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LBI Fishing Report June 12th

Fishing LBI offers lots of options for anglers both from the beach and boat.

Prime time beach sharking is quickly approaching! Now is the time to prepare and gear up for the season. We’ve got all the essentials from hooks to wire and cable as well as the terminal tackle and accessories to make simple rigs as well as tournament style – kayak deployed versions. The year’s first land based brown shark and sand tiger reports just came in!

Store staffer Willie said, “The surf is warming up and surf sharking has begun!” Here is a photo of him and a couple friends with a small sand bar shark aka brown shark they just caught. Willie mentioned they lost a sand tiger in the wash.

Kenny Depierro caught this sand tiger off the surf this past weekend. Kenny was chunking bunker in search of a linesider when this toothy one picked and ran.
Striped bass fishing continues to be slow through what normally is a very good section of the season. Participation is way down but those putting in the time are finding fish. We’ve got reports from the beach and boat. Anglers are catching the occasional bass trolling. Those fishing the beach and inlet are finding striped ones.

Rich Beverley of Cedar Run earned himself a new personal best striped bass off the LBI surf yesterday. He caught it in the morning fishing bunker off of the mid-island surf.
The local summer flounder fishery is prime with action in full swing. For bay anglers the areas of Double Creek and Oyster Creek Channel as well as the waters around the 42, BI, and BB are producing. There’s been some good size ones. We’ve heard of and seen numerous fish over four pounds. Bucktails tipped with gulp, live minnow and or spearing are getting it done!

Mark Spranger reported a good day fluke fishing today. His biggest was a 23″ 4.5 pound beauty!

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For land based anglers fluke fishing off the LBI surf continues to crank with some outstanding catches.
Willie “Hits” Kayhart has the touch! On his first trip to the beach this past weekend he pulled this 21″ flatty.

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Jon Kelly shared a photo today with a comment, “Who needs a boat? Got this 20″ off my beach today.”
Austin Pounds reported, “No boat needed! The beach has fluke everywhere.”
Chris Bender reports the weakfish are in. Here’s a photo of a small one.
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Crabbing is solid! Now’s the time to soak some bunker. Here’s a photo from Matt Cornman.

The NJ Recreation Sea Bass Fishing Season Closes Monday June 19th. Now’s the time to get in on the sensational bite!

“Sea bass fishing is crazy right now.” Jacob Bowles reports, “The offshore wrecks are loaded with active fish. Today we had them good. You had to work through the shorts to find the larger fish. I got six keepers to just under five pounds. My largest was big enough to win the pool!”

“Flag-Pole” Jim Kuhl agrees  the sea bass fishing is very good on the reefs and wrecks. He said, “We limited out by 9am!”

Dave Werner the advisor of the MATES Fishing Club shared a solid sea bass report from today. Dave said, “We had an awesome trip today aboard the Carolyn Ann III. There was lots of action so the kids had a blast. We caught about 50 keepers and a crazy number of throwbacks. The pool winner was Jake (photo below). There were also some ling and tog as well as one winter flounder caught. A huge thanks to Gina on the Carolyn Ann III for the awesome trip.”

Carolyn Ann III would like to share a schedule update… On Monday June 19th they are going to start fishing twice daily (2x four hour trips). Since sea bass will be closed the target species will be fluke. Sailing in the mornings 8am to 12pm then the afternoon 1pm to 5pm. The price is $45 for adults and $25 for children under 12. Rod rental is $7. Credit Cards are accepted.

Captain Jeff Warford aboard the Reel Innovations out of Barnegat Light was offshore over the weekend with the crew. Here’s their report… “Good as it gets! The tunas just couldn’t resist piling on. We fished four hours then headed in with a crew full of sore arms. Here’s Kyle with our over bluefin!”

