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
Most of the bigger Stripers (30 to 50 pounders) are being caught from the Manasquan Inlet northward this past week, but we should start seeing this 1st wave of quality bass. It’s the anglers preference, but “CPR” is not a bad idea on these bigger fish (Catch, Photo, Release). We had Striped Bass picking up live baits and bucktails tipped with artificials last week as we worked some areas out front and in the backwaters. New clients Eli Sachs and two of his buddies landed close to a dozen bass, keeping 2 for the table. We had a third keeper boat side, but it broke the line in the strong current.
I will be back on the water this weekend targeting Striped Bass, Sea Bass, and possibly Tog for my charters. I do a few weekday and weekend afternoon dates available in November. December weekends are open for Striped Bass and Tog.
If interested in booking a charter, book through our site (reelreactioncharters.com) or call/text 609-290-7709. As always, we use the highest quality gear and everything is included: gear, live spot (20-30 per charter), tackle, fish-cleaning, and ICE! It’s “no worries” fishing. Just come aboard and FISH.
It’s more like catching stripers and watching bluefin tuna, as the next one I hook, will be the first. Though, I feel we are getting better with every trip.
The stripers and the tuna are about 35 miles north, so it’s going to be a long day on the water. Good action on 20 to 40 plus pound bass, jigging or trolling. The tuna are 50 to 100 plus pound fish, skyrocketing out of the water, crashing at the surface, but it’s hard to get one to eat. We do have the proper spinning outfits and lures to throw on board but if you happen to have your own, by all means. Should be a beautiful ocean Friday and Saturday if the marine forecast is right. Running Open Boat these days Friday, Oct 25 and Sat, Oct 26. Splitting our time between bass and bluefin. 7AM to 4 or 5 PM. $250 person. 4 people max. All fish are shared.
Well the recent weather pattern has been less that favorable most days for fishing, however, fish like most migratory organisms use internal and external cues and may move regardless of weather. Case in point, stripers the past week. The northern NJ coast saw an influx of great numbers of quality fish in the 20-40 pound plus fish. I can tell you this, we have the bait so once those fish slide our well fishing will be nothing but world-class. Locally, the inlet and back are providing ample opportunities on bass from 20” to 30” or more. Artificials are working at times, but live bait such as spots are not failing to produce. Saturday morning’s trip produced 10 bass to 28”. I am sailing every day right now and still have dates available including magic hour trips. If you want to get penciled in let me know.
On the nature side of things: Something I do almost on a daily basis I participate in “citizen science”. Citizen science is powered by individuals, communities/organizations, or global science research conducted by citizens. In my one attached picture, you will see an American Littoral Society (ALS) spaghetti tag behind the dorsal fin of one of the striped bass I tagged an released on Saturday. This is one of the examples of citizen science I am involved in and have been for over 40 years now! I have to purchase the tags myself, funded by you when you take a trip with me. Two recent returned fish came within 10 miles of where they were tagged and were recaptured within three months of being rereleased. You see, catch and release works when you handle your fish with care. There are so many ways you can get involved, just do it. OK, I’ll get off my soapbox now. LOL
Great weekend of fishing the waters! Saturday morning was a bit more choppy than dawn patrol anglers expected. The forecasted north west winds were straight north making sloppy chop. Fortunately it laid down and made for a beautiful Saturday. Saturday night was as tranquil as it gets and the night shift crew took advantage. Sunday started off with a flawless morning but things got sour with heavy winds and rain. Here’s the Fishermans Headquarters Weekend Recap Fishing Report.
Diversified Action Inshore
From bottom fishing to trolling to jigging and casting anglers are catching a spread of species.
Here’s Professor Fish Head, Dave Werner with a big triggerfish caught aboard the Carolyn Ann on a recent trip with the fishing club.
Inshore Bottom Fishing
The wrecks and reefs have a lot to offer. Anglers are catching tog, sea bass, triggerfish and porgies. Store staffers Kelley and Frezza were out early on Sunday morning hunting structure. They reported good fun tog fishing.
Here’s a photo of store Alumni Dave with a quality tog he caught inshore Saturday.
Striped Bass & Bluefish
Dan D was aboard the Morning Wood with Cole Cronin Saturday morning. They made a run north to hunt down the bass and tuna. They scored the first but couldn’t get the later to bite. Dan reported, “There were sick feeds with tuna airing out. We just couldn’t hook em.”
As posted shortly after live action here’s a photo of Dan that was shared on our Instagram page.
