakies are in and right up until Irene we were catching 12 to 20 inch fish. The goal is to see how many different species we can catch on any given trip, sometimes it goes into double digits. In the mix have been weakfish, snapper blues, fluke, blowfish, burrfish (porcupine puffer), sand shark, kingfish, sea robin, sea bass, lizardfish, croaker. Everything in the bay eats this gourmet bait. The ultra lite tackle keeps it fun and the bigger weakies really test that tackle. The cost is $130 per person. One guy is signed up already, there is room for two more. I have a charter that same morning from 6 AM to 11 AM for the same type of fishing, so I should be well dialed in to what is going on. Call to reserve or get more info. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 Received: Aug 29, 2011 9:09 AM Subject: Barnegat Bay Fishing Report That was quite a week. Between the earthquake, a massive hurricane coming ashore just down the road, and going through a mandatory evacuation it seemed like there was always something to worry about. But it's over, we're back home, and we should have the boat back at the dock sometime later today. Time to get back to fishing again. Not a lot to report on from last week. All of our late week trips were canceled due to the impending storm and our Wednesday trip was cut short by a minor medical emergency that required attention. But while we only fished for 40 minutes on Wednesday, it sure appeared that the back bay fluke bite was continuing to be on fire with 10 or 11 fish coming over the side before we had to head back in. Hard to believe that catching a fluke every three or four minutes would become the norm, but that's what we've been experiencing on our charters for the past three or four weeks. If only that could continue. It's always difficult to tell what a late summer storm like this will do to our fluke fishery. It will certainly take a day or two for the effects of the run-off from all the rain to clear. The big question is whether the storm pushed the fish out of the bay and if so, how far offshore have they moved. It would be a shame to see the storm put an end to the fluke fishing when the feds have finally given us the okay to fish for them through September. We'll be resuming our charter schedule on Wednesday, so we should have a better idea of what's going on by our next report. ~ Capt. Jack Shea, "Rambunctious", Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632 August 28, 2011 "We survived Irene" and will be open again starting tomorrow morning at 5 AM. We hope all also went well for all our fellow anglers. Received: Aug 28, 2011 9:41 AM Subject: Reel Fantasea Report What a wild and woolly week to live on the East coast. If earthquakes and hurricanes are your thing, this was the place to be! I hope everyone has made it through all the events this week with minimal ill effects. I just completed a quick assessment of Family, friends and property and thankfully everyone and everything is intact and we will be back up and running in a couple of days. Although the mandatory state wide coastal evacuation lead to most of the trips being canceled we were able to complete a couple of very successful backbay/inlet trips with fantastic action and variety! Anglers on board the Reel Fantasea enjoyed light tackle action with stripers [keeper to 29"] weakfish, bluefish, fluke, blowfish, kingfish, burrfish, small seabass, porgies, small sharks, sea robins and ravens, rays, skates... along with a few other species. The trip of the week was the Jay Simmons party who scored 3 Barnegat Bay Grand Slams [striper, bluefsih, fluke, weakfish] on 1 trip! Skillful "Reel Fantasea" Angler of the week goes to fishermen extraordinaire Jay Simmons who single handily scored 2 slams! I'm looking forward to getting back to fishing this week and see "what the storm dragged in", as there is usually some southern speedsters [pelagics] that will show up closer inshore and could stay for sometime afterwards, if bait, water temp and water quality come together. ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217 August 25, 2011 9:30 AM - Batten Down the hatches! Robbie Vallone put some time in off of the beach this morning casting some plugs. He reported that the water cooled slightly. No fish. Wow there is a lot to report on but not much on the fishing front. I woke up, checked the surf this morning and found a news crew setting up at the top of the street. Fox 5 is shooting live right up the street from the shop. Would of been much better to see Jim Cantore on the scene. So there's a lot going on here on LBI. Actually historic! This will go down in the record books as a crazy end to a summer full of wonderful weather and fishing. First it was the algae bloom which is still present offshore. [The algae bloom was first detected via satellite in June and has been growing ever since. It's massive and concentrated. The upwelling that I have reported here many times is its the fuel. The colder more nutrient rich water blooms with sunlight. The problem with it is, once the algae dies it will decompose and use up the vital dissolved oxygen which our fisheries depend on. It could cause fish kills but hopefully not.] Next it is the earthquake and now Irene heading right for us! Mid-Island Surf Conditions (Ship Bottom): At the time of this post the surf up the street was pushing in around 2-3' with plus sets occasionally breaking on the outer bar ~ 4' shoulder to head high faces. Right now we have a prefrontal south southeast windswell which is mixed in with Irene's forerunners, a more dominate (increasing) south east groundswell. The sets are rolling in across multiple beaches and are also very spaced out due to the long period. There is a good sweep due to the angle of the swell, the breezy south wind and the lingering windswell. Expect increasing swell throughout the day today. Tomorrow morning is forecasted to be the calm before the storm: light west wind with a solid swell coming up through the day. Look for over head surf with clean conditions! Best case scenario, Irene takes the furthest east track. We would get lots of swell, wind and rain. Worst case scenario she comes right up the coast. Then we still get lots of swell but more extreme wind and rain. Storm surge on our low level Island is a major concern. Unfortunately the newest models are predicting the worst. Let's keep those fingers crossed Irene drifts east as much as possible. Better be safe than sorry, Batten Down the Hatches! August 24, 2011 5:00 PM - Batten Down the hatches! This one looks like it's coming too close for comfort. We just had another fresh load of bunker delivered and live green crabs. We had a beautiful fluke weighed this afternoon by Jerry Dubeau of the Village Harbour Fishing Club, a 6-lb 13-oz. Jerry reported that he was fishing out at the Tires aboard the Big Wrench. Blake (store staff) had six fluke off of the beach on the North End of the Island yesterday afternoon, no keepers. Received: Aug 24, 2011 1:12 PM Subject: BHCFA Report The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are keeping wary eyes on the progress of Hurricane Irene. Even though all are hoping that Beach Haven avoids a direct hit, it is a sure bet that fishing will be disrupted for a few days. Recent fishing trips have found keeper fluke a bit difficult to locate. Most of the fluke have either left the bay waters or are massed together close to and in the inlet. The action at the Little Egg Reef has slowed, but captains are finding some larger fish at the Garden State South Reef and at some wrecks even farther out. Some of these deeper waters are giving up some cold water fish such as cod and ling along with some blackfish. Captain George Finck of “Spare Time Charters” had a bachelor party out recently for a day of fishing and fun. Scott Wenelast and friends treated Erik Leamin to a good day on the water with a decent catch of fluke and sea bass. Contact: Spare Time Charter Fishing, 38' Henriques, Capt George Finck Cell Phone: 609-618-3877 Phone: 609-494-5967 Beach Haven NJ Closer to the beach there are good numbers of cocktail blues that are being caught on the troll and by casting into diving birds. Croakers have also shown up in 35-feet of water just outside the inlet. The canyons have been very productive the past week or so with some very nice catches of yellowfin and bigeye tuna along with good action on billfish and mahi. Once Irene leaves the area by the beginning of next week, this fishing should only get better. Additional information on the association can be found at www.BHCFA.com. ~ Jim Hutchinson Sr. August 23, 2011 5:00 PM - Fresh Load of Bunker Just Arrived! We felt that VA quake for sure here in Ship Bottom this afternoon. I'm sure many others felt it too. Crazy! The only other time I felt one was in Puerto Rico with the after shock from the devastating Haiti quake. To be honest this one felt way more intense. ~ FishHead Greg Alex and Thomas McLaughlin of Ship Bottom were out today with their father and a friend. They reported 26 fluke with 7 keepers. They got 'em all drifting the BL Inlet with bucktail and teaser. 10:00 AM Right now the current weather conditions are flawless. There is a light breeze out of the North that is expected to turn more Westerly. Both the ocean and bay are like a lake. Tomorrow looks like another great day with lots of sun again just with a stiff afternoon breeze out of the South which will make for a great drift. On Thursday, later in the day expect the first signs of Hurricane Irene. A small long period groundswell to show from approaching Irene. This swell will become stronger Friday and into the weekend. Eddy and Blake (two store staffers) hit the rocks this morning. The reported thousands of small blowfish as well a couple sea bass and a few fluke. They both said that they had some really good thumps on green crab but neither hooked any tog. Hook-n-Ladder Fluke Tournament Hosted by Stafford Township Vol. Fire Co. Station 47 currently is still scheduled for this weekend; however, it might be postponed. Please stay tuned. For those not aware of this great fluke Tournament the Captain’s Meeting is, Friday, August 26, 2011 7:00 PM at Calloway’s Restaurant & Bar 597 Main Street West Creek, NJ 08092. Tournament, Saturday, August 27, 2011 Fishing from 7 AM - 3 PM Weigh In: 3 PM - 5 PM Location: Causeway Boat Rentals (entry forms available at this location) Ship Bottom, NJ 08008. Hook ‘n Hog BBQ & Beer, Sunday, August 28, 2011 Buffet lunch with beer, wine & soda - 1 PM - 5 PM Stafford Twp. Volunteer Fire Co., Station 47 133 Stafford Ave. Manahawkin, NJ 08050 For more detail check out https://www.station47.com/ Received: Aug 23, 2011 6:04 PM Subject: Today's report Went out today to the Rutgers cans in a little sporty conditions to find the ocean level out around 12:00 PM. Brought over the rails small sea bass, cocktail blues, the largest sea robin I have ever seen, multiple flounder including one 20" and the surprise of the day was an Amberjack. What a great day to be on the water. The algae cloud is still around. The water by the cans and LE reef site had a greenish brown tint to it but does not appear to bother the fish. When Irene shows up she might change the water for the better. ~ Martin M. August 22, 2011 Received: Aug 22, 2011 7:44 PM Subject: Bay report from trip today Fished with my son today on Barnegat Bay, west side not too far from the Barnegat bathing beach. Chummed with clam, and used some two hook rigs with florescent floaters and 1 oz weights. Clam is all they wanted today, and boy did we have a fun time. Caught over 30 blow fish, 5 of them 8 inches or over, 3 kingfish 8-10 inches, 1 8-inch black sea bass, and a ton of cocktail blues. There are plenty and various fish in the bay, what a way to spend the day with my son. ~ Wayne Hopkins 11:00 AM Lost Tackle Box - Left on the Ship Bottom Boat Ramp Pier Sunday night. If found please give us a call 609-494-5739 Inlet: Nick Remer and his buddy hammered some small fish off the rocks yesterday. "I was pulling tog after tog out of the hole until I ran out of green crabs. No keepers." Nick said, "My friend was constantly catching and releasing small blowfish. The rocks are loaded with life were hundred up there." August 21, 2011 2:00 PM Inlet: Jason DeCarlo was on it again! He got into the action earlier today on the jetty. Jason reported lots of fluke and small sea bass. He caught three fluke and unfortunately lost a nice one trying to get 'em up on the rocks. Jason said, "We were a little early today. Our numbers would have been higher if we fished past the high tide. Still a good day on the rocks." Ocean: Rich Rolenc just weighed in a 7-lb 7-oz fluke for the Forked River Tuna Club's Fluke & Bluefish Tournament (currently running until the 27th). He caught it in the ocean (out of the south end of the Island ) on a bucktail. 1:00 PM Beach: John Parzych fished the surf on the North End of the Island. He caught 5 kingfish and some fluke on live bloodworms. Offshore: Captain Stew Hitchner of the Pez Machine pushed off Saturday late morning. They trolled till late in the day and set up on the chunk. Stew reported a great trip, "a dozen mahi (on troll and chunk), released a white (troll), released a sword (chunk) and we went 24 for 32 on yellowfin tuna (chunk) released 9." Chunk those butters hard! The Pez Machine still has some prime dates open in September. Contact Captain Stew Hitchner the book your trip: Pez Machine Sportfishing 609-287-5136 Received: Aug 21, 2011 7:09 PM Subject: 2 Barnegat Bay Grand Slams! Another fun and entertaining week for the light tackle enthusiasts as the variety of species continues to keep the rods bending and anglers smiling and having a blast!. This week saw very good to excellent action with blues, fluke, schoolie stripers including a nice 31" keeper, weakfish, blowfish, kingfish, burrfish, eel, blackfish, porgies, triggerfish, cownosed rays. John Santonasta and son started the week with a "3-hr special" mixing it up with 1-3lbs blues on light spinning tackle and a robust blowfish bite before trips end. The Chris Simmons Party was up next mixing it up between blues, weakfish, burrfish, kingfish, sand perch, eel just to name a few before trips end. The Mark Hanson party was out to enjoy some more solid light tackle action with blues, stripers, weakfish, porgies, kingfish and a "mad dog" blowfish bite that reminded me of how the blowfishing used to be. The week ended on a high note for the Richard Thomas Party who were sporting our new shirts scoring not only 2 Barnegat Bay Grand Slams on 1 trip but scoring the most variety! The guys mixed it up with 13 different species including a 31" keeper striper before trips end! Remember Fall "reely" isn't that far away so call or email to book your Reel Fantasea Fishing Adventure Today ! and keep in touch with us on Face Book to view videos and photos! ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217 Received: Aug 21, 2011 2:58 PM Subject: Fluking in the Ocean I took a 6 hour trip aboard the Miss Beach Haven party boat. We didn't manage to get any keeper fluke but did land five seabass that were big enough. Overall though we all had a great day of fishing. Lots of short fluke, seabass, sea robins, and even a few starfish! I'm told that the drift was much better that yesterday even though the catch wasn't as substantial. We all had a great time and I highly recommend theMiss Beach Haven 3/4 day trips for a fun day on the ocean. ~ Daniel Plaisance Received: Aug 21, 2011 11:00 AM Subject: Barnegat Bay Fishing Report Just a short report this week as things haven't changed that much since last week's report. We've still been averaging 75-80 fluke per trip using a combo of Gulp baits and our custom teasers, with the ratio of throwbacks to keepers improving this week to around fifteen to one. Largest fish of the week was taken yesterday by George Selph, who bagged a 27" flattie while drifting a live snapper in the inlet. But by the end of the week, the best action was found concentrated in a couple of areas close to the inlet and I'm guessing that the large body of fluke we've had entertaining us in the bay for the past couple of months might finally be staging to move out into the ocean. We'll have to see what the next week to ten days brings, but the ultralight fluking has certainly been fun while it lasted. I did sneak outside on Wednesday to check out the action around a couple of the inshore wrecks, and while the fluke and sea bass were there the fishing was nothing like what we've been experiencing in the bay. That may change if my speculation that the fish are finally starting to migrate out of the bays is correct, but it's still a big ocean and I wouldn't expect it to change that drastically. I did come across a couple pods of adult bunker about five miles out that were being harassed by some monster bluefish. The two fish that I managed to get to the boat (on my way too light tackle) were each in the 18-20 pound class, so hopefully that's a sign of some great light tackle action in the coming months. Fall striper fishing is right around the corner, and if this spring was any indication it should be a great one. Time to call now to lock in a prime date. ~ Capt. Jack Shea, "Rambunctious", Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632 Received: Aug 21, 2011 9:12 AM Subject: Fishing Report Fished in 32' of water Saturday out of LE inlet with my son and found plenty of croakers and a few weakfish hitting squid and fish bites bloodworms. ~ Martin M. August 20, 2011 7:00 PM Jason DeCarlo went up to the Inlet rocks today. He nailed almost a dozen (11) fluke up to 17 inches, most were in the 14-16" range. All of his fluke were caught on white Gulp!, on the teaser. Jason shared his experience on the rocks, "While I was fishing today, a guy came up to me and asked what I was catching on. He was fishing a few hours with no luck. I showed him what I was using. He wasn't prepared, so I hooked him up with a bucktail and some gulp, and had the beginner catching some nice cookie-cutter fluke. He offered to give me 10 bucks for the stuff. I denied it and said watching him catch was payment enough. The dude had 3 by them time I left and was still fishing. That's what it's all about right there." Jason is a standout, super nice guy. He will be rewarded this fall! Good Karma Rob Vallone stopped by the shop after his second trip of the day aboard the Dorris Mae (see earlier report). He reported another slow session, "I had two shorts and a big silver eel." Rob said that there were a couple 2-4' silver eels caught on the boat as well as a load of small bluefish. Received: Aug 20, 2011 6:04 PM Subject: Snapper Blues in the Bay & Lack of Fluke/Kingfish on the Beach The snapper blues were especially abundant in the bay today and I caught about 40 using a Popper and Spearing (which I suggest cutting into small pieces). Of these 40 I kept 15 of the largest ones including four over 8.5 inches and one that was almost 10 inches. My success came mostly from 6:45 AM to around 9:30 AM so it may be worth it to go early. In the surf I have not been successful lately. I have been using a Teaser Rig with Gulp! Chartreuse Swimming Mullet and fresh cut squid along the jetties with no success at either high or low tide. I have also been striking out on my attempts to land some Kingfish with a top and bottom rig while using FishBites Bloodworm Alternative and fresh cut squid. I have been talking to other fishermen all day on the beach and none of them are getting any action either. I am hoping to try to get out on the Doris Mae for either Blues tonight or Fluke tomorrow morning and I will let you know how that goes. Best of luck to anyone fishing, ~Daniel Plaisance Try Live Bloods or our DynaBait Freeze Dried Bloodworms! Sometime the kingfish want the real deal. Received: Aug 20, 2011 4:12 PM Subject: Fluke Report Some of the wrecks away from the popular spots are producing some nice fluke. I was out on Thursday morning and nailed 4 keepers to 5lbs. Fished same location today and had 3 keepers to 23" and two beautiful sea bass (17" and 19"). All fish were caught using white/chartreuse bucktails tipped with Gulp! and minnow combo. Radio chatter indicated guys doing well off Cedars lump. ~ Capt. Brett Taylor, Reel Reaction Sportfishing 609-290-7709 FYI: We had a customer come into the shop who reported that the HC Lump was dead this afternoon. The chatter might have been bogus. 1:00 PM Rob Vallone hopped on the Dorris Mae (Party Boat out of Barnegat Light) this morning for a half day fluke trip. He reported that it was a slow morning due to the lack of drift. The ocean was a lake, "oils slick" calm. Rob did manage to catch three keepers. He also mentioned that an angler won the pool with a 6.6-lb fluke. Rob is now back out again with the boat for their second (afternoon) trip of the day. August 19, 2011 2:00 PM I was down at the bay earlier today test swimming some wooden plugs with a friend and plug builder Lou. Just about every cast there were snappers following the lures to the bulkhead. I spoke with one of our bunker guys and was stoked to hear him say, " We had our first signs of some croakers today. We also caught a few Spanish mackerel (~3-4-lbs). They were both right up tight to the beach on the north end of the Island." Still the same action in the bay, surf and ocean as reported the past couple of days. With the cool nights as of late fall is right around the corner. ~ FishHead.Greg Store staffer Steve-O was out again aboard the Carolyn Ann for their morning trip (8am-Noon). Steve caught two nice keepers bucktailing. He said that there was a beautiful 11-lb fluke an angler caught who was also bucktailing. There were a lot of nice fish caught today on the boat. Another angler Jeff and his father caught about 6 keepers bucktailing. Bucktailing is the way to go! Togging has been great off of the rocks up at Old Barny. There are also triggerfish that will take a hand off (just ask Tom P. from the Fisherman Magazine he'll tell you all about it, haha. He didn't loose a hand) as well as a million small sea bass. Received: Aug 19, 2011 1:15 PM Subject: Rock Deployment on Four Reefs Scheduled The NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife is reminding commercial and recreational fishermen that the deployment of four million cubic yards of rock generated from dredging operations is being deployed on nine New Jersey reefs over the next three years as part of the Artificial Reef Program. The rock is being transported from areas along the Kill Van Kull, Arthur Kill and Newark Bay via tugboats and deployed by hopper scows at predetermined locations. Currently scheduled deployments will begin on August 20, 2011 at the Great Egg, Atlantic City, Garden State North, and Axel Carlson reefs. Rock deployments will commence on the remaining five reefs in 2012. The deployment schedule is subject to weather and sea conditions. For further information on this project, including charts of the deployment locations for each reef, visithttp://www.njfishandwildlife.com/news/2011/reefrock8-11.htm on the division's website. ~ NJ DEP Division of Fish and Wildlife. Received: Aug 19, 2011 11:49 AM Subject: Hi Flier Inshore/Offshore Fishing Fishing on the west side of Barnegat Bay is very good right now. We are catching 12 to 15 inch weakfish on both shedder crabs and live grass shrimp. Also in the mix are kingfish, fluke, blowfish, burrfish (porcupine puffers), croakers, and more. We are using ultralite spinning tackle to amp up the fun. We are also catching small stripers and all size blackfish out on the inlet jetty, anchored up chumming with our “special bait”, using spinning tackle and no sinkers! Just a hook. Very unique way to catch these fish, and very effective. Most trips, we are combining this with the back bay and it is not uncommon to catch 10 different species. Offshore has still been a struggle with lots of green water ugly-ing up my favorite haunt: Barnegat Ridge. On Wednesday I made a run to the Atlantic Princess with Darren Dorris and Steve Spina in search of tuna. That area had lots of life including whales, blackout readings, and lots of big bluefish. Too many bluefish and green water. We were called in to the west, the Glory Hole area, where some guys were catching mahi in blue water, so we took a ride. We didn’t pass through this nice blue water on the way out because it was on a heading from Manasquan Inlet and we left out of Barnegat. The water color was beautiful, there were frigate mackerel breezing on the surface, a few flying fish, but we didn’t score with the mahi as some of the boats there did. We gave it a few hours and went into Plan B, my first ever wreck effort on a piece that a friend gave me the numbers to try. A few bergalls came over the rail, and then a cod. And more cod, probably 15 to 20 cod in two hours with only two keepers, a 22 incher and this 26 pounder that ate my clam bait right at the whistle to go home. We had a few conger eels and Steve added this three pound yellowtail flounder to the mix. That blue water in the Mud Hole has my attention right now so I will be running an open boat there tomorrow, Sat. Aug. 20 and Tues. Aug 23, armed with an arsenal of spinning rods and bait to pitch to the lobster pots and any other structure we could find for mahi mahi (dolphin). Of course we will have all of the tuna trolling and jigging gear on board just in case those fish are co-operating. 5AM to 1PM, $200 per person, maximum of three anglers, all fish are shared. On Sunday, Aug. 21, the weather looks questionable for offshore so I will run a full day open boat trip that covers all of the inshore fishing we are doing. 5 AM to 1PM, we will fish the back bay with shedder crab and/or live grass shrimp, bounce around the channels for some fluke, and finish up with the light tackle stripers and blackfish out on the jetty. $175 per person, limited to three people. The boat is also available for charter or open boat Monday afternoon, Aug. 22 from 2:30 PM to 7:30 PM in the back bay, Wednesday, Aug. 24 full or half day for inshore or offshore, and Thursday, Aug. 25 from 5AM to 11AM in the bay. If the Ridge cleans up, we can run there as well. Hope to see you on board, ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 August 18, 2011 11:30 AM The long awaited live green crabs arrived yesterday late in the day. We have had trouble keeping them in stock because of both high demand and short supply. We are trying our best to keep them in stock for angler heading up the fish off of the Inlet Rocks as well as those anglers hitting the reefs and wrecks. Ed Cherry stopped by the shop yesterday and gave us heads up that the blowfishing in the bay is PHENOMENAL!!! He said that all you need is a simple small hook tipped with a small piece of squid. We also got word that there were some small kingfish around. Off of the beach, surfcasters are still getting into small blues, fluke and kingfish! August 17, 2011 8:00 PM - Fresh Bunker & Live Greenies Came Are In Stock NOW! Steve Wolfschmidt (store staff) went out on the Carolyn Ann to catch some flatties today. He stopped into the shop to share his report. He had two beauties one 3+ and one just shy for 6-lbs. Steve-O said, "There were a bunch of keepers caught on the boat today. The anglers jigging bucktails had most of the action because there was a slow drift for the earlier part of the trip. Some fish were in the 6 and 7 pound range." Robbie Vallone went out fluking aboard the Dorris Mae. He caught a number of keepers including a 20, a 24 and a 26.5" 6-lb 10oz flatty. Received: Aug 17, 2011 3:06 PM Subject: Destroyer Radford Now Part of Artificial Reef New Jersey's Artificial Reef Program marked an historic achievement on August 10 with the reefing of the Arthur W. Radford. The decommissioned destroyer is the first warship ever sunk off our coast and is now located 28 nautical miles southeast of Cape May at the Del-Jersey-Land Reef in 130 feet of water. The Radford Reefing Project was a collaborative effort between the U.S. Navy and the states of New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. The vessel will provide habitat for more than 150 species of fish and marine life and will quickly become a premiere recreational fishing destination. Additionally, its colossal size and diversified structure will appeal to scuba divers of all skill levels. For more information on the deployment, including reef coordinates and a photo of the sinking, visithttp://www.njfishandwildlife.com/news/2011/radford_deployed.htm on the division's website. ~ NJ DEP Division of Fish and Wildlife. Thanks to Bill Figley who helped on this project. It's great for anglers fishing out of Cape May. Too bad it wasn't a little closer proximity. 11:30 AM Great day we have on our hands today! Next to no wind. The bay and ocean is like a lake. FYI the Airshow is today down off of Atlantic City! So what is the deal with the current fishing report? Fluke fishing is in its prime and thanks to the extended season we still have more than a month to go. It will be interesting to see how September plays out. Also in its prime, crabbing down at the bay. If crabbing is your thing you should wet a line while the traps are soaking. Snapper blues are in the areas. There are also blowfish and weakfish. There has been a lot of bait moving around: spearing, baby bunker and mullet. Hopefully this fall will be a great one! Up at the Inlet there are still the summer species which hang at in the rocks: blackfish, small sea bass and sheepshead. Put your time in and the resident stripers there might bite give you a bite. As far as the offshore reports goes we haven't heard much. What we have heard has been hit or miss. We know that some boats went to the Tom's over the weekend and head a very slim pick'ens. The mahi saved some trips. Some boats elsewhere got into some bigeye and longfin. Received: Aug 17, 2011 7:47 AM Subject: BHCFA Weekly Report Some of the boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association have turned to “open boat” trips to fill out their fishing schedules. With economics and time constraints being a concern for many anglers, especially those in the southern Ocean County area on vacation, the ability to fish on a quality and pay only per angler is an attractive option. Captains Dave Wittenborn on the “Compass Rose” and Fran Verdi on the “Dropoff” have learned the open boat trips have provided fishing opportunities for many anglers that might otherwise have been left at the shore. Last weekend Captain Wittenborn had an “open boat” trip of 6 anglers out for a day of fluke fishing on the Garden State South Reef. After an early morning spurt of a pair of 4-pounders, the boat settled down to a steady pick of throwback fish marked with occasional keepers. This day’s trip included anglers from Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Fishing with white Gulp and live minnow combination baits, the trip ended with a half a dozen nice fluke in the fish box. Captain Adam Nowalsky on the” Karen Ann II” had the M&L Marine Service group out recently for a charter on a day with a stiff southerly wind with 4-foot seas. Despite unpleasant conditions, the party wanted to fish and found fish on just about every drift of the day. They finished the day with 5 nice fluke to take home along with a big eel. They also picked up some 1-pound bluefish caught on the troll on the way in. For information on the 80' "Miss Beach Haven" contact Capt. Frank Camarda, phone: (609) 978-9951, email: MissBeachHaven@aol.com For information on the 29' "Compass Rose" contact Capt. Dave Wittenborn, (609) 492-5271 For information on the 35' "Karen Ann II" contact Capt. Adam Nowalsky, (609) 618-0366 (day), (609) 652-1633 (even), or Email: captadam@karenannii.com (If you contact any captain for a charter, please mention that you read their report on the Fisherman's Headquarters Fishing Report. Thank you) Additional information on the association can be found at www.BHCFA.com . ~ Jim Hutchinson Sr. Received: Aug 16, 2011 6:43 AM Subject: Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters Last week an unexpected family medical emergency suspended all fishing activity , Thankfully everything is settling down and we will be back at this week. The only thing I have to report for now is the Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters hoodies, short and long T's are in and ready . I think they came out great and could make a nice addition to anyone's casual wardrobe and also a great gift idea for the up and coming holiday season. August 26th is the last available date in August for anyone interested and remember Fall is a little more than a month away so reserve your Fall fishing date today! Best Regards, ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217 August 15, 2011 Received: Aug 15, 2011 7:50 AM Subject: Lighthouse Sportfishing Report Good morning, still trying to dry out after yesterday's rain. Right now Barnegat Bay has an excellent mix of fluke, weakfish, and small blues for light tackle anglers. During the past week I mixed up my trips by either targeting fluke or weakfish. Every outing was successful in both numbers and being able to take home some fish for dinner. I slipped out solo at first light one morning and nailed a Barnegat Bay Grand Slam (striped bass, weakfish, fluke and blue). The fluke have started pushing out of the bay but we should have them around a little longer. The ocean will likely be the place to fish in September until the season closes. Schools of weakfish are deep in the bay and should remain for another month, if not longer. Saturday's full moon really slowed down the crabbing. I still have some dates in August so give me a call if you want get in on the mixed bag light tackle back bay action. Screaming drags... ~ Capt. Alex, Lighthouse Sportfishing Barnegat, NJ 609-548-2511 August 14, 2011 Fluke fishing and sea bassing the inshore reef/wrecks are still productive! The open bottom areas North of the inlet from 30-50' are great places to target the flatties. John gave us the heads up earlier today, "I caught kingfish this morning on the DynaBait freeze dried bloodworms!" FYI: Fisherman's Headquarters is currently the exclusive DynaBait USA dealer. For those who don't know yet. DynaBait worms are farmed (sustainable) marine worms (bloodworms and sandworms) that are freeze dried. These 100% all natural worms need to be rehydrated with a short soak in water and they are ready to fish. DynaBait Bloodworms and Sandworms are the real deal; featuring the worm's original full flavor (undamaged) with its hormones, enzymes and amino acids. Some of the feed back we have received is that DynaBait worms stay on the hook just as good if not better than live worms and they out catch artificial worms hands down. Small blues and kingfish are cruising the surf with the occasional cobia. The fluke are also waiting for you bucktail. Received: Aug 14, 2011 11:12 AM Subject: Barnegat Bay Fishing Report The excellent back bay fluking we've had this year continued right through this week, although the best action seems to have moved off of the shallow flats and into the deeper, cooler water in the channels. Our custom fluke rigs mixing Gulp baits and our special teasers produced average catches of 70-75 fluke per trip this week, although the ratio of "shorts" to keepers has crept up to almost thirty to one. This works out to something like a fluke every four minutes making this type of fishing perfect for kids and anyone else that likes plenty of light tackle action, and we're catching enough fish that everyone's going home with a nice bag of filets for their dinner. On Wednesday, Ken Andrews brought son-in-law Roy and fishing buddy Donnie in from Yardley, PA to see what my ultralight fluking trips were all about. These guys are ultralight fishing fanatics, but even I got a little nervous looking at the wispy 4 pound test outfits they brought along with them. A few hours and over 70 fluke later, all were convinced that this is the way fluke fishing should be. We lost a few rigs, but with a fish on every couple of minutes and rods doubled over all morning, it was a blast! Thursday I had vacationing Brian Field from White Plains NY aboard with sons Corey (11) and Tyler (8), and again the fluke cooperated with another 70-75 coming over the side topped by Brian's 26" fish that inhaled a 3" Gulp Shrimp. Then on Friday, Greg McGuigan and John Becker were back for their second round of ultralight fluking this summer, and added another 65-70 to the count for the week. All in all, another good week and it looks like we'll be able to continue with this right through Labor Day weekend. We still have a few open dates for anyone interested in giving this a try, or for heading around outside for larger fluke or other species. We've also started to book up our fall striper trips, so now's the time to lock in a prime date for this fall. ~ Capt. Jack Shea, "Rambunctious", Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632 August 13, 2011 Joe Finelli stopped by the shop the other day looking for a lure to cast to mahi hiding under cover (weed, pots or debris) offshore. Store staffer Greg set Joe up with Hogy SoftBaits and demonstrated how to rig a bait weedless with an Owner Beast Twistlock Weighted Swimbait Hook. Joe stopped by the shop again today to pickup more Hogys and Owner hooks. While here he reported great success with the setup. "I bought them to cast to mahi while offshore but I fished them today while fishing inshore. The Bone White Hogy caught! The striped bass were all over 'em, 2 shorts and one keeper. I lost a couple fish too. The bluefish were thick but it made for a lot of action. I'll be offshore using the setup soon. Thanks Greg!" Patrick Howley weighed in a 7.25 lbs flatty. He caught this fluke in the bay on a Spro bucktail with a Gulp! attached. Sorry, Patrick didn't say exactly where he was fishing. Received: Aug 13, 2011 4:02 PM Subject: Fishing Report Skunked shark fishing on Thursday and Friday nights. ~ Fish Crazy Pete August 12, 2011 SURF: An angler shared some info on his current beach action. He reported some kingfish off of the beach on live bloodworms. He also noted that an angler next to him landed a cobia on a live bloodworm. Soon after this report, Mike of Rockland County, NY who caught that cobia stopped to share his report as well. Mike said, "The ocean water is very clear, no seaweed. Lots of action with small snappers and kingfish. I'm just using live bloodworms and a kingfish rig that you guys (FHQ Staff) set me up with. The cobia was a surprise!" The surf temp is warm (low 70's) and with the moon the tide is super low. August 11, 2011 Received: Aug 11, 2011 3:19 PM Subject: Lighthouse Sportfishing Weakfish Report Quick update here. For the first time this year I specifically targeted weakfish with great success. Over 50 weakfish to 15" were caught and released along with almost as many snappers, some small fluke, seas bass, and blowfish. It was a blast on 4 pound tackle! Give me a call if you want to get in on this hot bite on a fishery that is unique to Barnegat Bay. ~ Capt. Alex, Lighthouse Sportfishing Barnegat, NJ 609-548-2511 August 10, 2011 Received: Aug 10, 2011 4:34 PM Subject: Hi Flier Open Boat and Report We have been doing very well with short stripers, 20 to 27 inch fish, and all size blackfish, including a nice 4 pound Blackfish for Anthony Scalea of Cranford. All the action is on light spinning gear with almost no terminal tackle, just a hook, and some very special chum and hookbaits. We are not even using sinkers. You just float out a bait until it hits the jetty and if you're not hooked up, repeat until you do. The action has been hot. This trip is very tide dependent. I will be running open boat trips employing this technique on Friday from 3 PM to 8 PM and Saturday from 4:30 AM to 9:30 AM. We provide everything but if you want to do battle on your own rod, 10 to 12 pound spinning or conventional gear is appropriate. $135 per person, 3 passenger max. Call for reservations and more info. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 Received: Aug 10, 2011 12:31 PM Subject: BHCFA Report The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are finding the fluke fishing is showing a definite upswing as August moves on. With the season extended into late September this year, they expect the ocean fluking to be fun for all involved. The “Miss Beach Haven” and Captain Frank Camarda reports decent fishing over the past week with the ocean water temperature at 74-degrees. On their bay trips they found decent action with “tons of shorts as well as keepers caught.” In the ocean the improved fishing resulted in quite a few fluke over 3-pounds. Pool winner on Saturday was Pete from Beach Haven with a 4.5-pound fluke. Art Wolf of Holgate had four nice fluke keepers and several sea bass. For information on the 80' "Miss Beach Haven" contact Capt. Frank Camarda, phone: (609) 978-9951, email: MissBeachHaven@aol.com Captain Dave Wittenborn of the “Compass Rose” reports the mid 70’s water temperature has finally gotten his ocean fluking action underway. Late summer and early fall are his favorite time of the year to fish as the fluke are moving out of the bays and onto the ocean lumps. Last weekend he had a steady pick of fluke and sea bass around the artificial reefs. Now that the sea bass spawning season is pretty much ended, he expects that action to take off. Once September arrives, he expects to leave the reefs for the lumps in 30-50 feet of water for some real nice action. For information on the 29' "Compass Rose"contact Capt. Dave Wittenborn, (609) 492-5271 Captain Adam Nowalsky of the “Karen Ann II” had the Holman Ford group out recently on a day with less than 1-foot seas. He found a pick of fluke, with his anglers putting 10 keepers in the box. Ron boated a 6-pound, 6-ounce fish while Greg took honors with a 6-pound, 12-ounce doormat. For information on the 35' "Karen Ann II" contact Capt. Adam Nowalsky, (609) 618-0366 (day), (609) 652-1633 (even), or Email: captadam@karenannii.com Additional information on the association can be found at www.BHCFA.com . (If you contact any captain for a charter, please mention that you read their report on the Fisherman's Headquarters Fishing Report. Thank you) ~ Jim Hutchinson Sr. August 9, 2011 Received: Aug 9, 2011 6:57 PM Subject: Tuesday, August 9 Fishing Report Fished the ocean and the bay. Ended up with four nice keeper fluke, eight shorts and two birds. The keepers were caught using chartreuse gulp, fluke belly and smelts. ~ Jim T., Bridgewater, NJ August 8, 2011 SURF: The surf was firing today! We got a great ground swell from the remnants of Emily and the wind cooperated with a light westerly breeze. While out scoring some gold on the surf board there was bait all over. The small bluefish were all over them for about two hours right up the street from the shop. The water temperature feels like it is in the high 60's (67-69) degrees but I could be wrong. I spoke with one angler when I was walking down the beach. He reported catching one kingfish while fishing bloodworms and then a handful of small bluefish casting metals. OCEAN: Stuart from Demarest, NJ stopped in the shop this evening and reported catching some fish. He fished today out in 30-50’ of water. He had 12 fluke with 2 keepers, all on Gulp!. Stuart mentioned that the ocean was beautiful today, “There was a slight roller but it great day.” Brett Taylor fished outside as well. He fished north of the Inlet in about 40-50 foot of water. He had 5 keepers on squid, spearing, minnow combo. Jerry Dubeau weighed in a 8.25-lb fluke that he caught out on one of the local artificial reefs. He caught it on a spearing and squid combo on a bucktail. Jerry reported catching two keepers, a blackfish and a small bluefish. ~ Fish Head Greg Received: Aug 8, 2011 9:20 AM Subject: Kingfish Fished north end surf Saturday morning using fish bites and clam. I caught 2 kingfish and my buddy caught 1 short flounder. Sunday morning weed city. Couldn’t keep the line in the water. Tried back bay off dock... only crabs. ~ Fish ED August 7, 2011 There was a stiff Southerly wind yesterday and an overnight upwell. As a result the surf temperature dropped from yesterday's high 70's to the mid to high 60's. Currently the surf water is churned up (poor clarity). Joe Witteman of Brant Beach stopped in the shop today and re-upped his live bloodworm stash. While here he reported that yesterday afternoon he caught some kingfish off of the beach. Joe said, "I caught some kings up my street on live bloods. The surf was rough but they were biting. Right now they are on the smaller side." Received: Aug 7, 2011 5:40 PM Subject: Fwd: Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters This week continued to offer up good to excellent light tackle action for a nice variety of species keeping things interesting and rewarding for both young and old. We have been mixing it up with a variety of species using different techniques, locations and presentations to keep the rods bending and anglers on their toes with blues, schoolies, trigger fish, blow fish, king fish, fluke... August is a great month to introduce kids to fishing, as the bays variety and consistent action not only keeps their attention but gives them a fun start to fishing . I have two (2) dates remaining in August [21st & 26nd] for those who would like to join in on the fun. Remember that you don't require a license or registry to fish with us, it's all covered including cleaning your catch for the ride home! I also have some prime Fall fishing dates available for those looking to experience Fantastic Fall Fishing! Lastly, I have put together some new Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters T-shirts [long and short sleeve] and sweat shirt hoodies in different colors and sizes for those who would like to show your fishing passion. ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217 Received: Aug 7, 2011 11:11 AM Subject: Barnegat Bay Fishing Report Bayside fluke fishing continued this week to be the best way to put bends in rods on a consistent basis. While the number of keepers is relatively small compared to the total number of fish being caught, we're putting fish in the box every day and the sheer enjoyment of landing dozens of hard fighting flatties on true ultralight tackle is tough to beat. Add in a mixture of blowfish, porgies, kingfish, snappers and other assorted bay critters and you've got a recipe for smiles that kids and adults alike can enjoy. I took advantage of a last minute cancellation on Tuesday to run outside to check out the action on some of my regular inshore fluke spots. The good news was that our inshore fluke fishery seems to be better than the past couple of years, when cold water all summer made it difficult at times to put together a decent catch. But while I found action (and some nice dinners) at each of my stops, I had to stop on the way back in to break out an ultralight and have a little of the non-stop bay fun myself before heading back to the dock. Friday I had Lou Noftsier in from Browns Mills along with grandsons Kyle (12) and Josiah (8), with the boys teaming up for over three dozen fluke in a couple of hours, topped by Josiah's 21" flatfish. Regular guest George Selph joined me on Saturday in lifting 65-70 fish over the side, beating out the captain for big fish honors with a fat 25" lady. I'm very hopeful that this bay action will continue right through Labor Day again this year, offering a fun and relaxing alternative to our traditional August fishing menu. But whether you'd like to give ultralight bay fluking a try, or you'd prefer heading outside work the reefs and offshore ridges, we've only got a couple more weeks of summer left so now's the time. I've still got a few openings left in August, so let's go fishing. ~ Capt. Jack Shea, "Rambunctious", Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632 Received: Aug 7, 2011 10:29 AM Subject: Lighthouse Sportfishing Report This week a decent number of Weakfish made their presence known in Barnegat Bay. They are on-time for their new mid-summer arrival schedule (years ago we would see numbers of these smaller fish earlier like around Father's Day). Most of these fish are in the 9-14" range. My experience is that we will start seeing bigger fish mixed in. Weakfishing affords one of the greatest light tackle opportunities Barnegat Bay has to offer. I typically use trout rods with 4 pound line when targeting weakfish in the bay. Fluke fishing remains 10 or more fish an hour with about 1 out of 10 making a keeper for the box. I will start mixing my trips up between weakfish and fluke. The salt marsh creeks, lagoons, and open bay are loading up with bait fish. I have been cast netting finger mullet and peanut bunker. Mixed in the net have been tiny (3 - 4") weakfish. Saturday morning the west side of the bay had acres upon acres of rainfish (bay anchovies). Snappers and weakfish were on surface visibly feeding until the sun was above the horizon. With the amount of bait I have seen this week the stage is being set for an excellent end of summer and an amazing fall season. This week Reannon Zangakis had a nice keeper fluke. It was one of many fish that she landed this past week. ~ Capt. Alex, Lighthouse Sportfishing Barnegat, NJ 609-548-2511 August 6, 2011 The surf temperature is in the high 70's Fluke fishing off of the beach is still consistent. This morning John Parzych caught 5 fluke (no keepers) on Gulp! Shrimp. John mentioned, "There was a lot of weed but it started to move out and became fishable. Other anglers near me had fish too." With the warm surf temperature (feels like bath water) there are huge schools of rays cruising the sand bars. Kingfish are being caught here and there but it is still spotty. Let's hope for more fishing opportunities to materialize as the days go on. Nighttime bay sharking is still on fire! Expect it to continue through the summer. These fish are being caught (and released) in good numbers from anglers fishing the backside of Beach Haven, Holgate as well as the areas around the Fish Factory, Grassy Channel and beyond. Received: Aug 6, 2011 6:48 PM Subject: Fishin on Kev N Ash We headed out Friday and right away hooked up with 28 cod fish at one spot. Only 4 keepers but a lot of fun to catch. We also boated about 30 keeper sea bass. Great day fishing on "kev n ash". Today, we decided to bail on the fluke tournament and head out for more cod and sea bass . We were only able to find one cod but we nailed 50 keeper sea bass. It was another great day on the water. We only fished for a few hours but my dad, Greg Carr was able to put a few fish in the boat before the Atlantic Flu caught up to one of the kids along for the ride. But all in all a great two days. ~ Kevin C. August 5, 2011 Received: Aug 5, 2011 9:24 PM Subject: Surf fisherman we could use more... Hit the beach Monday night looking for the Brown Shark bite... no dice. Fished from about 11pm - 3am with chunked bunker. And by fished I mean stood around with my buddies smoking cigarettes and telling inappropriate stories. The inlet at night has been fun all summer. Hit the high tide right as the sun is going down with very light tackle( 4-6 lb test with trout poles) and the large schools of herring can be a lot of fun. Tuesday night was great. Pulled up a 3-4 lb blue fish, a short striper, a 14 inch fluke and about 25 herring. I had a big bite but after about 3 minutes of screaming drag the line popped; but that's the downside of using the light tackle. The fish aren't giant, but the bite has been steady during the right tide. The blues in the inlet have seemed to be pretty far and few between the last couple weeks. Occasionally picking up a random fished separated from the the school. Thursday night I hit the inlet again. A few big bites but they were few and far between. ~ Matthew S August 4, 2011 Here in the dog days of summer the fishing reports from land based anglers have been few and far between but a few do trickle in from day to day. Most of the reports are from anglers who are fishing from the boat. Here are a couple reports from land based anglers... Alex and Tommy (local Ship Bottom "groms") stopped by the shop this again evening. They report getting into fish at the "end of the road" by Andy's in Barnegat Light today. Alex said the small blackfish and sea bass were biting like mad dogs along with a couple snappers... they had about 50 hookups. He also mentioned that he is still catching good numbers of crabs. Chester of Beach Haven West has been getting into the weakfish! Chet said, "Two nights in a row, mid-island bayside, the Sabiki rig was all they wanted." August 3, 2011 Received: Aug 3, 2011 10:48 AM Subject: Need one to sail tomorrow! Can take 2. Open Boat Tuna I just want to preface any more open boat announcements with the fact that I do not suffer from multiple personality disorder as much as I have been dancing around the NOAA marine weather forecasts. First it was supposed to blow Thursday, so I called that off and moved it to Friday. Now it's going to be OK tomorrow (Thurs) and blow Friday. I just signed one guy up for tomorrow, there is room for one or two more. I will probably go anyway, even with just him, as I need a fix of blue water and some tuna. Right now they are saying 5 to 10 knots out of the SE, switching to the NE at 10 to 15, which would be fine going and returning. Of course the final decision will be made at the dock on the 4 AM update. Looking for calm seas and no storms on the radar to make it a "Go". $250 fare. All fish are shared. Everything is provided. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 August 2, 2011 Received: Aug 2, 2011 2:28 PM Subject: Hi Flier Tuna*Stripers*Tog, Your choice Attempted to run offshore this morning but when I met my crew at the dock it was a steady 15 gusting a bit harder out of the NW, and even though it was forecasted to drop out, I don’t leave in anything questionable. I know it’s short notice, but I will attempt tomorrow, Wed Aug 3. The boat is topped off with bait, fuel, and ice, ready to fish the Atlantic Princess area for bluefin tuna. Now, the Thursday trip I was planning looks like a stiff NE wind, 10 to 15, gusting to 20, so I will shoot for Friday, Aug 5 instead. Meeting at 4AM at the dock and returning around 2 PM, both Wed and Fri. If the offshore trips don’t sail or there is more interest in catching stripers and blackfish, we can do that too. Friday would be 8AM to 1PM, Sat 9AM to 2PM, and Sunday 10AM to 3PM. We are catching a lot of 20 to 27 inch stripers and 1 to 3 pound tog near the inlet jetty. This fishing requires at least a day of advance notice as we have to order special bait. We use 10 pound spinning rods with almost no terminal tackle, just a hook, sometimes even a bobber. These fish are a handful on the light rods. Occasionally we get a striper for the cooler at just over the 28 inch mark, but mostly they are under the legal size. The blackfish are mostly keepers and we can keep one per man, so at least you leave with a little something in the Ziplock. Usually we are targeting the Barnegat Ridge this time of year, and that fishing has been excellent up until this past Sunday when the green water moved in and shut down the bite. That could change with some of this north and east winds, but I can't say until I see it myself. For 5 or 6 weeks we have been enjoying blue water with bluefin tuna, bonita, and mahi at the Ridge. Let's hope it bounces back. There you have it. Tuna or stripers and blackfish. We can even go catch blowfish if you want. I don’t care, I just want to go fishing. Give me a call and we’ll work out a float plan and a good strategy to catch whatever you want. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 August 1, 2011 Received: Aug 1, 2011 7:45 PM Subject: Weekly BHCFA Report The recent hot weather has slowed the fluke bite a little in the Beach Haven area, but the boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are picking up the slack with some variety. Captain Carl Sheppard on the “Star Fish” spent most of the past week fishing for fluke in the bay and inlet. While most of the fish caught were shorts, a few keepers were mixed in. Captain Carl also spent some time trolling up some cocktail sized bluefish on metal along with a single mahi-mahi about 3 miles off Long Beach Island at the red water tower. The “Star Fish” took the Perrine family to some of the offshore wrecks looking for bottom fish. They managed to catch 96 fish including some big blue-backed black sea bass, lots of ling, and bluefish on the way home. On Sunday he had a half day trip with Susan Allen and family. They fished the inshore wrecks for some ling and sea bass but not in the same numbers as the deeper wrecks. Clams were the best bait. Captain Frank Camarda on the “Miss Beach Haven” saw a dip in the action in the middle of last week when the severe storms stirred up the water. By the weekend, things cleared up, and fish were flopping in the fish boxes again. John Cheeseman won the pool on Saturday and has taken over as season pool leader. Captain George Finck of “Sparetime Charters” had a charter out of Little Egg Inlet. The action was great with the party catching a big batch of nice bluefish. Captain Tim Knorr on the “William Knorr” reports he has had several successful trips in the past week. His anglers caught fish on all of the trips. ~ Jim Hutchinson Sr. Received: Aug 1, 2011 10:09 AM Subject: OPEN BOAT TUNA Tues and Thurs, Aug 2 and 4 The weather window is there, so we will be running open boat to the 50 mile grounds for bluefin tuna, tomorrow, Tues., Aug. 2 and Thurs., Aug 4. These fish are anywhere from 40 to 100 plus pounds. We'll be fishing bait and jigs primarily. We might mix in a few hours of trolling if it seems like the thing to do, either after the morning bite, or moving from one spot to another. Lots of life in this area we are headed to, the Atlantic Princess, whales, sea turtles, rays, and a decent amount of mahi on the same grounds. We have all of the fishing gear as well as the safety equipment, ie: survival raft, EPIRB. Limited to 3 passengers. $250 per person. Meet at the dock at 4 AM and return around 2 or 3 PM. All fish are shared. We have a permit that allows us to take two of these fish, one between 27 and 47 inches, and one over 47 inches. Best case scenario is catching one in each slot. Reservations are required. If you have never sailed with us before, prepay via PayPal or credit card is required. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 July 31, 2011 3:00 PM Billy Taddeo and Gage Chulsky went out fluke fishing at the Barnegat Light Reef. They got a 7-lb 11-oz fluke on a Gulp! 6" Chartreuse Swimming Mullet. They caught three fluke and lots of sea bass. Lots of seabass! Two days in a rows at the reef with beautiful conditions. 12:00 PM - Last Day for the Garbage Fish Classic Rob Vallone fished the afternoon aboard the Doris Mae IV (Party Boat out of Barnegat Light). He caught 7 fluke with 3 being keepers. His biggest won the pool. Rob said, "the Gulp! 6-inch Grub was the one!" Jay Salmon of Voorhees stopped by the shop yesterday evening and reported that the Garden State South (Artificial Reef) as well as the Barnegat Light Reef (aka Fish Haven) were both very productive. In the morning he hit the Garden State South Reef and in the afternoon he hit the Barnegat Light Reef. He had fluke up to 6.5-lbs as well as two 5+ pound flatties. He also mentioned that there was a great sea bass bite (got 5 of 'em up to 3-lbs). Most of the action was on squid and minnow. Sharks off the beach! The nice warm surf temperatures have turned the bite back on the last couple of days. Chunk bunker like you would for bass just make sure you have a wire leader and you are in! Received: Jul 31, 2011 9:14 PM Subject: Surf Fishing Report Overnight 7/29-7/31 Last night we fished from 8 PM - 3 AM for sharks. Boy was the it a good night. We positioned ourselves right to the left of the 13th St. beach access in North Beach Haven and we were throwing chunked bunker all night. We pulled out 3 Large browns with many more broken leaders and spit hooks. If anyone is looking for some fun the brown sharks down there are worth a try. The largest topped our scale at 65-lbs. ~ Ryan Received: Jul 31, 2011 3:35 PM Subject: Fwd: Reel Fantasea Fishing Report The light tackle opportunities continue to abound in Barnegat Bay for anglers aboard the Reel Fantasea this week with many different species moving about the bay you never know what lurks down below! This week saw good to excellent cooperation from fluke, bluefish, blowfish, kingfish, schoolie stripers, blackfish, houndfish, threadfin herring, burr fish [porcupine puffer] and even the first weakfish of the year! Along with a few other species showing up in our Seine net such as small pompano and Northern Sennets [ small cousin of barracuda]. With all the different species presently available we have been able to catch a variety of species to make it a lot of fun for the kids and also keep the adults entertained with sportier game fish such as schoolie stripers, bluefish, fluke and now a few weakfish! I have a few spots available for an open boat for this Thursday August 4th [join other anglers]. ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217 Received: Jul 31, 2011 3:09 PM Subject: Lighthouse Sportfishing Report This past week I left the rods in the racks and vacationed with my family in the Berkshire Mountains. We spent quality time together: hiking; biking; and in the trees negotiating wires, hanging 4x4s, cargo nets, ropes and the like while dangling from safety harness at an aerial park. That was almost as much fun as fishing :) On the local scene, fluke are still around in good numbers. We are starting the see them migrate the bay towards the ocean. Even with that, there are plenty of fish in the usual western haunts. Enough keepers are mixed in with the almost seemingly endless number of shorts. On LBI yesterday evening there were cow nose rays literally everywhere. When the swimmers started to vacate the ocean at dusk the rays came into the wash. Sight casting Gulp! to them I was able to hook and land one that went around 10-15 pounds. A surf fishing first for me. Although I still have days open for August, with summer half over I am gearing up for the fall run. I am starting to schedule fall run bass and bluefish trips. If false albacore make a showing inshore I will surely go after them as they are one of NJ's hardest fighting fish. My specialty, live bait fishing, is my preferred fall method in the bay and I am always ready with plenty of live ones in the well. I will also be spending time outside intercepting migrating fish. Give me a shout to secure your date. Catch em up! ~ Capt. Alex, Lighthouse Sportfishing Barnegat, NJ 609-548-2511 Received: Jul 31, 2011 9:29 AM Subject: Barnegat Bay Fishing Report Hello All, Bay fluke fishing bounced back quite nicely this week despite the heat. We mixed it up a bit on our three trips, working the shallow water flats early then shifting to the inlet channels as the water warmed up. There still seemed to be plenty of fish in both places, so it would appear our ultralight fluke fishing will continue for at least another couple of weeks. On Mondays trip, Chip Harter and Paul Buchanan had a slow pick in the inlet area through most of the morning before we decided to give the skinny water a try and surprisingly found a good bite (and fish for dinner) in the 4-6' depths in back. Wednesday I went right back there with a vacationing Mike Hoffman and his brothers (Steve and Butch), and never left as the guys bailed well over 50 fluke including Steve's 26" beauty taken in less than 4' of water. Thursday, Mike DiPasquale brought out sons Daniel (12) and Patrick (10) to give fluke fishing a try, and again the fish cooperated with over three dozen coming over the side. This time the shallows produced mostly small fish, but the inlet provided plenty of prime dinner filets for the family. We'll be continuing to target fluke in the bay and inshore for the next month, and still have dates available for anyone looking for a relaxing day on the water and some fine ultralight fishing action. Until next week. ~ Capt. Jack Shea, "Rambunctious", Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632 Received: Jul 31, 2011 8:21 AM Subject: 7/30 Report Yesterday, Barnegat Light reef was on fire! Seemed like over 50 boats were there, everyone was catching something. There was a fish on by the time the bait hit the bottom almost every time. We went out around 10 am and came back around 12:30 and had about 47 catches. Mostly throw backs, except 2 keeper fluke (19") and 2 sea bass. The bite slowed down just after lunch. Chartreuse Gulp 3-6" is the bait of choice. Kids had a blast and were exhausted in 2 hours. (Lots of fun, until we went to the beach in the afternoon and had to fight off the dragonfly's and grasshoppers - what's up with that? It was like a Hitchcock movie!) ~ Mike Hovsepian, North Beach Received: Jul 31, 2011 5:23 AM Subject: Fishing Report Saturday July 30 Left marina about 7:00 am Saturday morning, with the Wade and Gaunt parties aboard. Started fishing Double Creek Channel on the incoming tide. Caught a few fluke all shorts. With a change in water temperature and out going tide fluke fishing increased. last drift of the day took us all the way through the inlet and south of the lighthouse, continued to catch fluke constantly along the way. At least there were fish to be caught where there are shorts, there are keepers. Highlight of the day was Angie Wade catching her first Fluke 17-1/2 inch. I think she is now hooked on fluke fishing. ~ Captain George Meredith, Pocket Lint Received: Jul 30, 2011 6:46 PM Subject: 7-30-11 Report Fished just north of the dike this AM at the high tide. Used squid strips and minnows. Lots of shorts, no keepers. Moved to Myers Hole- one sea robin. Moved about one mile north of the inlet off IBSP in about 35 feet of water. Lots of porpoise and schools of fish. Caught about 10 more-- but all shorts from 12 to 17. Ran out of minnows but still caught on squid alone. Disappointing but at least there was entry of fish. ~Dave Adams. and Mike Kingfish July 30, 2011 9:00 PM Thomas McLaughlin of Ship Bottom crushed the snapper at the bridge. He caught 13 this morning and afternoon on small metal lures as well as with bobber with spearing. He said the crabbing has been great at the pier! Alex, (Tommy's little brother) caught 7 keepers (blue claw crabs) as well as a bunch of shorts. Alex said that there weren't too many crabbers (people). The brownie bite has been good today off of the beach. We received a few reports from both the Ship Bottom and Brant Beach surf. 5:30 PM Fresh bunker is here! Beach Haven Marlin and Tuna Club White Marlin Invitational Tournament Day 2 Standings: Marlin - Sun Runner 58.4-lb Tuna - MJ's 229.5-lb Mahi - Melina 57.6-lb Wahoo - Milling Around 34.5-lb Blue - Marlin none For more details and to see Jay Mann's Daily Blog Coverage surf over to www.thewmit.com Congrats to all captains and crew. Today's the last day. We will post Day 3, the final result as soon as possible. Hit the numerous bay side piers or you favorite street end and target the blueclaw crabs and snapper blues. Also, the blow fish, kingfish and fluke are in the bay. Tog and sea bass at the inlet rocks. Received: Jul 30, 2011 6:46 PM Subject: 7-30-11 Barnegat Light area report Dave Adams and Mike Kingfish started fishing this AM just North of the dike at the high tide. Used squid strips and minnows. Lots of shorts, no keepers. Then moved to Myers Hole and caught one sea robin. Moved again to about one mile North of the inlet off Island Beach State Park to about 35 feet of water. Lots of porpoise and schools of fish. Caught about 10 more fluke -- but all shorts from 12 to 17. Ran out of minnows but still caught on squid alone. Disappointing but at least there were fish. ~ Dave R Adams Received: Saturday, July 30, 2011 4:29 AM Subject: Bonita, Stripers and Blackfish Open Spots It's 4:20 AM and I am headed to the dock to leave for Barnegat Ridge. We will be targeting bonita and bluefin tuna. Set to troll and I am packing a fresh pail of spearing on each trip to chum them, as well. I have all 3 spots still open for tomorrow, Sun, July 31, to the same grounds, leaving at 5AM to 1 PM. I also have one available spot on this afternoon's (Sat Jul 30) striper/blackfish trip to the North Jetty of the inlet, 3 PM to 8 PM where we will be chumming up short stripers 22 to 27" fish mostly and legal tog, all on 10 pound spinning rods with no sinkers. You have to see it to believe it, it's all about the bait. More details on cost in my earlier post on this site. I will be back in cell range around 1 PM this afternoon if you are interested in either. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 July 29, 2011 4:30 PM Yesterday, Paul Haertel fished 3 wrecks about 30-45 miles out of Barnegat Inlet. He could not anchor on the first two because of light and constantly changing winds. There was a slow pick drifting on the first one, no fish at the second one and a nice flurry at the last one when we were finally able to anchor at 5 PM. He caught 13 cod including 6 keepers to about 9 lbs. A keeper pollock and some junk fish. His two friends were inexperienced but caught 3 keeper cod, a couple shorts and some junk fish. They had never fished for cod before and were thrilled with the trip. Pleasant weather along with seeing a few big turtles, pilot whales, rays and a shark helped make it a very nice day. Steve's went on the Carolynn Ann which went straight out of Barnegat Inlet on onto the reef areas when he caught a keeper fluke and lost a much bigger fish at boat side. Another angler had a quality sea bass. A customer came in the shop and mentioned that he had some quality fluking down on the south end. He caught 5 keepers in the inlet. 12:00 PM Navigation Hazard - Notice to Mariners: Yesterday there was a monster tree in the water right at the base of Old Barny. Not sure if it is still there today. Be careful if it is and only a small part it showing. It was one big tree that must have slid into the water from the back side of Island Beach State Park or one of the small Islands in the area. Here are the standings from yesterday, Day 1 of the Beach Haven Marlin and Tuna Club's 42nd White Marlin Invitational Tournament: Marlin - Sun Runner 58.4-lb Tuna - Hubris 154.5-lb Mahi - Anthracite 23.6-lb Wahoo - Milling Around 34.5-lb Blue Marlin - notta For more details and to see Jay Mann's Daily Blog Coverage surf over to www.thewmit.com It was a beautiful day on the water yesterday! I hit the tuna grounds with Captain Matt again. Since the afternoon bite was on fire the last couple of days we opted to leave the dock late morning. We got onto the grounds about noon time. Matt put the boat on a lump with a lot of life and we all went to work. I was jigging and Capt Matt was setting up on the chunk. As he was trying to attach a float to the first line the rod went down and Matt was locked up! Luckily it took the hook of one of the heavier setups. Matt put the heat on it and got it boat side quickly, a beautiful 58" bluefin on the chunk. We continued to work throughout the day but to no avail. That was our only fish. Other boats in the area spoke about an early morning bite and a couple other boats picked up a fish or two through out the day but for the most part it was a quiet day. But still none the less a great day on the water. FYI, on our way out we found a lot of life to the east (a few miles) of the North Barnegat Ridge. I know because of radio chatter that there were bonita, albacore, bluefish and some small bluefin tuna caught in that area. There were about a handful of boats working the area when we passed by. Barnegat Light Reef is producing some good fishing. There were a lot of boats out there yesterday. Billy Taddeo shared some info with us on our Fisherman's Headquarters Facebook Page, "I picked up the new 6" Gulp! Swimming Mullet this (yesterday) morning. For any of you doubting it's effectiveness, I caught 3 large fluke on them and they wouldn't touch anything else. Any other bait sat in the water untouched. If we had more time, I'm sure we would have filled a cooler. On a side note, we picked up a couple of albies on the reef today. There was also something breaking the surface all around us, but they wouldn't touch anything we threw at 'em. Maybe bluefish, maybe bait, maybe small bluefin tuna! What's up with the weather up to? Here is the coastal water (out 20 nautical miles) marine forecast from NOAA:"WARM FRONT CROSSING OUR WATERS TODAY WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A WEAK COOL FRONT TONIGHT. HIGH PRESSURE WILL THEN PUSH IN FROM THE WEST AND DOMINATE OUR WEATHER PATTERN THROUGH THE WEEKEND AND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. TODAY: S WINDS 10 TO 15 KT WITH GUSTS TO 20 KT. SEAS 2 TO 4 FT. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND TSTMS UNTIL LATE AFTERNOON...THEN A CHANCE OF SHOWERS WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF TSTMS LATE. TONIGHT: S WINDS 10 TO 15 KT WITH GUSTS TO 20 KT...BECOMING W AFTER MIDNIGHT. SEAS 2 TO 4 FT. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND TSTMS UNTIL SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT. July 27, 2011 9:15 AM Another beautiful morning here in LBI. The breeze picked up a bit and there isn't a cloud in the sky. Get out and enjoy the day The Beach Haven Marlin & Tuna Club 42nd Annual White Marlin Invitational Captain's Meeting is tonight. Good Luck to all of the captains and anglers!. We got word that the fluke bite in the BL Inlet is still a steady pick. Also there providing action, a load of small seabass and tog (keepers to be found) in the rocks. Off of the surf the fluke and small blues will offer a great table fare. Target them with bucktails and small metals. In the bay crabbing is in its prime! Also fluke, snapper blues and blowfish will get the line tight and at night the brownies (brown sharks) will test your drag. Received: Jul 27, 2011 7:15 AM Subject: BHCFA Report The boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association have been spending their time drifting bay and inshore waters for fluke, trolling the inlet and close to the beach for small bluefish, and making periodic trips to the canyons for game fish. Changes in water temperature seem to have made the fluke fishing erratic. The sea bass should be finishing their summer spawning, and that fishery should be in swing soon. Captain George Finck of Sparetime Charters has been enjoying some good fishing for both sea bass and fluke along with some sea bass. He has found the fluke to be plentiful on his trips to the reefs with many smaller fish. He has also been able to pick up some keepers around the inlet and the bay waters. The Kelly family from Boise, Idaho, had a good trip last week on waters much different from their home state. Captain Lindsay Fuller took the “June Bug” to the Wilmington Canyon last week with the Ray Hibbs/John Hancock party. For most of the day the water temperatures remained at 72-degrees. Early in the day a school of big eye tuna attacked the lines with one hookup. After a 10-minute fight, the line broke. A day’s travel working the edges and into the deep produced only one showing over a marlin that would not take the bait. The chatter on the radio indicated that other boats in the area also had trouble locating fish. ~ Jim Hutchinson Sr. July 26, 2011 10:30 AM It was a very calm and beautiful morning. The bay was like a lake. Currently the wind is still light, making for a great day. Mark Bonjavanni of Howell stopped in the shop just a short while ago. He purchased a new Penn Battle reel and shared with us this report. Mark fished the Spray Beach surf yesterday afternoon around the high tide. He said there was lots of bait that the birds were diving on, "the birds were coming in and out with fish under them." Mark got into the action casting and retrieving metal (small spoons and slabs like Krockodiles, Hopkins, Kastmasters, Crippled Herring, etc). Most of the action was cocktail blues and birds chasing bait. Also found out first had that there were ALBIES (false albacore) WERE MIXED IN! Mark said he had a blast with catch and release fishing the surf yesterday and he was going back today with his new reel. Received: Jul 26, 2011 5:43 PM Subject: Tuesday, July 26 Fluke Report Finally I have a fluke report. Too much working. Fished the Raritan Bay on the Angler and I had six keepers! My largest was about five pounds and the others did not have to be measured. I also had ten shorts and one bird. We had about 25 people on the boat and everyone had more than one keeper. A kid had a six pound fluke and the pool was a nice eight pound fluke. Three of my keepers were caught with chartreuse gulp and spearing and or smelts. The other three were caught using white gulp and spearing and or smelts. Just an awesome day in the bay. My second best day of fluke fishing ever. I had seven on the Carolyn Ann about twelve years ago. ~ Jim T., Bridgewater, NJ Received: Jul 26, 2011 10:59 AM Subject: Hi Flier Report and Open Boat We fished Friday, Sunday, and Monday on the "Hi Flier" with mixed results. Friday, I ran to Barnegat Ridge with two people who signed up for one of our open boat trips. We trolled a handful of bonita, most which were too small to keep and one nice chunky 6 pounder for the cooler, by no means, a good day. Sunday, the weather was perfect, so I decided to run offshore to the Atlantic Princess, 52 miles east out of our Barnegat Inlet. Pretty good life out there, chick birds, fair readings, but we couldn’t jig a fish. There was not a good bite, though a few boats did catch one or two, and one guy, Gene Quigley from Shore Catch went 9 for 10! He is very much dialed in to the action out there and has the confidence to go find the fish away from the fleet. By the time we found the new spot, the party was over. We trolled a 25” bluefin on those same grounds and headed back with an empty cooler. Just because we make the run, doesn’t mean we’re going to catch them, but hopefully, we return to the dock a little wiser for the next trip. On Monday, I had two trips booked, one angler who booked the boat for himself to go jig Barnegat Ridge and then an afternoon inshore trip. The ride out to the Ridge was a little sporty in a 2 to 3 foot tight chop from the east. We anchored up on the North Ridge and started chumming over some very good readings. The next three hours were constant hookups on small to big bonita with thirteen 3 to 5 pounders being boated on spinning tackle. There were a lot of frigate mackerel in the slick and they were also hitting the smaller jigs. They average a pound, so just to see, I rigged up a heavier conventional and live lined one out in the slick and about twenty minutes later I was doing battle with a 50 pound spinner shark that somehow didn’t bite me off, so we cut the leader boatside. The highlight of that trip was something that ate his jig and complete spooled his Shimano Stella before I could relieve the tension, I got off the ball and had my hands on the throttle for reverse when the line popped. I am assuming (hoping) it was one of those 10 to 30 pound class bluefin tuna we were recently catching on these same grounds. We also added a nice size spanish mackerel before throttling up for home. I picked up Rich Follmer and his two sons, Rick and Don for the afternoon trip and the good charma kept coming. We fished the north jetty of Barnegat Inlet with some special bait and bailed stripers and blackfish for two and a half hours. We kept our three chunky tog we were allowed and caught and released 22 to 27 (of course) inch stripers, all on 10 pound spinning tackle with no sinkers. Almost always, two out of three guys were hooked up, and at times, all three, it was on fire. We finished up in the back bay with shedder crabs, but no takers by the BI or the 42 buoys yet. The "Hi Flier" will be running open boat trips as follows: Friday, July 29, 2 PM to 7 PM and Saturday, July 30, 3PM to 8PM for the stripers and blackfish at the inlet. $130 per person, with a three person max. Sat, July 30 and Sunday, July 31 we will be running open boat Barnegat Ridge 5 AM to 1 PM for bonita. These trips have also been producing bluefin tuna and mahi mahi, but not every trip. I like to tell people to expect bonita and if we catch tuna or dolphin, it’s a bonus. The cost is $200 per person, all fish are shared, reservations are required. We have started chumming these fish, so there is a good chance we will be trolling and chumming, depending on what conditions dictate. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 July 25, 2011 12:00 PM - The Heat Wave is Over! Finally the wind has shifted onshore and brought the cool ocean breeze. Currently the easterly winds are making for a beautiful bug free day. The onshore breeze has also pushed in the warmer surface waters which is crystal clear. Yesterday afternoon Diane Kleban weighed in this 10.3-lb doormat! She caught it on spearing in the ocean (~40' of water) off of Island Beach State Park, near the Bather's Beach. She mentioned that she also caught a 5-lb fluke in the same spot too. July 24, 2011 10:00 AM This morning, John Parzych hit the beach again (see yesterday's report). He caught 16 fluke with one 19 incher. John said he got them on the New Penny Shrimp and White Swimming Mullet, Berkley Gulp! of course. Received: Jul 24, 2011 2:42 PM Subject: Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters A real fantasy on the "Reel Fantasea".... This week saw some of the oddest varity of species that I think I have ever caught at any time of the any season. Anglers onboard this week mixed it up with both cold water and warm water species such as spanish mackerel, small mahi mahi, houdfish, nice seabass, cod, ling, blackfish, blowfish, fluke, stripers, bluefish, and get this... winter flounder. The uniquest double header we had was scored by Sean Castle who had both a blackfish and winter flounder on a top and bottom rig in the inlet. Absolutely crazy for July. The offshore troll has slowed for now but can and probably will change on a dime while the wreck fishing and bay/inlet have continued to keep everyone on their toes and going home with nice dinners. ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217 Received: Jul 24, 2011 9:37 AM Subject: Barnegat Bay Fishing Report Not too much to report on the back bay fluke fishing. We were booked five days this week for our ultralight fluke fishing trips, and the action was definitely a lot slower than it has been up to now. Brian Stahre and sons Jake and Alex managed to land a few dozen flatties with keepers to 21" on Tuesday, but other than that the fishing was somewhat slow. Hard to tell if the slowdown was an effect of the brutal heat wave we're going through, but we've also been seeing water temperature swings from the low 80's on the outgoing to 59 degrees on the incoming. Rapid temperature changes like that can't make the fish very happy, so hopefully things will start getting a little more stable over the coming week. The real highlights of the week were our daily tussles with cow nosed rays that are all over the inlet and back bay right now. We've had multiple hookups just about every day, and these great fighting fish provide quite the challenge on ultralight gear. We did manage to land a couple, with Lyle Smith on Monday successfully playing a 30 pound fish to the boat and Gene Karamen bringing a 20 pounder alongside on Friday. Quite the accomplishment on the 6 pound test fluke outfits they were using. ~ Capt. Jack Shea, "Rambunctious", Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632 July 23, 2011 7:00 PM John Parzych stopped in the shop this afternoon to chat and grab some more Gulp! While here John shared some information. He had two 20" fluke off of the beach today on the Gulp! New Penny Shrimp. John caught nine total flatties this morning. Denise on Facebook let us know that she caught a couple short fluke in the bay (BI-BB area) yesterday. The weather turned and cut their trip short. They got back safe and sound. Received: Jul 23, 2011 5:39 PM Subject: 7/23/2011 - Fluke Report Fluking was on today!! Instead of fishing some of the backbay sections, we fished areas near and around the inlet. My father and I had 5 keepers (23, 22, 20, 20, 18) and only 20 throwbacks. I makes a huge difference when you target the bigger fish. We were using chartreuse gulp and some of my custom teasers. Here is my father with the 2 biggest of the day. ~ Capt. Brett Taylor, Reel Reaction Sportfishing 609-290-7709 Received: Jul 23, 2011 11:41 AM Subject: Room for one tomorrow, Sun. July 24 Open Boat Bonita/Bluefin The forecast looks very favorable for offshore fishing the next couple of days. Light winds, calm seas, and any storm activity is predicted for afternoons beyond our return to the dock Two people have signed on for tomorrow's (Sunday 7/24) open boat trip in search of bonita and bluefin. We will be fishing Barnegat Ridge. After a good four day run of bluefin there, yesterday, Friday, we found bonita, but no tuna. They were mixed in size from too small to keep, up to a 6 pounder. I am packing fresh spearing on board as well, so if we read them, or get into a good trolling bite in a specific area, we can try chumming for any of the tuna family and catching them on even lighter tackle with bait. On Monday (7/25), I have one person signed up for what is going to be a bait fishing trip with little trolling on the same grounds, Barnegat Ridge. We might troll while we look for a spot to anchor, but then we are going to chum spearing, fish bait, and jig with light tackle for bonita, mahi, and bluefin. The emphasis on this trip is bait and jigs for those who prefer. There is room for two more on this trip. It is possible that we will push further east if the Ridge does not produce, but the weather and sea condition will dictate how far. Range is not an issue, the boat can run for a day and a half with the built in fuel and burning fuel is never a concern when it comes to putting fish in the boat. We carry a survival raft and EPIRB to insure our safe return. Limited to three passengers, these trips are $200 per person. Departing at 5 AM and returning at 1 PM each day. All fish are shared among the passengers. Reservations are required. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 July 22, 2011 2:40 PM - Get On The Water and Beat The Heat! Mike and Forest mates on the Carolynn Ann (party boat out of BL) took the day off and slayed the blowfish on clam and bloodworms. They fished in the middle of the bay in the Barnegat Light area. They caught a dozen nice blowfish before calling it quits due to the heat. Aaron Cantrell stopped in the shop yesterday evening and geared up to go chunking/livelining with fresh bunker and live eels. He caught and released a nice brownie (brown shark) that put up a screaming fight as well as a monster ray that suction cupped to the bottom. Also on the bay side, crabbing has been good. For your information, the water is still frigid on the beach. It's in the low sixties, ~60-63. There are patchy spots of warmer water. Jump in and cool off! July 21, 2011 2:20 PM Scott Simpson just tipped our scale with a 5lb 10oz fluke that was 24.25" long. He has been doing well on the surf all summer long. Today he had 18 fluke with two keepers. Pearl White Gulp! is his go to bait now! 11:00 AM - The Little Bit of Fog this Morning has Cleared I got the invite and I hopped on it! Headed out to the bluefin grounds with Capt Matt Kulinski yesterday morning. We got a late start due to the super foggy conditions. Kicked off the day chunking up two small football bluefin and a couple gator bluefish. Eventually moved over to some laid up scallop boats and got into a good bite on guts. Unfortunately for me I dropped a fish and then shortly after broke off a nice one that I had hooked up when the tuna decided to take me towards the scallop boat's bird chain. All in all a great day on the water. Thanks to Scott who was on the boat for putting a good one in the boat for all of us to share. Thanks Matt for a great trip! If anyone is heading out don't leave the dock without at least a bag of scallop guts. I saw way too many boats trying to jig up fish beside the scallopers because they did not have guts. Sure you might get hooked up that way but when the fish are feeding right on the side of a scalloper, the most productive way is to give 'em the guts that they want fairly high (shallow) in the water column, usually less than 40' down. - FishHead.Greg Yesterday a customer came into the shop and shared his report. He said, "I got a nice fluke in the ICW behind Holgate and also a few further south in the Inlet. Brett Taylor stopped by the shop yesterday afternoon and kept us up to date with a recent progress report. He said that he has been targeting fluke in the bay in fairly shallow water ( 4 - 8' ). He said that most of his keepers are on the Chartruese Gulp!. Blake (store staff) hit the beach yesterday and got a nice 20" fluke on his teaser bucktailing. Steve (store staff) spoke with a spearfisherman who has been catching up at the Rocks (BL Inlet). From what he said there is a ton of life up there. "There is tog everywhere in the rocks! There are also a number of stripers roaming around amongst the bluefish, triggerfish and sheepshead. My buddy shot two fluke." July 20, 2011 Received: Jul 20, 2011 10:01 AM Subject: BHCFA Weekly Report The boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association have settled into their summer routine of inshore fluke fishing, trolling for small bluefish in the inlet and close to the beach, fluke and sea bass fishing on the wrecks and artificial reefs, and trolling the warm offshore waters for tuna, shark, mahi-mahi, and billfish. The "Miss Beach Haven" under Captains Frank Camarda and Brant Whittaker has seen the fluke bite improving on just about a daily basis. On their weekday trips in the bay waters they are finding good numbers of fluke with a decent ration of keepers to throwbacks. On the weekends when they travel into the ocean their anglers are finding a mixed bag of fluke, sea bass, and even some ling. Now that blackfish are back in season, they are hopeful of locating a few of them on the bottom with some structure. Captain Lindsay Fuller on the "June Bug" had the Haggerty family out on Monday for a day of inshore fishing. Fellow Association Captain John Lewis served as mate for the day assisted by junior mate Pat Coyne. With anglers as young as 4 year old Fiona, Captain Lindsay remained inside the inlet. With the wind and tide aligned, their fast drift made fishing difficult. Captain Lindsay commented the family enjoyed their day on the water despite the slow bite caused by the tide. Many of the captains of the BHCFA are looking forward to fishing in the Beach Haven Marlin and Tuna Club’s White Marlin Tournament July 27-30. ~ Jim Hutchinson Sr. July 19, 2011 Still fish in the inlet and off of the beach! I went up the street from the shop this morning to get a couple waves (surprisingly good) and quickly spoke to an angler who had his line wet. He reported a 30" bass on a bunker chunk but no luck with the kingfish. Just so you all know, due to the stiff south winds the last two days our topical like surf temps have plummeted to a very chilly temperature. I don't know exactly what it is but it sure feels like the low 60's. There are cocktail blues roaming around chasing small bait and the birds are on 'em. Toss a small metal and you'll have some fun. I stepped on a couple slimy fluke in the wash this morning too so they are up there, just a little sluggish with the cold temperatures. If looking to get a line tight, don't forget to venture around the Inlet Rock to have fun with the usual summer bag; fluke, blues, triggerfish and sheepshead. We also had a customer come into the shop looking for green crabs who reported catching "four small ones". ~ Fish Head Greg July 18, 2011 "Got to love that primo ballyhoo from Fisherman’s Headquarters!" Jeff emailed. Jeff Barnhart and Bob Percopo aboard Bob's “No Limits” have been getting into the great offshore action we have been blessed with. On their latest trip offshore (Sunday, July 17) they came tight with tuna and a white marlin. Here is Bob and Jeff with a 50 pound yellowfin tuna and here they are again with a nice white marlin. Received: Jul 18, 2011 12:49 PM Subject: Hi Flier Fishing report 7/18/11 Tuna at the Ridge! The "Hi Flier" had an awesome weekend at the Barnegat Ridge. Terrance Archer and Bob Ward signed up for my open boat Saturday and I let them know it was exploratory, as I had not been there since last week. I also wanted them to be realistic in what we were looking for, as I don’t tout these as tuna trips, we target bonita and albacore, and if we find tuna, it’s a bonus. We left early and arrived at the North Ridge before 7 AM. Soon after we put our second bonita in the cooler, the lures were all covered up with a weed patch we trolled through and I was working on a three rod tangle that occurred from one of my “too sharp” turns. I gave the wheel to Terrance and asked him to just go straight for a while. A half hour later, I had the mess straight, the lures clean, and re-deployed and we were 3 miles east of the Ridge when the small daisy chain in the port outrodder went off hard and a mahi took to the air. A nice 10 pound female for Bob’s first ever dolphin, we broke out the camera for some pics, and the starboard outrodder started screaming in what turned out to be a 32 inch, 25 pound bluefin tuna on a hot pink cedar plug for Terrance. Here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=308g721jOgo Two more people on board for Sunday, of course, I returned to the same grounds, this time finding the life east of the South Ridge. 70 degree, blue-ish water, a few chick birds, so-so readings, and lots of flying fish. Gene Linder and Rich Hall combined to boat one bonita and five bluefin up to the 34 inch, 30 pounder we put in the cooler. Pretty exotic, considering this is all within 20 miles of Barnegat Inlet. Here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9xmD62xdy4 I will be sailing open boat every morning for these grounds starting Friday, July 22 to Monday, July 25. Leaving 5 AM, returning 1 PM each day. Maximum of three passengers. $200 per person, reservations are required. All fish are shared among the passengers. The boat is always available for charter, even on these dates. We are also running afternoon trips for fluke, blowfish, and the Barnegat Bay mixed bag from 2 PM to 7 PM after our offshore trips . These trips are $130 per person and also require reservations. Here are some pictures: Bob Ward with 10 pound mahi Terrance Archer with 25 pound bluefin Gene Linder and Rich Hall with 30 pound bluefin ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 Received: Jul 18, 2011 9:11 AM Subject: Lighthouse Sportfishing Report Nothing new to report since the middle of this past week. Barnegat Bay is still loaded with fluke. When conditions are decent my trips are averaging 8-10 fluke per hour. Crabbing is real good and should be better after the recent full moon. This is a excellent time to introduce a kid to fishing or crabbing. Believe it or not fall is in the air. Many species of shorebirds (sandpipers and plovers for the most part) have started to migrate south for the winter. Also, birds such as purple martins are prepping for their trip south to Brazil. One of the largest gathering areas for purple martins is right here in NJ along the Maurice River in Cumberland County. In mid August you can witness one of nature's spectacles as 10s of thousands of martins stage before flying south. By the end of August it is very uncommon to find a purple martin in NJ. They will not return to NJ until sometime around next April. ~ Capt. Alex, Lighthouse Sportfishing Barnegat, NJ 609-548-2511 Received: Jul 18, 2011 4:39 PM Subject: July 18th I just wanted to report on some of our action today. We finally had an opportunity to make a run to the inlet; and it was well worth it. The action was slow, but the our boat did well. The most exciting part of the day was a huge school of rays (40-50) passed right by the boat. With our rigs in the water we knew something was going to happen. Sure enough myself and my brother-in-law hooked two nice rays. It was a lot of fun to have the line screaming with the drag tightened down. Today was a lot of fun. Hope to be able to report more in the future. ~ John Buchter, Delaware @ Harvey Cedars July 17, 2011 Danielle Paolella of Springfeild, NJ weighed in a 4.25-lb fluke. She was out fluke fishing off of Island Beach State Park in about 40' of water with her dad, Dean, aboard her friend's father's boat. They caught a number of fluke with 5 being keepers. Danielle caught the biggest and it was also her personal best. A customer stopped in yesterday afternoon to get a bag of bunker for crabbing and said his results are improving. He said, "Earlier in the week it was slow. Yesterday was better and today was great. It was a beautiful day with a bunch of jimmies for dinner!" We heard that there were some cocktail bluefish off of the surf this afternoon. Also off the surf there is a spotty kingfish bite and a fairly steady pick at short fluke along with the occasional keeper. Target the kings with bloods and the fluke with Gulp!. Received: Jul 17, 2011 8:50 AM Subject: Fwd: Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters - fishing report Another solid week of light tackle backbay action and even better "drop and reel " style wreck fishing with anglers scoring seabass, cod, ling and blackfish! The backbay/inlet continues to see solid light tackle action with many throw back fluke, bluefish, blackfish, schoolie stripers, blowfish... and now there appears to be a large population of " Gi-Normous" [3-4ft] ravenous houndfish aka "Marsh Marlin" occupying our waters. I'm not sure if they are linked to all the clear water that we have had but I have only observed this many down in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Although they are extremely effective bait stealer's, when hooked they put on a nice exciting drag burning aerial show on the light spinning outfits hence the "Marsh Marlin" moniker. And with all the clear water we have, you can see the schools of fish persue your bait righ to the boat making for some visual excitement with all of the species. The offshore lumps and ridges are starting to heat up with bluefin, bonita and mahi and with some of the best quality of water inshore "You never know whats down below". I have next Friday July 29th available for open or private charter. We are also booking our Fall calendar up fast so don't delay book today! Please remember to join us on Face Book and see our photos and videos . ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217 Received: Jul 17, 2011 9:13 AM Subject: Barnegat Bay Fishing Report Just a brief report this week as not too much has changed since last week's report. Fluke fishing in the back bay continues to be solid with everyone landing dozens of fish in relatively short periods of time. The downside is that the ratio of "shorts" to keepers is increasing and we're having to wade through a lot more fish just to put a few in the box. I put "shorts" in quotes because I have a hard time calling a 16-17" fluke short regardless of what our inane regulations say. Thursday I had Fisherman Magazine's (and ESPN radio host) Tom Pagliaroli and Denise Marie out with me to check out our ultralight approach to this fishery. With the wind cranking from the northeast at 25+ all morning, conditions on the bay were a bit sporty with solid 3-4 footers closely stacked, not exactly ideal conditions for fishing with ultralights. But with a game crew like these two and a little help from a drift anchor, 50-60 flatties came over the side before we called it a day. Friday was just the reverse, when Bordentown's Tim Loretangeli and buddy Fred were out in absolutely dead calm conditions where we struggled to get a drift but still managed to lift 70-75 fluke over the side. We're going to continue chasing these fish with ultralights for the next few weeks, and still have several dates open the last week in July and first week of August for anyone interested in giving it a shot. ~ Capt. Jack Shea, "Rambunctious", Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632 July 15, 2011 A very limited supply of Green Crabs are in stock. Only anglers who pre-ordered will be getting a 1/2 bag or more. July 14, 2011 Report #2 from Fish Head Greg at ICAST 2011 – Las Vegas - Day 1 of the ICAST Show ICAST 2011 opened this morning at 9 AM (local time). Full of the latest and the greatest, it was a long day meeting with old friends but also making new connections throughout the industry. One trend that was noticed is that the packaged bait craze has come over the Atlantic. In the UK packaged baits are very popular with anglers. These freeze dried as well as canned premium baits are amazing quality. Just wait and see, we should have them in the shop as soon as possible; bloodworms, sandworms and grass shrimp. The day ended off with the Chairman's Industry “New Product Showcase” Awards. And the winners were… Apparel - Frabill Suit (a highend outer wear) Boat - Hobie Mirage Revolution 2 Boat Accessories - JL Marine 10ft Power Pole Blade Edition Combo - Daiwa D-shock DSH-4bi Combo Electronic - Hummingbird 1158c di Combo Eyewear - Costa Women’s Collection Fishing Accessories – Sparrowhawk Fly Fishing - Vest Pac Driftpac Fly Reel - Temple Fork Outfitters BVK Fly Reel Fly Rod - Gloomis Pro4x Freshwater Reel - Abu Revo MGX Freshwater Rod - Gloomis GL2 Giftware – 3D Picture from 3D Picture Store Kids tackle - Pure Fishing Casting Game and Sound Fishing Kit Line - Pure Fishing Berkley Nanofil Line Hard Lure - Sebile D&S Crank Soft Lure - Live Target Hollow Body Mouse Saltwater Reel – Daiwa Saltiga SATG5000H Saltwater Rod - Shimano Terez Rail Rod Tackle management - Plano 4674 hydro-flo tackle bag Terminal Tackle – VMC Spinshot And the Best of show went to Pure Fishing’s Berkley Nanofil line Congrats to all all of the winners and especially thanks to all of the company’s who put forth innovative products at this year’s show! ~ Fish Head Greg July 13, 2011 Staff member Steve Wolfschmidt weighed in a 3.04 pound fluke that he caught on the Carolynn Ann III while fishing off Island Beach State Park More news from the Carolynn Ann III... Another positive week. The fish the "Carolynn Ann III" is catching are increasing in size. Beginning Monday, 7/11, we will be sailing TWO four-hour trips from 8 AM to 12 PM and 1 PM to 5 PM on MONDAYS through THURSDAYS. On FRIDAYS, SATURDAYS, and SUNDAYS we will continue to sail ONE six-hour trip from 8 AM to 2 PM. This Friday and Saturday, 7/15 and 7/16, we will be adding a FOUR-hour trip from 3 PM to 7 PM for fluke and/or sea bass. Hope to see you on one of the aforementioned trips. STAY COOL! ~ Carolyn Ann III, 18th Street, Barnegat Light, NJ 609-693-4281 Received: Jul 13, 2011 7:51 PM Subject: Lighthouse Sportfishing Report I spent the last four days on the bay fluking. One thing for sure, the heat was on. Fluking remains consistent with dozens of short fish released and a few keepers every trip. The one exception was Tuesday evenings trip. The west side of the bay was 84 degrees while high tide brought in water as cold as 63 degrees to the east side. Even with the fishing slow, 9 year old Jake hung in there with his grandfather to boat a few fish. Jake is a future outdoorsman for sure! Today, with a tide change later and a little less of a temperature swing we had the fish munching at every spot. I fished today during the Lane party's annual fluke trip aboard the "Debbie M". The west side of the bay is loaded with cownose rays right now. These are the rays you are most likely to see in aquarium touch tanks. While they may be a nuisance to some fisherman, it is enjoyable to take some time to watch these magnificent fish. ~ Capt. Alex, Lighthouse Sportfishing Barnegat, NJ 609-548-2511 Received: Jul 13, 2011 10:10 AM Subject: Hi Flier Bonita-Fluke-Tog-Blowfish....and More! We are catching a lot of fluke in Barnegat Bay, mostly shorts, but enough 18 to 21 inch fish to keep it interesting. Most of the action has been between the BI and BB Buoys in 8 to 12 feet of water. We are using 10 pound spinning tackle, 3/8 oz. jigheads tipped with 3” white or chartreuse Gulp! Swimming Mullet or Swimming Minnows. Drifting and vertical jigging on the days with good wind, otherwise we are power-drifting with all the rods out behind the boat while I bump the boat in and out of gear, maintaining about 1 to 1.5 mph on the GPS and just keeping the lures in on-and-off contact with the bottom. When that slows up we have been picking some fish on the channel edges throughout Oyster Creek Channel all the way to the Inlet, where you get a good tide drift most of the time regardless of the wind. I am packing the chum pot, clam logs, squid, and winter flounder rigs to target the blowfish invasion that is currently on in the backwaters of Barnegat Bay. We are even snagging some on our jigs intended for fluke. Blackfish become fair game this Saturday, though, only one per man, we will do our best to lite tackle a few right from the Inlet jetty on slack water, to sweeten the cooler a little bit. I have not been out to Barnegat Ridge in a week and a half, so I will be looking to run there in search of bonita and other bluewater fish. The forecast, so far, for Fri-Sat-Sun is for a 5 to 10 knot wind, which makes offshore fishing for us a strong possibility. If the ocean is flat and the Ridge doesn’t produce, we will push further out as conditions dictate, possibly even in range of some bluefin tuna. So there you have it, the typical July transitional schedule, we will be running Bonita-Fluke-Tog-Blowfish combos. The boat will be running open every day Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon, July 15 to 18, 5:30 AM to 1:30 PM for the offshore species and anything else you guys want to combine. Sailing again each day from 2PM to 7PM for fluke and the mixed bag. We limit the boat to 3 passengers, the 8 hour offshore trips are $200 per person. The 5 hour afternoon trips are $130 per person. All fish on all trips are shared among the passengers. The boat is also available for private charters on any of these days. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 Mostly short Fluke are being caught but enough are over that 18-inch limit to keep it interesting. The catch to keeper ratio varies from a very productive 5:1 to the more typical 10:1. In Barnegat Bay the wide area between Buoy 42 all the way North to the BB Buoy and in the 7 to 10 foot depth range has been providing plenty of fluke action. Light tackle is making catching not only more productive but also more exciting. Light jigs tipped with Gulp or spearing should do the trick. Getting a drift is the key, on those windless days power-drifting will be required. Areas around the channel edges of Double Creek and almost the entire length of Oyster Creek Channel and leading all the way to the Inlet have been productive. Some boats are finding key spots and returning with short drifts to do well over and over again. There have been fish hitting the scales at well over 4-lbs. The channel edges from the Barnegat Light gas dock all the way around to the edges near the North and South jetties are good areas to target. Some areas are better than others but times when you get a good drift from the current are key. Fluke reports from the Southern-end are also good with the very occasional fish breaking that 4-lb mark. It sounds like Blowfish have invaded the backwaters of Barnegat Bay. Some have been reported as even being snagging on jigs that were intended for fluke. No Sound… That’s our weakfish report. If it’s happening no one is saying anything. We are seeing a few floating jig heads heading out the door if that’s any indicator. The surf action on kingfish seems to be a spotty ON one day and OFF another day. Typically these fish are being caught from the surf on the Southern-end of the island. Blackfish becomes fair game again this Saturday with a one fish per day and 14” minimum restriction. Fisherman’s Headquarters hopes to have a Green Crab supply by the weekend but anglers needing a ½ bag or more need to pre-order. When you are out fluke fishing and that window of slack water occurs try fishing those rock jetties. You should be rewarded with a tasty Blackfish. Oceanside we received reports from a wide area mentioning fluke being in those deeper 45 to 60-foot waters. That may be the spots to be. The Barnegat Ridge should be providing Bluefish and Bonita action. Little fast moving spoons or feathers will work for the Bonita. Bluefish will hit those too and even slower moving lures. 