It’s late November and prime time striped bass fishing season! The past week was full of great fall fishing. If you have not got out and enjoyed the action, now is the time to get in on the fun. Before you know it there will be snow on the ground. Jump on a boat, get on the water and enjoy yourself catching fish.
Bronzinie held by Bob Burns.
Most local anglers are fishing the waters along IBSP as well as the areas north. More reports along LBI too. Beach Haven and Brigantine have had some classy fishing as of late. It’s great to see all of the family and friend photos flying on social media, especially the youth anglers getting into fish. No better way to spend a holiday weekend than fishing.
Here’s Tyler Medica with a bass he caught on the troll.
Here’s some reports…
Captain Bill aboard the Reel Trouble was in the shop today. He picked up a new pair of insulated Xtra Tuf boots to keep his feet warm and dry. (Nothing is more important this time of year!) While here Bill said, “The troll bite was good today! We go out and had fish right away. The morning started off great. The charters was happy and ready to head in at 10am. This entire week has been really good. Lots of fish here and they are hitting on the troll! Mojos and spoons are the ticket.”
Jacob Bowles was on the water the past couple days and had a blast! “Yesterday inside the three mile line off the Pier and today inside the three mile line off Seaside the fish were on the chew. We couldn’t keep the lines in the water. Fish were just piling on! It’s been awesome out there.”
Some classy bass are still around. Here’s Jacob Bowles with a fat one from today.
One customer in the shop today reported great fishing off of Beach Haven, “Got nine bass trolling in the morning.”
The beach’s surf fishing has been slow but there are some fish around. However, most are struggling.
The ASAC’s Bob Daley has been finding some fish off the LBI surf. Today he weighed a 12.16 pound bass and yesterday he checked in a 12.14 pound bass. He caught both off of the Ship Bottom surf on bunker.
Jim Crane shared this land based fishing report, “Slow… Fished Barnegat Light from 8-11:30pm last night. Plugs and bunker chunks. One 25″ bass on bunker. Nothing on plugs. Saw a bunch of shooting stars on a crazy clear night. Back the next morning in Brant Beach from 7-10:30am. Literally not a sign of life. Frustrating!”
The tog bite continues! Lots of great reports from the togging grounds. Get out on the structure and start hooking! Guys out on the jetty are still picking fish too!
Some big tog around roaming the inshore waters. Dante from Magic Tail Lures was on the water today with Captain Frank of Finchasers. They got into some good fishing on a local reef site. Dante reported, “Lots of nice fish inshore right now! We only caught one short, all nice fish with three over ten pounds… one going 13.68 pounds! We hammered the fish on Magic Tail Tog Jigs.”
Here’s Captain Frank with a quality tog!
Good schools of striped bass are hanging around our local waters. Anglers are catching in the boat on live bait and trolling. Those working the surf are picking fish but nothing to write home about. Hopefully we’ll see some linesiders take to the beaches soon and offer surfcasters some action.
Today and yesterday strong reports from IBSP up the beach to Seaside Area and further above. The pods and bird plays weren’t off the hook. Covering ground and finding fish on the troll was most effective. Pounding bunker spoons, deep diving plugs, umbrella rigs and tandem mojos will produce. Some caught in 30’ while others worked deeper and caught out in the 50-60-70’ water depths.
Store staffer Max went five for five today bass fishing. He was pulling Magic Tail Mojos and Tony Maja Bunker Spoons off of IBSP. His largest fish was 26 pounds.
Here’s store staffer Max with a nice striped bass from this morning.
Matt K. was out and got three bass spooning and two on mojo, “White was working best for us.”
Dylan Fisher was in on the action today. He reported,” Great morning! We went three for three on nice fish. It was great to catch fish with my 95 year old grandpa and also put Jared on his first bass.”
Nice work on your first bass Jared! Here’s to many more!!!
