<b>Sandy Hook</b>

Customers on two different trips pumped in two mako sharks about 90 pounds apiece, one from the Linda wreck and the other from the Monster Ledge, said Joe from <b>Michael’s Bait & Tackle</b> on Staten Island. He’s been reporting during the past weeks that customers were tackling sharks like that.

<b>Manasquan Inlet</b>

The first canyon, overnight tuna trip of the season on the party boat <b>Gambler</b> from Point Pleasant got underway Tuesday, Capt. Bob said. The fishing was slow, but a few yellowfins were hooked, and Jim Rae whacked a 100-pound bigeye on a whole butterfish. Waters were beautiful and clean, and bait sometimes swam through, and sometimes tuna were marked. Yellowfins had been caught at the same place a few days before, but action tapered off by this trip. Bob heard a report from a commercial boat about a catch farther east, so the Gambler was probably headed there on a trip yesterday.  Canyon fishing was slow, but Bob’s log books showed a quiet period this time last year when the fishing suddenly turned on. Check the boat’s web site for the tuna schedule.

Big yellowfin tuna, 60 pounders, a few 80-pounders and one 140-pound bruiser, were whacked last Thursday to Friday on the head boat <b>Jamaica</b> from Brielle, Capt. Howard said in an e-mail. That was the best canyon fishing heard about on this site so far this season. Large schools of tuna swam under the boat, and they were hungry, he said. After anchoring at one of the canyons at 10:45 p.m., fishing started slowly, but a 110-pound swordfish was landed, and a mahi mahi was decked, and plenty of squid, anchovies and even a white marlin larger than 100 pounds swam around in the middle of the night. The captain considered moving but decided to wait. At 3 a.m. six tuna were fought aboard, but by 4 a.m. the fishing started to kick in. Smaller yellowfins were fought, and then several fish were broken off. The big boys moved in! Yellowfins that were all more than 60 pounds apiece started pounding the baits, and a few 80-pounders were lambasted, and Pat Sullivan from Staten Island walloped the 140-pounder. Most of the fish on the trip were hooked 80 to 100 feet down, and tremendous amounts of bait and fish were read 50 to 220 feet down. All the fishing was on bait and jigs, and healthy numbers of squid and anchovies schooled. See the boat’s tuna schedule on its web site. 

Tuna trips never left the dock during the weekend on the party boat <b>Sea Devil</b>, Point Pleasant, because of the weather, although some of the fleet fished, Cindy said. She heard nothing about how the catches went. The vessel is supposed to be back on the grounds Sunday to Monday and Thursday to Friday. Most tuna trips are sold out on weekends, but weekdays are available, and the schedule is on the boat’s web site.

The <b>Andrea’s Toy</b> from Point Pleasant was supposed to be set on course for the inshore ocean for bluefin tuna and mahi mahi today, after weather kept most boaters docked this week, Capt. Fred said. A canyon trip is on the books for next week, and a specific place served up catches of yellowfin tuna, some of them big, at the canyons Sunday to Monday. But offshore boaters kept the info under wraps, something heard from other captains this week, too. The fishing was tough at the moment, and any news of better yellowfin catches was at a premium. Andrea’s Toy Charters is running open-boat, mixed bag trips to the canyons for tuna, billfish, sharks, mahi mahi and tilefish. The boat’s home page features info.

A bunch of bluefin tuna could be wrestled at places like the Mudhole and Glory Hole, said Ronnie from <b>Fisherman’s Supply</b> in Point Pleasant.

Bluefin tuna fishing was darn productive in the inshore ocean, but the tuna were scattered anywhere from the BA buoy to Oley’s Lump to the Atlantic Princess wreck, and had to be located, said Chuck from <b>The Reel Seat</b> in Brielle. Mahi mahi were everywhere, on every lobster pot, at the Glory Hole at least before the weekend storm. Chuck took a trip that hooked 30 of the fish to 14 pounds toward the end of the week. Yellowfin tuna fishing farther offshore was slow as ever, but the Jamaica reportedly got into a good catch, maybe a good sign. 

