As Chuck Many proved Saturday on his Ty Man from Gateway Marina in Highlands, that there are decent numbers of striped bass available in NY/NJ Metropolitan waters even in August — but great care must be taken in releasing them. Water temperatures in the Hudson River were down to 77 degrees yesterday, but have been over 80 degrees lately.

Tired stripers often turn belly up upon release and must be worked with to ensure they can swim down. We only had a problem with one small bass out of 32 releases yesterday, and Many had to release air from its belly with a needle even though it was caught in just 40 feet. All of our larger bass went  down after being quickly released with a forceful head-first return. Keep an eye out to be sure the bass doesn’t pop up and have to be netted again in order to get the air out. The bass in my hands is ready to be plunged head first back into the river.

Even when the coastal migration from the larger spawning grounds in Chesapeake and Delaware bays is a disappointment, as was the case this spring, the Hudson bass can save the season.  Successfully releasing those spawning-size fish is especially important.

There were mixed reports today about fluking from the Raritan Bay fleet. The Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands reported slower fishing due to a strong current, though one limit was boated. Capt. Stan Zagleski said the current wasn’t a problem on his Elaine B. II from Bahrs in Highlands, and they were able to fish with the lighter tackle for some limits. Once again, Spros and larger Gulp produced most of the keeper fluke up to a 6 1/8-pounder by Ken Peters of Springfield.

At Belmar, Miss Belmar Princess saw bunkers and small blues on the surface, but the blues weren’t hitting on slack water. They then switched to sea bass, fluke and some chub mackerel. The Golden Eagle reported catching “huge” sea bass. They have room on the first canyon tuna trips coming up on September 10 and 16.

Bob Matthews reports several doormat fluke being weighed at Fisherman’s Den. Tom Clayton of Wall boated a 12 1/2-pounder in Shark River Inlet. Raymond McCraney of Fords boated a 10 1/2-pounder offshore, and Sue Mihail of Newton caught 7-and-10-pounders  from the Den’s rental skiffs. Matthews says live snappers have been producing the largest fluke — and there are plenty of them available.

The Big Mohawk had good fluking today, including a 9.13-pounder. They’ll be sailing at 6 a.m. Monday and Tuesday.

Matthews also noted that small blues are starting to pop up in many areas. The Deal surf was a hot spot Saturday evening.

Bob Correll of Bay Head was taking in the sun around 3 p.m. yesterday at his local beach when small blues suddenly showed up under birds. He had to remove his teaser to reach them and catch four before the school moved on. The south wind was harder this afternoon, and there was no repeat of that action.

Ca

Capt.

Chuck Many of Annandale usually avoids fishing weekends with his Ty Man from Gateway Marina in Highlands, but he had time to go today and took advantage of it. Adult bunkers were quickly located this morning, and Many only needed one castnet throw to fill the live well with all that would be able to survive in the warm waters. He moved up to the Hudson River where Alex Katyan and I had hits from stripers in the 20-pound class on almost every drop until the tide died — including this double just before being released along with all the other fish caught today.  After the bigger bass turned off, Many ran to the East River where we had action on sandworms though all of those bass were small  today.  When the unpredicted south wind came up it changed all of Many’s plans with wind against tide conditions — and we returned with the sun still high on the sky after releasing 32 stripers, 8 porgies, 3 small fluke, a tiny sea bass and my first sea robin of the year.

Fluke fishing was good today for the Raritan Bay fleet. The Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands reported there were many shorts with enough keepers mixed in. One fare who couldn’t catch a keeper yesterday returned to total three legal fluke plus 24 shorts.  The Fishermen had some anglers with three keepers plus sea bass — and there was a 7 3/4-pound pool winner.

The Elaine B. II from Bahrs in Highlands reported a great start by John Vanderstad of Pompton Lakes who limited up to 8 1/8 pounds by 8 a.m. — but was later tied for the pool by Steve Herczegh of Spotswood.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar found some blues this morning and managed about 20 before adding sea bass and chub mackerel plus a couple of 3-4-pound fluke.

Following is the final press release by Jeff Mefrill on the 2018 MidAtlantic.