Brian Coen and Kyle Gronostajski got out early and headed up the beac h, They found some fun top water action under a bird play. “Not the slobs of last week but some fun medium fish on top. This beats every Black Friday Deal! We didn’t have to troll!”
Here’s a weekend promo you don’t want to miss!
While most reports came in from BI north there was some chatter about fish off southern LBI and Brigintine. Last year at this time it was game on down there.
Today, I had Matt Rand and his father in law aboard. They opted to leave the trolling gear at the dock. We put in time but managed to catch two bass, both on live lining.
Sorry for the late post update…
Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association
Update: November 22, 2017
by Jim Hutchinson Sr.
Stripers, stripers, stripers! The magic work right now for the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association is stripers. Over the past week the bass have been thick to the north of Beach Haven but within easy traveling distance. With the fish slowly working their way southward, the fishing should continue to be good for a while yet.
Captain Matt Curtis of “Get Reel” Sportfishing reports solid striped bass fishing both on live bait as well as trolling with most of the fish being caught on bunker spoons. His fish have all been in the 20-40 pound class with the larger fish topping out in the mid 40s. He has one boat docked in Barnegat for the fish as they stay to the north and another down south for when the fish show off Beach Haven. Captain Matt is also excited about the tautog season.
Captain Ray Lopez had the Joel Quirk charter out on a striper trip on the “Miss Liane.” The crew began live lining spot and almost immediately boated a nice 30-inch fish. Later they did some trolling and had steady action.
Captain Gary Dugan reports another great weekend of striper fishing on the “Irish Jig.” The crew fished hard last Friday and Saturday with the wind keeping them tied at the dock on Sunday. By the end of the weekend they had finished up with 20 nice stripers boated with limit catches each day along with the dozen big bluefish over the weekend. The “Irish Jig” took 2nd place in the MICA striped bass tournament.
Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.BHCFA.net.
I have two spots left (I take no more than 3 anglers) for Black Friday 6 AM – 11 AM cost $150 pp. All tackle and bait provided. The Debbie M is capable of cruising at 35-40 mph, so plenty of time fishing and often the first on the fishing grounds. BTW, while everyone is chasing bass up an down the beaches they are missing some of the best light tackle back bay bassing we have had in years.
Robbie Vallone was fishing the Barnegat Inlet Jetty this afternoon. He said small bass were on the chew, “Fishing a bucktail tipped with jig strip, slow and low they were hammering it!” Fishing around the top of the tide Robbie landed seven bass and one blackfish. Sounds like some good land based fishing!
Yesterday the boat reports weren’t spectacular but guys caught. Those on the troll picked fish off northern IBSP as well as the waters to the north. Store staffer Dave got one live lineing.
Today we heard about a great bite with quality fish in the mix. Local Barnegat Light boats found fish not far from the Inlet on the troll. It was rough but those out got into ’em.
9th Annual Fisherman’s Flea Market
The Barnegat High School Fishing Club hosts its 9th Annual Fishing Flea Market on Saturday, December 9, 2017.
Time: 9am to 1pm; Admission is $4 for Adults; Children 12 and under FREE
Location: Barnegat High School, 180 Bengal Blvd, Barnegat NJ 08005
All proceeds benefit students of the high school fishing club. The BHS fishing club gives out scholarships, donates to the Annual Toy Drive and local food bank, and provides youth fishing opportunities for students of Barnegat High School. Student also have opportunities to fish from the surf and local head-boats. It’s a great club with a great following. Come out and support the club!
The fishing continues to be very good, except for the gusty winds. It seems this fall we have been hampered with winds to 30-40 knots, but we still made it out on some of those windy days to put some fish in the box. We have been hitting the ocean, the inlet, and some areas in the back when conditions are right to find some nice quality fish to 27 pounds.
