Tight Lines

Singing the Blues! 

The beautiful conditions offshore continued on Day Four of the 2022 MidAtlantic and as expected a large portion of the fleet, 146 boats to be exact between Cape May and Ocean City, headed offshore.  The billfish bite continued to improve and although white marlin were found in better numbers, breaking the 69” and 65-pound minimum for the species to make the leaderboard continued to be difficult.  Blue marlin were another story though as they continued to show in good numbers and several were weighed at both tournament venues causing major changes to the leaderboard.   

Captain Mike Penza aboard his Oil Slick based out of North Palm Beach, Florida got the evening off to a fast start as moments after 5 p.m. he backed to the scales in Cape May.  After the tape measure put the marlin at 118¼” the big blue was hoisted up and tipped the scale at 528 pounds for angler Tom Carroll and put Oil Slick temporarily into third place.  Moments later, also in Cape May, Captain James Putzig backed the Lucky 7 owned by Key Largo, Florida’s Robert Boyce down the chute to the scale at Canyon Club Resort Marina with a big blue marlin in the cockpit angler Robert Boyce, Jr. had battled.  The tape measure showed the length to be 119 7/8” and after being hoisted up the scale the weight of 619 pounds was announced and put Lucky 7 on top of the category and moved Oil Slick off the board.  Christopher Kinsley of Seven Valleys, Pennsylvania is now in second place with his 607 ponder aboard Kilo Charlie.  Michael Peet’s No Quarter based in New Castle, Delaware currently sits in third place with his 539 pounder.  Several other impressive blue marlin were weighed on Day Four including a 494 pounder aboard the D.A. Sea of Grasonville, Maryland’s Ed Dunn for angler Mike Dent and a 474 pounder for Key Largo, Florida’s Rob Gothier aboard his Bar South where Rudy Espinosa was the angler.  Jerry Murdoch’s Point Pleasant, New Jersey-based Endorfin weighed a 115” blue marlin of 461 pounds for angler Rich Kosztyu.      

The white marlin standings remained unchanged after Day Four and Michael Jordan’s Catch 23 based in Jupiter, Florida continues to lead the category with his 73 pounder.  Matthew Weber’s Max Bet hailing from Vero Beach, Florida remains in second place with his 65 pounder.  Third place remains vacant. 

In the tuna category, Art Boykin of Berlin, Maryland moved into the lead with his Lucky Duck after weighing a big eye of 210 pounds for angler John Thornton.  Bob Hugin’s The Right Place of Summit, New Jersey now holds second and third place with his big eyes that weighed 193 and 152 pounds.  

In the wahoo division, John Gudelsky’s Reel Joy from Singer Island, Florida moved into second place today after weighing a 29 pounder.  Michael Murray’s Caitlin from Brick, New Jersey holds onto first and third place with wahoos of 43 and 28 pounds. 

The dolphin category re-set today as the new leader is now Fort Pierce, Florida’s Joseph Valentine aboard his Valentine with a 43 pounder.  Billy Wrede of Randolph, New Jersey on his Lovin’ Life is now in second place with his 39 pounder.  Todd Wigfield of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina aboard his Buddy Rowe weighed a dolphin of 31 pounds today and moved into third place in the category.      

Some of the boats with notable billfish releases on Day Four include Ronnie Field’s Big Stick and Matthew Weber’s Max Bet each releasing six white marlin.  Bill Hoagland’s Lights Out and John Gudelsky’s Reel Joy each released five white marlin.  Danny Jones’ Reel Toy, Donna Matarese’s Reel Chaos, Rob Gothier’s Bar South and Joe Stein’s Marli each released four white marlin.  Dave Anderson’s Krazy Salts released one blue marlin and five white marlin while Charles Rodriguez’ Par Five and Warren Halle’s Cookie Monster each released one blue marlin and four white marlin.  Michael Jordan’s Catch 23 released one blue marlin and one white marlin while Newt Cagle’s Hatterascal released one blue marlin and two white marlin.  Charlie Duerr’s Sea Hag released two blue marlin.  Boats with  a single blue marlin released today include Marty Judge’s Judge; James Cahill’s Harmony; Chip Caruso’s Pipe Dreamer and Robert Boyce’s Lucky 7.  George Robinson’s Polarizer caught a rare Grand Slam today releasing a blue marlin, white marlin and sailfish.         

