Things are progressing along with spring fishing however state and local authorities are clamping down with tighter restrictions. Stay up to date by monitoring official statements by state and local agencies. A little more on this towards the end.
Happy Passover & Happy Easter
Downside Of The April’s Moon
Tuesday’s “Pink Moon” was the biggest and brightest of 2020, perigree aka supermoon. Why Pink? Because of early spring flowers that give its name. Even with all the hours everyone is spending home inside it’s easy to see things are blooming everywhere. Also due to the moon, the Perigean spring tides have made their presence known with some extreme high tides.
Striped Bass, Tog, Black Drum, Perch… Bluefish?
The first full moon of spring is a point in time when things really get rolling for fishing in the Long Beach Island area.
Striped Bass Are Here
The striped bass fishing in the Barnegat Bay as well as other early season spots in the state is and has been strong for weeks so there’s no need to reiterate. But what is breaking news… the first Long Beach Island surf side striped bass was caught and reported in by local angler Chris Masino. While this very well might not be the first, it was the first that was directly reported to us with photo proof. It’s only up from here!
Softbaits like Kettle Creek Paddle Tails are a great lure choice. They are very effective in the spring and fall on the surf and in the bay.
Tog Are Here
Reports are strong. Once this weather allows anglers will be able to get back on this great fishing and what is a very short April season. Paul Haertel shared a short report, “Outstanding tog fishing today (Tuesday) with fish to 9.5 pounds and a bonus cod.”
Black Drum Are Here
Like clock work on the moon, more black drum reports pop up. Again it was Kirsten Holloway with a nice catch! Now’s prime time for these but baits are tough. Surf clams seem to be impossible for us this year. Most anglers who do not want to fish frozen or salted are fishing big hard clams aka bay clams or chowders.
White Perch Are Here
Captain Alex from Lighthouse Sportfishing has been staying safe and making the most out of the quarantine. The well versed outdoorsman, environmentalist and science teacher is watching nature through all of this. He’s birding and fishing. Alex reported that he thinks this will be a great year for white perch. He reported, “Perch fishing is strong! Was catching them on almost every cast. Looking forward to some good fun fishing.”
Bluefish Maybe Soon?
Just got word about some blues showing on the Delaware surf. The report came in from a social media follower @DEFishingGuide. It’s great news to see and we have our fingers crossed the show here soon!
Another species we expect to arrive any day if not already is weakfish! Keep an eye out for the tiderunners.
Fishing Access – Where Can I Fish?
We are getting lots of calls, messages on social media and emails…. All want to know… Can I Fish?
That is a loaded question! Right now the best we can say is that we are not the authority. We have to defer because the situation continues to develop. Sorry we can not provide a firm Yes/No or go fish here. All we can say is that those looking to fish are finding safe ways to enjoy the water while adhering to social distancing as well as the rules and regulations that are in effect. Read on for some helpful details.
Long Beach Island Beach Closures
We can share that most (could possibly be all soon) Long Beach Island beaches are now closed. Ship Bottom beaches are closed. Long Beach Township and Beach Haven is restricted to access by permit holders only (full time resident and property owners). The Beach Haven Beach Patrol posted on their social media page, “Beaches are closed unless you have a storm re-entry pass. If you don’t know what that means it indicates you do not have one and should not be on the beach.
Photo take by local photographer Melanie Cassie on Tuesday evening when Ship Bottom closed the beaches until further notice.
The Barnegat Lighthouse State Park posted on their social media page, “Park is closed. Full closure includes parking lots, grounds, facilities, trails and playgrounds. Trail use is prohibited.” With that said it is grey area if angles can fish the outskirts of the park. From what Fish & Wildlife say some areas are fair game.
Info from NJ Fish & Wildlife shares, “Wildlife Management Areas are currently open for hunting and fishing. We want to keep it that way, so we need YOU to observe proper social distancing guidelines to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. It is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT to practice safe social distancing at all times! Be safe. Be smart. Keep your distance and keep our Wildlife Management Areas open!”
Fish With Respect
No more than ever all anglers must fish with respect for others. It should need to be said but it must be just as a warning. One bone head could ruin it for everyone. It happened already on Long Beach Island with some punk ass surfers telling off the mayor, who they clearly didn’t know was the mayor. This could easily happen on the fishing front and lead to a shut down. Use your head!
