The 2023 Summer Flounder / Fluke Season is off to a Hot Start. Some serious size fish have been caught already and its only going to get better. Whether you like to fish the Bays,Inlets or Surf now is the time to target these great fighting fish and fantastic table fare. The week of May 15th- thru May 21st I have openings on LBI and the tides are setting up nicely for a early morning bite. Full set- up & tackle provided and bring all your questions about SurfCasting LBI NJ
So if you are looking for a fun and educational Surf Fishing experience contact me for more information > Call 609-276-6983 or email me at Nightstrikes@comcast.net
“Lets Go Fishing”
Steve George Nightstrikes Surfcasting Guide Service LLC 609-276-6983
We had a good couple of days striper fishing in Barnegat Inlet. The bite is dictated more by tide than the time of day. They have all been good size fish, 30 to 36 inch bass. Lures and bait have both been producing. We are going to run afternoon trips designed to fish the peak times this Wed-Thur-Fri, May 10-11-12.
Wed 10:30AM to 3:30PM, Thur 11AM to 4PM, and Fri 11:30AM to 4:30 PM. $160 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared.
Four for six on 34 to 36 inch stripers on the FishHead spinning rods. Such a blast floating bait on bobbers to the jetty. Back for more Mon May 8, 6AM to 1PM. Open Boat or charter. $175 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared. Call to reserve a spot.
I have a ton of bait lined up for this weekend. We will be running Open Boat or Charter for stripers and blues this Fri, Sat, Sun, and Mon.
Friday, May 5 10AM to 4PM. Anchoring up with clams on the beginning of outgoing tide for bass and then switching to lures or drifting bait for bass and blues at the inlet jetty and possibly the west side of Barnegat Bay. $175 person. 4 people max. All fish are shared.
Sat May 6, Sun May 7, and Mon May 8 we will start at 6AM to target the stripers on the west side of the bay by trolling plugs on light spinning gear or if we have some visual life, we will switch to casting lures. Each day we will time our effort to catch that outgoing tide with the clams, so depending on our success, we will move on to bait and lures at the inlet jetty and/or the bay for bass and blues.
6AM to 2PM each day. $175 person. 4 people max. All fish are shared.
The new striper regs that just came out today allow us to only keep fish in the 28 to 31 inch slot, so that is the target size. Once we hit May 15, we should also be able to keep our Bonus Slot fish, 24 to 28 inch fish.
I have been hearing about bluefish coming into the bay recently, so this could help round out the action.
I am aware that the 6 hour trip and the 8 hour trip are priced the same. That is because the overhead for each trip is almost the same. The bait costs more than the fuel these days.
Striped bass fishing continues and bluefish have come on strong. May is off to a good start and our expectations are for a great month ahead with bass, blues and fluke! Here’s a quick May 1st Fishing Report update for the Long Beach Island area. Remember NJ Tog fishing season closed at the end of April BUT NJ Fluke season open tomorrow May 2nd! Not only are the big three (striped bass, bluefish, summer flounder) here right now, but also weakfish and black drum. Anglers have recently caught all five of these species in the surf, inlet and bay. Now’s a great time to get out fishing!
Anglers fishing the LBI region have a lot of fishing opportunities right now with a mix of action. The surf, inlet and bay all have produced this past week and weekend. Now’s the time to get out and enjoy great spring fishing!
We are ready to start fishing this weekend. The water temps on the west side of Barnegat Bay are in the 57 to 60 degree range and that is prime for stripers. Going to try the usual haunts on the west side looking for bird play or swirling fish to cast lures. If there are no visual signs we can troll lures on the light spinning rods until we find some life. This is an early morning bite more than a tide bite so we will be starting before sun up. The bass need to be 28″ or over to keep as the bonus program does not start until May 15.
After a few hours of bass fishing we can try the inlet jetty for blackfish. I have a very unique and effective way to target these early season jetty fish on light tackle. Spinning rods, bobbers, and the majic bait! This technique is also very good for the stripers at the inlet. The blackfish limit is 4 per man at 15″ or over.
