<b>Sandy Hook</b>

Customers were hearing reports about giant bluefin tuna showing up off Montauk, so they were talking about heading to the Mudhole this weekend to see if the giants would pass through, Vinnie from <b>Michael’s Bait & Tackle</b> on Staten Island said.

<b>Andrea’s Toy Charters</b> fished on an open-boat, mixed-bag overnight trip to Hudson Canyon from Saturday to Sunday, Capt. Freddie Gamboa said. He had wanted to start fishing at the 100 Square, but the trip started too late, so the anglers began drifting and chunking that night from the Bombs to the East Notches and went 4 for 7 on yellowfin tuna to 50 pounds and released a mako shark. Weeds were thick, so in the morning Freddie decided to sail to the deep to try to get away from the weeds, but a huge body of 200 mahi mahi were seen at some weeds, and the anglers nailed 40 mahi to 15 pounds in only a half-hour.  Then Andrea’s Toy headed to Jones Canyon at 500 fathoms, and small mahi mahi were around, and a white marlin was thought to come up in the trolling spread but was never hooked. Then a blue marlin came up in the spread and crashed through the trolled ballyhoos and grabbed a Canyon Runner spreader bar. The blue, estimated to be 200 pounds and 9 feet, chaffed the leader and got off, but the anglers onboard agreed it was the highlight of the trip. The trip did no tilefishing, though the trips usually do target tiles, and the anglers this day opted to troll the deep instead, and said the blue marlin made the decision worth it. The water was 73 degrees, clean and green inshore at the canyon and 77 degrees and cobalt blue farther offshore. Another open-boat, mixed-bag canyon trip is full for Monday to Tuesday, but openings are available for a trip next week. Those trips sail once a week and target tuna, mahi mahi, mako sharks, swordfish and tilefish all in one outing. The forecast at mid week for this coming Monday to Tuesday was calling for 2- to 3-foot seas and seemed like the first chance to fish after the big seas from Hurricane Florence that passed offshore this week. Andrea’s Toy usually offers mixed-bag inshore trips for pelagics out to 30 fathoms, but practically no bluefin tuna showed up in those waters this year, and nothing much was going on between the Mudhole and the Hudson, except some false albacore and skipjacks and such that were biting, so those trips aren’t sailing this season.

Capt. Brian Rice from <b>Jersey Devil Charters</b> headed offshore on a daytime trolling trip to Hudson Canyon with his crew last week on Thursday, and they scored a few yellowfin tuna in the 50-pound class and some mahi mahi on the troll, he said. A mako shark was also fought for awhile before it got off. The water at the tip of the canyon was 71 to 72 degrees, and that’s where the fish bit, and the water farther offshore was 74 to 75 degrees, but that area held no life and lots of weeds.

<b>Outback Fishing Charters</b> sailed to the Mudhole on Saturday between the rough weather, Capt. Bill Hoblitzell said. The albie fishing was good on the west side of the Mudhole while chumming. The trip started a little late at 8 a.m., and albies have been popping up sporadically toward daybreak close to the beaches off places like Monmouth Beach, Belmar and Spring Lake, and the charter at first looked for the speedsters around there, but none showed up. So Bill headed farther offshore to spots that normally hold the little tunny, but nothing was there. He kept moving offshore, and the edge of the Mudhole looked good, with clean water and bait, and he set up a chum slick, including tossing peanut bunker in the water. Ava jigs where thrown off the back of the boat, and within a half-hour the action was on. There was a solid bite of albies for the next three hours, and the fish were larger than average or were 10 to 12 pounds. Bill broke out the 10-weight fly rods, and the fish were hooked on blue and white Mushmouth flies and Baby Angels on 350- to 400-grain sinking lines. Some of the fish probably could have been caught on surface patterns like Crease flies, but the fish were mostly 5 to 10 feet down, and they preferred fast-moving flies fished toward the surface. Individual fish could almost be targeted, and when a fish was hooked, Bill tried to keep it in the water until hooking one of the albies that followed. Bluefish sometimes showed up, and then Bill would stop the chum slick until they disappeared. A friend the same day picked some mahi mahi a little south of the BA buoy, and Bill called him in to the albie action, where the water was clearer and more alive, and the friend also caught albies. The water was 69.5 degrees and about a degree warmer inshore. Eventually winds and seas started kicking up, and Sunday’s weather was rough. Outback will keep targeting the albies and pelagics inshore for the next month or so. A friend trolled the Mudhole last week on Thursday or Friday and had two knockdowns from tuna including one 26- or 27-inch bluefin that was landed.

