<b>Sandy Hook</b>

<b>Jersey Shore Fishing Charters</b> from Sea Bright headed to Hudson Canyon from Sunday to Monday and went 7 for 8 on longfin tuna and 2 for 5 on mahi mahi, Capt. Jake said. Three of the tuna, including the one that got off, were chunked, and five were trolled, and the water was very blue and 72 to 76 degrees.

A friend tuna fished Sunday to Monday between Toms and Lindenkohl canyons, landing yellowfin tuna, longfin tuna, mahi mahi and a 100-pound swordfish, said Capt. Fletcher from <b>Two Rivers Charters</b> from Sea Bright. Another friend tilefished in 600 feet off Cape May and took a while to find the tiles but finally hooked a bunch at one of the canyon edges.
 
<b>Shark River Inlet</b>

The <b>Nan Sea J</b> from Belmar’s first tuna charter of the year boated 14 big yellowfins, all about 80 pounds, at Lindenkohl Canyon from Monday to Tuesday, Capt. Tom said. All were hooked on the chunk and mostly at night, but three bit on the chunk around 8 a.m. Two of the tuna slammed butterfly jigs, and most grabbed butterfish chunks, though maybe one or two inhaled sardines. Eight or nine tuna were also lost, and the anglers fished with 80-pound leaders. The boat trolled an hour when it first arrived in the 73-degree water, but no fish showed interest.

The season’s first open-boat tuna trip on the 77-foot <b>Bandit</b> from Belmar pointed the bow offshore Sunday for a good catch on the overnighter, Capt. Scotty said. Tuna started slamming baits 15 minutes after the vessel anchored 103 miles from the coast and kept biting all night. The fish, big 80- to 100-pounders, put a strain on tackle, and Scotty stressed that anglers should bring 80-class, high-quality outfits or rent them from the boat, because too many fish were lost from outmatched rods and reels. Three swordfish were also hooked but lost. The next spaces available on the open trips are the week after next, and then openings are available afterward. The trips are limited to 15 passengers, run 28 to 30 hours and leave 10 or 11 a.m. The departure time allows anglers to fish the bite toward the end of daylight as well as through the night and part of the next morning.

A shark charter with <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b> from Neptune on Sunday tackled a 125- to 150-pound mako, Capt. Ralph said. A shark charter a couple of weekends ago also pinned down a 100-class mako. Canyon tuna fishing was very good on both the chunk and on the troll for boaters who knew what they were doing and were also able to sail between the strong winds during the past week. Space remains on only two open-boat, offshore tuna trips that will take place October 2 to 3 and 16 to 17. Not a lot of dates are left for canyon charters, so book now if you want to go.

Tuna fishing was off to an excellent start for the Belmar boats, said Mike from <b>Fisherman’s Den</b> in Belmar. Mike heard about no tuna trips that landed none of the fish so far. He saw yellowfin tuna from 50 to 100 pounds that were caught, and lots of bigeye tuna were fought. He heard about bigeyes boated that weighed 250 pounds, and he weighed a 165-pounder. Two trips that he knew about connected with swordfish in the past week.

<b>Manasquan Inlet</b>

An overnight trip on the <b>Katie H</b> from Brielle once again limited out on yellowfin tuna a little south of Lindenkohl Canyon, Capt. Mike said. The charter fished Tuesday to Wednesday and returned to the dock by 9 a.m. by the anglers’ choice. A charter Sunday to Monday limited out at the same place and returned early, and the tuna on both trips were around 60 pounds. The tuna on this most recent trip all bit at night in the 74-degree water, and trolling during daytime in the area was slow, though Mike was unsure whether the trip, which his partner ran, did any trolling. Reports sounded like trolling at Hudson Canyon became decent for longfin tuna this week, when good water rolled in. A boater from the dock fished there and trolled 11 or 12 longfins during the day and chunked only three at night. But most of the action lately was at the southern canyons, so the Katie H will probably keep fishing there for now. 

The Intrepid with owner Dr. Andrew Fanelli and Capt. John Krohn overnighted at Lindenkohl Canyon last Friday to Saturday and nailed about a dozen yellowfin tuna to 76 ½ pounds on chunks and Shimano Butterfly Jigs while competing in the Manasquan Marlin and Tuna Club Tournament,  said Dave from <b>The Reel Sea</b> from Brielle. They also released a blue marlin, and the Prime Time with Capt. Bill Madden earlier that week walloped 18 yellowfin tuna at night, and 11 of the fish smacked butterfly jigs, and a 100-pound swordfish also hit one of the jigs and was boated. Reports were heard last week about bluefin tuna, bigger ones around 60 to 70 pounds, hooked sometimes at the Glory Hole.