I just read an article in a fishing trade publication and learned that due to the crisis fishing is prohibited right now in Indonesia. Anglers can face up to four months in jail if they are caught fishing. All fishing participation is banned there. Please don’t let this happen here!
Hope everyone is safe, healthy and sane! Fishing remains a great way to practice social distancing. Get out and enjoy the sunshine and salt air! Here’s the Fishing LBI Report Monday April 6, 2020.
Fish Heads News
We continue on open with no public access. Curbside Bait & Tackle, Sales Service & Much More. If you needs something give us a call, 609.494.5739 Daily 8am-7pm. Shop Online 24-7 at www.FishermansHeadquarters.com
Beach Access?
Just today news broke that some towns on LBI have closed the beaches to non residents. Still unsure how this will play out. FYI The gates at the Barnegat Lighthouse State Park are closed however all are welcome and passive recreation is permitted. Examples of PR: fishing, walking, wildlife viewing, photography, among other but do not include active recreation such as soccer or basketball. Park access is allowed but all must practice social distancing. No gatherings. People need to keep their distance. Be Smart! Be Safe! Just a reminder pets are prohibited on the jetty and the beach (to protect nesting birds) April 1 to September 15. Facilities are closed to the public, no restrooms.
The recent swell event upwelled the nearshore ocean water temperatures. What was in the high 40’s is now in the mid 40’s. Sunday it was 45 degrees along the beach. On the next rebound we expect a bump in the local ocean action. It’s bound to kick off. Wet a line and you might catch one of the spring’s first surfside striped bass! On the boat, it usually it starts with some bird plays (we already have lots of them) and scattered fish so trolling can be the most effective method. Bunker spoon lures are traditionally a very good spring time lures as well as Magictail Mojos. But when the fish are schooled up and feeding the light tackle lure approach can outfish.
Fishing LBI Report On Tog
Blackfishing opened up for April and it kicked off strong with land base anglers getting all of the love. That was until Sunday/Monday when the boats were able to get out. Recent reports were strong from both boat and land based anglers. It’s great to see everyone is catching good numbers of quality blackfish.
On The Jetty
“The jetty was on fire today. Everyone was catching on both jigs and rigs!” Jared Grady reported catching with his buddy Torr. Sloane Endick was also in on the fun. She posted a photo from her trip and tagged us, below. Shop regular Tom also reported he caught tog today too. @FishSeanLBI recently posted, “First trip out fishing and got one for the dinner table. It was nice to get out and feel a little normal today.”
On The Boat
Fish Head Ambassador Swagmattic is back in the saddle! He and crew picked up right where they left off at the end of last season. He was out today getting toggy and reported… “I had an 8 pound fish on the first bait I dropped down. We had a boat limit by noon and then played catch and release for a few hours before heading home. Both crabs and salted clams caught. Mike Cline got the biggest at 14lbs, below We also had a bonus fish a keeper cod!”
Mike Cline got this 14lbs tog fishing an inshore wreck with live crab. Also known as blackfish these game fish are challenging to catch and are very good to eat.
Rhodan Changes The Game
After talking at the Saltwater Soiree, local angler Barry Baxter purchased a Rhodan GPS Anchor from us. He decided on the Rhodan 36v 120# thrust 84″ Shaft and we got it to him fast. He’s already rigged up and fishing. He gave us a quick review that he is very happy with the unit. His first day out was Sunday and even in the big 4-6′ long period swell the unit performed great. “Absolute game changer. We tog fished yesterday and crushed ’em. I couldn’t be happier with the 84″ Rhodan. Thank You!”
We are stoked to see another happy Rhodan customer on the water hanging their game! From experience I’ve learned the long period swell is ok because the boat rides up and down the waves easily and clean. However the short period tight together chop is a much different story. When the conditions make the vessel excessively pitch and heave the units can not perform due to cavitation. Want to learn more about Rhodan GPS Anchors? Give us a call!
Striped Bass Fishing Report
Striped bass is strong locally and at the state’s early season hot spots. Get out there and have some fun. Right now there’s some nice bass moving into the bays and rivers to spawn and they are making their presence known.
Store staffer Willie was in on the action today. Here’s one of many.
Michael Sibilia sent in a thanks with a photo, “Line and rod are holding up great Thanks Again!”
No other fishing reel offers better performance and durability in the saltwater fishing ring than Van Staal. Get one today and go to battle!
