Fisherman's Headquarters

Since our last post there’s a lot to share on the local fishing front. Hopefully you’ve been following along to our Instagram page for live action. If not… here’s the Fishing LBI Fishing Report Update for the evening of Tuesday November 5, 2019

3 Days Of Big Striped Bass Close To Barnegat Inlet

Captain Jeff has been dialed in to say the least! I talked to a lot of other Captains on a daily basis and he seems to be higher than high hooked. Jeff has been fishing the afternoons and catching consistently. He found the mother load of big bass off IBSP on Sunday afternoon. “We went out for an arial photo shoot for our Reel Innovation Product Line and came across lots of bass. At one point all of our rods were hooked up and with only two of us on the boat tried to feel out the biggest fish and reel that one in first. Turns out they were all monsters. The biggest was 54 pounds!

The Reel Innovation Outrodders have had great reviews from everyone using them. Jeff details, “In design and testing it was our goal to make a top quality outrodder for striped bass anglers but we also wanted to satisfy the big game anglers hunting tuna and sharks. There’s been some really big fish caught on them and everyone loves the quality and convenience. Check out The World’s Best Outrodder by Reel Innovation today at Fishermans Headquarters.

Monday afternoon Jeff and crew was right back in the action. He reported, “The southerly wind was cranking and it was sloppy but the fish were chewing. Only if I had a gun or gaff… we had a 250# thresher shark next to the boat going wild but it parted ways.”

“Today (Tuesday) was another good day on the water,” Jeff said. “My buddy Horn called last night and I shared the good word. We met up out on the water and right away we were into fish. Third day in a row!!! The best fishing was Sunday however today was not far behind. Today we killed a thresher.”

Jeremy Miller was out fishing aboard the Who Cares with Captain Horn. He reported, “Epic fishing with the boys today! We caught two 50’s on one tandem mojo rig. Got five fish total and weren’t more than three miles from the inlet!”

LBI Tog Fishing

It’s prime time for targeting blackfish on the inshore structure! Local anglers have been into a lot of fun fishing crabs on Magictail Tog Jigs. Fish Head Ambassador Swag has been in on the action the past few days and reports most days are very good so long as it isn’t to rough sea conditions wise. I’m fishing 60′ of water and doing good with fish up to 9-lbs. There’s some good size fish around and any day once it gets seasonably cold it will get even better. Gear Up Now! *** NJ Saltwater Fishing Regulations for Tog aka Blackfish change on November 16th. It goes from the current one fish to five fish at 15″. ***

LBI Surf Fishing Report

The beach of Long Beach Island have fish, nothing special yet but could be any day! Most of the bass being caught are by anglers matching the slender profile of sand eels; Hogy Epoxy Jigs, AVA Diamond Jigs, Deadly Dick Lures, Super Strike Needlefish. We are stocked up so stop in if you need ’em!

Anglers fishing bait are battling with an abundance of spiny dog fish. While they are frustrating the boat anglers have found that the doggies are on the same bait as the bass so you gotta fish through them.

This past weekend saw solid participation with nearly 400 anglers fishing the 2nd Annual American Anglers Fishing Tournament. The one day event (Saturday November 2nd) had gorgeous weather with a bit of chill around 50 degrees. The water was warm (~60 degrees) but a bit dirty from a blow the day before. There was a spread of fish caught. Here is the report from Carl the Tournament Chairman, “Several species were landed that were score able; Bluefish, Striped Bass, Sharks, Black Drum, several Fluke (Summer Founder) Sundials and even a Lingcod were landed! However, a few were considered shorts and or out of season and were not eligible for scoring. All fish though, 100 percent, were released.”

Team winners were awarded thousands of dollars in prize products. Starting with third place, the Cherry Hill Team scored a bunch of with little Aiden Ruff scoring a Bluefish to put the team in the winnings! The second Place Team goes to RH Custom Rods Team “A” with Gary Born landing the winning Bluefish at 14.5 inches. But, the first place award goes to RH Custom Rods Team “B” with Sammy Cantalano scoring several fish including Bluefish and sharks. Congrats to all of the winners

Individual awards starting with 2nd place  was a tie and went to Francine Cutter and Stan Tomporoski. First Place went to Stephen McKee with five fish scored! Congrats!

