<b>Sandy Hook</b>

<b>Outcast Charters</b> from Staten Island fished on an overnight trip Tuesday to Wednesday and did well, going 20 for 28 on yellowfin tuna, keeping only a limit of 15 for the five people aboard, Capt. Joe said. The boat fished almost at the Toms Canyon in 550 feet, and the yellowfins were 40 to 80 pounds, and a 90-pound swordfish that was just barely a keeper was also bagged. All the fish were caught on the chunk, and the trip tried trolling for two hours in the morning, but nothing bit. The water was 72 degrees, and seas were calm, and the weather was beautiful.

An open-boat trip sailed to Hudson Canyon last week from Thursday to Friday with <b>Andrea’s Toy Charters</b> and went 2 for 3 on yellowfin tuna and 1 for 2 on longfin tuna on the nighttime chunk, Capt. Freddie Gamboa said. His other two captains ran the trip and set up at the 100 Square for chunking, but boat traffic was heavy. In the morning the anglers opted to fish for tilefish instead of going on the troll for tuna or marlin, and tilefishing was pretty good and produced 10 tiles to 25 pounds. Open-boat, mixed-bag, canyon trips are sailing once a week, and one opening was available this Saturday to Sunday. Next week’s canyon trip was already full. The trips target tuna, mahi mahi, swordfish, sharks, marlin and tilefish all in one outing. Offshore fishing was hot this week at Toms Canyon.

<b>Shark River Inlet</b>

A trip on the <b>Nan Sea J</b> fished north of the Toms Canyon in 550 feet from Tuesday to Wednesday and landed three yellowfin tuna, eight mahi mahi and three swordfish including one keeper, and two more swords spit the hook, Capt. Tom said. The yellowfins were 40 to 60 pounds, and both of the swords that got off were big, and one was fought for 2 hours 45 minutes. The fish bit squid, sardines and herring, and lots of squid and some small jacks were in the water, and one fish hit on the troll. The water was 71 degrees, and seas were flat, and the weather was beautiful. Another canyon trip was supposed to sail today to tomorrow, but the weather forecast looked like the trip would be scrubbed.

Fishing was very good on most canyon trips for <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b>, and customers boated tuna to 150 pounds, including longfin tuna to 65 pounds, swordfish to 175 pounds and mahi mahi, Capt. Ralph said in an e-mail. Three spots were available for an open-boat canyon trip this coming Tuesday to Wednesday.

A canyon tuna trip was weathered out last week on the <b>Bandit</b>, and some spots were available for open-boat canyon trips the next two Sundays, Capt. Scotty said. The trips are limited to 15 passengers.

Tuna fishing on the Belmar party boats was decent, and they were catching mostly yellowfin tuna and a few longfin tuna, and some of the longfins were big and about 65 pounds, said Roger from <b>Fisherman’s Den</b> in Belmar. Most of the trips were producing 20 or 25 tuna, but one of the boats this week bagged about 40 tuna.

<b>Manasquan Inlet</b>

The Terry Rooney charter fished offshore on the <b>Defiant</b> from Tuesday to Wednesday after being weathered out three times since last year, and it was worth the wait, because the fishing was explosive, Capt. John said. The boat went on the troll at the Toms Canyon the first afternoon, and there was one knockdown. As darkness came the boat set up on the chunk at a temperature break that the crew found. The charter started fishing with jigs 60 feet down and boated two yellowfin tuna right away, and then the action was a steady pick of tuna that hit 60 to 90 feet below. By 3 a.m. the action was so intense that the anglers dropped down to fishing two rods from six. By early morning the gang had gone 17 for 17 on yellowfins and also scored three longfin tuna, and one of the longfins weighed 72 pounds, just 5 pounds shy of the state record. Two swordfish including one keeper, a 136 pounder, were also landed.  The boat then trolled and added 9 mahi mahi to the mix, and then the Defiant sailed home with the fish box packed full. Tuna fishing seemed best on the chunk recently, and trolling seemed slow. A canyon charter was cancelled for yesterday to today because bad weather was forecast, and another offshore charter is slated for Saturday to Sunday. Afterward the Defiant will head to Chatham, Mass., to target giant bluefin tuna for 10 days and will return to Jersey no later than October 15, and then six or seven canyon charters take place.  John hoped canyon fishing would last at least through early November. In mid November the boat returns to its winter home of Key Largo to fish through winter. 

