New Jersey Fishing Reports

Capt. Jake and Jersey Shore Fishing Charters from Sea Bright ran to the Monster Ledge, Glory Hole and the Arundo wreck to search for bluefin tuna on the troll Saturday, he said. No tuna bit, but bluefish did, and a huge, unidentified shark was seen at the HA buoy. The water was very green, and the trip fished along a temperature break from 71 to 73.5 degrees. “What was trolled?” he was asked. What wasn’t trolled would be a better question, he laughed. Everything from spreader bars to daisy chains and small feathers was dragged. No reports were saying bluefin arrived yet, but Jersey Shore is attempting to make the first reports, and the crew will probably take a fun trip tomorrow to look for bluefins again.

Sharking was alright a few weeks ago but seemed to drop off, and tuna fishing was yet to really start, said Vinny from Michael’s Bait & Tackle on Staten Island.

Shark River Inlet

The Nan Sea J from Belmar ran its final open-boat shark trip of the season Wednesday at the Chicken Canyon with members of the Hudson River Fisherman’s Association, Capt. Tom said. The president of the club fought a 125-pound mako that was bagged, and a huge, probably 400-pound, 12- to 14-foot thresher shark was battled for 1 ½ hours before it finally broke off. That was heartbreaking, Tom said. The water was dirty, green, 71 degrees and held little bait or life, and not even bluefish bit, and the water seemed to be green everywhere lately. The open shark trips will continue next year, and they’ve been a success, and more anglers than ever took the trips this year. Nan Sea J is one of the few charter boats to offer open shark trips. But shark charters will continue to fish this season, and a shark charter took place Tuesday at the Monster Ledge. A short mako and a blue shark were caught in dirty, green water that was a little cooler or 67 degrees in the morning and 69 by the afternoon. Again, little bait was seen, and not even bluefish showed up. Tuna charters will begin in September.

The canyons have been slow to hold tuna this year, said Capt. Ralph from Last Lady Fishing Charters from Neptune. He usually begins canyon fishing in August on both charters and open-boat trips, and previously he said he was thinking canyon trips might start late. But some warm water moved into Hudson Canyon recently, and if someone shows interest in making the run, Last Lady might be headed there sooner than expected.

Manasquan Inlet

The Crisdel sailed to the west wall of Hudson Canyon and came back with a 58-pound yellowfin tuna and a 40-pound longfin tuna Saturday, when the Heart to Heart also fished the Hudson for a 45-1/2-pound yellowfin, said Dave from The Reel Seat in Brielle. Boaters said they found some nice water in the canyon.

A charter that was expected to run yesterday on the Katie H from Brielle was originally supposed to be a canyon tuna trip, but instead the anglers were going to fish for sharks and also take a look around for bluefin tuna at the Mudhole, Capt. Mike said. No report was heard about the trip yet, but the news should roll in soon. Canyon fishing wasn’t happening yet, he said, and only sporadic reports were heard about inshore bluefins, but maybe hardly anyone was trying to find them so far. Of course, bluefins were gathered to the south off Cape May, so they could arrive closer to Brielle any day, and the crew on the Katie H was looking to be one of the first to find them. Canyon charters will kick in when the tuna stack up there.

Barnegat Inlet

A few mahi mahi and plenty of bonito were being trolled at Barnegat Ridge, and some customers were looking for bluefin tuna there, said Dick from L&H Woods & Water in Waretown.

Fishing for small bonito at Barnegat Ridge and the Fingers was the best action of any local fishing this week, and anglers trolling those fish were seeing loads of sand eels, and that should mean bluefin tuna will show up any day, said Christian from Oceanside Bait & Tackle in Brighton Beach. Reports came in about bluefins farther offshore at Lindenkohl Canyon, and not much was being said about yellowfins offshore, but boaters competing in this week’s Beach Haven Marlin and Tuna Club Invitational were talking about running to Spencer Canyon.

Josh from Barnegat Light Bait & Tackle saw six bluefin tuna at the shop that came from Barnegat Ridge, the Fingers and the Resor wreck, and bonito and mahi mahi were also trolled at the ridge, he said. No specifics were heard about canyon tuna fishing, except reports about southern canyons. But customers were catching fish like yellowfins that come from the canyons, and the customers normally don’t head as far as the southern canyons. One customer caught two yellowfin tuna and a mako shark and released a 70-pound white marlin at one of the canyons.

The first mid-shore trip of the season for “southern speedsters” took place with Reel Fantasea Charters from Barnegat Light, Capt. Steve said. Andy Pernerick and Chris Weed jumped aboard and nailed solid action with bonito with double, triple and even quadruple headers on spoons and Zukers. A 10-pound mahi mahi also spiced up the catch, rocketing out of the water 5 feet, all lit up during the aerial display. Short strikes were also missed on the Zuckers and might’ve been bluefin tuna.