Ryan and Brayden O’Connell both walked away with youth prizes. So did Aiden Ruff with nice prizes. Largest fish Female went to Sharon Otto with a large Sundial and Sammy Catalano won with his Bluefish.

All in all it was a great day and a great thank you goes out to all of our participants, sponsors and volunteers. Go to www.americananglerus.com in a few days to see the pictures that were taken of this now annual event.

Fish Head Charters

Fished Monday morning and had a lack luster day with only one bass following a plug to the boat, with a “ha-ha-better-luck-next-time” tail slap and turn. No hook ups for us but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. We ran all over. A couple friends I called into the area (where we found the bird plays) caught a couple under some very scattered and erratic birds. Word has it the area was good at first light but it was a short lived bite with fast moving fish. Once back to the dock at 10am I got the call that the fishing starting to come together then the afternoon was good, see Captain Jeff’s report above.

It’s prime time and I’ll be out as much as possible. The main targets are striped bass (migrating class as well as the smaller ones in the bay) and tog. Most all weekend dates are booked but I do have some mid week days open.

For more details www.FishHeadLBI.com

Along with good reports, we also need to report the bad. These past three days, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, were very tough fishing for us.

Saturday morning I had return client Mike Lombardi along with his friends Will, Mike, and Noah aboard for a 6hr striped bass charter. After the blow we started north hoping it pushed some fish into our area. The entire area was loaded with bait, but the only action we had all day was 1 knockdown. We ended the trip working the inlet with plugs and poppers but could not get the fish to cooperate. It sounded like the whole coast of New Jersey struggled on Saturday. Several tournaments had similar results as us that day with no fish being weighed in.

Sunday I have new clients Rick and his son Ricky from Philadelphia, PA out for a 6hr striped bass charter. We started back north where we marked all the bait on Saturday, except today the bait was scarce. After giving it a couple hours with no bites we moved to the inlet and bay to drift live bait. With some help from Capt. Brett Taylor and a few practice swings, we were able to tag a 26″ bass for them to take home for dinner.

Monday I had new client Bruce from Chester, NJ along with his friends Steve and Bob out for a 6hr striped bass charter. We headed outside and worked some new areas after hearing of an afternoon bite on Sunday that we had just missed. We set up on the troll and within a half hour we had our first fish on. Steve fought the fish and got it 10ft behind the boat in the wash and as we were about to leader it, the fish came unbuttoned. We put in time and worked that area for a while, marking lots of bait and fish, but that ended up being out only bite of the day.

The ocean fishing can only improve from here as the water temp drops and fish migrate into our area. We are going to keep trying our hardest as these past couple of days there has been a very good afternoon bite that we have been missing by a couple of hours. As the tides change, this afternoon bite should turn into a morning bite soon.

I am available for charter or open boat this Thursday, 11/7 since the weather is going to be beautiful with light west winds. I have Saturday 11/9 open for charter and it is the only weekend date that I have left available for the rest of the month. I have this Monday 11/11, Veterans Day available for charter as well. We also have several weekday dates available including the week of Thanksgiving.

If you are interested in getting out please give us a call to book your trip. Call or text Captain Mike to get out on the water or send us a message through our website! (609)-709-7264

https://www.nolimitssportfishingllc.com/

Last weekend’s big push of fish was spectacular with Saturday’s On Like Donkey Kong! Unfortunately this Saturday was the complete opposite. What a difference a week makes. After the wicked Halloween blow things were shook up. Let’s hope it comes back together soon. The next couple days look good weather wise so only time will tell. Can’t catch them if you aren’t trying so let’s go fishing!

Here’s the Fishermans Headquarters LBI Fishing Report Update for Saturday evening November 2, 2019.

