<b>Shark River Inlet</b>

An offshore charter loaded up on 20 longfin tuna, a yellowfin tuna and six mahi mahi on the <b>Nan Sea J</b> from Belmar on a trip Sunday to Monday before the blow, and it was awesome, Capt. Tom said. The boat fished between Hudson and Toms canyons, and nearby boaters seemed to struggle, but the 66.5-degree water on the Nan Sea J’s trip was full of life, including whales, dolphins and quite a few squid. Some of the fish on the trip bit through the night, but the action really turned on from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., and the anglers left them biting. All the fish were taken on sardines while chunking.

The nor’easter this week enabled Capt. Scotty from the <b>Bandit</b> from Belmar to give a report, because previously he was always at the canyons when he was telephoned. He said open-boat tuna trips on the vessel were good until a slower trip Sunday to Monday. The fishing before then was usually producing 1 to 3 yellowfin tuna per angler, and often close to the limit of 3. On the trip Sunday to Monday the boat fished to the east, and tuna were there, but they didn’t want to chew. The open trips will continue.

An open canyon trip with <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b> from Neptune last week bailed 19 yellowfin and longfin tuna on the chunk, and the yellowfins weighed up to 90 pounds, Capt. Ralph said. A couple of openings are available on an open canyon trip Monday to Tuesday, and otherwise spaces are full at this time.

<b>Manasquan Inlet</b>

A charter on the <b>Benchmark</b> from Point Pleasant fished inshore for bluefin tuna Wednesday, a report on the boat’s web site said. At first the fishing was slow, and only a shark bit in the morning, but a 35- to 40-pound bluefin was landed at 12:30 p.m. Then two more bluefins were caught and released, and three others were missed. The boat will head offshore one last time this season on an open-boat canyon trip Sunday to Monday, and call the boat if interested.

On the <b>Gambler</b> from Point Pleasant an open-boat trip fished a shot of warm water at a southern canyon Monday to Tuesday, and patrons scored a good catch of yellowfins, Capt. Bob said.  Most were hefty or 60 to 80 pounds, and a couple were 100 pounds. The vessel arrived at 11 p.m., and the fish started biting by midnight, and the action kept up pretty much through the night. One or two longfin tuna were also gaffed, and a small swordfish was released. A trip Saturday to Sunday was pretty good, and mostly longfins were hooked, and two swords were taken, including Chris Karbownik’s 275-pounder. The tuna were finicky and wouldn’t bite at night. But they began hitting during daylight, although they were line shy. Capt. Bob could look down and see the tuna slowly swimming past. One angler, Shawn McGinn, did well on the fish, landing five of them. He used a lighter leader and no weight, and threw the bait away from the boat. Most patrons took home one or two tuna, and there was a shot of 8- to 10-pound mahi mahi, and a few customers fished the bottom and landed tilefish. Open tuna trips are running five times a week this month, and the next spaces are available for a trip Monday to Tuesday. Tuna fishing is still good, so the boat will sail on open tuna trips from Sundays to Mondays in November, and space is available, because those trips were recently added.

The <b>Katie H</b> from Brielle arrived back at port Monday after an overnight trip to Wilmington Canyon, and the anglers bagged eight yellowfin tuna and some mahi mahi, Capt. Mike said. Probably five yellowfins were also lost, because of the usual break-offs and tangles, and tons of squid swam passed, but the tuna, good-sized, 65- to 80-pounders, preferred sardine baits. Most of them showed up around 1 or 2 a.m. in the 67.5-degree water. The weather was beautiful, a rare window of great conditions at this time of year, and the forecast for the next days was looking rough. Offshore charters this weekend might get weathered out, and if so, the crew might consider taking the anglers bluefin tuna fishing at the inshore grounds, because that fishing seemed pretty good. The bluefins are an option for charters these days, especially on weekdays, when no canyon trips are booked.

Capt. Fred from <b>Andrea’s Toy Charters</b> from Point Pleasant took the kids and family to the Monster Ledge on Sunday and fought bluefin tuna to the boat, he said. Live peanut bunker were fished 40 to 60 feet down on 40-pound fluorocarbon. Andrea’s Toy also battled the bluefins on a trip that was reported last week, and Fred said a lot of anglers also struggled to catch the fish lately, but he wondered whether they were using live peanuts. The water on this trip was 66 degrees, clear and green. Andrea’s Toy will keep fishing for the tuna at the Mudhole until water temps drop and fishing picks up along the ocean beaches closer to shore.

Canyon tuna fishing was very good last week when the weather was calm enough for boaters to sail, said Dave from <b>The Reel Seat</b> in Brielle. Anglers were catching a mix of yellowfin tuna and longfin tuna at the Hendrickson, Toms and even Spencer canyons, and a few were running to the Baltimore. Apparently the water at Hudson Canyon was cool, so everybody was heading farther south, though maybe that was just the popular thing to do. He thought he remembered one boater saying he trolled longfin tuna at the Hudson. At the other canyons chunking was producing most catches, and usually a bite took place toward dusk and maybe an hour after sunset. Then things shut down by 10 p.m. until the fishing turned back on from 3 or 4 a.m. through daybreak. Tilefish were sometimes reeled up, depending on where the boaters fished. Bluefin tuna continued to get landed from the Arundo wreck to the Monster Ledge, usually while anglers either chunked or jigged, but sometimes while they trolled.

