Tight Lines

Another one of the great party boat skippers on the Jersey Shore has passed away.

Capt. Charles Eble (1955-2022) ran the Doris Mae party boats and large group charter boat Searcher out of Barnegat Light before going into retirement — only to purchase a smaller boat named Robin Ann which he chartered to the end,

The Golden Eagle from Belmar had the same report as yesterday with 3-to-7-pound blues scattered on the bottom where they hit jigs and teasers. Some fares caught limits.

Capt. Ron Santee says ocean fluking has been good on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands.

Sunday looks like another good one with southwest winds at just 5 to 10 knots.

Bluefishing is building up in NY/NJ Bight, but boaters can’t count on waiting for surface indications in order to jig them. The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported scattered readings on bottom which produced action on jigs and teasers ranging up to limits. Private boaters should keep a sharp eye on their fishfinder and check out any fleets building up in order to narrow the search. Today’s blues ranged from 2 to 7 pounds.

The Jamaica from Brielle simply reported bluefish limits for all. They are adding 7:30 p.m. night bluefish trips this weekend. The Jamaica also has a couple of spots left on a June 27 tuna trip which departs at 9:30 p.m.

The weekend weather looks good, with west winds at just 5-10 knots tomorrow before going south in the afternoon.

Vinny D’Anton has been picking small stripers in the Monmouth County surf with his Chug Bug, but switched back to sand fleas this morning for a flurry that included a 30-inch bass.

Rays should be showing up in the surf shortly, but hopefully you won’t hook one like this 16-footer that set a record for largest freshwater fish recently in Cambodia.

Last week’s Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament out of Morehead City, N.C. got off to a great start as 266 boats competed for a record purse of $5,858,375. Mercenaria, a 72-foot Viking from Virginia, boated a 572.6-pound blue marlin the first day that held on to win $3,489,813. Not far behind were Wall Banger at 556.4 and High Yield at 536.8.

Most interesting was the winner-take-all for the largest dolphin, a 54.1-pounder that earned $527,000 for Carolina Time. Speculator boated a 104.7-pound wahoo, and Desperado led in tuna at 131.2 pounds

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported 2-6-pound blues were jigged today over scattered bottom readings. Ava 27 jigs with or without tails worked along with teasers.

The forecast is for northeast winds at just 5-10 knots before going southeast in the afternoon. Morning fog is likely.

The New York sea bass season opens tomorrow with a 16-inch minimum and a bag limit of just three before increasing to six on Aug. 3 through the rest of the year.

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands ran into rough wind against current conditions and consequent poor fluking. As a result, they will not sail tomorrow.

The forecast is for only southeast at 10 knots.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar had a slow start to bluefishing, but ended up with a catch of 2-5-pounders.

The Jamaica from Brielle resumes daily trips for blues tomorrow.

Bob Matthews reports from Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina as follows: “

Fishing is motivating right now. We see Kingfish, Fluke,Blues and Bass in the surf.The Bass and Fluke are feeding heavily on sand crabs,anglers are taking many Bass on the crabs as well as Fluke on gulp.The Kingfish are hitting worms or a small piece of clam, the blues are grabbing most any lure coming their way. The fluke fishing in the Shark River has been hot most days. The weekend was a bit breezy causing a fast drift, not the best conditions.

The anglers fishing in the high wind conditions did better by fishing on anchor,

this way they controlled the speed of the bait or lure.

The Seabass season came to an end for now with a little disappointment again the wind 

hurt the final two days. The season was a great success otherwise.”

You want to have some fun go to the beach in your bathing suit bare feet no frills.”

The Golden Eagle from Belmar headed south this morning and got into bluefish from 1 to 3 pounds before finishing up to the north with 4- to-7-pounders. Jigs and teasers worked best.

The drop in wind speed made for better fluke drifting conditions, but dogfish were a morning problem on the Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands before skates took over in the afternoon. Some anglers managed a limit up to 4 pounds while catching lots of short fluke.

