LBI Fishing Report 7/27/23 – Beat The Heat Fishing

The late July time frame LBI offers a variety of on the water activities to enjoy. From crabbing, clamming and fishing there’s something for everyone of all ages. Looking for guidance and help? Stop by and see us 7 days a week!

There’s no better way to best enjoy the hot “Dog Days of Summer” than on the water! Anglers from shore, inshore and offshore are beating the heat and catching many different species right now fishing LBI. Here’s the Long Beach Island Fishing Report Update for July 28, 2023.

The Surf & Jetty – Fluke & Blues +

Anglers fishing both bait and lures on the surf continue to report good action on cocktail (1-3, 2-4# class) blues. For lures, fish small metals. For bait, fish small strips or chunks of bunker or mullet.

Fluke fishing has been good with lots of anglers reporting consistent action. There is and has been an abundance of short fluke in the suds. Anglers are catching slots (17-18″) as well as the occasional over 18″ and we have even heard of some really impressive now to mid 20″ range fluke. There’s no better way to approach the surf then with Gulp and light tackle.

Steve at Night Strikes Guide Service caught this fluke recently on the surf. He has been catching fluke on the beaches all summer. If you are looking for a surf guide reach out to Steve today 609-276-6983. Rocking my “new favorite summer shirt” our fresh new Fish Heads Fluke performance hooded sun shirt. These sold out fast but don’t sweat, we anticipate a the restocking to be here soon (hopefully next week, Early August).

Other options for surf angling is soaking some meaty baits for the bigger critters (sharks or rays). Know the laws!

The Barnegat Inlet has blues, flukes, a few striped bass, sheepshead and triggerfish. Some locations in the back bay have sheeps too. John weighed in this 5# sheepshead earlier this week.

Fishing Is Water Temp Dependent

Fishing activity in the surf and at the jetty is water temperature dependent. Fluctuations due to localized winds are important to consider and important to your success. The hot summer sun warms the surface waters to a tropical temp but a hard south wind pulls the surface away from the beach and the cold bottom waters fill in. This phenomenon is called upwelling. The mix of these two, the pushes and pull can have a profound effect on the fishing, the type of fish and the activity of those said fish. To read more about upwelling events on LBI check out this detailed post… Upwelling Events On Long Beach Island

LBI Surf Temperatures
Wednesday: Cedars 75º, Ship Bottom 70º
Thursday: Cedars 72º, Ship Bottom 65º

In The Boat

Late August fishing in the bay is mainly focused around fluke and blowfish however the blow toads have been few and far between. Those trying have reported catching spot (photo below Petey E. with a jumbo spot), fluke, burrfish (a spiny puffer) and weakfish. In the bay there’s also snapper and cocktail blues as well as sheepshead. Wanna catch a doormat fluke? Drop down a small live spot! Fishing for fluke and getting frustrated with bait stealers? Some of those might be super small blowfish but the majority are most likely spot. Best way to beat them is fish live bait, Live Minnow and Live Spot!

Todd Luyber and his father Joe were out Wednesday and fluke fished the ocean not far from Barnegat Inlet. They reported a bite on fluke, catching shorts as well as their two overs, one 18.5 and one 19″. Joe also pulled this monster! It’s the biggest bluefish we have seen or heard about in some time. Way to go Joe!

Ocean fluke fishing has been good with anglers catching on the wrecks, reef sites as well as open bottom areas. The next month and right to the end of the season should be good in these areas. Here Jaime Grant with a nice 23″ fluke (her new personal best) she caught a couple days ago. Way to go Jaime!

Offshore – Tuna & Tiles

Offshore anglers have had a great run of weather (until recently with the southerly blow) allowing for fair seas and good fishing… yellowfin, bluefin, bigeye, marlin and tilefish. There’s still some bluefin popping in the inshore waters as well as mid-shore grounds as well as yellowfin mid-shore 50-70NM. Store staffer Tyler got out with some friends and filled the boxes with yellowfin tuna. Tyler reported catching two on poppers and more fish on the troll. Also reports coming from anglers jigging and chunking. Their one fish got hit by the tax man. Yup, there’s plenty of sharks in the mid-shore and inshore waters too.

The local canyons are producing groceries too. Scott Sari reports, “When the tuna don’t bite, drop to the bottom!” Here’s one of many monster golden tilefish he caught on a recent trip offshore.

Reel Reaction Sportfishing – Open dates Tautog/Bass

We are cancelled this weekend, but we have the following openings for tautog or striped bass. All tautog trips are 6hrs and include white crabs/tackle/gear/etc.

12/18, 12/28 booked, 12/29, 12/30 booked, 12/31, 1/2, 1/7 booked, 1/8.

Capt. Brett Taylor ~ www.reelreactioncharters.com

Call or text: 609-290-7709

Pre-Thanksgiving – Open Boat or Charter

The bass fishing has been epic with fish to 36 inches, full limits, and plenty of releases.