For Immediate Release

August 25, 2018

2018 MidAtlantic Comes to a Close in Record Setting Fashion!

The 2018 MidAtlantic, the 27^th edition of sportfishing’s “Main Event,” came to an exciting close last night for the 157 participating boats and crews with award ceremonies featuring lavish buffet dinners and record cash payouts for numerous winners celebrated at Canyon Club Resort Marina in Cape May, New Jersey and Sunset Marina in Ocean City, Maryland. The week saw numerous records set once again including a cash purse of well over $3.36 million up for grabs, record single payouts for the top winners in the white marlin and tuna categories and a record number of blue marlin (55) caught and well over 750 white marlin released!

The final day of the 2018 MidAtlantic dawned sunny and clear with a light breeze and full moon in the sky.  Once again, a bit of tournament history was set as for the first time in the event’s 27-year history the entire fleet of 157 boats was eligible to fish on the final day.  Day Five saw several changes on the leaderboard on what has traditionally been called Moving Day at the MidAtlantic.  This event was the first billfish tournament to use the phrase in reference to the major shake-ups which occur on the leaderboard and this year would be no different.  Sea conditions improved dramatically from the previous day and the billfish bite continued its scorching pace.

The most significant changes occurred in the white marlin category when Captain Doug Ortlip backed Sean O’Donnell’s Cape May-based Got Game to the scales at Canyon Club in Cape May and weighed a 78-pounder for angler O’Donnell to jump to the top of the leaderboard.  O’Donnell and crew later in the evening accepted the winner’s check of $905,408 in Cape May, a record payout for white marlin!  Got Game’s 78-pounder pushed Thomas Colquhoun’s Special Situation from Ocean City, Maryland and Justin Branning’s 3’s Enough from Wall, New Jersey, leaders from Day One of the tournament, into a tie for second place as each had weighed white marlin of 73-pounds.  3’s Enough received $293,712 while Special Situation netted $134,006.  Worthy of note is the difference in payouts reflects the level of side bets, known as calcuttas, each participant enters.  Another significant change to the leaderboard on Day Five occurred when Captain Paul Robertson weighed a 69-pound white marlin for angler Joey Hurley from their Dayton,

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Maryland-based FFMD and moved into a tie for third place with Leonard Tallo’s Gusto from Islamorada,

Florida.  For their efforts Gusto received $169,466 while FFMD netted $141,376.

A record setting 55 blue marlin were caught during the tournament and two were weighed on Day Five though both fell short of the event’s 400-pound minimum weight.  As a result, the blue marlin prize money was equally divided among the winners of the white marlin category.

Though numerous tuna were weighed on Day Five all fell short of the leaderboard.  Ed Dunn’s DA Sea from Grasonville, Maryland captured the top prize and a record payout $571,289 for their 116-pound big eye caught on Day Two.  Captain Mark DeBlasio’s Blue Runner from Manasquan, New Jersey and Chad Jackson’s Toddy Time from Ft. Meyers, Florida tied for second place with big eyes of 114 pounds which were both caught on Day Two.  DeBlasio received $209,260 while Jackson walked away with $114,790.  Third place and $16,807 went to Curtis Campbell of Baltimore, Maryland with a 111-pound big eye caught aboard his Reel Estate on Day One.

Jim Rodgers’ First Light from Hobe Sound, Florida took the heaviest dolphin award and won $27,847 for his 43-pounder caught on Day Two while John League of Annapolis, Maryland finished in second place aboard his Espadon with a 34-pounder caught on Day Four and took home $54,731.  Chuck Weishaar’s The Natural from Hampstead, Maryland had the third heaviest dolphin which was also caught on Day Two at 33 pounds and won $25,004.

Ed Zajdel of Ocean City, Maryland won the wahoo category with his 71-pounder caught aboard The Zipper on Day Two and received $19,787 while Michael Chase of Villanova, Pennsylvania aboard his Contrail finished in second with his 49-pounder caught on Day Four and took home $50,149.  Chase also weighed a 46-pounder on Day Five which moved him into a tie for third place with Joe Posillico’s Torta from Farmingdale, New York who weighed his 46-pounder on Day Two.  Posillico received $23,735 while Chase received and additional $18,753.

