Brian, Addison, Carter and I went north today. We fished several wrecks and the Seaside pipe. We were able to keep 4 overs, 3 slots and 1 sea bass. There were also lots of shorts in the mix until the Northeast winds picked up and shut the bite right down. All in all, a nice day.

Not only was the weather forecast for Friday exceptional, but my trolling motor was finally fixed – a broken battery cable that was initially bent and broke due to vibration. Friday was also the last day of a long visit by my grandsons – Nick & Vinnie. We headed to Double Creek to try for fluke with a later plan for blowfish.

The fluke in DCC, the channel by the Dike, the water back near the fleet and OCC were few and all small. But the boys did manage two small bluefish and Vinnie caught a nice 18 1/2″ weakfish.

We then anchored (using my trolling motor) between the BI buoy and the shoreline. We only fished for an hour caught 4 keeper blowfish and several shorts including a short fluke! Check out the photo of Nick’s doubleheader that has to be two of the smallest puffers I have ever seen. Any day on the water with my grandsons is a fantastic trip!

We did a late day trip and left my dock at 1:30 heading for several wrecks off BI. We had quite a number of throw backs, so we decided to fish the inlet rocks which produced 5 nice keepers to 16-1/2” by Tyler.
Tide Conditions were ideal and having a Rhodan trolling motor helped tremendously. We also had a professional Tog fisherman with us – Max from Fisherman Headquarters. This man knows how to catch Tog!! We were back to the dock by 8PM.

After almost 6 weeks without my boat waiting for the tilt / trim assembly, the part arrived, and Causeway Marine finished the installation. As a combo shakedown cruise and fishing trip, I decided to stay close and hit the Middle Grounds Friday morning. Water temps were 73 and the drift was a nice .8 knots.

I had three fish – a 16.5″ that went back along with a 17+” and an 18.5″ fish. The greenheads got so bad that any thoughts of getting my limit quickly disappeared. It was a nice return to fishing! The second photo shows my engine part fortunately covered under my 10 year / 1500 hr warranty.

We decided to fish today since the remainder of the week didn’t look like it was going to cooperate wind wise. I had a crew of 4 – me, Brian, Tyler and Mike, a friend. We broke the inlet around 8. and went north fishing various spots around the bathing beach. There wasn’t much of a drift, so my Rhodan trolling motor was a tremendous help.

We were able to box 8 keepers to 24”, which tired out Tyler – see picture. We also had 1 red hake and released a bunch of fluke over 18”. The bite was decent until the south wind shut it down. Water temperatures were between 64-68 degrees.

Looking forward to better days with decent winds!

I’ve been fishing daily for Kingfish the last 3-4 days but the eelgrass was too much for me in Barnegat Light and Harvey Cedars. I decided to try mid- island and landed 12 and kept 7. The largest fish was 13″ and all were caught on bloods.
Finally, I don’t smell like skunk anymore!

We left the dock early and broke the inlet around 7:00 only to find 53 degree water temperatures. Not good for fluke!
We were originally going North to Seaside but decided the fluke bite wasn’t happening in those temperatures so we headed offshore 8-10 miles. With 5 guys on board, we end up with 13 keeper Fluke to 21” and released many shorts and overs. We also caught our Sea Bass limit also with many released. As a bonus, we kept 6 Red Hake! We also caught a ton of Tog which were all released!
What a memorable day! Heading out tomorrow hopefully for a repeat performance!

Since my boat is still out of commission waiting on the Lift / Tilt Assembly, I decided to go out on the Miss Barnegat Light. With a spectacular forecast and since it was Monday, how bad could the crowds be? The answer – BAD! With Carolyn Ann III shut down and summer in full swing, I actually thought of getting off the boat before she left dock. Nearly every spot on the rail was filled with vacationers.

We promptly left the dock at 8:00 and proceeded to BL reef as usual. The weather was spectacular but the drift was just okay. The ship’s follow up FB report said “Nice day of fluke fishing again”. They failed to mention the catching was dismal with probably 6 keeper fluke and 3 keeper seabass. I caught my one fish on the chicken rig tipped with 5″ Gulp that we used up in Nantucket. It was a whopping 20″ but good enough for the $310 pool!

In the second photo, the 20″ mark is clearly shown but I failed to show the fish’s nose. Please don’t follow my example.

New member John Barrett went out fluke fishing two days last week with nephew Kevin, a NYS trooper down on vacation. John found a spot N/W of the LER. John reported lots of shorts but managed a limit for both days.
That’s a nice day on the water – shorts but still getting a limit!

The little girl is Kayla, a family friend who wanted her picture taken with the fish.

I left the dock this morning 28 June at 6:30 with Brian, Tyler, myself and Jimbo. We had a real sporty ride out in the Ocean. We wound up having a decent day with 8 keepers to 23-1/2” caught by Tyler. We also had several nice sea bass which were released. The bite was all mid-afternoon. Fortunately, the seas calmed down for great ride back.