<b>Shark River Inlet</b>

The weather calmed down for a moment, and <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b> fished at the canyons twice last week, Capt. Ralph said in an e-mail. One of the trips was on Monday to Tuesday and produced yellowfin tuna to 150 pounds on the chunk and on the troll. On a trip Thursday to Friday yellowfin tuna to 65 pounds and a 175-pound swordfish were boated. An offshore trip had to be cancelled Monday because of forecasts for big seas. The next spots available on Last Lady’s open canyon trips are on October 3 to 4. A customer is looking for two people to fill an offshore charter on September 21 to 22 because two anglers dropped out, and a few dates remain for full-boat charters to the canyons.

<b>Manasquan Inlet</b>

The <b>Defiant</b> left on an offshore trip Saturday evening, heading to Hudson Canyon because of good reports about the Hudson’s fishing the previous night, Capt. John said. The boat set up on the chunk at 10 p.m., and the first fish, a 60-pound yellowfin tuna, was caught at midnight. A mystery fish next dumped off line on a diamond jig with a piece of squid before it got off, and then at 2:30 a.m. a 70- to 80-pound yellowfin was landed on a live squid fished at 110 feet. That’s all that bit at night, except a small mako shark that was released at 5 a.m. The charter started to troll in the morning, but winds started cranking, and seas were 4 to 7 feet, so the boat sailed back to port. Nobody seemed to have good fishing at the Hudson that night, and the fishing seemed best the previous night, and a friend fished there Friday to Saturday and picked up seven yellowfins and dropped a swordfish. The water on the Defiant’s trip was 74 to 75 degrees. Canyon charters on Sunday to Monday and on Tuesday to Wednesday had to be cancelled because of forecasts for big seas, and the outlook for a canyon trip later this week was questionable.

On the <b>Katie H</b> anglers fished offshore Saturday to Sunday, mostly at the 100 Square, and the trip bagged 8 longfin tuna, 2 yellowfin tuna 65 to 70 pounds and 2 swordfish 175 pounds and 70 pounds, Capt. Mike said. A 60- or 70-pound wahoo also bit through a leader at the boat. Most of the tuna were chunked, but two were trolled. Weeds weren’t bad in the water, though weeds were bad two days before, and Mike heard that there was a good troll bite from the Texas Tower to the tip of the canyon. The water was around 73 degrees and a beautiful color. On a trip Thursday to Friday tuna fishing was a little slow on the east side of Hudson Canyon while chunking at night, but four tuna were caught. Trolling was unbearable because of lots of weeds, so instead the anglers caught a good number of tilefish, and they also loaded up on mahi mahi.

Customers of <b>The Reel Seat</b> in Brielle who fished offshore last week, according to Dave from the store, included: Mike Percola and Rich Barton on the White Shadow, limit of yellowfin tuna to 50 pounds, trolled at the tip of Hudson Canyon on Reel Seat small, bullet-knob spreader bars in green; Jim Cahill, Capt. Darin Muly and three other anglers on the Bucky C, limit of 15 yellowfins to 55 pounds and 13 more that were released while trolling and chunking, and the ones on the troll were hooked on Reel Seat squid spread bars; and the crew of the Francesca with owner Mike Paulerciom, several bigeye tuna from 133 to 155 pounds that were hooked on Shimano butterfly jigs and ProFishCo power jigs overnight at the west wall of the Hudson, and a bunch of mahi mahi were also scored on the trip. Inshore-ocean fishing for bluefin tuna seemed a dead issue so far, and even the scallop boats saw no bluefins yet, but that could change.

The <b>Reel-Ality</b> set off for the Mudhole to look for bluefin tuna last Friday, going on the troll at the Monster Ledge, Capt. Larry said. One tuna was hooked behind a trawler and screamed off line but got off. The water was 70 or 71 degrees, was clear enough to see 20 feet down and was a better color than closer inshore. Lots of boats fished the area but didn’t catch much, but the Glory Hole held some mahi mahi.

On a canyon trip on the <b>Jamaica</b> last week on Wednesday Joe Peldunas was onboard again for the second week in a row, and once again he tackled a swordfish, an e-mail from the boat said. Armed with squid that he caught on the last trip he boated a 150-pound swordfish after a short fight, and he also caught a longfin tuna later in the morning. Two other anglers also landed swords, and Steve DeBoer was high hook with a 120-pound bigeye tuna and two longfins. Two other bigeyes were landed, and so were other longfins, and a good number of mahi mahi came over the rails, and several tilefish were bagged. A canyon trip was even better last week on Thursday, and Lou DeFazio nailed his biggest sword to date, a 350 pounder that took 1 ½ hours to bring to the gaff. Passengers picked through 40- to 80-pound yellowfin tuna throughout the night, and a few longfin tuna were mixed in, and the best action was 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. Dennis Muhlenforth was high hook with three yellowfins to 80 pounds and one longfin, and James Sutler reeled in an 80-pound yellowfin and four mahi mahi. The outlook for canyon fishing was good, and a nice body of warm water stretched all along the 100-fathom line from the Hudson Canyon to the Toms Canyon. The Jamaica heads to the canyons again this Sunday and then will run canyon trips every night through November.