Some of the boats with significant billfish catches on Day Five include Art Kontos’ Let it Ride and Tim Tanghare’s Big Oil with eight white marlin released each while Michael Savino’s Texas Tea released seven white marlin.  Thomas Colquhoun’s Special Situation, Anthony Martina’s Sea Wolf and Anthony Matarese’s Reel Chaos each let go six white marlin.  Jeff Donohue’s Hatterascal released five white marlin while John Gudelsky’s Reel Joy, Patrick Kannan’s Waste Knot, Stephen Lewis’ MR Ducks and Tom Perry’s No Limits each released four white marlin. Larry Hesse’s Goin’ in Deep let go three white marlin and a blue marlin.  Jon Duffie’s Billfisher, Kenneth Hager’s Taylor Jean, Nick Rodriquez’s Par 5, Greg Hill’s Wanted and Edward’s Bondarchuck’s Moore Bills each released a blue marlin and a white marlin.  Mike Yacco’s MJ’s released three blue marlin while Don Haines’ Shelly II and Hank Draper’s Prime Hook each released two blue marlin and a white marlin.  Ed Dunn’s DA Sea and Bill Haugland’s Lights Out each released a blue marlin.

Cash Prize Winners

Please note well over 60 individual cash awards are possible due to the wide variety of calcuttas.  See below the payout for the species indicated and please note payouts vary by the number of calcuttas each participant enters.  It should be noted that no less than eight winners received a payout of more than six figures and an additional eight winners received payouts of $25,000 or more!

* Denotes tournament record payout

Heaviest White Marlin – 79 lbs. – Got Game – Sean O’Donnell – Cape May, NJ – $905,408*

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2^nd Heaviest White Marlin – Tie – 73 lbs. – 3’s Enough – Justin Branning – Wall, NJ – $293,712

Special Situation – Thomas Colquhoun – Ocean City, MD – $134,006

3^rd Heaviest White Marlin – Tie – 71 lbs. – Gusto – Leonard Tallo – Islamorada, FL – $169,466

FFMD – Paul Robertson – Dayton, MD – $141,376

Heaviest Blue Marlin – No qualifying blue marlin weighed.  Prize money divided equally between white marlin category winners.

Heaviest Tuna – 116 lbs. – DA Sea – Ed Dunn – Grasonville, MD – $571,289*

2^nd Heaviest Tuna – Tie – 114 lbs. – Blue Runner – Mark DeBlasio – Manasquan, NJ – $209,260

Toddy Time – Chad Jackson – Ft. Meyers, FL – $114,790

3^rd Heaviest Tuna – Tie – 111 lbs. – Reel Estate – Curtis Campbell – Baltimore, MD – $16,807

Heaviest Wahoo – 71 lbs. – The Zipper – Ed Zajdel – Ocean City, MD – $19,787

2^nd Heaviest Wahoo – 49 lbs. – Contrail – Michael Chase – Villanova, PA – $50,149

3^rd Heaviest Wahoo – Tie – 46 lbs. – Torta – Joe Posillico – Farmingdale, NY – 23,735

Contrail – Michael Chase – Villanova, PA – $18,753

Heaviest Dolphin – 43 lbs. – First Light – Jim Rogers – Hobe Sound, FL – $27,847

2^nd Heaviest Dolphin – 34 lbs. – Espadon – John League – Annapolis, MD – $54,731

3^rd Heaviest Dolphin – 33 lbs. – The Natural – Chuck Weishaar – Hempstead, MD – $25,004

Atlantic Tackle Billfish Points Calcutta – Cape May

Most Points – 1275 – Big Oil – Tim Tanghare – Vincentown, NJ – $10,810

2^nd Most Points – 900 – Canyon Lady – Jamie Diller – Stone Harbor, NJ – $6,486

3^rd Most Points – 898 – 3’s Enough – Justin Branning – Wall, NJ – $4,324

Atlantic Tackle Billfish Points Calcutta – Ocean City

Most Points – 1650 – Billfisher – Jon Duffie – Ocean City, MD – $19,270

2^nd Most Points – 1425 – Texas Tea – Michael Savino – Staten Island, NY – $11,562

3^rd Most Points – 975 – Give it Away – Anne Aramendia – New Braunfuls, TX – $7,708

The following received calcutta winnings for various positions on the leaderboard during the tournament:

White Marlin

68 lbs. – Lucky Linda Jean – Andrew E. Hall – Chester, NJ – $27,040

67 lbs. – Tighten Up – Tighten Up LLC – Mount Airy, MD – $42,300

Tuna

110 lbs. – Blue Runner – Mark DeBlasio – Manasquan, NJ – $38,258

110 lbs. – Goin’ in Deep – Larry Hesse – Ft. Lauderdale, FL – $46,530

108 lbs. – Killin’ Time – John Grimberg – Rockville, MD – $17,014

102 lbs. – First Light – Jim Rogers – Hobe Sound, FL – $10,979

100 lbs. – Blue Runner – Mark DeBlasio – Manasquan, NJ – $9,964

85 lbs. – M.R. Ducks – Stephen Lewis – Ocean City, MD – $10,979

Dolphin

27 lbs. – Rhonda’s Osprey – Joe Drosey – Ocean City, MD – $12,502

25 lbs. – Reelin’ Feelin’ – Adam Youschak – Wildwood, NJ – $4,982

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19 lbs. – Pipe Dream – Ted Wills – Frederick, PA – $1,457

Point Winners (Trophies)

* Ties broken based on time of catch.

