This week’s report from Capt. Mark DeBlasio of the Blue Runner out of Point Pleasant indicates that bigeye tuna have been moving into the canyons after being so scarce that at the first offshore contest of the season that even MJ’s couldn’t catch one at the Big Rock.. Yet, this week’s overnighter produced an exceptional eight bigeyes in addition to a yellowfin limit.

That’s good news for Jimmy Johnson’s Quest for the Ring Tournament at Atlantic City, which starts with Sunday’s captains meeting at the Golden Nugget before three out of five days fishing starts on Monday. New this year is an optional weigh-in at Sunset Marina in Ocean City, Md. Visit questfortheringac.com for details.

Below is a photo of Capt. Russ Binns, wo passed away from a stroke over the weekend.

Striper fishermen who complain about keeper restrictions should check out South Carolina’s one-day red snapper season in federal waters with a limit of one of any size.

Unfortunately, my phone is still dead.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar had a tough day in a big ground swell. but picked away at ling and sea bass.

A small craft advisory is up through Late tonight. Friday starts with south winds at 10-15 knots, plus seas up to 6 feet and likely showers.

There was very sad news for me last night as Capt. Russ Binns of Toms River, N.J. passed away. Russ was not only a fishing companion, but Marilyn and he were personal friends of Kathy and I.

Burke Honnold reported that Russ had a stroke at dinner on Saturday and was not given much of a chance to survive before being sent home for hospice care. Burke was able to get him talking, and noted that he could remember every fishing trip they had made before passing away. Russ did it all during his career as a private boat and charter skipper who fished in many tournaments and often was a winner. He was even better known as a boating instructor whose schools produced the certificates private skippers are required to have in N.J.

I particularly remember the early spring morning when my son Mike and I joined Russ to cast poppers for big blues in Barnegat Bay where there wasn’t a sign of activity. Yet. blind casting brought up jumbos on every cast until we were too tired to release any more.

I’ll have word about arrangements as soon as available.

The Queen Mary from Pt. Pleasant had been having great action with small blues until the last trip when jigging produced some blues, bonito, chub mackerel and sea bass plus a 38-inch cobia by Mike Payne which was hooked on a teaser hook that didn’t straighten out.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar opted to anchor in today’s wind. They had a steady pick of ling along with the one sea bass a man now allowed in N.J.

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands is chartered on Thursday.

Capt. John McMurray of nyctuna.com has been fighting the weather to catch small bluefins, but got into big yellowfins today.

A small craft advisory is up through Thursday evening. The forecast is for south winds at 15-20 knots , plus gusts to 25. Seas may be up to 8 feet, and showers are possible.

Anglers who enjoy competition have lots of choices coming up.

The 42nd annual Sandy Hook Bay Anglers Club Tournament sticks to its two-day format from July 13-14 out of Atlantic Highlands Marina. The captains meeting is at 7 p.m. July 12 in the Senior Citizens Building at the marina. Call 732 787-4008 for info.

Fluke anglers can add a second tournament on Saturday with the Richie Addeo Tournament sponsored by the Staten Island Tuna Club. Call Angelo Pignataro at 917 440-6959.

The 29th annual Point Pleasant Elks Fluke Tournament runs out of there on July 20. Call 732-899-7638,

Jimmy Johnson returns to the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City to distribute over a million dollars to big game anglers with his Quest for the Ring Championship Week from July 14-20. Visit questfor theringac.com

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported a slower trip today though some small blues were jigged along with lots of chub mackerel.

The forecast is for south winds at 5-10 knots before increasing to 1-15 plus gusts to 20 in the afternoon.

Capt. Mark DeBlasio reported on the July 3-4trip pf his WATER PROOF from Pt. Pleasant as follows:

“WATER PROOF July 3-4

Anthony and Shane had Luigi and crew out and saw great weather and lots of bites. They had a limit of under Bluefins and released a bunch more. They added a nice 66” Bluefin to the box as well as their unders.”

66-inch bluefin tuna on WATER PROOF

Capt. Ron Santee Jr. said today’s fluking on his Fishermen out of Atlantic Highlands was tough. Among the keepers were two of 4.3 and 4.7 pounds.

The forecast is for south winds at just 5-10 knots before increasing to 10-15 plus gusts to 20 in the afternoon.

My phone is still out. Use my e-mail at cristori@aol.com

Many women have proved they can handle any great game fish a man can, and this IGFA record proves that point;

Dorothea Cassullo was fishing off Montauk, N.Y. when she landed this massive 223.28-kilogram (492-pound, 4-ounce) swordfish. She fought the sword for two hours until the crew of the Dorado, captained by Clarence Fine, were able to bring this record fish aboard. Dorothea then returned to Montauk Yacht Club for an official weight on a certified scale. With this fish she was able to set the IGFA Women’s 24-kg (50 lb) Line Class World Record for the species – a record that has now stood for 65 years.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar had good news as 2-pound bluefish were solid from 20-40 feet and jigged on both plain and tailed diamonds as everyone limited. There was also the first showing of chub mackerel on both jigs and bait.

