The Canyon Runner from Point Pleasant reports that not only have they been doing very well. but that good fortune also applies to boaters in the Canyon Runner Coaching Service.

That includes Gotta Get which limited on yellowfin tuna from 50 that included a 180-pounder which is very large for the Atlantic Ocean.

The Canyon Runner had the Marty Led charter into yellowfins when they started trolling at 5:30 a.m. and were limited on yellowfins and into relese mode before the tired group opted to return early.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported a big improvement in the bluefish bite today as the 3 to 9 pund choppers provided early limits.

The Ocean Explorer from Belmar has been doing well with ocean fluke as shown in this weekend shot.

Small craft warnings are up. but the south wind should diminish after midnight. The morning forecast is southwest 10-15 knots.

There have been hardly any mako shark reports this year, so you can imagine the odds of trying to catch one on a fly. Yet, world class Long Island fly fisherman Angelo Peluso did just that a couple of days ago. That was the sixth he’s caught on the fly, but the toughest of all.

Bob Matthews at Belmar Marina noted that fluking has been up and down, with today being tougher as water temperatures dropped after yesterday’s hard south winds. Bob noted that triggerfish have moved into Shark River. The Golden Eagle reported reading lots of 4-8-pound bluefish. but they didn’t hit as well as they have been.

There was better news about blues from Betty & Nick’s Tackle in Seaside Park as John Bushell Jr. said 2-4-pounders were hitting mullet baits in the surf. That was the first good report on them in some time.

The forecast is for suth winds at 10-15 knots in the morning before increasing to 15-20 in the afternoon,

Dave Lilly of Hazlet is probably the best fluke fisherman in N.J., as he’s proven time and again in tournaments. Since there’s no money on the line, he’s willing to let raders of this blog onto sme hot fluking for 3-to-5-pounders that he found during the last three days in the back of Raritan Bay.

Those keeper-sized fuke are holding in 12 to 20 feet of water and can be caught on 5-inch Gulp Swimmng Mullet when there’s a decent drift. Both white and chartreuse have worked for him. Dave warns not to add bait in order to avoid being bothered by small dogfish.Surprisingly, few, if any shorts were caught by this technique while using a long leader rigged far enough off bottom to avoid dragging into weed.

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands noted that is was too rough to fish in the ocean this morning. A move inshore was slowed by a lack of drift before the tide changed — and then the southeast wind stopped the drft. Some fares caught two keepers among shorts.

Bluefish jigging off the northern Shore held up today. though it required more effort. The Golden Eagle from Belmar descrhibed it as decent as skilled anglers limited while others had to work at it longer. The Queen Mary from Pt. Pleasant jigged blues from 3 to 8 pounds early before the tide dropped out around 10:30 — after which it was just a pick. They have a few spots left on the June 29 tuna trip.

The Jamaica from Brielle did very well with the blues yesterday, and is getting ready to sail a half-night ling trip at 7:30.

The forecast is for south winds at 10-15 knots in the morning before increasing to 15-20 in the afternoon.

Some readers may have noticed in Capt. Dave De Gennaro’s description of his Barnegat Inlet worm drifting technique that he specified using worm hooks with his float rigs which also catch blackfish at the rocks. There’s nothing illegal about that technique since multiple species are involved, though the predominance of short stripers dictates that circle hooks should be employed. Dave went right over to his local tackle shop and bought the last package of small circle hooks left. I’m sure he’ll find them to be just as effective on blackfish as I’ve found them to be on tog in Pt. Pleasant Canal…

I’ve been an advocate of circle hooks ever since starting to use them with clam baits many years ago as they not only reduce swallowed hooks but also produce more hook-ups when used properly by simply reeling into the fish rather than striking. Unfortunately, putting worms on a circle hook is unwieldy. When manufacturers tried to deal with that by offsetting the hook, gut-hooked fish became common. That’s why only non-offset circle hooks qualify when targeting stripers under the rules.

Circle hooks have another huge advantage for the angler as once they set in the jaw they rarely come out even if slack develops in the line. Jeff Merrill has such faith in them that he’s taken the next step and re-rigged his bunker spoons with a single swiveled circle hook that prevents large fish from using the spoon weight to dislodge the hook. That rigging (see photo below) has not only worked with stripers up to 49 inches, but also with a thresher shark snagged in the tail last fall.

