Fisherman's Headquarters

The weather looks good for the upcoming weekend. Wind is moderate, not thrilled about the southerly direction, but the velocity is reasonable, and the traditional weather forecast has temps into the high 60’s. Not bad for November. 

Running Open Boat Sat and Sun, Nov 5 and 6, 7AM to 3PM. $300 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared. 

We will be ready to snag bunker, cast plugs and soft plastics, jig, or troll if we have to. There is a good mix of size right now so we should be able to get some under 38″ fish in the cooler.

Call to reserve a spot.

Dave DeGennaro

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

The past 7-10 days has to be some of the best bass fishing Barnegat Bay has seen in a VERY long time. I first shared info about bigger fish showing up on my Oct 21 report. It then got going with a lot of anglers catching 30-40-50″ bass on lures and live bait (spot, eel) in the bay. This is not normally a daily occurrence but it has been! The team at Fish Heads has been in on the bite every day and night since they arrived. It has been phenomenal. What’s great about fishing the bay is it isn’t blitz fishing mayhem like most times in the ocean. Working the right tides at the right locations with the right lure/bait presentation have provided great fishing!

It seems that we’ve had a fall off after Monday morning’s tide but we have high hopes that November will be full of great fall striped bass fishing. Here’s a recent video report from Sunday evening.

UPDATE 11/2/22 @ 10AM

Monday Rick Bragg reported good striped bass fishing up the beach on live bait. Also store staffer Robbie caught and released a couple bass. One large over on live bait and one slot keeper on a white shad. Both in the bay thoroughfares. Tuesday evening Greg Kopenhaver reported, “What a beautiful night on the bay. We released two 40″ bass!” Sunset catch photo is at the end of the post.

I experienced a fall off Monday, a break in trend for two tides but it bounced back. And strong. I planned a boat engine maintenance (oil change and fuel filters) for the afternoon. Got up to the boat and before I could get on I got a call from Dante at Magictails that the bite was on, “bass going crazy on bait, get out here!” While on the phone Jake at Vans popped out of his duck blind that he was working on and said, “It’s on? Can I jump on?” I ran a straight fly trip Monday so I mainly had fly gear. Jake grabbed his rod and off we went. We had a solid hour of awesome fishing and then the tide faded and so did the feeding. After running the boat all weekend it was great to have Jake take the wheel and put me in position to cast the fly. Conditions were perfect with light wind and the bass were hungry. So stoked it all worked out!

Tog fishing at Barnegat Inlet remains strong! Fred Finger weighed in a new tournament leader, 4.8# tog that he caught in Barnegat Light on green crab.

Also more reports coming from the surf side of shorts, slots and overs. This past weekend Matt Shapiro caught and releases a 46.75″ x 25.5″ bass, ~40#. On Halloween, Tom Beaty weighed in a 33.5″ 13.26# striped bass that he caught on a plug fishing the south end. Yesterday evening, Chris Masino weighed in a 28.5″ 8.94# bass that he caught on a lure fishing Barnegat Light. (photo below) This morning Emmit from Top Notch Tackle weighed in a 28.5″ 8.64# bass he caught on bunker fishing Harvey Cedars.

There’s bait and fish here on Long Beach Island… striped bass, albies, tog and more! The past five days were awesome with fall fishing well underway. Here’s my report video from yesterday October 13, 2022 LBI Fishing Report Update. Weekend is looking good. Let’s go fishing.

Here are two short video clips from our epic day at the canyon on Monday: youtu.be/joalOTWOzXY and youtu.be/CRVbylc1B4A
We broke the inlet in the dark around 3AM, arrived on the grounds at 7AM, looked around for a while and found a spot to make our first drift by 7:30 AM. Set up three rods for chunking and bait fishing. By the time the third rod was set, the second rod was already screaming. Set up on that fish and the bow rod goes off, two on! I was clearing the third rod and reeling fast as not to tangle one of the two hooked fish and a big yellowfin hit this squid on the retrieve like a train…..three on! It went like that for three hours. One drift over a mile and a half. We went 9 for 11 on 70 to 90 plus pound yellowfins. Back to the dock by 3:30 PM.

Inshore there are miles of bunker pods up and down the beach from Belmar to Barnegat Inlet. There are 30 to 40 plus pound stripers, whales, and big bluefin tuna on their heels. We plan on leaving early this Sat, Sun, and Mon, Oct 15-16-17 to get on these pods and pursue both the bass and the tuna. I will have the rods and gear for both on board. The rods are stand up 80 class, so we won’t be fighting them from the rod holder if we are fortunate enough to connect with a bluefin. It will be a belt and harness stand up fight. I had these combos built over the winter just for this fishery. We are going to jump from pod to pod looking for the bunker that have some tuna on them. Live bait fishing will be the primary tactic but I will have the heavy popping rods on board, as well. The focus is going to be on tuna with the stripers being our secondary effort, so I don’t want to mislead anyone. Also, our chances of hooking one of these tuna is not great. Sometimes they won’t even look at what you are offering. But there have been some caught off these bunker pods already, so I want to give it our best shot. Anything over 73 inches has to be released. There have been a few in the 150 to 200 lb class mixed in with the giants, that would be best case scenario, as we could actually take one of those. This is a risky trip, it’s not for everyone. When you pursue quality, that’s the risk. There’s a good chance we never hook a tuna and come back with an empty fish box, as almost all of the stripers are over the 38 inch mark, and the regulations say we have to release those fish. The upside: being in the presence of whales is always a humbling experience, catch and release on big stripers is a lot of fun, and just watching bluefin air out on bait makes you say “Whoaaa!” every single time.

