<b>Sandy Hook</b>

Joe, the manager at <b>Michael’s Bait & Tackle</b> on Staten Island, sailed on a trip on the Cookie that hooked a couple of small mako sharks, Vinny from the store said. Vinny thought they were fought at the Lillian wreck. Nothing major was heard about tuna fishing, but the store’s owner had traveled down to start competing in the Beach Haven Marlin and Tuna Club’s Invitational White Marlin Tournament this week, and nothing was heard yet about any catches in the event.

A trip on the <b>Fish N Trish</b> will probably scout around the BA buoy this weekend to see if tuna, mahi mahi and blue water are inshore, Capt. Joe said. He heard that a load of big bluefin tuna were going nuts at the inshore lumps far to the south within reach of Cape May.

Capt. Bill from <b>Outback Fishing Charters</b> heard about no inshore tuna locally, but anglers said bonito held at spots farther south like at the Tolten wreck, so tuna should be farther north at the Mudhole and maybe at the Farms, he said. Outback sails for the tuna, including on fly charters, though Bill usually focuses on that action in September and October, when the fish are around in good numbers for dependable action in a chum slick. Shark fishers were fighting lots of small makos at the Monster Ledge, more makos than last year, and those sharks make good quarry for fly rods, though Bill’s efforts to sail for them kept getting weathered out lately.

<b>Shark River Inlet</b>

<b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b>’ first open-boat canyon trip of the season was a success from Tuesday to Wednesday, Capt. Ralph said in an e-mail. Five yellowfin tuna to 65 pounds and a dozen mahi mahi from 10 to 20 pounds were nailed. The dates for the next open canyon trip have been changed to August 31 to September 1, and Ralph expects the fishing to only get better.

<b>Manasquan Inlet</b>

A charter fished on an overnight trip to Hudson Canyon on the <b>Defiant</b> from Monday to Tuesday, Capt. Adam said. They fished mostly along the east wall, and on the first morning 20 or so mahi mahi were trolled, and in the evening the anglers went 3 for 7 on longfin tuna to 50 pounds on the troll. The group wanted to shark fish at night, and they released three blue sharks and a small mako. The next morning a handful of skipjacks bit on the troll, and a 38-pound bull dolphin was trolled at a floating tree. The water was dirty, probably 73 or 74 degrees and held no real temperature breaks. Seas were fairly calm and 2 to 3 feet.

Little was being heard about offshore fishing at the nearby canyons, but a bluefin tuna and yellowfin tuna bite was happening farther south at places like the Hot Dog, said Dale from <b>L&H Woods & Water</b> in Waretown.

The Pez Machine hooked 15 or 20 yellowfin tuna Monday, and Jeff Rowdy landed two mahi mahi and a mako shark Sunday, said Josh from <b>Barnegat Light Bait & Tackle</b>.

<b>Jersey Jim’s Fishing Charters</b> will run two Mudhole trolling trips this coming week, searching for bluefin tuna and mahi mahi, Capt. Jim said in an e-mail.

The <b>Jenny Lee</b> fished on no offshore trips since July 14, Capt. Dave Bender said. That was a crew trip that fished at the Dip, and a 125- to 140-pound Allison tuna was nailed, and a 35-pound yellowfin was reeled in. A white marlin and a blue marlin were missed.

<b>Absecon Inlet</b>

The weather’s been rough for offshore fishing, and winds were brutal this week at times, but bluefin tuna and small yellowfin tuna were chunked between the 30- and 40-fathom lines, said Jeff from <b>Offshore Enterprises Bait & Tackle</b> in Atlantic City. Capt. Jon, the owner of the store, on his charter boat the Carly A fished on a fun trip Monday and bagged five yellowfin tuna and a bunch of mahi mahi at Lindenkohl Canyon. The weather was even looking questionable for this week’s Beach Haven Marlin and Tuna Club’s Invitational White Marlin Tournament.

<b>Great Egg Harbor Inlet</b>

A trip on the <b>Stray Cat</b> was heading offshore yesterday, and Capt. Mike planned to start fishing along the 30-fathom line south of the Elephant Trunk and then work out to Spencer Canyon, probably targeting 800 to 1,000 feet of water, he said. Trips were weathered out over the weekend. Special weekday tuna charters are now available that sail 3 a.m. to 5 p.m. through September. “You can’t afford not to go,” he said.