Most Points White Marlin – 1350 – Billfisher – Jon Duffie – Ocean City, MD

2^nd Most Points White Marlin – 1275* – Big Oil – Tim Tanghare – Vincentown, NJ

3^rd Most Points White Marlin – 1275* – Texas Tea – Michael Savino – Staten Island, NY

Most Points Blue Marlin – 600 – Shelly II – Don Haines – Berlin, MD

2^nd Most Points Blue Marlin – 450 – MJ’s – Mike Yacco – Beach Haven, NJ

3^rd Most Points Blue Marlin – 300 – Rhonda’s Osprey – Joe Drosey – Ocean City, MD

Most Points Tuna – 297 – Billfisher – Jon Duffie – Ocean City, MD

2^nd Most Points Tuna – 237.5 – Blue Runner – Mark DeBlasio – Manasquan, NJ

3^rd Most Points Tuna – 131 – Reel Estate – Curtis Campbell – Baltimore, MD

Most Points Overall – 1947 – Billfisher – Jon Duffie – Ocean City, MD

Worthy of note is a total of 818 billfish including 765 white marlin and 53 blue marlin were released which translates to a catch-per-unit-of-effort of 1.73 billfish per-boat per-day! That’s the second highest CPUE in the event’s 27-year history behind 2016 which saw a 1.78 CPUE with the same number of entries in the tournament.

2019 MidAtlantic Tournament Dates – August 18-23

As a reminder the 2018 MidAtlantic is accessible through the South Jersey Tournaments App. Be sure to download this free app today for your IOS or Android device from the Apple App and Google Play where you can see all the action from the entire week.

For further information contact Tournament Director Aaron Hoffman at 609-884-0177.  Be sure to visit the tournament’s official web site at www.themidatlantic.com where you’ll find all the facts, figures and information about this year’s event including a complete rundown of the winners, calcutta payouts, rules and points.  There’s also a link to purchase official tournament merchandise.  You can also review all the week’s action on Facebook at The MidAtlantic Tournament; on Twitter; @midatl and on Instagram; @themidatlantictournament.

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Considering the fact that every boat entered in the MidAtlantic out of Cape May and Ocean City, Maryland was fishing the final day, there really wasn’t much change  — except for the big winner as Got Game weighed a 78-pound white marlin to push back the 73-pounders by 3’s Enough and Special Situation that had been leading for days.

The only other change was a most unusual one as Contrail weighed a wahoo again, leaving them with 49 and 46 pound entries trailing the 71-pound winner by The Zipper. Wahoo are an oddity in our canyons.

The contest closed without a blue marlin being weighed, and the other leaders hung on with Da Sea taking the tuna award at 116 pounds, and First Light prevailing in dolphin at 43 pounds.  I’ll publish complete results, including pay-offs. when official results become available.

Right from the start of The MidAtlantic this week, the forecast for the final day on Friday was for beautiful weather and light winds. Therefore, all 157 boats entered in the tournament out of Canyon Club Resort Marina in Cape May and Sunset Marina in Ocean City, Maryland saved  Friday for their last shot with everything on the line and all the possible award openings clear.

There’s only one huge opening as no one has been able to find a blue marlin weighing at least 400 pounds. Goin’ In Deep from Brielle won that category last year with a 680-pounder, and added the winning 184-pound tuna, both on Day 4, to win $1,110 634. They’ll surely be looking to duplicate that achievement as they presently only have bigeyes of 104 and 110 pounds which are behind the tuna leaders of 116 pounds on Da Sea, and 114 pounds on both Blue Runner and Toddy Time.

The two 73-pound white marlin caught by 3’s Enough and Special Situation remain on top in the richest category that was won last year by a last day 75-pound white that earned $796,509 for Waste Knot. Gusto moved into third yesterday with  a 69-pound white.