Chuck Many took a ouple of days to travel south for casting to cobia from Capt. Clinton Lessard’s SHO-NUF Sportfisjing out of Cape Charles, Virginia (757 710-0098) with great success.

Capt. Joe Massa of My Three Sons at Morgan Marina took his sons Joseph and Nick to Key West for a couple of days. They got out on a small boat charter for lemon sharks up to 100 pounds in two-foot depths on spinning tackle by chumming and casting snappers to the toothy critters.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported a coninuation of very good bluefish jigging today.

The Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands had good fluke action with a couple of limit catches included.

Jim Lauro cast his Band of Anglers Dart Spin for three small bass and a blue;Vinny D’Anton and I did nothing in Shark River this morning before fishing sand fleas in the near-by rough surf asVinny caught three stripers and I broke the ice with one — though all were small. Jim Lauro cast his Band of Anglers Dart Spin for three small bass and a blue.

The forecast is for south winds at 10-15 knots with gusts to 20 plus possible patchy fog in the morning.

Bluefish populations are down, but there are suddenly lots of them off the North Jersey Shore. The Jamaica from Brielle reported that even novices were jigging them this morning as the choppers ranged from 3 pounds up to a 12-pound pool winner by Marc Stepper from Old Bridge.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar wasn’t fishing on those inshore blues as they had a special tuna trip. That worked out well as they were heading back after catching 20 to 30 school bluefins plus little tunny — and also 150 to 200 big bluefish. Their tuna trips start on Monday July 12 and then every Monday after that in July and August.

There was also good news on the fluke front as the Big Mohawk from Belmar reported their first trip on Wednesday produced some limits with fish in the 5-7-pound class included and lots of short action. They sail at 6 a.m.

At Atlantic Highlands, the Sea Hunter had its first good fluke fishing Wednesday with five or six limits among lots of shorts; The Fishermen’s first fluke trip that day was successful as one angler had two keepers out of 18, and another limited. Th pool fluke was 5.9 pounds.

Monmouth County surfcasting was slow again as I managed a 27-inch striper on sand fleas for the second day in a row. I saw Jim Louro catch two small bass on a Band of Anglers Dart Spin, while Vinny D’Anton missed one on a Chug Bug. I also caught a small smooth dogfish which was the first we’ve ever hooked on sand fleas.

The forecast is for east winds at 5-10 knots before going southeast in the afternoon. Morning showers are possible.

As noted in last night’s blog, Capt. Dave De Gennaro had a lot of action on his last trip with Hi Flier from Barnegat by drifting sandworms in the inlet and off the sedge banks. Following is an account of how he accomplishes that;

“The bulk of them we caught floating a whole sandworm under a bobber right in the inlet jetty. About 12 feet of line under the float, 30 inches of 20 lb fluorocarbon leader, and a #1 bronze baitholder hook. Use a small splitshot over your leader to help keep it down. Let it float right over the rocks, most of the hits come right before it hits the first rock. Caught more than a few nice tog, also, but it’s not open season, so they were released. 
On the bay side we use the same worms to tip our 3/8 to 1/2 oz jigheads for the half pint stripers behind the sod banks. Just drop them to the bottom and vertical jig them with a short, sharp sweep. ” Hi Flier may be running open Thursday and Friday from 11 to 4. Call Dave at 732 330-5674.

Conditions looked good in the Monmouth County surf this morning, despite the cold air temperature, but Vinny D’Anton and I weren’t getting any hits on sand fleas. Vinny finally got a hard hit that didn’t hook up, and my only take turned out to be a heavy 27-inch striper.

Tommy Cox didn’t do anything casting lures early, but he came up with the catch of the day when he picked up a dead spiny puffer on the beach. What that tropical species was doing in our cool waters is anyone’s guess.

The first mention of a North Jersey cobia came from Capt. Joe Massa of My Three Sons at Morgan Marina. He not only limited on fluke Sunday at Shrewsbury Rocks, but also hooked into something that was running line off his light tackle. One look at the fish was enough to identify it as about a 15-pound cobia before it broke off.

Bluefish jigging was hot today off the North Jersey Shore. The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported a boat limit — and also had some Spanish mackerel which were the first reported. They are chartered tomorrow, but will be back sailing open Friday morning — while also starting daily 4:30 p.m. (except Wednesdays) evening trips.

