There’s lots of good fishing on tap for the weekend as long as the tropical storm far offshore keeps its distance –and the best gift for a fisherman father is the opportunity to fish that day.
A small craft warning goes up at 5 p.m. and through Saturday afternoon, but it should be fishable early tomorrow with southwest winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20. Seas are 3 to 5 feet, and there’s a chance of showers in the morning and thunder storms later in the day.
Chris DeGennaro of Wall took the opportunity to run far offshore today and was quickly blasted by a pack of bigeyes with four of the five eventually being boated.
Much further inshore, the Queen Mary from Pt. Pleasant had another fine jigging trip for bluefish before adding sea bass to the bags. However, they’re booked until Monday.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported sea bass fishing slowed to a grind today, but those who worked at it still did well. There’s plenty of room on the weekend afternoon trips.
The Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands continues to enjoy plenty of fluke action even though keepers aren’t plentiful, Anglers are advised to be at the dock by 7;30 over the weekend.
The Bay Head surf looked promising for blues yesterday morning, but the only successful angler this morning was Nick Sardone who released a 29-inch striper on his first cast with a Hopkins — and added a blue on his next cast.
While other party boats have been ignoring them, the Queen Mary from Point Pleasant has been jigging mostly small blues consistently. Today was very good, and there were more 5-7-pounders among them; After everyone is limited, Capt. Dave Riback switches to sea bass which have also been abundant.
More good news today is that surfcasters at Bay Head also got a brief shot at blues. Jim Gates said choppers were blasting peanut bunkers beyond the outer bar at low tide and never came in, but he and another angler each caught one in the 8-pound class by casting metal not far from the beach. Another one was hooked on a salted clam. Yesterday morning an angler who had been fishing clam regularly without success was rewarded with a 30-inch striper.
The sea bass fishery has been holding up despite all the pressure on it. Tank Matraxia fished aboard Tagged Fish out of Highlands yesterday and reported the boat was limited in 2 1/2 hours. There wasn’t much variety, but Tank had a small blue as part of a doubleheader — and was able to put ALS tags in a couple of small fluke and a blackfish.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported sea bass limits again today, but noted they are sold out Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Friday’s forecast is for southwest winds at 5-10 knots before going south at 15-20 in the afternoon.
Following is a press release updating the bluefish management situation:
AFMC and ASMFC Approve Bluefish Rebuilding Plan and Revised Allocations
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Bluefish Management Board (Board) jointly recommended approval of the Bluefish Allocation and Rebuilding Amendment. The Amendment updates the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) goals and objectives, initiates a rebuilding plan, establishes new allocations between the commercial and recreational sectors, implements new commercial allocations to the states, revises the process for quota transfers between sectors, and revises how the management plan accounts for management uncertainty.
The Council and Board initiated the Amendment in December 2017 to consider revisions to the commercial and recreational fisheries allocations and the state-specific commercial allocations. In 2019, an operational stock assessment for bluefish indicated the stock was overfished, and the Council and Board subsequently decided to incorporate the rebuilding plan in the Amendment.
During their joint meeting last week, the Council and Board reviewed a summary of the five virtual hearings and written comments submitted by 378 individuals and organizations, in addition to the recommendations of their joint Advisory Panel.
After weighing the pros and cons of shorter and longer rebuilding plan timeframes, the Council and Board ultimately selected the rebuilding plan which utilizes a constant fishing mortality approach and is projected to rebuild the stock in 7 years. Rebuilding progress will be analyzed through management track stock assessments every two years. The management track assessment scheduled for later this month will be the first step in informing specifications for the 2022-2023 fishing years.
The revised sector allocations increase the recreational allocation from 83% to 86% of the acceptable biological catch and decrease the commercial allocation from 17% to 14%. The Council and Board used catch data from 1981-2018 as the basis for sector allocations since it more accurately captures the cyclical nature of the fishery, while providing each sector with sufficient access to the resource considering historical usage.
