LBI NJ Fishing Report – LBI Surf Fishing, Barnegat Bay & Inlet

This week anglers aboard the Reel Fantasea continue to see catch and release numbers into the upper stratosphere with catches averaging 60-80 ++ per trip [ boat total]  with some hot handed savvy anglers scoring 30+ single handedly!

Hi Folks,

Stillwater Smack-It Poppers are lights out lures for bass in the early spring. While they aren’t the best casting popper out, there their unique low pitch rattle makes up for it. They “call” in fish from a long distance away. 

Available in two sizes 5″ 1-1/4oz and 4″ 3/4oz in a dozen colors there is a Smack-It for every angler’s preferences.

St. Croix Rods ‘s Dave Colley is fighting for his life and needs the fishing community’s help with hospital bills. Every dollar helps! ❤️ 🙏
Go Fund Dave’s Fight
For those that don’t know Dave he is an awesome family man that loves the outdoors. He has dedicatedly his life to the fishing industry and has been a stand out factory representative for over 15 years. He has done so much for fishing and now in dire straits needs our support.

The photo of Dave was from a night fishing session with friend Rich Swisstack a couple summers back. I recall like it was yesterday. Dave stopped in the shop that night and got bait on his way to the water. After outside the shop we talked at his tailgate while rigged up. Dave showed me some new rods from St.Croix, at that time the “in the works” prototype Legend Elite Surf Series. What awesome rods they have become!

What an awesome couple of days to break into the spring season. I was stoked to enjoy both yesterday and today scoring some awesome surf. I mention this on a fishing blog because I observed some things while in the water. There’s lots of life! I surfed with a seal (I think harbor seal) and a bunch of sea ducks. Nothing special, right? Just the usual cold water critters on LBI. While most surfers enjoy getting away from the “crowd” these animals entertained when waiting for the set waves. I was happy to see they were on the feed. While not an active flogging, they were in a steady pick mode. I tried to see what they were eating but could not determine the bait. It looked like finger mullet but that can’t possibly be! My best description is slender 3-5″ predominantly silver fish. My best guess is baby herring. My other observation is the ocean water felt a tad bit warmer than it has been all winter. It should only tick up from here.

The 10 day shows lots of good spring like weather with lows in the 40’s and number of days with highs in the mid to upper 50’s possibly 60! Long range guidance currently suggest a warmer than average April. Let’s hope this help the fishing!

I’m happy to report (after that quick return from Ole Man Winter ) things are back on track with a positive progression. The early season spots are still the best area to target however soon (if not already) other areas will light up.

Just a day or two ago we got word on the first quality bass from the Delaware River! While the river rats have been chewing worms in good numbers for awhile, this was the first good one. At least that we have heard about. It’s only getting better from here!!! Here’s the photo of Steve Polidoro with one of the first quality striped bass on the 2017 spring run. Congrats Steve you deserve it after all those long hours worming the cold!

Locally anglers are finding fish too. Most anglers are focused on the striped bass fishery. That’s by far the most popular but don’t over look flounder as a fun fishing target in late March and April. Sunny days are prime! The photo below is a recent catch from Adrift Sportfishing who found ’em! Another report came in from store staffer Steve-o. He was fishing with a friend a number of days back and they did good. Steve reported, “We limited out then kept going catch and release. Got 8 total.” For those looking for the info the NJ Saltwater Recreational Limit is 2 fish at 12″ (per person). For land based anglers, winter flounder can be caught a numerous easy public access spots. Stop by the shop and ask for guidance.

Speaking of the shop… Currently we have frozen baits and soon we’ll have the fresh and live treats. Plans were to stock up awhile back but the demand wasn’t there. Then the cold set back in. Now that it broke we’ll be “baited up” up as soon as possible. The shop is fully stocked with all the tackle you can ask for. If there is something new that you want to check out chances are we have it. If we don’t let us know about it and we’ll try our best to get it for you. Chances are others are interested too.

