Hi Folks ,
Been on the water for 3 straight weeks with little rest until today . The weather has been the biggest obstacle this Fall but when the weather and stars align Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters has been in the game with stripers while employing a mix of artificial and live baits. Trolling Tony Maja spoons and Mojo’s have scored our bigger fish while artificial and live baits have accounted for our smaller class of fish when conditions are challenging closer to home.
I have this Saturday and Sunday available for anyone looking for to jump aboard before the winter winds send us to the hard ground for the 2018 season!
Wishing everyone fair winds and calm seas,
Captain Steve Purul
Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters
609-290-1217

 

Reel Reaction Charters – Fishing Report

This Fall has been very tough from beach out to the 3 mile line.  The jetty has also been very tough which pretty much zero Striper life – most of the action has been from trolling.  Of course, there have been anglers playing catch-n-release with them outside the line, but the USCG has been on them – flying daily to spot anglers fishing for Stripers beyond the 3 mile mark.

Here’s the rundown from some of our most recent charters (most recent 1st):

Yesterday, I had return clients Doug Wainwright, his sons Doug Jr. and John on a 5hr Striped Bass charter. We started working the same area as the previous trip, but the fish were much slower on the bite. We had to grind it out and were finally rewarded with a 27inch and 36inch Striper. The guys went 2 for 3 before the conditions got a little too sporty with building seas. The waves were 4 to 5 feet with 3-4 seconds between waves. A tough day, but we boated a couple.

Over the weekend, I had return clients Mike Pollina, John Lucas, and John Krause on a 5hr Striped Bass charter. We started working some areas that we had fish the trip prior, but after an hour without a touch – we moved. The move paid off as the trio went 7 for 10 on Striped Bass 36 to 42 inches. Great job by the guys!

Earlier in the week, I had return client Rich Sanborn and his son Ryan on a pre-Thanksgiving charter. We worked with another charter captain Mikey Villanova and got right on the fish as we got got a late start. The father and son duo ended going 8 for 11 with Striped Bass up to 38 inches. They kept 4 Stripers, including a 25-inch SBBP tagged bass and released the rest which averaged 32-34 inches. We worked close to the beach for the last few hours of trip to find some of the tag Bass, but unfortunately only had a few bites from Bluefish on live Spot. The guys had a great time and all of the Stripers were caught on the Mojo’s and Bunker Spoons.

We had a relatively tough week as the Striped Bass bite has been very spotty. You have to put your time in trolling as there hasn’t been the usually jetty bite or jig bite that we typically get. We worked areas as far north as the Axel Carlson, and we had some Tog but most were in the 14 to 14.5 inch range. Mike Pollina’s charter scored a solid 25 pound bass, and then we finished the trip Tog fishing which Mike brought up a nice 8 to 9 pound Lobster which let go as it hit the surface. Another charter had short Tog and Striped Bass to 22 inches caught on the jig. We trolled for 3 hours without a touch, it seems the morning trips have had more action as they have been shutting down in the afternoon. It can only get better!

I do have a few dates remaining as I plan on running charter for the rest of the month as long as the weather and fish stay good!

If interested in booking a charter, book 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.

Capt. Brett Taylor ~ www.reelreactioncharters.com ~ Call or Text: 609-290-7709

 

LBI Fishing Report Update – November 24, 2018

LBI Fishing Report Update – November 24, 2018

Black Friday’s Arctic Blast Was No Joke! The morning’s frigid temperatures, stiff northerly wind, freezing spray and dicy seas kept a lot of boats tied up at the dock. It was enough for a lot of others which made the attempt to turn around. Those that got out and braved the conditions were rewarded with a good pick of striped bass! Fortunately for those tough souls, conditions improved as the day went on. The mid day and afternoon session had beautiful conditions with little to no wind and lots of sun.

