Mike Monte reports from Nantucket that island remains surrounded by striped bass which normally would have moved on during their migration, but are being held there by an unusual volume and variety of forage. Mackerel, squid, bunkers and sand eels are all abundant at the same time. Mike says most of the bass are 40 inches or more and hitting everything.

There was also good news from Capt. Mark DeBlasio of Blue Runner from Point Pleasant:

“Snuck out with Jeff Kapralick and crew .. took a bit to find them but once we did it was game on. Caught a 6 man limit of Yellowfin, a limit of under Bluefins, released another half dozen Bluefins and went 3 for 4 on Bigeyes. First thing this morning hooked a pair of Giant Bluefins, pulling the hook on one quickly. The other one we fought for 1.5 hours on standup gear before we pulled the hook at color. Great to see fishing like this after a slower start to the season ..”

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Capt. Ron Santee Jr. reported starting out with his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands to an “area we found shorts, tried a little deeper and found not much life. No current or drift all day so we had to power drift. Took a ride to a new area and found some nice keepers but the lack of drift hurt us once again.

Mustacio Rich is on a roll with his 3rd pool in a row in the ninth inning, todays fish went 5 pounds 3 ounces and is the new Monthly pool leader. Couple 3-4 pound fish in the mix also. A load of Big Sea Bass that had to go back!!! Bunch of crap that is.

Water temp was up to 61 today, found some bait so i’m expecting the bite to get better. Back at it in the AM.“

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported fast action with short fluke along with some keepers.

The forecast is for southeast winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20.

I haven’t heard from the canyon Runner out of Point Pleasant in some time, but it turns out they’ve almost completely booked their canyon trips for this year. Adam LaRosa reports:”

This email is more of a heads-up and warning to you folks that haven’t booked anything with us yet for the 2024 canyon season. I don’t want anyone upset with us when you call and there are no dates left so this is your warning to please grab your date now. This is usually the busiest month of the year with folks finally nailing down their dates – but as of right now there just aren’t many good ones left.  “ They are holding a few trips on an open basis to take care of customers that no longer can put together a full charter. Vinny D’Anton once again found a pick of stripers in the Monmouth County surf with his Chug Bug popper. However, the larger of the two stripers he released was an ugly striper full of rashes. Though it looked terrible, that bass fought well and swam off without a problem. Vinny also caught a 5-pound bluefish. Friday’s forecast is for northeast winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20 before going to southeast 5-10 in the afternoon.

The following report from the Ebb Tide at Montauk sums up the night fishery there:

“Black Fog=Big Bass. We departed at 7p last night bc we wanted more time for the Beasts after dark and Mother Nature provided the perfect blanket of light! We did a few jig drifts and it was meh with the exception of a few slots and one 40lb beast so we switched to the snakes early and Holy Cow! Every drift produced a wide variety of Striped Beauty. You’ll get the perspective from pic one with Alan Yees 48 and a tote full of slots. Kenny took the pool with the first slot landed.”

Capt. Ron Santee Jr/ reported from his Fishermen out of Atlantic Highlands “Much better with the keepers today but it was a grind to say the least!

Gail Bernard who ran my galley in the 80’s and has been a friend for 40 years celebrated her 60th birthday with me today. She was well rewarded with 3 nice keepers and a bunch of smaller fish.

First time Fluke fisher-woman Debbie from PA also had her three by days end and took the pool with a 6 pound beauty. Couple nice fish around the boat but like I said it wasn’t easy. Back at it in the AM.Much better with the keepers today but it was a grind to say the least!

Gail Bernard who ran my galley in the 80’s and has been a friend for 40 years celebrated her 60th birthday with me today. She was well rewarded with 3 nice keepers and a bunch of smaller fish.

First time Fluke fisher-woman Debbie from PA also had her three by days end and took the pool with a 6 pound beauty. Couple nice fish around the boat but like I said it wasn’t easy. Back at it in the AM.“

Vinny D’Anton got a call from an angler fishing further north in the Jersey surf this morning and got up there in time to release three stripers from 23-26 inches on his Chug Bug.

Vinny D’Anton hasn’t done much in the northern N.J. surf since returning from Florida, but finally found some plugging action in the Monmouth County surf this morning.

There was no sign of life as he worked his favorite popper, the Chug Bug, but when he switched to a MirrOlure that Florida standard produced four stripers including a 28-incher.

The Prowler 5 from Atlantic Highlands had a beautiful day at sea though keeper fluke weren’t hitting well and even shorts weren’t abundant. One angler managed a limit.

Paul Haertel reports the JCAA Heavy Hitters Fluke Tournament will be run from Aug. 1-4. Boaters can pick any one day to fish. You must register by 7/31 by visiting jcaa.org

A small craft advisory is up from 6 p.m. to tomorrow afternoon. Southwest winds at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 25 and showers are forecasted in the morning.

In going through Facebook today I was surprised to find the following entry on Bob Rocchetta’s world record striper.

“It was 1981 when Robert Rocchetta, of Long Island, New York, set both the All-Tackle and @theigfa Men’s 24-kg (50 lb) Line Class World Record with this incredible 34.47-kilogram (76-pound) striped bass. At the time of catch, this striper was the largest known to have been caught on rod and reel, and was taken off Montauk, New York a few hours before dawn.”

