Anyone who believes the fishing off the coast of Long Beach Island has ended is sadly mistaken. Recent action aboard the boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association is direct proof that the action is still hot.
Striped bass fishing close to shore may be the best it has been in years. Bass of all sizes are being boated as the fishing is good whether trolling, jigging, top water casting, or fishing live baits.
Max Goldman aboard the “Star Fish” with Captain Carl Sheppard has been catching big stripers trolling with bunker spoons.
Steve Palmer and son Rod fished with Captain Nick Perello aboard the “Aquila” right outside Beach Haven. The father and son duo boated five huge bass, all of which were safely released. The hot lure was a 9” Tsunami Flutter Spoon picked up at Jingles Bait and Tackle.
Gary Dugan had a slow start one morning on the “Irish Jig” recently but “finished with a bang.” After catching a goodly number of big bass, they managed one at 31-inches for the cooler.
Captain Dave Wittenborn on the “Benita J” reports a limit catch for the Franco group. They enjoyed multiple double and triple hook-ups throughout the day. They lost count after 30 fish. All the anglers took fish home keepers plus bonus tag fish.
Brett Taylor had Paul Perpiglia and family on a 5-hour striped bass charter. They started working near Barnegat Inlet, releasing a few overs on live bait. They continued to work and boxed a 31-inch bass along with 2 slots to 26-inches. They then hit a small rock pile with lots of short tautog, keeping their 3-fish limit for the table.
Captain Ray Lopez fished his new 32-foot Carolina Classic, “Miss Liane,” with a great striper trip for Roy Sharp’s Group. It was nonstop action on 30-50-pound stripers. Captain Ray termed it “a great way to break in the new boat.”