<b>Sandy Hook</b>

A friend fished the BA buoy Wednesday and came back with a 40-pound bluefin tuna, said Capt. Carmine from the <b>Lucky Carm</b> from Keyport. 

Capt. Derek from <b>Fisher Price Charters</b> from the Highlands fished the Monster Ledge Wednesday with a friend, and they scored two bluefin tuna 25 to 30 pounds, one on a peanut bunker and the other on a diamond jig, he said. The water was 63 degrees, and another friend who fished there last week read 71 degrees. The bluefin fishing lately seemed like some boaters hooked good catches and some landed none. A charter boat that fished near Derek the same day reeled in seven bluefins.

At the Monster Ledge a friend fished for bluefin tuna Wednesday with a bunch of other boats nearby but caught none, and the fishing seemed slow for everyone there, said Capt. Fletcher Chayes from <b>Two Rivers Charters</b> from Sea Bright. But the friend then bottom fished and bagged ling.

Another couple of weeks are probably left for tuna fishing at the canyons within range of Staten Island, said Vinnie from <b>Michael’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Great Kills. The Cookie returned from a trip to the southern canyons, traveling more than 100 miles away, and tuna were all around, but only one was caught. The southern canyons seemed to give up better fishing lately, but reports were being heard about tuna showing back up closer to port at Hudson Canyon.

<b>Shark River Inlet</b>

Canyon fishing was holding up for <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b> from Neptune, and trips were producing mostly big yellowfin tuna and 30- to 50-pound longfin tuna, Cat. Ralph said. Four spots are available on an open-boat trip October 29 to 30, and the rest of the open canyon trips are full at this time. Tuna charters are also available.

<b>Manasquan Inlet</b>

Bluefin tuna fishing was “ridiculous” at the Monster Ledge, and <b>Andrea’s Toy Charters</b> from Point Pleasant went 6 for 7 on the tuna to 35 pounds Wednesday on live peanut bunker on 40-pound fluorocarbon, Capt. Fred said. If you’ve got lots of live bait or peanuts you’ll do well, and if you fish dead bait or jigs, you’ll do okay, but not as well. The water at the ledge was probably 66 or 67 degrees, optimum for bluefins, and they’ll tolerate temps down to the low 60s. Andrea’s Toy is also still running open-boat canyon tuna trips, but only during windows of perfect weather for safety on the 31-foot Contender. Canyon fishing was still very good on the nighttime chunk. Lots of bonito and false albacore were chasing rainfish along the ocean beaches.
Tuna fishing was very good this week, an e-mail from the <b>Jamaica</b> from Brielle said. After a slow trip Friday night, the bite turned on, and Saturday’s trip was the best of the season by far. On that night the boat returned to the same area as on Friday, and the fishing was slow until 3:30 a.m., when the tuna invaded through 6:30 a.m. Sometimes they were jumping out of the water all around the boat, and 40- to 75-pound yellowfins were reeled in, and so were 35- to 50-pound longfins. Most of the fish were hooked 80 to 130 feet down, and both bait and jigs produced. Many passengers limited out on yellowfins, and some added a longfin or two to catches. During the peak of the bite the captain even limited out on yellowfins in 45 minutes while jigging when he took over chunking duties. Sunday night’s trip was also good, and the fishing also started slowly. Two yellowfins and a 130-pound swordfish were nailed in the middle of the night, and then an occasional tuna and an additional sword bit until morning. More tuna finally started appearing at 6 a.m., and the best fishing turned on from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., and the fish were still biting when it came time to go home. Rob Finkle was high hook with five longfin tuna and a swordfish. Other notable catches included John Zapella’s three yellowfins to 65 pounds and the 130-pound sword and John Short’s two yellowfins and a longfin. A tuna charter Monday night was also good. A couple of tuna were lost at first, and a few 6- to 10-pound mahi mahi were later caught, but then the action was solid from 3 a.m. to 6:30 a.m., and yellowfin and longfin tuna were fought to the boat on bait and jigs. The outlook was good for upcoming tuna trips, and space is available on open-boat trips almost every day in October and November, and charters are also available. Call the boat or visit its web site for info. In a sign that the season’s about to change, offshore wreck trips for giant sea bass, cod, pollock and hake are now slated on the boat in November and December. Six dates are scheduled for 14-hour Wreck-A-Thons in November, and a bunch of 18-hour trips to the 60- to 80-mile wrecks are on the books for late November through December. <b>***UPDATE***:</b> Tuna fishing was excellent for yellowfins and longfins on an overnight trip that returned yesterday on the Jamaica, an e-mail from the boat said. The boat arrived at the 100-fathom line in 65-degree water, and squid, porpoises and mahi mahi were plentiful. A few mahi were landed, and then things were quiet until the first tuna hit the deck at 4 a.m. Another was landed at 5 a.m., and tuna began schooling under the boat and feeding at 6:30 a.m. The fishing was a slow pick for a while, but it really turned on a 8 a.m. Then the fishing was good until the boat headed home. Dennis Mulenforth was high hook with five longfins and two yellowfins to 100 pounds. Other notable catches included Mike Jung with five longfins and a yellowfin, Frank Graziano with three longfins and two yellowfins and Kevin Feaster with three yellowfins, a longfin and a 10-pound mahi. This month and next are traditionally good for tuna chunking, and the outlook seemed good for upcoming trips. Space is available Monday through Friday and also on October 31, and many dates are available in November.

