The great white marlin bite to the north continued with release counts up to 11 for Canyon Lady. Michael Jordan’s Catch 23 was leading the points competition with 900.

In the featured white marlin category, there was an entry by Tail Chaser of a spearfish or roundscale marlin which is considered a white for scoring purposes. Since it made the 69-inch minimum, it was weighed at 71 pounds — above the 69-pound minimum.

The leading tuna was a 103-pound bigeye on Lit Up, while Blue Runner out of Pt. Pleasant. and Max Bet each had a 96-pound yellowfin. Jenny Poo boated a 60-pound wahoo, and Catchin’ Grief added a 22-pounder. Pegasus leads in dolphin at 22 pounds.

Despite Hurricane Erin and a small craft advisory. the MidAtlantic 500 is underway with108 boats fishing today before seas get even worse.

AA small craft advisory went up today right through Thursday, but most of the boats entered in the MidAtlantic 500 can handle that. Inlets will be particularly dangerous in large swells, and small boaters should avoid returning on the outgoing tide.

White marlin fishing had just exploded during the Beach Haven Marlin & Tuna Club’s White Marlin Invitational. A photo of the winners follows:

The Viking 68 ran an overnight trip which produced releases of two blue marlin and 44 whites.

Doormat fluke have been rare this year, but the Norma K II from Point Pleasant reported one of 10.12 pounds on the boat scale during the Aug. 16 trip.

The former president of Viking Boats has passed away at 97.He was also an ardent conservationist who realized the importance of representation in Washington and helped in the founding of the Recreational Fishing Alliance.

Capt. Ron Santee had to keep moving his Fishermen out of Atlantic Highlands due to today’s traffc. “Crazy short action with Dave B landing over 30 fish without a keeper!!! Several customers did well with the keepers including Shawn Pearl who landed 4 beauties and a handful of guys with their three some with 2. Pool fish went 4 pounds 9 ounces.” Santee will pass on tomorrow due to the northeast wind forecast.

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.