After struggling all week for a single legal white marlin, two went up on the scales as Jimmy Johnson’s Quest for the Ring Tournament out of Atlantic City concluded. Matt Cusamano on Outrage clearly took over first with a 64.1-pounder, and Steve Poore on Roll Groove moved into third.
Big tuna continued to cooperate, but Chris Vaughn’s 208-pounder was only able to slip into third place. Ken Wible moved up in the dolphin division with the first really big one at 27.1 pounds on Low Profile. I’ll have more info tomorrow.
As this is being written, every one of the 80-boat field with a fishing day left in Jimmy Johnson’s second Quest for the Ring Tournament out of Atlantic City is either cruising back to the shoreside festivities or to the final weigh-in — while a few are hoping that their current leaders won’t be knocked off the scoreboard.
Marlin are the stars of his contest, but there haven’t been many of them.
A 437-pound blue was boated by Devin O’Neill on TLC the first day, but that fish hasn’t been challenged since. Indeed, only two other blues have even been reported. It wasn’t until yesterday that an eligible white marlin made it to the scales. That 60.4-pounder caught by Jouber Pereira on Wet Rock Fishing is an obvious target for the fleet. The total of just 31 whites so far remains far below anticipations for that species which is normally abundant in the canyons at this time.
Even the smaller canyon targets have been relatively scarce, with a total through last night of just seven dolphin and three wahoo weighed in. The dolphin leader is a 27.1-pounder by Ken Wible on Low Profile, which is another likely target as it usually takes one at least in the 30’s to win major tournaments. The wahoo leader is also on the small side at 42.2 pounds by Darren Helwig on Roll Groove.
Most of the action has been in the tuna category, with 42 weighed so far. Most of those have been yellowfins under 70 pounds, but the larger ones are almost surely bigeyes. Tournaments only list them as tuna, but yellowfins over 100 pounds are noteworthy in the Atlantic though common in the Pacific. A prominent exception is the rare “Allison” which has extended fins and was thought to be a different species until scientists declared it to be only a variation of yellowfins. I ran a canyon charter out of Point Pleasant many years ago when a mystery fish exploded on a high -speed lure and fought just like a large bigeye before it was alongside and revealed its brilliant colors. It weighed 180 pounds and won the N.J. state tournament in that category.
Brandon Kape has led the Quest right from the start with a 231-pound tuna on Taylor Jean/MJ’s, as Hunter Gutwein took over second at 223 pounds on Just One More — and Frank Giordano added a 204-pounder on Touch of Grey. I’ll publish the results in another blog tonight.
The last chance to compete in this weekend’s Sandy Hook Bay Anglers Two-Day Fluke Tournament is at the 7 p.m. captains meeting in the Atlantic Highlands Marina Senior Citizen’s Building.
The weather looks great with southeast winds at 5-10 knots.
Capt. Ron Santee reported a second day of good fluking on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands. One fare had his limit from six legal fluke, and there was lots of short action.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported a good early bite of 2-3-pound blues plus a few to 6 pounds before they switched to sea bass and fluke.
If you don’t catch a fluke tomorrow, here’s your excuse! Photo by Tamara Ugaro
With almost all of the 80-boat fleet fishing today there were lots of changes — and I’m sure the same will apply tomorrow.
There was finally a legal white marlin brought to the scales as Wet Rock Fishing had a 70-inch, 60.4-pound white that was fought by Jouber Pereira.
A virtual flood of bigeyes shook up the tuna category, though Brandon Kape’s 231-pounder from the first day on Taylor Jean/MJ’s held onto the lead. Hunter Gutwein’s 223-pounder on Just One More moved into second, and Frank Giordano took over third with a 204-pounder on Touch of Grey.
With both the dolphin and wahoo categories being led by relatively small fish, there were bound to be changes there — though both are still likely to be beaten tomorrow. Ken Wible now has the lead in dolphin at 27.1 pounds on Low Profile, and Darren Helwig pushed the wahoo lead up from just 16.5 pounds up to 42.2 pounds on Roll Groove.
Though a second blue marlin was included in the species count, the opening 437-pounder on TLC continues to stand alone in that category.
As noted in yesterday’s blog, one of the true N.J. Shore legends, Phil Sciortino Sr., passed away after a bout with pancreatic cancer. Phil did it all from stripers to giant tuna — and was a mentor to many of the Raritan Bay pros over the years.
Phil was born in 1939, and opened the Tackle Box in Hazlet n 1967. Phil, Jr. has been running the store for a long time and will continue the family tradition.
Jimmy Johnson’s Quest for the Ring Tournament out of Atlantic City concludes in the next couple of days with most of the 80-boat field using up the last of their three days out of five in what appears to be good weather. I’ll bring the standings up to date in a later blog after the scales close for the night.
There was better news on the fluke front today. Capt. Ron Santee said he finally found a good line of fluke to work on with his Fishermen out of Atlantic Highlands as several anglers had three up to a 3 1/2-pound pool winner plus some sea bass.
At Belmar, the Royal Miss Belmar fished off Elberon, where there was much improved fluke action as compared to the last couple of days., including a 7-pounder. Some sea bass and ling were also boated. Miss Belmar Princess only had a pick of bluefish that just weren’t turned on, but did get into chub mackerel plus sea bass. The marine forecast is for north winds at just 5-10 knots before going southeast in the afternoon.
