This is the final Offshore Report of 2007!

The Offshore Report kicks off again in June with shark season.

<b>Shark River Inlet</b>

<b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b> from Neptune took one last trip to the canyons from Monday to Tuesday, and the fishing was lousy, and Capt. Ralph said he’s been doing this a long time, and the fishing is finished. He said he wasn’t saying it was entirely over, but the water wasn’t there, and if he had more canyon trips scheduled, he’d cancel them. Two mahi mahi were landed, and two tuna were taken on a nearby boat that also got three or four hits but misses. A Belmar party boat fished the Toms the same night and only scored one small swordfish, and another party boat from Brooklyn fished the same night and took maybe two tuna. A friend fished Wilmington Canyon Wednesday and released a small mako shark and caught no tuna but had very good tilefishing. A mid-range wreck-fishing trip is full on November 11, so another was added to the schedule on November 18, and four spots are available.

The <b>Nan Sea J</b> from Belmar’s final tuna trip of the year fished overnight Tuesday to Wednesday at Wilmington Canyon, Capt. Tom said. One tuna was bagged, and squid, porpoises and whales swam around, and tuna were marked under the boat in the morning but refused to bite. A blue shark was landed, and another shark got off, and junk fish hit. Fishing seemed slow for most, but boaters farther south reported better catches.  The water was cool and 65.5 degrees, and Tom heard about no decent catches farther north at Hudson Canyon, so maybe the water was also cool there. His charters will now sail for striped bass and blackfish.

Capt. Scotty from the <b>Bandit</b> from Belmar said the boat might move to Delaware to fish for tuna when most of the action starts taking place at the southern canyons. Reports this week sounded like the southern canyons might be the place to be, so keep an eye on the Bandit’s reports or call the boat for details if interested. If the Offshore Report ends this week, the Bandit’s news will be found in the Inshore Report for North Jersey.

<b>Manasquan Inlet</b>

Tuna fishing was decent on the party boat <b>Gambler</b> from Point Pleasant on a trip Tuesday to Wednesday for mostly longfins and a few yellowfins, Capt. Bob said. The fish weighed 40 to 70 pounds, and a swordfish was boated on almost every trip recently. Patrons who were dropping down to the bottom were scoring well with big tilefish this season, the best tilefishing Capt. Bob’s seen since the boat started fishing the canyons. Two good temperature breaks were still out there that should easily get the boat’s offshore trips through the month. Openings remain on almost all the boat’s offshore trips that will now run every Sunday to Monday through November.

The <b>Benchmark</b> sailed on its last canyon trip of the season Tuesday to Wednesday and fished a few miles north of Wilmington Canyon, the report on the boat’s web site said. The number of boats was like a weekend in September, but the crew looked for an open spot and planted the anchor. Two yellowfin tuna and two longfins were taken, and there were a handful of other bites. Seas were calm, and the weather was nice.

Bluefin tuna were still gathering around the Monster Ledge, and <b>Andrea’s Toy Charters</b> from Point Pleasant caught the fish Wednesday on sardines dropped 50 feet down, Capt. Fred said. The tuna swam all around the boat, but they weren’t biting much. The water was 63 degrees and semi clear.

The weather kept charters on the <b>Katie H</b> from Brielle from fishing the canyons over the weekend, and the weather at this time of year makes it tough to get out, Capt. Mike said. But charters on the boat will still fish the canyons. The tuna were biting, and a boater from the dock nailed them at Spencer Canyon, and friends fished Hudson Canyon and found some, including bluefins. This is the time of year when bluefins, bigger fish to 250 pounds, usually show up at the Hudson. The fishing might become an option on the Katie H, and those trips can be single-day runs instead of overnighters, because the bluefins hit during the day. Schoolie bluefins were also swimming inshore at the Mudhole, and that fishing is an option on the boat. Mike knows the numbers where the bluefins were hitting and knows other boaters who were catching them. He was thinking about fishing inshore for bluefins this weekend, but the gale that was coming might prevent that.

When offshore boaters could get out before last week’s storm, tuna fishing wasn’t bad, mostly at the southern canyons, Dave from <b>The Reel Seat</b> in Brielle said Sunday.

<b>Cape May Inlet</b>

<b>O-Beth Sportfishing</b> is now docked at Cape May after fishing from Margate earlier this season, Capt. Eric said. The boat had been fishing offshore from Margate, but many of its trips will now run for Cape May’s striped bass. Still, the boat is open for fall sharking charters from Cape May to fight the monsters as they migrate past the coast on their way south for the season. Not a lot of boats offer this fishing, so here’s your chance.

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