The bite continues on locally here in the Barnegat Bay too with lots of small striped bass! Ryan Curtis was out on his skiff fishing and reported, “Lots of schoolie bass in the back bay around the sod banks and islands. I caught them all on soft plastics!”
Here is a photo of store staffer Max with a recent striped bass that went for a Kettle Creek Paddletail. There is something about these soft baits that striped bass can’t resist. It’s got something to do with their ribbed profile and paddle tail as well as their secret scent. They are deadly!
Another lure that is deadly year in and year out… the Rapala X-Rap! Jerry Zumpetta just reported, “I caught well over 20 fish on the outgoing tide tonight (Sunday) with X-Raps. I even snagged an adult bunker.”
Freshwater Fishing Report
While we aren’t a freshwater shop we got some good reported in from customers so wanted to share them. The state authorities are encouraging anglers to not travel and focus on fishing locally so this report should be helpful to some.
By now everyone should know NJ Trout fishing is open. Degennaro and son (Dan Chris and Son Ryan) had a good time fishing this weekend. Chris reported, “We made two stops today. First stop was torture… seeing fish break, watching fish swim at our feet, no nibbles. Second top was non stop action including a donkey. All catch and release. Not too bad for rookies.”
Ryan Degennaro caught this big trout this weekend while fishing with his dad Chris. What a great way to Keep America Fishing especially during the pandemic.
Another freshwater fishing report came in from Pete E. He was out with the family this weekend at a local lake. He reported they enjoyed the beautiful spring weather outdoors catching fish. “We caught and released 15 pickerel and one yellow perch.”
Fish Head Charters
The phone calls don’t stop and I love it BUT I’m forced to turn everyone away. With the birth of my son in September I already had a set plan that I was not going to run any/many charters for Spring 2020. Then came the pandemic. Anyone looking to get out and fish aboard Fish Head Charters please touch base for fishing dates in late summer and fall. I’m saving dates however no deposits at this time.
Sunday I put the boat in for a sea trial. It was great to be on the water again. The boat ran great so I punched out the Inlet and took a look around. I was happy to see gannets and lots of them in a huge flock. At times they were dive bombing hard. I marked a large bunker school close by but didn;t see the tell tale boomerangs that are a sure mark of game fish. I only had a surfboard but should of had a rod. I think there were some fish with ’em. I’ll be back out on the hunt soon enough.
Added April 7, 2020 3PM
A blog comment came in so I wanted to share the comment and reply publicly in hopes it brings value to all readers.
After reading a blog post https://fishinglbi.com/2020/03/18/an-update-at-fish-heads/ John posted the following comment 4/7/20 at 1:30PM, “The beaches are closed…..you had no bunker this morning and the tide chart was wrong. 58 miles one way for nada.”
Here’s my reply to him. What I feel will bring value to all readers is the info on LBI Beach Access (can change by the day) as well as the topic of tide and current.
Hi John – So sorry to see and read your comment. I apologize for the mix up in information and your inconvenience. Unfortunately the information is your reply is not all accurate. I wish you would have seen and read our post which was sent live yesterday April 6th. The post which you commented on is from March 18th post. It was tagged as sticky so it would stay at the top and not be lost in all of the other posts so viewers can see we are open doing curbside pickup.
Yes some beaches are closed however not all. The gates at Barnegat Lighthouse State Park are closed however access to fishing is open. See the post for info on the action. It’s good right now. As far as the town beaches each municipality is unique and most have different rules in place. As far as I know (as of yesterday) the Ship Bottom beach is close and all of Long Beach Township beaches are restricted access, must have a “disaster-rentery pass” (residents and property owners). Surf City, Barnegat Light and Beach Haven were open. It’s best to monitor the individual town’s Facebook pages for news updates.
As far as the bait situation, we update the bait report frequently and have the disclaimer right below the update date and time “Call To Confirm”. Bait comes and goes fast. We sold out after the first couple customers this morning but we have more which should be delivered at 2:30pm today.
As far as the tide app widget on the sidebar of the blog page… it is powered by Tide Graph Pro, arguably one of the best tide apps available. It is very accurate so long as you are looking at the right location and date. Tide (vertical water movement up and down) and current (horizontal water movement left to right) are different. Just cause the water is flowing in does not always mean the the tide is coming in. In reality the time high or low tide (top and bottom of tide) are not slack water. Depending on many variables slack water can be 1/2-2+ hours different. With all of that said today is the full moon and what is called a perigean spring tide aka super moon. Due to the moon’s close proximity to the earth today is one of the year’s largest tide events. The high tide is significantly higher than normal. The morning’s minor high was +5.4′ and the evenings major high is +5.66′. Those are some high tides!
