<b>Sandy Hook</b>

Fishing on a trip to Lindenkohl Canyon from Thursday to Friday was some of the best and worst that Capt. Jake from <b>Jersey Shore Fishing Charters</b> from Sea Bright ever experienced, he said. The problem was that 22 tuna bit, but only three were landed. The anglers kept getting the lines caught in the prop and rudders and breaking them off, although the crew kept instructing them how to avoid that. Some also broke off without hitting any obstructions, and many of the fish on the trip probably should’ve been landed. A yellowfin more than 80 pounds and two 60-pound and 48-pound longfins were the fish that were landed in the 69.9-degree water filled with bait. All the fish were hooked on live squid, and trolling was done before sunset, but nothing hit. Jake’s friend fished the East Elbow of Hudson Canyon and went 8 for 9 on yellowfins on squid. Jersey Shore offers offshore charters on the angler’s own boat, and that’s what was done on this trip, and another one of these trips was slated to run this week.

Although the following report is from inshore waters, not offshore, the species is a blue-water one, and it shows where the fish are roaming by now, helping paint a fuller picture. <b>Frenzy Fishing Charters</b> from Staten Island was fighting three to five false albacore to the boat on most trips toward Sandy Hook and Breezy Point and all over the area this week, Capt. Tommy Verderosa said. He was just watching for the fish to bust the surface, and then his charters were either tossing epoxy flies to the speedsters or throwing Deadly Dicks on 10-pound tackle for a blast. Larger Deadly Dicks were producing best. Some other type of pelagics, maybe bonito or Spanish mackerel, were seen, and none would bite, but they were definitely there. Frenzy specializes in this type of fishing in fall.  

False albacore and bonito were supposedly tearing up the waters toward Breezy Point, said Vinnie from <b>Michael’s Bait & Tackle</b> on Staten Island. His customers were fighting the tackle busters on light-tackle and fly rods.

<b>Shark River Inlet</b>

Anglers on a canyon trip on Monday drilled a swordfish and nine yellowfin tuna to 100 pounds with <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b> from Neptune, and the tuna were big, and fish bit most of the night, Capt. Ralph said in an e-mail. One spot is available for a canyon trip Tuesday to Wednesday. His last two shark trips fought two makos from 125 to 150 pounds to the boat within 25 miles from shore.

The <b>Nan Sea J</b> from Belmar steamed offshore on an overnighter to Carteret Canyon from Thursday to Friday, and fishing was a little slow, Capt. Tom said. But two white marlins were landed, one on the troll and one on the chunk. Chunking also produced good-sized mahi mahi from 8 to 10 pounds and a yellowfin tuna. The yellowfin bit at sunset, so tuna fishing seemed like it was going to be good at night, but no other tuna materialized. The water was nice-looking and 75 degrees, and not a lot of bait swam past, but a few squid and some flying fish were seen. Four canyon trips in a row were fishing this week if the weather allowed.

<b>Manasquan Inlet</b>

Offshore trips were weathered out Wednesday to Thursday and today to tomorrow on the <b>Katie H</b> from Brielle, Capt. Mike said. He hoped the weather would allow the boat to fish offshore this weekend. A boater from the dock fished Hudson Canyon from Tuesday to Wednesday and got his butt kicked on the way home, but 10 tuna were chunked on the trip. Mike knew nobody else who fished offshore, but the weather seemed decent enough earlier in the week. Trips did head out on the boat last week from Friday to Saturday and from Saturday to Sunday and fished Lindenkohl Canyon. Friday’s fishing was very good, and a healthy number of yellowfin tuna to 75 pounds were chunked. Saturday’s fishing was slow, and some yellowfins managed to be chunked, and fish were marked, but the bite sounded slow for everyone. On that trip a swordfish was also lost on the anchor line. On both trips there was a temperature break from 72 degrees to 74.6 degrees on the way into the Lindy, and the 74.6-degree water was where the boat fished. Some squid, but not a ton, swam past, and sardines for bait worked just as well as squid. A little trolling was done but produced nothing, and the year’s been terrible for trolling. Seas were beautiful until becoming a little bumpy at the end of the trip Sunday morning.