On the <b>Reel-Ality</b> from Brielle anglers had planned to sail for bluefin tuna around the Mudhole Wednesday, but seas were too big, despite a forecast for calm conditions with 5- to 10-knot winds, Capt. Larry said. They even attempted to run to the ocean along the coast for fluke but soon turned back from seas that blasted the boat. So they fished Manasquan River instead. Anglers onboard will now target bluefin tuna around the Mudhole at every chance. Larry was hearing nothing specific about bluefins in the past days, except a second-hand report that some were supposedly hooked at the Glory Hole. A trip there on the Reel-Ality last week found a bunch of skipjacks and a mahi mahi that were trolled, and a nearby boater chunked a couple of small bluefins.

On the <b>Benchmark</b> from Point Pleasant the vessel’s first open-boat, overnight canyon trip of the season ran last week on Thursday, and tuna fishing at night was slow, but during the daytime four longfin tuna were trolled, and so was a big white marlin that was released, and a blue marlin was fought 2 ½ hours before it got off.

<b>Barnegat Light</b>

Barnegat Ridge put out lots of blues, said Josh from <b>Barnegat Light Bait & Tackle</b>, and he assumed bonito were still there.

Customers were doing well on tuna at the Toms and Lindenkohl canyons, and sometimes the grounds were crammed with boats, said Dale from <b>L&H Woods & Water</b> from Waretown. Not a lot was heard about Hudson Canyon, but customers usually fish those other canyons. One angler last week reported fishing around the Cigar and drilling three wahoos and a bunch of small bluefin tuna. The only word heard about Barnegat Ridge was that a bunch of skipjacks were caught.

<b>Little Egg Inlet</b>

<b>Legal Limit Charters</b> from Tuckerton will tuna fish this weekend if the weather allows, and the action was supposedly red hot, Capt. T.J. said. Yellowfins were being taken from the Toms Canyon to the Spencer.

Bonito were apparently still hitting at Barnegat Ridge, and a couple of reports were heard about them and blues caught there, said Christian from <b>Oceanside Bait & Tackle</b> in Brighton Beach. A couple of reports were also heard about wahoo putting up battles at the Cigar. Offshore fishing was phenomenal for yellowfin tuna, sometimes bigeye tuna and longfin tuna as well.

<b>Absecon Inlet</b>

An overnight trip anchored on the 100-fathom line and went 3 for 4 on yellowfin tuna from 65 to 75 pounds on the <b>Fishin’ Fever</b> from Brigantine from Sunday to Monday, Capt. Tom said. The fish bit sardines and dead squid, and 15 mahi mahi were also boated. On the morning troll the anglers went 1 for 1 on a 90-pound yellowfin and 0 for 2 on white marlin. Fishin’ Fever is running offshore charters and open-boat trips, and the open trips head for the canyons every Saturday when no charter is booked. But the boat is also trolling on inshore charters at places such as the AC Ridge for false albacore, blues, bluefin tuna, mahi and such.

Offshore fishing was probably best at Lindenkohl Canyon, Carteret Canyon and Toms Canyon, said Jack from <b>Offshore Enterprises Bait & Tackle</b>. Boaters caught yellowfin tuna, longfin tuna, some wahoo, mahi mahi, white marlin, a few bigeye tuna, and a few 400-pound blue marlin. The <b>Carly A</b>, the shop’s offshore charter boat, was fishing yesterday, and no fishing trips on the vessel took place the previous few days. Its last trip picked up six yellowfin tuna and two mahi, and a small swordfish was released. A full selection of offshore baits is stocked, including butterfish, sardines, medium and large ballyhoos, rigged ballyhoos in different sizes, Spanish mackerel, trolling squid for marlin and “you name it,” Jack said.

<b>Great Egg Harbor Inlet</b>

Anglers on the <b>Stray Cat</b> from Longport took a course for the Lobster Claw on Sunday and trolled a few false albacore and missed a couple of bites, Capt. Mike said. Inshore tuna fishing was pretty much dead, and “it’s either the canyons or forget it,” he said. A 24-hour, open-boat trip will sail offshore this weekend that will chunk for tuna at night and fish for tilefish, and the trip is sold out. All open-boat tuna trips are sold out, but some dates for charters remain.