Sailing Open Boat or Charter:
Saturday April 22, Monday April 24, Saturday April 29, Sunday, April 30
Also Monday May 1, but we will be targeting only stripers in the bay and inlet as blackfish season closes May 1.
All of these dates are 6 hour trips. 5:30AM to 11:30AM. $175 person. 4 people max. All fish are shared. Everything is provided.
Looking forward to seeing everyone on board again!
When the dogwoods are blooming, the bass fishing is booming! Here on Long Beach Island we’ve had a great run of weather and a great run of fishing. Striped bass are being caught up and down LBI with reports coming from the north end, mid-Island and south end. The surf action is definitely a week or more earlier than last year. We expect this to continue and hopefully only get better as we enter May, one of the best months out of the year for surf fishing Long Beach Island.
Here’s video report update on 4/19/23 at 10AM, click above.
LBI Surf Fishing Report
A good wave of fish arrived a handful of days back and they have stuck around! Great striped bass reports continue for a number of days now with anglers catching on both bait and lures.
Fish Heads Team Member Frankie, our in house Van Staal Reel Tech Guru, has enjoyed good fishing in the LBI suds. On Monday evening he was out fishing the mid-Island surf and had good fishing. He reported he as well as other anglers fishing in the area were hooking up with multiple fish. “It’s great to see rods up and down the beach bent!”
Here’s (above) Frankie with one of mnay striped bass he caught off the LBI surf the last couple of days.
It seems that the majority of striped bass on the front beach are being caught on clam. Right now at the time of this post we have fresh clam in the shell, fresh shucked and also fresh shucked salted. There is also striped bass on the surf eating worms; both bloodworms and sandworms are great spring time on the surf. HOWEVER, if fishing bait right now be sure to prepare accordingly! There’s a good showing of blowfish right now in the surf and they are notorious bait nibblers. Bring some extra bait. Rigging up with a small hook rig isn’t a bad idea either. Why not take advantage of the tasty critters? It wouldn’t surprise me to see kingfish soon.
Anglers fishing lures are also catching. The standouts right now on the surf are slender swimming minnow style lures. The two best being the Daiwa SP Minnow and the Yo-zuri LC Minnow
Both are slender, tight swimming, long casting lures that striped bass love. These two lures are very universal and they produce season after season so if you haven’t fished one yet, I suggest you ad one to your arsenal today. Better late than never. As far as color… an angler can never go wrong with a bone and a natural with a chrome/flash finish.
This morning Greg Davis reported good action plugging. He stopped in to share the report and also hook up the team with PIZZA… HUGE thanks! Fish Heads Team Member Paul, who is usually running the front counter weekday mornings, enjoyed the sunny afternoon plugging for bass.
Here’s (above) Paul with a nice striped bass he caught Tuesday afternoon off the LBI surf on a bone Yozuri LC Minnow lure.
NJ Spring Tautog Season: April 1 to April 30th, Four Fish Bag Limit, 15″ Minimum Size
Great tog reports from the boats and land based tog anglers continue and point to a strong second half of the month/season. Land based anglers fishing live green crab and sand fleas are doing a number on blackfish at Barnegat Inlet. Positive catches reports from the local wrecks and reef sites are also common. There, green crab and white crab are best. We’ve heard numerous double digit reports.
Here’s (above) one of many monster tog that Dave Moores has caught this spring.
NJ Fluke / Summer Flounder Fishing
Summer flounder fluke fishing gonna pop off here really soon. May 5th is opening day and the regulations re the same as last year… 2 slot fish 17″ to 17.999″ and 1 18″ or greater.
Every year the early part of the season offers some of the best back bay fluke fishing. With the way other fisheries are a head of schedule there’s no doubt that early fluking will be good. We have already heard of some caught as back bay bass bycatch.
