October 2, 2011

This afternoon Logan Johnson (5 years old) weighed in a 1-lb weakfish. He caught it on bloodworm in the bay on the North-end of the Island.

Donna Harris weighed in this 16-lb striped bass this morning. She caught it on bunker while fishing the mid-island surf.

Store staff member Steve-W hit the Barnegat Inlet rocks today. He reported catching ten tog, two were keeper size, kept one tog for the table all on green crab. Steve mentioned that there are still a lot of blowfish and snapper blues in the area up there.

Received: Oct 2, 2011 7:53 PM Subject: Lighthouse Sportfishing Report

Hello fall! Signs of fall were evident this weekend with water temperatures dropping to the mid sixties or lower and the first big push of migrating monarch butteries passing through our area. It is so amazing how the eastern population can fly a few thousand miles to their wintering grounds in Mexico only to turn around and head back north in the spring. Saturday morning at first light I scored a few short bass on plugs. Once the bass shut off the blues turned on. The action was non stop with 1-2 pound blues with a few 4-5 pounders in the mix.

~ Capt. Alex, Lighthouse Sportfishing Barnegat, NJ 609-548-2511

Received: Oct 2, 2011 7:15 PM Subject: Fishing Report

Sunday Oct 2 - first light - Popper - Brant Beach - 37", approx 20-lbs.

~ Mike Killough

Received: Oct 2, 2011 5:49 PM Subject: Kingfish in Holgate

Yesterday I picked up some blood worms and headed for the beach south of Beach Haven towards Holgate. It proved to be a worthwhile trip up for the day from Mount Airy, Maryland. Almost every cast produced a keeper sized Kingfish in the 14 to 15 inch range. The line was barely on the bottom before the quick hookup. All fish caught were just beyond the breakers. Started fishing about one hour after the high tide. Have not caught fish off the beach like that in many years, and I've been a lifetime regular on LBI!

With that last thought in mind, I sincerely hope my fellow anglers will consider the impact of over fishing when the bite is this good. It's all too tempting to fill the cooler and just keep reeling in fish, only to toss them back injured. Why not save some for tomorrow? I remember how folks over fished blowfish when I was a kid, and then we couldn't catch them for years. Now they seem to have made a miraculous recovery, so let's be responsible so they are always there to catch in the future.

~ Bernie Hyland

Received: Oct 2, 2011 4:45 PM Subject: Bay Stripers

We got our first bay striper of the season today on live spot. We didn't fish too long but we managed to pull out our first striper of the fall in the back bay. It was just short at 27".

~ Alex P.

Received: Oct 2, 2011 4:23 PM Subject: Inlet Report

Hit the rocks again last night. A few small sea bass, a short fluke and 2 tog.

~ Matthew S.

Received: Oct 2, 2011 3:23 PM Subject: Surf Fishing Report

9 Bluefish this morning on mullet. 7 Kingfish to 14-inches on Bloods. The Bluefish were 2 to 4-lbs and quick hitters. Had to hold the pole. Great Morning. Had fun fishing the up tide till full then it stopped.

~ Al Asplint

Received: Oct 2, 2011 10:37 AM Subject: Barnegat Bay Fishing Report

These cool mornings and evenings the past couple of days are a sure sign that my favorite time of year, our fall fishing season, is right around the corner. While the water is still relatively warm, the temperature has dropped four or five degrees over the past three days and looks to continue that movement through much of the coming week. Baitfish are flooding out of the bay, and the fall migration is underway.

Thursday looked to be a potential washout but with schools closed, Bridgewater's Dave and Pat Kruge came down with their son Kevin to take a chance and give back bay blowfishing a try for the first time. It sure didn't take long for them to get the hang of hooking those notorious bait stealers, as they proceeded to land 350-400 blowfish before a thunderstorm sent us heading back to the dock by 11:15 AM. Add in assorted snappers, sea bass and a couple of fat jack crevalle that joined the party and it was four hours of non-stop action. Lots of fun, and a big bag of some of the tastiest critters on the planets to take home.

George Selph was back on Saturday when we headed out along the beach in search of bluefish and albies. When that only produced a couple of snappers, it was back to the inlet just in time to catch a mini-blitz of bluefish gorging themselves on mullet pouring out of the bay. At one point the water around the boat appeared to be glittering from all the scales coming off the hapless baitfish as they were ravaged by 3-5 pound blues. After landing a couple dozen of them on light rods and tiny jigs, we headed back down the beach and found the mother lode of small weakfish. Breaking out the ultralights and 007's, we hooked well over 150 spikes in the 9-15" range with not another boat in sight until just before we came in.

