Scott's Daily Fishing Report

Click for info on Free NJ Saltwater Anglers Registry (needed even if you did the Federal already) Season Notes: Black Sea Bass Reopened Nov. 1st to Dec. 31st Tautog will go up to 6 fish/day on Nov. 16th to Dec. 31st

Sunday, January 15, 2011 /\/\/\ 12:48pm

Half way through January and this morning it actually now feels like January with the wind blowing twenty and the temperature less then twenty. I shouldn't be complaining AT ALL since I haven't had to lift a snow shovel yet. That being said, expect eight to ten inches by the end of the week.
The lagoon is frozen over pretty good this morning. It's time to plug in those ice eaters and bubblers.
Fishing reports are really scarce. Even any conversation, excluding politics and regulations has been at a minimum. North Jersey party boats are still catching. It's hard to believe that mackerel and stripers are mentioned in the same sentence. Mid week, Long Beach Island surf anglers were still finding short bass at Harvey Ceders.
More locally, the only sought after fish has been the white perch. We have been selling a few customers grass shrimp, but they have not been reporting back with any news about their catches. One tell tale sign that the fishing is "ON" somewhere is when one angler brings two friends the next day and buys twice as much shrimp and misc tackle as the day before. That is not happening. I believe there is a whole lot of fishing going on and just a little catching.
Collins Cove is the place to be in the Winter. Anglers will flock there once the ice becomes safe; six plus inches in my opinion. It's a pretty good trek through the woods and across the meadows through the Port Republic Wildlife Management Area. To fish the Collins Cove by land, someone has to blaze a trail through the woods and meadows to make it passable each year. I do not know if any anglers have made that effort just yet.
Q:What makes Collins Cove tick?
A:In the early 1950's Collins Cove was dug out by construction crews and the fill was used to build up the roadway now known as the Garden State Parkway. The cove became a fish haven as the fish found and settled into the man made holes. Over the past sixty years, the Collins Cove has mostly filled in. Even so, there are still some depth variations that hold fish. The fast current of the Mullica River does not flow through the cove and the white perch bunch up in the still water and just hang out. It's similar to what people do on a cold windy day. To stay warm, they tuck into alcoves of buildings to avoid the wind chill effect.
Q:Where is this Collins Cove?
A:If you are traveling South bound on the Garden State Parkway and you are going over the Mullica River Bridge, if you glance South West, it is quite common to see a couple of boats fishing in the bend of the river known as Collins Cove. If your looking at a road map, it will be West of the Garden State Parkway Port Republic Exit 48. If you want a visual, open up Google Earth; the LON LAT Coords are 39 32 56 N 74 28 33 W.
Q:Oh, that's the Mullica River. It's fresh water. Do I need a fishing license?
A:The Mullica River is tidal and the area of Collins Cove leans more toward salt water then brackish water at this point in the river. The fresh water imaginary line drawn by the State of New Jersey is several miles up river above the Lower Bank and Green Bank Bridges. The theoretical line is drawn across the river from two points known as Crowleys Landing --where the State maintains a launch ramp, accessed off of County Road 542 and the street named Seventh Ave --where it meets the Mullica River in the town of Sweetwater. A fresh water fishing license does not need to be purchased to fish down river of this line. However, the newer free 2012 salt water registry card is required to be in your possession.
Q:What kind of bait do I use?
A:Grass shrimp are the choice bait as they are small and easily digestible by the white perch which will have a slower metabolisms due to the cold temperature of the water. Bloodworms, when available, are an excellent choice bait too as you can get more then one bite before the fish strips the bait off of the hook. When the perch action is hot, little minnows catch bigger perch.
Q:Is there a size limit-bag limit on white perch?
A:There is no size or bag limit on white perch. When the catching is good, our house rule is a ten inch fish as that size perch makes for a real nice fillet. When Winter perch fishing, it's fair to be less picky and any perch over seven inches is considered a good catch. Smaller fish are excellent when baked with bones in; clean the perch by cutting off heads, tails, top dorsal and guts and make sure you scale it too. Perch prepared in this way have a lot more flavor then a perch fillet which is still excellent table fare.
Sea Ya

Saturday, January 14, 2012 /\/\/\ 4:09pm

Just to clarify about the NJ Saltwater registry renewal. There was some confusion because the Federal registry ran one year from the date purchased.
The NJ Saltwater Registry expires annually, rather than one year from the date it issued.
This means it expired on 12/31/11 and must be renewed prior to fishing saltwater in 2012.
http://www.nj.gov/dep/saltwaterregistry/index.html
Sea Ya ~ MizMo

Sunday, January 8, 2012 /\/\/\ 8:15am

We do have grass shrimp, bloodworms and small minnows.
Sea Ya

Friday, January 6, 2012 /\/\/\ 4:35pm

Scott tried to get some shrimp today but no luck, we are now out.

ARTICLE: Tog Regulations to Tighten in New Jersey

The 2012 Tautog regulations approved are:

Date/Season	Size Limit	Bag (Possession) Limit
Jan. 1 - Feb. 28	15 inches	4 fish
March	CLOSED
April	15 inches	4 fish
May 1 - July 26	CLOSED
July 27 - Aug. 30	15 inches	1 fish
Sept. 1 - Oct. 17	CLOSED
Oct. 18 - Nov. 15	15 inches	1 fish
Nov. 16 - Dec. 31	15 inches	4 fish

Sea Ya ~ MizMo

Friday, December 24, 2011 /\/\/\ 1:32pm

The computer is not broke, you can stop hitting the refresh key and clearing your cache; there have been no fishing reports for a while. Just tired I guess. Between getting into some involved store projects and the Christmas bustle, sitting down at the end of the day and writing about the weather hasn't been a top priority.

There really hasn't been much fishing news to pass along. A handful of anglers are seeking white perch and have had a couple of successful days fishing in the Bass River which means the Colling Cove activity should be in full swing too, but no one has been sharing any info as there has just been a lack of anglers.

The head boats above Barnegat have been having super days jigging bass. The success may be due to the fact that they are fishing a little bit deeper water but still staying inside the three mile state waters limit. Are there still stripers in Little Egg Inlet? This morning I would have said YOU BET, as I believed the water temperature to still be above fifty degrees. One boating angler reported forty six this morning; a change like that would surely put a damper on bass catching.

