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New Jersey Offshore Fishing Report 8-26-11


<b>Shark River Inlet</b>

Hudson Canyon fishing was no good on an overnight trip Monday to Tuesday aboard, Capt. Ralph Leyrer from <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b> from Neptune said. Boaters far to the south caught well, but a horrendous tide and dirty waters filled the Hudson, and no boaters scored well there. Two yellowfin tuna and a mahi mahi were iced on the trip with Last Lady. Just because fishing there was slow during these days, doesn’t mean the angling will remain slow. This storm could stir up the waters and get the catches going. Call about special one- and two-day canyon trips offering a reduced price. Be sure to follow <a href="http://www.facebook.com/FishingInNewJersey" target="_blank">Last Lady’s Facebook page</a>.

<b>Manasquan Inlet</b>

<b>Andrea’s Toy Charters</b> from Point Pleasant Beach hadn’t fished much for bluefin tuna like before, because no population of bluefins to speak of was around during the past weeks, Capt. Fred said. But open-boat trips and charters kept sailing for a mixed bag of mahi mahi fishing and wreck fishing in one outing. Tons of mahi were around, and the wrecks held life. Bluefin fishing, angling that had been a focus on the mixed-bag trips, should bounce back, and could do so because of the storm. On the last trip aboard farther offshore to the canyons Saturday, fishing was slow at the Hudson, but a yellowfin tuna and some mahi mahi were managed. The previous canyon trip was good on the boat. Andrea’s Toy specializes in mixed-bag fishing for greater fun, more chances of hooking up, and better variety for dinner. 

Bluefin tuna fishing was more miss than hit last week, said Dave from <b>The Reel Seat</b> in Brielle. A few bit, but yellowfin tuna, good-sized, 50 or 60 pounds, swam a  bit farther offshore, like at the Texas Tower, or a couple of miles north or east of there. Bluefin fishing didn’t seem so much a matter of water quality as whether scallop boats were around. Lots of bluefins had been pounded earlier this season where scallop boats worked. Scalloping closed for a moment, and bluefins disappeared. Some of the scallop boats began fishing again, apparently because they were yet to fill their quota, and bluefins reappeared. Lots of mahi mahi swam mid-range waters. Anglers should avoid fishing the same pots for mahi repeatedly, should move around, because mahi will get fished out from a pot, until more return. Boaters at the canyon this weekend trolled tuna but also chunked them.

<b>Little Egg Inlet</b>

Tuna fishing plowed catches along the 100-fathom line Tuesday, and five of the yellowfins to 65 pounds were bombed there that day with <b>Legal Limit Charters</b> from Tuckerton, Capt. T.J. said. A handful of mahi mahi were lit up on the trip.

<b>Great Egg Harbor Inlet</b>

Nothing much bit beyond the reefs, until anglers reached offshore, said Ed from <b>Fin-Atics</b> in Ocean City. Offshore fishing wasn’t bad up and down the canyons. Yellowfin tuna and occasional bigeye tuna were boated, and white marlin fishing was good. Little was heard about mahi mahi offshore, maybe because waters somewhat cooled.

<b>Townsend’s Inlet</b>

Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b>, affiliated with <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>, from Sea Isle City, competed this week in the Mid Atlantic $500,000 tournament from Cape May, he said in a phone call Wednesday. Two white marlin were released on one of his trips in the event Tuesday, and no fish were landed on another Wednesday. Watch a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2F7kGlJ_90&feature=youtube_gdata_player" target="_blank">video of one of the marlin released</a>. Waters, 77 or 78 degrees, looked great on the trips, and included weeds and temperature breaks, and looked better on the first trip, the one in the video, than on the second. Whether the trips would be able to sail the rest of the week remained to be seen, when Joe gave this report, because of the storm. Keep up on Joe’s fishing on <a href="http://captainjoehughes.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s blog</a>.

<b>Cape May Inlet</b>

On the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> from Cape May, tuna fishing was slow during John Grinnie’s charter Saturday, Capt. George said. A wahoo bit off the line, and after the tuna bite seemed slow for everyone, the anglers aboard deep-dropped for tilefish. A golden tilefish was bagged, and so were a bunch of rosefish, with incredibly snowy, white meat. More tiles probably could’ve been hooked, but pumping in the fish from 650 feet was hard on the anglers, and they had enough. Took a good minute for the 4-pound sash weights to reach bottom, and the fish hit immediately when the bait hit bottom, then had to be reeled in. The anglers also fished a wreck close to shore on the way home, and big bergals 2 to 3 pounds chomped. The trip began fishing at the Elephant Trunk, trolling to Baltimore Canyon without a touch from tuna, but the bite-off from the wahoo. A couple of white marlin and a couple of blue marlin were raised among the fleet, but not landed. A few mahi mahi were bagged among the boats. Tuna were supposedly caught there previously, and the best reports that George heard had been from the Baltimore. Boaters had also been putting the brakes on 200-pound bigeye tuna at Baltimore and Wilmington canyons last week. Then a mess of boats flocked there Saturday. The bigeyes took decent angling to land in 600-foot depths. They were unlike bluefin tuna caught in 100-foot depths that run but don’t plunge to the bottom like bigeyes. Fifty-class reels were challenging to use on the bigeyes, and even 80s required care to land the fish. One angler used 130s, saying the bigeyes were subdued with no problem. Mahi seemed more abundant inshore, because a trip aboard Tuesday creamed a dozen 5- to 10-pounders 20 miles from the coast on an inshore-trolling trip. Inshore trolling was good for lots of blues and potentially some mahi, bonito and Spanish mackerel mixed in.

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