After almost two weeks of strong northeast winds accompanied by extremely high tides and high ocean wave, the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can finally start to think about fishing again.
Prior to the bad weather, the offshore tuna bite had been very respectable. It remains to be seen whether that bite is still the same, but some of the captains hope to find out shortly.
In other news, the fall season for black sea bass will be re-opening on Thursday, October 22, with a 15 fish per day limit. Since this fishery has been severely restricted since June, this action should be very productive on local wrecks and artificial reef sites.
Now that the weather has started feeling more like true fall weather, the water temperatures are dropping, and that means the arrival of striped bass. A few keepers have been caught on the beaches of Long Beach Island and quite a few smaller, "schoolie" bass have been landed in the bay waters. As the bigger bass arrive, there will be action in the bay waters drifting live baits and also chumming with clam and bunker. In the ocean, the bite will be active for boats trolling bunker spoons and Stretches. It remains to be seen if there will be a "snag and drop" action with the schools of bunker, and later in the fall the jigging action will begin on the inshore lumps.
Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be obtained by visiting www.BHCFA.net