<b>Barnegat Inlet</b>

Offshore trips were slated every day on the <b>Tuna-Tic</b> from Waretown, Capt. Mike said, but none fished because of rough seas and weather, and a friend was on the grounds Wednesday night, getting his tail kicked. Plenty of bluefin tuna swam in 30 to 40 fathoms up and down the coast, but yellowfin tuna fishing was tough. Mike hoped that changed any day, and it could. The non-stop hurricanes, remnants of them or other storms didn’t help boaters get out there. September is usually the boat’s busiest month, because of tuna fishing, but not this year so far.

<b>Great Egg Harbor Inlet</b>

A couple of customers steamed offshore Monday, and one caught bluefin tuna at the Lobster Claw and said the fish were still there, said Bill from <b>Fin-Atics</b> in Ocean City. The other fished Wilmington Canyon, hooked no tuna, but saw mahi mahi, and clobbered a wahoo.

Bonito and mahi mahi usually school along the inshore ocean near Margate within a week or two, said Capt. Dave from <b>Fine Line Fishing Charters</b> from the town.  An oddball, 40- to 50-pound bluefin tuna is sometimes mixed in, and the boat is about to chase them all.

An offshore trip was supposed to fish today with <b>O-Beth Sportfishing</b> from Margate, Capt. Eric said. Previously the weekend storm followed by rough seas kept charters from leaving port. The anglers today would probably give bluefin tuna a shot and then move farther out to Wilmington Canyon to look for marlin or other fish.

<b>Townsend’s Inlet</b>

The crew Low Profile, one of the boats from <b>Over Under Adventures</b> from Avalon, set a heading for Wilmington Canyon for an overnight trip on Tuesday, an audio recording on Over Under’s web site said. A temperature break 72 to 76 degrees was read at 40 fathoms on the way out, and the boat didn’t stop, but lots of false albacore and bait swarmed around the warm side. At the tip of the canyon waters looked good for white marlin fishing, even though a break that previously was there had moved inshore 7 miles. A white was hooked on the troll but got off. At night two 6-foot hammerhead sharks and a small swordfish were released. In the morning the boat got back on the troll for whites, and four were seen, but none was caught. A trip was expected to return offshore today.  Bluefin tuna fishing was up and down last week for Over Under, a written report on the site said. The best catches came from the Lobster Claw to the Elephant Trunk, and some charters caught many as they wanted, and others only landed two or three.  The Hot Dog early last week was the place to be for yellowfin tuna, small ones. But that action shut down by the end of the week, and the waters that held them shifted. But yellowfins 50 and 60 pounds, sometimes 80 to 140 pounds, were hammered at the northern canyons at the end of the week for a moment, just before the storm. Wilmington and Norfolk canyons last week attracted incredible numbers of white marlin, and up to 30 whites were seen on the best days. Mahi mahi and wahoos were also there.

<b>Cape May</b>

Few if any of the local boats fished the tuna grounds this week after the storm, but captains were planning to return to the trips yesterday, said Capt. George from the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> from Cape May. He was supposed to mate on another boat on a tuna trip today, and then he’ll run a charter for the fish Saturday. Another charter for tuna was pending Sunday but was unconfirmed. On George’s charter or charters he’ll probably fish for bluefins around 40 fathoms first and afterward move to the canyons to look for tuna or whatever turns up. His trips before the storm hooked bluefins, mahi mahi and wahoos.

Fishing was decent before the storm for big bluefins and small yellowfins in 30 fathoms and beyond, said Capt. Mike from <b>Copacetic Sportfishing</b> from Cape May. Daytime trips are available to troll for them, and the vessel stayed in port during the weather. A couple of charters are scheduled to troll the lumps 10 to 20 miles from the coast for blues, bonito, mahi mahi, skipjack tuna and Spanish mackerel, so that’s an option. Copacetic is also gearing up for fall sharking, when the beasts make the return migration south. Not every boat does fall sharking, so here’s the opportunity.

The best marlin and tuna fishing at the canyons took place far south, between the Washington and the Norfolk, said Matt from <b>Jim’s Bait & Tackle</b> from Cape May in a fax. Maybe the storm during the weekend stirred up waters and would attract fish closer to Cape May. Boaters last week kept battling bluefin tuna at the Lobster Claw, and wahoos and small yellowfin tuna could be found at the lumps inshore of the Elephant Trunk.

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