Barnegat Light B & T - Fishing report-05-07-10-By Bob Misak
This week brought much of the same activity as last report with bass in the 26 to 36 inch range being caught all over L.B.I. Sammy Galiogo, a friend and “doormat” at the shop caught a nice 32 inch fish in Loveladies, and Jim Braack came up and had a short bass as well as some chopper blues off the beach this week. The big drums are on the move in the surf, so I wouldn’t advise walking down to talk to your friends unless you have a bait runner on your reel. Those drums will steal a rod out of a holder at the drop of a hat. Speaking of surf doggin’, the Barnegat Light Heavers will hold their annual one day fishing tournament on this Saturday, the 8th and all are invited. It is an open tournament held on the beach in Loveladies, and if you want in, everyone is meeting at the tackle shop at 6 a.m. It is a fun day of fishing and the Heavers are a great bunch of guys that like to have fun and catch bass. So come down and join up! If you’re planning on fishing anyway, there are some great prizes going out to the lucky angler who puts the first big cow on the beach, and it’s the perfect time to do it.
Outside the inlet guys are catching bass and blues on the troll or jigging, and Larry Tate put the 1st 30 lb. bass on the scales trolling just outside in 40 to 60 ft. of water. Johnny Rhodes showed up around the shop this week and he caught some bass outside as well. Where there’s bass, there’s Johnny Rhodes! I expect Ol’ Greenie, Mike Greene will pop up soon with a 60 or 70 lb. fish too. You know, Mike Greene, the guy who uses a three foot herring to catch bass? It’s about to bust open, so now is the time to take that vessel out for a bass chasin’ run! The bluefish are nuts out there too, so the action can become hot and heavy if you find a little pod of bunker or just troll around for a while. The head boats finished off a great tog season last week with Theresa Zacharewich totally lighting it up on the Mary M with three togs; one at 9.6, one at 11.8, and a monster white chin at 14.8! Way to go Theresa, that’s how you show the gentlemen how it’s done! The head boats are putting together some bass and bluefish trips, and that’s tons of fun as well if you want to take a guided trip outside.
In the bay there are also bass being caught in Double and Oyster Creek Channels, and guys are anchoring up and clam fishing for optimum results. The blues continue to invade the bay and you just have to get used to it, because I believe they are here to stay for a while, like, say, October.
The jetty rocks have been on fire all week for the guys tossing small to medium Avas, and Adam Sprague and his dad Jim lit up some nice blues this week, and they saw a couple dudes get into a school of bass and catch a few keeps right under the lighthouse. I fished out the tog season there last week, and we all caught limits of real nice eating 16 to 18 inch fish. As I was focused on the tog fishing a bass was pushing little tog out of the water right in front of me. As he exploded on top, I figure the fish had to go at least 25 to 30 lbs. He was hungry and aggressive, and this is a sign that plugging the rocks at night isn’t a bad idea. So the season is well under way with a lot of choices for those of you who want to come out and play. I hear they found Ol’ Moon phases’ shoes at the entrance to Loveladies again, and he was gone chasin’ blue dogs down the beach a couple miles. Boy, that guy goes through some shoes! And by the way; has anyone seen Robbie Vallone? We’ll see you down at Barnegat Light bait and tackle, and good luck and great fishing to everyone.
Barnegat Light Bait and Tackle
1501 Bayview Ave.
Barnegat Light, NJ
(609) 494-4566
Website www.barnegatlightbaitandtackle.com
Email info@barnegatlightbaitandtackle.com