...Taking a couple of days off to veg and be with the family. Merry Christmas to all, get fat and lazy over the next couple of days; that's my intentions.
Sea Ya

Friday, December 17, 2011 /\/\/\ 6:02pm

The Bass were spotty today. Some mixed reports of surf anglers off of Harvey Ceaders throwing jigs and clams and picked up some fish. Inlet fishermen were quiet. It seems like the bite is finally going south for the winter. No reports from Tog fishermen. And White Perch in the back creeks are still a fun day of fishing. We have plenty of Clams, Bloodworms, Grass Shrimp, Minnows, and Green Crabs.
Sea Ya

Thursday, December 15, 2011 /\/\/\ 4:24pm

I went outside this morning to start the car to melt the frost off the windshield only to realize I didn't even need a sweatshirt. It was a pleasant surprise to feel temperatures in the fifties. I am sure there were a few anglers that second guessed pulling the boat out of the water before this morning. By mid day, they probably didn't feel so bad as the wind was whipping things around the yard. It would have been a miserable day on the water.
The ocean water temperature off of Atlantic City is still in the lower fifties; plenty warm for Fall striper activity. Hopefully, the few anglers still in the water will get one more shot on catching fish this weekend.
Sea Ya

Name: John
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Report Details
Date of Trip: 12/12/11
Location of Trip: Absecon inlet
Species Sought: striper
Time of Day Fished: Early Afternoon
Tide Fished: Low Tide (Outgoing water)
Weather Conditions: Partly Sunny/Partly Cloudy
Wind Conditions: less than 10 kts. S
Sea Conditions: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: (Other)
Secondary Bait: Eels
Lure Used: No Lures Used (Rig or Hook Only)

Fishing Report:
Went 5 for 5 with stripers. All fish caught with live spot. No takers on eels. Only one keeper at 36" 16lbs. the rest were 24"-26".
~John

Thursday, December 14, 2011 /\/\/\ 5:40pm

It's not the end of the world; it just feels like it to some when they pull into their driveways after work and see their boats in the yard. It will be OK, in about 100 days the boats can be put it back in just in time to chase around the spring stripers.

Catching activity has dropped way off, but the word from a couple of folks is there are still a few bass around. If we get the right weather, I bet you will see a few anglers come up with stripers in the Little Egg Inlet over the weekend. Epic catches are over for the year. If you land a fish or two and you can consider you had a good day for a few hours effort.

Fresh clams, bloodworms and greenies are all due tomorrow to put us in good shape on the baits for the weekend. We still have a little bit of each to get us started in the morning.
Sea Ya

Monday, December 12, 2011 /\/\/\ 5:17pm

It was a bit chilly here this morning with the temperature just above twenty degrees. With no wind, the back lagoon had a mirror, smooth finish. Quite a few anglers could not pass up a December forecast of wind North 5 seas two feet. All the fresh clams went out the door; WHOOSH! For every clam customer we had another buying green crabs and there were a couple that picked up some metals too.
We are currently out of fresh clam. I can not confirm, just yet, when the next batch is coming. I should know something later this morning. Green crab supply is in good shape. Mid morning fresh batch of clams arrived...
A little bit of catching reported both in the Little Egg Inlet on the clam and surf fishing anglers had action in Harvey Cedars first couple of hours of daylight.
Sea Ya

Sunday, December 11, 2011 /\/\/\ 12:32pm

There is
ICE on the lagoon behind the shop; welcome to December!

Little Egg Inlet continued to produce nice fish this past few days. We had two weigh-ins that were close to forty pounds. Anglers also reported quite a few short bass as well; good news, ...keeps things interesting.

Tautog fishing anglers report plenty of tog on the reef sites. Weeding out the little guys to find the bigger tautog has been the challenge.

We sold bloodworms and live grass shrimp to two different anglers this morning; someone is looking for white perch. This cold snap should tighten up some schools and that means if you can locate them the catching will be fast and furious.
Sea Ya

Saturday, December 10, 2011 /\/\/\ 5:45pm

Today there were mixed reports of Stripers along the beaches. From Island Beach State Park, to Loveladies people surf fished and had fish. Those people were throwing jigs and bait. Some mixed reports from the inlet. One weigh-in that was 15 pounds. Some Togging reports along the wrecks, people are catching their limit. Anglers are still having fun Perching. Hopefully tomorrow's calmer winds will make for a better trip outside.
Sea Ya

Thursday, December 9, 2011 /\/\/\ 5:56pm

Big striper little striper; that is how the catching in the Little Egg Inlet went today. Our largest bass was forty six inches 39.1 pounds; that was one huge, round striper. The same angler released two other short bass and another forty three incher.

Not much to tell about the trolling and the jigging up the beach today. It was just a lack of anglers on the water. It looks like we will have a good weather start and folks will be out early and surely do some catching before the wind comes up.
Sea Ya

Thursday, December 8, 2011 /\/\/\ 6:02pm

One lone boat fished the Little Egg Inlet this afternoon and the rumor mill says he and his friend had four keeper bass for their efforts. This is second hand info at this time, but it sure is believable.

Most of our customer activity today was anglers preparing for tomorrow, which looks to be a whole lot nicer wind-wise then today was. Many anticipate trips up the beach to jig and troll while just a few are headed down to the Little Egg Inlet to drown a clam or two.
Sea Ya

Wednesday, December 7, 2011 /\/\/\ 5:04pm

The word of the day is quiet. No fishing news as the VHF radio didn't squawk and the front door didn't squeak much either. As anglers disappear, so will the quantity of fishing news to pass along. Air and water temperatures have remained the same which means the bass have had no reason to leave the Little Egg Inlet. Some anglers plan on fishing tomorrow, time will tell how they do.
Sea Ya

Monday, December 5, 2011 /\/\/\ 5:26pm

This morning, the fog was so thick knives were out of the question; it was chain saw thick fog. A handful of anglers were trolling by using their electronics. Slow and easy were the words of the day. Chatter put the fishing up the beach grade at an A+ once again. One angler saw a few birds which pointed the way to a school of bass that were working the surface. Being the lone boat, he caught bass until he had enough and called it a day.
Terry Ganster weighed in our one bass of the day; 20.9 pounds, 39" caught on clams along one of the bars of the Little Egg Inlet.
Tautog anglers continue to tell of limit catches; a rare seabass and no word of any cod this week.
Sea Ya

Sunday, December 4, 2011 /\/\/\ 1:52pm

Bob Tiller and his friend Pat called from the water to report a nice catch of ling in 21' of water off the red tower; anchored up using clam and chumming. They didn't catch any stripers, but still had a great last day fishing this season, since the boat is getting pulled after today, just like many others.
The sand eels have moved on? Little Egg Inlet anglers are back to fishing the bars with the fresh clam and finding a fair number of stripers. Barnegat Inlet anglers say HA! plenty of bass to be jigged and trolled up here.
Sea Ya

Saturday, December 3, 2011 /\/\/\ 6:03pm

Today the Bass bite seems to be slowing. There were anglers who had mixed reports, some found fish, some didn't. Closer to the beach was a little better. Inlet fishing produced some nice bass, one weigh in that was 35 pounds. Didn't hear too much about river fishing. Some people tried togging but no reports to speak of.
Sea Ya

Friday, December 2, 2011 /\/\/\ 5:17pm

It's striper fishing season. The end of last week was striper catching season. Anglers worked long and hard for their catches today. There wasn't any just right spot or just right time. Persistence and miles are what put the fish in the boxes today. It was like the fish are scattered. Trolling anglers covered more ground, so they came up with more bass then the jigging anglers. If we didn't have a bass fishing palooza like last week, maybe today could have be called an ok fishing day as anglers who put the hours had a couple of bass and a few had half a dozen fish for their days effort.