Hope this all makes sense. Again I apologize for the mix up and your inconvenience. Your bunker are on me next trip down. Stay safe and healthy my friend, Greg
The month we’ve all waited all winter for… April Is Finally Here!
It’s funny (not really quite depressing) how right when a season opens King Neptune decided to get angry. Lost days can’t be made up so please tell him to turn the wind machine off!
Here’s the FishingLBI Fishing Report Update dated April 3, 2020.
Fishing Long Beach Island
As of this report (Friday Night, 4/3/20) the beach of Long Beach Island are open to walking, fishing and surfing. HOWEVER, any groups/gatherings are forbidden! All MUST maintain proper Social Distancing practices following the CDC’s guidelines.
Here’s a statement from Long Beach Township Mayor Mancini as published in a recent article by author Jon Coen in The SandPaper, “I don’t want to close the beach. I understand that people have to get outside. There’s a lot of space on the beach(s).” Don’t fish, surf or walk in a group or you will ruin it for everyone! Show up at a spot and see others already there? Don’t join and mug ’em! Find another spot. Practice Strict Social Distancing!
Now on to some fishing report news…
The very mild winter has things progressing and happening much sooner this year. When compared to other years we are without a doubt a couple weeks early. Sure enough one of the better springs in a long time and bam! The world turns upside down.
The surf temperature is just hitting the 50 degree mark. That and the abundance of recent bird plays tell us striped bass in the surf. However we expect slow fishing until the water temp hits the 54 degree range. That is when the surf kicks into gear striped bass wise.
The best action right now for striped bass is in the early season spots. They are abundant in local bays. Adult bunker are also in the bay. Speaking of bunker we just got our season’s first delivery of primo frshies. If you want to try a chunk bait, we have bunker. Get out and enjoy fishing BUT be sure to Practice Strict Social Distancing!
Just a reminder – As of April 1, 2020 the new New Jersey recreational striped bass regulations are in effect. It is one striped bass 28″ to less than 38″.
Winter Flounder no recent reports other than from those who caught more small striped bass than flatties. One anglers shared that striped bass were stealing the worms on the small flounder hooks. When the hook size was scaled up they were catching striped bass one after the other.
White Perch get worms or shrimp and go! April is a great time for them.
Toggy Time!
Blackfish season is open the entire month of April… 4 Fish at 15″.
Anglers are going and catching keepers. Land based angler, Anthony Gagliardi got bait a couple times from us and reported today, “So far I’ve caught 7 keeper tog on crabs.” His recent outing he limited out!
Soon the weather will settle down and then we expect tog fishing in the ocean to be good. We’ll post reports when we get them!
Update from the Shop
We are cranking daily (8-5pm) on a skeleton crew taking extreme precautions with extreme cleanings and no public access… curbside pickup and web/mail order only. If you want line or reel service give us a call to let us know you are dropping off. Looking for a new reel? Call us and we are happy to hand a few off for you to review curbside in the parking lot. We are here and happy to help you with the same great products and customer service we’ve offered since 1962. Thanks for all of you support over the years!
Just a heads up… our ship times on web orders are on point! So if you need tackle and aren’t close by or can’t make the trek… let us know and we’ll get it to you fast. Before shopping elsewhere online you might want to inquire about ship times. We’ve got word from two customers recently their online orders (purchased from competitor) were “unknowingly delayed” and “still after 10 days not delivered when promised delivery in two days.” These are uncertain times but we are transparent. Call us and we will tell you if the product is in stock or out. If it’s in stock you’ll have it fast. Please Support Small Local Business!
PS: We just got in the long awaited restock Tsunami SaltX 4000 Reels in both Silver and Black. If you are looking for a Tsunami SaltX… here’s a video of a couple of the guys from the shop having fun with a SaltX.
First, let me say I hope everyone is staying healthy and sanitized. In times like these, we often find comfort in things that are always there like friends and family. Some also find solace in the outdoors and reconnecting to important things from our past. Well, I did just that when I socially distanced myself from my friend Chris Lido on one of NJ’s amazing trout conservation areas (ind of an oxymorone there).