Also on the Defiant, the Glenn Newman charter took a course for Hudson Canyon last week from Thursday to Friday. Little was going on during the troll that afternoon except a few knock downs, but then a big blue marlin slammed the spread. Glen fought the monster for an hour before passing on the rod to others, and the blue was landed after a 2-hour 45-minute fight and was tagged and safely released. The marlin’s length was every bit of the boat’s 15-foot beam, so the fish was estimated to weigh 600-plus pounds. At night there was a steady pick of yellowfin tuna and several mahi mahi from 3 to 10 pounds, and the anglers went 7 for 7 on the tuna. In the morning on the troll the anglers went 3 for 3 on longfin tuna. Forecasts for severe seas and strong winds forced the cancellation of two trips last Saturday and Sunday.

Anglers on the <b>Katie H</b> tried fishing for giant bluefin tuna at the Mudhole last Friday, but no giants showed up, and bluefish invaded, and even livelined blues were chopped off by other blues, Capt. Mike said. No giants were marked, and the few other boats that fished the area also caught none, and Mike had heard that a few giants were hooked previously, so that’s why he tried for the fish, but he heard about no giants battled lately. A bunch of ling were caught on the trip. Three overnight canyon charters were slated to fish for tuna from yesterday through Sunday. All the tuna seemed to be biting on the chunk lately.

A charter on the <b>Canyon Runner</b> headed to the 100 Square at Hudson Canyon last week from Thursday to Friday, but a ton of boats were already at the 100 Square, and news was heard that fishing was slow for party boats at the Square the previous night, the report on the boat’s web site said. So the boat moved to the 150/050, and yellowfin tuna were found on top, and bait was marked all over, and the anchor was dropped in 550 feet. A small swordfish immediately bit and was released. Bait was all around the boat, and the action got going at 11 p.m., when tuna started hammering diamond jigs and squid on 60-pound fluorocarbon 80 to 100 feet down. The fishing was best from 2 a.m. to 4:30 a.m., and then the anglers started releasing fish, because the box was nearly full. The night was finished when a 100-pound yellowfin was bagged at daybreak. When the dust settled 19 yellowfin and 2 longfin tuna were kept, and another 10 tuna were released.

Tuna fishing was very good at Hudson Canyon last week, Dave from <b>The Reel Seat</b> in Brielle said. On the Intrepid Capt. John Krohn, owner Dr. Andrew Fanelli and sons Andrew Jr. and Matt chunked overnight on the east side of the Hudson last Friday to Saturday, trying to get in a trip before  rough seas on Saturday, and they scored 12 yellowfin tuna to 100 pounds and a 160-pound swordfish. Half the fish were nailed on Shimano butterfly jigs, and the rest bit bait. The Moondancer with Capt. Mike Petrole and owner Lud Bohler fished at the east side of the Hudson last Friday to Saturday and caught seven yellowfin tuna while chunking and jigging. Earlier in the week the Undisputed with Joe Vezossi tile fished at the Hudson and put together a good catch.

The party boat Jamaica’s recent tuna trips were excellent, and limits were sometimes hooked, and patrons usually grabbed some swordfish, said John from <b>Brielle Bait & Tackle</b>.

<b>Barnegat Inlet</b>

Paul Nigito and friends on the Joie D’Vie came back Wednesday from a trip to South Toms Canyon, said Eric from <b>L&H Woods & Water</b> in Waretown. They reported catching 20 yellowfin tuna, and most were 50 to 60 pounds, but four were 80 to 100 pounds. They also caught one big longfin tuna that was 68 pounds and a handful of dolphin, and they released a 70- to 80-pound swordfish. Tons of squid swam around the boat, and seas were beautiful. Eric heard another report about a big swordfish that was boated that was 308 pounds dressed, and he heard about other boats from Brielle doing well at offshore fishing Monday and Tuesday nights. Wednesday night seemed like it would be the last night with calm seas to fish offshore before the weather turned bad for a moment.

<b>Little Egg Inlet</b>

Fishing was as good as it gets this week at Spencer Canyon, where customers limited out on tuna, said Scott from <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b> on Mystic Island. One customer fished the Spencer from Tuesday to Wednesday and checked in a couple of 50-pound yellowfin tuna and a 113-pound swordfish that were chunked at night.

<b>Absecon Inlet</b>

Terry from <b>Offshore Enterprises Bait & Tackle</b> in Atlantic City said Capt. Jon, the store’s owner, ran a trip on the Carly A and fished Spencer Canyon Wednesday, loading up on 17 yellowfin tuna, 3 bigeye tuna and a swordfish on the chunk.

