Barnegat Light B & T Fishing report- 04-08-10- By Bob Misak
The season is getting under way with anglers doing quite well and surprisingly, not too much negative feedback on the low limits put in place this year. Out on the beach the bass have arrived on L.B.I. and keeper bass are being caught in the Barnegat Light suds. Pete Garra hit the sands this past weekend and had a nice looking 10 lb. bass and Brian Toft beached a 29 inch fish, in addition to Ol’ moonphase and Teddy Kamish catching keeper stripers. Mike Lucas was actually the 1st beachster to come in with a keeper bass at around 10 lbs and they’re clean and pretty this time of year! It’s on, and by next weekend I think we’ll see plenty of guys out there catching bass as the water temps slowly go up.
The flounder fishing is good, and there are guys out there grabbing up their 2 fish as often as possible. The fish of the week this week has got to be Chris Graham’s 18.5 inch mega-flounder that he yanked out of Barnegat bay earlier this week. Congrats to “cracker” on that great catch. Those are the fish you wait for when you’re flounder fishing, and we just keep tossing them over until we see 15 or 16 inch fish on. There are also still nice big flounders in front of the nun station down in Harvey Cedars, as well as plenty of fish being caught off the Mantoloking Bridge.
The NOAA is pushing all anglers to register for the National salt water registry for those guys who plan to fish 3 miles off shore or more, and I believe that this registry is law now. Either way it’s free and there isn’t anyone I fish with who hasn’t already signed up. You can go online at www.countmyfish.noaa.gov to sign up, or call 1-888-6747-411 to register over the phone. It only takes a minute, and is of little inconvenience. You will be sent a card by mail to prove that you are registered.
There have been some concerns as to whether or not we’ll be able to drive the beach on both the Harvey Cedars as well as the Holgate areas. Nah! The Holgate strip got torn up during the winter, and Harvey Cedars is working diligently to try to put the beach back where it was. The rest of the island seems to be in halfway decent shape, so at worst case you’ll have to drive on and off. Some of the problem is that some folks are reluctant to sign the easements allowing the rebuild, fearing eco-damage to the beaches. Beach replenishment is a must, and somewhere you have to draw a “line in the sand” on what’s eco-friendly and what is necessary to protect the residents on Long Beach Island. Everyone is entitled to speak their concerns, so once it is all hashed out, the driving on and off the beach is the only way to go right now. So, we’ll see you down at Barnegat Light bait & tackle, and the bass are here! Good luck and great fishing to everyone. See ya on the beach.

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