I had Matt Rand and his father aboard Friday. I notified them of the extreme cold days earlier in week but they wanted to fish. Due to wind and cold, the night before I checked in again and asked if they would like to cancel or reschedule. They wanted to fish! It was cold and rough so we took it slow.  Once our lines were in, it only took about 15 minutes for the first bite. From then on the blood was flowing and we all warmed up with a consistent troll bite all day. The 9er Shad Umbrella Rig was the MVP! We finished the day going 12 for 16 on bass up to 17 pounds. Every fish we caught was on the same rod and rig!

Store staffer Dan DiPasquale was out Friday and got into some awesome fishing late in the day. Fishing further up the beach than most, he found a large body of bunker that eventually came alive with quality bass. Dan shared, “Crazy snag and drop bite this afternoon. Endless bites fishing into dark, not another soul around. We chased bird plays all morning and in the afternoon we found the mother load.”

Saturday’s conditions were much warmer but not pretty. A lot of boats went on the hunt and some did good. Captain Billy aboard the Reel Trouble found some nice fish today. Got three up to 40″. They also dropped a few more fish. Rick Bragg marked a bunch but only got one bass trolling an umbrella. He said it got real sporty so the trip was cut short. Store staffer Pat DiPasquale was out and got a couple bass on white Magictail Mojos.

Miss Barnegat Light caught a boat limit today. Mate Captain Kevin Carr stopped in and reported, “The trip started slow but finished strong. Late in the day the birds came together and a jig bite came alive. With fish feeding on sand eels, diamond jigs were working. go 38”. We had a good amount of keepers (up to 38″), bonus fish and throwbacks. We’ll be back out tomorrow at 7am! See you aboard.

LBI Surf Fishing

Good, not great reports of small bass along the surf. The sand eels are around so if fishing lures you’ll want to target accordingly. Our top lures are Super Strike Needlefish, Diamond Jigs and Hogy Epoxy Jigs (in store only). Rigging up with a teaser will greatly increase hookups especially with smaller fish!

LBI SURF FISHING CLASSIC UPDATE: Two striped bass were checked into the tournament today. Both were caught on bunker. For more details: www.LBIFT.com

Tog Fishing

The fishing on the tog grounds has been very good. Now’s the time to get our and enjoy this great fishery!!! Don’t pass up an opportunity to jump on a boat. If you can’t find one the land based fishing still is productive.

Today Austin Pounds caught three keeper blackfish working the Barnegat Inlet rocks.

Yesterday Dante from Magictail got out on the water with Jeremy aboard East Coast Hooked. He reported, “We crushed them fishing structure in 50-60′ of water! The Magictail 2oz tog jig was on fire. I caught 35 keepers! This included a 13, a 10 and ten 8lb fish. All of these were caught on the Magictail Tog Jigs baited with live crab.” Dante suggested, “Use big baits and make sure you leave the legs on. I bait up my tog jigs inserting the hook through a leg socket and out another socket. Gotta have the bait on securely and the hook exposed.

Anyone looking for live green crabs and white leggers should call asap. We have a limited supply.

Happy Thanksgiving – Fishing Report Update

Happy Thanksgiving – Fishing Report Update

From all of us here at Fisherman’s Headquarters, Happy Thanksgiving! We’ve got a lot to be thankful for. For those that enjoy the water we must be especially thankful for the brave.

Here’s a short Thanksgiving Day Fishing Report update… It’s cold outside but it will not last long. Anglers out putting in time today found fish. We got a couple reports off the surf and from the boats. With November’s full moon on the 23rd, it’s prime time… Let’s go get some striped turkeys!

Yesterday (Wednesday) I had Chris Lutz and friends aboard for a fun day of fishing. We started off right where I left them on Tuesday’s afternoon trip (was a fun one casting with light tackle to school sizes bass). Things were scattered so we got on the troll and picked our fish fish right away. The entire morning was a good steady pick of bass from 10-30 pounds. I found bunker spoons and mojos were getting the bigger fish while the umbrella rigs were getting more consistent bites but smaller class of fish. After having a ton of fun cranking on trolled up fish we switched over to a drift/jig. Our first drift was productive with two bass, a sea robin, a bluefish and a horn dog (spiny dog fish). The next drift only one bass and a blue. The third drift nothing so we called it a day. I’ll be back out on Friday looking for some bass on the fly with a back up plan to fall on the troll if things aren’t popping. Hope to see everyone on the water. It’s gonna be a busy one!