Sunday I went yaking hoping to get some white perch for the table. I fished two back bay creeks with a friend. Tide was almost full but it was very bright. I had one hit on a bloodworm. I think I was not fishing the right time. My experience with perch is that they feed and heavy at dawn and dusk  Bite often turns on like a switch. In fishing we often look for patterns in which you maximize your catch in minimal amount of time  Well white perch definitely have a pattern. Now booking spring bass and hopefully gator blues. Will be running weekends,select weekdays and weekday magic hour trips. Contact me soon as days are filling up fast.

On the nature side of things: You may not know it, but, spring bird migration is underway.  It actually has been going on for a few weeks now. During the past week the first Great Egrets have started trickling in. Shorebirds like American Oyster Catchers, Killdeer, and Wilson’s Snipe and either arrived to stay to breed or spend a little time fattening up before they keep on, keepin on. Peak migration in NJ is around the first week of May. This is when you will see the greatest diversity of breeding birds and neotropical migrants (birds that have spent the winter in Mexico, Central American and South America.Screaming drags, Capt. Alex 609-548-2511

After a stretch of cold nasty weather and even pulling the boat for a couple days due to the formidable forecast we were back out by Friday to find the stripers waiting for us.

Who’s looking forward to the spring bluefish bonanza?

We are prep’d and ready for the yellow eye invasion. Are you? Now’s the time to address minute tackle needs like rod and reel repair service as well as tackle organization. If you need guidance or assistance stop by and say hello. We are open everyday for your convenience. 
Here’s a batch of photos from some awesome anglers enjoying the great fishing that went down last spring. Hopefully all of our fishing blog readers got into that amazing fishing!

Hello Everyone,

The Hi Flier will begin fishing on the weekend of April 29/30, as well as Monday, May 1. Really hoping those gator bluefish invade Barnegat Bay again as they did in 2015 and 2016. It’s hard to beat that action with 12 to 20 pound blues in four feet of water on surface lures. Last year we had them by the end of April and we caught them all the way to June 1. 2016 was also the first season in a long time that I had successful clamming for stripers in the bay. It also started late April, and produced through all of May. The big surprise was the size of the fish, 12 to 15 pounders with some over 20. In years past, our average fish was 8 to 10 pounds. If you take away the cold blast we just had it really was a mild winter with Jan/Feb being very timid, it has all the signs of an early or at least “on time” start.

The new Hi Flier is a 25 ft World Cat with twin Honda 130 Four Strokes. I am setting my sights on the blue water a little more this year. In particular, the boat will be in Ocean City, MD from June 30 to July 10 sailing every day for yellowfin and bluefin tuna. Last year Masseys Canyon was on fire for the entire month of July with 30 to 60 pound yellowfin and 75 to 150 pound bluefin, all mixed together…….on the chunk!! Any way you can catch a tuna is exciting but day chunking is as good as it gets. I got down there twice last year on a friend’s boat and connected both times. We sailed 40 miles from Cape May and I thought that was close. When I plugged the coordinates in on a chart, we were fishing 25 miles off of Ocean city, MD. So I rented a house with a boat slip and we are going to hit it hard those first 10 days of July. If for some reason the tuna don’t show up at Massey’s Canyon again (they will), it’s only 55 to 60 miles to the nearest canyons for tuna, billfish, wahoo, mahi….C’mon!

Finally, as some of you may or may not now, I launched a brand of fishing apparel last winter: Psyquatic. We will have our full line of apparel on display at the Salt Water Fishing Expo in Somerset, NJ this weekend starting tomorrow (Fri), March 17-19. T-Shirts, long sleeve, performance (quick dry), and hooded sweatshirts in four designs: Psyquatic Logo, Striper on Darter, Yellowfin Tuna on Squid, Mako on Mahi. You could also see them at psyquatic.com We are in corner booth 312 and will have both Psyquatic and the Hi Flier on display. Stop by and say “Hey”.

Looking forward to seeing everyone on board.

Attached pics:
Dave DeGennaro with 100 pound Bluefin chunked at Masseys Canyon last season.
The new Hi Flier, 25 ft World Cat.
Psyquatic display at show.

Capt. Dave DeGennaro
Hi Flier Sportfishing
732.330.5674
www.hiflier.com