Abundance Of Boats But Not Bass

Today had an abundance of boats but not bass. The 5th Annual Maximilian Striped Bass Bash went down and it’s sad to say out of 31 boats, no fish were entered. The Beach Haven Marlin Tuna Clubs also held their Fall Striper Tournament; 30 boats, 84 anglers… no weigh ins. We heard reports from a lot of anglers striped bass fishing out of Barnegat Light today. We know of only two bass caught on the troll. One was near the bather’s beach and another was by the pier.

Big Inshore Critters

As reported on our last update… these two big critters are still around.

Dan Rosetto was fishing with Linda Lee Sportfishing’s Captain Ryan Horton they hooked into and landed a thresher shark. Dan reported, “Finally got my first thresher shark today! We were looking for bass on the troll near the Seaside Pier. We caught the shark on a Tony Maja Bunker Spoon Rod and a Tony Maja #4 White Bunker Spoon. It was an epic battle on the spoon rod combo. In the area there were three hooked up. Heard one got spooled but not sure about the other. A week or so ago my buddy got a 300# one.”

The boys aboard Waterman Charters were into bluefin tuna again today on spinning gear close to home.

LBI Surf Fishing Report

The surf hasn’t tee’d off but it’s producing. This past week a few reports came in from anglers fishing bait and lures. Baits like bunker and clams will get bites but you’ll need to weed through the horn dogs. Anglers looking to stay away from all that are opt for the lure game. The classic slender profiles are best right now… Daiwa SP Minnow Lure, Super Strike Needle Fish, Deadly Dick Metals and Tubed AVA Jigs.

This morning we had a nice 17.18# striped bass weighed in by Chris McIntee. He caught the linesider on the south end surf on a Daiwa SP Minnow Lure. This puts him into second place in the Derby. For more results go to www.LBISFC.com

Jim Oler was on the surf Friday morning and tagged us in a live Instagram video… “I got ’em!” He caught got it on an SP Minnow with a teaser. For fresh content be sure to follow us on Instagram!

Anglers driving the beach on the north end… proceed with caution. Here’s a waring from Captain Alex.

Fish Head Charters

I had return client Kory and Friend aboard for a Saturday morning trip. We started out hunting bass. After putting in an honest two hours with no results. We switched gears and got on top of some structure. It took a little bit of time but we got a bite going. Caught a dozen tog in about an hour’s time.

All health fish. Every one was a keeper ranging from 3-7 pounds. All on live green crab fished on Magictail Tog Jigs. Thanks to Rhodan for keeping us in position!

Another calendar page has turned and we find ourselves nearing the later but certainly the most exciting time of the 2019 fishing season !!

This is what all “striperdom” has been waiting for !! Stock Piles of bait, cooler temps, prevailing NW’esterlies and the horizon darkened by thick flocks of feeding noisy gulls giving up the location of vast schools of feeding striped bass!

We employ various spinning tackle tactics utilizing both artificial lures and live baits keeping the rod in the hands of our anglers and will also troll when conditions or opportunities dictate

Blackfish will also be in our gun sights as the season progresses combining both stripers and tog for some of the best tasting fillets found anywhere!!

Wishing everyone fair winds and calm seas,

Captain Steve Purul

Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters

609-290-1217

The stripers are here and they are big. Averaging 20 to 40 pounds. That is huge for the Fall run, but it has become the pattern for the last five years or so. It’s probably no coincidence that we are getting a bunker run during that time, as well. There’s also sandeels in the mix. 