Little Egg Inlet

Two bluefin tuna, a 46-incher that was kept and a 30-incher that was released, were fought to the boat with Legal Limit Charters from Tuckerton near the Cigar and 28-Mile Wreck on Wednesday, Capt. T.J. said. The boat trolled ballyhoos and other offerings, and the fish were hit in mid morning, and there was an early morning bite, but the trip started fishing later. The water was 75 degrees, and waters farther offshore at the canyons were cool and in the low 70s with no temperature breaks, and tuna fishing there was mostly quiet. T.J. hoped the canyon fishing would pick up in the next days.

Absecon Inlet

Bluefin tuna were plentiful at places including 28-Mile Wreck, 750 Square, 19-Fathom Lump, the Cigar and you name it, said Jack from Offshore Enterprises Bait & Tackle in Atlantic City. They were mostly trolled, but some were beginning to be chunked. Trollers pulled medium and horse ballyhoos, Islanders and that sort of thing. A few yellowfin tuna were boated farther offshore, but there was no major bite, because no warm-water eddies and temperature breaks were moving in. The Carly A, the shop’s offshore charter boat, fished at 19-Fathom Lump on Sunday and scored a couple of bluefin tuna that weighed close to 50 pounds apiece. The boat trolled black and red islanders and ballyhoos in the 78-degree water. The Carly A is competing in the Beach Haven Marlin and Tuna Club Invitational this week. The shop carries a full array of offshore baits including butterfish, mackerel, ballyhoo, trolling squids, shark baits and pretty much everything.

Great Egg Harbor Inlet

A 60-pound bluefin tuna was trolled in the area around the 28-Mile Wreck and the 750-Square on Wednesday with O-Beth Sportfishing from Margate on a medium ballyhoo pulled far behind the boat, Capt. Eric said. The fish was caught 6:30 or 7 a.m., and the fish were biting early, and the boat left the dock around 2 a.m. and started trolling at first light. The water was 75 degrees, clear and held lots of life.

Inshore trolling for bonito, Spanish mackerel and such fish was underway, and Fine Line Fishing Charters from Margate is now available for these trips, Capt. Dave said. Give him a shout to get in on these awesome speedsters.

Bonito and little tunny showed up, and trips on the Stray Cat from Longport trolled a bunch and a couple of Spanish mackerel 15 miles offshore, Capt. Mike said. Two and three at a time screamed the reels in a pocket of warm, 71.9-degree water, and the bonito were most numerous, and hardly any bluefish bit. Trips for these speedsters will now be a focus, and a tuna trip was cancelled Sunday because of northeast winds, even though seas were kicked up but manageable. It might be unusual to cancel a trip because of the wind direction, but Mike’s found that tuna fishing is lousy in easterly winds, and he won’t waste the trip. Openings are available for an open-boat tuna-trolling trip August 12, limited to six passengers and sailing 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. More of these trips will run every Sunday in September, and Stray Cat trolls on the trips because it offers the possibility of catching more fish, including bluefin and yellowfin tuna, wahoo, mahi mahi, false albacore and more. Space is also available on two open-boat, overnight tuna trips, sailing probably 3 a.m. to 3 p.m., limited to six passengers, and call for details. Tuna fishing recently was good 30 to 50 miles offshore for bluefins with yellowfins and mahi mixed in.

Plenty of bluefin tuna were boated at places like Massey’s Canyon and the Cigar, both on the troll and on the chunk, said Jim from Fin-Atics in Ocean City. Trolling was now best on ballyhoos more than lures. Fishing for tuna farther offshore at the canyons was quiet.

Townsend’s Inlet

Over Under Adventures’ boat Low Profile is now running from Avalon for tuna, and no report rolled in from the vessel in the past few days, but three of Over Under’s boats from Ocean City, Md., fished the same grounds that the Low Profile is often targeting, the inshore lumps. Bluefin tuna were biting, and the three boats totaled 19 bluefin landings on trips Wednesday, an e-mail from Over Under said. None sailed for yellowfin tuna farther offshore, because no good numbers of yellowfins were being hooked. But the bluefin bite was good on ballyhoos trolled way, way back behind the boat and on “down-rods.” One of the vessels fished the Massey’s Canyon area and went two for three on bluefins, so that was slower action, but one of the others nailed nine bluefins, keeping two, and the other vessel scored about the same, landing a 49-incher that was kept and releasing six under 47 inches. One of the boats poked around farther offshore, reaching as far as 40 fathoms, but there was no action to keep the crew there, so they pushed back inshore and continued picking bluefins. Check out Over Under’s schedule of <a href="http://overundercharters.com/?page=opendates" target="_blank"> open-boat trips</a>, and more dates will be added as groups call and ask about splitting costs with other anglers.

