Labor Day may be on its way out, but the summer fishing action for the boats of the Beach Haven Charter fishing Association is not slowing down. The throngs of summer visitors to Long Beach Island have left, but not the fish. The water is the warmest of the year right now, bringing a variety of fish for anglers.
Although the bulk of the fluke have made their way from the bay waters into the ocean, there are still some remaining in the back bays. This is proven by a couple of trips by Captain Brett Taylor of Reel Reaction Sportfishing.
On one of his last days of fishing before school starts, Captain Brett had Zeke on a bay blowfish trip. They worked a few spots and ended up with 56 of the tasty critters to take home in addition to another 20 released. That afternoon his party fished the bay for fluke and after working a bunch of shorts they ended up with a 24-inch fluke. Captain Brett will be running afternoon and weekend trips well into the fall.
Turning to the ocean, Captain Gary Dugan on the “Irish Jig” reported a charter over the weekend that took home 5 keeper fluke to 23-inches and one nice sea bass. They fished structure in the ocean at the south end of LBI. The day before he and his wife Tracy caught 4 beautiful fluke to 25-inches.