On Friday, I made the left and ran 38 miles to the Highlands. We passed up closer fleets that had fish but a lot of boats. In those fleets, every time the fish popped up, four or five guys would run them down. Further north, where we wound up, there was very little pressure and the fish were swirling and crashing bait on the surface and down deep. We caught them on poppers, swim shads, and jigs. We had six fish between 25 and 40 pounds and released quite a few, all on spinning rods.
Saturday, I returned to the scene of the crime but there were quite a few more boats and the fish were not surfacing. I got called in by a friend, Gene Linder on the Side Chick, who was working on his third big troll fish off of Long Branch. I doubled back, we put out the rods, and soon after we boated a 35 pounder on one of my homemade umbrella rigs. Another pass, and the same rig gets clobbered and we added a 30 pounder. 
I’m sailing Sat, and Sun, Nov 2 and 3, Open Boat, 6:30 AM to 1:30 PM $175 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared. We are probably going to troll to put fish in the box but if there is any indication that we can catch them casting or jigging, we are rigged and ready to do that. If for any reason, we do not find them locally, like as far as Seaside/Lavallette, we will run as far north as we have to and the price will go to $200 person to cover the extra fuel. We will also be returning later.
The best way to reserve a spot is to call me on my cell from 5AM to 8PM. You can call right up until”Go Time”!
Dave DeGennaro

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

Heads up for those 4 x 4 going to Loveladies. The beach about one block north of the public tennis court access ramp in Loveladies is almost unpassable. The beach is very narrow there, extremely wet and soft, with most of it sloped downward. I got stuck really bad and had to get towed off. While stuck, I watched another 4×4 try to make it only to get hung up and then turn around. Then the truck that came to pull me out got hung up in the same spot and had to turn around. He had to approach us from the north, coming in at East Coast Ave. I have been driving the beach for years and have never seen a spot like this. I now call my truck the “sand trap” LOL

Screaming drags,

Capt. Alex

609 548-2511

Lighthouse Sportfishing

Youtube: Fishing Barnegat Bay

Gannets And Game Fish… It’s Game On! The run arrived and it’s time to fish! There’s sand eels and bunker stretched along the beaches and with the late October new moon phase here, now’s a really good time to go hunt for trophy size striped bass.

Here’s a comprehensive the fishing report to update for Monday evening, October 28, 2019. Let’s dive into the the recent action recap.

Jersey Shore Striped Bass Fishing

In the past 5-7 days the Jersey Shore striped bass fishery progressed leaps and bounds. With the arrival of gannets and a healthy first wave of fish the local water are improving. On Thursday a couple striped bass were picked by local anglers working on the troll. Friday the bite improved and showed some special moments. Saturday was all out, nothing short of spectacular. Some calling it a bite of epic proportion. A quick look at social media and it’s clear Saturday morning was one for the memory books! From trolling to jigging and casting lures on top the striped bass were snapping. The areas from Seaside north was productive.

Store staffer Paul got a heifer on a Doc. These top water spooks are one of the best big fish top water lures. If you don’t have one in your arsenal… get one now!

Sea Shell Striped Bass Derby

Coincidentally, the Sea Shell’s Striped Bass Derby (this weekend) had solid results. The majority of boats ran north and fished the waters from Seaside to Manasquan where a good body of fish was holding. Would be interested to see how this year’s Derby it stacked up against the last ten years of results.

Top Three Catches – Boat Name, Angler
44.90# – Mud Duck, Ryan Schramm
43.35# – Lucky Stripes, Bob Bowden
42.60# – Sea Eagle, Rick Lamb

This year’s event raised $50,000 for support of the Beach Haven Charter Boat Association initiative to pump new blood into the reef program which has been dormant for so many years.

Linda Lee Sportfishing Report by Captain Ryan Horton

On Saturday Capt. Ryan had out Joe, son Joey, Mike, Steve, and camera man Jim out striper fishing. We headed north and put the lines in off Chadwick Beach at sunrise. Within 20 minuets we had birds working. As we trolled through them the screen lit up and then both bunker spoon rods went off. Once we landed both bass we set out the lines and within minutes another double header. We managed to land 6 bass up to 45 lbs. We switched over to the jig but could not get a bight. The guys wanted to wreck fish so we switched over and fished the Axle Carlson. The first drop we got little Joey on a keeper sea bass. There’s nothing better then putting a smile on an 8 year olds face. We fished till noon before the winds picked up and made wreck fishing difficult. If you’re looking to get in on the action give a call.
~ Captain Ryan P: 609-276-8032.

