The Big Jamaica from Brielle is running a series of limited “Bonito Albacore Bluefin” trips on Sept. 12,13, 16 and 23. They’ll be fishing 20 miles or more offshore to target those species rather than inshore bluefish. The only problem is that I can almost guarantee that you won’t catch an albacore.

Albacore are high seas tuna found throughout much of the world in tropical and temperate seas. They very rarely enter continental shelf waters such as the Jamaica will be fishing. What you will catch is the little tunny, a completely different tuna than the albacore. To add to the confusion, the little tunny is balled bonito in the south, but little tunny is the only common name accepted by the American Fisheries Society and the IGFA.

When I was growing up on Long Island, I became familiar with a great fighting fish that everyone called false albacore. That was probably because fishermen at that time had never seen an albacore — which was thought to be a Pacific species. It wasn’t until canyon sportfishing started here that anglers realized there’s little resemblance between albacore and false albacore. The former has no markings on its dark blue above and white below body plus unmistakable long pectoral fins stretching almost to the tail They are frequently referred to as longfins. There’s also a world of difference in food quality as the albacore has white meat that’s excellent for canning, while the little tunny has course and bloody meat which requires some work to make it palatable for most fish eaters.

While even yellowfin tuna may move in as close as Manasquan Ridge on rare occasions off the NJ coast, I never hear of stray albacore inshore. Ironically, my personal record of 60 pounds was caught off Montauk Point at this time of year in 1985 as an abundance of large sand eels attracted a mix of bluefins, yellowfins and albacore to the west wall of Butterfish Hole in 120 feet not far offshore.

Unfortunately, over the years the “false” has been dropped by most anglers who simply refer to little tunny as albacore.  That’s even extended to a business advertising a trip for a species they are not even going to try to catch.

The Jamaica had good results jigging bonito and little tunny during Sunday’s trip, and lost one bluefin at the boat. Those trips are limited to 30 fares at a cost of $85. There’s  also a 31-hour canyon trip set for Sept. 28 — plus 22-hour canyon runs on Sept. 13 and 14. Call 732 528-5014 for reservations.

Capt. Ron Santee reported a big turnaround in fluking after two tough days on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands. It was mostly shorts at first before fluke of 6.5 and 5.5 pounds were boated. Then the larger fluke kept coming as Mike lee ended up with the pool at 6.10 pounds.

The Big Mohawk from Belmar managed some fluke limits today despite a lack of drift on too nice a day. The pool winner was 7.6 pounds. They sail at 6:30 a.m.

The forecast is fine for the morning with south winds at 10-15 knots, but that increases to 15-20 with gusts to 25 in the afternoon as small craft advisories are posted through midnight.

Vinny D’Anton returned to the Monmouth County surf this morning and used his Chug Bug to release a 24 1/2-inch striper and also a smaller one by casting into white waters in a rough, but fishable surf while I couldn’t raise a thing.  Jim Gates reported nothing in the Bay Head surf, and only a very few small blues were hooked in Point Pleasant Canal. Joe Melillo, at Castaways Tackle in Point Pleasant, said he had a big bass or blue on at dawn Monday that he couldn’t move, and then broke off as he applied too much pressure as a boat was passing by and the 20-pound leader snapped.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported another good day of bluefishing with jigs today along with some porgies and fluke. Little tunny and bonito were spotted. They’ve added a Saturday night bluefish trip from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. Only a few spots are open on the Sept. 30, 31-hour canyon trip.

Prospects for canyon trips have improved greatly as yellowfins have finally turned on for the night chunking as well as daytime trolling. The Canyon Runner fleet from Point Pleasant reports that just before the storm, Capt. Deane Lambros put his party into 18 large yellowfins ( see photo below)  plus five white marlin trolling and didn’t even bother staying out overnight. Since then they’ve been into a good yellowfin night bite. Adam La Rosa says it’s like the night chinking used to be in September — and there’s also a good shot at a swordfish. A few charter and open boat spots remain. Call 732 272-4445 for reservations.

The long-awaited movement of mullet out of backwaters and into the surf for their migration to the south is finally getting underway.  That should activate school stripers, but that hasn’t happened as yet.

Vinny D’Anton fished three Monmouth County beaches this morning under ideal conditions, and found a school of mullet at one — but there was no sign of bass around them. It’s just a matter of time before stripers find one of their favorite prey items, and when they are on mullet there are many small plugs that become effective, especially poppers.

Allen Riley fished Sandy Hook this morning along with John Mazzeo and Duke Matero. They saw lots of mullet in the wash, though nothing was on them. Allen caught a couple of cocktail blues on a Mann-O-Lure at dawn, and strips from those fish attracted bites from fluke — though all were small.

Grumpy’s Tackle in Seaside Park reported the mullet run started in earnest Sunday, and they’re now loaded with that fresh bait. Little tunny were spotted of the beaches on Saturday.

