<b>Shark River Inlet</b>

A bluefin tuna trip managed to fish 50 miles offshore Sunday between the weather with <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b> from Neptune, and the catch was very good, Capt. Ralph said. The weather’s been a problem, but Last Lady will go after the fish when possible. Only a handful of spaces are left on open-boat canyon trips: one spot for Friday to Saturday, October 3 to 4, and four spots for Tuesday to Wednesday, October 7 to 8. The trips leave at 10 a.m., fish overnight and return in the afternoon or evening.

Forecasts for rough seas forced the week’s tuna trip to be cancelled Monday on the party boat <b>Golden Eagle</b> from Belmar, Capt. Greg said in an e-mail. The next one is slated for this coming Monday, and forecasts looked better, and space was available early this week, when Greg was last heard from. Visit the boat’s web site for the full tuna schedule and to make reservations.

<b>Manasquan Inlet</b>

The last offshore news from customers was heard last week on Wednesday, because seas were stiff afterward from winds, said Dave from <b>The Reel Seat</b> in Brielle. The anglers then found fishing slow at the grounds where bluefin tuna had been caught, and only bluefish hit. The cause was difficult to determine, like whether too many boats crowded the waters or the fish followed the bait elsewhere. But one customer trolled four of the tuna, and whether trolling or chunking was better in the area seemed a toss up. Besides those fish, bluefins, even ones to 100 pounds, were trolled at the Mudhole. The only encouraging word about tuna fishing farther offshore was that party boats farther north were coming across good catches at places like Atlantis Canyon. Dave was sure that there was more than the possibility that tuna would move to canyons closer to home. But sea-building, northeasterly winds were forecast through the week.

The party boat <b>Gambler</b> from Point Pleasant last fished on a tuna trip to the canyons overnight Sunday to Monday, Capt. Bob said. The boat arrived and anchored offshore at 11 p.m., and a 100- or 110-pound swordfish got whacked in the dark, and so did an 85-pound wahoo. Yes, on bait. Unusual, but happens. No tuna were caught, so the boat went on the troll in the morning to look for longfins or other fish. A marlin was hooked but got off after a couple of jumps, but decent-sized mahi mahi started biting at the lobster pots. So the boat was drifted along the pots, and the anglers reeled in a bunch, mostly 6- to 10-pounders, and some bigger. Another overnighter was supposed to leave yesterday but was cancelled the previous day because of forecasts. Another was slated for tonight, but according to forecasts this morning, the chances of sailing were impossible. Check the schedule on the boat’s web site for availability for the tuna trips. Bob is optimistic that the bite could still turn on.

A trip for tuna on the party boat <b>Sea Devil</b> from Point Pleasant sailed overnight to Hudson Canyon on Saturday to Sunday, but fishing was slow, so the anchor was pulled, and the vessel headed inshore for bluefins, the report on the boat’s web site said. Two bluefins were beaten before it was time to go home. Cindy from the boat said a charter on Sunday evening opted to fish for bluefins instead of heading to the canyons, and that paid off. They nailed lots of the tuna, keeping a limit of two. Strangely, bluefish invaded the chunking slick, so the crew stopped chunking. Then the blues disappeared, and bluefins started pummeling baits without the slick, and game was on. Two trips last Thursday and Friday were weathered out. Check the vessel’s web site for its open-boat tuna schedule.

The weather this week looked like it was going to wipe out six trips on the <b>Benchmark</b> from Point Pleasant, the report on the boat’s web site said. But the crew hoped tuna fishing would improve after the dust settled.  Last week on Wednesday a tuna charter first stopped at the bluefin grounds inshore, going 4 for 5 on the fish. Then the anglers set up at the canyons for the night, going 1 for 2 on yellowfin tuna and missing three swordfish. A full-moon current was ripping, but all the fish bit when the current subsided 2 ½ hours at 1 a.m.

<b>Barnegat Inlet</b>

Offshore trips never got off the dock, said Capt. Mike from the <b>Tuna-Tic</b> from Waretown. None of the fleet was out in the northeast winds, and he spent time catching spots for striped bass bait. The boat’s canyon schedule is packed, and forecasts looked like the next charter might sail Sunday for tuna, but through Saturday looked bad. 

An overnight tuna trip with <b>Seafood Fishing Charters</b> from Forked River had to be cancelled last weekend because of the weather, Capt. John said. He offered to change the trip to inshore angling for bluefin tuna on Sunday, when seas were somewhat better, but they opted out. A few more trips will head offshore into October before Seafood calls it a tuna season. That includes an open-boat tuna trip, the final one of the year, slated for this weekend, and a couple of spots were available earlier in the week, when John gave this report, and call to see if the trip is a go and still open. Be sure to catch John’s seminar on tuna fishing at 5 p.m. today at the New Jersey Boat Show in Edison. He’ll raffle an open-boat spot on a tuna trip for next season, T-shirts and other stuff. John will also give a tuna seminar at the Atlantic City Boat Show this winter.

<b>Absecon Inlet</b>

The <b>Carly A</b>, the offshore charter boat at <b>Offshore Enterprises Bait & Tackle</b> in Atlantic City, couldn’t get out in the 30-knot winds, and no boats could, Joe said. The crew will try next week, and they’ll keep fishing the canyons for tuna, but they might start fall sharking. Yellowfin tuna were scarce at the canyons before the weather, and bluefins at the inshore grounds seemed to move north to the Mudhole. White marlin fishing was great at the southern canyons including the Poorman’s.

<b>Cape May Inlet</b>

Capt. Ray from the <b>Jaftica</b> from Cape May guessed that no local boats fished in the winds this week, he said. The stretch of weather backed up his schedule of tuna charters, and he was eager to try to fit them in during the rest of the season or into October. Before the blow bluefin tuna were fought in 30 fathoms, even if catches had slowed somewhat, and a few small yellowfin tuna were found farther off toward the canyons, and anglers hoped the yellowfin fishing picked up. White marlin fishing was phenomenal at the canyons.

No trips were able to sail on the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> from Cape May in the weather, and Capt. George knew nobody who left port, he said. But forecasts looked like an overnight charter to the canyons might fish Saturday to Sunday on the boat.  The boat will keep fishing offshore, and recent trips landed yellowfin tuna, mahi mahi and wahoos.

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