<b>Townsend’s Inlet</b>

Fishing was a mixed bag of some good trips and some bad last week, an e-mail from <b>Over Under Adventures</b> said. The Low Profile, Over Under’s boat fishing from Avalon, went 3 for 4 on white marlin and 2 for 4 on 70-pound yellowfin tuna at Wilmington Canyon last Friday. But on a trip Saturday the boat fished for bluefin tuna at the inshore grounds, but none bit, and the vessel returned early because of rough seas and the fishing. Inshore bluefin fishing has dried up and has at least become inconsistent. But the fishing farther offshore seemed to be moving in the right direction, and tuna were beginning to show up in 40 to 50 fathoms at the canyons during the day. Overnight tuna fishing had been hot but then shut down two days before last week’s full moon. The fishing began to pick up a couple of days after the moon but wasn’t as good as it had been. Then rough weather rolled in and kept trips from overnighting. Day trips produced mixed results, and sometimes the fishing was good, and on other days trips went without a bite. Several of Over Under’s boats this season are also fishing from Ocean City, Md., with the same results lately, and That’s Right, one of the vessels, released a 600-pound blue marlin and caught a half dozen tuna on one trip during the week.  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.  

Tuna fishing was good at Lindenkohl Canyon on the chunk at first light, and when anglers scored, they fought the fish all at once, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Gibson’s Tackle</b> in Sea Isle City. A lot fewer tuna bit on the troll at the Lindy, and a batch of good water moved into the 40-Fathom Fingers and produced white marlin and mahi mahi.  Joe trolled during the day Monday at the Lindenkohl but said it would’ve been better if his schedule had allowed him to get there early and chunk. Canyon fishing’s been better at the northern canyons or at the Spencer, Toms and Lindenkohl. Good white marlin fishing was happening at Baltimore and Wilmington canyons, and the Poorman’s held a decent concentration of blue marlin. More blue marlin swam around this season than Joe had heard about in a while. Wahoo fishing this year’s also been unusually good, and he’d never seen so many hitting in 30 to 50 fathoms. He even trolled two on mono with no wire leaders recently. Nothing specific was heard about bluefin tuna fishing around those grounds.

<b>Cape May Inlet</b>

The season’s first overnight tuna trip on the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> from Cape May returned to the dock Monday with six good-sized yellowfin tuna and a bunch of mahi mahi that came from Wilmington Canyon, Capt. George said. Four other tuna pulled the hook, and all the fish were boated at night, but a tuna got off on the troll during daytime. Plenty of squid swarmed past during the night, but no bait was really seen during the day. The water was 75 to 76 degrees and held clumps of weeds here and there. Many boaters in the area seemed to find slow fishing, and some did so-so, and others didn’t even find a bite.  A friend was catching nothing when George called him in, and then the friend ended up boating 11 tuna. Closer to shore, a heavy weed line floated at the Elephant Trunk, but some boaters trolled there and picked up no fish.  George heard that tuna fishing was good at the northern canyons like the Toms and the Spencer.

Capt. Gary from the <b>Sea Fox</b> from Cape May was hearing mixed reports about tuna fishing, and some boaters landed 8 to 10 tuna while drifting and chunking the edges of the deep at the Lindenkohl and Toms canyons, he said. Drifting sounded better than anchoring, and Gary expects fishing to open up along the southern canyons soon.

The best tuna fishing took place overnight at Spencer and Lindenkohl canyons, said Matt from <b>Jim’s Bait & Tackle</b> from Cape May. Yellowfin tuna to 103 pounds were weighed in and so were quite a few from 70 to 80 pounds that bit on the chunk. Quite a few white marlin were raised and caught at the same canyons on the troll. The tip and inside edge of the Elephant Trunk were putting out good numbers of wahoo and mahi mahi on the troll. Huge bluefin tuna were sometimes fought there when the scallop boats were working, and the area is now closed to the scallopers, but a few of the fish were still around the schools of bait. The crew from the Miss Andrea weighed in a 130-pound bluefin that bit there, and George McBride from the Moonshine checked in a 185-pound bluefin that came from the same area. A bunch of mahi also bit around the same spot.

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