1 to 3-lb Bluefish have also been reported all along the beaches of Long Beach Island. We have not recently received any more reports on those Bluefin that were coming in from the area of the Chicken Canyon last week. The weather may have been keeping that action quiet. Fish Head Greg is at ICAST so keep reading our fishing report page to hear what’s new on the tackle scene. Report #1 from Fish Head Greg at ICAST 2011 – Las Vegas ICAST (International Convention of Allies Sportfishing Trades) New Product Showcase Preview Reception just ended Tuesday night. Tomorrow morning ICAST 2011 begins! For those who don’t know ICAST is the premier tackle show full of the latest and greatest innovations in the tackle industry. Stay tuned as I will report on what’s happening at the world’s largest sportfishing trade show. What is going on at the large scale corporations in the industry this year? Daiwa: Last year at Daiwa it was the unveiling of a new logo in addition to some great new products. This year Daiwa introduces some serious reel innovation! The foremost, the brand new Certate and Saltiga Spinning Reel series which both feature space age technology with their magnetic oil sealed body/rotor. The magnetic oil seal is an incredible low friction water tight seal that keeps water out of the reel’s rotor bearing and gearing. The two series of reels also feature the new Air Rotor (new unique designed rotor shape made from carbon composite material which is super strong and much lighter than an ordinary rotor design) and Air Bail (hollow tubular bail that is super strong yet lightweight). Daiwa also introduce their new levelwind “T-Wing System” (found in a couple of their new baitcasters) which might have started a new revolution in baitcasting reel design and performance. The new odd but practical “T” shaped levelwind line guide allows line to flow freely through the wide section when casting and it provides precise control over line distribution on the retrieve. The icing on the cake was that Daiwa now offers the American market a staple from the UK (7HT Magnofuge). They finally listened! Long distance surf caster the wait is finally over, the Daiwa Millionaire M7HTMAG and the Millionaire Super Tuned M7HTMAGST are both soon to be available here in the USA. Pure Fishing: Penn introduced the Squall 12 and 15 size reels last year for the surf anglers. Now this year they expanded the Squall series by introducing the Squall Lever Drag Series. The Penn Squall lever drag reels feature lightweight graphite frame and side plate, stainless main gear and pinion, sealed dura-drag system, forged aluminum spool with three line capacity rings, silent anti reverse and Switch Blade harness lugs on select models. The Squall lever Drag will retailing around/under $200 depending on the size. They are available in: 30, 40, 50, and 60. Note that the 30 and 40 are topless. Carnage rods are sure to please and they are affordable. I had the honor to field test a pair of these rods for the past few months and all I can say is good things. I’m impressed with their performance. I didn’t expect it. Excellent Value! I’ve caught bass up to 40-lbs and tuna over 100-lbs on mine. Shimano: Shimano is always pushing the bar higher and higher each year. This year Shimano expanded their Talica Series with the release of the Talica 50. This reel is a monster topless two speed lever drag that is ready for battle with anything the ocean has lurking in the depths. We recently fill Capt Adam Sherer's Talica 50 with 130lb Hollow-Ace and got 700yds with plenty of room for a 50 yard mono top shot. This is the go to reel battling big fish with live bait (Adam’s intent was tuna at Cape Cod), chunking locally or long ranging out of So-Cal. This reel is the go to choice for turning big fish towards the boat. Rapala: There were some really nice lures on display but the standout hard bait lure was the X-Rap Pop. The Rapala X-Rap Pop is the newest addition to Rapala’s incredible fish catching X-Rap series of lures. This top water popper has an arched body design, flat bottom and a deep cupped lip which puts out a large pop/slash which can be controlled easily over a wide variety of retrieve styles. The X-Rap Pop has an internal long cast design as well as holographic eyes, internal body scales and holographic foil, and they are topped of with VMC Black Nickel hooks with a Flasher Feather teaser tail. What is new in the way of fishing line and hooks at ICAST 2011? Power Pro: Power Pro introduced Super Slick which is a super smooth silk like braided line constructed with eight-yarn Honeywell Spectra fiber which is braided under high tension. This braid casts exceptional well due to reduced friction, “It’s silent as it passes through the guides.” It also has great knot strength and high abrasion resistance. The feel of this new line is a drastic improvement from the original Power Pro most all anglers are accustom to using. Super Slick will be available from 10 to 80-lb test and in four colors: brown, blue, green and yellow. Seaguar: The company that brought fluorocarbon line to the world introduced Kanzen a high density weave braided line. This new line from Seaguar is super high quality Japanese braid. Sufix: 832 (ICAST 2010 New Product Showcase Winner in the Line Category) last year took a giant leap forward with their advanced braided line featuring seven Dyneema and one GORE performance fibers, weaved together 32 times per square inch for a very strong, uniform, smooth to cast line. This year they introduce the superline in ghost (white). Berkley: ProSpec Premium Co-Polyomer Line is now available. Check it out, we already have it at the shop now. So bring in your reels and we’ll fill 'em up with the new Berkley ProSpec. Eagle Claw: Finally a Trokar hook (from Eagle Claw) for something other than swim baits. There are now Trokar Trebles Hooks in small sizes as well as a small Trokar octopus-ish style hook. We didn’t see much else in the way of hooks yet but will soon be making our way over to Gamakatsu, Owner, Mustad and VMC among others. How about rods? There were a lot of nice rods at the showcase. Major trend noticed; micro guides are catching on and those rods that don’t have them feature Fuji’s New Guide Concept. Also the split grip design is evolving to minimal grips. Rods have grips in just the right places where it is necessary and functional. Two rods that stood out on the rock were the Penn Carnage Rods (details above) and the new Tsunami Airwave Elite. Tsunami now offers an Airwave Series rod with Fuji K-Guides. Stop by the shop to check these rods out. They are in stock now, so ask about them. More coming soon, Stay tuned for reports of what is seen on Wednesday which is Day 1 of the official opening of floor displays. ~ Fish Head Greg July 12, 2011 Green crabs should be here for the weekend. You may want to place an order especially if you need a 1/2-bag or more of Green Crab or Whole Clams. The supply will be limited. Received: Jul 12, 2011 3:54 PM Subject: BHCFA Report This week’s fishing report for the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association. The boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association concentrated on fluke fishing this past week. Captain Fran Verdi on the “Dropoff” reports he found fluke in depths of 44 to 65 feet. On one recent trip he had 20 fluke with four nice keepers including one doormat that measured out at 25 inches and 4.5 pounds. The “Miss Beach Haven” with Captains Frank Camarda and Brant Whittaker has been seeing the fluke fishing action in Little Egg Inlet and in the ocean improving on just about a daily basis. Mate Sal Rosa reports that trips over last weekend produced a good number of fluke including sea bass and ling. Pool winner Sunday was 11 year old Xavier from Budd Lake with a fluke that weighed in at over 4-pounds. Captain George Finck of “Sparetime Charters” fished Little Egg Inlet for fluke with Jenny Dauer, her dad, and three brothers over the weekend. With the ratio of keeper to throwback being very low, Captain George made the decision to try trolling off the beaches of Long Beach Island. That proved to be the right move as they enjoyed plenty of action and ended up with a nice catch of 1-3 pound blues. ~ Jim Hutchinson Sr. July 11, 2011 Received: Jul 11, 2011 3:02 PM Subject: Bottom Line Fishing Report 7/10 Today we had Tim Haes on board with friends and family. Broke Barnegat Inlet and headed North to try our luck on some Fluke. Started our drift a little North of the fleet which were all at the Old Coast Guard Station and had a nice pick with Fluke for the remainder of the day. We were in 30 to 40-ft of water and about 1 out of 7 fish were keepers. A couple nice 4.5-lbers. It was a great day fishing. ~ Capt. Tom Cormann, "Bottom Line", www.fishbottomline.com Forked River 201.788.3223 July 10, 2011 A number of angler purchase bloodworms for kingfish yesterday but no results good or bad have been reported back yet. Received: Jul 10, 2011 7:34 PM Subject: Reel Fantasea Fishing Report - Cod and Seabass - Thursday July14th Just when you "think you know" anything about fish and their behavioral traits, temp ranges, etc and Wham! Schools in and class has begun! This week the "Reel Fantasea" saw what I have to say is the best inshore COD FISHING that I have seen in 20-years! Yes, that's right... CODFISH!... as in the fish that industrialized the world. Who in their right mind would have ever expected solid cod fishing in July off of our home waters? This week we've been targeting some of the offshore wrecks and have been rewarded with nice seabass, fluke, ling, blackfish, ocean pout, and keeper cod. A few Reel Fantasea anglers have not only scored on Cod but also had double header seabass making for some outstanding action and table fare! If that were not enough excitement, on one of our trips we had a nice 6-ft mako circling our boat and picking off "floaters" (released undersized fish with the "bends"). The Back bay continues to offer up good to excellent light tackle action with blues, fluke, schoolie stripers, blackfish, porgies, to most of the anglers onboard this week. I have this Thursday July 14th for open or private charter for those interested in joining us for some "Reel" fun! ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217 Received: Jul 10, 2011 11:38 AM Subject: Barnegat Bay Fishing Report The weather was awfully hot all week long, but fortunately the fluke fishing in the back bay was even hotter! We lost a couple of days early this week due to unexpected cancellations, but the two trips we did get in both had steady action all morning long. It's starting to look like we might see a repeat of last year's phenomenal back bay summer fluke fishing. Thursday I was joined by Medford's Bill Ruskowski and sons Bill, Brian and Kyle looking to repeat last year's fluke frenzy, and so they did. With the first fish being hooked before all the lines were out, the guys then proceeded to land 75-80 fish before lack of drift sent us back to the dock to clean a handful of keepers up to 22". Saturday I had regular George Selph back doing a solo trip this week, and landing another 60+ fluke with five more in the box to 22". We've been fishing away from the large fleet of boats working the main bay and inlet channels, preferring to stay on the flats where the fluke have been gorging on grass shrimp. So far it has been paying off with steady fishing as long as we have enough breeze to push us along. As we have for the past few years, we're using our custom tied teasers and Gulp! baits to tempt the flatties, and it's an absolute blast catching these guys in skinny water on true ultralight outfits. We don't generally think of fluke and screaming drags as going together, but that's what we've had and it puts grins on everyone's face when they actually experience it. I've still got a number of weekdays open between now and Labor Day for anyone looking to give this a try. ~ Capt. Jack Shea, "Rambunctious", Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632 Recveived: Jul 9, 2011 8:48 PM Subject: Barnegat Fishing Report 7/8/11 Today was the Mark Purcell bachelor party, which was a party of 12 coming from NY City, Philadelphia, and Cape May. Too many guys for the Bottom Line to handle so I had to make a call to and old friend and great captain Mike. The guys arrived a little later then I would have liked but you know how bachelors are. We headed out of Barnegat Inlet around 11:00 AM and went North where we had heavy fog. Our first stopped was at the coast guard station in about 25 to 30ft of water, where we had some luck in the last couple of days but today everything was shorts. We then moved out into some deeper water around 60-ft and started catching some bigger fish. After picking here and there we decided to move even further North and then the catching was better yet. It seemed all our big Fluke were caught in about 50 to 60-ft. After about a good 5 hours of fishing the rain started and the guys were ready to move to the next part of there party (Atlantic City). These guys were a blast to have on board. Lots of laughs and good fishing. I hope there luck continued down in AC...Thanks Guys... ~ Capt. Tom Cormann, "Bottom Line", www.fishbottomline.com Forked River 201.788.3223 July 9, 2011 Another good beach caught fluking report from Jimmy Mac this morning. Jim had Fluke up to 20" that were caught on Gulp being slowly dragged along the bottom. Boats fishing off of Island Beach State Park fishing in about 45' of water continue to hook-up on fluke. Still lots of shorts but the keeper ratio seems to be better than in the Barnegat Bay. The popular bait being used is a split between Spearing and Gulp. Yesterday, Joe Filice weighed-in a 2.8-lb, 20" fluke that was caught on a Spro Jig tipped with Gulp and minnow combo. This was one of 15 fluke that were caught and only 2 were keepers. Joe fished for an hour in about 7' of water from around 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM which was the during the 1st-half of incoming tide. The chartreuse Gulp may have taken second place to the Pearl White Gulp today based on reports in the store this afternoon. July 8, 2011 Blake and Joni headed out on a night trip with Capt. Lhota and got into the brown sharks. They released 4 brownies as well as a monster cow nose ray. Blake said that live eels are what the brownies wanted. Received: Thu, Jul 7, 2011 at 9:55 AM Subject: Fishing report Fished an overnight canyon trip Tuesday into Wednesday and saw a lot of action. We went 7 for 12 on yellowfin to 60 pounds, picked up a pair of 15 pound dolphins, had 6 tilefish, released a dusky, broke off a nice mako and boated a 130 pound swordfish. ~ Capt. Stew Hitchner, "Pez Machine Sportfishing" 609.287.5136 July 6, 2011 Blake, Joe and I headed back out yesterday to the bluefin grounds. We got a little bit of a late start but luckily our numbers from our previous trip put us in the right spot. There weren't as many draggers out there. But the fish were still there. We actually had our best bite (jig and bait) no where near any scallopers. For awhile it seemed that every boat was hooked up. All around us at least one if not two or three rods were bent per boat. If we weren't covered up with fish, I would have liked to shoot some video. A friend in a nearby boat caught three mahi mahi amongst that epic tuna bite. We kept our one (56-lbs on the Boga Grip) and released three others. We also unfortunately lost a number of fish too. For us the bite died out around 9 AM. We spent a few more hours working around various scallop boats and then decided to head in before the South wind picked up. There was a lot of life further inshore too birds and a number of whales as well as some schools of dolphins and scattered turtles. It seems that for the most part the troll had been very slow at best. Bait fishing and jigging was the productive way to target these fish. So far this year all of the bluefin that I have cut have had sandeels and scallop guts in their bellies. Match the hatch! I heard some guys caught on sardines and butters too. ~ Fish Head Greg Received: Jul 6, 2011 4:50 PM Subject: Hi Flier Tuna!! ...and Open Boat Trips I set out for Barnegat Ridge on Friday with Tom Beach from Whiting being the only passenger who signed up for my open boat trip. We threw the ropes off the boat at 5:30 AM and set a course for the North Barnegat Ridge in search of bonita or any tuna-like critters. After an hour of bluefish attacks and poor readings, I made a move east to the Resor Wreck, where more bluefish chomped away at my tuna lures. Glancing the chart, to plan another move, the Atlantic Princess was only another 17 miles or so, but all east, as were the first two stops. About two miles shy of that spot, we had whales, chick birds, and readings, so I decided to troll in. Soon after the flatline cedar plug snapped and we had our first bluefin tuna, all 24 inches of him! A quick release and a new attitude, we trolled some more. Listening to the chatter on the radio, I heard my friend Capt Fred on the "Andrea's Toy" calling us in on a hot tuna bite all around the scallop boats. “C’mon Dave, it’s only 10 more miles, the ocean is flat, and we got your back”, he coaxed, and I listened. Best move ever, even though this move was all east, and put us at the Chicken Canyon, 60 miles east of my Barnegat Inlet. A destination I never would have dreamed of setting a course for in my 21 ft Sea Cat center console. We arrived, picked up some guts from an isolated scallop boat along the way and then moved in on the two scallopers that had sport boats surrounding them, obviously the boats shucking the catch and holding the tuna. Five minutes in, Tom was hooked up and a half-hour later we decked a 50-pounder, we were using 20-class conventional tackle, as that is what I brought for our bonita and school tuna effort. Right back to the same scallop boat, this time I pitched in a hook bait and immediately hooked up with a decent fish. A half-hour later we had our “over” fish, (over 47”) about 65 to 70-pounds and decided to head in as that is all we could legally take and I really wanted to start reducing the distance between us and home. A series of circumstances brought us there: a flat ocean, multiple moves to the east, friends nearby, a just serviced 4 man survival raft on board, an EPIRB with a brand new battery, new twin motors, and a desire to battle some bluefin. I don’t think I’ll ever venture that far again in my boat, but I’m sure glad it happened. The two tuna are in the pics, (Still to be added) Tom’s is on the deck and I’m holding mine. We hit the dock at 5PM. Just goes to show, you never know what's going to happen out there. Friday, July 8, I will be running 2 Open Boat trips, 5 AM to 11 AM and then again Noon to 6 PM. We will be running to Barnegat Ridge and beyond for bonita and school tuna. Plan B is to drift the Ridge for fluke if everyone is game, otherwise we will continue to hunt for bluewater fish, I’m fine with either, and I always pack everything on board so we can change it up whenever we want. The boat is chartered Sat., July 9 in the AM, so I will run an afternoon open boat, either to the Ridge or in the bay for fluke, or both, from Noon to 6 PM. Sunday, the boat is booked all day. These open boat trips are all 6 hour trips, the cost is $150 per person, I limit the boat to three passengers, all fish are shared. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 Received: Jul 6, 2011 10:37 AM Subject: Knot Reel Farmers - Fluke Report Great holiday weekend for Bernie, June & Brittany Hyland, visiting LBI at Morrisons Marina from Mount Airy, MD. We trailered out 26-ft boat up from Maryland to enjoy the fireworks and the fluke fishing. July 4: Top of the incoming tide between buoy 120 and the sod banks. 20+ short fluke ranging from 14 to 17 inches. Two nice keepers 19.5 and 21 inches. These larger fish were in tight against the bank. July 5: Same location on the last hour of the incoming tide. Within two minutes of starting the first drift angler Brittany Hyland reeled in a fat 20" keeper, followed by several shorts. At times we had two or three fish on. We were ready for the green-head flies, but decided they were a bit too much and took a ride out to LE buoy where we visually spotted a sizable school of blues in the 8 to 10 pound range down deep as we approached them. Too big to be bunker, but they were not actively feeding. Several large cow rays were near the surface as well. Little Egg Inlet has a solid fluke bite on. Chartreuse or White Gulp with either a frozen spearing or live minnow on a fluke killer rig will do the trick. The fish were hitting just about any combo - even a year old rusty fluke rig! ~ Bernie Hyland, Colonel (retired) U.S. Army, owner/captain Knot Reel Farmers July 5, 2011 Jim "Mac" hit the beach this morning and got 3 keeper fluke as well as 20+ shorts on chart and white gulp. He said the flies were BAD so be prepared. The chicken canyon is still hot. More details to follow tomorrow. Received: Jul 5, 2011 10:06 PM Subject: Fwd: Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters I hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July Weekend ! Last week our home waters looked more like the Caribbean when the cleanest and clearest water that I have ever witnessed pushed inshore making for some picturesque and spectacular sites! Even the normally turbid inlet had crystal clear water enabling you to see 25-ft down to the bottom. As the week progressed the wreck/seabass fishing kicked into high gear with a good ratio of keepers and even quite a few double header keepers. The back bay/inlet continues to offer up excellent light tackle action with fluke, blues, blackfish and a few schoolie stripers for savvy anglers. The inlets jetties have a significant amount of trigger fish and even a few sheepshead according to a spearfishing friend of mine which I hope to start targeting as well. ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217 Received: Jul 5, 2011 3:54 PM Subject: BHCFA Weekly Report The offshore canyon fishing is very good right now for the captains and boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association. Captain Bob Gerkens on the “Hot Tuna” decided to make a scouting trip last Friday to check out the canyon bite and found an outstanding white marlin bite along with some very good yellow fin tuna action. There was also quite a bit of whale activity going on for the visual effects. With a crew of Bob Lefevre, John Guardabasso, Joe Zaccaria, and Val Zak, the group went three for four on white marlins. All of the billfish were released including two which were estimated at over 90-pounds. Captain Bob also helped them to boat 6 yellowfin tuna to 45-pounds. At the return to the dock, both Val and Joe had to do the traditional fully clothed swim upon arriving back to dock for their first Marlin catch. Captain Bob recommends booking trips to the canyons now while the bait is present. Captain Fran Verdi of the “Dropoff” took a “busman’s” holiday and went fishing at the Washington Canyon out of Cape May. He reports a great trip on white marlin, skipjacks, sharks, and yellowfin tuna. He is anxious to make a trip of his own in the next week or so. Captain Lindsay Fuller of the “June Bug” had a trip recently to the Lindenkohl Canyon. Arriving about an hour before sunrise, they started trolling about 3 miles inshore of the 100-fathom tip. The first action came about 7am. when a pod of nice yellowfin crashed the baits and five lines went down. Two stayed hooked and one was landed. As they spent the morning trolling they saw numerous whales and small porpoise around their boat. In the same area where they caught the first tuna, they had a second one on that crashed a ballyhoo bait, but the fish was lost at the boat. In closer to shore, the “Miss Beach Haven” under Captain Frank Camarda has seen the fluke fishing improving. The shorts are still outnumbering the keepers, but the bite is on, and keepers are coming across the rail. The boat is now sailing seven days a week with a full service galley Wednesday through Sunday. Captain John Koegler on “Pop’s Pride” had a good fishing trip in Little Egg Inlet last weekend. They released over 20 fluke and kept two larger ones, a 19-incher and a 20-inch fish. Captain John says the fish were in excellent physical condition with the top fillets measuring over ¾’s of an inch. He feels that based on last year’s experience this great inlet fluke fishing will keep improving weekly until mid August when the fish really move into the ocean. ~ Jim Hutchinson Sr. Received: Jul 5, 2011 5:01 PM Subject: Lighthouse Sportfishing Report Barnegat Bay has lots of fluke to be had. Most are shorts but we are boxing enough for a dinner or two on every outing and rods are consistently bent. Small bluefish are popping up around the inlet and can be caught on plastics, jigs, or metals. Later this month I am going to do a recon to see if there are enough weakfish in the bay to start targeting them. With the limit of 1 weakfish @ 13" I still plan of fishing for them at least part of my back bay trips since they are loads of fun on light tackle. Nature note: If you looked outside last week you may have noticed a lot of dragonflies around NJ. Many of these just migrated here from the south after hatching from small ponds. They do this to find habitat for their next generation. With much of their suitable habitat drying up it makes sense to migrate north mid summer to lay their eggs. This coincides with the population peak of NJ's state bird, the mosquito, which is the dragonfly larva's favorite food. ~ Capt. Alex, Lighthouse Sportfishing Barnegat, NJ 609-548-2511 July 4, 2011 Rob P fished the Carteret Canyon aboard the "General" on Saturday. He reported a lot of life out there. They saw a whale shark, a manta ray and another huge whale. They kept five yellowfin between 30-60 pounds. They also released 4 football sized yellowfin and a 70-lb white marlin. July 3, 2011 Received: Jul 3, 2011 11:26 AM Subject: Barnegat Bay Fishing Report from "Rambunctious" Hope everyone's enjoying a safe holiday weekend. "Rambunctious" took the holiday weekend off this year to avoid dealing with the crowds on the water, so this will just be a brief report this week. Fluke fishing in the back bay continued to be good to excellent on all three of my trips this week, with typical catches of 35-45 fish coming from the skinny waters of the bay. As you might expect with an 18" minimum size limit, most of the fish are going back but we've still managed a few nice fish in the box on each trip with keepers up to 24" each day. Seems to be something like a 9:1 or 10:1 ratio right now, so we just have to wade through a lot