LBI Surf Fishing Classic

TJ Loughran Jr. got a 9.54 pound striped bass this morning off the Ship Bottom surf on bunker.

So far 33 striped bass were checked in with the top five all over 20 pounds. For live results… www.LBIFT.com  Just because the leader board has large fish doesn’t mean you are out of the game! The best part of the Fall Derby is everday and every week there’s a prize to compete for. In addition to the standard daily, weekly and segments prizes…

Today Nov 22 $250 Cash Award to the largest Striped Bass in Honor of Bruce Hoagland from the Hoagland Family founders of Bruce & Pats Bait and Tackle

December 2 – $250 Cash Award for the Largest Striped Bass

Fish Head’s Weekend Prizes – $100 Store Gift Certificate to the Heaviest Bass each Saturday and Sunday.

Gobble Gobble!!!…

LBI Fishing Report – November 20, 2018

LBI Fishing Report – November 20, 2018

Here’s the pre-Thanksgiving Long Beach Island Fishing Report Update for November 20, 2018. Both tog and striped bass fishing is very good. The outlook ahead like bright! There’s a large body of stripe bass in our local waters and there’s new arrivals showing. We expect solid fishing to close out this month and go right into December.
There’s a Thanksgiving Day cold snap so fishing Thursday and Friday will require some extra layers and gloves. Don’t worry we’ve got you covered here at Fisherman’s Headquarters. Stocking all the essentials for bait & tackle and also an extensive line of fishing apparel for all weather conditions from thermal underwear and socks to top quality gloves. Our selection of waterproof outerwear from Grundens, Guy Cotten and Stormr are second to none.
Anyone looking for a new sweatshirt as everyday wear or mid layer should should take a look at the new AFTCO Reaper Pullover Hoodie.
This performance piece features a unique neck gator built into the lower hood which can be worn like a turtleneck or pulled up for full face protection. Check these out!
Tog Fishing
Just a heads up the current NJ Recreation Fishing Regulation for Tautog is five fish at 15″ until December 31st.
Matt S. (@swagmatic) was out fishing aboard the Nora Angela with some friends on Monday. They lined up a good catch of tog. He reported, “We had an awesome day fishing a local snag. It was drop and reel fishing with white crabs on Magictail Tog Jigs.”
Lots of other solid reports flowing in from anglers We’ve heard numerous other reports from anglers pounding the inshore structure loading up on white chins.
Store staffer Blake got out on the water aboard The Gobbagol with Captain Dave and crew. They got a four man limit in three hours of fishing, tossing back 4 and five pound fish. Blake reported, “The jig bite was hot!”
A couple customers loading up on green and white crabs raved on the inshore bottom fishing. He said, “I got an 11 ponder one day and a 12 pounder another day. It’s been good.” We expect this fishing to go right into the end of the year.

Striped Bass Fishing

Thanksgiving marks prime time Jersey Coast Fall Striped Bass Fishing!!!
Dan D. was on the water today and had a blast. He reported, “I’ve been waiting for an all day feed like this! It’s what I look forward to every fall. An incredible day chasing down bass right along the beach with plastics, poppers and jigs!

Fish Head Charters Update

Monday – Endick Party

On Monday I had the Jay Endick and his two daughters aboard. We pushed off early and were greeted with a beautiful lake Atlantic. No wind, oil slick glass calm. About three miles from the Inlet we found a breaching whale which put on a show. With scattered birds and a depth finder lit up Christmas we were in a promising location.
We had some boils on top water lures but no solid bites which came tight. We tried a variety of lures (bucktails, plastics, swimmer, popper, jigs, etc.) but couldn’t connect. After about 15-20 minutes we got up on the troll and soon after our lines were tight.

