Recent blustery winds have made ocean fishing for stripers off Long Beach Island an “iffy” proposition, but when conditions allow, some of the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association have been finding limit catches on bass.
Dave Wittenborn has had his “Benita J” out on some solid trips the past two weeks. Pano’s charter boated plenty of big stripers, but they had to weed through the big fish for one to take home for the dinner table. Oddly enough, they also caught a nice sized flounder which had to be quickly released. The burst of fall weather seemed to help Captain Dave’s next trip when some schoolie sized bass appeared.
The Miller charter was “an old-fashioned striped bass trip with hats, gloves, and winter jackets…the way it should be,” noted Captain Dave. There were birds all over the water, and the “Benita J” trolled and jigged light tackle getting a limit of both slots and bonus tag fish. He had special praise for two standout lady anglers on the trip.
Captain Brett Taylor of “Reel Reaction Sportfishing” ran a 3-hour late afternoon striped bass charter with J. Burke, his son Braiden, and Uncle Gary. The ocean was too rough for comfort, so they stayed inside and worked several areas. The fishermen did a great job connecting and boxing 4 striped bass up to 27.5 inches.