Yesterday members Brian, Tyler, Jimbo, & I with Max and Jared from Fishermen Headquarters headed offshore for a day on several wrecks. We had a mixed bag including almost 6-man limit on Sea Bass, many Tog all released a surprise of several large Porgies, 1- Red Hake and 3 keeper Fluke to 21”. Back to the dock by 2 with a lot of cleaning. What a beautiful day with a group of fun guys.
Unfortunately, not many pictures

We headed out for some bottom fishing at the Garden State North Reef Site. Fishing itself was a slow pick, but we did manage to put a decent catch together of sea bass, ling, and tog. Of course, all tog were released, with a few of them in the 3-5lb range and then the biggest was caught by Mallory – a 7 lb beauty! Most fish were caught using bait (squid and clam) but a few were fooled by diamond jigs.

The added photos show Bill Figley taking a power nap and Alexa Figley with a double header sea bass.

Memorial Weekend Wreck fishing was fantastic!

Day 1 crew: Tyler, Sean, Bryson and I had a great day of wreck fishing with lots of Sea Bass and Tog action with close to our limit.

Day 2 crew: Brendan, friend Nick, Tyler, Brian and I. We caught our Seabass limit with all nice fish 16-18”. Lots of Tog were all released. Never know what comes out of the Ocean. 

I went out Saturday on the Great Bay fishing for fluke with 3 buddies, including fellow VHFC member Doug O’Brien.  We picked up a couple keepers trying different areas before we found a steady bite.  We all caught fish and nearly limited out on fluke.  I was lucky enough to catch a nice weakfish along with a 21″ fluke.  Bucktails and jig heads with 5″ white Gulp jerk shads tipped with live minnows was the key.  It felt good to get out on the water again with good friends on a beautiful day.   

Excellent Memorial Day weekend fishing to report. On Friday, I got my limit of both blues and fluke. Saturday, I picked 150 clams, but fluking was slow. Today, Sunday, I caught my limit of blues with this gator blue of 33+” and two keeper fluke!

Unfortunately, I didn’t land any stripers and crabbing was slow. There’s always tomorrow!

We fished a weather window between some NE winds that didn’t want to move out of the area. We started inshore and caught a few sea bass mixed with good numbers of tog. We then continued to move out into deeper water and found better numbers of larger sea bass with tog mixed in. We fished anywhere from 50’-100’ of water with the best catching in the 80’+ range.

Although the fishing seemed a bit slower than recent early spring sea bass trips, there was plenty of action and we ended the day with approximately 100 fish with a 60/40 split of sea bass/tog. One especially noteworthy catch was a 7 lb cod!

I started early Monday morning in Surf City and got into a bunch of blues. It wasn’t what I was looking for, so I went back on Tuesday with club member Bill. We drove south instead looking for deep water at low tide. We decided to head back to where we started. It was another great day.

Bill started with a 32” striper. I was trying for fluke and lost a small one in the wash. So I went back to bass and one rod. Decided to put out another rod and was rewarded with my first keeper bass of the season at 28-1/2”. Then, it was bluefish, dogfish and skates. Oh my! Our friend Tom had the catch of the day with a real beauty, 43” striper. I caught another small striper before heading home . My wife and I had striper and bluefish for dinner. We both agreed the striper was the winner.

Our original plans were to go fluking but the exaggerated weather report kept John Stuebing and me shore bound. So, we decided to hit the beach instead. A quick stop at SC B&T for bait and we headed to 5th street in Surf City.

It didn’t take long for John to hook and land his first bluefish (or any fish for that matter) from the sands. A nice 27″ fish that was released. I then hooked into a ‘good one’ that I lost in the suds. I landed one ~24″ and had two other knockdowns. I bled my fish and brought it to the car to be iced. My bluefish cakes that night were outstanding! John also lost one and landed another.

A great time on the beach with fantastic weather and feisty bluefish.

Three months and hundreds of casts, with fewer than ten fish caught! I didn’t even see a fish caught during the annual tournament a couple of weekends ago and they were using grass shrimp – I did see a whole lot of beer swigged, however.
Perhaps it is the warming trend, only time will tell. I’ll keep casting and will report any perch over 12.00″.

Well, they arrived! Fishing on Wednesday, I caught two 12.5″ beauties! Can only get better from here.

I went fishing the incoming tide mid-island LBI with some friends using fresh clam and bunker for bait. I got 2 bass on clam, but both came off the hook. Then I landed this 32+” bass that hit bunker. A while later the ocean got really calm and the bite turned off. We left at sunset after catching a few dogfish. Seems the last few hours of incoming tide is producing fish. Side note: we didn’t see any bluefish.