Big Inshore Critters

By now most have heard about the numerous bluefin tuna and thresher sharks caught by boats looking for striped bass. They’ve been hanging around for a couple weeks now and if the bait (abundance of sand eels and small bonita) stays they could be here for weeks more.

Anglers trolling for striped bass have hooked into these and most are spooled with only few able to manage the big pull on small under gunned “striped bass” tackle. These “ghosts” are also a great target for anglers looking for top water popping action. We suggest Tsunami Surface Blaster which has accounted for an alarming number of bluefins tuna this summer and it continues to fool tuna this fall. Also RonZ Lures are a stand out producer year in and year out.

Andres Hernandez and crew got into good fishing recently. On Thursday they were looking for bass, pre-fishing for the Shell Derby. A screamer hit a MagicTail Mojo Lure… turns out to be a 120# bluefin tuna. The battle on a Penn 330GTI with 30# braid was WAY too light for the task but the crew did an amazing job and got it in for the kill! Fishing he same waters a day or two later the crew got into great striped bass fishing and finished towards the top of the Shell’s Leaderboard.

Fish Head Alumni Dave was out fishing with his buddy Chad aboard the Gobbagol this weekend. They reported great striped bass fishing working the waters of off Seaside. They also got an interesting bite on the troll. Dave reported, “We hooked up with a thresher shark (easily 200#) on a bunker spoon. It took to the air jumping all over the place putting on a show. We eventually got it close to the boat but it parted ways boat side. The little Avet Fishing Reel really held up its end of the bargain. That’s why you buy American and don’t fish cheap Chinese garbage!”

LBI Surf Fishing Report

The leading edge of the run has reached our beaches and more waves will show with each passing tide. Attention all chunkers!!! It’s time to soak bunker on the surf.

Finally a fish over 20# in the derby so it shows the larger fish are roaming the beaches of LBI.  With the water temp at 58 it’s prime striped bass fishing but also the temperature when dogfish move in.  Currently there’s lots of them so bring extra bait to work through them.

Sunday’s hard northeast blow had most comfortable on the couch watching football; however hardcore surf rats were out. Some live for these conditions because it puts fish on the beach. One of those anglers out battling rough conditions was Kevin Laverty. His name should not come as a surprise as he is a hardcore fisherman. He won this past Spring Derby’s bluefish division with a 16.34# fish. He also had the second biggest blue, 14.92#.  

Monday Bill Heade put some time in on the surf. He posted this photo with a caption, “The best part of working the night shift is you can fish all day!” Bill caught one bass fishing Fish Head Salties (salted clam). He checked it in for the LBI Surf Fishing Classic and currently sits in third place.

LBI Surf Fishing Classic

Top Three Largest Striped Bass

25.12# Brandon Pomykacz
11.54# Kevin Laverty
11.20# William Heade

For More Details: www.LBISFC.com

@LifeOfNutt sent in this photo today… “The Vegan was out on the surf slaying it today!” Here’s a photo of Griffin Pounds with a striper he caught off the LBI surf on Monday.

Inshore Bottom Fishing

Inshore wreck fishing is good with sea bass and tog fishing offering the best opportunities. White chins are crushing green crabs and knuckle heads are nibbling clam and squid. Be sure to bring a dehooker and extra bait as some areas, especially the two local artificial reefs had a lot of dogfish over the weekend. 

Barnegat Bay & Inlet Fishing

The Barnegat Bay holds a good number of striped bass. Anglers are catching on the flats, sod banks and tidal creeks. The docks and bridges also have life. The main thoroughfares of Double Creek and Oyster Creek are two great sections of water to hunt striped bass in the bay during the fall. Casting lures as well as drifting or anchoring presenting live or dead baits is the way to get ’em. Spot, eels, clams will get them to commit. As far as lures we suggest Stillwater Smack-It Poppers, Bomber Long Shots, SP Minnows and Storm Shads.

