Fisherman's Headquarters

This weekend offered good fishing to most who got out on the hunt. A couple brave souls went Friday to battle in the snow. Those that went Saturday and Sunday took advantage with light winds and a flat sea.

Blackfish love feeding heavy with calm conditions, especially with minimal swell. This weekend Lake Atlantic produced!

Dante from Magictail Lures was out fishing hard over the weekend putting his products in the mouths of classy tog. Saturday he reported awesome fishing, “Three hour limit all on 1-1/5 Magictail Tog Jigs. Epic fishing with three fish over 10 pounds!” He added, “By the way, striped bass were blowing up on top feasting on herring all day.”

He was again out on Sunday, “Today (Sunday) we ground through a tougher bite with smaller fish, BUT we managed a five man limit with one going 12.5 pounds. Once again the Magictail tog jig were hot! The green/orange was hot!!!” Man Oh Man! You know the fishing is off the charts when a five man limit with fish up to 12.5 pounds is tough fishing. Ha!

Earlier in the weekend Jarrett Hillman and Taylor Corbett were on the water fishing out of Beach Haven and got into the tog on the jig! “We crushed them! Didn’t even have to anchor, catching on jigs and rigs.”

Dave Iacono of the South Jersey Saltwater Anglers checked in a nice 26″ 10.5lb tog today. He was fishing aboard the Mary M. at a local inshore reef site. Dave reported good fishing on live green crabs. Swagmattic (Matt S) was also aboard the Mary M today. He reported, “(An) Epic day on the tog grounds!” Catching 9 keepers thanking Magictail for their awesome tog jigs, “These jigs are lights out!”

Patrick DiPasquale was on the water today fishing some structure off of Barnegat Light out in 90′ of water. He reported fun fishing but the action was slower than what was reported off of LBI and further south. “We managed putting together a catch with a handful of keepers and a bunch of throwbacks.”

All this Talk of Tog… Stripers Too!

While tog fishing gets the spotlight it should be noted that striped bass are still around in really good numbers! Local bass fishing is FAR FROM OVER!!!

Chris O’neil was out fishing in the snow Friday and reported, “Good day in the snow fishing outside of Little Egg Inlet! We limited out in a half hour.”

Today I headed out with my wife at about noon time for a mid day peek. We made the short run to the same area I’ve been fishing for a month now and found the fish rolling on top. Striped bass from small to teen to our largest 22 pounds. I was hooking them on the fly rod while my wife roasted ’em on the white Tsunami Swim Shad.

Surf anglers are picking fish along the beaches of LBI. Both bait and lures are getting bit.

Now that the 63rd Annual LBI Surf Fishing Classic is over (ended 12/10/17) the tournament committee is wrapping things up. The tournament website was just updated and all of the winners are published. View at www.LBIFT.com

Here at Fisherman’s Headquarters we are completing the final prize distribution of our offerings, the Fisherman’s Headquarters Special Prizes and store Striped Bass Calcutta aka Side Bet. All of the Weekend Bonus Prizes ($100 Store Gift Certificate for the heaviest striped bass each Saturday & Sunday) have been mailed. Also the Junior Bonus Prizes that we offer ($200 Store Gift Certificate for the largest overall striped bass and the largest overall bluefish caught by a juvenile angler) were sent out.

Ryan O’Connell won the $200 Junior Division Striped Bass with his 24.36 pound bass. Turns out Ryan caught this fish on Saturday, November 18th so he also got an additional $100 gift card for the weekend bonus prize.

Quinn Rutan won the $200 Junior Division Bluefish with his 12.52 pound bluefish.

These store gift card shopping sprees are a great way to bring cheer to a young angler around the Holidays! They are also a great gift for any and all anglers or those hard to shop for people. Stop by Fisherman’s Headquarters today and get a gift certificate or you can purchase online…

Buy A Fisherman’s Headquarters Gift Certificate

On November 1st at about 1:30pm John Matt hooked and landed his winning 48 pound striped bass fishing bunker in the town of the Surf City. This catch earned John the tournament Grand Prize as well as the Fisherman’s Headquarters Fall Classic Calcutta “Striper Side-Bet”. Just yesterday John stopped by and was awarded the Side-Bet Cash Pot!

Second place went to Anthony Mormile for his 35.52 pound striped bass that he caught on November 11th at about 4:30 pm off of the North Beach surf on bunker. Third place went to Jim Larson for his 23.54 pound bass that he caught on November 9th at about 9:50 pm off the Jetty at the Barnegat Inlet State Park on a Daiwa SP Minnow lure. Both Anthony’s and Jim’s prizes are in the mail.