Tog anglers had a good day. They went and hit a spot or two, caught fish and called it day. Clean and simple.
Sea Ya

Thursday, December 1, 2011 /\/\/\ 5:49pm

Wind and sea conditions kept trolling anglers to a minimum. Even so, they were able to locate fish along the beach. The action was far from hot and heavy and many of the fish caught today were short of the twenty eight inch legal limit size.

Little Egg Inlet anglers had fish mid morning on the incoming tide. Beats me; all the action I heard last week was on the falling tides. The point I suppose is that you just have to be there.

After telling countless anglers that Graveling Point is the dead sea and the fish have all moved out to the beach front Aaron Moore stops in for his post Thanksgiving Graveling Point fishing day and weighs in a sixteen pounder. It goes to show a fanatical log book beats hear-say every time.

Word is the perch activity is still pretty good out toward the mouth of the Mullica River. The perch aren't out in the middle of the river, but in the creeks still near the Great Bay. So, if perch is your thing, Round-About Creek, Nacote Creek and Ballengers Creek are still producing white perch.

There was still an occasional sea bass caught this past week in deeper water; for sure, the frenzied sea bass catching is over until Spring. Not so for Tautog anglers; the action is as good as one could hope for. It might take a couple of moves to locate a hot spot; don't stop looking until you do. Start looking in sixty feet plus water depths.

Bait supply is hard to figure this time of the year. We loaded up on fresh clams, more green crabs and a fresh flat of bloodworms for those perch and Graveling Point bass anglers.
Sea Ya

Name: Craig Keple
Boat Name: Miss Sue Sea
Phone: 609-296-7610
----------------------
Report Details
Date of Trip: 11/25/11
Location of Trip: BBL
Species Sought: Bass
Time of Day Fished: Morning After Sunrise
Tide Fished: High (Incoming water)
Weather Conditions: Sunny
Wind Conditions: less than 10 kts. SW
Sea Conditions: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Artificials Only
Secondary Bait: Artificials Only
Lure Used: (Other)

Fishing Report:
Had a trip of a lifetime! Bass & Birds everywhere. Ocean was flat calm! Between my wife & I we caught 14 bass with only 1 throwback! After the monster cow was brought over the side I decided she should be released to be able to spawn for next year and be the catch of a lifetime for someone else! We quickly measured her to be 48" and the scale bottomed out at 49 lbs and the spring broke so we are not sure of the accurate weight but she was a beauty and my personal best! My wife captured the release on video, so we will have lasting memories. The next day we brought out our 2 boys and we also had a great day boating 8 bass! A Thanksgiving weekend to remember!
~Craig Keple

Wednesday, November 30, 2011 /\/\/\ 4:35 pm

Very quiet today, so we didn't hear much. One regular stopped by to say that they had a short run of stripers in the inlet on the incoming tide this morning for about two hours til around 10 a.m., then the dog sharks started back up. It wasn't easy fishing while it was on either, they had to work for it.
Sea Ya ~ MizMo

Name: jim Hutchinson Sr.
Email: jamesghutch1@aol.com
Phone: 609-290-5942
Website: http://www.fishbeachhaven.com
----------------------
Report Details
Date of Trip: 11/24-11/27
Location of Trip: Ocean close to beach
Species Sought: Striped Bass
Time of Day Fished: Morning After Sunrise
Tide Fished: Low Tide (Incoming water)
Weather Conditions: Partly Sunny/Partly Cloudy
Wind Conditions: less than 10 kts. E
Sea Conditions: 2-4 ft.
Primary Bait: Artificials Only
Secondary Bait: No Second Bait Used
Lure Used: Umbrella Rig

Fishing Report:
The torrid striped bass action in Beach Haven continued right through Thanksgiving weekend before it started to slow a bit. The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association were in the middle of the action and were joined by boats from as far north as Long Island and Ocean City to the south.

Captain Fran Verdi of the "Dropoff" said that limit is the word that comes to mind for the last several striper trips. His Thanksgiving trip limited out but 9:30am with 8 keepers, and they released fish for another two hours before calling it a day. His black Friday's trip was another trip that had its limit of 10 keepers and we 15 more released. Because of the large number of boats that moved in to enjoy the fishing, Captain Fran spent time away from the fleet looking for smaller pods of fish and doing some trolling. He plans to keep fishing the stripers until the bite stops.

The head boat "Miss Beach Haven" and Captain Frank Camarda had planned a half day trip for striped bass but headed back early since the boat limited out early. The pool winner tipped the scales at 23-pounds. The "Miss Beach Haven" will be splitting its trips between jigging for stripers and heading out to some productive wrecks for some strong blackfish action.
~jim Hutchinson Sr.

Name: Ian Tucker
----------------------
Report Details
Date of Trip: 11/26/11
Location of Trip:
Species Sought:
Time of Day Fished: Morning After Sunrise
Tide Fished: Low Tide (Incoming water)
Weather Conditions: Partly Sunny/Partly Cloudy
Wind Conditions: less than 10 kts. SW
Sea Conditions: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Artificials Only
Secondary Bait: Artificials Only
Lure Used: Plastic/Softbait

Fishing Report:
epic morning, with boats as far as you can see! we hit the stripers hard at first light. filling the fish box with 8 keepers in 30 mins. then just fished for fun. so many boats moved in by 7:30am maid it somewhat challenging to get a good drift going. we caught a few more nice fish, after moving away from the mass of boats. used lite tackle for the day with 1/2 oz jig heads with super fluke's, worked the best for us. this week looks like it will be rough on the ocean till the end of the week. hope the fishing holds up. c you next week!
~Ian Tucker

Monday, November 28, 2011 /\/\/\ 5:45pm

A little flurry of striper activity was going on in the Little Egg Inlet, again, on the falling tides. Even an occasional huge bluefish is being caught by anglers fishing clam. If you chose to fish chunk mackerel bait and were content to crank on slammer blues and dogfish all day; you would be real busy.
Not much to report from ocean jiggers and trollers today. A forecast of bad weather kept most anglers at the dock.
Sea Ya

Name: Steve McBride
Email: mcbrides@comcast.net
Boat Name: Just Ducky
Phone: 609-206-2290
----------------------
Report Details
Date of Trip: 11 26/ 11-27
Location of Trip: North of the Red Tower
Species Sought: Bass
Time of Day Fished: Early Morning (Still Dark)
Tide Fished: Low Tide (Incoming water)
Weather Conditions: Sunny
Wind Conditions: 10-20 kts. SW
Sea Conditions: 2-4 ft.
Primary Bait: Artificials Only
Secondary Bait: (Other)
Lure Used: (Other)

Fishing Report:
What a difference a day makes. Banged them hard Sat. on Ava's. Couldn't get a touch on the Vision's. Some had them on live spot till the Dog's moved in, some had them on the troll. I don't know how they troll in a parking lot but some did with success. We did it Sunday by moving away from the fleet , finding a small pod of fish and working it till the fleet saw what was going on and moved in.