Bob Correll reported good casting conditions in the Bay Head surf this morning and late afternoon, but nothing was being caught.

There wasn’t much of a small bluefish bite on jigs in Pint Pleasant Canal this morning despite the lack of boat traffic. It had actually been better on Sunday with lots of boats going through,

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported having to chase bluefish around today, but ended up with a good catch on jigs along with some porgies and fluke.

Fluke fishing is picking up in the ocean as the bottom settles. The Big Mohawk from Belmar reported several limits today plus more shorts. The pool winner was around 6 1/2 pounds. They’ll be sailing at 6:30 a.m.

The forecast for tomorrow is east winds at 5-10 knots.

Fishing should improve as the ocean settles, but there was good news about the ocean blues as they were splashing on the surface again this morning. The Golden Eagle from Belmar just picked at them with jigs at first, but ended up with some limits plus porgies. There some bigger blues among the small choppers, and a 7-pounder took the pool

Bob Matthews reports from Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina that 40-foot depths off Long Branch produced a limit of fluke from 5 to 7 1/8 pounds for Jeff Kardmarz. Tim Palchenes boated an 8 1/4-pounder. The river fluke are mostly shorts, but snapper fishing is good.

Point Pleasant Canal produced a pick of very small blues plus a couple of bigger ones — but Joe Melillo of Castaways Tackle in that town fought a decent striper that spit the hook on his lure at the surface.

The forecast is for a return to northeast winds after midnight, but at only 10-15 knots.

There’s a little more hope for anglers this weekend in the updated forecast.

Instead of even more northeast on Saturday, there’s a shift to north at 20-25 knots with gusts to 30 before switching to northwest 10-15 with gusts to 20 in the afternoon. That will set up a nice Sunday with northwest 10-15 knot winds. The very big swells expected look as if they’ll peak at 11 feet after midnight — and drop to 3 to 4 feet on Sunday.

Fishing from shore has still been possible. Vinny D’Anton worked Shark River early this morning when there was little doing, though he managed two mini-bass to break the ice. I tried there later on the incoming and managed one bluefish release while losing another and being encouraged by a couple of blowups on poppers before getting blown off the river as the east wind gusted to over 30 and a drizzle turned to rain.

Joe Melillo, at Castaways Tackle in Point Pleasant, said blues are being caught in Point Pleasant Canal, and some anglers got into Spanish mackerel in the inlet this morning, He noted that he’s now carrying sand fleas for bait.

It’s been a generally pleasant summer for anglers, but we may be paying our dues the next two days.

The forecast for tomorrow is east winds at 15-20 knots, increasing to 20-25 in the afternoon. Then it gets worse on Saturday as small craft are advised to stay in port. There is better news Saturday night with a shift to northwest winds that should set up a fishable Sunday. Of course, you can still fish in protected bay and river waters during the easterly blow, but the surf is already a mess.

Another alternative is to attend the free N.J. Wild Expo at Colliers Mills WMA in Jackson Township from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday. That state-sponsored show features numerous displays, and vendors are there with food and drink.

The last N.J. striped bass public hearing is coming up on Thursday, Sept. 12 in Bay Ave. Community Center, 775 East Bay Ave.,Manahawkin from 6 to 9:30 p.m.  There are a wide range of options available to achieve the reduction in catch required to turn around the decline in spawning stock biomass.

The surf was already rough when I made only a few casts at Manasquan this morning before retreating to Shark River for bluefish.  Popper fishing was only a pick today, but by putting in about three hours of constant casting I released 10 blues which were a mixture of 3-4-pounders and 5-6-pounders before the last was about 8 pounds. Capt. Chris De Stefano says a friend of his fishing from a small boat with a fly rod has been catching stripers up to 30 inches at night in the river. Chris also knew of several fluke limit catches in the river.

Spanish mackerel are still in the area, and Bob Correll of Bay Head caught one in his local surf yesterday evening along with a couple of cocktail blues.

Capt. Ron Santee says he hit the change of tide just right this morning with his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands, and knew he had the right drift when the first fluke caught was a 6.4-pounder. Larger fluke kept coming as Joe Gaydos took the pool with a 7.1-pounder and added fluke of 3.1 and 6.4 pounds. Adam Dretchim wasn’t in the pool, but had the big fluke with a 27-inch, 7.2-pounder. Santee reported there were some other fluke from 4 pounds up to almost 7 — plus large porgies which are starting to show up.  He’ll try to get out tomorrow, but has already cancelled for Friday and Saturday.

The Tackle Box in Hazlet weighed a 10 1/2-pound doormat fluke which was caught Aug. 31 at the end of Sandy Hook Channel by Rich Spitzner of Jamesburg on Fisherman’s Choice squid strips marinated in crab oil. See photo below instead of here where it was supposed to insert here.