Capt. Joe Hughes from Jersey Cape Guide Service and Gibson’s Tackle in Sea Isle City expects to fish offshore for tuna this weekend, and he heard no first-hand reports about tuna in the past days, but he knew that bluefin tuna were hitting at spots like the Ham Bone and Hot Dog, he said. Not a ton of bluefins were there, but there were big ones and enough to hook up. The bluefins were getting finicky like they do every year because boaters were pounding them, and boaters weren’t going to catch them on the usual trolling spread. A big bait like a horse ballyhoo fished way back behind the boat was the way to go. Joe competed in the Mid Atlantic Tuna Tournament this weekend, only fishing Friday in the event. He trolled a 112-pound bluefin tuna at the Hambone on a horse ballyhoo with a blue Islander at 1 p.m. Tuna there were few and far between, but the ones that bit were big. The water was 72 to 73 degrees, dirty and ugly, the worst water Joe’s seen this year, and seas were very rough, but somewhat calmer than forecast. Ten or so boats fished there, enough room to fish. The winning fish in the tournament weighed more than 170 pounds. A bit of yellowfin action took place farther offshore at Baltimore Canyon, and quite a few mahi mahi were landed offshore.

Hereford Inlet

Good bluefin tuna fishing was going down around the Elephant Trunk at the 30-fathom line while boaters trolled, butterfly jigged or chunked with butterfish, said Cathy from Sterling Harbor Bait & Tackle in Wildwood in an e-mail. Gene Cuneo of Atco tackled a 107-pound bluefin that he boated on the Big Bully from Wildwood. Yellowfin tuna and mahi mahi were taken between the Wilmington and Baltimore canyons last week.

Cape May Inlet

Copacetic Sportfishing from Cape May took a few inshore trolling trips this past week when winds blew calmly enough, and the anglers loaded up on bluefish, some Spanish mackerel and even a few bluefin tuna, Capt. Mike said. The trips trolled within 25 miles of Cape May, and the bluefins were barely legal-sized and up to 35 inches, and some were throwbacks. A couple of tuna charters were coming up on the boat, and 50- to 100-pound bluefin tuna were tearing up waters at the 20-fathom lumps 50 miles south of Cape May.

Tuna fishing for yellowfins farther offshore around the canyons generally seemed slow with no temperature breaks to hold the fish, said Capt. George from the Heavy Hitter from Cape May. However, he was suddenly hearing about a good bite from other captains who fished Baltimore Canyon this week. Bluefin tuna fishing was good at the inshore, southern lumps, and a friend put the screws to a 200-pound, 57-inch bluefin Wednesday first thing in the morning. The friend said he also trolled a little farther offshore between the 30- and 40-fathom lines, but it was like a ghost town. A tuna trip was cancelled Sunday on the Heavy Hitter because of strong winds.

Inshore tuna reports were good, and bluefins were hitting very well just northeast of the Cigar in the early mornings on the troll last week, said Matt from Jim’s Bait & Tackle in Cape May in a fax. Good-sized ones were being trolled, chunked and jigged at 19-Fathom Lump. The best trolling set-up was an Islander with a medium or large ballyhoo fished 100 yards or farther behind the boat. Early last week 150- to 180-pound bluefins bit at the Hambone. Massey’s Canyon and the Hot Dog also held bluefins. Brian Kurtz, 14, trolled a 135-1/4-pound bluefin at the 19 Lump. Canyon tuna reports were scarce. But a few reports were heard about tuna found last week inside Wilmington Canyon along the 40- and 50-fathom lines. Bob Coppock on the Blue Sky fought to the boat two yellowfins abut 50 pounds apiece and an 8.77-pound barracuda.

Delaware Bay

Bluefin tuna from footballs to 150-pounders and occasionally yellowfins were mostly trolled at places including the 19-Fathom Lump, Massey’s Canyon, the Ham Bone and the Elephant Trunk, said Rusty from Captain Tate’s Bait & Tackle in Dennisville. But sometimes the tuna were jigged when boaters marked a pod of the fish toward the bottom, where sand eels were balled up. Waters around the Wilmington and Baltimore canyons gave up yellowfins and sometimes white marlin, and no temperature breaks flowed through, and temps were evenly dispersed, so there was nothing to hold the fish in concentrated areas.