It’s all on the line during the last two days of the MidAtlantic with 178 boats competing for millions out of Cape May plus Ocean City, Maryland.

After a slow start with marlin, everything came together yesterday as the blue marlin category filled up with fish over 200 pounds while the first couple of qualifying white marlin were weighed along with several others that made the minimum length but not the minimum weight.

The blue marlin leaders are a 607-pounder on Kilo Charlie that’s in line for over $1 million; No Quarter at 539 and Randon Chaos at 490 pounds, However, they are far from safe as was demonstrated last year when the tournament record was broken twice within 48 hours — finally by a Maryland state record 1,135-pounder on Billfisher.

Michael Jorden’s Catch 23 took the lead in white marlin at 73 pounds, which would be worth $1,674,108 — enough to keep his 80-foot Viking running for some time. Most encouraging were the many while marlin releases that included six on Outrage and five on Viking 80.

It was hard to believe that there were no qualifying dolphin at a mere 20 pounds until yesterday. However, that category filled up — including an impressive 39-pounder on Lovin Life. Wahoo are always a shot in the dark, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the 43-pound leader on Caitlin topped by the end of the contest Friday evening. The same applies to Bob Hugin’s leading bigeye tuna of 152 and 193 pounds on The Right Place since it’s taken bigeyes well over 200 pounds to win tournaments this summer.

I’ll have a late blog update after the scales close at 9.

The inshore forecast is for southwest winds at 5-10 knots before increasing to 10-15 plus gusts to 20 in the afternoon. Thunderstorms are possible.

Fluke fshing seems to be improving. The Big Mohawk from Belmar had a 9-pounder this week, and the Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands reported some limits.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar got into a good early bite of chub mackerel and bluefish. It slowed at mid-day, but they continued to pick as many fares limited on blues.

Vinny D’Anton reports very small peanut bunkers are abundant in the Monmouth County surf, where he’s been picking small stripers on a variety of lures. A switch to Gulp produces lots of fluke, but no keepers so far. Vinnie is surprised that snappers aren’t cutting off the Gulp as yet.

Fo;;owing is Jeff Merrill’s official wrap-up of an exciting Day 3:

“

As expected, the offshore weather changed dramatically on Day Three with light, variable winds and calm seas providing a refreshing change from the past 36 hours.  On the day, 143 boats headed offshore including 95 from Ocean City and 48 from Cape May.  The tuna bite continued but more importantly the billfish bite improved dramatically compared to the past week and the first qualifying white marlin of the tournament was also weighed today and several boats had multiple white marlin releases as well.       

Captain Kyle Peet at the wheel of Michael Peet’s New Castle, Delaware-based No Quarter got the evening’s weigh-in off to an early start as minutes after the scales opened he was in position in Ocean City to weigh a blue marlin for angler Michael Peet.  After stretching the measuring tape out to 116¼” the marlin tipped the scales at 539 pounds to move into the lead in the category.  However, No Quarter’s time at the top of the leaderboard would be short lived as the next boat in line, Christopher Kinsley’s Seven Valleys, Pennsylvania-based Kilo Charlie, also had a sizeable blue marlin to weigh for angler Andrew Kinsley. After measuring the length at 119 7/8” the blue marlin pulled the scale down to 607 pounds to jump in to the lead and push No Quarter in to second place.  Langhorne, Pennsylvania’s Michael Pintozzi aboard his Random Chaos now sits in third place with his 490 pounder.    

The white marlin bite improved dramatically and in addition to a significant number of that species being released by the tournament fleet, the first qualifying fish in the category were weighed as well.  Captain Stetson Turney pulled Michael Jordan’s Jupiter, Florida-based Catch 23 to the scale in Ocean City and weighed a 73 pounder for angler Patrick Field to take the lead.  Captain Austin Robbins put Matthew Weber’s Max Bet from Vero Beach, Florida in second place after weighing a 65 pounder for angler Anthony Weber.  Third place remains vacant.             

