After several weeks of anticipation it seems that striped bass are finally in reach of the boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association. Anglers in the Long Beach Island area had begun to tire of hearing noteworthy catches from the north while their fishing was just a pick.
Fish are showing up south of Barnegat Inlet in some sizeable numbers, and these fish are big fish. The bulk of the striped bass are ranging from 15-30 pounds while yhere are big numbers of 15-pound bluefish.
These fish have been trolled up in deeper water just inside the 3-mile line, but in the past couple of days some hot action has been reported closer to shore on some of the lumps off Harvey Cedars, Ship Bottom, and Brant Beach.
Captain Fran Verdi on the boat “Francesca Marie” had a group out recently, and they headed north of Barnegat Inlet to see what they could troll up. They managed to boat one very nice 28-pound bass along with some sizeable bluefish. Captain Fran plans some more of these trips but hopes to find the fish a little closer to home.