by The Canyon trolling season broke open with a bang for the Canyon Runner from Point Pleasant as Captains Deane Lambros and Mike Zajac made a Friday run to Lindenkohl Canyon.
They arrived at first light and had the first bluefin at 8 a.m. There were a dozen by noon, and it only got better as the final count was 39 tuna. Most were bluefins, but yellowfins were included — along with albacore which usually aren’t here this early. In recent years, the spring canyon trolling has been better than the traditional summer and fall sport — though the spring bluefins are often on the small side.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar had another day which started slowly in a strong current before sea bass and ling turned on as the current slacked.
Despite the fog, Dave Lilly got off to a good start trolling bunker spoons for stripers over 20 pounds until a “red tide” moved into the middle of Raritan Bay and the bite died out though he still marked bass and bunkers.
Of course that’s not the real red tide that kills fish in Florida and some other areas, but it turned the clear waters reddish.
Capt. Chris Di Stefano waited for the fog to lift before joining a friend at Sea Bright to seek bass in the ocean where there was a bite yesterday afternoon. They saw scattered bunkers in several areas before trolling at the Rocks and Highlands Bridge without marking a bass. However, as they ran back around the Hook there were large bass on top. They ended up having a blast casting poppers to those fish before they moved on.
Dense fog is predicted again tomorrow morning with southeast winds at 5-10 knots.
Tight Lines 
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