Growing up trout fishing the NJ rivers often led to lost sleep from the excitement of hitting the stream in the morning. Chris, a professional fly-fishing guide, did a great job brushing off the dust on me. Dust that accumulated from literally decades. The end results were: I took away a book’s worth of knowledge: I can ride a bike after not being on it for years; and I caught, photographed, and released 9 rainbows. Some video from this adventure can be seen here Trout fishing, NJ
With all of the Covid-19 Virus talk consuming our live, news, social media and daily conversation hopefully you will find this a happy change of tide. Here’s the Fishing LBI “End Of March Fishing Report” Update for Saturday March 28, 2020.
Fishermans Headquarters is open daily however no public access. Curbside pick up and web/mail orders only. Call Us ( 6094945739 ) for sales and service inquiries.
The Current Situation
Looking at the entire picture, the two major rivers (the Delaware and the Hudson) as well as their respective bays (Delaware Bay and Raritan Bay) have fish and lots of them. The Raritan Bay has been cranking for a couple weeks now and more recently has broken wide open! These prespawn striped bass are making moves.
More locally, the rivers (Mullica and Toms River) as well as their respective bays (Barnegat Bay and Great Bay) have an abundance of striped bass. Most are resident schoolies but there’s lots of them making it fun light tackle fishing. There’s a few better size ones in the herd.
Long story short is this season is off to an epic start with good fishing all around the state. We put out a recent poll on our social. The results showed out of almost 500 voters, two thirds are fishing and one third are not.
Striper Migration Map Dated March 27, 2020 (Thanks to On The Water) – Big striped bass are making their way to their spawning grounds in lower and middle Chesapeake Bay tributaries as well as the Raritan Bay.
If you are fishing or planning to fish please do your part and give the utmost respect to others. Fishing is a great way to practice social distancing and put food on the table! Be Safe – If you can touch someone fishing beside you with your rod you should spread out. Forget your fishing buddies. This is the time to fish solo. Fish Local – Stay close to home to keep trips short and eliminate travel time. Be Flexible & Adaptive – Choose alternate locations and/or times if an area is inhabited. Avoid groups! Curfew – Know the rules and follow them! If everyone can follow these simple rules there’s a good chance the little bit of freedom we still have will continue. Don’t ruin it for everyone!
LBI Fishing Report
The local waters of Long Beach Island have four primary species; striped bass, winter flounder, black drum and white perch. The first two are prime and the later two are slowly progressing and we anticipate both will be good for the whole month of April.
Stripers are on the move crusing the sod banks as well as mud flats and they are active at the docks and lights in the evening. The most common question is, What catching best?
Early Season Spring Baits
For the bait guys clams and worms are by far the best early season baits. Bloodworm is our first suggestion unless you are looking for a drum. Then clam is the call. Wait on bunker a week or two.
The surf is slowly warming up but no striped bass reported in. We have only hear of dogfish from anglers trying. With that said when there’s dogfish there’s commonly striped bass. We expect to see some surfside striped bass soon. The LBI surf temp is in the mid to high 40’s.
Free Surfcaster Journal Issue
While talking surf fishing we want to share some info and free content. Check out Issue 60 at the Surfcaster’s Journal. The SJ team decided to make this entire 150-page issue free and accessible to all surfcasters. Check it out now!
Now To Individual Reports
Barnegat Bay
Tim Covart is having fun fishing top water poppers working LBI’s bayside. Here’s a photo he just sent in of a health striped bass.
Jim Crane fished Friday and got two bass up to 22″ in a short 45 minute session. He said Lunker City Fin-s softbaits were working.
Rick Bragg was out in the boat fishing for bass recently. He reported, “We caught some bass in the mid-Island bay fishing for an hour one evening. Two at 19″ and one at 21” on small jigs.
Dave Moores is still catching in the bay. This time around he reports, “All little winter flounder. It is tough with all the small bass. The super dinks wouldn’t leave us alone.” Side note… The blueclaw crabs are getting active!
Striped bass love to sniff around the shallow mud flats and sod bank sin spring looking for worms.
Here’s a striped bass that was recently caught by the Fishermans Magazine’s Jim Hutchinson Jr. Bloodworms on the sod banks is like peanut butter and jelly. They just go together so good.