We have an opening this Wednesday (11/23) afternoon for striped bass. $500 for charter or $175 a person (need 3) – all fish shared. 25 Live spot included in price. Call or text 609-290-7709

Capt. Brett Taylor

www.reelreactioncharters.com

LBI – Fishing Report (Barnegat Bay)

We have been averaging 6-10 keeper fluke per 4hr charter and now that school is out I’ll be running. 6 days a week. This year we will also run some shorter evening bay sunset and ocean sea-bass sunset fishing from July 1st to August 31st.

Our most recent trip had 10 keepers for the day: We were off Monday due to the weather – but Tuesday ran a double with regular client Bob Dodds and his two PA buddies. The guys had very tough conditions due to the rain last night. We ended with 3 keepers and only about 15 shorts. The afternoon trip fared much better with new clients from California Jeffrey Lambie and his son Arthur. We worked a few different areas and put 7 keepers in the box. The father and son team released a few other keepers, but what a difference from the morning. Great job by 10yr old Arthur at catching his 1st keeper fluke!!!

FishHQ has a wide selection of fresh and artificial baits which we have been using to consistently put clients on fish so check them out.

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, bait, tackle, fish-cleaning, and ICE!  It’s “no worries” fishing.  Just come aboard and FISH.

Capt. Brett Taylor ~ Reel Reaction Sportfishing LLC ~ 609-290-7709

reelreactioncharters.com

Reel Reaction Charters – Fishing Report (Barnegat Bay/LBI) – July

It’s been a busy few weeks and I’ve been on the water everyday. With the new trolling motor, we can run in almost any wind conditions unless Tstorms/lightening. In fact, yesterday on a 4hr bay charter we had 20-knot winds and the group had close to 30 Fluke with 6 nice keepers to 23inches. Currently, we have been ranging from 30 to 70 fish per 4hr trip in the bay with keepers ranging from 2 to 7 per trip. As the fluke start to move outside, I will start targeting Fluke in the ocean at my choice spots. These should start heating up and be good through August. Last year, we had multiple fish in the 8 to 11 pound range. Bay action should continue through August with Blowfish, Kingfish, and some Weakfish being in play as the Blowfish are very thick right now.

Currently, we are booking bay/inlet charters and won’t start running the Ocean Fluke charters until the water warms enough for productive catching. I have limited openings each week as I’m running two trips per day until September 5th. We are on the water full-time everyday, so call or text to join us.

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, tackle, fish-cleaning, and ICE!  It’s “no worries” fishing.  Just come aboard and FISH.


Reel Reaction Charters – Winter Report

First, I have secured a sponsorship with Humminbird / MinnKota and will be replacing all of my “other brand” electronics with 2 Humminbird SOLIX units/SONAR/GPS/RADAR. We will start doing charters early March for combo Winter Flounder and schoolie Striped Bass charters. April will bring Tog or Blackfish in the crosshairs. I’m very excited for 2019 and can’t wait to get back on the water.

In addition, I have been asked to do fishing seminars at the Edison Boat Show, Philadelphia Fishing Show, and Atlantic City Boat Show. I will be also doing several appearances in Atlantic City January through March! February will be a busy month, followed by splashing the boat in early March!! Lastly, we are in the beginning stages of possibly adding another boat and captain to the fleet to target skinny-water backwater fishing. But more on that in the future. FHQ has some nice deals going on right now and throughout the winter months. I will be stopping in to gear up for the 2019 season, so hopefully will run into some of you there!

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, tackle, fish-cleaning, and ICE! It’s “no worries” fishing. Just come aboard and FISH.

Reel Reaction Charters – Fishing Report

With lesser tidal current, the backbay Fluke fishing is definitely start to improve, but we still have to contend with slime grass and close to 20 degree temperature swings. The key has been to finding cleaner water and you can really do some damage when the wind is close to calm. We have been averaging 20 to over 35 fish per trip and the keepers are varying 1 to 5 depending on the winds. With the end of the school year and finals, I got a little behind on my reports (too many to list here), so check them out on our website (www.reelreactioncharters.com), click on reports. I’m out of school and I’m running charters 7 days a week through September 1st.

We are 7 days a week (morning/afternoon). If interested in booking a charter, book our site (www.reelreactioncharters.com) or call/text 609-290-7709. As always, we use the highest quality gear and everything is included: gear, 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 12/22/17

As of yesterday, winter is officially here! But let’s look at it in the bright side… the days are only getting longer from here!

With the year coming to a close, I fished out 2017 getting in as much as possible. Today I pulled the boat for the year. Kinda bummed but looking back it was an awesome run. This fall was fun fishing with so many different people. It’s great to experience time on the water with people stoked on fishing.

With good mild weather recently I enjoyed my final days on the boat this year. Yesterday (Thursday) we got a couple small bass on the troll working Magic Tail Mojos off of IBSP in 35-50′ of water. Wednesday we found piles of bait but no bites. After putting in a couple hours we called it off, only later finding out it was happening elsewhere. Where? Find out in the next paragraph below. Tuesday, it took a little while to find them but we got into good but short lived fishing off mid-Island (Ship Bottom to Harvey Cedars). We worked 35-50′ for a couple hour period and could not keep the lines in the water. It was mayhem with with doubled and triple headers all to ourselves.

