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
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
What a great weekend! So many of us have waited for the dewinterization process to begin! Turning on the water and opening seasonal homes as well as pulling the shrink wrap or boat cover, the Island was lively and the shop was buzzing. After a snowy, cold, windy winter, it was great to see all the familiar faces.
Some anglers got out and fished. A couple guys hit the surf, but no report rebound. One can only assume, no report is bad news. For the most part local fishing is still concentrated to the winter hold over locations. Soon the early season hot spots will kick into gear.
In terms of one hold over location, Oyster Creek, there’s been lots of action but with that comes lots of fishing pressure. The traffic can be tough but fun fishing is there to be had.
Striped bass and winter flounder are the two main target species. Some small blues(hold overs or new arrivals?) were recently caught and bunker have been in there too. Guys catching bass are fishing with small bucktails, jigs and soft plastics. Baits like live blood worms and clam are also getting bites for the crew posted up on the bridge. Winter flounder are also chewing live bloods there too.
One customer reported, “Caught a handful of fishing today (Saturday). Yesterday was was much better!” Another report came from Finn Krokus of Little Egg. He fished this weekend and caught both bass and winter flounder. Here’s a photo of one winter flounder.
Just a heads up… For the time being we are still on winter hours (7am to 6pm). Soon we’ll extend. It all dependent on the weather, fishing and in store traffic.
— Save The Dates —
The 15th Annual 2018 Berkeley Striper Club Spring Striped Bass Catch & Release Tournament starts May 24th. For More Info
The 17th Annual LBI Spring Surf Fishing Tournament starts April 21st. This year a bluefish division was added. For More Info
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!”
The surf fishing along the beach of LBI are still producing. Local angler Chris Masino caught today. Below is a photo of one.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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 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.”
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!
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.
Summertime striped bass on LBI show their stripes and hint that fall fishing is right around the corning. These resident bass are around all year but we have a recent uptick in linesider actively with the full moon. Here’s some reports from the surf, inlet and the bay…
Frequent FishingLBI blog readers Will Kocher and his father of Camp Hill geared up at the shop this weekend. They got a pair of new Tsunami Airwave Elite surf fishing rods and put them to work quickly. They stopped in Sunday night and shared their success. “We headed up to the beach in front of our mid-island rental house and had some fun. Caught fish on both bait and lures.” They caught three short fluke caught, a shark and a skate. Will also got a summertime striped bass at sunset swimming a plug by the jetty.
A report came in from a kayak angler who shared while picking up Tactical Angler Clips and Seaguar Flourocarbon leader line. He said, “Launched off the Dike in High Bar Harbor Dike then worked the sod banks and some skinny water. Found fish chasing bait. Caught a pair of bass among a number of small blues fishing poppers and metal jig.” Other reports of bass in the bay came from anglers fishing the docks at night. These summertime striped bass are feasting on spearing and baby bunker.
Here’s Aimee Wool with a nice Barnegat Inlet resident striped bass. She caught some stripers this past weekend aboard the Reel Fantasea with Captain Steve Purul. With all of the fluke and bluefish around now is the time to get your Barnegat Bay Slam!!! There’s weakfish in our waters too, so a grand slam isn’t out of the question! Test your home run swing and take on the challenge.
Sharking continues off the Long Beach Island surf. Both brown sharks and sand tigers are caught and released. Soak a large piece of meat (mackerel, bunker, bluefish, skate, etc) and get ready to hold on!
Here’s an article from Jim Hutchinson, Jr. at The Fisherman on the results of the 23 Annual JCAA Fluke Tournament… “For the second year in a row the top fish across the board in the statewide tournament was weighed in at Liberty Landing in Jersey City, with one of the very youngest competitors in JCAA history nabbing top honors in 2017 as 10-year old Dylan Cole of Andover, NJ brought a monster 9.69-pound fluke to the scales. All awards will be presented on Thursday, August 10 at the Clarion Hotel on Route 37 East in Toms River.
