Tight Lines

It’s getting late, but you can beat the deadline for the IGFA Permit Invitational Auction which closes at 6 p.m. Get on the IGFA website and you might find a great deal on tackle, art, fishing trips, etc.

Due to a canyon trip cancellation, Mimi VI from Point Pleasant has room on the morning trip for fluke — and another Tuesday (also at 6:30) for stripers and blues before finishing with bottom fishing. Call 732 370-8019 for reservations.

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands reported very good jumbo porgy fishing today until the wind and current changed. Since that area won’t be fishable in a south wind, tomorrow’s trip is cancelled — but Tuesday is a go. A 3 1/2-pound fluke won the pool.

A small craft advisory is up through Monday evening. The morning forecast is for southwest at 15-20 knots.

Vinny D’Anton got a brief shot at a mullet school in the Monmouth County surf this morning a caught a legal bass on his Chug Bug. Frank Manzi came up with a 20-inch fluke.

Though Ian is coming, Fiona didn’t bother mariners too much.

Jay Mann’s photo of yesterday’s surf at LBI wasn’t duplicated today as swells from Hurricane Fiona settled quickly. Vinny D’Anton reported it was very fishable at Spring Lake, and a 30-inch striper hit his Super Striper popper. Some mullet schools are being spotted, but so far there haven’t been any bass on them. Vinny also tried sand fleas briefly without any success.

Fluke pro Dave Lilly turned his attention to striped bass today and caught them in N.Y. Harbor on live eels — though all were too big to keep. Lilly noted that there are hardly any boats fishing even in ideal weather.

A small craft advisory is up to late Saturday even though the forecast is for only southwest at 10-15 knots by morning before going south at 15-20 in the afternoon with showers.

Capt. Ron Santee had a charter out today on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands and reported very good action with large porgies plus a few triggerfish. He’ll be running open again in the morning.

Chuck Many is catching red drum in S.C. This previously used shot popped up when I tried to run a new one.

New Jersey anglers only have a few days left to fish for fluke, as the season closes after Sept. 27. Those fish are moving off to spawning grounds far offshore, but there are still plenty left in the surf.

The Capt. Cal 2 is still fishing for fluke from Belmar, and they found a good pick of legal fluke in yesterday’s nice conditions. A 7.5-pounder took the pool, and there were also a few in the 5-6-pound class.

A small craft advisory is up through Saturday afternoon, but the morning forecast is for only 10-15 knots northwest which is fishable for inshore fluking even in the 4-6-foot seas predicted. Bigger swells from the hurricane offshore will make surf fishing more difficult. However, John Tiedemann reported seeing lots of bunkers in the Monmouth County surf this morning.

Bad news on Facebook this week involved the passing of luremaker Ron Muccie. The creator of Glitter Plugs died at 85 on Sept. 14 in Levittown, Pa. He was a member of the Berkeley Striper Club, and a familiar figure at fishing events.

Jim Hutchinson Sr. provided the following report for the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association:

“The cruise on the pirate ship “Black Pearl” scheduled for Friday, September 23, has been cancelled. Captain John Lewis, president of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association, announced the trip is off due to predicted high winds and cold temperatures.

The cruise was to benefit the association’s reef rebuilding project on the local inshore artificial reefs. Lewis said that since there are no available dates to reschedule the trip, it will be planned for next spring or early summer. Since the cruise was intended to benefit the reefs, Lewis suggests those interested to sponsor a reef ball as a Holiday gift. Details can be reached by calling Captain John at 609-670-5980.

In recent fishing news, Captain Gary Dugan had a successful trip out just prior to the ocean kicking up. He had a family group celebrating a 75^th birthday. In addition to multiple short fluke and numerous sea bass, the group returned with two very nice fluke measuring 22 and 23-inches. Captain Gary noted that they also reeled in some beautiful black sea bass that are currently out of season and had to be released.”

Captain Dave Wittenborn reports continued good action on the “Benita J” on his offshore fishing trips. He recently had the Heys group out for an early morning trip that Captain Dave termed “steady action on a beautiful September day.”

Captain Brett Taylor of “Real Reaction Sportfishing” has been working in some trips around his job teaching. He has been catching fluke in the ocean along with some mahi that he found lurking around some pot floats. He has also had some adventures in the bay waters catching a variety of fish including blowfish, sea bass, bluefish, and keeper fluke.”

Yellowfin bite has been outstanding

I’ve been seeing many reports of super yellowfin tuna action as the only problem seems to be too many little tunny in some areas competing for the baits.

Capt. John McMurry of NYCTuna reports he’s never seen yellowfins so eager to bite — and there were some on his last trip over 100 pounds.

Capt. Ron Santee has seen good bottom fishing for big porgies and triggerfish on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands, but won’t be sailing tomorrow due to the forecast. His boat is chartered Saturday, but will be back to open trips on Sunday.

A small craft advisory is up through Friday afternoon, and the Friday forecast is for northwest winds at 20-25 knots with gusts to 30.

Dennis Muhlenforth reports there was wild tuna action during this week’s trip of the Voyager from Point Pleasant. He said over 100 yellowfins up to 85 pounds were caught and others lost.

The Golden Eagle had another fine report from their Tuesday offshore fishing as ” some nice size tuna 70-85 pounds” were boated along with some lost and 40 to 50 mahi up to 25 pounds. Today’s bluefish trip was good with 2-pounders hitting on long drifts and many limits taken, Run-Off poppers were most effective.

At Atlantic Highlands, Capt. Ron Santee found better action with jumbo porgies on his Fishermen along with a showing of triggerfish with one angler catching three of them.

Capt. Scott Hilliard is finishing out the fluke season on his Prowler 5 through the weekend. He reported the weather as being too beautiful today, resulting in little drift. Two fluke limits were taken as there were 18 keepers on the boat.