Offshore reports were scarce, and windy, rough weather offshore often kept anglers from fishing, said Jim from <b>Fin-Atics</b> in Ocean City. But they were starting to get back out this week, though no word was heard back from them yet.

Bob Traa nailed 28 yellowfin tuna to 36 pounds and released a mako shark and a blue marlin at the 50-fathom line just short of Wilmington Canyon early last week, said a fax from T.C. from <b>Brennan Marine</b> in Somers Point. Mario on the North Cote took seven yellowfins and hooked a white marlin at the 50 line just inside the tip of Spencer Canyon last week.

<b>Townsend’s Inlet</b>

Southerly, strong winds continued to make sailing offshore difficult, and that’s been the story for much of the season, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Gibson’s Tackle</b> in Sea Isle City. Rough seas forced his offshore trips to be cancelled, and Joe prefers to get offshore a few times a week for tuna and marlin at this time of year, but conditions have prevented that. He heard that big bluefin tuna to 160 and 170 pounds bit at the Sausages, the Hambone and the Hot Dog on the chunk, and yellowfin tuna were trolled from there to the canyons. Tuna fishing farther offshore was sporadic, and sometimes trips went well, and sometimes they didn’t. Before the recent tropical storm warm water was everywhere with no temperature breaks. Joe hoped the storm would create some breaks and help concentrate the fish. Dolphin fishing was very good around the canyons because of warm water, and fishing for white marlin and blue marlin was excellent.

<b>Hereford Inlet</b>

Yellowfin tuna and bluefin tuna were chunked and trolled at Massey’s Canyon and the Hot Dog, said Cathy from <b>Sterling Harbor Bait & Tackle</b> in Wildwood. Russell Juleg went 1 for 2 on tuna at Wilmington Canyon and caught his first-ever white marlin.

<b>Cape May Inlet</b>

The <b>Canyon Clipper</b> took a course for the Hot Dog on Monday, and a white marlin was raised but spit the hook on a Green Machine, and there were a few other knockdowns, Capt. Stan said. The rough weather over the weekend seemed to affect the bite that day, though some tuna seemed to be caught, but apparently the fishing was better later this week. Lots of bait was in the water, and so were sea turtles, and the water was a beautiful color, and its temps ranged from 73 degrees in the morning to 80 degrees later in the day.

A bunch of the boats from <b>Story Teller Charters</b>, which books charters for a number of vessels, loaded up on tuna at the Hot Dog, and the action was as good as could be, Capt. Mark said. The charters battled 100-pound bluefins while chunking, and some yellowfin tuna were mixed in, and the bite was from 4 or 5 a.m. until 9 or 10 a.m.

<b>Jaftica Sportfishing</b> stayed in port this weekend during the lousy weather, but the boat was slated to fish for tuna on three trips from today through Sunday, Capt. Ray said. Chunking for 60- to 150-pound bluefin tuna has been very good at the southern lumps like the Hot Dog, and yellowfin tuna 60 pounds and larger have also been there, and bluefins have been most abundant.

Charters on the <b>Top Shelf</b> were scheduled to fish offshore today, Friday, Saturday and Monday, but 30-knot winds were forecast, so that might cancel trips, Capt. Bill said.

Capt. George from the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> heard that a pretty good tuna bite was going on at the inshore lumps to the south, he said. Some of the tuna were chunked, and some were trolled, and some were bluefins over 100 pounds. The fish seemed to hit at different times during the day, and one boater said he fought them around lunchtime.

Lots of tuna were being seen lately at the docks and seemed to be caught at inshore spots like the Hambone, Capt. Gary from the <b>Sea Fox</b> said. He got out on no offshore trips this week, but did fish inshore in Delaware Bay. Offshore charters are now available on the boat.

When people made it offshore, tuna were fought at Massey’s Canyon and the Hambone, and the best action seemed to be around daybreak, said a fax from Matt from <b>Jim’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Cape May. John Peterson weighed in a 110-pound bluefin tuna he jigged at the Hambone on a Shimano butterfly metal on a spinning rod and busted off three more. Chris Matucheski weighed in a 96-pound bluefin that he fought at Massey’s Canyon while chunking butterfish and sardines.

Back to Top