<b>Great Egg Harbor Inlet</b>

Capt. Mike from the <b>Stray Cat</b> heard on the radio Wednesday that boats whacked tuna at Spencer Canyon and Lindenkohl Canyon, mostly on the night chunk, and some boats had limited out by 9 or 10 p.m., he said Tuna charters are available with Stray Cat, including special trips that sail 3 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Tuna with a few wahoo mixed in were trolled at Wilmington Canyon at the tip and at the notch, and chunking for yellowfin tuna was red hot at Spencer Canyon, said Dan from <b>Fin-Atics</b> in Ocean City. The action at the Spencer was so good that one boat would limit out and call in another vessel and then leave, and that vessel would set up at the same spot and limit out.

<b>Townsend’s Inlet</b>

The <b>Over Under</b> ran overnight trips last week, and the troll bite was pretty consistent, so the boat left the dock earlier than usual to get in a few extra hours of trolling before dark, an e-mail from the crew said. The tradeoff was early departures from the fishing grounds at night, but the night chunk bite seemed best from sunset to midnight, so the schedule seemed to maximize the catch. On the troll bite, spreader bars fished close in seemed best. Action was consistent on two trips both on the troll and on the chunk, and about 10 tuna were caught on average. During one night a school of 25- to 50-pound bluefin tuna was under the boat for several hours, and the bluefins were caught and released until everyone was tired. It was the first time the anglers onboard experienced that type of bluefin bite. The areas the boat was fishing were loaded with  squid and sardines, and those were the baits of choice at night. A trip earlier last week was the best of the season so far, going 11 for 16 on tuna on the troll and then getting into a mad dog bite of tuna from dark until 9:30 p.m. until limiting out, and then the anglers released more fish for another 45 minutes before heading for the barn at 10:30 p.m. The Pretty Work, Over Under Adventures’ boat in Ocean City, Md., fished offshore on day trips and continued to put together nice catches of yellowfins with an occasional bluefin or wahoo mixed in. Six to 12 yellowfins usually came over the rail each trip, and the tuna were getting a bit larger, and many were over 50 pounds and into the 60- to 65-pound range. Some of the wahoo were well over 50 pounds. Over Under expected the concentration of fish to migrate south from the Baltimore and Poorman’s canyons to the Washington Canyon area. The crew was still patiently waiting for longfin tuna to show up, and the number of longfins trolled so far was extremely low, but the crew expected those true albacore to arrive in large quantities when they did show up. Bigeye tuna should be right along with them, too.

Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Gibson’s Tackle</b> in Sea Isle City was weathered out from fishing offshore lately. But he heard that a boat sank this week while returning from a tuna trip. Reportedly the 52-foot vessel hit something and sank very quickly 30 miles from shore, and the seven people onboard jumped in a four-man life raft and weren’t rescued until two days later and 70 miles offshore.  

<b>Cape May</b>

The <b>Heavy Hitter</b> will fish for tuna this weekend, and the forecast looked alright, and only today was supposed to be rough, Capt. George said. A good tuna bite was going on, and yellowfins were hitting on the chunk and on the troll.  Tuna charters on the vessel were weathered out last week on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and that was a bad week of weather.

Rough weather made boating extremely tough recently, but <b>Jaftica Sportfishing</b> will fish for tuna another two weeks, Capt. Ray said. Tuna fishing was good, and nighttime chunking was best, but some of the fish were also hitting on the troll.

Fish could be caught when the weather was calm enough to sail last week, said Capt. Bob from the <b>Down Deep</b>. The Matt Jones charter last week on Monday sailed to Baltimore Canyon, and Gil Bemon on the trip nailed a 260-pound bigeye tuna, and the group caught a few other yellowfin tuna from 40 to 50 pounds and a bunch of dolphin. Charters were weathered out Friday through Sunday. Tuna charters will probably fish through next week.

“Capt. Fred from Harbor View reports wind,” joked a fax from Capt. Fred Ascoli from <b>Harbor View Marina</b> in Cape May at the beginning of the week. When no winds were blowing, plenty of fish could be caught. Fishing for yellowfin tuna, wahoo and white marlin was hot last week at the 50-fathom line and Wilmington Canyon, and plenty of dolphin were at Baltimore Canyon that week.

Offshore fishing continued to be fabulous, said a fax from Matt from <b>Jim’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Cape May. Last week from Thursday to Friday the tip of Wilmington Canyon was the hot spot, and the Miss Andrea limited out on yellowfin tuna there two nights, and live bait was best for the yellowfins. Good numbers of white marlin were also around, and the All Geared Up released a white at the Wilmington that was estimated to weigh 80 to 90 pounds. Offshore fishing was red hot last week at the 40-fahom line inside Spencer Canyon both on the troll during the day and on the chunk at night. Most boats reported tuna catches in the double digits.  Plenty of wahoo and dolphin were also still being trolled, and some swordfish were coming in from the deep lines.

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