The inlet rocks always holds life and right now it’s tog and striped bass. They are both roaming the rocks and are hungry. Anglers are catching tog on crabs while lures and live bait like eels and spot are bass to bite.

In the bay blue claw crabs are still active. Get in on the late season crabbing now while it’s still good.

Fish Head Charters

Fish Head Charters is into good fun fishing on all recent trips. We continue to do combos targeting both striped bass and tog. Some days the albies show but for the most part this has been a sporadic thing.

Working inshore structure we are catching good numbers of blackfish when the conditions allow. So far this fall the biggest is this 8lber. All of the magic is done with Magictail tog jigs (baited with live green crab).

Low light fishing has been best for hunting striped bass. We haven’t switched gears yet but we’ll be soon jumping into the troll game. It always take some time as I (and most of Fish Head Charters clients) prefer hunting and presenting with a stalking light tackle approach. Live bait and heavy gear trolling is our last resort.

Our last trip had a great golden hour session. The first hour was full of action with active bass. Here’s Jack K with one of many from the trip.

Been out almost every day except for today Sunday, which I will get to later. Inlet and back bay bassing is where it should be this time of year. Play the tides and time right and you can almost count on enough action to make you want to come back for more. Friday’s trip with John Lopez Ona proved that point. I had him into bass on plugs, Midway Lure’s JB Swimmer, before sun up. Once the fish moved down the water column as the day got brighter we switched over to the live stuff which proved more than effective. What was great was, I stuck tags in two fish over 28” to be hopefully caught another day. Catch, tag, photo, & release. I like it. See photo of John with a 29” bass before I stuck a tag in it. Based on the results of this Saturday/Sunday’s Sea Shell Tournament if looks like we are starting to see the first wave of bigger fish come within striking distance. There was something like 245 anglers that weighed in 69 bass. The winning fish was 51.60 lbs., and there were 9 fish in the 40 to 50 lbs. range. Being a member of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association I was at the tournament ceremony Sunday afternoon at which the association was presented with a check for $50,000 to go towards the purchase and deployment of two tug boats to be part of the artificial reef system off the southern portion of LBI.

On the nature side of things: NJ’s coastal waters are void of any natural reef system. Our coastal bottom consists of plain old sand, silt, and clay, with some high points and low points. Reefs, be it natural or artificial, not only provide a hard substrate for fish, shellfish and crustaceans, fishing grounds for anglers, and underwater structures for scuba divers, but they are nursery grounds for countless marine organisms. Our reef system is strategically located along the coast so that at least one reef site is within easy boat range of 12 New Jersey ocean inlet. Unfortunately, artificial reefs do not last forever. They sink, break down or get buried by sand. We, the recreational anglers are the ones that need to continue to support and fund this program so that future generations can continue to benefit from the bounties that artificial reefs support.

Capt. Alex
609-548-2511

This past weekend I had return client David and his 9yr old son Desi from Manhattan, NY out for an afternoon 6hr striped bass charter. The goal was to try and catch a striped bass as big as Desi, so with reports of a few big fish caught close to home in the morning, we started to work those areas in the afternoon. We marked several fish but were not able to get any of them to bite. We had a couple humpback whales airing out of the water and putting on a show around the boat as well as a sun fish that swam next to us for a while. With no bites on the troll and not much daylight left, we steamed back towards the inlet and put in some OT where Desi was able to connect with a bass on a popper before we had to head in. It was not the big one he was looking for but at least they were able to head home with dinner and smiles on their faces.

The bass are still a little far north of us but they are starting to show more and more every day as they migrate into our area. I only have a couple weekend dates available in November but I also have 11/5 Election Day and 11/11 Veterans Day available as well as Thanksgiving week. I also have this Sunday 11/3 available for private charter or open boat. I expect November striped bass fishing to be excellent with the good reports and mass of fish from up north that will be migrating through our area.

If you are interested in getting out please give us a call to book your trip. Call or text Captain Mike to get out on the water or send us a message through our website! (609)-709-7264

https://www.nolimitssportfishingllc.com/