The Council and Board based state commercial allocations on more recent data to improve efficiency within the commercial fishery and better reflect the current distribution of the stock. As such, the Amendment allocates a baseline quota of 0.1% to each state, and then allocates the rest of the commercial quota based on landings data from 2009 to 2018 (see Table 1 below). Recognizing that several states will be losing quota during a time when the coastwide commercial quota is already at an historic low, the Council and Board decided to phase-in the allocation changes over 7 years in order to reduce short-term economic impacts to the affected commercial fishing industry. The Council and Board also committed to reviewing the approved state allocations within 5 years
The Amendment also updates the sector transfer process to allow for quota transfers in either direction between the commercial and recreational sectors. Previously, quota could only be transferred from the recreational sector to the commercial fishery. The transfers will now be capped at 10% of the acceptable biological catch for a given year.
Finally, the Amendment modified the management uncertainty tool within the FMP to a sector-specific approach. It allows the Council and Board to apply a buffer to either sector, in the form of a quota reduction, to account for management uncertainty during specifications. While this tool has not been used often, the modified approach allows managers to better target areas of uncertainty within one sector without reducing the quota or harvest limit in the other sector.
As next steps, the Council will forward its recommended approval of the Amendment to NOAA Fisheries for final consideration and implementation. The Commission will consider final approval of the Amendment at its August meeting.
Fine weather continues with a forecast of northwest winds at 5-10 knots before shifting to southwest with gusts to 20 in the afternoon.
Sea bass reports continue to be excellent as the season draws to a close. The Golden Eagle from Belmar had a boat limit and added some fluke and also some spot — a small fish normally only found close to shore. On the way in they spotted a 10-foot hammerhead shark plus whales and dolphins fairly close to shore..
The Monmouth County striped bass surf bite on sand fleas didn’t happen this morning for Frank Manzi and I, but Frank cast a popper before leaving and caught a bluefish.
Bluefish seem to be showing up in the warmer waters of Ocean County as Betty & Nick’s Fishing Club members were posting shots of small to medium choppers that were hitting just about everything. There was even a semi-tropical houndfish — but no Spanish mackerel so far.
Not many stripers seem to be getting through, but that wasn’t the case yesterday as Robert Kopf landed a 54-inch linesider while casting a green Ava jig. It was only photographed on the sand before release and the lure is the only thing to give an indication of size. See photo at bottom of page.
Chuck Many said blues were relentless today in the ocean off northern Monmouth County as his crew on Tyman out of Highlands only managed one big striper.
There was no bluefish problem for Vinny D’Anton and I as we cast in Shark River to no avail before heading to the nearby surf to fish with sand fleas. Tommy Cox had been casting a small plug that produced three small bass, and we knew Jim Louro had caught a 27-incher on a Band of Anglers Dart Spin We landed three stripers during a brief try with sand fleas– and I enjoyed a good battle before releasing a 30-incher. That was my second legal bass since starting surf fishing this year with a 28-incher yesterday.
Good weather continues with a marine forecast of northwest winds at 10-15 knots before shifting to 5-10 west in the afternoon.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported a boat limit of sea bass by 10:30 this morning.
The Paramount from Brielle has also been sticking with the outstanding sea bass fishing along with some ling. They sail daily at 6:30 a.m.
The Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands reported the best fluke action of the season today. It was mostly shorts, but one angler limited.
Matt Calabria put his brother Kevin into a huge 457-pound thresher shark a few days ago. Matt said it was Kevin’s first shark! I’m trying to get a photo and more info.
The spring surf striper bite on mole crabs (sand fleas) has been slow to start, but Vinny D’Anton caught three schoolies yesterday morning to get things started in a very comfortable surf.
I joined him this morning and watched Tommy Cox release his first surf striper of the season while Vinny also hooked a short. I couldn’t get a bump during my first surf effort of the year, and was shocked when I finally hooked up to a fish that was taking line off what I thought was a fairly heavy drag. It turned out to be a well-rounded bass that was 28 inches on the nose. That pleasant surprise was only the second time I’ve started started my surf season with a keeper – though it was released. Hopefully, that will lead to many more after a tough 2020 in the surf.