Capt. Ron Santee Jr. had another decent catch of keeper fluke on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands, Included were a pool-winning 6.7-pound fluke by Pat, and a 4.7-pounder that took the lead in the monthly pool for Chico.

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

I’m having trouble with my phone. Anyone trying to reach me should e-mail me at cristori@aol.com

Tuna fishing off the N.J. coast started well, and continues to improve.

Capt. Mark DeBlasio reports from his Blue Runner out of Point Pleasant: on the July4-5 trip.

Beautiful weather and loads of action for our open boat group. Over 35 Bluefins caught / released plus 4 for 6 on nice Yellowfins. Added a couple of Marlin releases and a Mahi. Really nice to put 11 year old Mason on his first Tuna

Jersey Nutz Sportfishing made a July 4 trip on the 53-footer that produced eight yellowfins, two bigeyes and three bluefins plus a white marlin release — and they still got home for the festivities.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar opted to anchor up due to today’s wind, and had a steady pick of ling and whiting. Everyone also got the one sea bass now allowed in N.J.

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands had a good day with keeper fluke up to the 4 5/16-pound pool winner. However, some bigger fluke were lost due to not being hooked well in deep waters where heavy sinkers are required. Bring a rod with enough backbone!

A small craft advisory is up through Sunday afternoon, though the forecast sounds fine by morning with west winds at 5 knots before going south in the afternoon.

The Golden Eagle had another day of limit bluefish jigging. Those 1-to-3-pounders hit best on jigs and teasers. The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant has also been limiting with those blues most days.

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands has been into more keeper fluke by fishing deeper waters where rods with some backbone are needed to set hooks. A 5-pounder won today’s pool, but several bigger fluke were lost due to the use of “noodle” rods that can’t set kooks when heavy sinkers are needed,

A small craft advisory is up through Sunday afternoon.

𝟏,𝟒𝟎𝟐-𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐥

On February 29, 1992, Paolo Roberto Amorim set the IGFA All-Tackle Atlantic blue marlin record with an incredible 1,402-pound, 2-ounce specimen he landed in Vitoria, Brazil.

On a day that only comes around once every four years—a leap year—he landed a once in a lifetime fish. The heaviest blue marlin ever recorded by the IGFA was tricked into biting a Mold Craft lure and was landed after a one-hour, twenty-minute fight.

Good news from the Golden Eagle out of Belmar as they found 2-lb. blues for jigging. with some anglers limiting on the first drift when blues were read 20-40-feet deep. Diamond jigs worked best. A drift for sea bass produced the single sea bass now allowed as by-catch in N.J. The first bonito I’ve heard of so far was also boated.

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands had better luck with keeper fluke today as several fares caught their three. A 5.4-pounder took the daily pool, but wasn’t entered in the monthly.

The forecast is for south winds at 5-10 knots before going to 10-15 plus gusts to 20 in the afternoon. Patchy fog and showers are possible.

Fluke pro Dave Lilly has had no problem coming up with fluke limits for his crew this season in NY/NJ Bight at the same most boaters are catching lots of shorts but few keepers. Dave emphasizes that long drifts aren’t working. Whenever you catch a keeper, work that spot from every angle instead of continuing the drift.

Lilly has also found that rigging a Tsunami Glass Minnow tipped with Gulp well above the sinker or jig has been the best producer.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported very fast action close to shore with short fluke plus some keepers and a few sea bass and ling.

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

The annual July 4 World Cup Blue Marlin Tournament will be fished around much of the world tomorrow. The basic entry costs $5,000, and the minimum size is 500 pounds.

It seems as if every Raritan Bay charter boat is equipped with a Percy cast net with which to load a live well with bunkers which are often the key to successful striper fishing. For decades, Percy has been demonstrating how even a man in his eighties could open up his net. As of today he’s demonstrating how a 90-year-old can do so!

Percy also mates for Capt. Vinnie Vetere on his Katfish from Great Kills. Those trips start with netting bunkers, and Percy also performs all the other mate functions which end in filleting the legal-size catch. Percy is an inspiration to relative youngsters like me as well as to anglers of all ages.

Capt. Ron Santee Jr. said yesterday was far too windy for drifting fluke in deep waters with his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands, but he was pleased to see the water temperature get up as high as 65. Yet, the fluke coming up from the bottom still felt ice cold.

At Belmar, the Golden Eagle reported as follows:

There was a better showing of KEEPER FLUKE for us today. Fishermen were dialed in early this morning on great action on throwbacks with nice KEEPER FLUKE in the mix. It continued until late morning when the drift slowed up. We moved offshore and had nice JUMBO SEA BASS along with LING and KEEPER FLUKE “

Capt. Ralph Leyrer of Last Lady had a similar report of keeper fluke during an open boat charter.

The Big Mohawk had this 10-pound, 11-ounce doormat come aboard on June 25.

The forecast is for south winds at 5 knots before going southeast at 10-15 plus gusts to 20 in the afternoon. Patchy fog is possible in the morning.