The 16 boats which sailed from Atlantic City to fish Jimmy Johnson’s Quest for the Ring Tournament didn’t shake up the standings very much — though that should change with big fleets and good weather the next two days.
The only large entry was the 164-pound tuna boated by Paul Collins on Sushi. That tuna moves into second to the 231-pounder by Brandon Kape taken on opening day from Taylor Jean /MJ’s.
There was also a new leader in dolphin as Ken Wible boated a 27.1-pounder on Low Profile to move ahead of a mere 13-pounder.
The white marlin category remains untouched, and there have only been seven releases so far. The species count also includes 1 blue marlin, 1 sailfish, 28 tuna, 6 dolphin and 1 wahoo for a total of 44 fish
The second edition of Jimmy Johnson’s Quest for the Ring Tournament is coming to an end in what appear to be good conditions as boaters use up their three fishing days out of five. Only 16 sailed today, but there will be many more of the 80-boat fleet in action during the last two days.
So far there have been only two weigh-ins that might stand up to the end. TLC opened up the first day with a 437-pound blue marlin, and Taylor Jean/MJ’s weighed a 231-pound tuna. None of the other tuna entries have been over 70 pounds, while the wahoo and dolphin leaders are relatively small – and no white marlin have been weighed. I’ll bring everything up to date with a blog after the scales close.
Capt. John McMurray said Jay Odell’s first tuna practically wore him out. He noted that the edge of the shelf was alive today with sand eels, dolphins and whales plus a shark feeding frenzy.
That was what the Golden Eagle from Belmar was looking for yesterday during their first Inshore Exotics trip. However, the area that had been producing tuna only had bait. A few tuna were lost as they fought the seas plus full moon currents that created a 3-knot drift. Some mahi, sea bass, ling and blues were caught. The Golden Eagle was back to bluefishing today as they had a pick of 2-5-pound blues before heading south to add some sea bass, ling, fluke and even a cod. The next exotics trip is on July 18 by reservation.
The forecast is for southwest winds at 5-10 knots.
Mike Monte gave up on the Monmouth County surf after five straight mornings of no bass — three while using sand fleas and the last two casting lures at dawn. He’s returning to Nantucket where there should be no such drought.
There was sad news at the end of the day with a report that a Jersey Shore legend has crossed the bar. Phili Sciortino Sr. of the Tackle Box at Hazlet lost a long battle with cancer. I’ll have details when available.
Red drum always have a spot or two at their tail, but this small one that Chuck Many caught in a salt pond at Hilton Head, South Carolina was really showing off.
With only 8 of the 80 boats competing today in the Quest for the Ring Tournament out of Atlantic City, there was no change among the first day leaders. Only two tuna and a released white marlin were recorded. With much better weather, results tomorrow should be considerably improved.
Miss Belmar Princess reported good jigging and popping for bluefish this morning before the wind came up by noon and killed the bite. The high hook kept his limit out of 15 blues, and there were other limits taken.
Capt. Ron Santee of the Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands knew he’d have to find some fluke before the wind became a problem. He did find keepers on the first few drifts, but it was tough after that. South winds have lowered the ocean water temperature to 60 degrees.
Small craft warnings are up until late tonight, but it will be down to southwest at 5-10 knots by morning.
I’ll have an update on Jimmy Johnson’s Quest for the Ring at Atlantic City after the scales close tonight.
With the scale almost closed for the night, a total of 27 fish were recoded though only two have a good chance of being in the big money.
The 107.5-inch blue marlin noted in my earlier blog weighed 437 pounds and has no competition. However, it wouldn’t be surprising to see it beaten before the week is out. The only large tuna was a 231-pounder by Drandon Kape on Taylor Jean/MJ’s. Other tuna entries were under 70 pounds. Danny Young had a 16.5-pound wahoo on Catch 23, and the largest dolphin was only 13 pounds by Andy Levy on Three’s Enough. The only billfish releases were four white marlin and a sailfish.
Vinny D’Anton didn’t catch any stripers this morning in the Monmouth County surf, but he saw schools of bunkers out of range that were being torn up by dolphins while pelicans attacked from the sky.
The first fishing day in Jimmy Johnson’s Quest for the Ring Tournament out of Atlantic City got off to a good start with a legal blue marlin boated. It was a 107.5-incher fought by Devin O’Neill of the TLC team, but hadn’t been weighed in when this blog was published. I’ll add a blog after the scales close tonight.
Capt. Joe Massa of My Three Sons at Morgan Marina reported striper fishing is holding up in Raritan Bay and the Hudson River, while jumbo porgies around the Tin Can Grounds provide plenty of good eating.
The Jamaica from Brielle continues to fill coolers with chub mackerel while chumming southeast of the inlet. Some sea bass and ling are added, and blues show some days. Christine Helminger of Allentown, N.J. was a pool winner with a 4-pound sea bass.
Capt. Dave DeGennaro rounded up enough fares to get offshore Saturday with his Hi Flier from Barnegat, but had to turn around when the seas got too steep for comfort. Yet, the first bait dropped back on the inshore tuna grounds produced a 35-pound bluefin. A dusky shark of about 130 pounds was released.
Small craft warnings are up for south winds of 15-20 knots with gusts to 30, but the next day looks great with northwest winds of 5-10 knots.
Chuck Many released this impressive red drum back into the shallow salt pond where it hit in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
Tight Lines 