Inshore Sharks & Tuna
Right now there are really big fish within sight of land. The abundance of bluefin tuna is impressive but frustrating. Anglers targeting them report they are pushing water and very hard to get a bite. Some anglers have caught but it isn’t an easy feat. There’s also an abundance of thresher sharks. Most are being caught by accident while targeting striped bass on the troll, however some are specifically looking for them and hooking up.
One big catch was reported today from Jon Kelly and Max Goldman who were out fishing aboard the Outcast. They reported while out hunting mako sharks about 30 miles off, they hooked into, had an epic battle and caught this 341 thresher on a mackerel.
LBI Surf Fishing Report
This Saturday was the Merchantville Fishing Club’s ASAC Surf Fishing Tournament. We were expecting to see some striped bass since the beaches not too far north had good recent catches. But out of the 26 (six angler) teams and another 15 individual anglers no legal striped bass were caught, only some shorts (not score-able). Also not score-able, a bunch of out of seas fluke were caught. The only scoring fish caught were blues and dogfish. Ocean City Fishing Club Blue won with 70 points. American Anglers B and Creek Keepers finished 2nd and 3rd. Lynda Greaves won for biggest fish and most overall points.
Fish Head Charters
A weekend like this is what we all needed! It’s always great to have a good weather Saturday. I had return clients Konrad and Nate two young but passionate light tackle anglers with strong drive to catch fish. We started off the dawn patrol with fun fishing, catch and release stripers. In the first hour or so we released about 6 bass up to 30″, two were keeper size. Mid trip we decided to make a run around to search down albies. The guy knew it has been slow but they both really wanted to catch their first. We found very few false albacore but were patient. With time came a couple quick shots at them and they guys both managed to hook up.
The afternoon trip was a total tog trip. Very good fishing with lots of fun. Thanks to Rhodan for locking us in on top of the fish!
Saturday night was the first night shift trip of the fall and it was on! In total we released about 20 striped bass. Anyone looking to get out and target striped bass at night? These are one of a kind trips! So long as the conditions and tide align it’s game on! For those interested get in contact with me NOW to be on the call list. 1-2 angler 3 hour trips, $300 total.
Striped bass action is really starting to show signs of life from the back bays , inlets and along the beaches. The abundance of various forage [ bait – bunker, mullet, sardines , squid , sand eels ……] along our coast is setting up to greet and host an epic 2019 fall season!! Migrating species such as stripers, bluefish, false albacore bonito and even bluefin tuna have been encountered well within eye sight of the beach!! Inshore structures. wrecks, rock piles and alike have been very rewarding while targeting black fish , while deeper offshore structures are rewarding with both seabass , porgies and various other species.
The 2019 fall season is underway !! Book today!! Ill be running everyday through the month of November so call to reserve your date or spot!! Wishing everyone fair winds and calm seas,
Mid October is here and the fall fishery is progressing. The bay has life, bottom fishing is good, the striped bass migration is moving in and offshore anglers are finding meat. Here’s the Long Beach Island fishing report update for October 18th.
LBI Surf Fishing Report
Today is Day 14 of the LBI Surf Fishing Tournament. Two weeks in there are three striped bass on the board. The most recent and largest to day was caught by Brandon Pomykacz. He caught the 19.46 pound striped bass on swim bait.
A striped bass surf report came in from a customer who shared, “Monday morning got one bass on a Super Strike Popper.” One good size weakfish was reported off the surf on Tuesday.
Few other surf reports came in this week, BUT we expect that to change. With the Merchantville ASAC tournament this weekend there will be strong participation so the results will really give a good read of what’s running on the local beach.
Barnegat Bay Fishing Report
The backwaters of LBI offer great opportunities in October. The waters are full of fish and have very little traffic compaired to a few weeks a go.
Blowfish are in the bay but will be gone any day. We have a feeling the 30-50 mph westerly blow (Wednesday/Thursday) might have sent them out to Europe. This season was definitely a really good one on all accounts for blowfish. There was an abundance and some good size ones. Photo
Crabbing is still very good.
Striped Bass Showing Up
A little further north some quality fish were recently caught. Finally some colder air filled in and the water temperatures continue to fall. Are you ready? Good fishing will be here any tide now.
Bottom Fishing Inshore & Midshore Wrecks & Reefs
Inshore bottom fishing is strong! Sea Bass fishing is very good with a 10 fish bag limit at the 12.5″ minimum size (until the end of the month). Then on November 1st the NJ Black Sea Bass Fishing Regulation bump up to 15 fish at 13″ until the end of the year.