Tuna fishing was slow on a trip Sunday night on the <b>Jamaica</b> from Brielle, but 22 of the fish were landed, an e-mail from the boat said. There was little action at night and a slow pick after sunrise. But a trip Monday night was much better, and the boat’s anglers put together a good catch of 60- to 80-pound yellowfins and a few longfins. Fish were picked until early morning, so the boat made a short move. Soon after the anchor was dropped the scope lit up with tuna 80 to 180 feet down, and three to six of the fish were hooked at once for the next 1 ½ hours. As the sun rose the bite slowed down, but anglers picked at shots of three or four fish, and the vessel left for home by 9 a.m. Notable catches listed in the e-mail included a half-dozen anglers with three yellowfins, and some of those also caught one or two longfins. Tuna fishing was excellent for yellowfins and longfins last week on a trip Wednesday to Thursday. Several spaces are available on trips Sunday through Wednesday, and trips are also slated for November. The boat and the 110-foot Atlantis are also available for tuna charters.

<b>Barnegat Light</b>

Offshore boaters brought back lots of tuna through Monday, until the weather closed in, said Lenny from <b>L&H Woods & Water</b> from Wall. The southern canyons seemed most productive, and anglers on one boat at Wilmington Canyon drilled 24 yellowfins by 2 a.m. and went home early. Another angler battled a bunch of tuna south of Toms Canyon.

Good catches of yellowfin tuna came from Baltimore Canyon on trips Monday to Tuesday, said Josh from <b>Barnegat Light Bait & Tackle</b>.

<b>Great Egg Harbor Inlet</b>

Baltimore Canyon produced yellowfin tuna lately, and bluefin tuna could be found at the 750 Square and 28-Mile Wreck, said Dan from <b>Fin-Atics</b> in Ocean City. Bluefin fishing was especially good if anglers could locate the scallop boats, where big fish to 150 or 200 pounds were on the hunt. Some anglers were fall shark fishing, and the beasts at this time of year chase bluefish on a migration south, just like they do while moving north in spring.

<b>Townsend’s Inlet</b>

The boats from <b>Over Under Adventures</b> from Avalon have been tuna fishing through the season, but one of the vessels, That’s Right, is being moved to Cape May to start striped bass fishing, a couple of e-mails from Over Under said. But striped bass were slow to show up, so Over Under pushed the striper schedule ahead to begin striper fishing the first week of November. In the mean time That’s Right will continue to tuna fish, and Over Under’s boat Low Profile will continue tuna fishing from Avalon through Thanksgiving. Over Under was also tuna fishing from Ocean Maryland, but the company’s Maryland season is now finished for the year. That’s Right had been tuna fishing from Maryland, and so was the Pretty Work, but Pretty Work had now returned to Islamorada in the Florida Keys to fish for the winter, and the fishing was supposedly pretty good for mahi mahi, some early season sailfish and some yellowtails. Over Under’s tuna fishing from Jersey and Maryland this month was once again great for yellowfin tuna at the canyons. The boats started the month fishing mostly at Lindenkohl and Spencer canyons, where they also fished most of August and September. They briefly fished Wilmington Canyon but soon returned to the Lindy and Spencer, where the fishing really went off during the week leading up the new moon. After a batch of bad weather during mid month, the boats wound up fishing Baltimore Canyon for the first time this season before heading back to the Spencer. During weekdays the boats had the best fishing mostly by themselves and among the northern party boats at the canyons. Weekends were crowded, and Saturdays were definitely the slowest fishing. Over Under had a brief shot at big bluefin tuna behind scallop boats early in the month, landing ones to 221 pounds. This was the only shot at the fish this fall, so the crew was sure that the main body of bluefins would move down the coast in the next weeks. Trolling for tuna was mostly non-existent, and the boats were mostly opting to get on the hook early and chunk through daybreak. The tuna were beginning to bite on the chunk during daytime, typical for this time of year, so the trolling gear was probably going to be stowed away for the season. Over Under’s tuna fishing the rest of the season will mostly be make-up and open-boat trips, so drop Over Under a line if you want to get in on the action.

<b>Cape May Inlet</b>

Offshore fishing was very good last week, and big yellowfin tuna and swordfish were boated at Baltimore Canyon, and yellowfin and longfin tuna were taken at Spencer Canyon, said Matt from <b>Jim’s Bait & Tackle</b> from Cape May in a fax. Terry Simpson fished the Spencer for a catch of four yellowfins, six longfins and a sword. Sean O’Donnell on the Got Walls tackled his first-ever sword last week. The crew from the Miss Andrea brought back a 167-pound sword to the scale last week on Wednesday. Both boats also got into 70-pound tuna. Matt himself fished on the Salty Susan with Tom Swider and Tom Engles, and they drilled four swords, five tuna and 15 mahi mahi.

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