Chuck Many said bluefish created havoc on his eels as he fished further up the shore on his Tyman from Highlands, but his crew managed to release a few stripers from 36 to 47 pounds.
Dave Lilly of Hazlet is recovering from a serious illness, but that striper and fluke pro was up to the task of reeling in the 300 feet of wire needed to get down to bass in 40-foot depths in Raritan Bay as Tony Maja bunker spoons in every color tried produced 11 releases from 28 inches to three in the 30-pound class for the crew.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar had another great day of sea bass fishing and added some ling plus a big fluke.
The marine weather forecast is for south winds at 5-10 knots with a chance of morning showers.
Capt. Vinny Vetere has been enjoying great striper action on his Katfish from Great Kills and sent one of last week’s photos.
Those looking for a Father’s Day gift may be able to come up with a great one by joining the IGFA Auction which concludes online at 6;30. Everything from fishing tackle and accessories to clothing, marine art and trips all over the U.S. and many foreign destinations are there for the taking at what may be bargain prices.
The cold east winds are finally shifting, with south at 10-15 knots and gusts to 20 predicted in the morning with a chance of showers before possible thunderstorms in the afternoon. Calming west winds will be following during the week,
The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported seas were comfortable today as they had a good mix of short and legal sea bass which included many limits. Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina says his rental skiffs have been doing well with keeper fluke in Shark River.
The Elaine B. II from Highlands reported several fluke limits boated during Saturday’s trip from Bahrs Landing.
There’s been a big change recently from 90 degree days and light winds to a nasty sea and sweatshirt temperatures, but the sea bass bite continues — and the Sunday forecast is for a shift to southeast winds at just 5-10 knots
Though big bluefish are chopping up mo-jos being trolled in Raritan Bay, there have been some “eating-size” blues hitting jigs in the ocean for party boat anglers. The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant got into 2-4–pounders with a 6-pound pool winner on Tuesday for their first good jigging in some time. Wednesday produced a boat limit of 3-7-pounders before they finished up with sea bass. Reservations are being taken for the first tuna trip on June 29.
The Golden Eagle went back out today and reported many sea bass limits plus ling, some mackerel, some blackfish that had to be released — and about a dozen winter flounder. There are a few openings for the morning trip.
It was a lot nicer day on the ocean off St. Lucie Inlet in Florida as Bob Correll ran his Sea Vee 32 offshore to drift live threadfin herring which they jigged on the way out. Bob’s wife Mary Agnes hooked her first sailfish which put on quite a show before being released.
Though some fishing trips were called off today due to east winds, it may be more fishable tomorrow with those winds down to 10-15 knots except for gusts to 20 around mid-day.
Canyon tolling has been good when conditions are right. Blue Runner Sportfishing from Pt. Pleasant reported a great trip June 9-10 for the Doug Stark party as they added two bigeyes and six yellowfins to lots of bluefins. See photo below.
Capt. Vinny Vetere was into the monster stripers yesterday as 10 from 39 to 53 pounds were released from his Katfish out of Great Kills. Vetere may have room on Sunday.
While sea bass continue to be the best bet, fishing for offshore game fish is also coming on strong.
Andreas Toy reported on Facebook that they were into “insane’ school bluefin tuna trolling on chatter bars during their first contest of the season — the Manasquan River Marlin & Tuna Club Bluefin Open.
Jason Neadel was adding winter flounder to the sea bass already boxed when a 305-pound thresher shark interrupted the bottom fishing on Abigail IV from Point Pleasant earlier this week.
The Canyon Runner from Point Pleasant reported loads of bluefins as close as 10 to 20 miles offshore along with some bigeyes, yellowfins and swordfish far to the east.
Capt. Dave DeGennaro had a great casting session in Barnegat Inlet as his Wednesday party on Hi Flier from Barnegat cast soft plastics and swimming plugs to 3-7-pound blues and 24- to 30-inch stripers. With east winds in the forecast, that should be a good place to hide. Call 732 330-5674for openings.
The Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands made its last live-lining striper trip today, but only five bass were boated through big blues. They will return to fluking on Saturday — but may add some evening striper trips.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar got into some small to medium blues plus a few “monsters” this morning before adding sea bass. They won’t be sailing Friday due to the forecast of east winds.
The IGFA Auction is running up to Sunday at 6:30 p.m.
Following is the press release with results from last Friday’s Manhattan Cup:
After a forced cancelation in 2020, the Manhattan Cup came roaring back for its 20th Anniversary at Liberty Landing Marina on the Hudson River opposite the New York City skyline. This unique charitable event is held to honor American heroes, the men and women who have put their lives on the line to fight our nation’s enemies. Many of them suffer from the physical and psychological effects of combat and are prone to depression and even suicide months or years after returning from service. Twenty-two transitioning warriors take their own lives each day, a frightening statistic, and our desire is to open new channels of hope through fishing.
“The goal of the tournament is to use fishing as a force for good,” says Captain Frank Crescitelli, one of the founders of the event and tournament co-chairman along with angler and journalist Gary Caputi. This year 30 warriors, most back from recent deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq were joined by a handful of Viet Nam era service members to fish and compete as our guests and to spend time with captains and fellow anglers, many of whom donated their boats and services for the day.
The tournament, with presenting sponsor Yamaha Outboards, kicked off with a breakfast where captains, anglers and warriors met and organized into teams over a buffet breakfast. A brief captain’s meeting was held before the teams boarded their boats for the shotgun start in front of the Statue of Liberty. The fishing throughout the day was nothing short of spectacular with the waters of Raritan Bay and the New York Bight offering up remarkable fishing with over 160 bass and bluefish caught and released. With conservation the watchword of this all-release tournament, many of the teams were inserting Gray FishTag Research tags in their fish before returning them to the water. Each fish was carefully measured, and all winning fish were determined by the accepted calculations using length and girth measurements to accompanied by photo verification to determine weight.
If the numbers of fish caught was not amazing enough, two enormous stripers of over 50 pounds were caught and released in addition to several in the 30 and 40-pound class. When all was said and done, Jersey Devil with Captain Brian Rice at the helm repeated their win of the Manhattan Cup in 2019 with a 52.80-pound striped bass taken on a live eel by warrior angler Richard Torres. The fish also captured the Msgt. Christopher J. Raguso Memorial Trophy presented for the largest striped bass caught by a warrior. Also aboard the Jersey Devil was the NFL’s Clark Harris, center for the Cincinnati Bengals, who won the celebrity striped bass award with a 49.24-pound fish.
Jim O’Sullivan fishing aboard Captain Cole Svenson’s Cheap Shot boated the second largest striped bass of the tournament, a 50.11-pound monster that also ate a live eel. A complete list of the trophy and cup winners is located below.
The awards dinner saw upwards of 200 people filling the room at the Liberty House Restaurant where they shared a wonderful meal, fish tales and plenty of opportunities to win raffle and auction items ranging from charter trips on the Tuna.com and Fishin’Frenzy to a full electronics package courtesy of Raymarine.
Matthew Braiotta, the Assistant Director of the Veterans Benefits Administration NY regional office not only attended the dinner but competed in the tournament alongside his brothers in arms, addressed the audience about his first experience at the Manhattan Cup. In a subsequent email to the tournament organizers, he wrote:
“Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of this amazing event as it was life changing for me. I have not felt this connected with my fellow veterans in a long, long time. I want to personally thank you all for the work and dedication you have for our nation’s veterans and for me as well. Your extraordinary efforts in putting this event together personally impacted my life and renewed my spirit to go above and beyond for our veterans. Thank you again for the community that you all built and let me know how I can support and serve this noble cause in the future.”
The emotions ran high as Frank Crescitelli announced a special presentation, a beautiful rod and reel outfit valued at over $300 given to each of the warriors in attendance so they can carry on their fishing experiences well after the tournament. The rods and reels were donated through the generosity of Bob Feldsott, president of Tsunami Awesome Tackle. Then Manhattan Cup Warrior Liaison, Sgt. Robert Gil addressed the crowd with an emotional salute to his fellow veterans and his sincere wishes that their introduction to fishing would help carry them through their trials in returning to civilian life as it did for him when he first fished in the tournament in 2013. The applause and the level of appreciation from everyone in the room for these brave American heroes was an emotional, heartfelt tribute.
