Trick or treat? Halloween, 2024 is upon us, and over three weeks of the Long Beach Island Surf Fishing Classic is history. Now is a good time to look at how the trick and treating has gone so far on the beaches and jetties and what things might look like in the weeks to come.
One factor to keep in mind is that there is still a lot of time left in this prestigious tournament. There are many days remaining to fish, and a host of prizes just sitting there waiting to be won. And even though it is Halloween, you don’t have to dress up in a costume to receive one of those treats of a prize.
The Classic began with over $25,000 in prizes available for the $40 registration fee.
Although most anglers register for the Classic prior to its start, you can sign up at any point of the 9-week event which runs until Sunday, December 8. Currently, there are 378 anglers on the rolls of the Classic along with 24 fishing teams.
A quick look at the 89 fish already entered in the Classic includes 41 bluefish, 36 tautog, 6 striped bass, and 5 kingfish. There is one striper in the catch and release category while the red drum division has no entries.
As usual, prizes are awarded for daily, weekly, 3-week segments, and overall, along with some special daily prizes. One way for an angler to gauge the chances of winning a prize is to examine recent weigh ins. Approximately 25 days have passed since the event began on October 5. Only 5 kingfish have been weighed in. The means at least 20 days went by without a winner on those days.
Experienced anglers know the kingfish are around when the water is warm. As the water turns colder, the kingfish leave our area. (And the stripers show up.) Although waters are certainly cooling off, a person might have little competition for a prize if he can bait up with pieces of bloodworm or Fishbites and look for a winning kingfish.
Speaking of what to use to attract a winning fish, a look at what registered fish have fallen for is revealing.
There is little debate over what bait to tempt a tautog. Most tautog weighed have been caught from the Barnegat Light rocks using crab for bait. A couple fell for a sand flea, the rest for tasty green crabs.
Most of the bluefish have been enticed by mullet. These early season blues are on the small side with a 7.38-pounder by Domenic Minando currently leading the pack. A couple of blues have fallen for an artificial, but fresh bait is working best at this point.
With just 6 striped bass currently entered, it might be difficult to give a definitive answer of what to use to entice a linesider. Artificial offerings have taken four of the six currently entered. As the bunker schools to the north enter our waters, fresh bunker should be popular.
It is important to use artificials that match what the bass are feeding on. When they are gorging themselves on sand eels, pencil lures will do the trick.
Current leaders in addition to Domenic’s bluefish are George Konowal Jr. with an 11.46-pound bass, William Roth’s 1.14-pound kingfish, and Chris Masino in the Catch and Release with a 32-inch striped bass. Minando also has the largest tautog thus far with a 4.80-pound fish.
Other leaders include Brandy Hillegas in bluefish caught by a female, Hunter Hardin in youth bluefish, Patrick Gallen in Senior Bluefish, and Roth for Senior kingfish.
Registration and additional information on the Classic are available at any of the three weigh-in stations: Fisherman’s Headquarters in Ship Bottom, Jingles Bait and Tackle in Beach Haven, and Surf City Bait and Tackle.