The forecast is for east winds at 5-10 knots in the morning before increasing in the afternoon to 10-15 with gusts to 20 knots.

The Mimi VI from Point Pleasant has open bottom fishing trips set up for 6 a.m. Thursday July 1 and Monday July 26. These limited trips cost $110 and spots must be reserved by calling 732 370-8019.

The Canyon Runner from Point Pleasant reports a hot yellowfin tuna bite in the eastern canyons plus epic swordfishing for their coaching members.such as Dan Bush who’s proud of his sons Luke and Jake who each reeled in a yellowfin from start to finish.

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Though the Golden Eagle from Belmar had to cancel the afternoon trip that would have been the last of the N.J. sea bass season due to the weather, they had yet another boat limit of those fish before adding a lot of ling. The way that fishing held up indicates that it’s still being underfished.

The Golden Eagle will switch over to bluefishing tomorrow, and there should be plenty of them for jigging. The Big Mohawk from Belmar starts fluking at 6 a.m.

Vinny D’Anton got a thrill yesterday morning in the Monmouth County surf when he hooked a fish he couldn’t stop while fishing for stripers with sand fleas. However, as is so often the case, the big one got away by finding the only obstruction in the area. We’ll never know how big that bass was, but the thrill of that run will never go away. It also attracted more anglers this morning to cast into a rougher and colder surf. Bob Correll even came up from Bay Head to try sand fleas for the first time. Vinny had to settle for a 24-incher, and I got lucky with two of the usual size in this fishery — 23 and 24 1/2 inches. One of them hit as I was reeling in — something that I’d never experienced before when fishing sand fleas.

Capt. Dave DeGennaro had a hot bite of stripers from 16 to 26 inches both in Barnegat Inlet and the sedge banks while using sandworms and light spinning tackle. He is willing to share his technique, which I’ll detail tomorrow. His Hi Flier from Barnegat is open for charter or individuals Thursday and Friday from 11-4, plus Saturday and Monday from 7-noon.

The forecast is for north winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20 before switching to west at just 5-10 in the afternoon.

Some of the largest thresher sharks I’ve ever heard of in NY/NJ Bight have been boated in the last few weeks as bunker schools seem to be attracting those oceanic wanderers closer to shore. Over the years, anglers have gotten used to seeing threshers as close to the mouths of inlets; and they are often caught in smaller sizes by striper anglers fishing live bunkers. However, those huge threshers are being caught on appropriately heavy tackle where anglers have a big advantage due to the relatively shallow waters.

Capt. John Contello put his anglers on Just Sayin’ from Keyport into this monster.

Ironically when I was learning shark fishing off the south shore of Long Island many decades ago with Jesse York on his Compass Rose from Atlantic Beach, we knew threshers might be hooked, but never caught one or knew of anyone else doing so. There were lots of blues and browns just a few miles offshore plus a mako most days — and a very occasional tiger or hammerhead. Even after moving my center console to Montauk, I rarely saw a thresher brought in. Of curse. in those days, the big bunker reduction boats kept the bunker populations at a low level compared to these days.

This 305-pounder weighed in at Hoffman’s in Brielle is more the norm in threshers.

Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina reported a 625-pound thresher weighed in by Shark River Inlet Charters. Also recently, Matt Calabria put his brother Kevin into a 457-pounder offshore of Raritan Bay. The IGFA all-tackle world record is 787 pounds, 3 ounces from Bay of Islands, New Zealand. Most of the line class records also come from that country- but we’re not far behind.

Tuesday is the last day for the N.J. sea bass season. The forecast is fine with west winds at 10-15 knots and a chance of showers. The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported tougher sea bass fishing today due to the southwest blow, but it looks good for tomorrow when they have a few spots in the morning and more for the 4 p.m. sailing. They switch to bluefish on Wednesday. The Queen Mary from Pt. Pleasant jigged lots of blues on Father’s Day before adding sea bass.

Bob Correll reported that some hickory shad finally showed at Bay Head this morning. One surfcaster caught three

Jim Hutchinson Sr. reports as follows;

The fishing action for the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association has picked up a beat lately with the arrival of some nice bluefin tuna. These hard fighting fish, which provide some excellent eating, are being caught just 25-40 miles off the coast.

