Anglers who enjoy competition have lots of choices coming up.

The 42nd annual Sandy Hook Bay Anglers Club Tournament sticks to its two-day format from July 13-14 out of Atlantic Highlands Marina. The captains meeting is at 7 p.m. July 12 in the Senior Citizens Building at the marina. Call 732 787-4008 for info.

Fluke anglers can add a second tournament on Saturday with the Richie Addeo Tournament sponsored by the Staten Island Tuna Club. Call Angelo Pignataro at 917 440-6959.

The 29th annual Point Pleasant Elks Fluke Tournament runs out of there on July 20. Call 732-899-7638,

Jimmy Johnson returns to the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City to distribute over a million dollars to big game anglers with his Quest for the Ring Championship Week from July 14-20. Visit questfor theringac.com

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported a slower trip today though some small blues were jigged along with lots of chub mackerel.

The forecast is for south winds at 5-10 knots before increasing to 1-15 plus gusts to 20 in the afternoon.

Capt. Mark DeBlasio reported on the July 3-4trip pf his WATER PROOF from Pt. Pleasant as follows:

“WATER PROOF July 3-4

Anthony and Shane had Luigi and crew out and saw great weather and lots of bites. They had a limit of under Bluefins and released a bunch more. They added a nice 66” Bluefin to the box as well as their unders.”

66-inch bluefin tuna on WATER PROOF

Capt. Ron Santee Jr. said today’s fluking on his Fishermen out of Atlantic Highlands was tough. Among the keepers were two of 4.3 and 4.7 pounds.

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

My phone is still out. Use my e-mail at cristori@aol.com

Many women have proved they can handle any great game fish a man can, and this IGFA record proves that point;

Dorothea Cassullo was fishing off Montauk, N.Y. when she landed this massive 223.28-kilogram (492-pound, 4-ounce) swordfish. She fought the sword for two hours until the crew of the Dorado, captained by Clarence Fine, were able to bring this record fish aboard. Dorothea then returned to Montauk Yacht Club for an official weight on a certified scale. With this fish she was able to set the IGFA Women’s 24-kg (50 lb) Line Class World Record for the species – a record that has now stood for 65 years.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar had good news as 2-pound bluefish were solid from 20-40 feet and jigged on both plain and tailed diamonds as everyone limited. There was also the first showing of chub mackerel on both jigs and bait.

Capt. Ron Santee Jr. had another decent catch of keeper fluke on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands, Included were a pool-winning 6.7-pound fluke by Pat, and a 4.7-pounder that took the lead in the monthly pool for Chico.

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

I’m having trouble with my phone. Anyone trying to reach me should e-mail me at cristori@aol.com

Tuna fishing off the N.J. coast started well, and continues to improve.

Capt. Mark DeBlasio reports from his Blue Runner out of Point Pleasant: on the July4-5 trip.

Beautiful weather and loads of action for our open boat group. Over 35 Bluefins caught / released plus 4 for 6 on nice Yellowfins. Added a couple of Marlin releases and a Mahi. Really nice to put 11 year old Mason on his first Tuna

Jersey Nutz Sportfishing made a July 4 trip on the 53-footer that produced eight yellowfins, two bigeyes and three bluefins plus a white marlin release — and they still got home for the festivities.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar opted to anchor up due to today’s wind, and had a steady pick of ling and whiting. Everyone also got the one sea bass now allowed in N.J.

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands had a good day with keeper fluke up to the 4 5/16-pound pool winner. However, some bigger fluke were lost due to not being hooked well in deep waters where heavy sinkers are required. Bring a rod with enough backbone!

A small craft advisory is up through Sunday afternoon, though the forecast sounds fine by morning with west winds at 5 knots before going south in the afternoon.

The Golden Eagle had another day of limit bluefish jigging. Those 1-to-3-pounders hit best on jigs and teasers. The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant has also been limiting with those blues most days.

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands has been into more keeper fluke by fishing deeper waters where rods with some backbone are needed to set hooks. A 5-pounder won today’s pool, but several bigger fluke were lost due to the use of “noodle” rods that can’t set kooks when heavy sinkers are needed,

A small craft advisory is up through Sunday afternoon.

𝟏,𝟒𝟎𝟐-𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐥

On February 29, 1992, Paolo Roberto Amorim set the IGFA All-Tackle Atlantic blue marlin record with an incredible 1,402-pound, 2-ounce specimen he landed in Vitoria, Brazil.