I plan on running a Thanksgiving morning trip, 630am to 1030am, which can be full charter or open boat $150 per person which includes 6-7 spot per person). Open boat trip will require at least 3 to run. Call or Text: 609-290-7709
Here’s the run down for our last few trips:
With good tide in the afternoon, I had co-workers Tom Duralek and Paul Covine on a shortened Striped Bass trip. We only needed an hour as we limited with 6 fish (3 over 31 inches and 3 bonus tagged fish). The guys played catch and release until dusk.
I had Scott Fritz of Long Beach Island and his two buddies Peter Hempf and George Wolansky on a Striped Bass Charter. The crew did miss a few fish early, but quickly got the hang of it. We worked a variety of areas and the guys put 4 keepers in the box releasing 12 others. Nice work on a rather tough day in terms of winds and conditions.
I had Mike Galindo and his father in law Bob Stovakiewicz on a Striped Bass charter. We had good intel and started working the ocean front, but the Stripers were a little slow from the day’s previous feed. We finally found a school of feeding fish with about an hour left in the trip. The duo went 2 for 4 with two 20 pound fish. It was Bob’s 73rd birthday and he caught his biggest striper to date. We also had some whales working in the area! Awesome job!
I had Dom Diblasio, Joe Guarino, Jacob Sestak, and John Busca of Lockheed Martin on a Striped Bass trip. Again, we worked the ocean and had tons of bunker and whales. But unfortunately the Striped Bass had lockjaw with only 2 run-offs and we worked 15 miles of ocean. With only about a half hour left in the trip, we worked the bay and the guys went 2 for 4 with live bait. They boxed two Stripers at 28inches and 24inches. Tough trip, but at least we eeked out a couple of fish.
I had Mike Pollino of Bensalem, Mary Broerman, and John Krause of Warminster on a Striped Bass charter. We fished the ocean looking for bigger Striped Bass, but they were a little finicky. John caught his biggest Striped Bass to date at 40 inches and 27 pounds. Mike and Mary released a few in the 23 range on the S&S Bucktail jig and live bait, before keeping a 26 inch bonus tag fish. Great job!
I have availability for the following remaining dates: Wednesday 11/29 [1130am to 430pm]; Friday 12/1 [1130am to 430pm], and December 3rd Morning or Afternoon.
If interested in booking a charter, book through the website (reelreactioncharters.com) or call/text 609-290-7709. Live Spot are included on all of our Fall Striped Bass trips. As always, we use the highest quality gear and is included: gear, tackle, fish-cleaning, and ICE! It’s “no worries” fishing. Just come aboard and FISH.
I was able to fish just about every day this past week and had a ton of fun doing it. Thanks to all those who jumped aboard and got in on the action with me. For more on the day to day reports scroll down.
It was interesting to see the mass of trophy fish slid in, move around and then down and out. My feelings… after November’s new moon, the year’s largest fish have pushed on; however, the mother load of bass are just arriving. This new class of smaller fish will offer lots of fun fishing as we transition into colder water temperatures and the holiday season.
The previous week was very good but this week trumped it. Monday kicked off the week with a full on rain day chew which continued through the week. Big bass from 20-40+ pounds on the feed. The Central Jersey Coasts best fall class of fish were present and feeding, falling for live bunker and lures. As the week progressed, fishing continued but soon an influx of the smaller 8-20 pound fish was evident. Friday and Saturday we saw the first strong wave of bluefish (6-16#) and SANDEELS!!!
The troll bite has been sensational with anglers are pulling spoons, mojos, plugs and umbrellas. Both bass and blues are piling on. Fishing from Manasquan to Barnegat Inlet there are areas of water that greatly differ in temperatures. Yesterday we found water as cold as 46 and as warm as 54. The larger bass for us were caught in the 51-54 and the small bass as well as a ton of bluefish were in the colder. Finally good reports of bass from boats fishing along the stretch of Long Beach Island. There was talk of bait off of Harvey Cedars as well as the south end. Some boats got into good fishing trolling off of Beach Haven’s Red Tower.