The forecast is for south winds at 10-15 knots with gusts to 20 and a chance of showers.

A houndfish is a sure sign of summer in N.J. This one was caught in the evening last week in Barnegat Bay.

Mike Monte is a Jersey Shore native who’s long resided in the striper paradise of Nantucket while continuing to make frequent trips back to the Shore. This morning he decided to try fishing sand fleas for the first time in the Monmouth County surf where the three sand fleas on a drifted hook and tiny shot resulted in a fish which almost dumped his light spinning tackle.

After a long battle, Mike needed both hands to release a 39-inch striper! Sand fleas {actually mole crabs) are a great bait for surf stripers which load up on them when other prey isn’t available, but jumbo bass are very rarely hooked on them. Mike tried again, but only came up with a fluke on the fleas,

Vinny D’Anton wasn’t doing anything in the same general area until a school of 3-pound blues chased rainfish into the beach. Before he went home, a last cast with the Chug Bug at a jetty produced an explosion that turned into a 33-inch striper release.

The Big Mohawk’s first fluke trip turned out very well except for the lack of a big fish that boat is noted for. They did have many limits up to 5 pounds as jigs and Gulp produced best. The Big Mohawk sails from Belmar at 6 a.m.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar got into 2-5-pound blues during the first trip for the choppers that hit teasers, poppers and jigs. Some bonito and fluke were added.

This 311.5-pound bluefin was weighed in last week at Hoffman’s Anchorage in Brielle

The forecast is for north winds at just 5 knots before going southeast in the afternoon

I’m sorry for last night’s screwed up headline as I didn’t check it after editing.

The sea bass season in N.J. ended today, and the fleet which has been working on them will now be shifting to either fluke or bluefish.

Capt. Ron Santee made the move to fluke today with his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands. He was pleased with the numbers of keepers taken even his fares had to use lots of lead in the northwest blow.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar finished up with a good catch of sea bass today

along with some ling, fluke released blackfish, a cod — and some of the blues they’ll be seeking tomorrow.

As noted last night, I thought the northwester would be good for surfcasting, and that’s what Vinny D’Anton found. He’s been picking stripers in the Monmouth Beach surf on both lures and sand fleas. but that wasn’t working out this morning until a school of 5-10-pound blues showed up. It took a long cast to reach them, and Vinny had to switch to a heavier Tsunami popper to get out to them. Surprisingly, there were no bass today.

The forecast is for northwest winds at 10-15 knots before dropping to west at 5-10 in the afternoon.

The

There’s a full menu of fishing choices for Father’s Day, but small craft warnings are up through the afternoon, and the Golden Eagle from Belmar had to cancel this afternoon’s trip due to high winds. Northwest winds from 15-20 knots with gusts to 25 continue tomorrow, but that’s fine for surfcasting and can be worked with in protected bays and rivers.

Striper anglers can find some protection in Raritan Bay or very close to the Jersey Shore and hope for a personal best such as Joe Balzamo’s 55-pounder before release by the famed western Long Island angler.

The N.J. sea bass season ends Sunday, and most boats fishing for them will switch to fluke on Monday.

Capt. Ron Santee made the switch today with his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands, but isn’t doing any celebrating after getting ready a couple of days ago as he noted “Went for fuel today, $5.99 a Gallon, $410 a day to fish where we have been going. I will still do what I have to do and go where we have to go no matter what……Screw you JOE, I’m not going away!!!“

The canyon yellowfin tuna run continues for the Canyon Runner Coaching members.