We got the call from long time tournament angler, supporter and master rod craftsman John Parzych.  For many years John donates two prizes – “Lure Only, No Bait Special Prize”. John offers two custom rods, one to the largest bluefish and one to the largest striped bass, caught on a lure (artificial). John has a stipulation that an angler can only win it once. Since Rob Vallone previously won a rod from John, his 15.16 pound bluefish was not eligible.

The two winners of John Parzych’s custom rods to the Biggest Fish On A Lure” are Jim Larson (23.54 pound bass) and Matteo Delmonico (10.74 pound bluefish). Their contact information has been given to John and you will be contacted soon. Start thinking what you want as a new weapon n your quiver!

Congrats to all of the anglers who participated and won prizes. A special thanks to all of the sponsors. Without your support the “Classic” wouldn’t be the same.

The 2017 Fall striped bass season continues to provide good to excellent action with a smaller grade of bass but with scaled down light spinning tackle the rod bending fun continues strong with fish up to 30″ !!

I know it’s hard to think about fishing when we are experiencing an Arctic Blast right now, but better days are coming….and soon. High temps in the 40’s and even a few days in the 50’s once we get past tomorrow (Fri) for the next week or more in the long range forecast. Along with that we have west and northwest winds dominating the marine forecast making this the longest stretch of that desirable direction all season. Calm seas and warmer temps. The stripers are still here and we are trolling them as well as casting swim shads under birds or on heavy readings. Everything from shorts to 15 pound fish in the mix. A lot of 28 to 30 inch fish now.

Can’t See This Message? View in a browser Enter PSYQ as a discount code to receive 15 percent off your order. There is still time to recieve your order by Christmas! We ship the same day you order. Thank You for being Psyquatic!

Help Pass The Modern Fish Act To Keep America Fishing

 There’s nothing like the adventure of saltwater fishing. The adrenaline rush of hooking into a billfish, a big striper, or hard-fighting redfish is second to none. That thrill is undoubtedly what attracts over 11 million Americans to the sport.

Unfortunately, the current laws that govern federal saltwater fisheries are out of date and have never taken recreational anglers into account. This has led to shortened or even cancelled seasons, reduced bag limits, and unnecessary restrictions.

The good news is – there’s a new bipartisan bill making its way through Congress that should fix those problems.

The Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act, or Modern Fish Act for short, has been introduced in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives with broad, bipartisan support. Rather than focusing on commercial fishing, the new bill is a comprehensive package specifically aimed at addressing the needs of the nation’s 11 million saltwater recreational anglers.

The Modern Fish Act will improve access to America’s federal waters and promote conservation of our natural marine resources. Simply put, that means more and better fishing.

Please take a moment NOW to tell your representative in congress to support the Modern Fish Act! Keep America Fishing has made it easier than ever to take action. CLICK HERE TO TAKE ACTION NOW

It’s cold but fishing continues on fire! Numerous reports flooding in from customers. There’s lots of fish on the beach all over the island and hammering baits. Barring any severe weather these bass will be hanging around for the rest of the year.

Here’s some reports we got today…

Khaled Chapl stopped in to pick up some frozen bunker. He said his last trip out he got a 30″ bass. Heading back up to look for another dinner fish.

Tony Cucinotta stopped in for a Penn Reel part and a pack of white Storm Shads. While here he said the beach is alive with fish. Find a cut and fish!

Most anglers fishing lures are using rubber shads, small bucktails and sand eel imitations like Red Gills or Tsunami Sand eels.

Store staffer Willie helped set up Peg who recently moved into Ship Bottom. Welcome To Town Peg! She stopped in today thank him, “Willie was a big help. Yesterday afternoon was my first time striper fishing from the surf. Coming from fresh water fishing… What a fun time it was! I hooked six fish and landed four. Two of them spit the hook rolling in the wash. I was fishing salted clam off the mid island surf.” Peg is heading back up there this afternoon.

Yesterday Captain Alex of Lighthouse Sportfishing stopped in to share a report. He caught a bunch of bass yesterday afternoon off the South End surf. He said the bite was very good.

I had a great day on the water yesterday aboard the Tightlines with Captain Jeff Warford. We headed out and started trolling right where we’ve been fishing for the last three weeks. In minutes the screen was on fire and we were doubled up. The activity continued all morning. Some bird plays came together and we hammered some bass on lures both jigging and top water. With 100’s if not 1000’s of bass this year I was focused on the fly. While the conditions were not prime, I worked at it and managed to get one bass to fall for a large clouser.