You guessed it… A Magictail Mojo! However this day it was the smallest size a 4 ounce fished on a three way rig with a large Mojo on the bottom to get it down. This and the 9er’s umbrella rig were the day’s best catchers. Our bunker spoons didn’t get touched.

With smaller feed umbrella rigs are a great mini bait school imitations. Available in tube and shed styles there’s one for every application. If you don’t pull a 9er in your fall spread you might be missing out. Dont’ let the other boats take you to school! This is not your classic umbrella rig. It’s juiced up and virtually tangle free.

Tuesday – Oak Leaf Media

Got the call, “Hi we are looking for a couple specific things for a current project we are working on. We need some video of fishing and catching a striped bass. Can you take us out? The answer was simple… HELL YA!
We pushed off the dock in a light rain, broke the Inlet at 6:45am and headed to the spot of Monday’s whale activity. Lines in at about 7:05 and a screaming drag before 7:30am. Back to the dock at 9 am Mission complete.

Here’s Johnny with his first striped bass! Congrats buddy!

LBI Fishing Report Update – November 18, 2018

LBI Fishing Report Update November 18, 2018

Another really nice day of fall fishing today. We are looking forward to the weather windows ahead. It’s prime time and the fish are here. Let’s get out and fish!

LBI Surf Fishing Report

The surf fishing reports were on the slow side today. No weigh ins but a few anglers shared some intel. One anglers chunking frozen bunker got a couple doggies and said the crabs were chewing.

Another report came in from Dante from Magictail Lures. He said, “There’s small bass eating in the suds. It’s fun on light tackle. Go find a nice cut and fish it!” We suggest rigging up with a teaser rig and using needlefish, diamond jigs, bucktails or plastics like Kettle Creek Paddletails.

Striped Bass Trolling and Jigging

Another good day in the boat with some awesome fishing.

Justin, Chris and Seth were on the water today and got into good bass fishing. They trolling bass up to 42-lbs. Justin reported, “We released two and kept two. Got the big one on a bunker spoon. During the fight the reel handle broke to it made the fight a tough one. Once boatside we tried to release the fish but it would not revive so it was harvested. The battle was too much.”

Store staffer Kelly was out on the water with his buddy Dan today. They went three for six with fish up to 30 pounds trolling the fleet off of Seaside.

Tim and Ed were aboard Fish Head Charters this morning for a fun day of striped bass fishing trip. We finished the day with 11 bass from 15-35 pounds on the troll and casting lures (bucktails and SP Minnows).

Tog Fishing

It’s prime time tog fishing here on the Jersey Shore. The boats are pulling some big ones out of the wrecks. Rob Vallone was fishing today and got 10 pounder today.

The Barnegat Light Jetty tog fishing has been slow due to dirty water but it’s cleaning up. Today Dante and Frezza hit the rocks for an afternoon session and got five. Frezza reported, “No keepers for us but another anglers close by got 8 fish and one keeper.

 

LBI Fishing Report Update – November 17, 2018

LBI Fishing Report Update – November 17, 2018

It’s settling down after an extreme blow. The local waters were churned up leaving the bait and game scattered and the water murky. We are looking forward to things coming together. Get out and take advantage of the beautiful fishing weather Sunday and Monday! It’s Game Time!!!

 LBI Surf Fishing Report

Four fish checked in today for the LBI Surf Fishing Classic. For updated info check out the live results at www.LBIFT.com

Fish Head Charters

Anthony, Frank and Matt from Central Jersey Anglers (@CentralJerseyAnglers) jumped aboard for a morning trip. We pushed off early. Found some birds not far from the inlet and stopped with good marks. Frank for one on a bucktail and released it. The marks quickly scattered so we got on the troll. The first half hour was slow but we started picking fish. The smaller lures were getting the bites; a custom Cedar Run Lures metal lip got three, a jointed swim bait got one and the other was on a White Magic Tail Mojo. It was a fun day on the water and we are looking forward to tomorrow’s (Sunday) trip.