Sandy Hook

A big slug of warm water moved into Hudson Canyon this week, and boats trolled double digits of yellowfin tuna there, and some bigeye tuna also bit, and some large mystery fish dumped 50-wide reels, said Capt. Fred from <b>Andrea’s Toy Charters</b>. He’s gearing up for the upcoming shark tournaments, and afterward his offshore focus will go back to open-boat Hudson Canyon trips that are now mixing it up with tuna trolling, tilefishing and sharking, all in the same trip.

The owners of <b>Michael’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Great Kills, Staten Island, boated a 100-pound bluefin tuna and a couple of small tuna while trolling, Vinnie from the store said. He believed they were at Hudson Canyon, and he said they tried sharking overnight on the trip but scored no action.

<b>Shark River Inlet</b>

The <b>Nan Sea J</b> is now running open-boat shark trips every Wednesday, Capt. Tom said.

<b>Manasquan Inlet</b>

The <b>Defiant</b> returned to Jersey after spending the winter and spring in Key Largo, and its first local charter was blown out Saturday from strong winds, Capt. John said. On Monday at 2 a.m. the crew headed out on a “fun” trip and explored Hudson Canyon for tuna, and the tuna were there. They trolled 18 yellowfin tuna to 36 inches on the west wall, and the biggest fish weighed 40 to 50 pounds at most. The water was 68 to 71 degrees, and all the yellowfins were found at a 71-degree temperature break. Not much life was in the water, but some weed patches were around that held mahi mahi. The Defiant usually concentrates on tuna fishing later in the season, but the fish are there early, so John’s encouraging anglers to hop aboard for tuna now. It’s definitely a trolling bite, and no fish are biting on the chunk yet. The Defiant will compete in the Mako Mania Shark Tournament next week, and a friend from the Eleni told John that a friend nailed a 220-pound mako at Lindenkohl Canyon the other day, and another boater scored a 150-pound thresher shark.

The <b>Canyon Runner</b> kicked off its canyon season Monday after getting weathered out on several charters, the report on the boat’s web site said. The boat headed to Hudson Canyon, where a satellite chart showed good water, and started fishing around 7:30 a.m., a late start because the crew had waited for winds to lay down. Soon two small yellowfin tuna were boated, and next another small yellowfin bit in the area, but something huge ate it! The monster dumped the line off the reel within 20 seconds before the crew locked up the reel and broke off the fish. Three experienced captains aboard debated whether the monster was a huge mako shark, a big blue marlin or a giant bluefin tuna. Nothing else bit until 12:30 p.m., when a big body of yellowfins was found. Three, four and five tuna bit for a couple of hours. A total of 34 yellowfins were landed, and 11 were kept, and the fish were 29 to 32 inches, not the biggest tuna, but enough to bend a rod. All the fish hit on the troll, and almost all the bites came on lines fished far back in the spread. The water was mostly 67 to 68 degrees, deep blue and beautiful.

The <b>Cindy Sea</b> sailed on no fishing trips since the weekend but will probably tuna fish tomorrow, Capt. Dave said. He heard that the Canyon Runner and Pez Machine tangled with tuna, and he believed that yellowfins and a few bigeyes were haunting Hudson Canyon.

The <b>Jenny Lee</b> sailed on no tuna trips yet this season, but tuna are already at Hudson Canyon, and they’re the small fish that are always first to come in, Capt. Dave Bender said. But he heard that a 120-pound bigeye tuna was nailed at the Hudson on Tuesday. The boat will shark fish the next two weekends, and afterward the crew will begin testing the canyons before running charters there. Canyon charters really kick in during August but will also sail in July.

<b>Little Egg Inlet</b>

A trip with <b>Legal Limit Charters</b> on Friday produced a 105-pound mako shark at the 20-fathom line, Capt. T.J. said. The boat fished at no named spot, mostly because T.J. wanted to avoid all the popular spots, because they were likely to be crowded from the South Jersey Shark Tournament that was taking place. Sharking is one of the boat’s focuses now.

No reports were heard about tuna fishing or ocean sharking, and that was probably weather related, said Scott from <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Mystic Island. Although it’s not an offshore report, the season’s first brown shark, a 6 footer, was reported caught in the bay this week, right on time in the second week of June.