$350 person, all fish are shared (if there are any), 4 people max. Sat Oct 15, Sun Oct 16, and Mon Oct 17, 5AM to 3PM.  These dates are also available for charter. If you would like to book a trip for just stripers, we could talk about that, as well. 

Pics: Jeff Frazier of Toms River holding tuna vertical and with the bent rod.

Dave DeGennaro
Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

If you haven’t heard… BIG STRIPED BASS bass rolled into our local waters on Friday evening and are on the feed! Saturday was a full on epic day reported by many and some nice fish were caught today too. Most of the action is focused around Barnegat Inlet with action radiating a mile or two north, east and south. We also heard good reports from up the beach and in Monmouth County.

There’s large schools of bunker that have pushed into the westerly winds and are stacked up near and on some beaches. Fishing live baits if best but those who prefer more of a challenge are catching biggins on large lures too!

Yes the word epic was used and based on all accounts it is justified. It’s time to get in on the great fall fishing that has erupted about a month earlier than usual.

Here’s my mid day report shortly after leaving the morning LBI Surf Fishing Opening Day Kick Off Seminar. After this report I jumped in the boat and got into a great evening fishing session too.

Yup a couple nice bass were caught off the LBI surf too. The photo below was caught by LBI Classic Tom, Angler 408, Tom Ng.

There’s also very large pods of bay anchovies. Small blues as well has hardtails (false albacore, bonito, Spanish mackerel) can be found on this small bait. Use small lures and get in on the light tackle fun. Tommy Smith Jr had some fun on the surf yesterday!

This is the kind of weather and fishing report you need to react to. There are big yellowfin tuna offshore. We have to run 70 to 80 miles but the fishing is really good. Bait fishing, we shouldn’t have to troll. Leaving at 4AM tomorrow, Monday Oct 10, returning late afternoon or early evening. $450 person. 4 people max. All fish are shared. This is short notice, so call me on my cell 732.330.5674, rather than email.

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674

hiflier.com

Now that Nor’Ian is gone, we are left with a beautiful weekend on Long Beach Island and two great events. Get out and enjoy but be prepared for a chill in the early mornings and evening as a cold front is coming through and giving us the coldest temperatures in a long while. Kite Fest and the LBI Surf Fishing Classic. This year’s 68th Annual tournament kicks off with the opening day (Saturday 8th) seminar at 9am (Ship Bottom Fire House). Stop at the shop to sign up and then attend the event. I’ll be there giving a seminar and will be available for your questions. Kite Fest will have the beaches of Ship Bottom LBI packed with people. It is suggested that anglers steer clear of this area for easier parking, access and space.

Due to the blow (Nor’Ian) reports have been few and far between. For the most part yesterday was the first day anglers could get out. Here’s what I can share. Striped bass, bluefish, blackfish, blowfish, weakfish are all here among other species. The resident striped bass are only getting more aggressive and soon more will show with a mix of a larger class too. The tog fishing is good and will be good throughout the fall season. Fish live green crabs and mole crabs (sand fleas) for the best action. There’s still some blowfish but they are on their way out. Also there’s some weakfish and kingfish in the bay and on the surf.

Current NJ Blackfish Regulations 1 fish at 15″ minimum size until November 15th. On November 16th it opens up to a five fish bag till the end of the year.

Today October 7th is opening day for NJ Black Sea Bass Is Open! 10/7 to 10/26 it’s 10 fish at 13″ minimum size. For more information on how the regulations came about check out the blog post that was put up at the time of the decision… 2022 Black Sea Bass Recreational Fishing Regulations Explained.

It’s a helluva lotta fun light tackle jigging with 60g Nomad Streakers, Tubed 007 & A17 Diamond Jigs and Hogy Sand Eel Jigs.

Here’s the 30 day water temperature graph from the Barnegat Bay tide gauge near the BL Inlet. It shows the cooling and that means one things… fall fishing is underway! Let’s go fishing!!!

Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association Fishing Report

The fishing scene for the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association is entering a transition phase as the fall season develops. The waters are still warm but dropping.

The summer flounder season just ended until it resumes in spring of 2023. The black sea bass fishery is closed until it starts again on October 7 with a 10-fish per day limit. That limit increases to 15 on November 1.

Many of the captains will be chasing striped bass when that fishery starts to show life in just a couple of weeks. Right now, there is a goodly amount of bait around in local waters, and when the water temperatures drop down, that fishery will be a target of the BHCFA Captains.

Currently there is a decent bite in bay waters for a variety of smaller panfish. Captain Bret Taylor of Reel Reaction Sportfishing has been putting his anglers on large amounts of blowfish along with other species such as kingfish and even some weakfish. This is a light tackle fishery with chum used to draw the fish close.

The fishing for the first weekend in October does not look favorable with a strong northeaster expected to hit along with the remnants of Hurricane Ian. Once that passes, the action should begin to pick up.

While mentioning Hurricane Ian, the sympathies of the captains and all others involved in the BHCFA go out to those affected by the storm in Florida and other areas. Our thoughts are with those folks as they pick up the pieces and begin to rebuild.

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