The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Council reports that the Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Law Enforcement is recognized for its outstanding efforts to control illegal harvest of Atlantic striped bass from Raritan Bay and its tributaries. New Jersey Conservation Police Officers from both the inland and marine regions throughout the state were involved with the operation across New Jersey’s portion of the watershed. In December 2021, more than 200 summonses were issued and more than 500 illegal striped bass were confiscated. Efforts continued throughout the spring of 2022. From early March to the middle of May 2022, approximately 4,000 inspections were conducted over the course of 650 patrol hours within Raritan Bay, Newark Bay, Arthur Kill, and the Hudson River. These efforts resulted in over 300 summonses being issued for violations including undersized fish, over the limit catch, fishing during the closed season, and interference with the duties of a conservation officer. When possible, some of the seized fish were donated to food banks, while others were submitted to New Jersey Bureau of Marine Fisheries for the collection of biological data. The dedication and commitment of the Bureau’s Conservation Police Officers to the enforcement of sustainable fisheries regulations is truly worthy of recognition.”

Capt. Ron Santee reported a big improvement in drifting conditions and shots of greater volume and fluke on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands. Several fares had two or three keepers, and the pool went to a 6-pounder.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar anchored for a hot bite of chub mackerel in the chum slick while adding some limits of blues along with some bonito and sea bass. Sand tiger and blacktip sharks were also present. That boat is chartered on Friday.

Capt. Dave Riback posted the best party boat tuna report I’ve received so far as his Queen Mary from Point Pleasant limited on bluefin tuna up to 44 inches and had yellowfins up to 66 pounds this week. Pete Ziemba was high hook as he jigged all day to catch six bluefins to 42inches plus a yellowfin. There was a pick of bluefins early, and flat line bait fishing was best from 10:30 to 1.

Andreas Toy had to leave the whales and boat traffic on a recent trip to follow rays which produced four yellowfins in the pop and jig mode.

Friday’s forecast is for southwest winds of 5-10 knots with a chance of afternoon showers or thunderstorms.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar was swarmed by chub mackerel today while also catching 2-3-pound blues on bait, jigs and poppers. Dropping to bottom produced some sea bass and a couple of fluke. There was no report on Tuesday’s exotics trip.

The weather forecast remains promising with south winds at 5-10 knots in the morning that increase to 10-15 in the afternoon.

Scott Cusick sent this shot of a 73-inch canyon bigeye boated along with four yellowfins and some tilefish while a white marlin was released.

Though power drifting was necessary all day, Capt. Ron Santee reported good fluke action on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands that included catches of up to four, several 3-pounders — and a 4 13/16-pound pool fluke.

The Royal Miss Bell reported much improved fluking that was paced by an 11-year-old boy who picked his limit from 18 fluke.

Miss Belmar Princess had a busy day with lots of chub mackerel plus some blues, sea bass and bonito. A couple of big sand tiger sharks were also hooked.

Light winds continue tomorrow with southwest winds at10-15 knots plus a chance of showers or thunderstorms.

This was one of those days when the often fussy NY/NJ Bight bluefish were turned on and bit all day. The Golden Eagle from Belmar also reported a single bonito among the mostly small choppers that topped out at a 5-pounder. That boat will be on its weekly Exotics trip tomorrow, but back after blues on Wednesday.

Fluke anglers have one last opportunity to enter the JCAA Heavy Hitters Tournament as per Paul Haertel’s post: JCAA HEAVY HITTERS FLUKE TOURNAMENT 8/4-8/7 Last call – For details and to sign up online go to www.jcaa.org Last minute entries will also be taken via phone. Call Paul at 973-943-8201 or Linda at 609-618-2925. Win 25K for the largest fluke over 12 lbs. caught on Sunday 8/7!

The weather looks good again with southwest winds at 10 knots.

Capt. John McMurry said he never saw so many boats on the tuna grounds, but the jig and popper bites still remained good.

The most surprising report I saw on Facebook today was from Ian Scott Devlin who had news of some Atlantic mackerel in Long Island Sound. He had caught some from 12-18 inches last month by jigging a mackerel rig in 60-foot depths and is now catching a few tinkers while fishing for snapper blues.

That species used to be the most abundant during the annual spawning run up the coast from Virginia every spring before the Soviet and other foreign fleets devastated the stocks prior to the 200-mile limit. They did come back until NOAA Fisheries disregarded advice from the Mid-Atlantic Council and scientists by allowing high foreign allocations. However, it’s been decades since we’ve seen any of the huge migrations that sometimes spread into the Sound.

It must be noted that these are not the mackerel being reported by bluefishing boats. Those a smaller warm water chub mackerel.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar picked at small to medium blues today with most on bait rather than jigs and poppers. Chub mackerel fishing was also slow, possibly because two “giggantic” sharks stayed around the boat at anchor. Some sea bass and fluke were added.

Capt. Ron Santee reported Frank Miller Sr. held onto his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands monthly pool winning fluke of 7.4 pounds though his son outfished him with five “nice” fluke. It didn’t look good for Miller when Grant Dietz hooked up to a big fish — but it turned out to be a 39-inch cobia!

The weather looks good again as it will be east at just 5-10 knots with a chance of showers.

The Golden Eagle from Belmer reported reading blues this morning, but only catching a few until the 5–8-pounders came up later in the trip to chase bunkers and also hit Run-Off poppers.The boat added some keeper fluke and sea bass.