Bob Matthews reports from Fis0herman’s Den in Belmar Marina that fluking has been good in the ocean, while shorts dominate in the river. Bob weighed in an 11 3/8-pound doormat boated on the Ocean Explorer last week. He also noted that school stripers are being caught on poppers in the surf and soft plastics in the back. Snappers are abundant at the docks, and little tunny have been spotted at the inlet. 

The Golden Eagle from Belmar has cancelled bluefish trips on Thursday and Friday. The forecast for Thursday morning is northeast winds at 10-15 knots with gusts to 20, but just 5-10 in the afternoon.

The fish shown in  a recent photo for identification has been confirmed by several readers as a pompano. It was caught on shrimp at Spring Lake. Since those fish are rarely found alone, it’s surprising that others haven’t been caught by anglers fishing there for stripers with sand flies — which are the pompano’s favorite food.

Since the incoming tide in Shark River didn’t start until well after daylight, I decided to give the local surf a shot before the big swells arrive from the hurricane.  The surf looked fine except for low water, and I soon had a small bluefish hit my Tactical Anglers Bomb Jr.   popper. On my next cast into waves breaking on shallow waters I got hit immediately and released a 26-inch striper. Unfortunately, that was it for the surf.

A move to Shark River produced bluefish again, but it was nothing like yesterday’s hot popper action when I released 17. Though there was lots of bait coming through, there was once again nothing blasting them. Yet, blind casting produced five releases of 5-and-6-pounders plus a couple lost and a few blow-ups. Vinny D’Anton was also catching blues up to 6 pounds on his Chug Bug,

After a couple of years when there didn’t seem to be many bluefish much more than a pound in size in NY/NJ Bight, there have been some promising signs this summer. The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported yet another day of great bluefishing for choppers from 2 to 6 pounds with “all you want” catches on jigs. Even before they got offshore, the Shark River regulars were raising blues to poppers regularly after there had been only scattered fish the previous morning.

Tommy Cox said he released at least 20 before leaving, with the largest estimated at 8 pounds. I stayed a little longer, and kept picking blues from 3 to 5 or 6 pounds and ended up releasing 17 — leaving  them biting as the current got too strong for comfortable wading and handling fish in rising waters.  Vinnie D’Anton caught his share of blues, but also managed to catch three stripers up to a 27-incher on his Chug Bug.

Though bait was coming through, this was all blind casting. I never saw a swirl except on lures.

There was also good news from Bay Head as Jim Gates caught some larger blues where it’s been almost strictly 12-inch cocktails since June.

The Golden Eagle also had some fluke and porgies up to about 5 pounds. If there really was a 5-pounder, I hope it was brought to an official scale since the last time I checked the IGFA world record was just 4 9/16 pounds.  If the angler was a Fisherman subscriber, a 5-pound porgy would take over first place in that division of the coastal Dream Boat contest since  the leader as of 8/20 was only 4 pounds.

More good news was reported by fluke boats. Capt. Rob Semkewyc of the Sea Hunter at Atlantic Highlands said the weather and drifting conditions were good as his fares had a solid pick of keepers in the ocean with a 5.5-pound pool winner. The skipper hasn’t been getting many people down on Wednesdays, and urges customers to call him this evening so he can decide by 8 if he’ll have enough to sail.

The forecast is fine for the morning at 10-15 knots south before increasing to 15-20 in the afternoon,

The Big Mohawk from Belmar had a very good day fluking with many limits and a 9.1-pound pool winner. They will sail tomorrow at 6.

Tank Matraxia had an unusual day fluking Friday at Sea Girt Reef on Lock & Load from Neptune. He snagged nine short fluke in a row before finally catching a 17 1/2-incher in the mouth. He did catch a large sea robin, and his buddies from Lyndhurst had a few legal fluke.

Joe Blaze fished Manasquan River this morning and didn’t see any bait or fish while his fly was also ignored.

 

 

As noted in last night’s blog, the big winners in the Manasquan River Marlin & Tuna Club Offshore Open were bigeye tuna as Tastego boated a 241-pounder  Saturday — followed by a 228.5 on Hubris and a 164.5-pounder on Unavailable.  However, there was also an impressive for this area 114.75-pound yellowfin tuna on Tra Sea Ann that won the Ray Catena Challenge Award and was part of the Tuna Stringer Calcutta with a two-fish weight of 194.7 pounds that beat Internal Fixation with 170.45 pounds.  Bigeyes weren’t eligible for the stringer award.

Also very impressive was the 59.55-pound albacore that won the Longfin Tuna Challenge. Very few of those fish have been reported so far.

