it’s hard to think about it every year, but what happened to the United States on 9/11 will never go away. Some fellow charter skippers were fishing in Raritan Bay that day. and able to participate in the evacuation of people to N.J. and Staten Island after the attacks.

I had joined the late, great Capt. Bob Pisano on a trip to a wreck where giant tuna had been spotted. We had to fight our way offshore in a stiff northwest wind, but were anchored up and chunking when some strange reports started coming from the ship-to-shore radio about a plane hitting one of the twin towers. I was able to get some scratchy audio from the TV which indicated that this might be an attack rather than an accident. On a calm day we would have seen smoke rising from the direction of the city, but the wind was so strong that it kept the smoke very low.

Though Pisano was noted for sticking it out, he felt something was very wrong and pulled the anchor. We never saw the smoke until getting pretty close to Shark River Inlet. Some of the Sheepshead Bay party boat fleet was able to help out in the evacuations that day.

Austin Perilli reports that weakfish are feeding on peanut bunkers at the west end of Long Island. providing a great light tackle opportunity.

The forecast is for west winds at just 5 knots.

Fluke pro Dave Lilly and his crew avoided the big swell that’s screwed up fluking amd turned their attention to stripers which were ready and waiting in New York Harbor. Most were in the twenties, but they did find a 30-incher among them.

Live eels did the job, but it wasn’t easy as it took 12-ounce sinkers to stay near bottom in roaring currents. Dave said other boaters didn’t seem to be catching, and he suspects they weren’t using enough lead. Maria. a young lady, did a fine job fighting one of the big bass while refusing any help.

Bluefish also cooperated in NY/NJ Bight today as the Golden Eagle from Belmar reported limits for all as blues up to 6 pounds were marked on rocky bottoms where they hit Run-Off 6-8-ounce jigs.

The forecast is for west winds at 10-15 knots.

Jada Holt, while fishing with a Kona-based crew at Ascension Island in the equatorial South Atlantic, boated a 1,305-pound Atlantic blue marlin last Saturday after only a 15-minute fight.

There was no further info about that catch on Facebook, but anglers can get lucky at times when a fish swallows the bait and bleeds out or jumps itself to death.

The big swell in NY/NJ Bight has hurt fluke fishing. Capt. Ron Santee Jr. reports very few during yesterday’s trip with the Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands. He’s chartered on Sunday.

Mike Monte left Nantucket surrounded by 3-5-pound bonito this week to do some surfcasting in N.J. On the other hand, Mike noted that little tunny have been very late arriving in Nantucket.

A small craft advisory is up through Sunday night. The forecast for the Bight is for northwest winds at 15-20 knots which may reduce the swell somewhat before dropping to 10-15 in the afternoon.

All reactions:

227227Jada Holt, while fishing with a Kona-based crew at Ascension Island in the equatorial South Atlantic, boated a 1,305-pound Atlantic blue marlin on Saturday after only a 15-minute fight.

All reactions:

227227Jada Holt, while fishing with a Kona-based crew at Ascension Island in the equatorial South Atlantic, boated a 1,305-pound Atlantic blue marlin on Saturday after only a 15-minute fight.

All reactions:

227227Jada Holt, while fishing with a Kona-based crew at Ascension Island in the equatorial South Atlantic, boated a 1,305-pound Atlantic blue marlin on Saturday after only a 15-minute fight.

All reactions:

227227

On June 8, Bill Proulx of Ashford, CT, set the new state record for summer flounder, more commonly known as fluke. The 15.3-pound, 32.6-inch fish surpassed the previous state record set in 2019—a 14-pound, 13-ounce fluke measuring 31.5 inches—by mere ounces and inches.”

Double-digit fluke, referred to as “doormats” by envious bottom fishermen, are considered trophy fish. With a girth of 26.4 inches, this doormat wasn’t all that flat. Its girth measured only 6 inches less than the entire length of the fish, which was caught in Niantic Bay.”

Windy weather is often a big problem for late summer fluke fishermen, and seas have been building — with a small craft advisory in effect through Saturday afternoon in NY/NJ Bight.

The forecast only calls for northeast at 10-15 knots in the morning before increasing to south 15-20 plus gusts to 25 in the afternoon. Most of the fluke are being at present in deep waters that require heavy sinkers and rods with enough backbone to handle them.