After last week’s cold front and windy weather, the <b>Gambler</b> from Point Pleasant resumed  open-boat tuna trips Friday evening, even with lingering strong winds from the front, and conditions weren’t so bad that night with mostly following seas, Capt. Bob said. Two trips sailed Friday and Saturday nights, and fishing was very good for yellowfin tuna, longfin tuna, a couple of swordfish and some good-sized mahi mahi. On Friday night the tuna mostly bit from 3 a.m. to daybreak, and then at daybreak the action mostly dropped off. However, after daybreak a patron from the Jersey Coast Shark Anglers nailed a 210-pound Allison tuna. On Saturday night Chris Karbownik hauled aboard two 100-pound swordfish in addition to three yellowfin tuna from 30 to 60 pounds and a couple of gaffer mahi mahi. A bunch of 8- to 12-pound mahi were bagged that night. Tuna fishing actually seemed to be improving, and Capt. Bob thought the best canyon fishing was yet to come, so he was probably going to add trips in November. Space is available on trips running several times a week during the current month, and the trips that would be added in November would fish from Sundays to Mondays.

Overnight, canyon tuna trips were slated to leave port on the <b>Katie H</b> from Brielle today and Sunday, and the forecast looked like gale winds would force today’s trip to be cancelled, but Sunday was probably a go, Capt. Mike said. A boater from the dock headed south this week and fished Wilmington Canyon for a catch of 13 tuna. Canyon fishing on the Katie H will continue as long as possible, even up to Thanksgiving. Big bluefin tuna usually also move into Hudson Canyon around now, so that fishing might become an option. Reports were being heard about small bluefins boated at the Mudhole at inshore grounds, and a friend reeled in seven on one trip and four on another. If anglers want to fish for the inshore bluefins on charters during weekdays when no canyon trips are booked, that’s open.

<b>Barnegat Inlet</b>

Capt. Dave DeGennaro from the <b>Hi Flier</b> and sons Nick, 9, and Max, 6, ran to the Monster Ledge for bluefin tuna on Tuesday on a friend’s boat, Dave said in an e-mail. Two 15- and 20-pound bluefins were nailed on jigs in the morning, and at noon Max and Nick both hooked up two minutes apart. They were fishing live finger mullet swum 70 feet underneath Redi-Rig Release Floats. The boys took an hour to land the bluefins, but they did it themselves, and Nick boated a 42-pounder, and Max tackled a 32-pounder.

<b>Beach Haven</b>

An overnight tuna charter fished Tuesday to Wednesday on the <b>Miss Beach Haven</b> and battled to the boat seven yellowfin tuna and longfin tuna and a couple of nice mahi mahi, Capt. Frank said. The fishing was alright, and the yellowfins were good-sized and 70 pounds, and the fish bit around 4 a.m. The water was cold and 67 degrees, and lots of squid and bait swam around. The boat is mostly a party boat sailing for inshore bottom fish at the moment, but tuna charters are offered and will keep sailing for the fish as long as the bite holds up. A special offshore wreck-fishing trip will run 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Veterans’ Day, Monday, November 12, fishing the 30- to 35 mile wrecks, and reservations are required. The last such trip last week scored pollock, cod and giant ling.

<b>Absecon Inlet</b>

Twelve yellowfin tuna to 90 pounds were battled aboard on the <b>Fishin’ Fever</b> from Brigantine on a charter at Wilmington Canyon on Saturday night, and a small swordfish was released, Capt. Tom said. The water was rather cold and 68.5 degrees, and the clarity was terrible, and squid, but not many, were around, so the water really didn’t look good. Only five other boats were fishing the Wilmington that night, and their total catch was one yellowfin tuna, a couple of longfin tuna and a couple of short swords. The catch of a dozen yellowfins would’ve been good on any night, but given the bad water conditions and the slow fishing on other vessels, Tom was especially happy with the results. The charter left for home at 4 a.m. because seas had built to 5 to 7 feet and were tight. Tuna charters will be available through this month, and open-boat tuna trips will sail this weekend and next, and space is available. The boat will move to Cape May by November 3 and start fishing for striped bass.

<b>Townsend’s Inlet</b>

Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Gibson’s Tackle</b> in Sea Isle City said his  friend Frank Stedley fished Baltimore Canyon from Sunday to Monday on the Low Profile with Over Under Adventures. He had a great time, Joe said, and the trip went 9 for 15 on tuna on the chunk and also drilled a 336-pound swordfish.

<b>Hereford Inlet</b>

Dave Bowman and crew on the Blue Hoagie fished Wilmington Canyon and came back with two wahoos and three tilefish, said Cathy from <b>Sterling Harbor Bait & Tackle</b> in Wildwood in an e-mail.

<b>Cape May Inlet</b>

A friend fished between Baltimore and Wilmington canyons Tuesday night and limited out on yellowfin tuna, said Capt. Ray from <b>Jaftica Sportfishing</b> from Cape May. Some of the yellowfins were smaller and 50 to 60 pounds, but big, 100-pound Allisons were nailed in the early morning. The friend fished on the warm side of a 69- to 72-degree temperature break.  Jaftica will probably take one last shot at tuna at the canyons this coming week.

Bob McGuire’s party tackled two bluefin tuna 65 and 95 pounds at the Misty Blue wreck on the <b>Down Deep</b> from Cape May on Saturday, Capt. Bob said.

Tuna fishing was holding up very well at Spencer and Wilmington canyons, where overnight chunking produced good catches of yellowfins to 100 pounds and larger, said Matt from <b>Jim’s Bait & Tackle</b> in a fax. Swordfishing was pretty good, and anglers on the Miss Andrea fished the Spencer and went 4 for 6 on swords, and one of the beasts was fought five hours before it was lost at the boat. The crew also bagged 12 yellowfins.

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