Though Hurricane Erin appears to be on path to go far offshore, its effects will impact the beginning of the MidAtlantic 500 which has added Saturday as one of the three days boats may select for fishing.

The Beach Haven Marlin & Tuna Club will present winners of their White Marlin VIvitational with their prizes at tonight;’s Awards Dinner.

Sunday’s forecast in NY/NJ Bight is for west winds at 5-10 knots before increasing to 20 in the afternoon

After white marlin fishing was tough in the big White Marlin Open, the following Beach Haven Marlin & Tuna Club White Marlin Invitational set a record when Shark Byte released 30 whites in a day — and many other boats weren’t far behind in the points race. Bigeye tuna also cooperated in the two days out of four contest which concludes tonight. I’ll have the results tomorrow.

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Next up is the MidAtlantic which may have to deal with a weather problem during the Aug. 17-22 period.

The forecast for tomorrow in NY/NJ Bight is for east winds at 5-10 knots.

There were 37 boats fishing for a purse of $574,780 today in the Beach Haven Marlin & Tuna Club’s White Marlin Invitational, but Shark Byte is in good shape with a record 30 releases in two days. Tuna were also cooperating as a record 115.3-pound yellowfin tuna was boated yesterday on Gray Fox, and there was also a 156-pound bigeye.

Capt. Frank Masseria said fluking on his Vitamin Sea from Port Monmouth was red hot with hundreds caught including lots of keepers.

Capt. Ron Santee of the Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands realized conditions weren’t right at the areas where fluking was good yesterday, so he made a run which worked out well. A 6 1/8-pounder took over the monthly fluke lead. That boat is chartered Saturday.

The forecast for NY/NJ Bight is for east winds at 10 knots with a chance of showers.

Rashawn Williams jumped up to first place in the Dream Boat Challenge when he entered a 13.06 pound fluke. That contest which is limited to Fisherman magazine subscribers, reported Williams is tied at 17 points with Jeffery Harrison as of the August issue with results up to 7/23/2025.

With a minimum size of 15 pounds, there haven’t been anybluefish entries in the contest to win a Steiger 21-foot center console rig plus many other valuable prizes.

Some anglers are upset because the commercial season remains open after recreational bluefin tuna were closed. Actually, those are two separate quotas which aren’t related. There is no commercial quota for school bluefins, and the commercial quota for giants is frequently closed as the limit nears.

Capt. Ron Santee said Tuesday’s fluking on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands started poorly in no current or drift. A move changed that as some anglers limited with fluke up to 5 5/16 pounds. The forecast is for west winds at 5 knots with a chance of showers.

The Beach Haven Marlin & Tuna Club’s White Marlin Invitational is underway with Shark Byte leading in points with 375.

Fluke pro Dave Lilly ran ffshore with Bryan Farmer today and found the big fluke which have been hard to come by even for the Wiz. A limit of 4-6-pounders was quickly boated and others released before an early return. Sea bass were also caught.

Capt. Ron Santee was on the meat Monday with his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands. There were multiple limits up to a 5 11/16-pound pool winner.

Kil Song fished for fluke on the Jamaica II from Brielle, and reported lots of action for a big crowd — though most were shorts.

Vinny D’Anton says stripers remain scarce in the North Jersey surf, though Pastor John came over from N.Y. one day last week to release two of 28 and 29 inches.

NYC Capt. John McMurray isn’t happy with the recreational bluefin tuna closure, but it isn’t a big problem as yellowfins are abundant.

The forecast is for southwest winds at 5-10 knots before increasing to 10-15 in the afternoon. There’s a chance of showers.

yellowfin tuna shot from Capt. John McMurray

As it turned out, 211 boats fished the final day of the White Marlin Open out of Ocean City, Md. and there were many changes in the results.

Bigger tuna were finally boated, but at least two of them were bluefins that weren’t allowed in the past — and will be protected after Tuesday when NOAA Fisheries shuts down the recreational fisheries for them.