The Right Place of Summit, New Jersey’s Bob Hugin continues to hold the top two places in the tuna category with big eyes of 193 and 152 pounds.  Random Chaos remains in third place with their 80-pound yellowfin tuna. 

Michael Murray of Brick, New Jersey aboard his Caitlin remains in control of first and second place in the wahoo category with 43 and 28 pounders.  Third place now belongs to Elberta, Alabama’s Chris Hood aboard his It Just Takes Time after he weighed a 23 pounder today.

The dolphin category filled today as Captain Spencer Bradley put Randolph, New Jersey’s Billy Wrede aboard his  Lovin’ Life in the lead with a 39 pounder.  Second and third place belong to Wilmington, Delaware’s William Doherty aboard his Undertaker with Captain Corey Kennington at the wheel after weighing 24 and 21 pounders.       

Some of the boats with significant billfish releases on Day Three include John Gudelsky’s Reel Joy with two blue marlin and one white marlin and Rusty Carter’s Stream Weaver with two white marlin and one blue marlin.  Bill Hoagland’s Lights Out and Victor Roof’s Miss Maxine each released a white marlin and a blue marlin.  Howard Berger’s Boss Hogg, Rocky Hardison’s Wolverine, Brian Dwyer’s Slabjack and Stephen Phillips Shearwater each released a blue marlin.  John Dougherty’s Outrage released six white marlin while Pat Healey’s Viking 80 released five white marlin.  Matthew Weber’s Max Bet, Keely Megarity’s C-Student and Kenneth Johnson’s Espadon each released four white marlin.  Mike Penza’s Oil Slick and Robert Boyce’s Lucky 7 each released three white marlin.  “

Big changes were expected in the MidAtlantic with 170 boats fishing, and that was certainly the case, especially at the Ocean City, Md. port when the scales opened at 5 p.m.

The 490-pound blue marlin leader from Monday on Random Chaos looked good before No Quarter weighed a 539-pound blue which didn’t last too long before Kilo Charlie arrived with a 607-pound blue. Shortly before I took a break from watching the scales to get this out there was a 517-pound weigh-in by Juben.

A much smaller billfish might be worth much more money as Max Bet weighed the only qualifying white marlin so far at 65 pounds.

I’ll catch up with additional weigh-ins in a late blog after the scales close at 9.

The Golden Eagle at Belmar reported loading up with chub mackerel which were joined in the slick by small blues.

The forecast is for northwest winds at 5 knots before going southwest in the afternoon.

With much better offshore forecasts coming up, hardly any boats fished Day 2 of the MidAtlantic out of Cape May plus Ocean City, Md. today. As noted in last night’s late blog, there was lots of excitement as Three’s Enough weighed a blue marlin over the 400-pound minimum to get in line for a possible million-dollar payoff but didn’t have time to pop the corks before Random Chaos beat their 469-pounder with a 490-pound entry. Random Chaos also weighed an 80-pound yellowfin. tuna.

Large bigeye tuna were featured in other contests this year, but only one boat found them yesterday as The Right Place weighed tuna of 193 and 152 pounds that were fought by Bob Hugin and Deane Lambros. There were quite a few 50-70-pound yellowfins weighed, but an unusually large 70-pound albacore was boated by Milling Around. That was only four pounds off the N.J. state record for that species which migrates great distances in temperate seas throughout the world. They are frequently referred to as longfins, but the proper name is simply albacore.

One boat also dominated in wahoo, as Caitlin from Brick, N.J. boated two of 43 and 28 pounds. Only one dolphin was weighed, and it fell short of the 20-pound minimum. The lack of white marlin continued, though some were released. If there is any significant change, I’ll add a late blog after 9.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar was heading home from its tuna trip this morning with some yellowfins, albacore, tilefish and dolphin aboard.

The inshore forecast is for northwest winds at 5-10 knots — increasing to 10-15 late. Isolated showers and thunderstorms are possible.

The Paramount from Brielle is switching to jumbo porgy trips from 6:30-3:30 on Thursday. Saturday is sold out. Call 732 528-2117.