The 43-pound dolphin weighed in by First Light is most likely to remain there, though The Natural was pushed out of second with a 33-pounder as Espadon weighed a 34-pound dolphin yesterday.  The Zipper is looking good in wahoo with a 71-pounder, but Contrail took over second yesterday with a 49-pounder.

Billfsher went into the last day with a big lead in most points overall at 1507. Give It Away, Texas Tea and Pipe Dreamer are closest at 900 points.  Billfisher is also far ahead in most points for white marlin at 1275 — followed by  Pipe Dreamer with 900 and Canyon Lady at 825. Rhonda’s Osprey, Southern C’s and Shelly II all have two releases for 300 points in the blue marlin points category.  Blue Runner leads in tuna points with 237.5 over 131 by Reel Estate.

I’ll have a late blog after the scales close at 9 p.m. to update the results.

There was a big turnaround on fluking at Atlantic Highlands today. Capt. Ron Santee of the Fishermen had written a very negative report yesterday after three days of terrible conditions for fluke, but then declared today the best of the season. There was a modest .8-knot drift in contrast to the prior 2 knot drifts — and no swell. Many limits were bagged, and John Froelic jigged over 25. Capt. Rob Semkewyc had a similar report of much better fluking on his Sea Hunter with many legal fish such as the one below.

At Belmar, the Big Mohawk reported many fluke limits today with a pool fluke of about 9 pounds. They will sail at 6 a.m. over the weekend,

The Golden Eagle had plenty of sea bass and chub mackerel plus several 3-to-5-pound bonito and about a dozen fluke.

The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant had better fishing today with lots of chub mackerel, sea bass and bonito before 11 a.m. — and then a pick of 2-to-5-pound blues with a high hook of eight in the afternoon.

Allen Riley and John Mazzeo from South Plainfield checked the Sandy Hook surf this morning along with Duke Matero and Dan “The Tinman” Brodzinsky from Piscataway — and Marc Foley of Hawthorne. They were impressed with the mass of small bait being hounded by snappers large enough to catch on small metals. Those snappers were spitting up rainfish, spearing and peanut bunkers. Riley tried a Tsunami Swim Shad, but the snappers chewed he tail off. He and Marc snagged into 5-to-10-pound cownose rays. Only Dan  managed to jig some short fluke with one of his bucktail creations.

There wasn’t any sign of bait in the surf I fished this morning north of Manasquan Inlet, but a 21-inch striper blasted my Tactical Anglers Bomb Jr. popper almost in the wash and soared three feet in the air for a rare striper jump.

Vinny D’Anton fished a few beaches further north and released four schoolies on his Chug Bug.

Capt. Vinny Vetere had his best live bunker fishing of the season on Thursday with his Katfish Charters from Great Kills. After a long run he got into 25 bass up to the 25-to-30-pound class. He used the big boat today for a six-man party to make the long run into Long Island Sound for a boat limit and releases. (photo at bottom of blog)Vetere may have room for two walk-ons Saturday — and is available for charter on Sunday.

Jim Hutchinson Sr. reports:

A recent highlight for the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association was the annual John Koegler Memorial Junior Mates Fishing Tournament. Over 20 junior mates spent fished on several of the boats of the association followed by a party and awards ceremony at the Beach Haven Marlin and Tuna Club.

 Mate Max Goldman took top honors in the contest with his 5.48-pound fluke. All mates received fishing gear to mark the occasion along with a beautiful rod and reel compliments of Canyon Reels and the Koegler family.

 Captain Ray Lopez had the Janice Yates family on the “Miss Liane” for a fluke and sea bass trip. The family enjoyed non-stop action, with several keepers in the box. Happy birthday to Rich Yates! On another trip Captain Ray had the Tabacco family out for an action packed day on the water. Throughout the trip the crew caught fluke, sea bass and blues taking home enough fish for dinner.

 Captain John Lewis of the “Insatiable” reports another good week with good numbers of fluke and sea bass with the average size of the fluke increasing. He has also been catching baby brown sharks around 3-feet long that are promptly released.

 In addition to the inshore action on fluke and sea bass, the bay waters have started producing large numbers of panfish. Mixed in with the small bluefish, sea bass, and blowfish have been black drum up to 20 pounds along with some sheepshead and triggerfish.

The members of the BHCFA were saddened to learn of the passing of Captain Brant Whittaker, who was one of the captains of the “Miss Beach Haven” fleet. Captain Brant was an excellent captain. Condolences are extended to his family.