of fish to make sure everyone takes home a nice bag of tasty filets. I even snuck out by myself for a couple of hours at first light yesterday, quickly putting four in the box and heading back to the dock before the jet ski set had finished their morning coffee. Still have a couple more July dates available for anyone interested. ~ Capt. Jack Shea, "Rambunctious", Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632 July 2, 2011 A wonderful 4th of July Weekend on LBI The weather couldn't be better and the fishing is great. Enjoy your time on the water and be safe. Judy Wood caught her personal best today, a 6.74 pound fluke! Judy and Chris Wood of Hamilton found the fluke stacked-up today in 45' of water off of Island Beach State Park. They caught about 30 fluke with four being keepers (all over 3-lbs). Judy said that she caught her biggest on a Spro Bucktail tipped with spearing. Early this evening, Paul Galasso of West Caldwell, NJ weighed in a 18-lb 0-oz bluefish for the Fisherman Dream Boat Fishing Challenge while fishing on his boat the "Scorpio". He caught this "yellow eye" early this morning about 10 miles out of Barnegat Inlet on a Mann's Stretch deep diving lure. John Kleban was also fishing aboard the "Scorpio" with Captain Paul. John's biggest was a 16-lb bluefish. They caught about 20 blues today trolling. Offshore: Marty Anderson went to the edge on Friday aboard the "Parrot Dice" with Captain Harry and friends. Marty said, "We started out at the Spencer but couldn't troll up anything. Moved to the Wilmington and found life. We beat em up!" The crew caught 6 yellowfin tuna up to about 50-lbs, 1 white marlin, 2 bonita as well as two decent sized mahi mahi. One mahi was about 20-lbs and the larger one was 25-lbs! Bay: Eddy and Blake went out last night after work with Chet in search of Brownies. Unfortunately they got covered up with doggies. Sign-Up for the "Garbage Fish Tourney" and get in on the FUN! Inlet: Stripers are still present. Anglers fishing live spot during the day and live eels at night are picking a few bass. There are also plenty of fluke and triggerfish roaming the rocks. At the right tides there are still tons of herring see report from a number of days ago. Great fun catching on light tackle. July 1, 2011 Hunter Gutwein reported, "it was a killer day on the water today with my dad Russ. The plan was to fish for tuna in the AM and then fish for shark in the afternoon... but the tuna fishing was way too good to leave... hear is the one that we kept for the table ... many more released... fish caught ranged from the 40 to 60-lb size". Joe Meckley stopped by last night when we were packing up the scallop guts. He grabbed a bag since we were out of fresh clams at the time. He stopped in this shop this afternoon to share his experience. This is what he said... "I caught a keeper (30" bass) and two short bass on the guts this morning fishing the Inlet. An angler next to me (that I gave some guts to) wasn't paying attention and had a takedown. His rod went in the water and was out of sight. About 45 minutes to an hour go by and I feel some weight like a snag. I ended up reeling up the weight. I actually caught the rod and reel as well as a short bass that was still on its end. No one else near us had any action. The scallop guts were the ticket!" What can we learn from this... 1.) Scallop bait works (The secret is out) 2.) Don't set you drag too tight or else you need to hold on tight to your rod. 3.) Most importantly, it's good to have Joe fishing next to you. ...An evening to remember. Scott Simpson was up on the surf this morning. He reported catching a couple short fluke before switching gears to snagging. He said there were bunker pods in tight but no hook ups. No reports of Stripers caught on the front-beach for over 24-hours. It might be happening but no one is saying anything. No Kingfish reports. New moon tonight. Scott Etzel stopped by the shop with a beautiful fluke. He caught the 6-lb 1-oz fluke down on the South End of the Island (on the edge of the ICW) at high noon. Scott mentioned that he was using a fishfinder rig with Gulp! (3" White Swimming Mullet). Fluke are being caught on the front-beach surf with most being shorts. In some cases just a little too short of the 18" minimum NJ requirement. Yes, there are keepers being caught and some of those are bigger fish in the 4-lb class. But these are not a common catch. Ratio reports of catches to keepers have been ranging from 8:1 up to 4:1. Yesterday, on the bayside, one angler fishing the bulkheads close to "Old Barney" in Barnegat Light and caught a few fluke from 19 to 22-inches using spearing for bait. June 30, 2011 Jimmy Nacion got a 19" fluke today by the Lighthouse on a Gulp! and spearing combo. Ocean fluke fishing has materialized. Let's hope it continues throughout the summer! Jimmy Kuhl Sr. and Jimmy Kuhl Jr (9 years old) hammered the flatties in 30' of water using squid and minnow combo as well as sandeels. They had a boat load of fluke with more than a dozen keepers up to 24 inches. Brett Taylor of the Village Harbour Fishing Club weighed in two fluke over 4-lbs this afternoon. He got one on a live spot and one on a jumbo Gulp!. Brett mentioned that he was fishing in 50' of water in the ocean. I was gonna head out again this morning in search of the bluefin but opted for another day. I would like to go tomorrow (Friday) but the holiday weekend havoc will keep me at the shop. Maybe next week. For those anglers going for the bluefin I highly advise bringing scallop guts. Stop by the shop for guts and eliminate the hassle and wasted time bartering on the water. We just received a scallop gut delivery today. They are going fast so act NOW! Received: Jun 30, 2011 3:33 PM Subject: Hi Flier Open Boat (Friday, July 1st) Still room for 2 more anglers, only 1 signed up. Heading out to Barnegat Ridge high speed trolling for bonita and also looking over bunker pods for the last of the stripers or thresher sharks. Leaving at 5 AM returning 11 AM. Call for more information or to book your spot! ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 Received: June 30, 2011 7:04:05 PM Subject: Barnegat Family Fishing With so much to do on Barnegat Bay it’s no wonder that people flock to Barnegat Inlet, New Jersey, throughout the year. Spend a day on the world-famous Barnegat Bay and enjoy the boating, fishing, crabbing, sights, and sounds. Fishing makes a great family and friend day trip because you’ve got both the Atlantic Ocean and Barnegat Bay to choose from. Anglers can choose light tackle bay fishing to big game deep sea fishing. Try your luck fishing off one of the great New Jersey charter boats like the "Bottom Line" and experience what we have to offer. You can get everything from Striped Bass, Fluke, Bluefish, or Tuna. You can even try your luck crabbing which is a great way to spend a relaxing day here. Most charter boat captains also offer crabbing and swimming adventures. So next time you don't feel like sitting on the beach, give one of us charterboat captains a call for some great family fun that you may never forget. ~ Capt. Tom Cormann, "Bottom Line", www.fishbottomline.com Forked River 201.788.3223 June 29, 2011 11:00 AM Beautiful morning so far! The light westerly wind had picked up a bit and will more than likely continue for the rest of the day. It will provide a good push so anglers targeting fluke will have a drift. As always we'll let you know if we receive any reports. Scott Simpson fished the beach for Fluke yesterday and today using Gulp! for bait. Yesterday he hooked 15 fish, 2 were keepers and the size went up to a 4-plus pounder. Today he hooked 10 fish and all were shorts. June 28, 2011 SURF The Simply Bassing Surf Tournament is officially over! Congrats to all the anglers who caught fish and especially to Rob L for taking the crown with his 47.63-lb striped bass and also to Dante S. with his 45.69-lb striped that won him the FHQ Striper Side Bet for his second year in a row. Bass fishing from the beach has slowed but there are still fish present. Target bass around sunrise and sunset. Keep in mind that you will more than likely have to deal with garbage fish (skates and smooth dog sharks). By the way, the Garbage Fish Classic starts July 1st, sign up now! Fluke fishing from the beach has been great this year so far. There was recently a 6-lb fluke caught off of the mid-island surf. As always the bucktail teaser rig is the way to go! Tip it with your favorite bait (live, frozen and or artificial) and work the surf covering ground to find where they are holding. OCEAN Currently our local inshore fishing is in a transitional period as we turn gears into summer. Yes, spring is long gone and our striper run is close to its end. However, in years past it lasted right into July 4th weekend so don't give up yet if you still haven't got your fill. Even though the surface ocean water temperature is up in the low to mid 70's (74 on Monday at noon time off of Barnegat Light) the bottom temperatures are colder. When the bottom temperatures eventually "catch up" the bottom fishing should light up! Actually we have already had a drastic increase in productivity from the ocean (open sand bottom) as well as from the reefs and wrecks. Let hope this continues. We received a report from a customer stating, "The fishing in the ocean was good over the weekend. Caught four keeper fluke (largest was a 10+ pound doormat) and a ton of shorts. There was also a good number of keeper seabass at the reefs/wrecks near the Inlet." INLET & BAY Fluke fishing in the bay is steady. We have heard mixed reports, but it seems that those who put their time in are finding some keepers. Don't over look shallow water. Jimmy Nacion let us know that Sunday afternoon he caught 4 keeper fluke near the Lighthouse on spearing and gulp. He reported 2 fluke at 20" as well as one 19 and one 18.5 inches. The Inlet is also full of fun with herring and cocktail blues at the right tides. There are also a number of sheepshead and trigger fish roaming the rocks along with the fluke and occasional striped bass. Crabbing has been great!!! The Causeway Bridges and the crabbing piers in town are producing some good numbers. With the summer time crabbing in full swing try to seek out those secret street end hot spots to find big blue claws with out the crowds. Get out and enjoy the summer crabbing. Also another report from the bay while on the topic, Pete Casoff and friends got into the brown sharks the other night down on the south end. They went 8 for 8! All fish were caught for the fun of the fight on light tackle, catch and release. This fishery will continue through the next couple months. OFFSHORE Offshore and mid-shore fishing has been and still is HOT HOT HOT! Capt. Stew of the "Pez Machine" out of Barnegat Light had the Josh Deitch charter out to the canyons for an early season overnighter and got on the fish right away. They finished up boating/releasing 19 yellowfin to 60-pounds, 12 tiles to 25-pounds, boated a 220-pound mako and released another 135-pound mako. Greg and store staff crew Blake, Ed and Joni headed out aboard the "Wild Honey" early Monday morning to get in on the mid-shore action at the Chicken. They set up on the troll before sunrise and went on the search. It took a little bit of time but eventually a line came tight on a green Zucker... 50-lb bluefin. It was Blake's first bluefin of many for the day so it was for the box. Shortly after we got covered up with bluefish. After dealing with them the troll was abandoned and got right into the action with what they were looking for... the chunk and jig. The boat next to us controlled by Captain Matt K (see Jeff Warford's report from yesterday) hooked 'em up with some guts and it was game on! They had a number of fish and a couple double headers casting scallop gut globs with light weight popping gear. They also jigged up a number of fish on Butterfly jigs and Sting-O PBJ jigs. Unfortunately we had to leave during a mad dog bite (just as Capt. Matt predicted the day before) to get back to the shop for our shift. (sigh and tear) We had a great morning! “No Limits” Offshore fishing report for Sunday June 26, 2011 The “No Limits” fishing team ventured offshore in Bob Percopo’s 33 Hydra Sport on Sunday looking for yellow fin tuna with a three man crew of Bob Percopo, Jeff Barnhart and Don Tepfer. Shortly after lines were in the water at 8:15, four rods went down and the team was successful in boating three yellow fin tuna up to 70 pounds – with rainbow spreader bars the lure of choice. Back up on the troll the way way back bird and green machine was hit by a white marlin that was successfully boated and released. Staying in the same area between the Lindy and Spencer with water temperature at 73 degrees, the crew hooked up again with three yellow fin, successfully boating two up to 60-pounds. The crew pulled the lines in and headed back to the barn at 1:30 PM after a very successful and jam packed with fun day. Tuna photo: Left to right Don Tepfer, Jeff Barnhart and Bob Percopo with their catch of five yellow fin tuna on Sunday june 26 aboard Bob Percopo’s “No Limits” White marlin photo: Left to right, Don Tepfer with his first white marlin catch and release with Jeff Barnhart caught on Bob Percopo’s “No Limits”. ~ Jeffrey E. Barnhart Received: Jun 28, 2011 9:14 AM Subject: "Lucky Stripes Charters" Time to switch to fluke and sea bass! The bass fishing is finally slowing and although there are still some good days to be had the fishing is getting really inconsistent. "Lucky Stripes" will be switching over to mainly fluke, sea bass, and blues for now and the fishing has been pretty good with some nice fish being caught. We still give the bass a quick morning shot and then switch it up to fluke. We did a quick fluke trip yesterday and wound up with a bunch of shorts and a few nice size keepers. ~ Capt. Mike Greene, Lucky Stripes Charters, Long Beach Island, NJ 718.644.6087 Received: Jun 28, 2011 10:18 AM Subject: BHCFA Weekly report The past week has seen the captains and boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association concentrating in the ocean. First mate and chief bottle washer of the “Miss Beach Haven", Sal Rosa, reports that the fishing has been slow as the big head boat looks for fluke and sea bass. The anglers are catching some fish, but nothing like it will be in another week or so. Captain Fran Verdi of the “Drop Off” had a party on Saturday that encountered a case of “mal de mer.” Just as they were starting to pick a few nice bass and fluke after several spots, his group experienced some seasickness. Captain Fran headed in for the calmer waters inside the inlet where they picked up 10 fluke that were all short of the 18-inch mark. They had managed a few keeper sea bass early in the day. The “Drop Off’s” adventures on Sunday were more productive. Captain Fran hit his first wreck in 70-feet of water and worked his way out to a small snag on the bottom in 90-feet of water where they hit a bonanza. Thanks to the calm conditions, they were able to stay right on top of the snag. They ended the day with 39 keeper sea bass and 5 ling. Their top fish was a very respectable 4-pound black sea bass. They used clam, mackerel, and Gulp baits. The “Star Fish” under Captain Carl Sheppard, who occasionally shares the duties with Captain Vic Bertotti, has been doing well with a main course of bluefin and yellowfin tuna caught offshore. On Sunday Captain John Koegler took the “Star Fish” out looking for bluefin. On the way he mugged up on 15-pound bluefish. Captain John said the blues were “mad and unhappy” as they fought fiercely jumping out of the water at times. Captain Carl fished the Little Egg Reef one day for fluke and found the fish scarce. When he moved off to some wrecks without fish pots around, he found some keeper sea bass and fluke mixed in with the throwbacks. Captain John Koegler had the “Pop’s Pride" out for some flounder fishing at the Little Egg Reef around the Rutgers Buoys and managed a handful of keepers along with a number of throwbacks. ~ Jim Hutchinson Sr. Received: Jun 28, 2011 2:12 PM Subject: Hi Flier Open Boat Bonita and Striper Trips thru July 4 The weather and sea condition looks great for a good stretch coming up right through the holiday weekend. Our plan is to make a left turn out of Barnegat Inlet each morning in hopes of finding the last of the big stripers feeding on bunker pods. Depending on our success with that, we can stay with it, or head east to Barnegat Ridge, and beyond, in search of bonita, albacore, or bluefin tuna. This is mostly hi-speed trolling with a potential to jig if we find good readings. The Hi Flier will be running open boat trips every day starting Thursday, June 30, 5AM to 1PM, then 2PM to 7PM. Friday, July 1, 5AM to 11 AM and Noon to 6PM. Sat, July 2, 11AM to 5PM. Sun, July 3, 5AM to 1 PM. Monday, July 4, 5AM to 1PM. 8 hour trips $200 per, 6 hour trips $150 per, 5 hour trips $135 per. All fish are shared. Three person maximum. Reservations required. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 June 27, 2011 Received: Jun 27, 2011 9:14 PM Subject: Jersey's (LBI) EPIC fishing continues now on tuna I got out again today in search of the bluefins with Capt. Matt K aboard his 31 Ocean Master, along with Mickey and Kerry. Again he had us on the fish almost immediately. We broke one off on a spreader bar, and shortly after brought one boat side on a cedar plug. Their were porpoises and a whale feeding all around us. The bite on the troll seemed to die out around 9:00 AM, however, having a bag of scallops left from the previous trip we headed to check out the scallop boats. It was ON for the next four hours. Seeing the other boats did not have any Scallops Capt. Matt gave three other boats a bag of guts to join in on the fun. Everyone was hooked up. Hooked-up with 25+ tuna producing some sore arms. Headed back to the dock by 1:00 PM. The fish were in the 40-60 pound range. I even saw a few guys hook-up using jigs. This year's fishery is like one that I have never seen, as you were bringing one to the boat there were ten following behind. Seemed like a trip of a lifetime and it was especially so for two guys on the boat who caught their first tuna. ~ Capt Jeff Warford June 26, 2011 The Simply Bassing Tournament ended today at 12 Noon! Simply Bassing 2011 Leader Board (Unofficial as of 06-16-11) Status Total Lbs 1st Name Last Name City State Bait 1 47.63 Rob Lyman West Harrison NY Bunker, Live 2 45.69** Dante Soriente West Caldwell NJ Bunker, Live 3 45.31 Kurty Horensky Beach Haven NJ Bunker, Live 4 43.75 Andrew Shultz Long Beach Twsp NJ Bunker, Live 5 43.19** Jason Delpalazzo Hainesport NJ Bunker Head 6 42.94** Dave Bonanni Titusville NJ Bunker, Live 7 41.06 Steve Philpott Beach Haven Crest NJ Bunker 8 39.69 Peter Menges Morristown NJ Bunker Head ** Signed-Up for FHQ Calcutta This afternoon Mike Colaizzo weighed-in a nice 4.18-lb fluke that he caught it in Barnegat Light Inlet while drifting spearing at the last of the flood tide. He also had a short. Got word from John Parzych that he caught a nice keeper fluke off of the beach today. He reported, "one keeper out of five (four shorts) and the surf was weeded up but fishable". John also shared a report from last night, "Two striped bass off of the jetty last night. One on a live eel and the other was on a bucktail". Receiving: Jun 26, 2011 6:42 PM Subject: June 25th fishing report Saturday, we had Eric, Jarrett, Chris, Siade, and Steve all from PA on board the "Bottom Line". We left the dock at 7 AM and decided to try for some striped bass, knowing that its been an early bite our back up plan would be fluke. We came out of Barnegat Inlet and headed north, looking for some pods of bunker. We ran into a nice size pod and immediately started snagging and dropping... But after having no hits we realized this pod had no bass under them and decided to move on. After snagging and dropping a few more pods with no luck we decided to give the fluke a try. We first tried in about 24 feet of water and were picking up some shorts along with a skate. We then gave it a try in about 40-50 feet and picked up two really nice size fluke. Soon we could not get away from the sand sharks, although they are fun to catch we were not actually looking for them. We moved all over the place with no further luck on the fluke but catching everything else like skates, sea robins and sand sharks. Although we didn't bring home a lot of fish, the guys had a lot of action and fun was had by all. ~ Capt. Tom Cormann, "Bottom Line", www.fishbottomline.com Forked River 201.788.3223 Received: Jun 26, 2011 2:49 PM Subject: Fwd: Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters - Back Bay and Weather Could it be? Has the "Fat Lady" sung on our Epic spring trophy striped bass run? With warming ocean temps reaching the low seventies it look like most of the larger bass have continued their Northern Sojourn. Surely there is a few more cows for those patience and committed diehards but for the most part the main body of large striper bite seems to be North of our reach. With the bay and inlet still producing smaller stripers, bluefish and fluke for the light tackle enthusiasts and the wrecks finally showing signs of a substantial seabass bite and the inshore lumps and ridges producing a mix of bonito and bluefin tuna their is still plenty of rod bending opportunities for everyone! After finishing up with Fridays AM trip at about 11AM I looked westward and saw tall Cumulus clouds with deep bases and knew immediately my afternoon trip was going to be a "No Go" and stayed tied to the dock. So Glad I did! Check out the Pic from Friend Capt. Jeff Evans [water spout] as he proved my suspicions were correct. I still have a few dates available in July for those wanting to mix it up between backbay/inlet or offshore or anything in between. ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217 Received: Jun 26, 2011 10:26 AM Subject: Barnegat Bay Fishing Report It's been a bit of a wild week, with torrential downpours, golf ball sized hail, fierce winds and even some fog mixed in. But fluke fishing in the bay is picking up right on schedule and there are some quality fish to be had right now back in the skinny water. On Wednesday I had Audrey and John Wendolowski out with Audrey's dad Walt Tatko. 86-year old Walt easily ending up as the charter's high hook and schooling us all in how to catch fluke up to 21". The captain finally salvaged a little bit of his reputation by topping off the box with Capt Jack's fat 6-plus pound fluke that ate one of my custom teasers later that day. Friday the Greg McGuigan party was aboard from PA to get in on the action, with John Becker taking the pool with a fat 22" fish before we had to run for cover from the violent storm that struck minutes after we got back to the dock. Don't think I ever filleted fish that fast in my life. Then yesterday I had George Selph aboard, landing three to four dozen fluke with four fat ones in the box when we headed back in. As we have the past couple of years, we've downsized our back bay fluke tackle to true ultralight levels to amp up the fun level in this fishery. With the crazy 18" minimum size limit we're stuck with, most of the fish we catch are destined to be released. But what a blast it is catching them on this kind of tackle, with rods bent in half and screaming drags the norm for even short fish. The past two years, this fishing has held up right through Labor Day so we've got fingers crossed that this year will be the same. I still have a number of good dates available in July for anyone looking to give it a shot. We'll also be doing the usual inshore fluke and sea bass trips, as well as heading out to the Ridge for bonito and mahi, as the summer gets rolling so now's the time to make plans to get out fishing this summer. ~ Capt. Jack Shea, "Rambunctious", Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632 June 24, 2011 8:30 PM We just received a beautiful load of fresh bunker. Anyone looking to get premium baits for the beach or boat should stop in as soon as possible. Not sure how long fresh bunker will be in stock because of the shark tournament this weekend. The north end surf has produced some 20+ pound bass for bunker chunkers. The calendar tells us that it is summer but our spring run of stripers still hasn't left yet. We had a fluke report from a customer who said he was fishing yesterday down in the Middle Grounds. He had a couple keepers and a handful of shorts on Gulp!. Another report from Ed C. was of an early morning fluke bite in about 8-feet of water South of the BI buoy in Barnegat Bay. Ed C. hooked-up with a lot of fluke but only three were keepers. 1:00 PM This morning, Victor Velez weighed-in a 25-lb 8-oz Striper that he caught in the Ship Bottom Surf. June 23, 2011 This morning, Paul Haertel caught a 52-lb 4-oz Striped Bass while doing the bunker snag and drop off Island Beach State Park (IBSP). Received: Jun 23, 2011 11:47 AM Subject: TUNA Yesterday I was able to sneak out looking for the Bluefins with Capt Matt K. Arriving at the fishing grounds around 7:30 AM, it didn’t take him long to have us covered up. About three minutes after putting the lines in we had three Bluefins boat side. (25-pounders). At the end of the day we went 7 for 9 with 4 being in the 50-60 pound range. Another great day with Captain Matt. The lures of choice were cedar plugs and green machines. ~ Capt. Jeff Warford June 21, 2011 Received: Jun 21, 2011 7:01 PM Subject: BHCFA Report The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are finding that the fishing action is changing into a summer mode. The hot striped bass action just off the beaches and the cod and ling action on the wrecks and reefs are being replaced by a nice fluke bite and some hot action offshore for tuna and sharks. The fluke and sea bass bites on the inshore wrecks and reefs have yet to get into high gear. Captain John Koegler of the “Pop’s Pride” reports he had a good day last Saturday drifting along the Intercoastal Waterway from Beach Haven south to the inlet. Although he had to wade his way through quite a few throwbacks, his anglers managed 3 very nice fluke ranging from 18-21 inches. Captain John said that he experimented with a variety of baits and rigs to find the right combination. He explained that he was catching fish better on hi/lo rigs rather than the tradition fluke rigs. He managed to catch some fish on live minnows, but all of the keepers were caught on Gulp. On another recent trolling trip he managed to pick up some bluefin tuna about 45-inches in length. He also heard about some decent shark fishing in the same area. Captain John added that the reef and wreck fishing has been slow because of the cooler water temperatures on the bottom despite some warm water on the surface. He says a storm is needed to churn up the water and mix the water up to a uniform temperature. ~ Jim Hutchinson Sr. Received: Jun 21, 2011 2:00 PM Subject: Hi Flier Stripers, Bonita--Reports and Open Boat Trips On Sunday, after a slow morning of “bunker dunking”, I shot offshore in the mild easterly wind for my first trip to Barnegat Ridge this season. After letting out the eighth rod in the spread, the flatline clip snapped and we had our first bonita, a respectable 4 pounder. 