Sat July 20, Sun July 21, and Mon July 22 are the best days to go offshore. This is the “weather window” all of us have been waiting for. Light and variable winds and no storm activity. There are bluefin tuna in a few different places now.  After that, my next availability for any kind of fishing is not until Tues, Aug 13. Open Boat Tuna: Sat July 20, Sun July 21, and Mon July 22, 4AM to 4PM. $450 person. 4 people max. All fish are shared. If you call on one of these fishing days to book another day, I will not be able to respond until I am back in cell range. I w ..read more

Weather windows have been few and far between for running offshore, but the end is finally near. By Friday, it looks good, and the weekend and beyond, even better. Looking at the long range forecast, from Friday on, all looks good. The wind drops out and the sea condition will be much nicer than what we have been experiencing. Now, fingers crossed with the relentless fog. Speaking of fog, we don’t leave in the fog. Yes, we have radar, but I like to see everything with my own eyes when I am on the ocean. We do occasionally get caught in the fog, that can’t be helped. We are very selective about ..read more

The cold water trend continues. While my fingers are crossed it changes and gets back to “normal”, it’s most likely going to stick around some more. How long is anyone’s guess. Here’s my latest fishing report video which is mostly dominated by ocean water talk but there’s a little fishing info with some helpful tips included. I share this because it is very important to understand the dynamics we deal with as anglers on the water. Here’s a link to a blog I wrote in the summer of 2022 about the cold ocean water and phenomenon called upwelling… Upwelling Events On LBI Explained It’s just as rel ..read more

Happy Birthday America!!! It’s the 4th of July.  We want everyone to have a safe, happy and fishy holiday today and the entire week celebrating our independence. Fishing lately has been a grind. Sharpies are putting together catches, but working hard to earn their bites. There’s no way to cut the mustard… fishing has not been great. It has not been easy. Last week’s rain flooded the roads at time, washed out areas (drop in salinity) and raise concerns with water quality in some areas (Ship Bottom Bay Beach & Long Beach Twp Bayview Park Bay Beach). As of late we have had our wate ..read more

We have announced two Open Boat Tuna trips over the last two weeks. The first one did not sail as we did not fill all the spots. This past Friday, we had a full boat and ran north to where I heard the life was, the west side of the Mud Hole. Upon arriving, we had two square miles of fresh slicks with chick birds picking at them, a good amount of finback whales, and nonstop bait ball readings on the machine. We beat that piece of water up for three hours, trolling Joe Shute/Ballyhoo’s and Chatter Side Tracker bars. Never had a sniff. I switched to the drift and we tried bait and jigs for anothe ..read more

Just got some good intel on two different spots within our range to go tuna fishing. Whales, bait, chick birds, nice water and surfacing fish. It’s not my information to give, so please don’t ask. That’s how the information pipeline works. If I find them on my own, I can tell whoever I want, but when it is gifted to me, it’s sacred. Hoping to find bluefin and maybe one other desirable species, some of you may have already heard. Sailing Open Boat Tuna tomorrow, Friday June 28, 4AM to 2PM, $450 person. 4 people max. All fish are shared. We plan on trolling, bait fishing on the drift, and jiggin ..read more

Public Service Announcement – Anglers Must Join The Saltwater Angler Registry Prior To Fishing! Over the last couple of days we have learned from customers that enforcement is out and about checking for NJ Saltwater Registry compliance. It looks like they are done with warnings as we’ve heard about numerous fines for non-compliance. So here’s a helpful heads up. Please share with others! Did you know? NJ saltwater anglers must register annually to fish the marine waters of New Jersey. It was introduced and mandated by law since May 2011. Sign Up For Free Now: dep.nj.go ..read more

After a slower start to the charter season, we’ve had some outstanding flounder fishing on my recent trips. Our local reefs are teeming with fluke, ranging from numerous shorts to some impressive keeper fish. Most of our catches have been on bucktails tipped with squid and mackerel, with gulp also proving effective. Availability for fluke trips is filling up quickly. I offer 4-hour and 6-hour trips for groups up to six people, departing from Holgate Marina. Below are some fish caught on this week’s trips. I look forward to having you on board! Thank you, Captain Jonathan Kelly LBISportfishing ..read more

We are running a short notice Open Boat Tuna trip tomorrow, Wed June 19. Just received some intel on where to try. Lots of life, whales, bait. Good reports on both yellowfin and bluefin. The weather was the deciding factor to run. No storm activity and light winds. This will be mostly a trolling trip. Hunting and searching for whales and life. I will have the jigging and popping rods with us, but honestly it is not our strong suit. I am bringing bait to try and drift if the activity is intense and the rods are not going off. While we are drifting with a few bait rods out, you can jig or pop. 4 ..read more

The surf temp on LBI is warm in the mid 60’s and the water is gin clear. Most of the big bass/drum spring run is behind us but there’s good “summertime” fishing. Right now anglers fishing LBI are catching fluke and blues. There are striped bass still around and there will be residents all summer. A few weakfish are here with most coming up as surprise bycatch. However some anglers are targeting them and catching in the surf and bay. The bay has great crabbing and clamming right now. Mid-shore and offshore sea bass, shark and tuna make for a well rounded spread of opportunities. Now’s the time ..read more