The 8th Annual Stafford PBA Striped Bass Fishing Tournament this weekend for the most part had good weather and great fishing. Friday started things off with a flawless super clam night that latest right into sunrise. The wind didn’t pick up until late morning but then got cranking at about noon time with a dreaded gusty south. For those that fished it out until they end, the ride back was a gnarly one.
The level of fishing in this year’s PBA was great to see! It blew the socks off all of the earlier tournaments this fall. The striped bass had a strong showing with most boats reporting great fishing. The bluefish really added to the action too. As far as the results, the majority of the bass were in the 15-30 pound range with some larger fish owning the leader board. The bluefish were plentiful in the 12-14 pound range with a good number of 14-16 pounders, lead by an 18.3 pound.
Just about everyone who participated reported great fishing from the Pier in Seaside all the way down to southern LBI. Most boats fishing from BI to the Seaside Pier with a large fleet focus around the waters 3-7 miles north of BI in tight to the beach out to 60′. Bather’s Beach was one area that held fish for most of the day. A great report of classy fish came from an angler trolling off of Beach Haven’s Red Tower.
Congrats to the crew aboard War Dance! They took top honors with a 43 pound bass! Also great work by lady angler Jess Rinck and Captain Mike Villanova aboard the No Limits for taking the Women’s Division with a 25.5 striped bass and the Bluefish Division with a 18.30 monster gator.
1st Place: 43.05 War Dance
2nd Place: 38.50 Marine Max
3rd Place: 37.70 Holy Cannoli
4th Place: 35.15 Donuts
5th Place: 33.75 Son Of A Fish / Pottsea (TIE)
Youth Division: 20.12 Jacob Reed
Women Division: 25.50 No Limits
Bluefish Division: 18.30 No Limits
This great community event raised approximately $25,000 for youth programs and scholarships.
Fishing Reports
Today (Sunday) Captain Lenny on the Miss Barnegat Light had a crew on the water and they found fish off southern IBSP. One customer in the shop was on the trip and said it was good fishing with heavy jigs, “The gannets were all over and we pulled on some nice fish! The heavy jigs were key to get down because it was rough and the drift was fast due to the wind. I was on the boat Saturday too and today was much better.”
Captain Mike Villanova of No Limits Sportfishing shared his report from yesterday, “We trolled up fish all day working off IBSP. We released about twenty fish and kept three that managed to place and put us in the running for the PBA Tournament. We won the bluefish division and the women’s bass. It was a good day!”
Jimmy Nacion fished the PBA striper tournament aboard the Pottsea. They got into good fishing on the troll. Their biggest was 33.75 (photo below), large enough for a 5th/6th place tie.
Ryan Dellane helped out with the tournament but still found time to get out and fish. He reported, “Great morning of striper fishing! Two fish on snag and drop and one on troll. Wind kicked up as called for and it got really snotty.”
Ryan Curtis was out fishing yesterday morning and reported, “Doesn’t get any better than it was today. Limited out by 7:15am.”
Here’s a photo of Calli who fished with Ryan.
Dan Piazza “Excellent day of fishing today! Limited out early and then it was all catch and release fishing with Jacob Bowles.”
Whales have been actively feeding every day. Kevin Fresno got this photo of a feeding whale while fishing aboard Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters with Captain Steve Purul. This whale was active and happened to pop up right beside the boat.
Kevin managed to snap this photo at the perfect time. He get the breach as well as Austin Pounds and Greg working the beach side of a large bunker pod.
Wreck Fishing
Solid reports from the inshore wrecks. Tog fishing is very good and anglers are also catching sea bass and pories. It must be noted that the land based tog fishing is still very very good! With the NJ recreational tog limit at 6 fish, now is go time!
LBI Surf Reports
The Long Beach Island surf is producing fish. Most are in the 8-10lb range with some teen size linesiders around. Occasionally a 20 pound class bass is caught. A large body of fish that was parked about 10-15 miles north of Barnegat Inlet has moved south. These fish were stretched out over the weekend and there’s a really good change they are crusing the Island’s beaches this week. With talk about sandeels from the boat guys, keep an eye out to see if they stage up and hit the beach!