Everyone involved in putting on the Manhattan Cup felt honored to be able to do our small part to recognize and assist the bravest and most deserving among us, the warriors who sacrificed for our nation and its citizens. From our small team of dedicated individuals who organize and run the event, we want to thank all of the captains who donated their boats and services for the day, the anglers who fished with us in the Sportsman Division, our sponsors without whom we could not put on the tournament and our hosts at Liberty Landing Marina and the Liberty House Restaurant, we would like to say thank you and we hope to see you again next year.
For more information go to www.manhattancup.com. If you would like to be involved in the 21st Manhattan Cup please contact John DePersenaire at 609-294-3810 or Gary Caputi at 732-740-9982.
Manhattan Cup Sponsors: Yamaha Outboards, Bimini Bay, Tsunami Awesome Tackle, Staten Island Yacht Sales, Black Rifle Coffee Company, Raymarine, Bluewave Boats, D&R Boat Sales, Finchasers TV, Steiger Craft Boats, Liberty Landing Marina, Manhattan2Montauk, AFW Fishing Brands, Princeton Tec, Gray Taxidermy, Interlux, Costa del Mar, Guides Secret Lures, Colorfast, Starbrite, Mustad, St. Croix Rods, Tony Maja Products and TackleDirect.com.
The Manhattan Cup is underwritten by the Fisheries Conservation Trust, a 501c3 non-profit wing of the Recreational Fishing Alliance.
20th MANHATTAN CUP TROPHY WINNERS
Manhattan Cup (largest striped bass overall) 52.8 lbs. Richard Torres/Jersey Devil/Capt. Brian Rice
Warrior Division (Christopher J. Raguso Memorial Trophy)
Largest Striped Bass 52.8 lbs. Richard Torres/Jersey Devil/Capt. Brian Rice
Largest Bluefish 3.96 lbs. Roger Totten/Pelagic Magic/ Capt. Paul Hameleers
Celebrity Angler Division
Largest Striped Bass 49.24 lbs. Clark Harris/Jersey Devil/Capt. Brian Rice
Largest Bluefish 9.28 lbs. Darlene Jensen/Tricky Fish/Capt. Chris Carlino
Sportfishing (Private Boat Division)
Largest Striped Bass 10.72 lbs. Pete Boodaghian/Nemmas II/Capt. Michel Grassi
Largest Bluefish 2.40 lbs. Nate Peller/Outrage/Capt. Matthew Braiotta
Artificial Bait Division
Largest Striped Bass 37.24 lbs. Paul Bourcq/Fin Chasers TV/Capt. Frank Crescitelli
Largest Bluefish 12.41 lbs. Oliver Ngy/Fin Chasers TV/Capt. Frank Crescitelli
Bait Division
Largest Striped Bass 50.11 lbs. Jim O’Sullivan/Cheap Shot/Capt. Cole Svenson
Largest Bluefish 21.18 lbs. Timothy Beckett/Dina Maria/Capt. Vincent Vetere
Fly Division
Largest Striped Bass 14.44 lbs. Rob/Timothy O’Rourke/Capt. Timothy O’Rourke
Largest Bluefish 2.40 lbs. Nate Peller/Outrage/Capt. Matthew Braiotta
High Hook Most Stripers Ira Krell/Timothy O’Rourke/Capt. Timothy O’Rourke
The marine weather forecast for tomorrow is similar to what we’ve had — but changes during the day. It starts with north at 5-10 knots before going northeast 10-15 with gusts to 20 by late morning. There’s also a chance of showers.
Nick Honachefsky was catching ling on the weekend night trip of the Gambler from Point Pleasant. Other species are also included in his Saltwater Underground episode 4 for free on Waypoint TV.
Tight Lines 