Hubris added the swordfish winner at 104.2 pounds over a 73.75-pounder on Kellly Lynn.  Poppa Bear took the Small Boat Calcutta , and also had a 30.6-pound wahoo to edge a 23.05-pounder on Christine. Jersey Nutz had the largest dolphin at 21.20 pounds and added the Mahi Stringer with 42.40 pounds.

In the Costa Release categories, Caitlin won in blue marlin with a release on Day 1 over The Right Place with one on Day 4.  Polorizer released three white marlin to one for Tra Sea Ann. The Tournament Champion Trophy was awarded to Unavailable with 428 points.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported good jigging for bluefish today, though there weren’t many of the larger fish. Some porgies were added.

Capt. Rob Semkewyc said drifting conditions were again poor for fares on his Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands, and he had to finish up in Sandy Hook Bay where the fluke are small. He’s looking for a return to Saturday’s good fluking with a forecast of north winds at just 5-10 knots in the morning  before shifting to the southeast in the afternoon,

Joe Blaze said there was nothing doing this morning in Manasquan River during a very strong incoming tide. A few evenings ago the river had been loaded with small bait, though there was nothing on them and he couldn’t get a hit on his fly.

The current was also very strong this morning in Shark River, but there were a few 3-pound blues hitting poppers occasionally.

Capt. Hans Kaspersetz of Sheri Berri at Twin Lights Marina in Highlands fighting a marlin during a recent trip on Pacific Fly out of Quepos, Costa Rica

 

 

 

 

The 39th annual Manasquan River Marlin & Tuna Club Offshore Open ended yesterday with a blast of bigeyes that made it the most successful offshore tournament of the year in tuna results even though there was only a 48-boat field.

Practically all the leaders from earlier in the week, when northeast winds kept most boats in port, were knocked off.

Tashtego was the big winner with a 241-pound bigeye — followed by Hubris at 228.5 pounds and Unavailable with a 164.5-pound entry.  I’ll have more results in tomorrow’s blog.

As noted here last night, the forecast for today was a modest 10-15-knot  east wind with 2-3-foot seas. It didn’t turn out like that at all! The flags were flying straight out as I fought a suddenly rough surf at Belmar and Spring Lake to no avail.

Dave Lilly of Hazlet went out on his friend Tony’s 25-foot Parker that handled the Raritan Bay waves. However,  they got soaked in the process of getting to Ambrose Channel where they quickly limited with fluke to 5 pounds and ran  back before the wind turned into the tide. Lilly actually had a double limit as he was surprised by a weakfish of about 22 inches — which has a one-fish limit.

Capt. Ron Santee reported the 20-knot wind and strong current resulted in a bummer on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands after having good fluking Saturday when Erin Minervini of Middletown boated a 29-inch, 8.15-pound fluke.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported good bluefishing on jigs again, though the blues were somewhat smaller,  The Jamaica from Brielle had a good report from Saturday, though the blues weren’t as voracious on jigs as they had been. Ramon Arias of Philadelphia won the pool with a 7-pound chopper. There were also a few bonito and sea bass, while chub mackerel hit late in the trip as they stayed overtime to take advantage of that bite.

The forecast for Labor Day is south at 10-15 knots with possible showers.

Here is the photo, provided by Greg Tirpak, mentioned in last night’s blog of a possible pompano or permit from the Spring Lake surf on shrimp. What do you think?

 

The Manasquan Marlin & Tuna Club Offshore Open concluded today as boaters finally got the right weather for an overnighter that will probably shake up the leaderboards.

Capt. Chris De Stefano was part of the crew on Frank Criscola’s Crisdel out of Brielle Yacht Club called to report they were heading to the scales with a box full of yellowfin tuna that might be in competition for the “stringer” Calcutta. Chris had heard there were a couple of bigeyes caught, and there were two 92.45-pound tuna on Blue Runner and Let It Bleed that were tied going into the last day.

Chris said not everyone scored even though there were schools of yellowfins breaking on the surface — though they wouldn’t hit for trollers. As has been the case, night fishing was a dud. I’ll have more about this in tomorrow’s blog plus the contest results.

There was more good news from the Raritan Bay fleet relative to fluking. Capt. Rob Semkewyc of the Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands said there were relatively few fares aboard, but everyone went home with fish as both keeper fluke and sea bass cooperated.  There was one limit, a 7.5-pound fluke took the pool, and there were several in the 3-5-pound class.

The forecast for tomorrow is good, with east winds at 10-15 knots and 2-3-foot seas.

I did nothing in the Spring Lake surf this morning. There was some very small bait present, but only a couple of small blues were reported. There was some excitement Friday as an angler fishing with shrimp caught a strange fish that looks to be a very small permit or a large pompano. The photo passed over to me by Greg  Tirpak for identification isn’t much good for that purpose, but I”ll try to get it in tomorrow’s blog.

Jim Gates got into cocktail blues in the Bay Head surf this morning — and added a Spanish mackerel.