Wednesday afternoon Brian Coen got into a great bite fishing off of IBSP. The birds and bass were going wild! He reported, “We probably had 50 fish on top crushing lures. The fish ranged from 20” up to 18 pounds.

Jeff Davis from Let It Fly Charters sent in a quick email report, “Another epic day!”

Here’s a happy fly anglers aboard the Let It Fly with Captain Jeff Davis.

The surf fishing along the beach of LBI are still producing. Local angler Chris Masino caught today. Below is a photo of one.

Late December striped bass cruise the beach looking for small baits and lures. Try your cast and get a tug!

Solid tog fishing continues with the Magic Tail Tog Jigs being the best way to hook a hoss. Matt Sorrentino is dialed in togging with Magictail Jigs. He recently took the pool fishing aboard the Osprey out of Atlantic City. Must have been the lucky Fish Head Hat!!! Get your own today. All joking aside, it’s awesome to see these Magic Tail Tog Jigs out fishing on a consistent basis.

Here’s Matt with his pool winner!

We got word in today from a couple anglers who were out, “Lotta small tog on the local reefs.”

Dylan Fisher was on the December 21st offshore black sea bass fishing trip aboard the Voyager. He reported, “The weather was good and the fishing was great catching jumbo sea bass and porgy. I topped off the freezer for the winter. Now I’m ready for hibernation.”

Here’s Dylan with a jumbo sea bass.

Epic End Of Year Sale!!!

Close out 2017 right with our year’s best pricing… For a limited time we’ve got an Online Store Wide Flash Sale! Use Cart Promo Code FLASH17 at checkout.

Holiday Weekend Fishing Report Recap

It’s late November and prime time striped bass fishing season! The past week was full of great fall fishing. If you have not got out and enjoyed the action, now is the time to get in on the fun. Before you know it there will be snow on the ground. Jump on a boat, get on the water and enjoy yourself catching fish.

Bronzinie held by Bob Burns.

Most local anglers are fishing the waters along IBSP as well as the areas north. More reports along LBI too. Beach Haven and Brigantine have had some classy fishing as of late. It’s great to see all of the family and friend photos flying on social media, especially the youth anglers getting into fish. No better way to spend a holiday weekend than fishing.

Here’s Tyler Medica with a bass he caught on the troll.

Here’s some reports…

Captain Bill aboard the Reel Trouble was in the shop today. He picked up a new pair of insulated Xtra Tuf boots to keep his feet warm and dry. (Nothing is more important this time of year!) While here Bill said, “The troll bite was good today! We go out and had fish right away. The morning started off great. The charters was happy and ready to head in at 10am. This entire week has been really good. Lots of fish here and they are hitting on the troll! Mojos and spoons are the ticket.”

Jacob Bowles was on the water the past couple days and had a blast! “Yesterday inside the three mile line off the Pier and today inside the three mile line off Seaside the fish were on the chew. We couldn’t keep the lines in the water. Fish were just piling on! It’s been awesome out there.”

Some classy bass are still around. Here’s Jacob Bowles with a fat one from today.

One customer in the shop today reported great fishing off of Beach Haven, “Got nine bass trolling in the morning.”

The beach’s surf fishing has been slow but there are some fish around. However, most are struggling.

The ASAC’s Bob Daley has been finding some fish off the LBI surf. Today he weighed a 12.16 pound bass and yesterday he checked in a 12.14 pound bass. He caught both off of the Ship Bottom surf on bunker.

Jim Crane shared this land based fishing report, “Slow… Fished Barnegat Light from 8-11:30pm last night. Plugs and bunker chunks. One 25″ bass on bunker. Nothing on plugs. Saw a bunch of shooting stars on a crazy clear night. Back the next morning in Brant Beach from 7-10:30am. Literally not a sign of life. Frustrating!”

The tog bite continues! Lots of great reports from the togging grounds. Get out on the structure and start hooking! Guys out on the jetty are still picking fish too!

LBI Fishing Report Update 11/6/17

Some positive reports from the Island’s back waters. The sod banks and channels are holding fish. Poppers and small plugs are getting attention!

Jarrett Hillman got into some bass late afternoon yesterday in the bay. He was catching light tackle plugging.

Jacob Bowles sent in a report yesterday, I got a 28″ bass as well as two shorts in the dark this morning.”

There’s also talk of small linesiders in the suds. “Finally broken in my new 12′ StCroix Mojo Surf Rod that’s matched up with the Star 8000 Surf Reel.” Alex from Lighthouse Sportfishing sent in this photo below, “Although small it’s a start. This rod and reel set up is going to be great for the surf.”

Dennis Gallagher got a 8 pounder off the surf today on bunker.