We kept moving South in 18'-20' picking here and there, till the wind started to crank about 10:30 then Bagged it. The Man was waiting at the Inlet and has a Cool New RIB w/200HP Honda that flies. Really good guys (if your Legal) No hassles. Make sure your Bonus Tags are filled out when you keep that extra fish.
SM Out.
~Steve McBride

Sunday, November 27, 2011 /\/\/\ 1:10pm

What a difference a couple of days day can make. The stripers took the day off. Even the surf anglers didn't have action on the LBI beach this morning. An isolated angler whooped up on them when they found a pod of bass that were on the feed; the fish are not gone, just finicky today.
Sea Ya

Saturday, November 26, 2011 /\/\/\ 4:54pm

Today people caught lots of Stripers like they have been the last few days. From Red tower up to Brant Beach the Striper activity was hot. People managed to troll through what seemed like hundreds of boats in the area. Lots of jigging with the diamond jigs; the bigger the better it seems. Umbrella rigs worked well too. The inlet seemed to do okay, a little more activity then what's been reported the last few days. Expect Dog sharks and Bluefish! Some anglers were able to go Tog fishing and they are hitting their limit, but no one is giving away which wreck is doing better. (No more Eels, Spots, or Fresh Bunker for the season).
Sea Ya

Friday, November 25, 2011 /\/\/\ 6:43pm

EPIC fishing day! EPIC!!!
Early anglers had lots of bass activity as far South as the Red Tower. Activity was more consistent up anywhere near the Brant Beach Lumps. Water depths varied from eighteen to forty feet. Trolling and Jigging anglers did equally well.
Inlet clam fishing anglers had bass today too, but they were keeping it pretty low key and seem to be catching some bigger fish too, but to be fair, still not the numbers the jigging anglers are coming up with.
Got a favorite lump between here and Atlantic City? Word has it there were plenty of bass out in front of Brigantine today too.
Lots of law enforcement on the water this week. I think it is great and all the folks doing the right thing think so too. It's easy to get caught up in the excitement. Things to remember...It is a daily bag limit. Bragging about two trips a day doesn't score you points. The three mile limit offshore is a NO INTENT TO FISH FOR striper zone; it's not catch and release. Be careful not to let a flock of birds pull you offshore. If your in sixty feet of water within ten miles above or fifty feet of water five miles below Little Egg Inlet, your likely pushing or already past the three mile limit. No bass fishing in the morning then tog fishing outside the three mile limit in the afternoon; it's possession not where the bass were caught.
Fresh clams and the metals wall was restocked late this afternoon.
Want to get an early start tomorrow morning? I should be here shortly after 5:00 figuring the fishing is EPIC and some folks just didn't make it in late this afternoon.
Sea Ya

Name: Ian Tucker
----------------------
Report Details
Date of Trip: 11/21/11
Location of Trip:
Species Sought:
Time of Day Fished: Morning After Sunrise
Tide Fished: Low Tide (Outgoing water)
Weather Conditions: Cloudy/Light Rain
Wind Conditions: 10-20 kts. NE
Sea Conditions: 2-4 ft.
Primary Bait: Artificials Only
Secondary Bait: Artificials Only
Lure Used: Plastic/Softbait

Fishing Report:
we left early morning in the dark, took it easy going out due to foggy conditions. when we reached the ocean there was a little bit of light. we headed north out of little egg inlet and were trying to decide what to do then we seen the birds working just to the north. as we approached the bird action i was tying on a diamond jig and noticed stripers jumping clear out of the water everywhere. up to 20 lbs at least. we couldn't catch a single one. i noticed all of the sand eels, so we tied on a 3/8 jig head with a fin-s and boom, we had it figured out, then the action slowed. headed to brant beach lump area with boats everywhere and started catching some fish on the same jig head set ups. the action was hot, and landed some nice fish including a monster blue fish. biggest fish was 13lbs 14oz. wind picked up and headed in around 10am. it was the day to be out there if you could. hopefully some more action to come.
~Ian Tucker

Thursday, November 24, 2011 /\/\/\ 12:09pm

Early anglers who made it up to the Brant Beach Lump caught countless numbers of stripers this morning before eight O'clock. The wind was up by nine and the best was pretty much over.
Little Egg Inlet anglers had the occasional blitz of fish on the bars, but anglers fishing back away from the wash didn't do much at all.
Sea conditions look ideal for the morning. Early anglers will find fish. Late morning, the foolish high speed boating traffic through the fish will knock down the activity. The trick here will be to move away from cluster and hope to find a smaller pocket of bass all for yourself.
Hot lures are still the ava jigs, just about any color tail and the Manns Stretch 25+ trolling lures.

Sea Ya and Happy Thanksgiving all!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011 /\/\/\ 6:22pm

We are open tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day, from 6 a.m. until Noon. Thank you to several folks who called in to say they appreciate us putting in half a day tomorrow. Fresh clams delivery was just afternoon today and the eel supply remains good. We sold more eels today then I expected -- a good thing-- some folks are using them on the ocean to simulate the sand eels and pulling bigger bass out of the schools. You just have to expect a dogfish now and again and dodge the bluefish too.
The bottom of the tide produced a flurry of bass in the Little Egg Inlet on the South Bar. Most of the bass this week have been between the twelve and twenty pound fish; good eaters. Can't hurt to show a little conservation too and release some of those big bass for another day.
Note of interest: A trophy striper tag MUST BE FILLED out at the time of possession of a third bass. It's no good if it's blank, still in your wallet or in the tackle bag back in the porch. Too much work to fill it out? Release for another day.

Sea Ya

Name: Jim Hutchinson Sr.
Email: jamesghutch1@aol.com
Post Email?: YES, Post email with report
Boat Name:
Phone: 609-290-5942
Website: http://www.fishbeachhaven.com
----------------------
Report Details
Date of Trip: 11/16-11/21
Location of Trip: Ocean near beach
Species Sought: Striped bass, blackfish
Time of Day Fished: Morning After Sunrise
Tide Fished: High (Incoming water)
Weather Conditions: Partly Sunny/Partly Cloudy
Wind Conditions: 10-20 kts. SW
Sea Conditions: 4-6 ft.
Primary Bait: Clams, Fresh
Secondary Bait: No Second Bait Used
Lure Used: Trolling/Big Game Lure

Fishing Report:
The striped bass bite has been nothing short of phenomenal in the Long Beach Island area for the past two weeks, and the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association have been getting their fill of it.

Captain Carl Sheppard on the "Star Fish" found stripers in water as shallow as 18-feet on out to 45-feet. He termed the fishing "superb" with the average size of the fish caught around 30-inches. Captain Carl kept moving with the schools for continuous action. He also found that although the fishing further from shore was still good, there were more bluefish mixed in with the bass. He says he is hoping the fishing and weather holds up for a few more weeks.