Carl Hartman enjoyed the perfect weather on Friday catching a couple bass. He said it was an awesome day. Carl also wants to share that the Century Rods & American Angler LBI Casting Demo is still tentatively set for 1pm May 3rd at Bay View Park in Brant Beach. Other local news… This week we saw the coast guard out on the bay setting out the seasonal aids to navigation.
Raritan Bay
Jim Kuhl reported, “It’s been good. Some awesome topwater feeds. Friday afternoon was non top with fish ripping across the surface chasing bunker. We were truly blessed to have days like these!”
Here’s Billy Hayess with one of many beautiful striped bass from the recent days.
Nick Honachefsky reported, “We crushed them today! Saturday monring was stripers galore on shads! It was really good the past couple of days and this morning.”
Delaware River
Todd Avery reports, “No slobs yet but it’s great to be out fishing.”
Todd is always stoked on fishing!
Recent Trip To The Pacific
We love to see our customer gear up and then report back with stoke. Jay Sawczak stopped in to prep for some fishing while on a sailing trip in Tahiti. The team helped him out setting up some reels with line and leaders. He said, “Willie was a perfectionist and it paid off. Thank you guys for helping me catch some fish on my trip!”
It’s hard to find anything positive to say or even escape the 24 -7 deluge of bad news of this global pandemic. With such uncertainty, suffering and worry weaved into every hour of the day I wasn’t sure [ and still not] if sending a fishing report out was a good idea but if it helps in anyway as maybe a distraction even for a few people than maybe it’s okay?
The beginning of every new fishing season has always been so exciting to get back out on the water. This season I cherish even more than ever before for obvious reasons. Although living at the shore and it’s salty air, nothing compares to actually taking deep cleansing breaths while on the water.
Presently the back bay striped bass fishing has really been very rewarding with stripers ranging in sizes 14″ – 27″ with more bigger fish joining the ranks almost daily. We are utilizing light spinning tackle while employing various artificial presentations.
Wishing everyone health and safety until we get through this.
Captain Steve Purul Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters Call: 609-290-1217
Being somewhat sheltered in place, I started going through my computer to clean things up. In doing so, I found some fishing videos that I never uploaded to YouTube. This one here is from day two of an epic bass bite that lasted almost a week in the fall of 2015. Subcribe to my YouTube channel if you like my videos.
Spring is officially here! Yesterday, March 19 marked the first day of spring. The earliest spring since 1896 to be exact! Not only does the calendar say it’s spring but so does the weather and fishing.
There’s lots of fish around and on the chew. Solid fishing reports continue on striped bass, winter flounder and perch. Soon other species like black drum will be here and chewing. Speaking of Black Drum…
Drum Fishing With Kirsten Holloway
Spring time is the right time to target classy black drum in the bays and coastal waters of the Central and South Jersey Coast. Get ready to clam it down! Tomorrow Saturday March 21, at 7 am tune into 97.3 FM for Rack & Fin Radio on ESPN. Host Tom P will talk drum with Kirsten Holloway a local angler who knows her stuff. Here’s Kirsten with a big Great Bay black drum.
Barnegat Bay Winter Flounder Fishing Report
David Moores is in on the action flounder fishing hard this year. “Been catching good! And some nice ones too. Today Mike Moores got his first fatty flatty.” Get live bloods, anchor up and start chumming.
George Miller has been out and reports, “Flounder fishing in good.”
“I love my new fishing rod and reel setup! In about an hours time last night, I caught six bass on the old school classic, Lunker City Fin-S.” ~Jim Crane
Jamie Gramley reported, “Got another one fishing the back bay!” Dan Piazza (@backattack) tagged us in a photo this morning (below top). Got ’em on the Kettle Creek Paddle Tails. Grey Colston is always dialed in and right now is no different (below, bottom right). He’s catching on the Ship Bottom bayside. Sloanne Endick is catching nighttime linesiders (below, bottom center). Anthony Gagliardi shared a photo of a super dink he recently caught (below, bottom left).
Great Bay Striped Bass Fishing Report
Anglers are worming and catching good numbers of small striped bass. Ken Chew reported, “Fishing live bloodworms and low tide produced on the sand banks. We caught nine stripers Thursday. Eric Spinner got his first bass!”
Ken Maxwell fished with his kids and caught some striped bass.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, We Are Open For Business Daily 8-5pm, serving bait, tackle, and essential fishing gear. However access to the retail store is prohibited. Curbside Pick Up & Web/Mail Order ONLY. Unfortunately No Public Access To The Store!