Jack McLaughlin, Tommy “The Hook”, Jumbo and Joe fished Barnegat Light’s 14th Annual Mercy Home Foundation fluke tournament this past weekend with Captain Greg Carr of LBI Charters. The crew reported a slow bite but the boyz bounced away! They boxed five keepers with Jack getting the largest at 5.56 pounds. It was good enough to take first place in the great charity event. Nice work, Jack congrats!
This past weekend, store staffer Willie weighed in a couple of fish his buddies brought by. Taylor and Nick fished the Garden State South and put together a good catch. Here’s a photo of the largest fluke and a keeper seabass. The classic minnow and squid combo was hot!
Fishing Long Beach Island NJ is a great way to enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend. The local waters have variety of opportunities from the beach or boat; summer flounder – fluke, striped bass, Bluefish, sea bass among others!!!
With the LBI Cup Tournament and Holiday weekend combo, lots of boats were on the water today searching for classy striped bass. Unfortunately the reports were dismal. Anglers fishing out of Barnegat Inlet who ran as far north as Manasquan and as far south as Atlantic City had nothing to show for their efforts. We heard of a couple nice bass trolled off of LBI and IBSP but nothing to get excited about. There were a handful of bass, some in the 50 pound class which took the cake in the tournament. We’ll post the results as soon as we get them.
So far this spring’s local snag and drop as well as troll bite is nothing like what we’ve seen in prior years. Could it be the reduction fleet pounding the bait in our area the past month??? It’s very possible. When the local gill netters are struggling to find schools of bait, there’s something up. Some have written it off but like many our fingers are crossed. Maybe it will turn on to close out May with a bang. Historically early and mid June offer great striped bass fishing so we have some time. Things might happen.
There’s nice bass here cruising the waters of Long Beach Island, just not as active or in the number we all wish for. Expect the activity to turn on as we creep out of this new moon phase. As always the case around the late May moon, recently some really nice fish were caught by surf anglers. Obviously the largest was Art Eromenok’s trophy 57.4 pound striped bass (on 5/23). We believe this to be the largest striped bass we’ve weighed in from a land based “surf” angler. A close second was Ray Sullivans’s 56.7 pound surf tournament winning bass in 2010. Then Jim Haines’ 55-3 from the mid nineties which is mounted and on display above the bunker cooler. Somewhere in the shop’s top ten falls John Kelly’s 55 pound from 1964 which is known to be the shop’s first surf bass in the Fish Head’s Fifty Pound Club. Over the years we’ve had a number of fish beautiful striped bass, a handful over 60 but only from the boat. None from the surf that we are aware of. Not sure if the LBI surf ever offered up a 60 pound surf bass. Anyone know of one???
Mike Burn weighed in this 28.46 pound bass earlier today. He caught it on the mid-island surf last night chunking bunker.
Gary from Farias sent in this photo of his father in law, Rich Hall. He got this bass of the surf recently fishing bunker.
Armando from Manahawkin stopped by the shop this afternoon with a fat 21″ fluke. He reported fishing off of the mid-island bayside, “I caught the fluke on a bunker chunk as well as some blues. There were other blues and fluke caught too.” Here’s a photo of Amanda from Hopewell Junction, NY with a nice summer flounder she caught fishing near Armando. Amanda shifted gears and put some time in on the surf and got this bluefish today too.
John Delsordo got a nice 24″ fluke fishing the bay today.
“Insane fishing with Captain Mark of Laura Sportfishing!” Matt Polito reported, “The sea bass fishing was great today. We started out slamming the blues in the Inlet. Every cast they were hammering lures. We tried to find some stripers but no luck. We then headed out to the sea bass grounds and got into them good! In less than an hour we had our boat limit.”
Blake and I headed out for a late morning search. We wanted to find some bass but the intel wasn’t promising. We decided to stay in the inlet and made for a quick fun session. We found gators on the feed absolutely crushing plugs. Here’s one of many yellow eyed monsters!
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609-494-5739 