We have brought back the Barnegat Fishin' Hole Year-Long Tournament. There are eight categories to fish for: winter flounder, summer flounder, heaviest five summer flounder, weakfish, striped bass, blackfish, bluefish and two optional categories (shark & tuna). Cash prizes for First, Second and Third place in each category (shark and tuna categories are first place only)!

Monthly largest fish prizes donated by our sponsors will be awarded to the single largest fish caught that month for the given species. Visit the Monthly Largest Fish Prizes page for details on the monthly species and prize.

For complete details see the page.

I am glad to see this back. I have a couple questions for you.

1) If only one fish if entered into a category, obviously person would win first but will they also win 2nd and 3rd?

2) What happens if over 50 entrants?

3) Is there a percentage for the reef fund or for maintaining the tourny?

Thanks, great questions.

1. Yes if only one fish for a given category is weighed in then first place will receive second and third place as well. If two fish are weighed for a given category then the third place prize will be divided between first and second place.
2. The prizes will increase with the number of entrants. As we move into the season we will update the prizes page with the expected payouts.
3. Yes, a portion of the entry will be added to the reef fund as well as tournament administrative costs.

Looks like you did a great job with the tournament details. My check is in the mail and I am going pledge 20% of anything I might win to the reef fund.

Paul Haertel

We have had this come up in our tourny at the shop. Can one angler win more than once for each category. Say 1st and 3rd for bluefish or is it best fish per person per species....John

We kept the prizes the same as in previous years, one angler can win more than one place in a category.

Joe, any chance of including your members who fish Grt Bay?
Scotts Bait & Tackle would be a good weight station.

I did not see anything in the rules about boundaries. What are they?

Paul- In prior years,boundaries were all of NJ. That way someone wouldnt go to montauk for bass...etc... But I am sure Joe will elaborate.

Ron I will give them a call next week. I am also working on getting a shop for the Brick/Manasquan area.



While there is nothing in the rules for boundaries you must use a participating weigh station to weigh your catch.

Joe- So you are saying I can weigh bass in from a charter in montauk, as long as I put them on the scale at sun harbor?

Thanks Joe

We kept the rules the same as previous years, all NJ and federal regulations apply to season, size and bag limit. We did not change this to NJ waters only since that would limit the boundaries for several species including shark, tuna, sea bass, blackfish, bluefish, and fluke which are frequently caught in federal waters. Also it would be near impossible to enforce and verify a fish brought to a participating weigh station was caught in NJ waters. While we do not encourage traveling great distances to catch a fish that is easily caught off the coast of NJ it is within the scope of the rules assuming it conforms to NJ and federal regulations.

I believe that the vast majority of Barnegat Fishin' Hole members obide by the rules. I think it would be a good idea to limit the boundaries to all New Jersey waters and federal waters provided that the boat sails from and returns to a New Jersey port within 24 hours.

Hey Joe, what are the chances of getting a spring striper tourney together.