Barnegat Light B & T - Fishing report-5-11

[jackdaniels]

Barnegat Light B & T - Fishing report-05-12-10-By Bob Misak
Well, the winds were pretty horrendous this past few days and the fishing slowed up a bit, but since we have a slowing south wind things are picking up again. Not to say guys didn’t catch bass, they just had to work for them. Out on the beach the pick was average with a few bass coming in, and Ryan Gelenites had himself a 31 inch bass earlier in the week. Jimmy Nacion also had a 30 inch fish, and our own shop rat “Barry the bus” Schoenberg caught a run of nice blues from 7 to 8 lbs, beaching four nice fish. There are bass up and down the north end, and it’s best to try to read the water and find yourself a nice trough to fish in, one that has water in it on low tide. Clams are still producing bass, but the serious guys are starting to make the transition to bunker, and heads are the secret to enticing bigger fish. And again, watch out for those giant drums cruising up and down the beaches so you don’t have to unexpectedly buy a new rod. Those fish go up to 100 lbs. and can easily take your gear.
Outside the inlet to the north anglers are still trolling up some nice fish, as proven by Larry Tate’s 30 lb. bass last week. The blues are still around, but you have to cruise around a bit to find sufficient schools. Bunker pods are here and there and they aren’t the massive schools that you’ll see in a couple weeks, but small and hard to spot. If you find a small school of bunker it won’t take much to find out if there are fish under them. The head boats are offering some bass fishing trips right now, but you have to take advantage, because the sea bass fishery is opening on May 22nd and then its wreck fishing from then until the season goes out in October. As far as bass fishing goes, Green Stretch Imitators are the lures of choice right now, as well as a few guys using jigs or Avas.
In the bay things remain the same with blues all over and bass being taken by the guys anchoring up and clam fishing, although there are reports of eel fishermen catching some fish at night, and now is definitely the time to get those slimy but very productive baits on your boat. I haven’t heard a thing about any good weakfish being taken as of yet, and it’s late for those tide runners to come in now. I didn’t expect much in the way of big weakfish this year, and maybe it’s “cycle time”, meaning that they are going to take a vacation for a year or two or three. The real question is if we’ll see any weaks at all, including the tons of spikes that come in this time of year. Time will tell.
On the jetty things are hot right now and the blues are making everybody crazy over there. Guys are lining up and loading coolers with bluefish, but remember that ten fish limit, it could bite you if you get carried away. A couple guys over there were loading up on blues the other day and had the walkway blocked off and full of blood, according to a very distraught tourist who voiced her opinion quite openly. A stringer is a good way to avoid those types of confrontations. Tom Sayder took a 21 lb. bass off the jetty the other night, and he didn’t disclose his bait or lure. But the guys are fishing the jetty at night so something is definitely happening out there. The only way to find out is to go out and check it out, but bring some eels and some good night plugs, preferably black bombers or needle fish. Basil and Nicky have plenty of bunker and clams for those of you wanting to head out and fish and the bigger bass are right around the corner! So we’ll see you at Barnegat Light bait and tackle, and good luck and great fishing to all who roll off the couch and get fishing.


Barnegat Light Bait and Tackle
1501 Bayview Ave.
Barnegat Light, NJ
(609) 494-4566
Website www.barnegatlightbaitandtackle.com
Email info@barnegatlightbaitandtackle.com