Though white marlin remain scarce, two big blue marlin made the first day of the MidAtlantic a success. Jeff Merrill’s official summary follows:

“

  

The first day of fishing at the 2022 MidAtlantic got off to a damp start as a weather system pushed in from the south and brought showers and breezy conditions for the 69 boats that gave it a go one Day One.  It was a late night for tournament staff on Sunday at both venues as they kept busy totaling up entries and tallying the total purse but at this point we can confirm 178 boats are in the line-up and the total cash purse is well over $5.2 million!

Monday’s weigh-in session got off to an exciting start as two blue marlin were weighed in Cape May.  Captain Mchael Pintozzi aboard his Random Chaos out of Langhorne, Pennsylvania jumped to the early lead in the category after weighing a 490-pounder that measured 116½” for angler Ben Stern.  Captain Kyle Sherman put Justin Branning’s Three’s Enough based out of Manasquan, New Jersey in second place with a 469-pounder for angler Brian Komer that measured 113¾”.  Third place remains vacant. 

The first day of fishing at the 2022 MidAtlantic got off to a damp start as a weather system pushed in from the south and brought showers and breezy conditions for the 69 boats that gave it a go one Day One.  It was a late night for tournament staff on Sunday at both venues as they kept busy totaling up entries and tallying the total purse but at this point we can confirm 178 boats are in the line-up and the total cash purse is well over $5.2 million!

Monday’s weigh-in session got off to an exciting start as two blue marlin were weighed in Cape May.  Captain

Michael Pintozzi aboard his Random Chaos out of Langhorne, Pennsylvania jumped to the early lead in the category after weighing a 490-pounder that measured 116½” for angler Ben Stern.  Captain Kyle Sherman put Justin Branning’s Three’s Enough based out of Manasquan, New Jersey in second place with a 469-pounder for angler Brian Komer that measured 113¾”.  Third place remains vacant. 

Though billfish were hard to find for most of the tournament fleet today tuna provided a lot of action and the tournament staff worked well past the 9 p.m. deadline in Cape May as numerous boats had checked in and were waiting in line to weigh fish.  Well over three dozen tuna were weighed including two large big eyes and one exceptionally large true albacore.  Captain Evan Millas put Summit, New Jersey’s Bob Hugin aboard his The Right Place into first and second place after weighing a pair of big eye tuna of 193 and 152 pounds for anglers Hugin and Deane Lambros.   In addition to weighing the heaviest blue marlin today, Michael Pintozzi’s Random Chaos is currently in third place in the tuna category with an 80-pound yellowfin.  Worthy of note is a 70-pound true albacore weighed aboard John Stavola’s Milling Around from Jupiter, Florida that fell just a few pounds short of the New Jersey state record for the species.

In the wahoo category Captain Jay Kittle wheeled Brick, New Jersey’s Michael Murray on his Caitlin into first and second place after weighing 43 and 28 pounders for anglers Jimmy and Greg Murray.  Third place remains vacant.            

There were no white marlin or dolphin weighed on Day One and both categories remain vacant.  Some of the boats with multiple billfish releases on Day One include Joe Bernert’s Quick Raise released two blue marlin while James Cahill’s Harmony, Kevin Putman’s Is That So and Rob Gauthier’s Bar South each released two white marlin.      

Please note the MidAtlantic tournament is a private event.  Nightly weigh-in sessions at Canyon Club Resort Marina and Sunset Marina as well as other tournament venues are not open to the general public and require credentials for entry.  All local, state and federal procedures with regard to Covid-19 are being followed to ensure the health and safety of all tournament staff, sponsors and participants.   

For further information contact Tournament Director Aaron Hoffman at 609-884-0177 or visit the tournament’s 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 calcutta payouts, rules, points, and an event schedule.  

The 31st MidAtlantic is off and running with 178 boats fishing out of Cape May plus Ocean City, MD for a purse that should be over $5 million when the counting is finished after yesterday’s captains meetings at the two sites.

As usual, I’ll be doing a late blog after the scales close at 9 p.m.

Hopefully, there will be better marlin fishing than has been the case during the summer tournaments so far. I haven’t been able to get final results from the Beach Haven White Marlin Invitational so far, but famed marine artist Steve Goine passed along info from the Pirate’s Cove Tournament in Manteo, N.C. where 81 boats released mostly sailfish rather than white marlin.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported one of their best fishing days ever with unlimited numbers of chub mackerel plus lots of blues and some sea bass. There were also bonito in the chum along with big sharks. However, the boat is on a tuna trip and won’t be back on the daily schedule until Wednesday.

