The first White Marlin Open out of Ocean City, Maryland in1957 drew 57 boats vyng for $20,000. The 47th event has 444 boats seeking a purse of about 9.2 million dollars.

With a great weather forecast, 421boats opted to fish the first day. There will surely be a great many fish weighed, and I’ll try to get another blog out tonight with those results.

As noted in my last blog, there was great bluefishing yesterday off Long Branch. Those aggressive blues responded best to poppers. and I was able to raise them on blind casts during long drifts even though there were no surface signs of them. A couple of times I had two blues on the popper — somethng that occasionally happens in a blitz, but not normally on blind casts.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported there was great bluefishing again today as their fares jigged early limits before releasing many more from 3-7 pounds. They are tuna fishing tomorrow, but will be back to the blues on Wednesday.

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

Capt. Dave DeGennaro has been into 30-40-pound bluefin and yellowfin tuna on bait just 25 to 35 miles offshore with his Hi Flier from Barnegat. He has room on an open trip Wednesday from 9-5 for $350 — and Saturday and Sunday from 4 a.m. to 3 p.m. for $450. Call 732 330-5674.

Action is the name of the game when it comes to taking young anglers fishing as was the case today when my son Mike came in from Tennessee with his wife Allie and son Aiden (13) . Capt. Joe Massa invited us aboard his My Three Sons from Morgan Marina to run down the beach for triggerfish which he had loaded up with last week.Fortunately, we saw a few birds picking off Sandy Hook and caught some 3-4-pound blues before dropping to bottom. However, small sea bass ate up our shrimp so quickly that only Aiden managed to catch a triggerfish. Allie was impressive in catching variety as she caught the only porgy, fluke and sea robin. Before an early return, Massa suggested we switch to the blues which he figured were below picking birds coming toward us, and that turned out to be the right move as blues of 6 to 7 pounds exploded on every cast though there was no sign of them. We were all alone off Long Branch, and left them biting as Aiden got a good introduction to the most exciting form of fishing — casting poppers for surface blasts.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported blues were fussy in the morning, though anglers who worked hard with their jigs did well. A move offshore later on produced large sea bass and some fluke.

It was a bit choppy today, but should be fine in the morning with northwest winds at 10-15 knots.

Jigging for bluefish often drops off on a calm weekend day with lots of boat traffic, but that wasn’t the case today. The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported that anglers were releasing choppers from 3 to 8 pounds by mid-morning. The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant had a similar report of blues up to 10 pounds.

Jim Hutchinson Sr. reports for the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association that Captain Bob Gerkens got into the tuna action on the “Hot Tuna” last week when he limited out with 21 yellowfin to 50-pounds at one of the canyons off Long Beach Island. Captain Bob teamed up with his former mate Donte Soriente to test Dante’s new line of offshore tackle that his Magic Tail Company produces. The day turned into a day to remember as over 30 fish were caught with over 10 tuna released for another day. All the action occurred from 6:00-10:00 a.m.

The forecast is for south winds at 5-10 knots before increasing to 10-15 in the afternoon when showers and thunderstorms are possible.

Captain Gary Dugan has consistently been putting his anglers on good fluke and black sea bass action on the inshore reefs and wrecks out of Little Egg Inlet. His anglers are returning with great days on the water with numerous throwbacks to go with some fish dinners taken home in the fish box.

Captain Brett Taylor of Reel Reaction Sportfishing has been splitting his time with ocean and bay charters. He had Dave Samuelson of New York with his nephew Mike on a 5-hour ocean trip. They put their limit of black sea bass to 19-inches in the cooler and switched over to fluke. Working the same snag, they put 7 quality keepers in the boat. That same afternoon, the Steve Danastorg family fished the bay and released over 50 fluke, keeping three to 22-inches in just 3-hours of fishing. All trips used S&S Bucktail Bigeye bucktails tipped with natural bait.

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

At Atlantic Highlands,, Capt. Ron Santee

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Captain Bob Gerkens got into the tuna action on the “Hot Tuna” last week when he limited out with 21 yellowfin to 50-pounds at one of the canyons off Long Beach Island. Captain Bob teamed up with his former mate Donte Soriente to test Dante’s new line of offshore tackle that his Magic Tail Company produces. The day turned into a day to remember as over 30 fish were caught with over 10 tuna released for another day. All the action occurred from 6:00-10:00AM.

