Although many folks are counting the shopping days until Christmas, as of December 2 there are just 10 fishing days left until the Long Beach Island Surf Fishing Classic ends on Sunday, December 11.

After more than a month of torrid striped bass reports from Raritan Bay and other areas to the north, the beaches of LBI are now getting their share of fish. This fact is evidenced by the number of stripers being checking into the Classic on a daily basis.

Looking at the results on Friday, December 2, there were a total of 67 striped bass checked into the weigh stations for the tournament. An interesting fact comes out concerning the species of fish now being weighed.

Earlier in the contest, tautog were being entered more than any other species. However, of the last 30 fish entered, 29 of them have been striped bass, and just one tautog. Fred Finger remains atop the tautog list with the 4.80-pounder he landed on October 30 in Barnegat Light on a green crab. There still are only one kingfish and one bluefish checked in.

There is a new leader for stripers, however. On Wednesday, November 30, James Worobetz landed the top fish of the fall in the Classic, a linesider weighing 19.90-pounds. The fish was caught in North Beach on fresh bunker and stretched out to 37 and 3/8 inches.

There is no secret as to why the striped bass action has been picking up on the beach. There are large amounts of baitfish coming in and out of the wash, attracting these moving schools of stripers. Neither the bait nor the fish will stay in one spot very long. Anglers are reporting schools of bunker ranging in size from peanut bunker right up to adult size.

When a school of bass zeroes in on a pod of bunker close to the beach, everything breaks loose. These stripers can be so ravenous at times that they actually chase the baitfish right through the wash onto the beach. An angler lucky to be in the right spot at the right time can experience the time of his life on serious bass action.

An examination of Classic results indicates what anglers are using to bring these fish in. The past week shows that bunker is the most successful fresh bait, while a combination of lures and artificials are next in line. If an angler is fortunate to be at the spot of one of those blitzes of feeding bass, casting an artificial can be great fun.

One word of caution on fishing one of those blitzes. Even though you can be a solitary figure on the beach, when a school of bass shows up in the wash close to shore, other anglers seem to come out of the woodwork. Instead of being all by your lonesome, suddenly it can be shoulder to shoulder with anglers throwing offerings out to sea.

In a situation like this, it is important for all anglers to use some common sense and courtesy. Take turns casting out and obviously do your best not to cross over someone else’s line. If that does happen, communicating in a respectful fashion can quickly resolve the situation. If someone is hooked up and fighting a fish, the nearby anglers should do their best to get their lines out of the way.

By the way, these bass can show up anywhere on LBI, but the shores north of the Causeway seem to have a narrow lead over those to the south.