<b>Barnegat Inlet</b>

Nick Rausch and Jim Bachman were aboard with <b>Fish the Dropoff</b> last Friday and headed to the Lobster Claw to search for tuna and began trolling at 6 a.m., Capt. Fran said in an e-mail. There was a temperature break of 68 degrees to 71 degrees at the Claw, and a 13-pound mahi mahi hit at the break on a trolled, naked ballyhoo. After another hour a 35-pound yellowfin tuna smacked a Green Machine and was reeled in after 20 minutes. Seas were like a lake, and it was a great day for fishing.

Bonito reappeared at Barnegat Ridge last week after much talk about commercial draggers and the stormy weather, and false albacore showed up at the ridge last week, Capt. Dave DeGennaro from the <b>Hi Flier</b> said in an e-mail. Charters are catching both on every visit to the ridge while high-speed trolling, and the speedsters will start to be hooked while anchoring and chumming any day. The albies are averaging 7 to 10 pounds, giving a battle rivaling schoolie bluefin tuna. The bonito, about 2 to 5 pounds this season, are great sport for their size, and also taste delicious prepared any way that tuna is prepared, including sashimi. This fishery will continue into November, and September and October provide the best action and weather. Dave is also weakfishing in Barnegat Bay, and for those who want it all, both the ridge fishing and the bay fishing can be done in one trip.

Keith Carl weighed in a 55-pound 4-ounce golden tilefish that appeared to break the state record, said Josh from <b>Barnegat Light Bait & Tackle</b>. He stopped by the store and filled out the forms to apply for the record, and he caught the brute and other tiles on a tilefishing trip at Toms Canyon on Saturday on the Molly K III with Capt. Kenny Nutt.

<b>Little Egg Inlet</b>

No trips left the dock with <b>Legal Limit Charters</b> the past several days because of the weather, Capt. T.J. said. But the boat sailed over the weekend, when tuna fishing was good for yellowfins to 80 pounds on a trip to Lindenkohl Canyon on the chunk.

<b>Absecon Inlet</b>

Nobody fished offshore this week because of big seas, said Jeff from <b>Offshore Enterprises Bait & Tackle</b>. But Jeff sailed to the 28-Mile Wreck on Saturday, and small, 25-pound tuna busted the water in a chunking slick, though none were hooked, until a 500-pound mako shark, the biggest mako Jeff had ever seen, showed up in the slick and scared off the tuna. Jeff’s crew had no shark rigs aboard, but they did toss out a bait on monofilament and fought the beast for a moment before it slashed through the leader and got off. The water there was only 68 to 69 degrees, and seas and the weather were beautiful, and Jeff was thinking about returning there this weekend for fall sharking.

<b>Great Egg Harbor Inlet</b>

<b>Stray Cat Charters</b> was weathered out this week, but a day trolling trip went well at Wilmington Canyon last Friday, Capt. Mike said. Longfin tuna and lots of dolphin were caught in 400 to 600 feet, and seas were calm, and the water was 73 to 77 degrees. The water was also blue/green and held lots of weeds, including a nice weed line where fish were hooked. Stray Cat is offering special offshore charters that sail 3 a.m. to 5 p.m.

On the offshore scene, many boaters took advantage of the calm seas Friday and Saturday, but few reported catching anything except lots of skipjacks, said a fax from T.C. from <b>Brennan Marine</b> in Somers Point. Pete Disipio and John Capetola on the Never Ends trolled three large yellowfin tuna and a dolphin at Baltimore Canyon over the weekend on Green Machines.

<b>Hereford Inlet</b>

A good tuna bite took place at the 40-fathom line just inshore of Baltimore Canyon late last week, and tuna turned on at Wilmington Canyon over the weekend, said an e-mail from Cathy from <b>Sterling Harbor Bait & Tackle</b> in Wildwood. Both those canyons gave up wahoo, and Terry Sarter weighed in a 35-pound wahoo he trolled on the Big Bully. Lisa Shute checked in a 39-pound wahoo that she fought on Mark Tilsner’s boat Shenanigans. Timmy McGregor reeled in a 55-pound wahoo and some longfin tuna at Wilmington Canyon, and Mike Sorgentoni on the C-Jam also fished the Wilmington and grabbed four longfins and five big mahi mahi.