A classic!!

I happened to be at Montauk at that time, and took all the photos of Bob’s catch. Unfortunately, I had only a roll of very high speed film in my camera — and it was a very bright morning.

What wasn’t mentioned was the fact that the bass was caught on a live eel in the rips off Montauk Point during an eclipse of the moon.

A small craft advisory is up to through late tonight. Tuesday starts with northwest winds at 10-15 knots before going southwest in the afternoon.

Great striper fishing isn’t unusual on Nantucket. but Mike Monte says it’s never been better at this time of year all around the island. These bass all seem to be over 28 inches. and Monte speculates that these are bass that should still be in NY/NJ Bight where recent reports haven’t been that good.

Capt. Ron Santee Jr. had decent Saturday fluking on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands as a 4.9-pounder took the pool — and a 4.4-pound fluke leads the monthly pool. Today’s report follows: “Very nice group of customers today but I was a little leary with the wind report….

Headed to where we’ve been fishing hoping the wind would hold off. We slugged away pretty good at short Fluke the first couple of drifts, one nice fish got away before the net could reach him.

Started getting cranky as the current changed and wind came on so we left the area.

Ended up in the Sahara for the afternoon but that’s where we caught the handful of keepers and pool fish that we ended the day with.

Chico landed a nice 4 1/2 pound fish that earned him the money today. Finally going to get away from all the South wind tomorrow! Bite should improve as well as the conditions. See you in the AM.

Sailing Everyday 7:30am-2:30pm, Open Boat, No Reservations just come on down. Fare is $90, Rod Rentals $10.“

A diver reported on Facebook that Shark River is very cold at 54 degrees — but full of fluke.

A small craft advisory is up through late tonight. Monday starts with a hopeful shift to west at 10-20 knots plus gusts to 25. There’s a chance of showers and thunderstorms in the morning.

The most consistent surf bite in the northern N.J. surf in recent years has been on sand fleas. but that hasn’t been the case so far. Vinny D’Anton has caught only a few small stripers on the fleas so far, and other pros have had the same problem. There hasn’t been any bait in the surf, but that should only make the abundant fleas more attractive to them.

There was a better report from Betty & Nick’s Fishing Club in Seaside Park where Mickey Melchionado reported “Found some bass locally this morning from 4 am til 6 am on SP Minnow. Bursting with sand fleas. Once the sun was up it crapped out, but had great action for awhile!’

A small craft advisory is up from Sunday morning to late night. South winds at 15-20 knots increase to 20-25 plus gusts to 30 in the afternoon.

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The following report from Sushi Sportfishing details the surprising action encountered right after the recent Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament out of Morehead City. N.C.:

“Our first day of fishing after the Big Rock tournament started slow then the giants went nuts on the mahi in the weedlines. We made a pass and got a beautiful double header short rigger bite resulting in 93 & 95 inch fish. The 95 incher dressed 422 lb.”

Hopefully, those giants are working their way north to NY/NJ Bight. That’s the first time I’ve heard of giants feeding on dolphin.

Capt. Ron Santee Jr. sent the following fluke report from his Fishermen out of Atlantic Highlands: “Had action right off the bat with short life & some keepers mixed in. Worked the area for a couple hours till after the tide change. Tried a couple deeper drops but it was NG with the cold water.

Found another area to work and finished out the day with a bunch of Happy customers fishing in the Natural Air Conditioner. 

Pool Fish went 5 pounds, several guys with two and a couple with 3 by days end. Bucktail guys had 25-30 fish, mostly shorts today. Back at it in the AM.“

The Golden Eagle from Belmar couldn’t find any blues this morning, so they switched to fluking which improved during the day as some limits were taken.

The forecast is for south winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20.

There is a slight chance of showers or thunderstorms.

The Fisherman magazine reports progress in its Dream Boat Challange as follows:

“Ya never know when you’ll catch big fish like this but only Fisherman Magazine subscribers can enter fish in The Fisherman 2024 Dream Boat Fishing Challenge. Our season long Region wide, multi-species fishing point gathering competition to win a new Steiger Craft Boat with Yamaha Outboard and many more prizes.

Here’s Aldo Paonessa’s 15.2lb 32inch fluke he caught off the Jersey coast and weighed in at True World Tackle this doormat was caught on a Berkley Fishing Gulp!”

Capt. John McMurry broke the ice on yellowfin tuna yesterday when one hit a Madd Mantis popper. That fish came in easier than expected, but almost destroyed the boat when it hit the deck.

NYC

Capt. Ron Santee Jr. got off to a good start fluking yesterday with his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands as a 4.11- pounder won the pool and a 4 1/4-pounder was the first entry in the monthly pool. However, it was a different story today as follows:

“Bit of a grind today….

Fished a bunch of area’s from shallow to deeper water and good rocky bottom. Found a few keepers and some shorts but the bite just never got right. Fish we did catch, even in the shallow water were Ice cold.

We snagged several which tells me they were not ready to feed. Super Dave took the pool with a nice 4 pound 4 ounce Fluke. Back at it tomorrow.“

The forecast is for southwest winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20. There’s a chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon.