Yesterday’s blue marlin was just an old photo

Yesterday’s Quest for the Ring report at Atlantic City was in error about a blue marlin being weighed. That photo I saw just as I got back to watching the weigh-ins was from last year. I suppose the tournament dock crew was trying to liven up a poor first day as 34 boats only reported nine fish.

The species count did include a blue marlin, but it was a release on Beast — which also released one of the four white marlin. I had expected to see a lot of yellowfins over the 50-pound minimum as they have been common in canyon catches recently. Yet, there were only two on Miss Melania of 57.4 and 55.7 pounds. Polarizer had the largest dolphin at 29.1 pounds while also adding a white marlin release. The Experience weighed an 11.7-pound dolphin.

There are 52 boats out today, and I’ll bring their catches uo to date in a blog after the scales close at 9.

Dave Lilly’s team caught lots of fluke Saturday, including the 8-pounder that was the first day’s leader in the Sandy Hook Bay Anglers Fluke Tournament — and finished in second place. Fishing on one of his offshore spots, Lilly was surprised to also catch a quantity of big sea robins for the first time in years. However, a stop in Ambrose Channel once again failed to produce large fluke as has been the case this year.

A big swell made for tough fluking yesterday. The Big Mohawk from Belmar still managed a few limits. Today was also tough as there was a stiff south breeze plus a screaming north current.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar had good chumming today for chub mackerel, bluefish and sea bass — all in the 1-2-pound class

Capt. Ron Santee managed to slug away at some keepers up to almost 7 pounds yesterday on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands despite the poor drift.

The forecast is for west winds at 5 knots before shifting to southwest in the afternoon. There’s a chance of showers and thunderstorms in the morning and afternoon.