The invasion of big striped bass finally has arrived to Long Beach Island. The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are in the midst of what promises to be a strong November fishery.
After several weeks of spotty action and stories of some strong fishing along the northern coast, the bass have arrived feeding on large schools of bunker. Since there are still large numbers of these fish to the north, and the schools of bait off Long Beach Island are large, this fishing should be around for several weeks.
The fish are being caught in a variety of ways. Perhaps the easiest is to locate a school of bunker on top of the water column. Using snag hooks, a cast is made into the school hooking onto a bunker. If there are any bass feeding on the bunker school, the live-lined bunker quickly draws attention. When there are no bunker on the surface but signs of bass are showing on the fish finder screen, then jigging with artificial lures including AVA's can be effective. Lastly, trolling bunker spoons has been catching a lot of bass in the past week. This method enables the captain to cover a lot of territory, and the results are often very large fish. Some catches have also been made trolling Stretch's and umbrella rigs.
The majority of the current catches are ranging from 20-35 pounds with some fish even going into the 40's.
Although the prospects look good for this to be an extended run of fish, things can change quickly. Anglers wanting to get in on this striper action are urged to strike while the iron is hot.
Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be obtained by going to www.BHCFA.net