Capt. Ron Santee had a charter for the Brian Benevento memorial trip on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands. He reported lots of short action along with a nice mix of keeper fluke and sea bass. The pool fluke was 23 inches. Tomorrow’s open trip will be the last shot for anglers to take the monthly pool money.

Vinny D’Anton Said he couldn’t find the Monmouth County surf peanut bunkers yesterday morning, but still caught one small striper on a Chug Bug and saw some adult bunkers further out.

The forecast is for a northeast wind, but at only 5-10 knots.

The off-and-on NY/NJ Bight bluefishing was on this morning when the Golden Eagle from Belmar ran further offshore and found several areas of 6-8-pounders that responded to Run-Off poppers — though some were also boated on jigs. They finished up with some sea bass and fluke.

Capt. Mark DeBlasio of Blue Runner from Point Pleasant had an unusual report as follows: “Anthony and Shane had Dave Duensing and his crew plus Chris Messick out for a trip to the edge .. started off with a good Tilefish bite and a few Mahis .. got on troll looking for Tuna and found a slow bite initially. Eventually they found the Yellowfin and put a 6 man limit in the box .. in the midst of the trip we blew a steering line and with a lot of effort and working together to figure things out, Anthony was able to replace the line with a spare and finish out the trip successfully and safely. I can’t say it enough .. if it’s something you can replace while offshore, carry a spare. Great job team and thanks guys for being patient while we got fixed up and back to a great bite.”

Capt. Dave DeGennaro got word of that tuna bite, and has changed Saturday’s open Barnegat Ridge run with his Hi Flier from Barnegat to offshore yellowfins from 3 a.m. to 4 p.m. – and plans to do the same on Monday. Call him at 732 330-5674.

The marine forecast for Saturday looks great with west winds at 5-10 knots before going northwest after midnight.

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands is chartered on Saturday., but will be open on Sunday as anglers have a chance to take the monthly pool from Herb Miller’s 5 13/16-pounder. Friday’s fluking was good as the high hook caught five, and a 6-pound, 5-ouncer was boated along with several from 3 to 5 pounds.

Capt. Ron Santee had a positive report on fluking from his Fishermen out of Atlantic Highlands as action was good on the first couple of drifts — and a new monthly leader was boated. Herb Miller was he previous leader at 5.13 pounds — and he was the one who jumped the lead to 7 1/4 pounds.

Miss Belmar Princess reported a tough day with blues that wouldn’t bite. They filled in with chub mackerel and some sea bass.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar also had a hard time with blues. though some came up on bunker schools in the afternoon and hit Run-Off poppers. That boat is chartered on Friday.

The marine forecast is for west winds at 5-10 knots before going southwest at10-15 in the afternoon.

Today is the deadline for the JCAA Heavy Hitters Fluke Tournament which has been written up in recent blogs.

Bluefish continue to frustrate NY/NJ Bight with just brief bursts of activity. The Golden Eagle from Belmar had a pick of 5-7-pound blues on their first drift, but then had to move offshore for long drifts that produced chub mackerel plus some sea bass and fluke. A few blackfish had to be released.

The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant had some action with 4-8-pound blues until 9:30 before picking some sea bass.

Capt. Ron Santee was unable to get on any long productive drifts, but at least there were some large fluke of 5.5, 4.9 and 4.4 pounds along with several in the 3-pound class. His Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands is chartered on Saturday.

The forecast is for north winds at 5-10 knots before going southeast in the afternoon.

Vinny D’Anton reports small peanut bunkers are back into the Monmouth County surf the cold water upwelling. He caught a few small stripers plugging, and saw some Spanish mackerel

jumping.

Jake Many caught this red drum while casting with his Uncle Chuck at the salt ponds in Hilton Head, South Carolina

Though a few boaters have hit it just right on the inshore grounds, tuna fishing has been quite spotty recently.

The recent Jimmy Johnson Qest for the Ring Tournament out of Atlantic City produced some great catches, but the 80-boat fleet struggled to average even a single reportable catch or release per day. Capt. Chris De Stefano joined the crew on Frank Criscola’s Crisdel out of Brielle Yacht Club recently for a canyon run that didn’t produce even a hit in a full day of trolling. He blames that on a lack of “good” water and bait. The tuna bite has been better closer to shore to the east though not consistent there in a lot of boat traffic.

Monday’s Exotics trip on the Golden Eagle from Belmar resulted in just one dolphin boated plus several sharks fought. A few lost fish may have been tuna, but the real problem may have been the poor weather. They will try again every Monday.

The forecast is for southwest winds at 10-15 knots with gusts to 20 before dropping to 5-10 knots by late morning. There’s a chance of morning showers and afternoon thunderstorms.

Miss Belmar Princess reported bluefish didn’t bite well this morning, but it’s usually possible to load up on chub mackerel.

Paul Haertel urges anglers to join the 7^th  Jersey Coast Anglers Association Heavy Hitters Fluke Tournament. Win $25,00 in our doormat fluke category plus $9,000 in cash prizes based on just 150 entrants. 1^st to 5^th place prizes based weight of a single fluke. Calcuttas for 1 fluke, 3 fluke total and sea bass. Ten weigh-in stations from Sandy Hook to Cape May. You pick your one day to fish. $150 per boat (up to 6 anglers/people) by 7/28 or $175 per boat after.

Eric Kerber with a colorful N.J. cobia