On the <b>Andrea’s Toy</b> from Point Pleasant a charter Monday fished Hudson Canyon and landed mahi mahi and a swordfish, Capt. Fred said. Tuna fishing was slow, but the charter wanted to target a sword, so they spent a lot of time at night drifting for one, and eventually they were successful. The report on the boat’s web site said the trip began fishing from the tip of the canyon to the Elbow, where trolling for tuna was uneventful. So the anglers moved to the 100 Square and caught mahi mahi at the lobster pots. Next they set up for swordfishing on a drift from the 100 Square to Jones Canyon, and no swords bit, but a 50-pound longfin tuna was caught. So they started tuna fishing after midnight, and there was plenty of bait, but no tuna. Then a swordfish was caught! “Go figure,” the site said.  Andrea’s Toy is now concentrating on open-boat trips to the canyons while the fishing is good and weather is reliable enough to take a fair number of trips. Those trips will probably end by October 15, but if perfect weather rolls in during November, the boat will head to the eastern wall of the Hudson, where squid boats work the water, and giant bluefin tuna can be fought. Besides open trips, charters are always available. Andrea’s Toy specializes in mixed-bag fishing for more fun, better chances at hooking up, and more variety to take home to eat. Offshore trips always mix up the options, running for tuna, casting light tackle for mahi, maybe swordfishing or sharking, and maybe tilefishing.

The partly boat <b>Gambler</b> from Point Pleasant is exclusively sailing on open-boat tuna trips five days a week this month, Capt. John said. The fishing recently was inconsistent, and the full moon might’ve played a part, and steady water temps with no breaks might’ve left no place for the fish to gather. The last trip sailed three days ago to South Toms Canyon in 76-degree water, and a nice shot of 80-pound yellowfins came through at 4 a.m. and were marked, but most were reluctant to bite. An 85- or 90-pounder was probably the biggest that was caught. Swordfish were also being boated on the trips, and the swordfish population certainly seemed to rebound. On a trip two Monday’s ago two 140- and 160-pound swords were landed, and outdoor writer Nick Honachefsky tackled the biggest and won the pool, and seas were very rough that night. Openings are available for the trips in October, and probably five or six spots are left on many of the outings, and some are sold out, especially on weekends, but some openings remain on weekends. The dates of the trips are posted on the boat’s web site. The tuna trips will end around November 1, and then striped bass fishing will begin on the boat. In December the boat will start offering offshore sea bass trips to the 60- to 80-mile wrecks, limited to 40 passengers. The Gambler also runs a number of tilefish trips offshore during winter.

Offshore fishing seemed decent for a lot of boaters last week and slow for others, said Dave from <b>The Reel Seat</b> in Brielle. Trolling had turned on for a moment but then slowed back down, and the fishing depended on who fished and where they went. Lots of good action came from the tip of Hudson Canyon to the east wall. Barry Emelia Sr. and Jr. on the Hard 8 fished Lindenkohl Canyon from Thursday to Friday and trolled longfin tuna and chunked nice-sized, 70- to 80-pound yellowfin tuna. Chunking was best on live squid and jigs instead of sardines or dead bait. The Little Rascals on a trip Thursday to Friday only fished at night and limited out on big yellowfins, mostly on Shimano butterfly jigs, and a small mako was even jigged and released. Reports were heard about bigger bluefin tuna over 100 pounds sometimes trolled at the Chicken Canyon last week. Smaller bluefins, mahi mahi and wahoo were trolled from Little Italy to the Lillian wreck during the same time period.

The <b>Jamaica</b> from Brielle’s been tuna fishing through the past week, and the boat e-mailed an update on the trips from Wednesday of last week through Monday. The fishing started with a big catch on Wednesday, so there were high hopes for the fishing on Thursday with great weather, the same water temps and the right current, everything perfect, except the fishing. Reports were poor from the bulk of the fleet that night. On Friday’s trip conditions were also good, and yellowfin tuna showed up under the boat at 2 a.m. But the fish were gone as quickly as they appeared, and only a few more tuna bit the rest of the night. But in the morning the trip hit the lobster pots, and customers bagged 20 mahi mahi. Saturday night’s conditions were also good, and a big swordfish was the first fish hooked but was lost. A couple of tuna bit every hour, but every one was lost, and the crew was beginning to wonder if any fish were going to be boated. Then yellowfins schooled under the boat at 4 a.m., and wild action took place for an hour. Matt Walenta was high hook with three yellowfins. On Sunday night the boat returned to the same area with conditions similar to the previous evenings except a little more wind. A 100-pound swordfish was landed at 1 a.m., and the first yellowfin hit at 2 a.m., and several of the tuna were boated, and several were lost. A half hour later chaos erupted, with three to seven tuna hooked at all times for the next couple of hours till early morning. Many of the tuna were lost because the yellowfins this year were generally larger or 60 to 95 pounds. Most of the tuna grabbed bait, but some smacked jigs. Things were quiet for an hour until 6 a.m., when longfin tuna schooled 40 to 90 feet down, and six were hooked, and four were bagged. Two white marlin were nailed at 8 a.m., one on bait and the other on a jig, and both provided quite a show. Frank Pogue was high hook with three yellowfins and a white marlin. Plenty of good water was flowing along the 100-fathom line from Hudson Canyon to Wilmington Canyon, and the fish were biting almost everywhere, some days better than others, and the outlook seemed good. Space is available for trips in October and November, and tuna charters are also available on both the Jamaica and the 110-foot Atlantis.