No better time than NOW to gear up with essentials for the season ahead!
Are You Ready?
Be sure to check your rods and reels are in good working order, clean and lubricated because if you put them away wet and salty last season, chances are you’ll have some issues right now or in the near future. The worst way to start off spring is broken down. Also be sure to check rod guides for damage as a cracked ring or no ring at all will almost certainly result in a lost fish. Here at Fish Heads we are a full service bait and tackle shop offering professional rod and reel service.
Now is also the time to respool with fresh new line and replace rusty hooks with sharp and strong new ones. Here at Fish Heads we have all of the essentials and are open seven days a week or shop 24-7 online at fishermansheadquarters.com. There’s no better time then now to prep for the season that is upon us or the season ahead; striped bass, fluke, tuna, or what ever species is on your list.
This past week’s full moon marked another new stage of the season. The waters are warming up and fishing is on all accounts on or ahead of schedule. On the surf side we almost at that magic 50° mark where things pop off. The forecast is looking good for this upcoming week and into next weekend; sunny and warm. Further warming will have result in more/better fishing activity. I have a positive outlook for the next few weeks as we transition into the prime time spring fishing season here on LBI.
Happy Easter! The Easter Bunny was good to anglers fishing Long Beach Island this holiday weekend! Here’s a fishing report update for the Long Beach Island area. Gear up with us at Fish Heads and let’s go fishing!
Long Beach Island Fishing Report
Striped bass hold the spotlight as the most popular target species both in the bay and surf, but others, especially tog, perch, winter flounder and black drum are great options too. We heard of a weakfish caught in the South Jersey backwaters and when there is one, there is more. The next month or so it traditionally the time for spring time tide runners. Our fingers are crossed for some blues to show one of these days!
Fish The Bay
Fish the bay and rivers for striped bass, winter flounder, black drum or perch. Rig up for striped bass with a simple hi/lo or single dropper rig and bait up with live bloodworms or clam. To target winter flounder or perch you’ll need to use a small hook, while on the other hand a larger (6/0-8/0) hook with a short leader for black drum.
The Causeway Bridges offer numerous public access points with good proven fishing over the past coupe of weeks. Other areas like public street ends, docks and bulkheads are worth a shot too.
Cooper Lachowicz sent in a photo of a bass caught the other night off a bayside private dock.
Recently some better size bass in the lower 30″ ranger were caught, so keeper size fish are not out of the question. Here’s a photo of one caught by Bayside Dave.
Black drum are in Great Bay as well as the surf. We expect to see these drum propagate into the Manahawkin Bay as well as the lower Barnegat Bay. Gary Adair has been out in his boat catching a few nice Black Drum on the night shift. He said, “Fresh surf turkeys were the ticket!”
*NJ Black Drum Regulations – 16″ minimum size, 3 fish bag
Fish The Surf
Fish the LBI beaches for striped bass or black drum. Rig up with clam and/or worms and soak. The surf of Long Beach Island has produced both striped bass and black drum in recent days.
Shop regular Jamie Gramley caught and release a nice black drum off the mid-Island surf Sunday. He was fishing clam looking for a striped bass.
Another Easter Sunday catch report from the surf came in from Chris Painter. He caught this 36″ bass (photo above) on live bloodworms as well as a short striped bass. He reported, “No takers on the clam.”
The Barnegat Inlet area has tog. Anglers are catching on green crabs and sand fleas using jigs and rigs. Also reports have come in from wreck anglers. Right now we are in the one month April/Spring Tog Season so taken advantage while it lasts because once closed it will not reopen until August.
*NJ Tautog / Black Fish Regulations – 15″ minimum size, 4 fish bag, April 1-30th
Tony Butch got out to some snags and reported good fishing. Anglers fishing the Mary M out of Barnegat Light caught some fish too. Bayside Dave reported a solid tog bite this weekend. “I got three keepers and took a 16.5″ fish home.”
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