Captain Ray Lopez with the crew of the “Miss Liane” departed the dock at 2am in search of some of these tuna. Fishing inshore, the crew set up to troll at first light. Once the spread was set, the crew waited to hear the reels scream, and they sure did. Within 15 minutes of each other the crew had two bluefin in the boat and packed on ice.

Meanwhile, back inshore the summer flounder bite continues to be strong despite some days with strong winds. As is typical, the bulk of the fish fall short of the 18-inch minimum size, but with persistence, keepers are going into the coolers.

Captain Brett Taylor of Reel Reaction Sportfishing reports he had John Akey with his mom Janine on a 4-hour bay charter. This was Janine’s annual Mother’s day gift, if a bit belated. Despite what Captain Brett termed a slower bite, the two anglers were able to eke out some nice fish. The mom and son team boxed 4 keeper fluke to 7 pounds, along with close to 20 short fish. The big fish, measuring 27-inches, was caught by Janine and was her personal best.  

It is not too late for youngsters who would like to participate in the BHCFA’s Junior Mate Program to get involved. The first session of the summer will be held Thursday, June 24, at the lower level of the Beach Haven Marlin and Tuna Club. Start time is 7pm.

The Junior Mates Program is open to youngster who will reach the age of 12 by August 1, 2021. Information on the program can be found at the online link below or calling Lewis at 609-670-5980 or Captain Jimmy Zavacky at 609-915-2498.

Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be obtained at the association website at www.BHCFA.org.

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As previously noted, fluke pro Dave Lilly of Hazlet had a serious illness during the winter and probably shouldn’t have been fishing in the first fluke tournament 0f the season — but he was proud to announce that even “half dead” he won everything he was eligible for.

I hadn’t received any notice of the first annual Frank Thomas Memorial Fluke Tournament out of.Captain’s Cove Marina in Highlands — and haven’t found any official results so far.

As tough as the fishing was in a southwest wind, Lilly said a 5 pound,10.7 ounce fluke that hit in the bay was big enough to beat a 5.1-pounder by Tommy Licknack on TNT. Lilly and AL tumalo were fishing from their friend Tony’s Parker

There are only two days left to get in on the NJ sea bass season. The Golden Eagle from Belmar had “more than a few limits” today plus some ling and a few fluke.

Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina says the sea bass boats will be switching to fluke after Tuesday. The Capt. Cal had a 6-pound fluke pool winner yesterday. Bob notes that triggerfish are hitting in the inlet.

There were no signs of bluefish in the Bay Head surf this morning, and I was happy just to hook a 16-inch fluke on a Deadly Dick.

The forecast is for south winds at 10-15 knots in the morning which increase to 15-20 with gusts to 25 in the afternoon.

Paul Haertel with a 6.45-pound fluke in the ocean off Barnegat

Chuck Many has been fighting through bluefish chopping his eels this week, but a striped bass that did reach the bait first was a notable one. Though not among the largest released from Ty Man out of Highlands lately, it was a special bass as the 44-inch, 35-pounder received a Grey satellite tag that will track its movements until a scheduled release of the tag. Note the tag in the photo.

Though retrieval of the tag is a shot in the dark, people walking on beaches have been finding them. There was some concern a couple of weeks ago when one was pinpointed on Great Kills Beach by the satellite, and then tracked to residential areas before Grey was finally notified. There is a substantial reward involved.

The Crisdel from Brielle Yacht Club just got back from Florida this week, and made a striper trip. Capt. Chris De Stefano joined the crew as they trolled all their ocean hot spots with only small blues hitting and not a single striper was even marked. That was the only striper trip they’re making before switching to the canyons this Thursday. Frank Criscola said that was the first time his boat ever failed to catch a striper before the switch.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar has been limiting out regularly with sea bass, but encountered a tough bite today in a rough sea stirred up by last night’s winds. Tomorrow looks a lot better, and they have room on the afternoon trip.

If you’re looking for a last minute Father’s Day gift, AFTCO has an e-mail gift card service which will allow the angler to choose his own clothing in the desired size and colors. E-mail social@aftco.com

Small craft warnings are coming down this evening, and west winds at just 5-10 knots are predicted in the morning before increasing to 10-15 in the afternoon.

The Jamaica from Brielle has room on tonight’s 7;30 half-night ling trip.