Similar to a report above, most of the following report involves inshore fishing instead of offshore, but news about bonito swimming close to shore was rolling in this week, and here’s an example. Just goes to show where blue-water fish are popping up these days. Anglers on the <b>Reel-Ality</b> from Brielle on Sunday pushed off to the ocean off the Spring Lake Hotel and trolled a bunch of bonito, bagging seven that they kept for dinner, Capt. Larry said. Ten more probably hit but got off on the small jet lures. Seas were a little nasty that day in north winds, and the water was about 70 degrees. Reel-Ality is also fishing for bluefin tuna in the inshore ocean at every opportunity, and Larry heard an unconfirmed report on the radio from an angler who said he battled bluefins at the Oil Wreck over the weekend.

Other reports about <b>bonito</b> hugging the shoreline came from a number of sources. Outdoor writer Nick Honachefsy told the publisher of this site that he fought four bonito from the surf one day in the past week. “Once in a lifetime,” he said. Ray Bukowski from Pell’s Fish & Sport in Bricktown said a couple of customers who were surf fishing saw fish busting the water beyond casting range. So one of them took his kayak out and ended up landing six bonito that weighed more than 5 pounds each.

<b>Barnegat Inlet</b>

Boaters seemed to score good catches of tuna, maybe six, seven or eight a trip, and maybe a swordfish or two, at Toms, Carteret, Lindenkohl and Spencer canyons, said Dale from <b>L&H Woods & Water</b> in Waretown.

Tuna fishing was very good at Carteret and Lindenkohl canyons on the chunk, said Rusty from <b>Barnegat Light Bait & Tackle</b>.

Offshore fishing was generally incredible, and there were a few slow days recently, but Basil from <b>Oceanside Bait & Tackle</b> in Brighton Beach thought the bite turned back on, he said. Wilmington and Carteret canyons seemed to give up tuna.

<b>Little Egg Inlet</b>

Anglers with <b>Legal Limit Charters</b> from Tuckerton boated a good catch of yellowfin tuna from 60 to 95 pounds at Wilmington Canyon on Friday night, mostly on chunks of butterfish, Capt. T.J. said. Fishing was slower Saturday night at the Wilmington, and a charter chunked two swordfish and trolled a wahoo. The water temp dropped a couple of degrees from 76.2 on Friday to 74.5 on Saturday.

A charter tuna fished on the <b>Miss Beach Haven</b> Sunday night and boated a swordfish and a tuna at Wilmington Canyon, but the fishing was slow for the fleet, and a couple of boats caught nothing, Capt. Frank said.  The Miss Beach Haven is a party boat but fishes for tuna on charters only.
 
<b>Absecon Inlet</b>

The <b>Fishin’ Fever</b> from Brigantine took several trips from Thursday to Sunday, Capt. Tom said. An overnight, offshore trip last week on Thursday went 2 for 3 on 60- and 80-pound yellowfin tuna and 2 for 4 on swordfish, all on the chunk. One of the swords that was landed was barely legal-sized and was released, and the other was a 100-pounder that was kept. The trip also trolled and went 2 for 2 on longfin tuna. This trip fished at Lindenkohl Canyon at very good-looking water at a temperature break that ranged 70 to 75 degrees within a mile, and some boaters scored very well at the canyon that night, and a friend bailed 21 tuna, and an unconfirmed report was heard about one boater nailing a whopping 60 tuna. On Saturday the boat fished on an 8-hour, inshore troll at the Cigar, and five false albacore were reeled in, and more than 40 bites must’ve been missed, and the fish were short striking like crazy on Clark spoons, Zukers, feathers and such. On Sunday the boat took a day trip to Wilmington Canyon, and the anglers went 4 for 6 on yellowfin tuna from 80 to 90 pounds in very good-looking, clear water with a 4-1/2-degree temp break up to 74.7 degrees within three-quarters of a mile. On that day Tom heard about a lot of zeros scored at the surrounding canyons, and others caught two fish here, and five fish there, but nobody seemed to really mug them.