Captain Gary Dugan has consistently been putting his anglers on good fluke and black sea bass action on the inshore reefs and wrecks out of Little Egg Inlet. His anglers are returning with great days on the water with numerous throwbacks to go with some fish dinners taken home in the fish box.

Captain Brett Taylor of Reel Reaction Sportfishing has been splitting his time with ocean and bay charters. He had Dave Samuelson of New York with his nephew Mike on a 5-hour ocean trip. They put a sea bass limit aboard and then added fluke; Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.BHCFA.org.

Capt. Ron Santee had a charter today on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands and stated tje rental rod group with their limit of sea bass before adding fluke; He said this was the first time there wasn’t anyone with a jig fluking, but it stil qorked out well.

the forecast is for south winds at 5-10 knots before increasing to 10-15 in the afternoon when showers and thunderstorms are possible.

You didn’t have to be a pro to boat a five fish party boat bluefish limit this morning as both the Jamaica from Brielle and the Golden Eagle from Belmar reported jigging 3-to-8-pounders one after another. The latter noted they were in catch and release mode by 9:30 before adding the two sea bass a man presently allowed plus chub mackerel and some ling.

The Jamaica is running 7:30 p.m. half-night trips for blues on Friday’s and Saturday’s in addition to the daily 7;30 a.m. sailings.

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highhands got into quality fluke today as Joe The Plumber ran off with both the daily and monthly pools while beating his 9.1-pounder with a 9.3. Another angler caught four which included fluke of 6.8 and 7.14 pounds. Capt. Ron noted that the ocean is remarkably clear.

The morning forecast is for northwest winds at just 5-10 knots with gusts to 20 before going west in the afternoon.

The big game tournament season moves into high gear next week as the White Marlin Open in Ocean City, Maryland runs from Aug. 2 to 6. Most of the N.j. entries will actualy be sailing out of Cape May to join the huge fleet competing for what will probably be well over a million dollars. The bigeye tuna bite was excellent during the recent Jimmy Johnson Quest for the Ring Tournament in Atlantic City (see photo below), and that fishery will draw attention from those not concentrating on white marlin with much lighter tackle.

There was a lack of fishing reports today as many anglers seemed to think it was going to rain before the end of the day. If anything develops, it will be over by tomorrow with dry northwest winds at 15-20 knots before gusting to 30 in the afternoon.

New Jersey party boats have gotten into decent jigging during offshore trips for small bluefin tuna. but yesterday they set their sights much higher with yellowfin tuna.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported that they were running 75 to 80 pounds and a “handful” were boated with three times as many lost. The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant only noted that some quality yellowfins were caught.

The Golden Eagle was back to bluefishing this morning. and that fishing was good for 2-7-pounders on jigs which also produced some sea bass, fluke and ling before more sea bass hit on bait.

At Atlantic Highlands, the Sea Hunter reported another good fluke day with quality fish topped by a 7-pounder that beat a 6.5-pound fluke. There were also some sea bass and two blues. That boat is taking tomorrow off.

The Fishermen had a similar report of quality fluke as Merg Anthony boated a 5 11/16-pounder to take the pool.

Betty & Nick’s Tackle in Seaside Park reported there was a bluefish blitz on spearing in Island Beach State Park — where fluke were also caught.

Thursday’s forecast is for southeast winds at 10-15 knots plus possible showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon.

School bluefin tuna have often been hooked relatively close to the northern N.J. Shore this summer, and they may be coming even closer now.

Tank Matraxia was fluking yesterday at Scotland aboard Tagged Fish from Highlands when Capt.Chad Hacker pointed out medium bluefins jumpimg nearby. That’s become a familiar sight lately. but those fish are often very difficult to fool.

That wasn’t the case recently for Capt. Jim Freda on his Shore Catch out of Manasquan Inlet as he put Liam Kelly of the Manasquan High School Fishing Club into position to hook a 71-inch bluefin that hit a popper. cast well within sight of shore.