Sea Hab boated a 188-pound bluefin to edge out a 186.5-pounder on Shorebilly for a $764,000 win after Mama C. led

. Billfisher hung on just barely with their 72-pound white marlin to earn over $3.9 million in the featured white marlin category for Dan Gough.

Michael Jordan’s Catch 23 was only a pound behind Billfisher, but ended up with a total of over $385000.

Barabara B boated the only blue marlin on the first day, and that 929.5-pounder plus a dolphin runner-up produced a payoff of over 1.240 million.

It took a week of fishing before the wahoo category was finally filled by Shooting Star with a 49.5-pounder.

Taylor Jean edged out Catch 23 for the Release Category win as Bob Wagner on that boat won as top angler.

The Beach Haven Marlin & Tuna Club’s White Marlin Invitational started today.

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The forecast for NY/NJ Bight is for southwest winds at 5 knots before increasing g to 10-15 in the afternoon.

The White Marlin Open out of Ocean City, Md. concludes today, but there’s still no word as to how many boats fished today and what they caught. As noted last night. there was one big change when Michael Jordan’s Catch 23 weighed a second place 71-pound white marlin. The angler was Yrey “Cricket” McMillan. I’ll get caught up on this tomorrow.

Capt. Ron Santee had good conditions today for a charter on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands as they limited on sea bass while adding fluke.

The first of two “overtime” fishing days in the White Marlin Open out of Ocean City, Md. drew 58 boats,and featured a second place white marlin entry by Michael Jordan’s Catch 23. In addition to that 71-pounder that boat is also a leader in the release category. The contest concludes tomorrow.

There was bad news from NOAA Fisheries as all categories of bluefin tuna are being shut down Tuesday night.

The forecast is for NY/NJ Bight is for east winds at 5 knots before going south in the afternoon.

Due to rough seas, the 52nd White Marlin Open out of Ocean City, Md. was extended at the captains meeting through Sunday, rather than ending today. Continuing rough seas have been a problem, but many entrants still have fishing days left with which to try to upset the standings.

There are millions of dollars at stake, with Billfisher ‘s 72-pound white marlin set to pay out $4.27 million, while the only blue marlin of 929.5 pounds on Barbara B being worth over 1.2 million. The tuna leader is only 95 pounds on Mama C. and I’m still expecting one of the North Jersey bigeye tuna specialists to blow that division wide open. Only six boats went out today, which gives us a clue to how rough it was.

Capt. Ron Santee reported a very good day of fluking on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands.

“After paying our dues the past 2 days to get it done, today we were back on the Meat!! Knew we had a short window with the bite where I’ve been fishing got there and had a couple good drifts.

Bite died so we left it to the Bone pickers and headed for some better life.

Awesome action the rest of the day on the largest fish of the season. 7 fish over 5 pounds, the pool fish was a one ounce difference with Walter taking the pool with his 5 pound 12 ounce fish now leading the Monthly. Mark had a 5.11 for a very close second. Several limits on Quality fluke around the boat, too many to name.” T Fishermen is chartered Sunday’

The forecast for NY/NJ Bight is for east winds at just 5-10 knots. .

The White Marlin Open at Ocean City, Md. started in rough seas which resulted in extending the contest through Sunday, but may end up with the same problem.

There were still 197 boat days of fishing left as of today, but just 13 entrants braved the ocean this morning.

That’s good news for those with leads that may be worth millions if nothing changes. It was no surprise that Billfisher took over the white marlin lead yesterday with a 72-pounder for $4.2 million as that boat is a regular winner. Their good fortune resulted in the blue marlin leader, Barbara B., being dropped to a payoff of ‘just” 1.2 million.

Tuna is he most vulnerable category as Mama C leads at just 95 pounds. Usually, one of the North Jersey bigeye pros such as MJ’S, The Right Place and Blue Runner gets into a wolf pack of over 100-pounders that clears the leaderboard.

The Capt. Cal II from Belmar didn’t expect decent fluking in yesterday’s big swell, but it actually turned out well — though that may not be the case in the continuing northeast wind.