<b>Great Egg Harbor Inlet</b>

Some mako sharks roamed 28-Mile Wreck and the 750 Square, and yellowfin tuna and big bluefin tuna were found at Wilmington, Heyes and Baltimore canyons, said Bill from <b>Fin-Atics</b> in Ocean City.  

No reports about tuna and sharks came in because of the weather, said a fax from T.C. from <b>Brennan Marine</b> in Somers Point.

<b>Townsend’s Inlet</b>

The Baltimore and Poorman’s canyons seemed the hot spots for tuna, mostly bluefins, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Gibson’s Tackle</b> in Sea Isle City. Inshore sharking was fairly decent for makos and threshers.

<b>Cape May Inlet</b>

<a href="http://www.sjmarina.com/" target="_blank">Click here</a>
<a href="" target="_blank"> </a> for results and photos of this weekend’s South Jersey Shark Tournament.

The <b>Top Shelf</b> competed in the South Jersey Shark Tournament over the weekend, Capt. Bill said. On Friday during the tournament blue sharks were caught on the vessel 48 miles offshore, and a bunch of 45- to 55- pound bluefin tuna were seen in the area. On Saturday the tournament was cancelled because of strong winds and rough seas, and on Sunday on the Top Shelf a nice-sized mako was lost at the boat during the tournament. Seas were very rough Sunday but were calm Friday. The Top Shelf will compete in Jim’s Bait & Tackle’s Shark Tournament this coming weekend, and a tuna charter is slated for tomorrow.

Anglers on the <b>Party Time</b> sailed in the South Jersey Shark Tournament and hooked blue sharks on Friday and had one runoff on Sunday, Capt. John said. Seas were gorgeous Friday but were very rough Sunday, with 8 footers past 30 fathoms. Party Time is now shark fishing, and tuna trips are being booked.

One of the boats from <b>Story Teller Charters</b>, which books charters for a number of vessels, battled some sharks at the Misty Blue, Capt. Mark said.

<b>Jaftica Sportfishing</b> fished in the South Jersey Shark Tournament this weekend, Capt. Ray said. Two mako sharks to 180 pounds were landed, and a bunch of blue sharks were released, and all the fish were fought about 30 miles offshore on big mackerel and bluefish baits, and lots of bluefish were in the area. Jaftica competed in the event on Friday and Sunday, and the tournament was cancelled Saturday because of big seas. Seas were calm Friday but were 3 to 6 feet Sunday, when strong winds continued to blow. A 600-pound tiger shark had been entered in the competition Friday, but then it reportedly was disqualified, because the rod had broken while the fish was being fought, and the broken rod was shorter than the 40-inch length required by IGFA regulations. Sharking is definitely turning on, Ray said, and Jaftica will probably shark fish this weekend and will also compete in Off the Hook’s Shark Tournament at Hinch’s Marina the following weekend. Tuna charters will probably start soon.

Ed Donovan’s charter sailed on the <b>Down Deep</b> and competed in the South Jersey Shark Tournament on Friday and Sunday and released seven blue sharks and kept one that was 170 pounds, Capt. Bob said. The boat fished 30 miles offshore, and the sharking was pretty good, he said. Openings are available for shark and tuna charters.

The <b>Heavy Hitter</b> is available for a charter Saturday for Jim’s Bait & Tackle’s Shark Tournament, Capt. George said. Tuna news seemed to conflict between good and bad reports, making it difficult to tell if the fish were there. One angler said he saw tuna at Massey’s Canyon while sharking in the South Jersey Shark Tournament over the weekend. Boaters reportedly found bluefin tuna at the Cigar.

A mix of mako sharks, thresher sharks and blue sharks wee battled over the weekend, said a fax from Capt. Fred from <b>Harbor View Marina</b>.

<b>Jim’s Bait & Tackle’s Shark Tournament</b> will be held this coming Saturday, and with the water temperatures what they are, the tournament might hit it just right, Matt from the store said in a fax. Not a lot of tuna reports were hard by the weekend because of strong winds, but a few people called the store from Ocean City, Md., and said Poorman’s Canyon gave up a good bite of yellowfin tuna at the 500-fathom line earlier last week. Harry Peterson boated six yellowfins to 45 pounds and a small bigeye at the Poorman’s on Friday, and Pete Salinsky took a 183-pound mako shark at the Tea Cup on Friday.

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