NJ Files Formal Appeal of Fluke Quota Reductions

Here’s some break news on the fluke fishing front!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 28, 2017

NEW JERSEY FILES FORMAL APPEAL OF SUMMER FLOUNDER QUOTA REDUCTIONS
STATE’S REPRESENTATIVES ARGUE ASMFC DECISION WILL CAUSE ADVERSE IMPACTS TO FISHERY AND INDUSTRY


(Photo: Scott Simpson with one of many nice fluke caught off the LBI surf in late July)

(17/P25) TRENTON – New Jersey representatives to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission have filed an appeal requesting the commission reconsider its vote significantly reducing the state’s recreational-fishing quota for summer flounder this year, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin announced today.

JohnDebonaThe 34-percent quota reduction ASMFC approved in February will have a devastating impact on the state’s fishing industry and tourism economy while paradoxically harming the long-term health of the state’s summer flounder stocks, Commissioner Martin said.

“We are appealing the ASFMC decision because of the numerous process, data, policy and regulatory issues that will significantly impact New Jersey’s fishing industry,” Commissioner Martin said. “The ASFMC decision will actually result in anglers in New Jersey having to throw more dead fish back into the water than they can keep to eat, and the fish they can keep overwhelmingly will be reproductive females. This is not sound fishery management.”

Recreational and commercial fishing employs 65,000 people and generates some $2.5 billion in annual economic benefits to the state. Summer flounder, also known as fluke, is one of the state’s most sought-after recreational fish species, prized for its delicate flavor and easily found close to beaches and in bays and creeks.

To achieve the 34-percent reduction, New Jersey faces increasing the minimum size limit for summer flounder from 18 inches in most state waters to 19 inches, making legally sized fish more difficult to keep. Additionally, the number of fish that could be kept under the new restrictions would be reduced from five to three.

The petition from New Jersey’s three representatives to ASMFC Chairman Douglas E. Grout cites technical, scientific and procedural flaws as reasons for reconsideration of the vote. The commission was formed by compact to manage nearshore fisheries from Maine to Florida.

A DEP analysis of the quota reduction determined that the number of undersized, or discarded, fish that die after being returned to the water will be greater than the number of fish that will be harvested. This would be the first-ever such imbalance for the state. Flounder, like all fish, are susceptible to mortality from hook wounds and stress.

“Discard mortality that exceeds harvest is not acceptable from a fishery management standpoint and will not be well received by the recreational fishing sector,” the state’s representatives wrote, adding that such waste would be inconsistent with goals established by federal law. New Jersey representatives to ASMFC are New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife Director Larry Herrighty, Governor’s appointee Thomas P. Fote of the Jersey Coast Anglers Association, and Legislative Commissioner Assemblyman Bob Andrejczak (District 1).

They noted that summer flounder in New Jersey tend to be smaller than in states to the north due to the species’ biological needs and migration patterns. Moreover, more than 90 percent of summer flounder in New Jersey waters that are greater than 19 inches in length are females, meaning an increase in size limits would encourage higher harvests of reproductive fish, which would also be counterproductive to sound fishery management.

In their letter, the representatives argue that ASMFC did not properly consider comments made by the public opposing the reduction during a Jan. 5 hearing in Galloway Township, Atlantic County. They further state that ASFMC staff found numerous mathematical calculation errors after the hearing that resulted in substantive revisions to the draft quota-reduction plan and did not provide the public an opportunity to review the changes and provide additional comments.

In addition, ASMFC did not properly apply technical information gathered through the federal Marine Recreational Informational Program, which surveys anglers and members of the fishing industry to provide more complete assessments of the health of fisheries, the representatives wrote.

Commissioner Martin testified before ASMFC in opposition to the quota reduction and recently sent a letter to U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross requesting that 2016’s quotas remain in effect pending development of a benchmark stock assessment to better understand and manage the resource. Any quota reduction this year would be on top of a 27 percent quota reduction in 2016.

For a copy of the appeal filed with ASFMC, visit: www.nj.gov/dep/docs/asmfc-appeal-letter-20170324.pdf   For a copy of Commissioner Martin’s letter to Commerce Secretary Ross, visit: www.njfishandwildlife.com/pdf/2017/flndrletter02-28-17.pdf