The forecast is for southwest winds at 5-10 knots with possible showers plus afternoon thunderstorms.

Dave Lilly was fishing for fluke over the weekend in a tournament when he was shocked to start catching large weakfish in 70-foot depths where he released four. Dave was using whole squid, and the weaks were in such unusually deep waters that they had filled air bladders sticking out of their mouths. Those bladders can be pricked with the point of the hook so the fish has a chance of survival when released.

Lilly is the most consistent fluke prize winner in northern New Jersey, but he worked his favorite spots in Ambrose under perfect conditions without catching a fluke over 3 pounds.

There was better news today from Capt. Ron Santee of the Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands as follows: “

I wouldn’t call it a banner day but for those who could work it, they got it done with the keepers.

Gregg “Hit-man”did his thing landing a double limit along with the pool fish at 6 pounds three ounces, fishing next to Lou who is leading the Monthly pool with a 6 pound 5 ounce fish!

Couple customers had their three by days end, many had two, all quality fish.

Not easy fishing the sticky stuff, bait fishing has been the ticket but the die hard jiggers seem to want to prove me wrong……

Back at it in the AM sailing 7:30AM…Open Boat, No Reservations just come on down. Fare is $90“

The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant reported September fishing is upon us as little tunny have shown up to join the bluefish which bite most days.

I haven’t been able to obtain final results from the White Marlin Invitational, but will try again tomorrow.

The captains meeting for the MidAtlantic is finishing up, and there should be a big fleet running to the canyons tomorrow. The inshore forecast is for southeast at 10 knots with a possibility of showers and thunderstorms.

Legacy topped today’s catches n the White Marlin Invitational, but their 140-pound tuna fell short of Crisdel’s leading 194.7-pounder while other tuna entries were much smaller.

The only change in other weighed fish was the only wahoo of the contest on Hold Tight. I’ll have more about the WMIT results tomorrow.

Crisdel and many other boats moved to Cape May for Monday’s start of the MidAtlantic.

The Big Mohawk from Belmar reported a beautiful day with fine fluke fishing and several limits with fish ranging up to about 7 pounds.

The Jamaica from Brielle had another big catch of chub mackerel along with bluefish limits as that bite was best on bait, though there were some caught on poppers.

The forecast is for southeast winds at 5 knots and patchy fog before increasing to 10 knots in the afternoon.

Below is the Maryland state record blue marlin that won big money in last year’s MidAtlantic.

The Beah Haven Marlin & Tuna Club’s White Marlin Invitational is running this week. Crisdel from Brielle Yacht Club got off to a good start with a 194.3-pound bigeye tuna for IGFA officials being hosted by Michael Criscola Jr. Irish Twin also had a good start with a 111.5-pounder while several smaller yellowfins were weighed, but white marlin remained scarce. MJ’s, which boated several bigeyes in the recent White Marlin Open, only got on the leaderboard with a 67-pound tuna today. The largest dolphin so far is only a 16.7-pounder on Big Oil. Entrants only fish two days in the WMI, and many will be shifting over to the MidAtlantic which starts Sunday in Cape May.

After writing about cobia yesterday, there was more news on the internet today as a Connecticut angler caught one in the 40-pound class and is applying for a state record.

Capt. Ralph Layrer that the Hudson River Fisherman’s Association and the Saltwater Anglers of Bergen County had a fluke contest aboard his Last Lady today — the HRFA prevailed.

The Saturday forecast is fine, with south winds at just 5-10 knots.

Capt. Frank Masseria has been into hot fluking lately with his Vitamin Sea from Keyport. There was a boat limit of 125 today plus many 20-inchers released. He has two spots open tomorrow, Call 917 439-6448.

Capt. Ron Santee said his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands had another good day with fluke as “Dean” won his third pool in a row by boating a 5-pounder. There were several limits and 3-4-pounders around the boat which is chartered on Saturday.

The Jamaica from Brielle reported another day of all you want chub mackerel along with some blues, sea bass and fluke. of legal size.