All Sales & Serive Inquiries Are Via Phone (Call US 6094945739) or web.
There’s no better way to practice social distancing, responsible recreation and put food on the table than FISHING! Follow these great tips…
Be Safe – 6’+! If you can touch someone fishing beside you with your rod you should spread out. Forget your fishing buddies, Fish Solo.
Fish Local – Stay close to home to keep trips short and eliminate travel time.
Be Adaptive – Choose alternate locations and/or times if an area is inhabited. Avoid groups!
Curfew – Know the rules and follow them! Don’t ruin the little bit of freedom we still have.
We greatly appreciate your business over the years and especially in these tough times. We hope that you and your families are healthy and stay safe. ~ Team Fish Heads
The short mild winter gave us early buds and blooms. The dogwoods and forsythia show the tell tale signs that the spring fishing season is upon us! Here’s the LBI Fishing Report for Sunday March 15th.
BUT First A Huge THANKS to everyone who came out to the Saltwater Soiree! It was an awesome time. All of the feedback received so far is positive. While it was our first, we are already planning on another.
On the topic of trolling motors, there’s a lot to talk about. Here a detailed talk on the Rhodan Advantage at the Saltwater Soiree. Are you looking to purchase a saltwater trolling motor for your boat this spring? Reach out to us and we can help answer any questions you have. Here at Fisherman’s Headquarters we are a Rhodan & MinnKota Dealer.
Barnegat Bay Fishing Report
Every spring the backwaters start first. The rivers, shallow mud flats and especially lighted areas (docks and bridges).
The past few nights were lights out fishing for a lot of the Fish Heads crew. Seems like their MVP is Kettle Creek Shads rigged on a lead head. If you aren’t sure where to go, stop in and get talking with the boyz. Here’s a recent photo sent in from local angler Jared Grady.
Striped bass absolutely love the Kettle Creek Paddle Tail Shad Baits. Rig them up on a lead head and you have a very versatile lure that works day in and day out.
Simon and friend stopped in for some live bloods on Saturday morning. A few hours later they reported back, “Great action early in the day with small bass fishing worms.” Long time Fish Head regular Jamie Gramley was out on Saturday and shared, “Not a bad day fishing Barnegat Bay. I caught a couple bass up to 25″ today.”
Gary Adiar enjoyed his Saturday morning fishing a popular early season sod bank. He said the fishing was good, “Little man laid the wood to ’em and caught over 20 bass up to 25 inches.”
John Bellingeri stopped in on Saturday to check out the Saltwater Soiree. While enjoying the event he picked up some Kettle Creek Shads and then put them to use on the bayside. He tagged us in a photo and said, “It’s on! Don’t read the reports. Be the reports!
Winter flounder reports were few and far between until this weekend. Kyle Majka reported, “We managed a two man limit today in three hours. Biggest flounder was 1.62#. Start chumming and keep chumming.” Another winter flounder report came in from Dave Moores. He been putting in the time and catching them in Northern Barnegat Bay. Dave reported on his Facebook page, “Get out and fish! Catch some flounder and then enjoy a great dinner.” Dave is also releasing bass on light tackle.
*Winter Flounder NJ Recreation Fishing Regulations Are Two Fish Bag Limit At 12 inch Minimum Size
LBI Surf Fishing
St. Patricks Day is the holiday which, for the Jersey Shore, marks a time when surf anglers opportinues start. Usually catching a bass off the surf before St.Patty’s Day requires a legit ton of luck. Even though this year is ahead of schedule we have yet to learn of a surf side striped bass on the beach of LBI.
We expect it’s any day. Why? The waters have already began their creep up from the winter’s low and there’s lots of life. A quick look will show abundance of sea ducks and lots of gannets. For some Saturday mid island LBI gannet diving video check out our instagram story, sent in by John Bellingeri. Both herring and bunker are present in the LBI surf.
Tog Fishing
Captain Mike Kelly aboard the “On Point” is still down in Ocean City, MD catching tog. He reported a slow yet steady grind on Saturday. He said the crew worked hard for them and managed 19 keepers up to 6 pounds.
NJ’s Tog Season Is Quickly Approaching. It Opens April 1st with a Four Fish Bag Limit at a 15″ Minimum Size.
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