Lindenkohl Canyon to Wilmington Canyon put out lots of good fishing for big yellowfin tuna to 100 pounds, a few decent wahoos and a mess of dolphin, said Jack from Offshore Enterprises Bait & Tackle in Atlantic City. Swordfish and white marlin were also on the bite. The <b>Carly A</b>, the boat’s offshore charter boat, was supposed to fish yesterday, but the charter cancelled. The last trip sailed Sunday, and Jack thought the boat fished the tip of Wilmington Canyon on the chunk and came back with four yellowfin tuna and a tripletail. The vessel also did a little trolling, and three white marlins were hooked but got off. The shop is filled to the gills with offshore baits, including flats of butterfish and sardines, two different sizes of ballyhoos, three different sizes of rigged ballyhoos, bunker chum and mackerel chum. “You name it,” Jack said.

<b>Great Egg Harbor Inlet</b>

Dan from <b>Fin-Atics</b> in Ocean City fished at Wilmington Canyon from Sunday to Monday and caught tuna, and the fish were biting along both walls and the tip, he said. His friend Paul Decker that night caught a 400-pound swordfish. Wow! Another friend Kenny Millevi landed another bruiser, a 250-pound sword, on another boat that night, and Kenny’s crew also chunked an 80-pound wahoo. The anglers on both boats also loaded up on tuna. Yet another friend wrestled two white marlins to the boat along the 500 line of the Spencer on a trip Friday to Saturday. Tuna fishing sounded slow Saturday but seemed to rebound Sunday and Monday. Anglers probably took the trip offshore this Wednesday to Thursday, but seas were rough.

<b>Townsend’s Inlet</b>

Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Gibson’s Tackle</b> in Sea Isle City fished the Lindenkohl with friends during the weekend and went 2 for 4 on 70- to 80-pound yellowfin tuna on the chunk, he said. There was a temp break from 71 to 75.5 degrees along the 100-fathom line, and all the fish bit on the cooler side along the edge. Butterfish worked better than sardines, and that goes to show that experimenting with different baits is important. Fifty-pound leaders worked best, and all the fish bit down deep, except one that was hooked on a free line. Joe and crew tried trolling a couple of hours in the morning with not even a knock down, and trolling hasn’t been happening, and the fish are deep.

<b>Cape May</b>

On the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> from Cape May a charter went 4 for 6 on 70- to 75-pound yellowfin tuna Saturday night at Wilmington Canyon, Capt. George said. A couple of mahi mahi and a big blue shark were also caught, and everything bit on the chunk. Chunking seemed to be the only thing that worked for all boaters, and trolling picked up a tuna or a white marlin only once in a while. Boaters either seemed to catch fish or land none, and George knew a lot of people who scored none. The Heavy Hitter will probably run these overnight charters another two weeks.

<b>Jaftica Sportfishing</b> from Cape May on an overnight tuna charter Friday limited out on yellowfins at Wilmington Canyon and was finished by 5 a.m., Capt. Ray said. Fifteen gaffer mahi mahi were also nailed, and fish bit all night, and the tuna were hefty ones, mostly 70 to 90 pounds, and two were also boated on the troll during the evening. Squid showed up now and then but not thick, but there was lots of other bait, and the tuna grabbed live squid, sardines and butterfish. The water was good-looking and 77 degrees, and there was a nice temp break. Jafica will run overnighters through the beginning of October, weather permitting. The boat also took an inshore trolling trip last week, and a nice catch of bonito and 8- to 10-pound blues was put together at 5-Fathom Bank on Clark spoons and feathers.

Canyon tuna fishing was on fire last week until Thursday, and double-digits of good-sized yellowfin tuna were fairly common on the overnight chunk, said Matt from <b>Jim’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Cape May in a fax. But the bite moved south during the weekend, and the flats on the east and west sides of Wilmington Canyon produced the most consistently. Wayne Reichle and Dan and Kevin Olsen fished the Wilmington on Friday night and bagged five nice yellowfins and lost four, and most of the fish hit jigs. The crew on the Jenny O’ fished the Wilmington on Saturday night and chunked five tuna and a white marlin. Lots of false albacore swam between the East Lump and the Misty Blue wreck and could be trolled, or they could be chummed and fought on spearing that was drifted back or on spoons that were cast.

<b>Delaware Bay</b>

Tim from <b>Captain Tate’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Dennisville heard the following reports that all came from Wilmington Canyon, he said. Greg Frank on the Down Deep ran a trip that nailed six yellowfin tuna from 60 to 80 pounds, a white marlin and a 200-pound mako. Dan Fabri from Fabri Concrete hauled in a 300-pound swordfish, four or five yellowfins, some longfins and a wahoo. And the Rock and Robin came back with a 200-pound bigeye tuna, four or five yellowfins and a 50-pound wahoo.

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