On a day that only comes around once every four years—a leap year—he landed a once in a lifetime fish. The heaviest blue marlin ever recorded by the IGFA was tricked into biting a Mold Craft lure and was landed after a one-hour, twenty-minute fight.

Good news from the Golden Eagle out of Belmar as they found 2-lb. blues for jigging. with some anglers limiting on the first drift when blues were read 20-40-feet deep. Diamond jigs worked best. A drift for sea bass produced the single sea bass now allowed as by-catch in N.J. The first bonito I’ve heard of so far was also boated.

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands had better luck with keeper fluke today as several fares caught their three. A 5.4-pounder took the daily pool, but wasn’t entered in the monthly.

The forecast is for south winds at 5-10 knots before going to 10-15 plus gusts to 20 in the afternoon. Patchy fog and showers are possible.

Fluke pro Dave Lilly has had no problem coming up with fluke limits for his crew this season in NY/NJ Bight at the same most boaters are catching lots of shorts but few keepers. Dave emphasizes that long drifts aren’t working. Whenever you catch a keeper, work that spot from every angle instead of continuing the drift.

Lilly has also found that rigging a Tsunami Glass Minnow tipped with Gulp well above the sinker or jig has been the best producer.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported very fast action close to shore with short fluke plus some keepers and a few sea bass and ling.

The forecast is for south winds at 10-15 knots.

The annual July 4 World Cup Blue Marlin Tournament will be fished around much of the world tomorrow. The basic entry costs $5,000, and the minimum size is 500 pounds.

It seems as if every Raritan Bay charter boat is equipped with a Percy cast net with which to load a live well with bunkers which are often the key to successful striper fishing. For decades, Percy has been demonstrating how even a man in his eighties could open up his net. As of today he’s demonstrating how a 90-year-old can do so!

Percy also mates for Capt. Vinnie Vetere on his Katfish from Great Kills. Those trips start with netting bunkers, and Percy also performs all the other mate functions which end in filleting the legal-size catch. Percy is an inspiration to relative youngsters like me as well as to anglers of all ages.

Capt. Ron Santee Jr. said yesterday was far too windy for drifting fluke in deep waters with his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands, but he was pleased to see the water temperature get up as high as 65. Yet, the fluke coming up from the bottom still felt ice cold.

At Belmar, the Golden Eagle reported as follows:

There was a better showing of KEEPER FLUKE for us today. Fishermen were dialed in early this morning on great action on throwbacks with nice KEEPER FLUKE in the mix. It continued until late morning when the drift slowed up. We moved offshore and had nice JUMBO SEA BASS along with LING and KEEPER FLUKE “

Capt. Ralph Leyrer of Last Lady had a similar report of keeper fluke during an open boat charter.

The Big Mohawk had this 10-pound, 11-ounce doormat come aboard on June 25.

The forecast is for south winds at 5 knots before going southeast at 10-15 plus gusts to 20 in the afternoon. Patchy fog is possible in the morning.

The Viking Fleet at Montauk reports “ri June 28 – 3 Day Captain’s Choice – Viking Fivestar

Capt Steven Jr. reports a lively trip on the Viking Fivestar. Due to weather we did have to cut the trip short, but we still manged to get our fish with 20 Yellow Fin Tuna up to 80lbs and 6 Blue Fin Tunas. We also had a nice pile of Tiles! That warm water has seemed to move into our backyard and it brought plenty of life with it! For this trip, most fish were caught on the troll, however we did have some on jigs.” Check with them for the next special.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar had great fluke action today, though there were only some keepers among the shorts. However, the season for a single sea bass a man opened July 1, and they did have a few of those in today’s catch.

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

FOUND THIS ON FACEBOOK TODAY

” A catch that remains shrouded in mystery and history, but no one denies the monster Pacific blue made it to the docks to be weighed. It’s the Hawaii state record, which outweighs the IGFA world-record of 1,376 pounds. The IGFA record was caught out of Kona, Hawaii in May of 1982 by Jay de Beaubien. For what it’s worth, there are marlin caught by commercial anglers that reportedly weighed more than 2,000 pounds.

This incredible fish became known as “Choy’s Monster” and hasn’t been broken for over 50 years.”

A small craft advisory is up in NY/NJ Bight to 7 p.m.

Monday starts with north winds at 10 to 15 knots plus gusts to 20.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar had a few keeper fluke among many shorts, but the pool went to Steve Rawls with an unusual white hake.