Matraxia said fluking was slow yesterday due to a lack of drift, though he managed a limit. There was a better report today from the Sea Hunter out of Atlantic Highlands as they got into quality fish with a 7-pounder edging a 6 for the pool — while two limits were recorded

The nice weather continues into the morning with north winds at 5 to 10 knots before a possibility of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon.

Capt, Chris DiStefano joined a friend on Raritan Bay yesterday morning to get his grandson Luke Burns (13) into his first stripers. They cast poppers that raised a 29-incher for Luke to fight — and then advanced to a 37-incher;Allen Riley and John Mazzeo fished Sandy Hook this morning and found it to be pretty dead; Allen got a very short fluke on his first cast, but they never had a touch after that — even on supermarket shrimp. The water tenperature was only 72 degrees, and there were no signs of bait — but plenty of black flies.

Both the Golden Eagle from Belmar and the Queen Mary from Point Pleasant reported getting into both small blues and much larger choppers today. The former noted that they added sea bass plus some ling, congers and Spanish mackerel. Both boats are tuna fishing tomorrow, but will be back to the blues Wednesday.

Speaking of tuna, there’s a last minute opportinity to make an offshore trip on the Mimi VI from Point Pleasant which will be running a 32-hour trip at 7 a.m. The fare is $480. Call 732 370-8019.

The Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands reported tough conditions over the weekend with either no drift or too much current. Pool winners are ranging from 4 to 6.5 pounds. Tuesday’s forecast is fine with north winds at 5 knots shifting to the southwest in the afternoon.

The Ocean Explorer from Belmar fished in rough weather on Sunday, but got back into big fluke.

The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant reported a roigh morning, but the best bluefishing in 10 days as most fares limited early. That boat is sold out on its Tuesday tuna trips until next month.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar managed some blues in the rough seas before switching to cooperative sea bass plus some lng.

Capt. Ron Santee described today’s fluke trip on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands as “painful’ — but is looking forward to Monday’s southwest winds at 5-10 knots.

Nick Honachefsky waded out yesterday afternon at dead low tide in the Seaside area to cast a Williamson 30 gram Gomoku jig to Spanish mackerel and was surprised to hook one that was stripping line. He said it was 38 inches and released it before realizing it might be a record.

Capt. Dave Degennaro has been enjoying great bait fishing for bluefin tuna from 30 to100 pounds only 30 miles or so offshore from his Hi Flier out of Barnegat. He has room on Monday and Tuesday trips from 4 a.m. to 1 p.m. at $350 a man. Call 732 330-5674;

I got a northern fluke report from Florida as Capt. Sal Cursi said Jillian Martinko boated a 28-inch, 10-pound fluke Friday while fishing a killie in Raritan Reach.

Capt. Joe Massa decided to try light tackle fishing for triggerfish Friday at Srewsbury Rocks. He bought frozen shrimp, and caught 20 by himself on My Three Sons from Morgan Marina.

With all the good weather we’ve been having, we can’t really complain about tomorrow’s bad forecast..

Unfortunately, warnings are up for south winds at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 25 and likely showers in the morning.

The full moon before dawn looked so close that I suspect there was a very strong current. Indeed, the Big Mohawk from Belmar blamed the slowest day of fluking in some time on a very stong current from the north. There were still some limits recorded, plus decent action with shorts. Due to the forecast, they are taking a pass for tomorrow.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar got into good bluefish action as 2-to-6-pounders bit well before boat traffic built up on a beautiful day. A move to sea bass produced a boat limit. Some ling and a Spanish mackerel were also caught. .They are planning to sail in the morning.

The Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands saw a drop-off in Friday’s fuking due to too much current, though a 7-pounder was boated.

As noted in yesterday’s blog, I’ve been having some Word Press problems. I couldn’t scroll down to correct errors at the end. My e-mail is still cristori@aol.com.

Bay Head surfcasters have hit a few blues some mornings this week, but I put a hex on them this morning and never saw anything hooked. I talked to an angler who caught a cownose ray yesterday at Lavallette on a bucktail — the first i’ve heard of so far.

As noted in yesterday’s blog, I’ve been gaving some Word press problem– and couldn;t edit my last paragraph. My e-mail is still cristori@aol.om