Captain Fran Verdi on the "Dropoff" fished last Friday for outstanding action trolling for big fish. He dragged Stretch 25's and landed 8 keeper bass to 40-inches, 5 short bass, and 5 slammer bluefish. He trolled a black and silver on one line and a red and white on the other.
Because of all of the boats in the area on Saturday, he switched to jigging with short drifts. He had his 4-man limit of 8 fish by 9:20 and played catch and release for the next 2 hours. Captain Fran is advising his customers to bring their own bonus striper tags with them if they want to bring home an additional fish over the 2 per person limit.

The "Miss Beach Haven" with Captain Frank Camarda has been finding good numbers of blackfish now that the daily limit is back up to 6 fish. Even when it is raining and the winds are up, there have been dedicated anglers sailing and doing well on the wreck fish.
Both days of last weekend were similar with quite a few anglers limiting out on blackfish, and many catching some nice black sea bass. Pool winners have been blackfish in and 5-6 pound class.
~Jim Hutchinson Sr.

Name: Randy De Meno
Boat Name: FishVault
Phone: 718-496-2673
----------------------
Report Details
Date of Trip: 11/20/11
Location of Trip: Great Bay
Species Sought: Anything
Time of Day Fished: Morning After Sunrise
Tide Fished: Low Tide (Outgoing water)
Weather Conditions: Partly Sunny/Partly Cloudy
Wind Conditions: 10-20 kts. Do not know info
Sea Conditions: 2-4 ft.
Primary Bait: Bunker, Fresh
Secondary Bait: Crabs, Green
Lure Used: No Lures Used (Rig or Hook Only)

Fishing Report:
We're the boat that never catches a striper when actually targeting them. Oh, we've gotten about 1 per year on minnow and squid, but only by accident when fishing for fluke, weaks, blues and sea bass.

Yesterday we took our green crabs out to the ocean hoping for tog, since we can never catch stripers. After 10 minutes in the chop in the ocean my son and I figured we didn't want to make fishing a contact sport and headed back into the bay.

Inside, we anchored in about 12' of water and sent some fresh bunker chunks out.

Within 30 minutes the reels buzzed and our initial thought it was a snag, but then we remembered we weren't drifting and then assumed it was a cow nose ray since we have a lot of experience with them, but then remembered it was November.

A few minutes later, into the boat was a 36" striper which becomes Thanksgiving Eve dinner.

So, if we got one while actually trying for them, as Scott's site said, yesterday must have been the day to be there.
~Randy De Meno

Name: Steve McBride
Email: mcbrides@comcast.net
Boat Name: Just Ducky
Phone: 609-206-2290
----------------------
Report Details
Date of Trip: 11-20-11
Location of Trip: North of the Red Tower
Species Sought: Bass
Time of Day Fished: Early Morning (Still Dark)
Tide Fished: High (Outgoing water)
Weather Conditions: Partly Sunny/Partly Cloudy
Wind Conditions: 10-20 kts. SW
Sea Conditions: 4-6 ft.
Primary Bait: Artificials Only
Secondary Bait: (Other)
Lure Used: (Other)

Fishing Report:
Look at yesterday's report Double it and change the date.
Limited out 5 anglers on the 1st drift by 7AM.
Kept a few for the plate and fished for fun till 11AM when the wind really started to crank. Should have quit at 10AM.
Ava's and Vision's did it again total mayhem at 1st light.
Wife, Lisa landed her personal best 41", 26.5# Striper on "HER" new Tiger Stick. Says the new rod works great!
I need to upgrade my trolling gear (I might have to take her trolling next week so I can get new Rods for Christmas) C Ya
~Steve McBride

Monday, November 21, 2011 /\/\/\ 5:58pm

Early anglers were met with fog and limited visibility this morning. Even know the weather was iffy, a cluster of boats still made their way up the beach. One of the reports mentioned they were above Brant Beach before they found the bass. With a little persistence and moving around folks whooped up on the stripers again today both jigging and trolling.
Just before dark there was a bite happening on clam among the North Bar of Little Egg Inlet. If you rather not run of the beach, there are bass still there too.
Graveling Point was HOT striper fishing two years ago just before Thanksgiving. We did have a flurry of activity early November, but since then, it's been real quiet. If your land based, then a trip up to LBI is surely worth the effort.
We were out of eels for a couple of days. Our eel guy dropped off another batch this afternoon. We should be in good supply for the rest of the month.
Sea Ya

Sunday, November 20, 2011 /\/\/\ 1:10pm

THIS WAS IT. This was the day you should have been here. Quite a few smart anglers were headed up the beach this morning just before first light and MANY OF THEM HAD LIMIT CATCHES by 7:30am. There were a lot of nice fish in the batches too. Several we weighed in were in twenty five pound class and the chatter on the VHF suggested a few fish pushing the forty pound bracket.
If surf fishing is your gig, word has it that day break activity on Long Beach Island is as good as one could expect.
Tog anglers can not catch much of a break. The Westerly direction blow isn't allowing the anglers any kind of offshore fishing.
As long as the temperatures continue their mild streak expect the HOT fishing to remain right here between Little Egg Inlet and Barnegat Inlet!

TODAY is the free turkey dinner over at the Red Men's Club on Rt9 in Tuckerton. Sunday 11/20 12-4pm
Sea Ya

Saturday, November 19, 2011 /\/\/\ 5:20pm

Lots of good reports from the people on the ocean trolling for Striped Bass today. The guys that got out there before dawn and fished through the morning did the best. Jigging in the same areas produced very well, too. Many people limited their fish by 8-9 a.m.. In the inlet today we heard some nice reports, but not as good as more north out off of the red tower near Brandt Beach. Not too much activity up in the river as far as we know.

Some people tried to Tog fish on the wrecks, but it seemed as the day moved on, it got snotty outside. Some reports though of decent size Tog.

REMINDER!: Tomorrow is the free turkey dinner over at the Red Men's Club on Rt9 in Tuckerton. Sunday 11/20 12-4pm
Sea Ya

Name: Steve McBride
Email: mcbrides@comcast.net
Boat Name: Just Ducky
Phone: 609-206-2290
----------------------
Report Details
Date of Trip: 11-19-11
Location of Trip: North of the Red Tower
Species Sought: Bass
Time of Day Fished: Early Morning (Still Dark)
Tide Fished: Low Tide (Incoming water)
Weather Conditions: Sunny
Wind Conditions: less than 10 kts. SW
Sea Conditions: 2-4 ft.
Primary Bait: Artificials Only
Secondary Bait: (Other)
Lure Used: (Other)

Fishing Report:
I am going to change the name of my Boat to "The Blind Squirrel" We had another 50 plus Bass day in spite of the wind and the crowds. White Ava's and Vision Sand Eels were the weapons of choice we were catching 3 to 1 on the Vision's and really gave the new Tiger Rods you hooked me up with last week a workout.(thanks to wife who said my rods were crap and I needed new ones ,didn't have to tell me twice)Back at it again tomorrow B4 the wind starts to crank.
~Steve McBride

Friday, November 18, 2011 /\/\/\ 6:33pm

Striper action up the beach from Little Egg Inlet had mixed reviews. Several anglers that had lots of fish on their machines couldn't get them to bite. Other anglers found them and had hot and heavy action until the boating traffic knocked them down. They patiently waited for the boats to disperse and the bass bite was on again; they were jigging metals.
Little Egg Inlet anglers had the bass on clam during the falling tide just before dark. We had a good bunch of weigh-ins just before closing.
Tomorrow will be the first day anyone could really tog fish since the season bag limit turned back to six. We are in excellent shape on green crabs since I loaded up every box two weeks before the season opened.
No fresh bunker here; clams came early today and should be in good supply for Saturday morning. I am not sure what to expect through out the weekend. I will keep you posted.
Sea Ya

Name: Gene Sullivan
Email: genesulli@aol.com
Boat Name: Storm King II
----------------------
Report Details
Date of Trip: 11 17 11
Location of Trip: Inlet
Species Sought:
Time of Day Fished: Morning After Sunrise
Tide Fished: Low Tide (Incoming water)
Weather Conditions: Rain
Wind Conditions: 10-20 kts. NW
Sea Conditions: 2-4 ft.
Primary Bait: Clams, Fresh
Secondary Bait: Chum, Clam
Lure Used: No Lures Used (Rig or Hook Only)

Fishing Report:
Another great day on the bass in miserable weather. Photo of Don, Bob, Caesar & Ed with our catch before we headed for the barn at about 3 PM.
~Gene Sullivan

Name: Jim Hutchinson Sr.
Email: jamesghutch1@aol.com
Phone: 609-290-5942
Website: http://fishbeachhaven.com
----------------------
Report Details
Date of Trip: 11/10-11/14
Location of Trip: Along Beach of LBI
Species Sought: Striped Bass
Time of Day Fished: Morning After Sunrise
Tide Fished: High (Incoming water)
Weather Conditions: Sunny
Wind Conditions: 10-20 kts. NW
Sea Conditions: 4-6 ft.
Primary Bait: Clams, Fresh
Secondary Bait: No Second Bait Used
Lure Used: Umbrella Rig
Fishing Report:
The striped bass action for the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association has been fantastic for the past week. The only problem has been some poor weather including thick fog, strong winds, and strong seas.

Captain Fran Verdi of the "Dropoff" reports the fishing last week was "off the charts." He termed last Wednesday's fishing as "epic." His open boat group of four anglers limited out in just an hour with eight fish and played catch and release for the rest of the day. Every cast resulted in a fish and most of them were 18-25 pounds. Poor weather over the weekend made ocean fishing difficult, and Captain Fran spent his time fishing in the inlet.

The "Miss Beach Haven" with Captain Frank Camarda had planned to sail last weekend for some offshore wreck fishing, but had a change of heart due to strong winds and seas. Instead of heading offshore, they fished close to the beach for a nice pick of striped bass and some big bluefish. The swells made jigging difficult, but they caught enough fish to make everyone happy and Chumley won the pool with a 21-pounder. Captain Frank has an assortment of trips scheduled including stripers, sea bass, and blackfish.

Captain George Finck of "Sparetime Charters" took Ray McVry and five of his friends trolling for Striped Bass recently. They had a great trip, limiting out on striped bass with the smallest fish measuring 33-inches. They also picked up a couple of nice bluefish.

Captain Carl Sheppard on the "Star Fish" has been putting together some nice catches of stripers on every one of his trips. Last Sunday he had Randy Godshall and his fiancée Indy Park of Souderton, Pa., out to try and catch their first striped bass. They went out through the north cut at Holgate and got into fish before they reached Beach Haven. In 40-feet of water the real action started. The best rigs were the stretch lures and umbrella rigs.
~Jim Hutchinson Sr.

Name: JONHHY K. THOMAS
Email: jonhhyboy14@aol.com
Boat Name: THE BIG DOG
Phone: 609-677-8671
----------------------
Report Details
Date of Trip: WEEK OF 7TH.
Location of Trip: LONG PORT
Species Sought: TOG/STRIPER
Time of Day Fished: Late Afternoon
Tide Fished: High (Incoming water)
Weather Conditions: Partly Sunny/Partly Cloudy
Wind Conditions: less than 10 kts. SE
Sea Conditions: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Clams, Fresh
Secondary Bait: Eels
Lure Used: No Lures Used (Rig or Hook Only)
Fishing Report:
Hi Scotty, well this is a report for the week, fished for tog in afternoon, then switched-up to striper in the evening. Crushed the tog almost every day, lost 1 anchor & a lot of lead & rigs, but had lots of fish in the rocks! Then went striper fishing but never saw a fish. The new pole I got from you got a good work-out! We had over sixty guy's in our "local boys" tournament, on Sat. But as you know it blew pretty hard, the visibility was terrible, and all we caught was grass. Only had 6 fish caught overall. Thanks for all the rigs & supplies, will be at it again soon. Love the new pole!! Later, Johnny & Debbie...
~JONHHY K. THOMAS

Name: Dominic Tumas
Boat Name: SEA JOY
----------------------
Report Details
Date of Trip: 11/13/14/201
Location of Trip: Montauck Pt, NY
Species Sought: Striper
Time of Day Fished: Morning After Sunrise
Tide Fished: High (Outgoing water)
Weather Conditions: Partly Sunny/Partly Cloudy
Wind Conditions: 20-30 kts. SW
Sea Conditions: 6-8 ft.
Primary Bait: Herring, Live
Secondary Bait: Artificials Only
Lure Used: No Lures Used (Rig or Hook Only)
Fishing Report:
Had this trip to Montauck booked before the action turned on here in NJ but I am so glad I went.

First day was trolling and we had our limit by 7:10 am, fished till 11 am with about 40 throwbacks all 32-40 in.

Second day we caught live herring before sun up, went out to the rip and did the same thing. Couldn't help but catch a fish as soon as your bait hit the water. Quit by 10am and was back here in LEHT by 4:30.
~Dominic Tumas

Monday, November 14, 2011 /\/\/\ 5:57pm

The weatherman was a little bit off today, it was still blowy, but very fishable. I did not hear how the trolling anglers did this afternoon, but Little Egg Inlet floks had a GOOD RUN OF BASS on the falling tide. Not much action on the incoming until the very top of the tide, then it turned on as the hard outgoing tide really began to move. The bass we weighed in this afternoon were all from twelve to twenty pounds; the good eaters, no trophy cows in the mix today.
Sea Ya

Sunday, November 13, 2011 /\/\/\ 4:34pm

Bigger boats trolling stretch 25+ lures were able to catch plenty of bass again up toward Brant Beach Lumps. Many large and smaller boats poked their noses to and out the Little Egg Inlet and decided that there would be nicer and safer days to fish the ocean.
A handful of Little Egg Inlet bar fishing anglers found bass, but it was the few and not the many. There were fish to be caught, conditions just did not allow most of the anglers to get into the right spots.
Sea Ya

Saturday, November 12, 2011 /\/\/\ 5:00pm

Lots of action today as far as Stripers go, despite the gusty wind. Heard of a lot of catching, and some nice size fish, too. The fish were active from Brant Beach down into our LE inlet. The key with the outside fish seems to be trolling and jigging, while bait is being used in the inlet. We sent people out early this morning looking to catch fish off L.B.I., so they used diamond jigs of assorted colors and did well. When the tide changed and started going out, they went and sat in the inlet, and caught fish there. People who went out overnight didn't do as well, they said it finally turned on at the crack of dawn. Inlet fishing is with clams and fresh bunker (which we have) and they said outgoing tide is better. Lots of hook ups; one angler said around 30 fish up to 48", but he chummed very heavily for them.
Sea Ya

Friday, November 11, 2011 /\/\/\ 6:04pm

The wind was howling out of the North West twenty five plus. Many anglers, having the day off in observance of Veterans Day, headed out anyway. Some baited up at the Little Egg Inlet bars and actually did quite well. That is a nice change after a quiet period this week.

Trolling anglers whooped up on the stripers again this morning. There were still fish caught plugging, but they were harder to locate today with the chop. Birds pointed the way so that was a big help. The action is on, get a fishing trip in this weekend, I don't believe the action can get much better then this!
Sea Ya

Name: John Gallagher
Email: angler25@hotmail.com
Boat Name: buddy II
----------------------
Report Details
Date of Trip: 11/09/2011
Location of Trip: ocean off Brant beach LBI
Species Sought: striper
Time of Day Fished: Morning After Sunrise
Tide Fished: Non-Tidal Waters (Fresh)
Weather Conditions: Sunny
Wind Conditions: less than 10 kts. E
Sea Conditions: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Artificials Only
Secondary Bait: No Second Bait Used
Lure Used: Bunker Spoon
Fishing Report:
while I was fishing on wed 11/9 in a fleet of 50 or so boats, I observed a gill netter setting his nets just north from my boat. 3/4 mile off the beach. I observed him rolling up his nets loaded with stripers. I thought this was not legal. the boat was small white aprox 36' and the name was unable to reed it. is this legal or not.
thanks for your comment
~John Gallagher
Hi John, No, it's not legal to target stripers commercially in NJ waters. If he was netting bunker, which is highly likely, and got bass as a side product, in that case the netter would have to throw all stripers back. ~Mo & Scott

Name: David Newman
Boat Name: Lazyone
Phone: 856-816-7742
----------------------
Report Details
Date of Trip: 11/10/11
Location of Trip: Red Tower
Species Sought: Bass/Blue
Time of Day Fished: Morning After Sunrise
Tide Fished: Low Tide (Outgoing water)
Weather Conditions: Fog
Wind Conditions: less than 10 kts. N
Sea Conditions: 2-4 ft.
Primary Bait: Artificials Only
Secondary Bait: Eels
Lure Used: Umbrella Rig
Fishing Report:
I should have been here yesterday...says it all. Anyway ran the north cut in the fog and made my way up to the Red tower in heavy fog and started trolling wire and umbrella. Then eeled for a while. Nothing... Sounds like the bass are at Surf City and north from the radio chatter. I was out out time to run that far and started back to the inlet and picked up this 13 lb Blue. (saved the day). Fog cleared about 11:00 and it turned out nice on the ocean. Inlet was nasty and foggy all day . Dave N.
~David Newman

Thursday, November 10, 2011 /\/\/\ 6:23pm

Many anglers battled the fog and attempted a repeat of yesterdays EPIC fishing day only to be met with major disappointment. There were still a few fish being caught, but nothing like yesterday. Good news is that it's not over! An isolated boat was still able to find those pods of bass and make it work; call them persistent and maybe a little lucky.
Again, not much word from the Little Egg Inlet. Even so, there were a surprising amount of bass caught back up in Grassy, in the Intercoastal and up in/maybe near Marshelder Channel. Maybe the back bays are deserving a little more effort then they have been receiving?
Sea Ya

Name: Ken Dumsha
Email: kdumsha@verizon.net
Boat Name: High Risk II
----------------------
Report Details
Date of Trip: 11/6/11
Location of Trip: Barnegat Inlet area
Species Sought: Striped Bass
Time of Day Fished: Morning After Sunrise
Tide Fished: Low Tide (Outgoing water)
Weather Conditions: Sunny
Wind Conditions: 10-20 kts. NW
Sea Conditions: 2-4 ft.
Primary Bait: Artificials Only
Secondary Bait: Artificials Only
Lure Used: Umbrella Rig
Fishing Report:
You guys down south get ready for a blast. Stripers from the bathing beach to Loveladies and heading your way. Nothing up north as Point Pleasant boats fishing that far south. Fish are eating sand eels, use tubes, ava's, jigging or trolling. OMG Sunday and Monday four people boat limits in an hour or two. Unbelievable fishing. Nice fish also.
~Ken Dumsha

Name: Jim Hutchinson Sr
Email: jamesghutch1@aol.com
Phone: 609-290-5942
Website: http://www.fishbeachhaven.com
----------------------
Report Details
Date of Trip: 11/5/11
Location of Trip: ocean inshore
Species Sought: Striped bass and black sea bass
Time of Day Fished: Morning After Sunrise
Tide Fished: Low Tide (Incoming water)
Weather Conditions: Sunny
Wind Conditions: 10-20 kts. N
Sea Conditions: 2-4 ft.
Primary Bait: Clams, Fresh
Secondary Bait: Butterfish
Lure Used: Bunker Spoon
Fishing Report:
The fishing for striped bass and black sea bass exploded this past weekend as the boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association found some excellent action.

Captain Carl Sheppard on the "Star Fish" had Chris Maest and his 9 year old son Eric of Princeton out Sunday for some striped bass. Because of the recent poor weather, Captain Carl was doubtful about how the offshore action would be. The seas were not that bad, however, and they tried trolling. First young Eric picked up a big bluefish in about 35-feet of water. After more time trolling, a big fish hit. Young Eric grabbed the rod and fought the fish for 25 minutes until a 40-inch bass was boated. These were Eric's first big fish every, and he surely is a hooked angler now.

Captain Fran Verdi on the "Drop Off" reports that his November fishing production has seen a dramatic improvement from that of October. Although the main run is still to the north of Beach Haven, Captain Fran has been seeing some very nice bass on his boat with all in the 20-pouond class. His sources tell him that the main body of fish should b e arriving any day now.

