BHCFA Report

It is starting to look like “spring has sprung” in the Long Beach Island area, and the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are excited as the 2024 fishing season arrives.

There have been some serious catches of striped bass in the local inshore waters, and in the past few days black drum have made their presence known. The blackfish season has already been an active one. Another season on everyone’s mind is the upcoming summer flounder season.

There have been a couple of changes in the regulations for 2024. This year the season will run from Saturday, May 4, through Wednesday, September 25. This will provide fishing days early in the season for the inshore waters while opening days late in the season for the doormats in the ocean. The daily bag limit will be three with a minimum size of 18-inches.

The BHCFA captains are in various stages of preparation. Captain Gary Dugan has the “Irish Jig” ready to go and reports he will be targeting striped bass and drumfish right away along with blackfish at some of the local wreck sites. He adds that he is “looking forward to another great season of fishing and cruising.”

Captain John Lewis of “Insatiable” sportfishing has been spending the past two months delivering boats up and down the Atlantic coast and even in the Gulf of Mexico. He is looking forward to staying in Beach Haven and putting anglers on fish.

Captain Dave Wittenborn has been working feverishly readying the “Benita J” for action and plans a launch in early May for the heart of the striper season.

All of the Association’s captains are booking dates for the season, and the prime ones are filling up fast. Consult the Association’s website at www.BHCFA.net for information on the captains and their boats.

By Jim Hutchinson Sr

It is unusual, but here we are in the middle of December, and the striped bass action is still going strong. Although most boats have been put into storage for the winter, there are a couple of captains from the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association who are still fishing and catching big numbers of fish.

Captain Gary Dugan is fishing off the southern end of Long Beach Island on the “Irish Jig’ and experiencing great action on the water. Captain Gary’s quote on the current fish bite is to the point, “Fishing is still on fire!!” He had anglers George and Steve out this week, and the pair did an excellent job releasing many oversized fish while keeping three fish from 29-31 inches. Not to be outdone, Captain Gary and his son Brian went out on a quick trip another day looking for bass for the freezer. Brian did not disappoint as he manhandled some nice sized bass while catching the bulk of the fish.

In addition to the striped bass, Captain Brett Taylor of “Reel Reaction Sportfishing” says he has been experiencing “superb togging” fishing out of Barnegat Inlet. He had Matt Windover, Mike W, Charles, and Paul on a 6-hour charter this week. They hit two areas and boxed their 5-man blackfish limit in under 3 hours with all action on the jig. Matt scored his personal best with a nice 11.5-pound female which was released, and Paul added a huge porgy to the box. In all they released twenty-five keepers from 3-8 pounds.

Earlier in the week Captain Brett had Aaron E and his sons Felix and Ez on an afternoon trip. The team jigged up stripers from 24 to 37 inches. They limited out with their eight fish (four slots, four bonus) and made a run to an open wreck. The tautog action produced a dozen fish, including two keepers.

Additional information on the captains and boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.BHCFA.org 

By Jim Hutchinson Sr

Stripers! Stripers! Stripers! Striped bass are front and foremost on the minds of the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association. The bass are arriving from the north, and the action has been good and will get better. The only caveat is finding fish that fit the keeper size of 28-31 inches.

In addition, the tautog fishery is also strong with the captains looking forward to November 16 when the daily limit increases to 5-fish.

Captain Jonathan Kelly of “LBI Sportfishing” reports his striped bass fishing has been super-hot with many oversized bass with a few pushing over 50-pounds. He moved his boat to Barnegat Light for the rest of the season to be close to the action.

Brett Taylor of “Reel Reaction Sportfishing” recently ran a double trip. First up was Rob Crutchley of Bayville on a 5-hour charter with his kids. Despite wind and rough conditions, they boated a few striped bass over the 31-inch mark up to 37-inches. They switched over to tautog for drop and reel action with keepers to 17-inches. The second trip started with blackfish and boxed their limit with fish to 8-pounds. They moved to striped bass and had little trouble putting 4 keepers in the box to 31-inches. Young Luke Taylor handled the first mate duties.

Captain Gary Dugan of the “Irish Jig” has put out the call for striped bass anglers calling the current action “crazy.” Captain Gary has some open dates for this linesider action.

Captain Dave Wittenborn of the “Benita J” reports that Sunday, November 19th is his last open date remaining for the striped bass season. He invites anglers to fish in “comfortable down-east style with a heated cabin.” He is currently fishing out of Barnegat Inlet.

Anyone wanting to book a fall fishing trip or just looking for information about the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can visit www.BHCFA.org

By Jim Hutchinson Sr

The fall season is progressing in the Beach Haven area, and fishing remains strong as cooler weather is lowering water temperatures. The captains of the Beach Haven Charter fishing Association are finding inshore ocean reef and structure fishing to be drop and reel fishing while the offshore tuna action remains strong when weather allows trips to the canyons.

Meanwhile, the striped bass bite is slow but showing promise. There are stripers falling for spots in the bay and inlet waters. While these fish are mostly undersized, there are reports of larger bass heading south in the ocean chasing bunker pods.

To summarize, this is a good time to get out and catch some fish.

Dave Wittenborn had the “Benita J” out to the canyons recently for “lights out fishing” on an open boat trip. The crew tired of reeling in big fish and called it an early day. They brought home seven yellowfin for the table including an 85-pound jumbo. Also released was a 60-inch class bluefin tuna. Captain Dave left them biting for the third consecutive trip.

Captain Gary Dugan reports excellent bottom fishing outside Little Egg Inlet on pieces of structure. One day resulted in thirty black sea bass along with a nice blackfish and some triggerfish. According to Captain Gary, “young (not so little) Richie” caught his first trigger.

Captain Brett Taylor of “Reel Reaction Sportfishing” had Alex Gal and his son Jack on an ocean charter. They boxed a full boat limit of thirty sea bass to 20-inches, plus added some triggerfish. On the way in, they stopped at a small snag for catch and release action with tautog.

By Jim Hutchinson Sr

Summer, 2023 may just be a memory, but the fishing action for the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association could not be better than right now.

The offshore tuna action is going great guns. Boats are returning with limit catches after hot canyon action. Bottom fishing on the artificial reefs and other of structure is offering non-stop action on black bass, tautog, and porgies, and an unusual number of triggerfish. The bay action is producing good catches of blowfish and other species.

The only piece in the puzzle is the arrival of striped bass from the north. That could very well be happening any day as water temperatures continue to drop.

Captain Dave Wittenborn has been tuna fishing with the “Benita J“ and finding all the yellowfin tuna he wants. The Saunders group boated 10 “adult size yellowfins with a couple of jumbos.” They finished fishing by 9am. The Hunterdon Rod and Gun Club saw “lights out fishing on a beautiful fall day,” returning home with 10 nice 60-70lb class yellowfins and a released white marlin that ate a butterfish chunk 15-feet off the back of the boat.

Captain Brett Taylor of “Reel Reaction Sportfishing” had Marty Burns and crew on a blackfish trip before moving to the back bay to target blowfish with great results. The group boxed close to 60 with mostly large fish. Next was the Paul Kaufman party on a sea bass trip. They boxed their 50-fish limit of sea bass along with some nice porgies and triggerfish. Lastly, Captain Brett had Michael Futterman and sons on an after school 4-hour sea bass trip. They also limited out.

The “Miss Beach Haven went offshore on an overnight tuna trip and returned with 7 yellowfin up to 63.5-pounds.

Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.BHCFA.org