A small craft advisory is up from late tonight to Friday afternoon. The morning forecast is for southwest winds at 15-20 knots before dropping to 10-15 in the afternoon. Showers are likely.

Though Monday’s Exotics trip of the Queen Mary from Point Pleasant was primarily aimed at little tunny and bonito, Frank Huza of Aberdeen was happy to also get a shot at a 40-50-pound bluefin tuna — even though it broke off under the boat.

Frank says they ran 26 miles northeast to get into the action which produced a little tunny for him as well as the lost tuna. He noted that the most effective lure was a Nomad 40-60 gram Streaker. There were three tuna boated and others lost. Anglers with the most sophisticated tackle were most successful.

Capt. Ron Santee said the weather was beautiful and large porgies bit better today along with a few triggerfish, a bluefish and a 4-pound pool-winning fluke. At least 50 legal-size but out of season sea bass had to be released. His Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands is chartered on Saturday,

Tomorrow is looking good for getting offshore with a forecast of northwest winds at 5-10 knots. Big swells will be coming as the hurricane far offshore moves north – but shouldn’t be seen until tomorrow night and then into Saturday.

Jamaca skipper Howard Bogan and Vanessa Bogan Manetta with a very large chub mackerel.

Good casting, jigging and trolling reports keep coming in, but Capt. John McMurray of NYCTUNA says it’s getting harder to find the weather needed to get offshore in comfort. He’s been running through lots of little tunny on the way out to catch yellowfin tuna and dolphin such as the one below.

Capt. Ron Santee only had a few regulars show up to fish for porgies on his Fishermen at Atlantic Highlands, but went fishing anyway. Some jumbo porgies were caught along with a couple of triggerfish, but good-sized sea bass had to go back since they’re out of season.

The Big Mohawk from Belmar concluded their fluke season with Sunday’s charter that produced some limits. Dan Mancini won the pool with a 7-pounder –and ended up with the seasonal pools for the 13-pound doormat he boated last month.

Vinny D’Anton continues to pick away at school stripers in the Monmouth County surf, and was able to raise them with the Chug Bug this morning. He expects to see mullet moving when swells from the hurricane bear down on the Shore.

A small craft warning comes down at 10 p.m. The morning forecast is for northwest winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 30.

Many tropical species show up in NY/NJ Bight waters late in the summer, but rarely in quantity. Cutlassfish were virtually unheard of until a few years ago, but seem to be becoming a regular visitor. Indeed, Chris Lido (photos below) reported his last trip on the Gambler from Point Pleasant produced a quantity of that long, flattish, silver-skinned species with a narrow mouth full of fang-like teeth.

It was in 1960 when I first encountered cutlassfish in very different circumstances. I had been transferred from my initial assignment on a destroyer (USS John R. Pierce, DD-753) after graduation from Navy OCS, to serve as War Plans Officer at the Naval Station in Trinidad, West Indies. The first night there I went to the piers and observed those strange creatures chasing small forage fish under the lights — and found that they would hit a tiny diamond jig. At first glance, they looked dangerous to handle, but they’re no problem when gripped by the gill covers. The local workers who also fished on the piers wanted them and assured me they were good to eat.

I later found they are abundant in many areas, such as off Texas where they are called ribbonfish and are the prime trolling bait for king mackerel. In Venezuela I saw small boat fishermen returning to the beach at dawn with baskets of cutlassfish they’d jigged offshore at night.

A small craft advisory remains up through tonight, but by morning the forecast is down to southwest at 10-15 knots with a chance of afternoon showers.

Offshore fishing continues at a good pace, but small craft warnings are up from Sunday morning to evening. The morning actually starts with a modest southwest 10-15 knot wind, but goes to 15-20 with gusts to 25 knots in the afternoon. Thus, inshore fishing conditions should be good early for the building porgy run.

Capt. Ron Dantee said he found improved porgy action on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands for the Quick Response charter. A 3-pounder topped the porgy catch, though there were none of the triggerfish also encountered on Friday. Thay did have a few blowfish and a fluke, while small sea bass are a bait-stealing problem. Santee will be back to daily open boat porgy fishing in the morning.

Capt. Mark DeBlasio reports his Sept. 15-16 overnighter for the Anthony Danza party on End Game encountered rougher seas than predicted, but was still successful as bigeyes and yellowfin tuna were biting — and a large wahoo was added.

With light winds in the forecast, NY/NJ Bight boaters should be able to enjoy light tackle fishing for blues and porgies. while fluke are still in the picture to the east — and yellowfin tuna have been pretty consistent offshore.

At Belmar, the Golden Eagle didn’t have to anchor at all as 2-3-pound blues were jigged steadily on long drifts. Run-Off poppers were also very effective. The Big Mohawk has been finishing up fluking, but is chartered the next two days before going into dry dock Monday.

Capt. Ron Santee saw an improvement in porgy fishing on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands, and also noted that several large triggerfish up to 4 pounds were added to the catch. The volume of small sea bass and porgies stealing bait is a problem. The Fishermen is chartered Saturday.

The forecast is for east winds at just 5-10 knots with a shift to southeast in the afternoon.

Vinny D’Anton continues to pick away at school stripers in the Monmouth County surf, and even hooked a 32-incher this morning on a MirrOlure. That lure would be a good choice with mullet around, but Vinny hasn’t seen them at all so far.

Nick Honefchesky is offering the new Barrier Islands Beach Brawl t-shirt free to anyone signing up for the Oct. 7-8 event today at saltwaterunderground.com.

Lars Shuster took over the boat fly rod lead for little tunny in the Martha’s Vineyard Fishing Derby with this 11.8-pounder. Bob Correll got into a few surf blues in the 5-pound class on poppers, but the Derby leaders are around 12 pounds.