<b>Cape May Inlet</b>

A day-trolling trip on the <b>Sea Fox</b> went 10 for 15 on yellowfin tuna at the 40-fathom line at Baltimore Canyon last week on Thursday, a nice catch, Capt. Gary said. Another day-trolling trip fished at the same place Saturday and went 2 for 2 on good-sized yellowfins in the 50-pound class among lots of boat traffic. The fish were hooked on ballyhoos on both trips, and lots of weeds were in the water, and several large pods of mahi mahi were seen, and the boat trolled around the mahi, but none would bite. A white marlin was also raised on the Sea Fox, and other boats landed numerous wahoo in the area.

Anglers on the <b>Canyon Clipper</b> on a trip Saturday sailed offshore and raised a couple of tuna, lost a wahoo that bit through the line and caught mahi mahi, false albacore and skipjacks, and a brown shark was also landed at night, Capt. Stan said. All the other fish on that trip were trolled, and nothing bit at night except the shark. The water was 69 to 74 degrees, clear and held weeds, and some nicer weed lines were at 30 fathoms.

The <b>Down Deep</b> got out on a couple of trips, and yellowfin tuna fishing was excellent, Capt. Bob said. Inshore trolling’s also been good for dolphin. Bob expected no charters to sail before the end of this week, because of rough seas.

On the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> the George Bevens charter fished at Baltimore Canyon on Saturday, and the fishing was a little slow, but a yellowfin tuna and some dolphin were caught, and a wahoo got off, Capt. George said. All the fish were hooked on the troll, and lots of weed lines were around with dolphin underneath, and lots of times the dolphin refused to bite, and the anglers even cast to the mahi. The warmest water at the canyon was 74 degrees, and waters 5 or 6 miles farther inshore were 68 degrees in the morning, and George headed back to that inshore spot in the afternoon and found 76-degree water that held more life, and that’s where the fish were caught. He had caught fish there earlier this year. The fishing in the area seemed slow for lots of boats Saturday but was good Friday. The weather Saturday was nice with flat-calm seas. An offshore charter that was slated for Thursday had to be cancelled because of the weather, and Friday through Sunday also looked questionable, and all the Cape May boats seemed to stay in port this week.

Charters with <b>Jaftica Sportfishing</b> fished offshore Friday and Saturday and landed yellowfin tuna and dolphin at the 40- and 50-fathom lines, Capt. Ray said. The bite was good Friday and was a little slower Saturday because of all the boat traffic, and the water was in the 70s and a good temperature, and sporadic weed lines were around. Jaftica stayed in port during this week’s weather.

On the <b>Top Shelf</b> a charter went 8 for 9 on yellowfin tuna to 35 pounds last Friday at 40 fathoms at Baltimore Canyon on the troll, Capt. Bill said. There was a good temperature break of 67 degrees to 74 degrees, and the fish were hooked at the 74-degree water, and tons of weeds were in the water. A friend overnighted around the same area Saturday and said the weeds were gone, and so were the fish. No trips left the dock on the boat this week because of rough seas. The Top Shelf will tuna fish through the end of September.

Fishing had improved after the remnants of Tropical Storm Ernesto last week, when yellowfin tuna and wahoo bit at the 50-fathom line, said a fax from Capt. Fred from <b>Harbor View Marina</b> in Cape May. The Avalanche fished at Wilmington Canyon and trolled a 113-pound mako shark and a 35-pound wahoo. Nine yellowfin tuna were bagged on the All Geared Up.

False albacore showed up at the inshore lumps for those who trolled small Clark Spoons, feathers and Gotcha’s, and the albies would also hit in a chum slick on spearing drifted back or on small spoons that were cast, said a fax from Matt from <b>Jim’s Bait & Tackle</b>. Offshore fishing was good last week at the 40-fathom line inshore of Baltimore Canyon. At mid week the bite was mostly on the troll during the daytime on ballyhoos behind small lures, and later in the week chunking at night in the deeper water was the most productive. Wayne Reichle’s crew fished the 300 line of the Baltimore last Friday night and bagged seven yellowfin tuna and eight dolphin, and three of the tuna hit jigs. Also last week, Toms Canyon gave up a good tuna bite around the 100 line, and lots of wahoo were at the Baltimore and Toms. Sylvia Ciccotelli last week fought a 69-pound wahoo, her first wahoo.

Gary from <b>Hands Too Bait & Tackle</b> in Cape May said the only thing heard about offshore fishing last week was that tuna catches were decent at Wilmington Canyon.

Back to Top