Here’s Jim Hutchinson Jr from the Fishermans Magazine. We was fishing aboard the Robin Ann out of Barnegat Light and had a great trip catching quality sea bass.
Tog fishing is also very good. The current 15″ one fish bag limit increases in about a month. On November 16th five fish at 15″.
“Back Attack” was out earlier this week and reported good fishing. “We took advantage of the sea bass opening up to 10 per person. The morning started slow. We worked around and found the right piece of structure finishing the day with a four man limit to 5lbs. We were swinging double headers over the rail all afternoon.”
Dante from Magictails was on the meat earlier this week. He reported, “Fish up to 10 pounds with lots of five pound fish. The Magictail 1oz and 1.5oz crab jigs were key. Lots of life on the wrecks and reefs! Lots of species caught tog, sea bass, triggerfish, stripers, fluke and threaser shark. I got spooled in about 15 seconds by something big. Must have been a bluefin.”
The inshore bluefin tuna popped up early this year and look to be here for Halloween. Usually a fishery focused around Thanksgiving, they showed up in good numbers. Captain Adam & Rob from Waterman Charters are on the bite! Only time will tell if this continues on. Let’s hope these ghosts stick around.
Offshore at the canyons we’ve heard about a consistent tuna chunk bite. Also a number of boats are reported good swordfishing and tons of mahi.
Fish Head Charters
It felt great to get back out on the water. It was even better to get into some great fishing. I jumped onboard with Rhodan Marine and rigged up a Precision GPS Anchor, the most powerful trolling motor out there (36v 120# Thrust).
After only two trips, I’m beyond stoked with the performance. The power, accuracy and convenience is off the charts. It has already changed my game allowing an entire new approach.
On my last trip I caught my biggest striped bass of the fall so far, a health keeper 30″ caught on a jig. There were lots of schoolies too. The main focus of the trip was tog and it was a blackfish bonanza. Three anglers caught well over 100 fish, with only a handful of shorts. Almost all of the fish were 3-6 pounds. It was a ton of fun on light tackle fishing crab jigs. Anyone looking to get out give a call to book a date!
Looking To Buy A GPS Anchor Trolling Motor?
Seeing the trend in the South East and its spread north to the Garden State, we signed up and Fishermans Headquarters is a Rhodan Dealer. We got out our first delivery and as expected it sold out right away.
If you or a fishing friend is interested in exploring the options, pricing and the Rhodan Advantage… Let Us Know. It’s a game changer and we can help make the whole process very easy.
The Rhodan Advantage:
Why buy Rhodan among the other options out there? Rhodan treats their customers like friends and family with super customer service. Big corporations just can’t come close. More than that they offer a superior product! Rhodan’s exclusive circuitry offer maximum power and efficiency (battery life) and their dual GPS and dual compass out performs with industry best accuracy. It keep position within 3′. For durability their circuitry is made for hard saltwater fishing and proven to stands up to 100’s 1000’s of hours. The Line-X lower unit head and composite shaft are also major benefit adding to the longevity.
If you are looking to invest in the most simplistic, powerful, accurate and durable GPS Anchor /Trolling Motor… Choose Rhodan!
Here’s the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Associations Fishing Report for October 16th by Jim Hutchinson Sr.
The recent spate of strong northeast winds and extremely high tides over a several day period kept the boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association at the dock. Now that the weather in the Beach Haven area has begun to settle down, the boats have been out and about catching fish.
Early reports from boats bottom fishing inshore wrecks and reefs have been positive. The long period of closure for black sea bass have gotten them hungry and feisty. As a result, that action has been strong with limit catches reported in addition to some large “humpback” fish being taken. In addition, there are big tautog, or blackfish, around the same structures as the sea bass.
Those recent northeast winds have gotten the striped bass moving southward on their annual migration. Although the big fish have not yet arrived off Long Beach Island, they are reported to be just to the north of the area. This means it should only be a few days until these fish arrive, and this would be just in time for the annual Sea Shell Club’s Striped Bass Derby.
The Derby is the fishing highlight for boat-oriented anglers in Beach Haven every fall. The event features three days of fishing, fun, food, and great prizes. This year’s event has special meaning for the captains of the BHCFA. The Junior Mates of the BHCFA have embarked on an effort to restore the artificial fishing reefs just off the coast of Beach Haven. This effort requires hard work and a substantial amount of money to get into action.
