Memorial Day weekend is finally upon us after a long winter, and the captains and boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are ready to put anglers on the fish.
There are several options right now available for anglers to bend rods and put fish dinners on the table. The waters are still on the cold side, so the striped bass bite has continued strong. While the fluke bite will pick up when those waters turn warmer, there are some nice concentrations of fluke in the bay waters where the water is warmer.
The opening of the black sea bass season has started off with a bang with both wreck and artificial reef fishing has been strong.
Captain Max Goldman of the “Starfish” had members of the Southern Regional Fishing Club out fishing a couple of deep-water reefs. Despite the chilly water the group had an action-packed day with over 150 black sea bass caught including 54 keeper bass and 9 ling.
Captain Jonathan Kelly of LBI Sportfishing had a group out this past week for non-stop action on a mix of black sea bass and ling including many doubleheaders. Captain Jonathan remarked the fishing seemed better closer to shore than outside.
The “Miss Beach Haven” will now be fishing out of Liberty Landing at the Mordecai Boat Basin this year. One of only two head boats on LBI, this will place the boat closer to the inlet.
Captain Gary Dugan had a group out doing some bay fishing on the “Irish Jig” for fluke this week. Captain Gary reported decent action but had trouble finding keeper fish due to the cold water.
Additional information on the captains and boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.BHCFA.org