Ryan O’Connell took the lead in the LBI Surf Fishing Classic’s Youth Division with a 24.36 pound bass on Saturday. He was fishing the night shift off the north end surf with his father Greg. The bass went for a bunker chunk.
Here’s Ryan and his bass. Awesome fish for the surf!
For up to date info on the LBI Surf Fishing Classic be sure to check out the live results page. For anyone fishing the surf you should seriously consider joining the tournament. There’s still a couple weeks left with lots of prizes up for grabs. A $100 daily prize is just one of them.
Here’s the Special Prizes for the 7th Week…
Monday November 22nd – $50.00 Gift Certificate To Surfcity Bait & Tackle In Memory Of Harold Ferrari. This Will Be Awarded To The Juvenile Angler ( 17 Yrs Old & Younger) With The Largest Striper During The 3 Rd Segment. If None Entered It Will Be A Random Draw. 2 Pappy’s Pride Plugs To The First Fish Entered Caught On Artificial Today
Tuesday Novmeber 21st – OTW Aluminum Sandspike With Attached Clip And Rag Goes to The 2nd Largest Bass Weighed In Today
Wednesday November 22nd – Fisherman Magazine Subscription –random Draw From All Anglers Weighing In A Fish Today
Thursday November 23rd – Thanksgiving – $250.00 Cash Award For
Largest Striped Bass In Honor Of Bruce Hoagland
Friday November 24th – 9′ Viper Rod To Smallest Striper Entered Today
Donated By Ep Sales
Saturday November 25th – $100.00 Gift Certificate To Fisherman Headquarters For Heaviest Bass. 9′ Shakespeare Alpa Combo For Biggest Striper Entered By A Juvenile Angler Donated By Ep Sales.
Sunday November 26th – $100.00 Gift Certificate To Fisherman Headquarters For Heaviest Bass. Subscription To Fisherman Magazine To The 1 St Fish Entered By A Youth Angler Today.
Crazy striper fishing going on up and down the coast. Bunker snagging, casting lures, and trolling are all working. Inside Barnegat Inlet we are connecting with live spots. The range of size varies from place to place, hour by hour. There are still some 20 to 40 lb fish on the bunker pods, 6 to 15 lb fish in the inlet, and every size fish on the troll. The migration fish have arrived and are colliding with the bigger bunker pod fish. It’s a great time to go striper fishing. The water temp is 53 to 54 degrees so we should be looking at a nice long run……..hopefully until Christmas!
Sailing Open Boat and Charter every day. We have one open boat spot for tomorrow, Monday, Nov 20. 5:30 AM to 12:30PM.
We will be sailing Wednesday, Nov 22 10AM to 5PM.
Also Thursday, Thanksgiving morning, Black Friday, Sun, Nov 26 and Mon, Nov 27 6 AM to 1 PM. $175 person, 4 people max on Open Boat trips, all fish are shared. These dates are also available for your own private charter.
Capt. Dave DeGennaro
Hi Flier Sportfishing
732.330.5674
hiflier.com
Had my #PennFishing Tackle Bag Stolen from the back of my truck Friday morning @ 5 AM while parked @ Manahawkin WAWA. Had 5 plastic tackle stowaway boxes filled with lures (1 #MannsStretch plugs, 1 full of #basskandydelights, 1 full of #SavageGearUSA plastic sandeels and Savage lead heads, 1 full of #SavageGearUSA Panic Prey Poppers, 1 full of #BomberLures. Also had a #berkleyfishing digital scale, 6 never used #MagicTail tog jigs, lots of hooks, sabiki rigs, and an unopened pack #BallParkbeefjerky (original). If you hear of anyone trying to sell some of this stuff let me know.