The 2019 version of the Sea Shell Tournament has named the Junior Mates reef efforts as the charitable recipient this year. These funds will be a real shot in the arm to get the program underway. The proceeds will be used to replenish the reef sites.
The Derby will take place from Friday, October 25, through Sunday, October 27.The captains of the BHCFA are urging all local anglers to participate in the tournament this year. Complete information on the tournament including rules and signup information can be downloaded at the Sea Shell’s website at https://theseashellresort.com/striped-bass-derby Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.BHCFA.org
Once the wind and waves settled down, boats could finally get out to target a myriad of species. The backbay is offering up Striped Bass, Bluefish, and some Weakfish while Ocean trips have sights set on Sea Bass and Blackfish.
We ran a few trips over the past long weekend resulting in LIMITS of Sea Bass, some Triggerfish, and bay Striped Bass with up to 20 being caught to 28 inches. Check our website (www.reelreactioncharters.com) for the detailed report.
I had a cancellation for this 10/20 Sunday 630-1030am for inlet/bay Striped Bass and the tide looks good. 24-30 live Spot are included on this trip. I’m looking for either charter or open boat (need 3 to run – $135 per person). We have Striped Bass bonus permits which allows anglers to keep 24 to 27.99 in stripers. If interested, call or text 609-290-7709.
If interested in booking a charter, book through our site (reelreactioncharters.com) or call/text 609-290-7709. As always, we use the highest quality gear and everything is included: gear, live spot (20-30 per charter), tackle, fish-cleaning, and ICE! It’s “no worries” fishing. Just come aboard and FISH.
Here’s the weekend report update for Sunday October 13th. Did you notice the title doesn’t say fishing report? That’s because this past week was a blowout and few reports came in!
The Nor’ Easter – Melissa
The strong low pressure, dubbed subtropical storm Melissa, finally weakened and lifted out. But she left her mark!
The lineup of weather recently was cranking NorthEast winds for what seemed like a week or two. Then Melissa cranked up Thursday – Friday serving a beastly blow which stacking up the coastal water. She wouldn’t allow the full moon “king tides” out. Water in the streets seem like the norm now but this event was deep! By all accounts, the worst flooding since Sandy.
Worried boat owners late to action found boat ramps unusable with water in the parking lots and streets. We heard of a few boats that sunk and some that were just narrowly rescued.
The crazy winds damaged some building. The sign and overhang at Ravioli’s & More was ripped.
One victim of the recent wind. This photo does no justice to showing the flooding. This was well after the waters receded.
Melissa made an angry sea and due to the duration of the event, the beaches were battered. Erosion chewed out beaches and dunes exposing parts of jetties that haven’t seen light in year. The beaches and bars are “reset” so it’s time to start scouting out your fall fishing spots!
LBI Fall Classic
The Long Beach Island Fall Derby aka Fall Classic kicked off last weekend. As of the end of tournament day Sunday October 13 one fish is on the board. On October 7th Matteo Delmonico weighed in the tournament’s first fish, a 9.72 pound striped bass. For more information on the tournament www.LBISFT.com
LBI Surf Fishing Report
While scoring some surf on Saturday I spoke with anglers on the beach. The general consensus… slow fishing. The only fish I heard caught were a couple cocktail blues, a kingfish and an out of season fluke. All of this was on the south end of the Island.
The surf temp has a cool feel to it. Will take a guess and claim it’s 63, max 66. The water was surprisingly clean.
Mid October Fishing Outlook For LBI
Heading into the middle of October chilly temps are right around the corner. The days are getting shorter and water temps slowly drop. The mullet run will soon be in the rear view mirror and the migration will arrive. They will be here soon! (see Pat’s short report below) How long they stick around for… only time will tell.
Today our friend Capt Pat aboard Forever Two Worlds from Rockaway Beach NY went out to shake the dust off things. He reported, “After the long blow, I needed to get out. Did a quick look and found quality bass that were on the chew. They wanted Magictail Mojos!“
While Pat’s report is from water about 50 miles away, it goes to show the fish are on the move. Last year classy fish showed in our local waters towards the end of October. The year before (2017) we had big ones arrive October 20 and 21st. Are you ready?
Today’s Tog Fishing Report
Here’s Bill with a good size tog he caught today fishing live green crabs.
We got one report today from Fish Head Alumni Bill Bassant. He stopped in, got some green crabs and hit the water. He looked around at some areas and tried to hunt some fish in the backwater on the flats and sod banks. Notta! He switched over to tog fishing and caught two; a three pounder and a five pounder.