So fall fishing has started. All we need now is for the stripers to join in, and with water temps dropping that should be pretty soon. I can't wait.

~ Capt. Jack Shea, "Rambunctious", Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632

October 1, 2011

8:15 PM

Stanley Steinberg stopped in and loaded up with live bloods. He reported catching a load of kingfish... a load of 'em in the 15-16" range.

Francis purchased a new rod and while here he said that he has been slamming the small blues.

Chester caught two nice tog among a number of shorts. He kept one for the table. He said that the inlet was packed with blues chasing bait.

Bill Heade stopped in on his way off of the Island. He gave us heads up that he found some bass on the North end of the island. He caught three schoolies on plugs. His biggest was 29-inches.

7:00 PM

Welcome to October, the month we have all been waiting for! Today is the Merchant's Mart down in Beach Haven and tomorrow is Chowder Fest.

Yesterday there was a good blowup of blues off of the front beach from mid-island and South. There were also a couple bass picked. This morning there were some blues and kingfish caught off of the front beach. Right here in Ship Bottom there were a number of cocktail blues caught on mullet chunks and small piece of bunker. The kings want live bloods, freeze dried bloods or fish bites blood worm alternative. We received word from a local plugger who beach and released a schoolie size bass on plastic shortly after first light. We expect to hear more and more about the bass in the coming days. The beach is stacked full of bait and the water temps should start to drop soon.

Hurricane Ophelia's swell is expected to be in the 2-3 foot plus range tomorrow. The swell will rise throughout the day and peak overnight. Early Monday morning surfcasters will be looking at solid 4' surf heights that will drop as the day progresses. If looking to fish bait, make sure you have enough lead to hold.

After the Chowder Fest weekend is over and Ophelia's swell fades we should be looking at a more Northerly flow. Further out, the current marine forecasts are calling for a Northerly wind on Wednesday. After that, a mid-week NE windswell turning more ENE Thursday. Let's hope these winds and waves in combination with the dropping forcasted lows push in a new wave of fish. We will have to wait and see. Bring on some chilly nights/mornings and the striped bass will run!

Better late than never... Here are the tournament results from the 65th Annual World Series of Surf Fishing Tournament (hosted by the Long Beach Island Fishing Club affiliated with ASAC, JCAA, RFA, IGFA) which took place last weekend on Saturday, September 24th.

65th Annual World Series of Surf Fishing Tournament

Top 10 Team Results Total Combined Points

1st - Fishlanders-B 1127.5
2nd - South Jersey Surfcast 1088.75
3rd - Surf & Land-B 987.25
4th - Del Valley Surf-B 966.25
5th - Anglesea-A 955.75
6th - Woman's Surf-A 867.75
7th - Brant Beach Rod 862.5
8th - NJBBA 837
9th - Del Valley Surf-A 739
10th- Merchantville F.C.-A 647.5

Top Individuals

Bob Vicente - Most Individual Points
Brandon Pomykacz - Biggest Individual Fish

~ Fish Head Greg

Received: Oct 1, 2011 4:58 PM Subject: Fishing Report

Fished from 7 to 10. Two of us caught 15 king fish and 8 blues in Surf City. King were non stop.

~ J Viola and E Silva, Cedar Grove, NJ

September 30, 2011

4:00 PM

This fall is starting off great let's keep it going. Kingfish activity off of the surf is still strong, they are biting like mad dog. So is the tog fishing in the inlet. Steve (FHQ store staf ) store shop was up up on the rocks yesterday and get into 'em good with Chester. Bass fishing is becoming more consistent as the days process. There have been a couple days with great fishing on lures as well as bait. The Fall Surf Fishing Derby is right around the corner so kick it into high gear and ensure you of your tackle is ready to rock. If you haven't already sign up the the Derby as well as our Striper Side Bet. We have a strong interest this year from almost all anglers signing up (probably due to the phenomenal spring).

Fisherman's Headquarters -
280 West 9th Street
Ship Bottom, NJ 08008-4613
Phone: 609.494.5739
Fax: 609.494.9271
Toll Free: 877.984.5400
http://www.fishermansheadquarters.com/