The Striped bass fishing has hit it’s strides with what appears to be the full load of the migration parked in our local waters!! Bass ranging in sizes from 6lbs all the way up into the 40 + lbs + range are on hand and are keeping our anglers busy and having fun!
Big Beastly Slammer blues up to 20 +lbs have also joined the party testing both angler and tackle. Some of these gators are so fat [ how fat are they?] they appear to be as thick as they are long!! Resembling tuna in their generic form.
Whales are also providing fantastic visual excitement while feeding within mere feet of our boat. One of our anglers caught a feeding breaching whale erupting from below on a school of hapless bunker.
The fishing has been pretty good as we are getting fish on every trip, some trips we are hooking up to 30 fish. But it all depends on their feeding and tide. I have been busy on the water and had little time to update my “sent-in” reports, so here’s the rundown:
I had return client Ross Alber, his brother Rich and son Riley, along with Zach Blum on a 5hr Striped Bass charter. We started working the backwaters and Zach hooked a real nice fish which he fought for awhile. The hook popped due to the strong current and winds as it got close to the boat. On the next drift, Rich caught a 31-inch Striped Bass. With the tide beginning to rip, we tried some other areas and released a few in the 19-21 inch range. We moved closer to the inlet and hooked a few fish in the new area. Ross struck first with a 30 inch Striper, followed by Rich’s biggest to date a solid, 36-inch 20 pound Bass. The guys kept 4 for the table and they did an awesome job in pretty tough conditions.
I had return client Ross Alber for his second trip this week and his buddy Ray on a 5hr Striped Bass charter. We started working the backwaters, and hooked 6 fish pretty quickly, keeping 4 for the table in the first 40 minutes of the trip. With the tide negatively influencing the bite, we worked closer to the ocean with both artificials and live bait. The bite was on and the guys hooked fish on every drift, keeping 2 more for the table while releasing 30 to 33 inch fish. With over 2.5 hours left in the trip and a limit of Striped Bass, we worked some of the backwaters with small artificials and poppers. 6 keeper Striped Bass and a great day on the water!
It was a cold start today in terms of temperature, but it had no effect on the fish as we limited out in 1hr and 18 minutes. I had Chad Mackey, Joe Bumbarger, and Brad Bingham of Reading, PA on a 5hr Striped Bass charter. The guys worked hard for the entire trip, and ended with 8 fish to 34 inches including the Captains fish, they released another 20 that were in the keepable range. Awesome trip and epic bite working live baits.
In the morning, I had Dan Unger and his son Danny of Shipbottom, NJ on a 4.5hr Striped Bass charter. We fished close to home and found some Stripers on the different tide. It was a slower pick, but Danny did catch a solid 32inch Bass along with a couple of bonus fish. We released a few more slot fish. With the tide almost dead and our time window narrow, we did troll for about an hour with no luck. The father & son team went home with 3 Stripers.
In the afternoon, I had Brett Sewing of VT and his buddy Sam Slinskex of NY on a 4.5 hr Striped Bass charter. The afternoon was much better with the tide and we got right on the fish. It was a fish on every drift, and Brett and Sam limited with 5 fish in about 6 drifts (including Capt.’s fish). We worked the remaining of the trip releasing fish 25-inches to 31-inches. A long day on the water, but great way to end the weekend!
Availability: 11/23 Thanksgiving morning 630-1030am, 11/25 afternoon, 11/26 afternoon, 11/27 1130am to 4pm, 11/29 1130am to 4pm, 12/3 Morning or Afternoon; Afternoon trips will run from 12pm to dusk.
If interested in booking a charter, book through the website (reelreactioncharters.com) or call/text 609-290-7709. Live Spot are included on all of our Fall Striped Bass trips. As always, we use the highest quality gear and is included: gear, tackle, fish-cleaning, and ICE! It’s “no worries” fishing. Just come aboard and FISH.
609-494-5739