10 minutes later we boated another, and then we had to go looking. We ran into a steady row of “tuna chicks” (birds) picking at the surface and the machine was reading heavy gobs all over the water column. We dropped down some silver PBJ diamond jigs and Bob Diener of Nanuet, NY was rewarded with a 20 pound bluefin tuna. A few more drifts and we had to get back for my Father’s Day promised sharp return. Monday morning only yielded a 38 pounder for Matt Huminski, though the bite I witnessed was better than that, with constant hookups all around me in 45 feet of water off of Seaside Park. We all took it in stride and chalked it up to “Some days you get the bear, and some days the bear gets you”. We stopped at the inlet jetty on the way in and added a 12 pound bass on a leftover fresh bunker from our snagging. I headed back out Monday afternoon with Gene Linder and we found some small but tight bunker pods in the same area and the action was insane. All the fish were 30-pound plus, I had a 40 and Gene had a 42. (If the boat doesn't sell out to three people, you can expect to see me fishing next to you.) As soon as we snagged a bunker it was eaten. Some of these afternoon bites have been incredible. Felt like I saved face by returning to the same pods that had defeated me earlier in the day. Here’s a YouTube clip of one of Gene’s 30 pounders last night: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y4MevGGsPk I will be running open boat trips Fri, June 24, 1PM to 7PM, Sat, June 25, 4:30AM to 12:30PM, and then again in the afternoon 1PM to 7PM. Sun, June 26, 4:30AM to 12:30PM and 1PM to 7PM. Monday, 5AM to 1PM and 2PM to 8PM. The 6 hour PM trips will be looking for bunker and stripers. The cost is $150 per man. The 8 hour AM trips will start looking for bass and depending on our success and the sea condition, we could also run offshore to Barnegat Ridge looking for bonita, albacore, and tuna. The cost for these trips is $200 per man. Either trip sails with a maximum of 3 people. All fish caught are shared by the passengers. We provide everything, just bring whatever you want to eat and drink for the time we are out. If you have a favorite rod, you may bring it. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 June 20, 2011 Marissa Hawthorne (12 years old) of Philadelphia was on the water yesterday morning with her father Shawn. They battled and boated two nice bass off of Island Beach State Park (IBSP). Snag and dropping, a 30-1 and a 31-10. June 19, 2011 Received: Jun 19, 2011 11:17 AM Subject: Barnegat Bay Fishing Report Happy Father's Day to all you Dads out there! Hope you're having a great day. Just when you think you've got it all figured out, something comes along to put you back in a more humble state of mind. At this time last week, the rapidly rising ocean water temps had me thinking that the amazing striped bass run of 2011 was probably coming to an end. When my first couple of trips in the early part this week only turned up bluefish, I was sure I could hear the fat lady singing her final song. But late in the week the bass bite exploded again, and with this much bunker around there's no telling how long it could go on if we get a couple days of South wind to keep water temps in check. I've still got a couple of openings the last week in June for anyone interested in giving it a final (?) shot. We got started with our summer back bay fluking the last couple of days, and so far the bite isn't quite what we've come to expect for mid-June. We've certainly been catching some fish, topped by Rachel Snyder's 21" flattie on Friday in a howling south wind after the storms raced through, but the numbers seem a bit off from past years. Hopefully that will start picking up over the next week or so as summer season kicks into high gear. Until next week. ~ Capt. Jack Shea, "Rambunctious", Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632 Received: Jun 19, 2011 9:48 AM Subject: Saturday Caught 3 striped bass on bunker off the beach in Barnegat Light Saturday. 33, 32 and 30-inches. The 32 incher was considerably skinnier. All were caught in a couple of hours. All caught at least 45 minutes before the high tide. Nothing caught on clam. ~ DRA Received: Jun 19, 2011 9:05 PM Subject: 6/19 Bottom Line fishing report Although my Father's Day didn't begin with spending time with my own boys, it began by fishing with a nice family, the Browns: David and his 3 children Holly, Christopher & Veronica. We broke Barnegat inlet around 5:30 AM and headed North toward the bathing beach where there were plenty of bunker. We started snagging and dropping bunker and within a half-hour we had our first striped bass in the boat that weighed-in just shy of 40-lbs. Dave handled that fish like a pro. What a way to start the day! We landed another huge striped bass, 37-lbs. I thought we were on our way to a stellar fishing day when suddenly the pods of bunker started separating and the action died down. We even tried as far North as Seaside Heights where there were a few head boats, but nothing. With no more striped bass action, we drifted and picked up some short fluke, skates and sand sharks. Before we knew it, the day was over. I thank the Brown family for spending their day on the Bottom Line. ~ Capt. Tom Cormann, "Bottom Line", www.fishbottomline.com Forked River 201.788.3223 June 18, 2011 This morning Wayne Edwards caught a 37-lb 12-oz Striped Bass while Snagging n' Dropping bunker North of the Ferris Wheel. Received: Jun 18, 2011 6:26 AM Subject: Fwd: Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters - Huge stripers, and thresher sharks! When this week started with ocean water temps into the upper sixties, I was unsure where we would stand with this springs fantastic trophy striped bass season . Well it didn't take long to answer that question as it seems like the climbing water temps have only fanned the red hot bite! Visual bunker sprays with marauding striped bass into the 40+lbs with full limits of stripers on all trips have got me rethinking "what I think I know". Add bluefish and thresher sharks into the mix and the action couldn't be any better! "Skilled Angler of the Week " aboard the "Reel Fantasea" has to go to Cy Collins as he boated 3 huge stripers before the rest of the crew even got started but as the day developed all hands were tight with big stripers to the upper 30-lb range all trip long scoring their limits of big stripers with doubles and triples until trips end! On another trip we witnessed a big thresher shark in a full on feeding frenzy on the schools of bunker, wagging it's serpent like tail all the while. I personally fed a bunker chunk to that big thresher shark [Fish On!] until our 40-lb fluorocarbon leader proved no match to it's razor sharp teeth . This season continues to flat out amaze me with not only quantity but quality of huge stripers! Thursday evenings stiff Southerly winds have dropped the water temps back down into the stripers comfort zone and with the vast amounts of bunker in our waters it's anybody guess as to how long can this epic season last! I have 2 spots open for June 30th's open boat trip call or email for details. So far Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters has caught more striped bass over 30-lbs than any size bluefish this season! Hope everyone enjoys their Father's Day! ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217 June 17, 2011 Glenn Hofmeister stopped in the shop late and notified us that he lost his rod to the ocean in Ship Bottom. If anyone finds his Penn rod and reel surf combo please send us an email. Glenn said he will offer a reward if found. Received: Friday, June 17, 2011 9:08 PM Subject: hi---report I was able to sneak down Thursday morning for some Fluke fishing with my buddy, Rich, we only mustered 6 throw-backs. It was amazing how few boats there were on the water. ~ Sam W. Received: Jun 17, 2011 10:23 AM Subject: Hi Flier---Open Boat Stripers! The bunker and big stripers are still here. The water temp out front has hit 65 and the action should be slowing down.....but nobody told the striped bass. The surface action in the morning and late afternoon is very good. All the fish are 25 to 35 pound average. Surface action is very common with a few hundred bunker fleeing the gape of a huge striper all at once, it has enough volume to be heard 50 yards away. Of course, there is no guarantee this will be all the time, but it's been happening a lot. More often than not. Some days, you just drift through a few acres of loosely flipping bunker and casually pick at the big stripers. Not too awful, either. Trolling seems to be producing more thresher sharks this week than stripers... I know of three caught on bunker spoons in the last week alone. We have been catching all of our fish between Barnegat Inlet and the Seaside Piers, but we will run further if the day calls for it. 20 to 60 feet of water is now the spread of bait and fish, so every day, you have to key in on the depth. I have open boats sailing Saturday (tomorrow) 1 PM to 7 PM, Sunday (Father's Day) 4:30 AM to 10:30 AM sharp as I am sure a lot of people need to be back for obligations on land (me too). Also Monday 1 PM to 7 PM. The cost for these 6 hour trips is $150 per man and I limit the trips to three passengers. Calling me on my cell is a better shot at getting me, instead of email, as I am on the water more than land. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 June 16, 2011 Another great morning with Stripers was had in the boats. There were two customers that were in the shop today that both raved about the great action on the pods. It sounds like it was from first light until about 10 AM. Nick Carey of Manahawkin weighed in a 16-lb 9-oz striped bass right at 8 PM. He caught the 37" bass off of the Ship Bottom surf on clam. Received: Jun 16, 2011 10:16 AM Subject: Stripers on the Hi Flier Robert Jones caught 38 and 28-pound stripers while livelining bunker just North of Barnegat Inlet on Saturday aboard one of Hi Flier's open boat trips. The 38-lber is his new personal biggest. Capt. Dave DeGennaro caught a 35-pounder Thursday (this morning), livelining off of mid Island Beach State Park in 35 feet of water. One of three I caught this morning by myself between 28 to 35-pounds in an hour of fishing. Left them "whooshing" on the surface and was back at the dock by 8 AM. Felt great to be an angler! Sailing open twice daily for these big stripers and possibly finishing up with some fluke in the bay depending on the guys onboard and what you want to do. We had a 19-1/2" and 20-1/2" fluke on Monday in Double Creek Channel on jigheads and Gulp!, along with a bunch of throwbacks. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 Received: Jun 16, 2011 9:57 AM Subject: Lucky Stripes Charters- Insane Bass Bite Continues The bite was on yesterday! Had over 30 bass with the smallest going 29-lbs and the biggest at 44-lbs. Hopefully we still have more striper fishing to come. Next Tuesday is available if anyone wants to get on them before I switch over to fluke. ~ Capt. Mike Greene, Lucky Stripes Charters, Long Beach Island, NJ 718.644.6087 June 15, 2011 6:40 PM Kurt Falkenberg of Reading, PA just weighed in this 50-lb 7-oz striper. He caught the bass with Capt. Lee Walley live lining bunker off of IBSP around 7am this morning. They are still here! Don't give up yet. 5:00 PM We received word earlier today that the pods were going off. Let's hope this continues after the full moon and we get another good wave of fish. Received: Jun 15, 2011 8:03 AM Subject: BHCFA Report The 2011 fishing season for the Captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association is officially under way. The boats are ready to fish bay waters for summer flounder, close to the beaches for striped bass, the artificial reefs and wrecks for black sea bass and fluke, inshore ocean waters for bluefish, and offshore for bigger game fish such as tuna, sharks, and billfish. Captain Dave Wittenborn of the “Compass Rose” says he believes the upcoming warm weather will be heating the water up to give the bottom fishing a boast. Although the striped bass bite has been slowing recently as the fish make their way up the coast, Captain Dave reports there are still some bass and sharks mixed in feeding on the bunker pods. Captain Fran Verdi on the “Dropoff” reports he is running charters and open boat trips after fluke and sea bass. Captain Frank Camarda and the head boat “Miss Beach Haven” is also sailing for fluke and sea bass. Captain Lindsay Fuller finally has the “June Bug” back from North Carolina and reports he picked up a couple of mahi-mahi on the trip up the coast. Captain John Lewis who runs the “Insatiable” reportedly trolled the 25-fathom hole recently and picked up six 12-pound bluefish and one 31-inch bluefin tuna. ~ Jim Hutchinson Sr. June 14, 2011 Fluke action continues off of the front beach and on top of that a number of kingfish have been caught. The bass and blues are still biting in the BL Inlet. Also in the mix at the rocks, triggerfish! We received a great report from an angler who wanted to remain anonymous. He headed out late afternoon and got into some bass on the pods and then had some reel screaming fun with Thresher sharks. We have had a number of customers ask about the surf temperatures. The ocean surface temperature off of Ship Bottom is 67.6 degrees. One thing is for sure, this spring run will go down in the memory book as being one heck of a good time. Lots of bass feeding frenzies! But don't quit yet. The June's Full Moon is tomorrow. We should expect to see more fish. Historically we have great striper fishing right into the July 4th weekend. PLEASE READ - BE AWARE - PASS ON THE NEWS - STOLEN TACKLE Someone or a group may be targeting fishing gear on Long Beach Island (LBI). Keep an eye on your gear or maybe you see some of this stolen gear. This is a heads up. Case 1: My friend's gear was stolen off of the front of his rig. He was parked at 9th street in Barnegat Light. Stolen were an older model All Star 2-pc rod with a Shimano Calcutta reel, and his 2nd set up was an 11-1/2 foot Lamiglas 1-pc White rod (the blank is all white). The All Star blank is no longer made. Both rods have custom wraps. Case 2: Bad news today. Upon returning to his truck at 9:00 AM this morning an angler discovered that someone had stolen his fishing rods and reels from his roof rack. He was parked in the Barnegat Light parking lot. Please keep an eye out for these rods on the beach and on buggies. 2 of them are Joe Miani custom rods. Here are the ID characteristics; 2 rods are 11' Lamiglas Conventional rods, cork handles, dark wrappings, LBIFC logo and his name just above the handle. Each had a Shimano Calcutta 400 conventional reel (color:gold) on them. 1 other rod is a Lamiglas 8' 6" conventional with a silver Abu Ambassador 6500 reel (unfortunately no ID markings). All LBI police departments are aware of the theft. Keep an eye out for a Joe Miani rod with tape covering his name. If you spot the rods call police immediately, don't confront the person directly. Also keep an eye out for the equipment on the Internet and at flea markets. Lastly, please let your friends know to keep a look out. ~ Thank you so much, Mike Went Someone found tackle in Brant Beach If you left some tackle on the beach in a Brant Beach it may have been found. Email us a detailed description of what you lost and we will contact the person who recovered the items. If your detailed description matches you might get your tackle back. No it's not the items from above. ~ Gene Received: Tuesday, June 14, 2011 7:09:19 AM Subject: Open Boat Spots this week! Two (2) spots left for a total of 4 for Thursday June 16th and one (1) spot for a total of 3 for Friday 17th. We will be targeting those big 30-40lbs Stripers on live bunker for both days. Call to reserve 609-290-1217 to join in on the action. ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217 Final Results - 2011 Leader Board - High Point Vol. Fire Co. Striper Shootout 1st Place – Lucky Stripes/Team Atlas Reels, Capt. Mike Greene 43.8 lbs 2nd Place – Porky’s Revenge, Capt. Mark Simmons 35.5 lbs 3rd Place – Miss Addison, Capt. Adam Jaffe 35.4 lbs Calcutta’s “High Hook” Striper Calcutta - Combination of the two heaviest Striped Bass Lucky Stripes/Team Atlas Reels, Capt. Mike Greene 43.8 lbs & 40.2 lbs, Combined Weight - 84 lbs HPVFC (Established 1937) Calcutta - Striped Bass weighing closest to 19.37 lbs (over or under) Captain Ken Nutt Jr. 20.3 lbs “Yellow Eye” Bluefish Calcutta - Single Heaviest Bluefish Porky’s Revenge, Capt. Mark Simmons 3.6 lbs June 13, 2011 Thirteen year old Michael Keller of Mt. Laurel weighed in his first bass ever. His 16-lb 7-oz Striped Bass was caught off of the Ship Bottom surf on clam. Final Results - 2011 Berkeley Striper Club Spring Tournament Standings Striped Bass 1st Billy Talerico 47 lbs. 2 oz. 2nd Dominick Talerico 44 lbs. 2 oz. 3rd Dante Soreinte 43 lbs. 1 oz. 4th Dave Bonanni 42 lbs. 15 oz. 5th Steve George 41 lbs. 12 oz. 6th Dennis Maglione 40 lbs. 14 oz. 7th Rodney Erdo 39 lbs. 15 oz. 8th Ryan Guerrette 39 lbs. 14 oz. 9th John Salato 38 lbs. 14 oz. 10th Dawn Callan 38 lbs. 10 oz. 11th Sal Padavano 38 lbs. 4 oz. 12th Chris Buchta 37 lbs. 6 oz. 13th Shawn DeVincenzo 36 lbs. 10 oz. 14th George Strathern 36 lbs. 7 oz. 15th Mark Brancaccio 36 lbs. 6 oz. 16th Jordan Cook 35 lbs. 5 oz. 17th Chris LaGrossa 35 lbs. 4 oz 18th Andy Ciok 34 lbs. 12 oz. Bluefish 1st Billy Talerico 12 lbs. 11 oz. 2nd John Gillis 11 lbs. 11 oz. 3rd Richard Schultz 9 lbs. 11 oz. 4th Mike Gillis 9 lbs. 8 oz. 5th Drew McGinnis 8 lbs. 14 oz. 6th Dennis Callan 6 lbs. 9 oz. 7th Joe Devino 6 lbs. 5 oz. 8th Joe Dempsey 5 lbs. 3 oz. 9th Scotty Lex Pullen 4 lbs. 13 oz. 10th Todd Callan 4 lbs. 12 oz. 11th Zoltan Egyed 4 lbs. 7 oz. 12th Dawn Callan 3 lbs. 14 oz. 13th John Salato 3 lbs. 8 oz. 14th Jay Salato 3 lbs. 6 oz. 15th Eric Green 3 lbs. 4 oz. 16th Larry Newman 3 lbs. 2 oz. 17th Ryan Guerrette 2 lbs. 11 oz. 18th Jim Puhn 2 lbs. 7 oz. $25 Cash for Bass Category 1st Billy Talerico 47 lbs. 2 oz. Paid $365.63 2nd Dominick Talerico 44lbs. 2 oz. Paid $219.38 3rd Dante Soreinte 43 lbs. 1 oz. Paid $146.25 $50 Big Gun’s Cash for Bass Category 1st Billy Talerico 47 lbs. 2 oz. Paid $468.75 2nd Dominick Talerico 44 lbs. 2 oz. Paid $281.25 3rd Dante Soreinte 43 lbs. 1 oz. Paid $187.50 $25 Cash for Blues Category 1st Billy Talerico 12 lbs. 11 oz. Paid $215.63 2nd Joe Devino 6 lbs. 5 oz. Paid $129.38 3rd Scotty Lex Pullen 4lbs. 13 oz. Paid 86.25 $50 Big Gun’s Cash for Blues Category 1st Billy Talerico 12 lbs. 11 oz. Paid $262.50 2nd Dennis Callan 6 lbs. 9 oz Paid $157.50 3rd Scotty Lex Pullen 4lbs. 13 oz. Paid $105. Some Tournament Facts 1.) There were 111 total entrants who participated in the tournament which began on 6/3/11 and ended on 6/12/11 and was for fishing from the shore only. A total of approximately 40 bass and 25 bluefish were weighed in during the ten day tournament. Standings were posted daily so that fish which otherwise might be released would not be kept unnecessarily. 2.) Billy Talerico had the largest bass, 47 lbs. 2 oz., and the largest blue 12 lbs 11 oz, in the tournament. He won over $1300 in cash and merchandise valued at over $600. 3.) Dawn Callan finished in 10th place in the striped bass category with a 38 lb 10 oz fish. Her bass was the largest ever in the eight year history of the tournament to be weighed in by a female contestant. 4.) Jordan Cook, age 11, finished in 16th place with a 35 lb 5 oz bass. It was the largest ever in our tournament to be caught by a youth and he became the youngest to ever win a major prize in our tournament. 5.) We also had an 81 year old become the oldest contestant to win a major prize in our tournament but I am not releasing his name because I do not know if he wants that to be known. 6.) All the profit is donated to organizations that protect or enhance recreational fishing. Stripers Forever is the leading beneficiary and has received $13,000. from our club thus far. June 12, 2011 10:00 AM - Fresh Bunker & Live Surf Clams A short while ago we received the Fresh Bunker and Live Surf Clams that we all have been waiting for. Ryan Pippin weighed in a 37-lb bass yesterday. He caught it snag and dropping. We will post the High Point Striper Shootout Leader Board once we receive the official results. Andy Worst on his "Bay Triever" landed a 226-lb Thresher shark within a mile of the island. Received: Jun 12, 2011 5:36 PM Subject: Reel Fantasea - The Striper Action Continues! Yet another week of fantastic trophy striped bass action? You Bet ! Still Kickin' Bass from the 30's to a 42-lber caught mostly on live bunker with only a couple of bloopers. These bloopers were due to missed opportunities when some hooked fish were burning line off the reel but inexplicably got lost. This hurts at the end of the day. Anglers onboard the Reel Fantasea continue to enjoy some of the best large Striped Bass action EVER in our local waters while snagging and dropping live bunker! The skillful angler of the week goes to 13-yr old Joe "The Wildman" Wildmann, grandson of Regular Joe Frankie who continued to best his biggest striped bass caught from 36, 40 to 42-lbs all by himself [hooked, fought and landed]. With vast schools of bunker in our home waters there's no telling how long this epic action can last! Thursday, June 16th has opened up for private or open boat availability for those interested in wanting to get in on this fantastic striped bass action! Lastly, the back bay/inlet has plenty of action with bluefish in the 1-4lbs range, fluke, smaller striper to 15-lbs and with weakfish making their way into the bay. The possibility of a Barnegat Bay Grand Slam is a Reel possibility for those interested in targeting that action! ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217 Received: Jun 12, 2011 10:54 AMSubject: Lighthouse Sportfishing Back Bay Report Spending most of our time in the back bay cashing in on the dividends it has to offer this time of year. Light tackle bluefish, we got it. Light tackle fluke, we got it. Bass, we got it. Once again water temperatures play a vital role in picking where, when and what species to target. The lack of strong south winds during the recent heat spell, which is odd for around here, let the ocean move up to 67 degrees off Long Beach Island. With the bay warming to 83 degrees on Friday, most of the small blues that where on the west side have retreated east hanging near the inlet or moving out. I had decent numbers of bluefish up to 4 pounds this week. Fluke fishing is a steady pick right now and is steadily improving. On Saturday's trip I watched the water temp increase 7 degrees in 1 hour while fishing the same flat. Most fluke are shorts but if you work hard enough you can take some keepers home for a dinner or two. Crabbing is better and should be even better after the next shed during Wednesday's full moon. My summer vacation starts Friday so I will be running trips all week long. Give me a call if you want in on Barnegat Bay's light tackle fun. Wishing you screaming drags... ~ Capt. Alex, Lighthouse Sportfishing Barnegat, NJ 609-548-2511 June 11, 2011 7:00 PM Sorry for the lack of updates. Today was a very busy day with both the JCAA Fluke Tournament and the High Point Striper Shootout. Here are the results... JCAA Fluke Tournament - Port Winners Log (TOP 12) Port: Long Beach Island - Fisherman's Headquarters Place - Lbs - # - Angler Name & Hometown 1 - 4.86 - 326 - Mike Murdza of Waretown, NJ 2 - 4.40 - 210 - Anthony Scholl of Philadelphia, PA 3 - 4.24 - 437 - Ed Cherry of Waretown, NJ 4 - 4.24 - 228 - Ranger Rand of Secaucus, NJ 5 - 3.88 - 127 - Paul Schell of Barnegat, NJ 6 - 3.70 - 242 - Ron Rand of Secaucus, NJ 7 - 3.66 - 389 - Mark Luker of Brown Mills, NJ 8 - 3.40 - 209 - Brian Cognigni of Burlington, NJ 9 - 3.28 - 135 - Brian Czarnik of Philadelphia, PA 10 - 2.94 - 282 - John Maffia of Mystic Island, NJ 11 - 2.92 - 172 - Bill Haluska of Forked River, NJ 12 - 2.64 - 46 - Jamie Gallagher of Tuckerton, NJ We spoke to many of the anglers who weighed in fish for the JCAA Tourney. Anglers were searching all over for the winning flatty. There were fluke caught in the bay towards the south (Beach Haven ICW, Tuckerton/Fish Factory Area and the Middle Grounds), to the north (West Side of the Bay, Double Creek, Oyster Creek, Dike, Inlet) and in the ocean (Open Bottom, Reef/Wreck Fishing). More specifically one angler Anthony Scholl of Philadelphia reported catching his 2nd Place fluke near the dike in Barnegat Light on a live minnow. High Point Striper Shootout 43+lb Mike Green (More Details to follow) Surf: There is plenty of action off of the Island's front beaches. Early this morning Rob Vallone caught three bass snag and swimming from the mid-island surf. There are also plenty of fluke (see High School Surf Fishing Competition report below for more details) and cocktail blues on the beach. Today we receive our first report from an angler about kingfish. He said, "I caught two kings this morning on clam. I started out the day getting frustrated with some bait stealers. I down sized my hooks and got 'em." Some guys that are chunking bait off of the beach are complaining about the abundance of trash fish. Just keep it in mind that the 3rd Annual Garbage Fish Tourney is right around the corner. It kicks off on July 1st. Ocean: Bass on the pods! It is still on fire. Try to be out as early as possible. The rumor on the street is the bite dies off around 8 am, but here is one report that strays from the norm. Dave Werner stopped in to weigh-in a 25-lb bass. He reported that yesterday afternoon there were fish busting everywhere and he saw a thresher. They had three bass up to 30-lbs. Inlet: Alan Davis stopped in the shop this afternoon to pick up some hooks. While here he said that he did great fishing last Sunday. He reported catching 7 keepers from 19-24" on spearing and minnow combo. As far as a location all Alan said was that he was fishing deep water in the area of the Holgate Inlet. Received: Jun 11, 2011 5:25 PM Subject: Open Boat Tomorrow (Sunday) Due to a cancelation, there are three spot available on our open boat striper trip tomorrow (Sun) 5AM to 11AM, Live lining Bunker Trip. We went three for five this morning including a 38, 36, and 28 pound fish 3 1/2 miles north of the inlet in 35 feet of water. Also there is one spot available Monday afternoon 1PM to 7PM, Striper Trip. $150 per person for these 6 hour trips. Call to reserve. 