On Friday June 24, I joined Bob Dodds and Joe Felice on an early morning charter with Bret Taylor (Reel Reaction Sportfishing) out of Waretown. We hit a number of spots near High Bar, Oyster Creek, and the Waretown flats, and although the fishing was slow, we managed to land 7 nice keepers and a large number of shorts. The water was so clear you could watch the fish hit your bait, and even pull the line away from some of the obvious shorts!

On Saturday I joined club member, (and Grand Bay Harbor neighbor) Dan Ludwig and his wife Cindy on their boat for our first foray to the Barnegat Light Reef for 2022. Although a little early for finding fluke at the tires, there were at least 40 boats fishing with us including the Miss Barnegat Light. Conditions were ideal, but the fishing was very slow. We managed only 2 keepers, 1 short and 1 sea robin. On the way in we stopped at Double Creek, where the clammers outnumbered the fishing boats substantially. Since the boat traffic was really busy, we decided to call it a day and head to the barn.

We made a spur of the moment trip to Barnegat Bay – Double Creek Channel today. We left the dock at 6:30 to fish the outgoing tide with Brian, Tyler, Jimbo, myself and Nick, Tyler’s buddy. We caught a number of shorts with 5 keepers including my 23 1/2″ shown.

We also took a stroll out the inlet and kept 2 cocktail blues. All in all, a great day!

Ed V’s note: I fished today with Phii Simon and new member Jerry Nichols. We fished almost the same exact time in Oyster Creek Channel. We had ~30 shorts and one 17.5″ keeper Phil caught. Location, location, location!

My grandson, Tyler, made it happen today June 14 fishing the south jetty in Barnegat inlet with this Tide Runner weakfish!! The second photo shows the fish at almost 24″. Believe it or not, but Tyler had an even bigger weakfish but lost it!
I am so happy for him and the skills he has developed fishing!! Hopefully, his fish holds up for him for the June FOM. Until then, he will keep plugging!

I went fishing off a sod bank in Holgate this morning and made my first cast at 4:45am. I was throwing a Tsunami Talking Popper with a 9′ Century Rods Surf Machine paired with a Van Staal VSX 150 spooled with 30lb Power Pro Super Slick braided line. I had 60lb test leader tied to my braid with a barrel swivel with a 75lb tactical clip on the end.
After catching a couple 6lb blues, I hooked up to this monster at 6am. The fish measured 32 1/2″ at the fork of the tail and weighed 13.14lbs. This fish puts me in first place in the LBI Spring Derby!

Headed out by myself at about 8:00 to some inshore wrecks and pieces of debris. I caught my limit of sea bass with the largest 18″ and then headed to the LE reef to try for some flounder.  No luck there but I did get 3 more nice sea bass which I had to release! It was a beautiful day and a great trip

What an absolutely gorgeous day on the water with Brian, Sean & Bryson and friend Jimbo. We left the dock @ 6:30 and fished between the BI & BB buoys for a couple of shorts and a ton of frustrating weed slime. We then proceeded to the inlet where Bryson caught the bluefish.

Went from there to the tires with not a touch. Fished a few other spots outside and called it a day. Probably a bit early for the Fluke in the ocean, but what an enjoyable day!

Took my buddy from Delaware down to my spot on Saturday and fished for 3.5 hrs. Couple of Dogfish and nothing more. We went back down Sunday Morning at 5:00. I baited a single 10/0 with salted clam and put it out. Immediately I had a hit but no hook up. Set the rod in the spike and began baiting a hi-lo rig when my buddy saw the single hook rod bend. He picked it up and the fight was on. 10 minutes later he beached a 44″ Striper. Again we had to return the fish to the surf. Not another hit the rest of the morning. This is the best fishing I have had on the beach in a number of years!

The Jen-Jen left the dock at 6:00AM and we headed North. My crew was all VHFC members – Brian & Tyler Leary, Sean & Bryson Wyatt and of course myself. We fished several wrecks and were pleased with the results: 36 keeper seabass with a 20” beauty from Bryson.

We also caught a number of large Tog which were released. On the way in, Tyler plugging the inlet rocks and picked up a 20” Striper which was released. Overall, a great day on the water!

With both a beautiful day and a need for gas, I decided to go south into the middle grounds and then hit the gas docks. After several long drifts without a bite, I decided to head over to get gas. Queen City Marina (formerly Morrison’s) wasn’t busy and at $5.61 per gallon I can’t imagine why.

After refueling, I drifted by the hole just north of the marina entrance and quickly caught the weakfish shown on a new penny shrimp teaser. Further drifts were unsuccessful, so I decided to return to my dock. BTW, the weakfish was a male with an empty stomach and measured 17.5″!