LBI Surf Fishing Classic

The Long Beach Island Surf Fishing Classic is over and the final details are wrapping up. Congrats to all those who put in time and fish their butts off! While fishing was not epic there were some good catches.

All special prizes offered by Fisherman’s Headquarters have been issues and mailed. All other prize distribution is in the works and will be done directly by the LBI Fishing Tournament.

Local News

The snowy owls have made their return to LBI. After their long flight south from the Tundra there are relaxing on the dunes of LBI. I was on the hunt shooting (with the camera) this past weekend and found four different ones.

The 2018 Fall Fishing continues to get even better with casting a mix of artificial shads and poppers at breaking and swirling striped bass that are in hot pursuit of evasive schools of herring!!

Clouds of birds have finally started pointing their feathery fingers to giveaway the feeding frenzy of late! Double and tripled up anglers have been the norm with angler endurance stand between the sheer numbers that are caught and released . The trolling gear has been stowed while working under the massive bird plays , spinning tackle has been our go to weapon of choice to maximize our anglers experience.

With the weather getting colder there’s no way of telling how long the season can last but for now the action is as hot as it gets!! I have this Friday and Sunday available for open or private charter. Please join us and “like and follow us” on Face Book and Instagram view  video and photos. We will continue to fish until the end of year targeting Stripers in both the ocean and bays in some our local “hotspots”

Wishing everyone fair winds and calm seas,

Captain Steve Purul

Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters

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I had another awesome day on the water yesterday (Friday)! Evan and his buddy Mark (both from the greater Philadelphia area) were in for a four hour morning session. We got on ’em working the same area that we’ve been pounding for two plus weeks now. What a great time catching bass on bunker spoons, mojos and plugs. We had to head in at 11am, right as the top water bite exploded.

Most of the fish stacked up are schoolies but there are some good ones still around and in the mix. We got a couple beautiful fatties. Here’s one of them that pulled the Boga to 30+ pounds and was respectfully released to grow up some more. We kept a couple teens for the table.

Brendan Craig and Todd Luber were on the water yesterday and got into the action! They reported having a blast with bass on top! Below is Dr. Todd with a linesider that fell for a Super Strike Popper.

Local angler Kemp was also in the bite aboard Captain Jeff Davis’s Let It Fly. Kemp reported, “Lots of fish on the feed today! We got them on plugs right off the local Township beache. All fish were caught up on the surface with over forty boated. Medium size pencil poppers, specifically the fluorescent green/yellow was the MVP getting bit just about every cast.”

Today I had fun at the Barnegat High School Fishing Flea Market. Despite the weather it was a good time and we were happy to support the HS Fishing Club. While at the show I got the call from Rick Bragg. “The bite is on in the snow! Where are you? Spoons, mojos and plugs… we are doubled up on everything. Great fishing just no overs.”

Another report today came in from from Due Fratelli was also out today. He reported, “It’s snowing and we caught our limit and threw back dozens!!!”

LBI Surf Report

The surf has bass. Seems like the past week as been the most consistent action of the entire fall run. Numerous reports in the shop as well as verbals while talking to anglers at today’s show.

Rob Swift stopped by this evening and shared some positive news from the mid-island surf. He reported fishing mackerel and got a small bass, “Another anglers fishing beside was dialed in on lures, catching fish after fish. All small size bass.”

Today Bill Montrey got a 8.4 pound bass off the Harvey Cedars surf. Yesterday there were a pair of bass checked in for the LBI surf fishing tournament. One was 9.18 pounds by Matthew DiFilippo out of Surf City. The other was out of Loveladies at 8.46 pounds by Donald Tharp.

Just a heads up tomorrow the tournament ends at 6pm.

We all knew it had to happen sooner or later. Yesterday (Thurs) afternoon we trolled our limit of 28 to 34 inch fish as well as the slot fish on umbrella rigs and Mojos. Two and a half miles due east of Barnegat Inlet. Later in the trip right after the tide started moving the gannets were hitting the water hard and concentrated. We dropped in some swim shads and retrieved them and the bass instantly responded. These were the biggest fish of the trip, as well, all 15 to 18 pound fish! That we couldn’t keep, but it was a blast to get them on the drift. I heard from a few other captains that today was another epic day. I cancelled tomorrow, (Sat) because the forecast changed to 20 knots of NE with this one day snow storm that’s passing through. Sunday and Monday look great for sea conditions so we are sailing Open Boat or Charter those days, 6AM to 1PM.

Next week we will be sailing Tues thru Thurs, Dec 12-14 9:30AM to 4:30PM and Fri thru Mon, Dec 15-18, 6AM to 1PM.

Get ’em now!