Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters - NJ's Premier Light Tackle Fishing Guide Service

Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters

Welcome to Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters. From April through December, we offer customized light tackle fishing trips on NJ's beautiful Barnegat Bay and nearby inshore coastal waters. We plan each of these trips around the individual charter customer based on their level of experience and the type of fishing they desire. We use only the highest quality tackle, as seen from the sponsors represented on the right side of your screen. We fish for all of the sportfish species commonly found in the Barnegat Bay area, focusing on striped bass, weakfish, fluke or flounder, and bluefish.

Most trips depart from our home dock, located conveniently off Exit 67 of the Garden State Parkway in Barnegat, NJ. Our dock is a pleasant 15 minute boat ride to the open waters of the bay, and most days we're "lines in" shortly thereafter. For clients living or vacationing on Long Beach Island (LBI), we can also arrange departures from Barnegat Light at the Northern end of the island near the Lighthouse.

Our specialty is light tackle fishing... clients are often amazed at the size of the fish they're catching on gear suitable for freshwater lakes and streams. Not only does this enhance the experience for veteran anglers, but it also makes the learning experience more comfortable and enjoyable for novices and kids. Look through our photo album and judge for yourself from all the smiling faces.

2009 was another great year for fishing in this area, and 2010 should be even better. I hope you'll contact us with any questions you might have and to book a trip with us for next season. Thanks for stopping by.

Captain Jack Shea
"Rambunctious"
Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters

SAVE THE SUMMER FLOUNDER FISHERY FUND

Summer Flounder (Fluke) stocks are in excellent shape and the fluke biomass is now at the highest level ever recorded. However, we cannot say the same thing for the fishery. In spite of the great progress we've made over the past decade in rebuilding fluke stocks to record levels, we're faced with another round of federal quota cuts in 2009 and the National Marine Fisheries Service may be forced to ban fishing for Summer Flounder entirely by 2011. And there's a very well organized, extremely well funded hard core environmental industry lobbying very hard to make sure that happens.

We all want sustainable fisheries so that we can continue to enjoy fishing and ensure that our kids can do likewise when they grow up, but this situation is ridiculous and the time has come to stop it. You can help by supporting the SAVE THE SUMMER FLOUNDER FISHERY FUND. This is a non-profit organization made up of party and charter boat owners, tackle and bait shop owners, tackle distributors, bait wholesalers and others whose livelihoods are dependent on a healthy and vibrant recreational fishing industry. The SSFFF is focused on developing the hard scientific data that will be needed to support our contention that not only are fluke not in trouble, in fact they're more abundant than at any time in history.

In 2008, funding from the SSFFF brought about independent scientific review of the data and methodologies used by the NMFS in managing fluke, and resulted in a reversal of their contention that fluke were overfished and in danger. But more work remains to be done if we're to avoid more onerous regulations and an unjustified closure in the future. For plenty of additional information, visit the organization's web site at www.SSFFF.net.

My boat, Rambunctious, supports and sponsors the SAVE THE SUMMER FLOUNDER FISHERY FUND and I urge you to do likewise. Support the shops, charter and party boats displaying the SSFFF sponsor decal to let them know you appreciate their efforts. If your favorite shop or captain isn't a sponsor, demand to know why. For a current list of sponsors, click here.