Club member Bill and I along with friend and fellow angler Tom, hit the surf looking for action. And we were not disappointed. Bill caught two, the first and last of the day, 28.5 and 31.25”. Tom had a 29 and a 30”. Those fish were caught on clam. I was high hook with 5 fish 24,32,33,37 and the last was not measured but I put at 26”, Most of my fish fell victim to fresh bunker from SCBT. I also lost a big one when my braid parted. Oh well!

Water temp was 53 degrees. We fished from 10 am until 3 pm – about 2-1/2 hours of incoming and outgoing tides. All in all, it was a very awesome trip!

Brian, Tyler and friend Smitty went to the tog grounds this past Sunday morning. Tyler caught this 22” beauty which he safely released for another day. They caught several other big ones that were also released. But seven tog were brought home for the table.

I had a 4 man crew today as we headed out for a day of tog fishing one of the last 2 days. It was definitely a good morning! We got our limit with the biggest a 6.25 white chin caught by Carl.

Ran out for the first trip of the year to go after some tog. Chilly start for sure, but everyone was excited to go fishing. The pilothouse paid dividends on the ride out. We stopped at Little Egg Reef first and managed a few keepers, lots of short fish. Tried several wrecks, but didn’t seem to find nice quality fish. We ended up taking a ride further out to a wreck to find some nicer fish there, with several JUST undersized. Oh well, back in they went. Managed a total of 8 keepers for the day.

Water temp started out at 47 degrees and was 49  by the time we headed in. We used a combination of tog jigs and rigs with a traditional weight on the bottom. Green crab was the primary bait with a small amount of clam used from time to time.
Using the clam did result in some nice sea bass caught, and it was a shame to throw them back!
Looking forward to the next trip.

Me and the crew headed out on a tog trip this morning to LE reef. We had our limit before 12 so we decided to catch and release since the fish were really biting and they all were keeper size! I would say that we caught a second limit that we released. These fish were 16 to 19″ fish – it was unreal!

Bob Dodds asked John Stuebing and me to join him on a Brett Taylor 3-7 PM charter for bass and tog for Friday, 4/19. Despite the cold, the wind died down from the previous day’s storm to make for an enjoyable trip. We fished for bass along the sod banks inside BI by dragging a 2 oz sinker on a fish finder rig with a circle hook baited with three sandworms! Brett does not skimp on the bait! Bob had a nice 29″ bass and John had a 28.5″ along with a short and one that escaped near the boat. As for me, I need to practice my sinker dragging some more. I didn’t even get a hit.

We then tried for tog along the banks between Andy’s and the lighthouse. Nothing! Brett said the water was just too dirty for tog to see the crabs. Still a fun first trip!

My first trip for 2024 was on April 8th for tog. We fished LE reef and caught our 4 man limit. We also released 2 large females. One went 6 lbs and the other one I’m holding went 7 lbs.

What a way to end my 2024 final Dragonfly charter with Captain Mike Moran! Despite breezy conditions which actually felt nice with the 80+ temps, we went off into the shallows to cast pilchards and greenbacks to hopefully hungry fish. And they were hungry especially once the tide changed.

There were many boils, several stolen baits, a few lost on the way in, but my final count was three 30 – 32″ redfish, two beautiful snook (one over and one slot which I declined to keep), one crevalle jack and one nice 19″ spotted trout which went home with me. On light tackle and in shallow water, these fish really fight hard especially the jack!

What an end to my 2024 SWFL fishing adventures! Thanks again to Captain Mike of Dragonfly Charters.

Since my first trip to Graveling Point in early March, I have returned two more times. Each of those trips produced Stripers. Pictured here is one of the little guys making there way up the Mullica. On the last two trips, I caught two and three shorts to 20″.
I am surprised at how many fish are being caught. I see two or three keepers being caught every trip by somebody. Seems like everyone is getting shorts. The action has all been on bloodworms. I have been focused on the first three hours of outgoing but others have told me they are catching on the incoming tide.
Going to try and get out again this weekend if the weather permits.

Fished the first three hours of the outgoing tide at Graveling Point today. There were four other anglers fishing. There was one short Striper caught (not by me) within the first hour. That was all the action for the day. Everyone was using Blood Worms. Water was very clean considering all the rain. But it was also very cold.
Hopefully I’ll get another crack at it next week…