Capt. Rob Santee Jr. did well before it got too rough Thursday as Scott Scuderi boated a 27-inch, 8 3/16-pound fluke on the Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands. Ron also reported a couple of 5-pounders and some threes as some limits were taken. His boat is chartered on Sunday.

Fluke fishing seems to be building up, while mostly small blues have been pretty consistent along with bonito — while tuna skippers don’t usually have to run very far in order to encounter big yellowfins.

Capt. Ron Santee Jr. is still talking about this season’s largest fluke aboard his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands, a 9 1/8-pounder which was boated this week by Chief Kelly (see photo)

There were several limits up to 6 pounds during Wednesday’s trip, but that boat is chartered on Sunday.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar has been doing best jigging bonito early before blues turn on to jigs later when some up to 8 pounds were included this week.

The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant has been doing the same thing most days down the beach where some little tunny and Spanish mackerel are also included.

A small craft advisory is up from 2 p.m. through Friday afternoon. The Friday forecast is for northeast winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20 and seas up to 6 feet.

Vinny D’Anton continues to catch bluefish in the Monmouth County surf, but was more encouraged this morning by seeing mullet in the . Stripers shouldn’t be far behind!

The bluefishing has been holding up though they aren’t showing. Vinny caught seven one morning this week while working his Chug Bug popper — and they were in the 5-6-pound class.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar had a charter on Tuesday when jigging produced bonito and little tunny before small blues took over at mid-morning.

Capt. Ron Santee Jr. reported his biggest fluke of the season on the Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands on Tuesday. It wasn’t as good as Labor Day in a cranky northeast wind, but Pete got things going with a 5-pounder and ended up with a limit.

“Highlight of the day was Chief Kelly doing what he does at least once a year, he sticks a beautiful Fluke at 9-pounds 2-ounces for our largest of the season so far!! 2 years ago he had one 13 and change! Awesome stuff Chief, made for a great picture.

A small craft advisory is up from Thursday evening to late night.

Foll0wing are some results posted by the Manasquan River Marlin & Tuna Club’s Offshore Open Tournament — though they are completely different from those previously posted — which may have been from a previous contest.

These are listed as for the 2024 event.

In either case there was a major showing of bigeye tuna — many of which were chunked at night during the single overnighter allowed for those not taking two day trips.

Low Bid was first in tuna at 205.4 pounds, followed by Irish Twin at 197, and Gumad at 191.6. The Experience weighed a 190.6-pounder, while Crisdel had a 160.2-pounder, and No Limit a 157.6-pounder and added the top dolphin of 14.6. and 15.6 pounds.

Internal Fixation ran away with swordfish at 162.9 pounds. while Silver Lining had a 65.8-pounder. Polarizer had six white marlin releases as no other boat recorded more than one. Big Boy boated the largest albacore at 63.4 pounds.

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

Capt. Ron Santee Jr. reported a good Labor Day fluke trip on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands with plenty of action and keepers for those fishing with rods stiff enough to handle heavy sinkers.

Atlantic bonito are great small game fish which are usually most abundant in NY/NJ Bight at this time of year. Their abundance varies greatly from year to year, but there are no better fighters among small game fish. Best of all, they’re very good eating. Don’t be confused by the fish that southerners call bonito or bonita — which are actually little tunny.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported that it was bonito which got them started on Sunday’s bluefish trip before the choppers turned on later. Run-Off jigs, both plain and tubed, did the job.

A small craft advisory goes up at 6 p. m. through Tuesday morning. when the forecast is for northeast winds at 15-20 knots before diminishing to 5-10 in the afternoon.

There seem to be more reports of larger fluke in NY/NJ Bight as those fish start heading to their offshore spawning grounds.

Dennis Muhlenforth 4h  · My Jersey jumbo at 5+ won me some big $$$ yesterday on the BIG Mohawk, Belmar N.J. Awesome crew just like the crew on Jamaica II.”

Capt. Ralph Leyrer was happy with the opening of the N.J. porgy season today as his party on Last Lady from Belmar loaded up on “giant” scup and big triggerfish.

The forecast is for north winds at 10-15 knots.

Thanks to Johnny Calamari for the reminder that the N.J. scup season reopens Sunday with a limit of 30 at a 10-inch minimum. This is a prime time for delicious porgies.

On your own boat in the NY/NJ Bight area, keep in mind the fact that regs are different on the N.Y. side, where the minimum is 11 inches. with a 40-fish bag as of tomorrow. The forecast is for southwest winds at 10 knots with a slight chance of showers.