Meanwhile Captain Frank Camarda on the "Miss Beach Haven" took a crew of anglers out for a day of bottom fishing. This was his first trip since the black sea bass season reopened on November 1. Mate Sal Rosa reports that most anglers limited out while those who did not ended up with an average of 20-fish. Besides the sea bass a striped bass, some bluefish, and some blackfish were brought across the rails. Chumley won the pool with a 3.5pound sea bass. The "Miss Beach Haven" has a 10-hour offshore sea bass trip scheduled.
~Jim Hutchinson Sr

Wednesday, November 9, 2011 /\/\/\ 7:29pm

Ocean anglers called today an EPIC fishing day. High hook reported was one vessel boating over SIXTY stripers; big fish just under THIRTY pounds. There were pods of fish moving along the beach boiling the surface like schools of bunker. They weren't stacked like cordwood, but I was told don't be surprised if someone actually dipped a net in the water to grab a bass on the end of their line and ended up with a different bass that was following the others up. Four guys aboard the vessel "My Relief" weighed in their eight keepers up to twenty seven pounds and released many others including slammer size bluefish. The furthest South I heard anglers catching was just above the Red Tower on the Southern most tip of Long Beach Island. Hey Fishies, come on a lil further South.
Little Egg Inlet anglers still had a slower day of it. One angler brought in about a five pound Cod fish! Yummie dinner and a heck of surprise that one! Late in the afternoon, Thomas Mikolajczyk did find a 16 pounder on the bars.
An absolutely amazing day on the ocean... Folks caught the bass on just about anything in the box. Several refreshed up on metals; anything green was moving off the walls. Others replaced stretch 25+ lures and tube lures lost in the frenzy.
Early this morning we got another shot of fresh clams; we were working into them tonight. Late in the day, we received a Haul of FRESH BUNKER. These fish couldn't have been any fresher and they are mostly one pound plus fish too. Bait is in good shape through Saturday. Time will tell when the next clam come; I bet that is my one shot of fresh bunkers for the week as the seas sound like they might get a bit choppy to spot the bunker tomorrow.

Sea Ya

Monday, November 7, 2011 /\/\/\ 5:40pm

Take a number if your headed to the Brant Beach Lump in the morning. Anglers SLAYED the stripers there today and as far South as the Red Tower on the Southern most tip of Long Beach Island. The further North you went today, the better the action. They caught the bass pluggin', jiggin and trolling. The fish were roiling on the surface and the birds helped point the way!
My fingers are crossed for that body of fish to loiter into the Little Egg Inlet. It is possible they could show up there tomorrow; they sure weren't there again this morning.

Sea Ya

Sunday, November 6, 2011 /\/\/\ 6:10pm

UPDATE 6:10 PM - We WILL have clams for when we open in the a.m.

I was really surprised I didn't hear "here fishy fishy" on the VHF radio today. It was a beautiful day on the water and only a handful of anglers were able to come up with any fish. The Trost Crew found FIVE nice bass up to 28 pounds in the LE Inlet early this morning on the falling tide. Another river angler reported watching another angler boat three bass while the other fifty boats did un-gotz; go figure.
Sea Ya

Saturday, November 5, 2011 /\/\/\ 6:17pm

Little Egg Inlet produced a bunch of stripers again today; mostly twenty eight to forty inches in length. There haven't been any reports of any huge cows around just yet. It is still tough to be one of the boats catching as the action is just intermittent. I just reviewed to days tides and couldn't see a pattern that tells me that the tide is making all that much of a difference as to when one should be putting forward the most effort.
Land base surf anglers have found that Graveling Point is producing stripers too. Earlier in the week, activity was shorts, but Thursday evening there was a keeper caught too. There has been a lot of effort for just a few fish, but the potential is there for an evening of fun.
Again, sea conditions have made it difficult for trolling anglers, sea bass and tautog fishermen. Rough seas have also put a hurting on the bait supply. We had no luck getting any fresh bunker this week. Every clam delivery was shorted and we are GOING TO RUN out of fresh clams early tomorrow morning. Begging phone calls were answered by answering machines. We will have salted and clams that we froze that were left over from too many clams last week when the weather was horrible last Saturday. It is still decent bait that will get you through the day. We also stock piled up on the buckets of clam chum too, so we are good there.
Sea Ya

Friday, November 4, 2011 /\/\/\ 6:04pm

It turned out to be an excellent fishing morning. There wasn't a breath of wind and temperatures were above the frost level. Early anglers caught the last of the outgoing tide and some that were in the right place had some pretty nice bass action. Two different boats reported five plus bass. Trolling anglers aren't doing much but putting miles under their hulls. Lots of angler had fish on and quite a few came home with a bass in the cooler. The action continued on the incoming tide of the morning, but wasn't as good as the early dropping tide.

No word from anyone attempting the sea bass today. I think the lousy forecast scared away any anglers planning ocean trips. Wind has already started picking up a bit this evening.
Sea Ya

Thursday, November 3, 2011 /\/\/\ 6:04pm

Lots of stripers were caught today. Did anyone have a banner day? I don't believe so, just a pick of bass all day long. Several of the bass reported were caught back up in the bay as anglers didn't want to fight the rough sea conditions of the Little Egg Inlet. On the VHF radio we heard a report of a bass now and again on the bars throughout the day; just quick little blurbs like "That was a forty incher".
Still no activity on the Sea Bass as it has just been too rough. Friday doesn't look any better for getting offshore, but maybe we can catch a break on Sunday.
Sea Ya

Name: Jim Hutchinson Sr.
Email: jamesghutch1@aol.com
Phone: 609-290-5942
Website: http://www.fishbeachhaven.com
----------------------
Report Details
Date of Trip: 11/2/11
Location of Trip: Inlet and bay areas
Species Sought: Striped Bass
Time of Day Fished: Morning After Sunrise
Tide Fished: Low Tide (Outgoing water)
Weather Conditions: Sunny
Wind Conditions: less than 10 kts. SW
Sea Conditions: 4-6 ft.
Primary Bait: Clams, Fresh
Secondary Bait: Eels
Lure Used: No Lures Used (Rig or Hook Only)
Fishing Report:
After several weeks of waiting for the arrival of a decent striped bass bite, it appears the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Association are getting their wish. Decent sized stripers have been making their way through Little Egg Inlet and into the sheltered waters of Great Bay and Little Egg Harbor Bay.

Captain Fran Verdi of the &"Drop Off &" spends a lot of time in the fall pursuing striped bass, and he feels the recent cooler weather has been doing the trick to get the bass in the bay. In the past few days he has put several nice sized linesiders in the fish box including a pair of 20-pounders on Wednesday.
Captain Fran says that he is fishing with a combination of techniques from chumming with clam to drifting live baits. His choice depends to a large extent on tide and wind.

The black sea bass season reopened on Tuesday, but big swells in the ocean have kept the BHCFA captains from getting out on the inshore wrecks and artificial reefs. They are also looking forward to the increased limit on blackfish on November 16 when the limit rises back up to 6 fish daily from the current 1 fish per day.
~Jim Hutchinson Sr.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011 /\/\/\ 5:21pm

The water temperature dropped in a hurry. Several anglers reported temperatures in the lower fifties. I have been working in the water cleaning boxes and rinsing clam tubs, scrubbing the minnow tank filter, etc. and it doesn't take very long for your hands to start stinging. Cold water brings BASS!!!

Small bass have moved back into the Great Bay, a good number of fish too. The end of the road had a good bite last night; no keepers. Little Egg Inlet was down right nasty today. The North East wind blowing forced anglers to stay away from the bars. Even so, there was a reasonable scattering of fish caught today. The action is on.
Sea Ya