<b>Sandy Hook</b>

Phenomenal catches of bluefin tuna were walloped Friday and Saturday 50 to 70 miles from shore, according to anglers who sailed for them, said Capt. Derek from <b>Fisher Price Charters</b> from Highlands. Derek wasn’t asked the location, but the Virginia wreck off Long Island seemed likely. The fishing was known to go off there before the nor’easter. Located in the 30 fathoms, the wreck is 60 miles from New Jersey. The fishing sounded similar to angling for bluefins last year at the Atlantic Princess wreck off Jersey. But green waters hampered fishing there this summer. Fisher Price is fishing for bluefins on charters and open-boat trips when enough of the tuna are around.

<b>Manasquan Inlet</b>

After this week’s storm, trips will now sail for bluefin tuna the next two or three days, said Capt. Fred from <b>Andrea’s Toy Charters</b> from Point Pleasant. The fishing was good 70 miles from shore. Tuna fishing farther offshore at the canyons was hit or miss, and the tuna around Hudson Canyon began to bite more at night on bait than during the day on the troll, and trolling for them became slow. On a trip last week on Friday with Andrea’s Toy, bluefins were pounded. The trip arrived at the grounds at 7 a.m., and a bluefin was jigged within 5 minutes, and 10 were landed. The anglers were new to tuna fishing and jigging, but caught on quickly. Later mahi mahi cruised by, and a few were boxed. That was a great catch, but tuna fishing was off during a charter that attempted to catch the fish last week on Wednesday. The anglers, intending to fish both for bluefins inshore and for yellowfin tuna offshore on the trip, first stopped at the bluefin grounds. But no bluefins hit in a couple of hours. Not much was marked on the fish finder, though skipjacks and bait swam the waters. So the trip motored offshore to Hudson Canyon at the 100 Square, after first stopping at 100 fathoms between the Dip and the Hudson, finding seas too rough in winds there. At the 100 Square the trip set up for the night, but nothing bit, except two run-offs immediately on arrival. Up on the troll the next morning, one fish bit and came tight a while, but got off. The trip attempted to drift for tilefish, but there was no drift. The crew decided to look for mahi mahi to put fish in the box, and nearly a dozen were pelted. The anglers tried looking for bluefins again on the way home, but waters were dirty. “Tough, long day,” Fred said in the report on the boat’s Web site, “but (the) understanding and appreciative (anglers) made it better.” Charters are fishing, and see the write-up toward the bottom of <a href="http://www.andreastoycharters.com" target="_blank">Andrea’s Toy’s home page</a> to check out annual, open-boat, mixed-bag trips for big game. Andrea’s Toy specializes in mixed-bag fishing for greater fun, better chances of hooking up and more variety for dinner.  

A trip that a customer ran battled 20 bluefin tuna at the Virginia wreck before the blow, said Capt. Rich from <b>Jersey Hooker Outfitters</b> in Bricktown. Rich’s charter business, <b>Jersey Hooker Charters</b>, sailing from Point Pleasant’s Canyon River Club, fished at the tip of Hudson Canyon during the weekend before the weather. Tuna fishing began to turn on more at night on the chunk at the canyon, and trolling for tuna during daytime began to be slow there. Yellowfin tuna invaded the chum slick at night, and were leader shy. Light leaders had to be used that made the fish difficult to land. Rich saw no longfin tuna, but other boaters caught longfins at the canyon. A white marlin and a blue marlin were released on the daytime troll on the trip.

<b>Absecon Inlet</b>

Yellowfin tuna fishing, when the weather allowed boaters to sail, was best mainly in 30 to 40 fathoms during the daytime on the troll, said Curt from <b>Offshore Enterprises Bait & Tackle</b> in Atlantic City. The tuna this season kept moving, appearing at different places, and trips had to run over them. No huge numbers were caught lately, but anglers boated some, working for the fish. Though the fish kept moving, the tuna held toward 40 fathoms inshore of Lindenkohl Canyon for some time. Everyone seemed to pick up a longfin tuna or two on trips, and sometimes anglers ran into a mess of them. One boater ran a trip that picked up a couple of yellowfins and a couple of mahi mahi then got covered up with longfins, filling the boat with the fish. The <b>Carly A</b>, the shop’s offshore charter boat, kept sailing on the trips.

<b>Townsend’s Inlet</b>

A long day trip left at 2 a.m. Thursday, sailing offshore, returning at 6:30 p.m. with <b>Over Under Adventures</b> from Avalon, Capt. Trey said in an audio report on Over Under’s Web site. The crew planned to look for tuna around 210 feet inshore of Lindenkohl, Carteret and Spencer canyons, where the fish bit recently. But the fishing was slow, and six or seven boats worked the waters thoroughly up and down the line, had the area covered. A couple of mahi mahi were boated with Over Under in the morning at the Lobster Claw, the first area fished on the trip. The area gave up the best tuna fishing most recently. The trip ended up fishing at the 40-Fathom Fingers and Spencer Canyon, and four mahi were hooked at the lobster pots at the Spencer. The boat began motoring back inshore, and chick birds and bait were seen 7 miles southwest of the Claw in 160 feet, the only good-looking area that was seen on the trip, though waters there were green and dirty. The trip stopped to fish the area 45 minutes, but nothing bit. Trey heard about no tuna bite anywhere, except for a few short bluefin tuna caught on one boat. “Oh boy,” he said. “What now?” A trip today would sail south to the Wilmington and Baltimore canyon areas. Charters and   <a href=" http://overundercharters.com/index.php?page=opendates" target="_blank">open-boat trips</a> are fishing offshore.

<b>Cape May Inlet</b>

Waters anywhere from 30 fathoms to the canyons gave up yellowfin tuna, but trips had to find them from day to day, said Capt. George from the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> from Cape May. No place held them consistently for long, and the tuna might hold in one location one or two days, or might not. Plenty of mahi mahi were around. George knew one angler competing in a tournament who got the lines out of the waters when a mess of mahi were spotted, until the trip passed through the area. Some wahoos swam offshore.

Back to Top