732.330.5674 ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 Received: Jun 11, 2011 5:09 PM Subject: Barnegat Bay Fishing Report Hello All, Back bay waters have really started to warm considerably in the heat this past week, but while striper fishing in the bay has slowed there seem to be plenty of fluke and bluefish available to bend rods. Bill Hoey and son John were out with me on Monday, finding cooperative blues and fluke on the east side flats despite dead calm conditions that limited drifts. Things seem to be shaping up to be a repeat of the last two years which saw incredible numbers of fluke in the back but a limited number of keepers. We'll be using true ultralight tackle on our fluke jaunts again this year, putting some serious fun into what's becoming primarily a catch-and-release fishery. They're not bonefish, but fluke make some incredible screaming runs when caught on 4 pound test line. Out front, the amazing 2011 striped bass run along the beach continues. On Thursday the "pizza guys", Bill Morris with buddies Tom and Dave, were aboard working bunker pods from the inlet along the southern beachfront. While the bass seemed to be taking a break from the feeding frenzy they've been on, the morning still ended up with a full box of bass up to 32 pounds to send everyone (including the captain) home with big bags of fresh filets. Returning to the same area the next day with Dave Kruge, his son Kevin and buddy Brian Murray found the bunker and bass waiting for us with 12 year old Kevin bagging his first ever striper, a beautiful 36 pounder, before the rest of the team had even started fishing. How's that for a way to start your striper fishing career! All the fish caught were in the same 35-40 pound range, making for a fun day in some of the most beautiful weather we've had in a while. Hopefully this incredible run will continue for another week or two. Until next week, ~ Capt. Jack Shea, "Rambunctious", Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632 Received: Jun 11, 2011 11:47 AM Subject: Friday - High School Surf Fishing Competition On Friday (June 10th) Barnegat HS, Southern Regional HS, and Lacey HS competed in the 3rd Annual Beating at the Beach on the Barnegat Light Beach. It is surf-fishing competition between the three schools and we follow the Association of Surf Angling Clubs rules (ASAC). ASAC rules do not allow any "trash" fish and 1pt per inch. For the two prior years, Southern Regional advised by Bob McMaster (previously Darren Dorris) and Jason Hoch has won the surf-fishing competition. This year a ton of fish were caught ranging from blues, fluke, dogfish, and sea robins, but only game fish score points. The competition was literally won in the last 3 minutes of competition, with Barnegat HS catching two 14" fluke increasing our team score to 228pt. Southern Regional had a respectable score of 206pt, and Lacey followed with 75pt. Some notable catches were a nice 19" fluke by Barnegat's Kyle Kostka, 18" fluke by Barnegat's Jake Kovacs, and a 20" bluefish by Southern's Chris Furtuna. The total tally of score-able fish caught was: 23 fluke and 8 bluefish. Barnegat HS advisor Captain Brett Taylor will be presented the trophy at the Village Harbor Fishing club's July meeting and the trophy will be held by Barnegat HS until next year's competition. The trophy has been donated by Village Harbor Fishing club since the start of the surf-fishing competition. I personally would like to thank Greg Cudnik and the crew at Fisherman's Headquarters for supplying the winning bait and supporting Barnegat's fishing club since it's inception, and my co-advisor Tom Duralek. Additional thanks go to the Barnegat Heaver's Surf Fishing Club for running up and down the beach measuring all of the fish, and Tony's Bait and Tackle for supplying bait to Southern Regional. ~ Captain Brett Taylor, Advisor Barnegat Fishing Club June 10, 2011 Received: Jun 10, 2011 2:34 PM Subject: Fishing Report This morning, Joe and Todd Luyber were bunker dunking off Island Beach State Park (IBSP). The day started looking bleak but then Todd caught a 45-lb Striped Bass at 8 AM. The Striper was released after weighing and photos. June 9, 2011 A message from the State of NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife for freshwater fishermen... The NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife is reminding the public that this Saturday and Sunday, June 11 and 12, are the state's annual Free Fishing Days. On these days anyone may fish the Garden State's public waters without a license or trout stamp. Free Fishing Days provide an excellent opportunity to introduce a friend or family member to the joys of fishing. Nonresidents have the opportunity to give the state's great fishing a try, and for someone who hasn't fished in a while it's a chance to get reacquainted with a great activity. Current anglers who may want to try a new location can take advantage of the new "Great Fishing Close to Home" brochures. Information on waters and the fish they hold make exploring waters nearby but never fished easy and fun. More information on Free Fishing Days can be found athttp://www.njfishandwildlife.com/ffd.htm on the division's website; the new "Great Fishing" brochures are also on the site at https://www.njfishandwildlife.com/fishingbrochures.htm . Anglers are reminded that while the license requirement is waived this weekend, all other regulations, including size and daily catch limits, remain in effect. Anglers should also note that any smallmouth or largemouth bass caught during this time must be released. Freshwater fishing in New Jersey has never been better, with more kinds of fish and more places for people to catch them than ever before. So don't miss this great opportunity to get outdoors this weekend and "get hooked" on a great sport! June 8, 2011 10:00 AM Get down to the water's edge to beat the heat. The bass are on the pods again this morning. We have already had a couple great weigh-ins... Joe Demelia of Atlantic City just weighed in a beauty, 49-lbs 10-lbs. He caught it mid-island on the back side of the bar on his paddle board. Steve George of the Berkley Striper Club stopped by to weigh in a bass, 37-lbs 12-ozs. He caught it off of the beach on the south end of the island on his second snagged bunker of the morning. June 7, 2011 3:30 PM The early birds got the worm this morning. The bite started off great but didn't last long. We got a couple bass (one 37 & one 27) at first light. We slid further up to the Pier and got into the action there too. Since the bass bite wasn't red hot as prior days and the boats were stacked up, we opted to go on the search. Yesterday I received a report through the grapevine that the Searcher caught a bluefin not far from Barnegat Inlet. It didn't take long before we found the tuna breaking water on cocktail blues and what looked like sandeel (in the birds mouths). We had three really good opportunities; however, no hookups. Tuna busting on bait with land in sight at home, it reminded me of this past November with Capt. Adam. Speaking of Adam... He is up the Cape fishing out of Chatham. He got a good one today on a slider, 76" 275-lbs. It sounds like I should have went south out of the Inlet this morning. There were much less boats and there were much more fish! Read on... ~ FishHead.Greg Pete Kelly of Cedar Run weighed in a 48-lb 4-oz cow around 1pm this afternoon. He caught it live lining bunker off of the mid-island surf. FYI Pete is not in any tournament. Jason Delpalazzo weighed in a 43-lb 3-oz bass that bumped him up in the Simply Bassing Tournament. Jason caught it on a live bunker from the mid-island surf. Bobby Capri was on it again today in the kayak. He weighed in a pair of bass (41-14 & 42-13) and reported he had 13 total. He said the fish were in the breakers mid-island this morning. Kevin Kennard got into the epic bite last night off of Seaside/Ortley area. He weighed in a 25-14 and a 33-3 early this morning before he went off to work for the day. Received: Jun 7, 2011 3:48 PM Subject: Hi Flier Fishing Report -- Open Boat Dates We are experiencing the best season for big striped bass, ever. The fish are mostly in the 30 pound class, with only a few 20 class, and quite a few 40 pounders. The action is all along Island Beach State Park to Manasquan Inlet. Probably north of there, as well, but I haven’t run past there. 10 to 25 feet of water has been the best. There’s an early morning, late morning, mid-day, and late afternoon bite. That’s unheard of in this early season bunker fishery. The early and late bites have always been the norm, but these mid-day blitzes are amazing. All of the action I have had lately has been on live bait that we are snagging. We are livelining, snagging and dropping, and fishing fresh dead baits on the bottom with an egg sinker, and they are all working. Most days you can see and hear the bunker getting "whooshed" across the surface by big stripers. It’s a noise that will haunt you while you try to sleep. The Hi Flier will be running open boat trips for these fish. Two trips on Friday, June 10, 5AM to 11AM, and then again 1PM to 7PM. Sunday, June 12 we will be running an 8 hour open boat, 5AM to 1PM. Monday, June 13 open boat 6 hour trip 1PM to 7PM. The 6 hour trip is $150 per person and the 8 hour trip is $200 per person. All trips limited to 3 people. All the fish are shared among the group. I will usually sail with only one, but then I’m fishing with you! Call for reservations. Here's a clip of Bob Ferry's 25 pounder coming to gaff this past weekend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSjuK_D8VLg ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 Received: Jun 7, 2011 7:51 PM Subject: BHCFA Weekly Report Here is this week’s fishing report for the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association. The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are looking forward to the next couple of week’s fishing. The water temperatures have taken a hit lately, dropping dramatically. This has had a negative effect on the fluke and black sea bass action. However, with high temperatures forecast this week, it looks like the water temperatures should be back up where they belong. Captain Carl Sheppard on the “Star Fish” fished last Friday with two anglers and found a wreck with some nice sea bass in 100-feet of water. Captain Carl says the bottom temperature must have been cold as they also picked up ling and cod. He tried fishing the Little Egg Reef on Sunday and found the bite to be slow due to the icy water. Captain John Koegler took “Star Fish” out on Monday looking for bluefin and shark. In addition to some big bluefish, he picked up both mako and brown sharks. Recent good reports of yellowfin tuna at the offshore canyons should make for some interesting trips. Captain Lindsay Fuller is bringing the “June Bug” up from Hatteras this weekend for the summer and plans to do some trolling for tuna on his way up the coast. ~ Jim Hutchinson Sr. June 6, 2011 7:30 PM We just received word that the evening bite is on in the boat off IBSP. These fish sure are hungry. The bite has been on for three-four consecutive days. Let's hope the morning time produces. 5:00 PM Yes, Fresh Bunker is here! 2:20 PM Another epic day on the water! We (Blake, Ed & I) got into 'em early at the same spot as the massacre was yesterday. Read on. Fish right off the bat, snag and drop was hot. We released about 10 bass up to 35-lbs(on Boga) as we followed the massive school South. Eventually we were getting close to the Inlet and decided to shoot further to the south to greet the bass and bunker at the rocks. Luckily we were there just before it broke loose. We had a full on blitz at the North monument (mouth of the Inlet). The bunker were getting washed over the rocks and the bass just annihilated them. We had about a dozen fish before it got busy (with other boats) and the bite fizzled out. Live bunker, metal lips, darters, poppers, you name it the bass were rolling on it. As far as a fish count, we lost count somewhere around two dozen. ~ FishHead.Greg George Moore just stopped by the shop around 1 PM to check weight on a lively bass. He caught it in Ship Bottom snag and drop from his kayak. Earlier in the morning Bob Capri fished mid-island this morning on his kayak. He caught two bass (36-lber & 28-lber) and lost four. He reported, "tons of bunker and bass, no blues or birds." A boat angler checked in a 31-lb 14-oz bass, caught it off of IBSP snag and drop. Store staffer George Gilbert got some more Yellowfin. He's starting the season on fire. On Sunday, Captain Andy Crews with Phil Hiller's "Nik Knack" with crew Bill Johnson, Chuck Snyder and George went 10 for 12 on Yellowfin up to 40-lbs. They fished between the Spencer and the Wilmington. Tom Bentlif was also fishing in the vicinity aboard the "Tail Hook" with Capt. Billy Addis. They caught three Yellowfin from 25-40-lbs on skirted ballyhoo and rainbow spreader bars. Received: Jun 6, 2011 6:10 PM Subject: Bottom Line Fishing Report for 6/5 Had a few hang ups with getting the "Bottom Line" in the water, but now she in and away we go with our season.. After hearing about some great bunker runs off the beach we loaded up and headed out yesterday. Trying an afternoon trip which turned out to be the right call, Ran North, got into bunker off the IBSP bathing beach and started to hook-up quickly. Bill O hooked a beautiful Striper, our first of the day on a live bait. We then got a call that the bunker were even further North, So we headed up again, we found pods of bunker with huge bass chasing them right out of the water. We were catching Stripers on bunker both dead and alive. The charter was also having a blast using plugs. (My favorite) In about 5 hours we hooked about 25 Stripers with 2 topping out at 37 and 40 pounds. It was a great afternoon. ~ Capt. Tom Cormann, "Bottom Line", www.fishbottomline.com Forked River 201.788.3223 June 5, 2011 4:00 PM Jerry DuBeau of the Village Harbour Fishing Club was on the water today aboard his "Big Wrench". Bucktailing near the Fish Factory, he caught 8 fluke with 3 being keepers. His largest was a 3.64 pounder. 1:00PM So far today the local front beach has been slow. There were bunker present early; however, a little too far out of casting range. Let's hope for an late afternoon bite. A customer came into the shop this morning and reported getting into a great bite yesterday late afternoon/evening up on the north end of the island. It looks like the late day major tide could have been the helper. Rumor on the street is that the pod action went off this morning up off IBSP/Seaside/Ortley areas. Fred Imhof of the Forked River Tuna Club weighed in a 28-lb 8-oz bass this afternoon. He caught it in the boat snag and drop style off of the Ferris Wheel in Seaside Heights. Brian Cohen and Dave Vilardo reported having a great morning of snag and drop fishing off of IBSP. They weighed in two bass, a 35 and a 33 pounder. Hunter Gutwein and his father stopped into the shop on Friday to get geared up for a sharking trip on Saturday. Hunter just gave us the heads up they had some action at the Fingers. They caught one small mako, a brown shark and a blue shark. Hunter also noted that another blue shark in the slick ate the chum bag. Not bad for the first shark trip of the year. It should start heating up! On Friday Jim Venito of Mt.Laurel, Dave Sutter of Del Ran and Ott Holmes of West Hampton weighed in a some nice bass from the boat. They caught 9 fish up to 36-lb 4-oz while snag and drop fishing off IBSP. Sorry for the late report. Received: Jun 5, 2011 1:54 PM Subject: Fwd: Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters - Full Throttle Striper Action! The trophy striped bass fishing continues to be without a doubt the best spring run of large stripers that I have ever seen in our home waters. Both live bunker and big wood poppers and swimmers have produced well for those onboard with the edge going to the live bunkers. The bay/inlet also continues to offer up action with smaller striped bass, bluefish, fluke and with a few weakfish rumors spreading around a Barnegat Bay Grand Slam isn't out of the question! New comer and flyrodder from Washington D.C. John Nguyen was out earlier in the week dodging a quick moving thunderstorm . John was met with a robust Southerly breeze that made for challenging conditions for the longrod but he found action with a nice 32" striper, bluefish and blackfish [throwback] while employing both spinning and conventional tackle before trips end. Tom Synder from Delaware was back up for round 2 looking for more of last weeks fantastic striper action. Again Tom managed his limit of stripers + bonus fish on live bunker. Tom secured a 31-lb, 33-lb and a 36-lb striper before trips end! The Jim Rupeikis party was out in stiff 20-30 NNW winds in hopes of scoring with big stripers. Locating the bunker schools proved challenging but after a little effort we found a sizable school which looked promising. Unfortunately the bass were not in feeding mode so it was back to working the inlet area for some brief bluefish action before calling it a night. Regular Karl Steffan was join by Friend Kurt for another Full Throttle Striper bite. Karl was fast into the action within as little as 2-3 minutes of the start of the trip . Karl no sooner snagged a bunker and it was Game On from start to finish! Both Karl and Kurt were tight into fish all day and at times were doubled up through out the morning with bass up to 40-lbs on live bunker! The visual excitement scale/meter[if there were one] was pegged as we watched complete schools of bunker erupting not only within view but actually right under our boat with huge bass in a full throttle feeding frenzy! Mike Skureki Jr was also out for round 2 of this epic striper bite joined by Dad, Mike Sr who happens to have been voted volunteer of the year by the Pennsylvania Fish and Game Commission. Both experienced "epic striper action" with huge stripers to 44.5-lbs [biggest of the year so far] on both live bunker and the big wood plugs! Both guys managed not only the "Best fishing day of their lives" but also their biggest Stripers ever! Mike Sr.'s huge 42-lber was edge out by Mike Jr's 44.5-lber within minutes of each other . Both guys were doubled up through out the trip until arm weary. Taking home their limit with huge stripers from 30 to 44.5lbs Don't forget to check us out on Face Book to view our photos and video. I have a couple of spots open for this Thursday evening 3-9pm for those interested in a chance to experience some of this world class striper action! ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters 609.290.1217 June 4, 2011 Received: Jun 4, 2011 7:45 PM Subject: EPIC fishing Yesterday I had good friends Micky and John out Live lining. It was nothing short of spectacular. First light had the striped bass busting on top chasing bunker. It only lasted for about 45 minutes but it was EPIC. Definitely the trip to have your buddy there. After receiving a call later in the morning from Greg (fishheads) that the bite was starting to move North, we pulled lines and headed North 2 miles. From noon till 2 pm it was non-stop action. After putting a few in the box for dinner and releasing the rest 22-34 pounds we called it a day leaving the bite still happening. All in all we had a great day fishing with over 20 hook-ups. ~ Capt Jeff Warford 12:15 PM The spring striper run is in full swing and so are a number of tournaments. The big fish are here gorging on bunker so get out there and get one for yourself. Make sure you are signed up and you have a snag hook. There were some beautiful fish caught today, a number over 40. Congrats to Rob Lyman who took the lead in the Simply Bassing Tourney with a 47-lb 10-oz bass this morning! He caught the cow in North Beach on live bunker. I hit the beach mid-island this morning and found the bunker tight to the beach and active. Snag and swimming bunker, I had a couple mouthings (run offs) but just couldn't get a solid hook set. Unfortunately, it wasn't my day. An angler (John Commisso) fishing right to my side got a beauty. He weighed it in at the shop shortly after. John Commisso of Riverton, NJ weighed in this 45-lbs 10-oz bass. He caught it up the street from the shop on bunker around 8am. Please note that John was not in any tournament. ~ FishHead.Greg 10:00 AM Dave Bonanni weighed-in this 42-lb 15-oz striper this morning. He caught it on a live bunker in Loveladies shortly after 7am. Dave's fish is now in second place for our store Striper Side-Bet. June 3, 2011 3:00 PM There were bunker everywhere! Today, I slept in a bit this AM but still managed to get into the late morning bite on the boat. It seems like everyone was catching out there. I saw Capt. Steve Purulon of the "Reel Fantasea" and Capt. David D of the "Hi Flier" both tight with fish throughout the morning. Capt. Stew Hitchner of the "Pez Machine" was also in on the action too. The bite went off in the early morning but lasted right to noon time and beyond. Today it was hot in the boat but also off the surf too! Dante S. just raised the bar in the FHQ Calcutta and the Simply Bassing Surf Tourny with a 45-lb 11-oz fatty Striper. He caught it on a live bunker off of the surf towards the Southern part of the Island shortly after 1:00 PM. ~ Fish Head Greg 6:00 AM Brant Beach Public Access Meeting Last Night -- Thanks to all of the attendees that PACKED THE PLACE (standing room only) last night. Many organizations were there with a strong statements. Thanks to John Weber of the Surfrider Foundation, Paul Harris of the NJ Beach Buggy Association, Don of the Jersey Coast Anglers Association, among others, and an especially huge thanks to Greg O'Connell and the Recreation Fishing Alliance (RFA) who put forth a serious effort. The RFA dug through the proposal put forth by the DEP, picked it apart and submitted a statement holding true to the RFA's mission. Thanks to all of the anglers and surfers that came out. It was great seeing the comradery between the ocean loving people standing up for our rights to access the ocean via the Public Trust Doctrine (ancient law granting the public access and use of the sea). ~ Fish Head Greg June 2, 2011 See you all at Long Beach Township Court Room at 7:00 PM in support of Public Beach Access! Thanks to the south wind yesterday upwelled the surf temp dropping it into the mid to high 50's again and with it the striper bite turned back on. There's a new leader in the Simple Bassing Surf Tournament! Kurt Horensky took the lead with a 45-lb 5-oz striper. He caught the 49" bass off of the surf on the south end of the island on a live bunker. Joe Filice of the Village Harbour Fishing Club weighed in a 13-lb 4-oz bass. He caught it off of the surf at about 10am this morning. Tom Bentlif went out fishing with a friend today. The headed up the beach and trolled up 4 bass up to 40-lbs on spoons in 60'+. Tom said, "There was a lot of bunker but nothing on 'em." ~ Fish Head Greg June 1, 2011 3:30 PM - A Load of Fresh Bunker Just Arrived A Short While Ago!!! If the NJ DEP gets there way we very well might be seeing the local shore towns closing down access to both the beach and bays here in NJ. Don’t let them take away our right to fish as per the Public Trust Doctrine.. Thursday, June 2nd 2011, 7PM Long Beach Township Court Room (same as Council Chambers) 6805 Long Beach Boulevard, Brant Beach, NJ 08008 We need to PACK the place! For a Q&A on the Public Access rule, see: https://www.nj.gov/dep/docs/20110516paqa.pdf For a fact sheet, visit: https://www.nj.gov/dep/docs/20110516pafactsheet.pdf Background: The N.J. Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently proposed waterfront access rules that will undermine public access to the State's tidal waterways, including the Jersey Shore, the Hudson River and other urban waters. The new rule proposal- The (No) Public Access Rule-threatens to drastically reduce the public's right to view, use and enjoy the state's rivers, bays and coast for fishing, surfing, bathing, diving and all water dependent recreational activities. 1.DEP Will Allow Towns to Control the Amount of Public Access. Towns-including those that have eliminated on-street parking near the water, closed off public access points, sided with property owners in public access disputes, and resisted public access to beaches created with taxpayer dollars--would be in control of public access decisions. Even though the State of New Jersey has a duty to protect and preserve the public's right to access and use tidal waters, DEP is proposing to give this authority to municipalities. Towns could develop their own "municipal public access plans" that would dictate where public access and related amenities, if any, will be required. A town would not have to provide access where there are "practical limitations" and may send its public access obligation to a neighboring town or to other parts of the county. 2.New Public Access No Longer Required in Many Instances. The proposed rule will clearly result in fewer new public access points, parking places and amenities, and keep many waterfronts closed to the public. Currently, new public access opportunities must be created as a condition of development along tidal waters. As a result, since 2007, new access points for fishing, surfing and beach walking have been created. Under the proposed (No) Public Access Rule, new public access opportunities would not be required for many types of development projects, particularly those for projects in closest to the state's largest cities - where most people live. 3.Strong Legal Requirements Removed The proposed rule will remove many existing legal requirements established over the years that have a proven track record in creating and protecting access. Creating and protecting public access has been a long fight, and legal tools to deal with ongoing, chronic problems were created over the years: required dedication of access and parking for fishing, requirements to remove parking restrictions and time limits in order to receive public money. These clear, unequivocal legal requirements are being removed, and the public would now be asked to rely on weak, vague standards and nonexistent commitments to public access by developers and historically hostile towns. WHAT YOU CAN DO: - Send a letter to the editor of your local paper. For a sample letter to the Editor click here. - Submit comments (extract from sample letter to the editor) by June 3rd to: N.J. Department of Environmental Protection, Gary Brower, Esq., ATTN: DEP Docket No. 05-11-03, Office of Legal Affairs, 401 East State Street, 4th Floor, PO Box 402, Trenton, New Jersey 08625. Or e-mail (gary.brower@dep.state.nj.us ). Reference "DEP Dkt. no. (05-11-03)" in the subject ~ Stephen J. George 1:30 PM Check out this picture of Dalton Tozer (age 11) with his 65.85-lb black drum. The fish was 50"x 36" and was caught on clam aboard a Party Boat. What a monster for this youngster. I heard more reports of weakfish again today. Let's hope it materializes and we get a summer weakfish bite like years ago. It could offer up catch and release fun in the sun. It seems like we jumped straight from winter to summer with very little spring transition. The water jumped up (mid 60's but I'm sure this south wind will upwell and cool it off) and surf anglers are catching fluke and sharks, see reports below. There are stripers in the mix too but it's mostly a evening, night and morning thing. - FishHead.Greg Nick Remer of Ship Bottom put some time in on the surf early this morning. He caught and released a 29" bass on bunker. He also reported loosing a bass in the wash.