Adam La Rosa reports as follows: Starting right where we left off – we had two tuna tournaments run this past weekend and had folks we coached up in the Winners circle in both the Manasquan Tournament and the Beach Haven Tournament. Chris Vennitti & Chris Jessen placed in the money in the Beach Haven. And one of our Members who would like to stay anonymous placed in the Manasquan Tournament. But the solid Member action didn’t end there as this past week and weekend saw most Members who made it to the canyons with solid trips and ended with inshore grounds finally giving up some decent bluefin action. Capt. Dave De Gennaro made it to Lindenkohl Canyon just in time Saturday morning with his Hi Flier from Barnegat to boat a 45-pound yellowfin on the first balao deployed before the bite turned off to just three yellowfins that didn’t make the minimum. A run to Barnegat Inlet on Sunday morning produced light tackle action with stripers of 29 and 31 inches plus tautog from 2-4 pounds which were released since they are out of season. Dave has added a Saturday afternoon inshore trip from 1- 6. Call 732 330 5674. Nick from Monmouth County was finally shut out Saturday morning as no stripers hit his $2 jumbo bloodworms or fresh bunker in the surf. However, there was good word today in that county from Vinny D’Anton who picked a few school stripers on his Chug Bug before failing to get any action on sand fleas. The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands switches to fluke on Saturday. Small craft warnings are up through Saturday afternoon with northwest winds of 20-25 knots that may be favorable for fluke drifting along the Shore. Striped bass live baiting and bunker spoon trolling is holding up. I’ve had a terrible day trying to stay on the internet, will try to get this out while it’s possible and catch up tomorrow.

The awards for last Saturday’s JCAA Fluke Tournament will be presented Friday along with lots of prizes in a free drawing open to all who entered. The site is Resorts Casino/Hotel in Atlantic City. Register between 3-7 p.m. The awards and drawings start at 7.

As I predicted before the contest, there were some ports where many prizes weren’t claimed for lack of a legal entry plus many others where very small fluke prevailed.

Here are the results for 2022

* $50 Region Calcutta Winner
** $100 Region Calcutta Winner
$ $50 Overall Tournament Calcutta Winner
$$ $100 Overall Tournament Calcutta Winner
# $50 Overall Seabass Calcutta Winner
## $100 Overall Seabass Calcutta Winner

1. Jersey City

	Name	Hometown	Entry #	Weight	Length
1st	Kelly, Steve *	Secaucus, NJ	77	8.71	26.75
2nd	Ptoric, Joe **	Ridgefield, NJ	57	5.287	24.25
3rd	Cordano, Daniel	Bayonne, NJ	55	5.11	24.5
4th	Zebrowski, Jason	Hewitt, NJ	82	4.48	23
5th	Rodrick, Mark	Warren, NJ	81	3.46	21.5
6th	Reilly, Joseph	Monroe, NJ	78	3.36	20.5
7th	None

2. Sandy Hook

	Name	Hometown	Entry #	Weight	Length
1st	Gaydos, Ted * ** $ $$	Monroe Twp.	59	12.45	31
2nd	Yaccarino, John	Jackson, NJ	13	5.47	23.5
3rd	Capalbo, Mark	Monmouth, NJ	36	4.29	22.75
4th	Damiano, Joe	Egg Harbor, NJ	88	3.99	21
5th	Taffuri, Michael	Oceanport, NJ	2	3.26	20.5
6th	Olswfski, Tony L.	Florence, NJ	51	3.18	20
7th	Zastocki, Ron M.	Old Bridge, NJ	46	3.1	19.75

3. Shark River Inlet

	Name	Hometown	Entry #	Weight	Length
1st	Hyslop, Art	Wayne, NJ	91	3.78	21.5
2nd	Gogan, Joe S * **	Groveville, NJ	40	3.64	21.5
3rd	Wilson, Chris	Bloomsbury, NJ	86	2.74	20.5
4th	McGuigan, Mike	Brick, NJ	87	2.71	20
5th	Nelson, Rich	Neptune, NJ	75	2.38	19.5
6th	Albanese, Joe	Fort Lee, NJ	9	2.125	18.25
7th	None

4. Manasquan River

	Name	Hometown	Entry #	Weight	Length
1st	Failla, Stephen	Frenchtown, NJ	41	4.59	23
2nd	Materia, Steve	Hamilton, NJ	20	2.49	19.5
3rd	None
4th	None
5th	None
6th	None
7th	None

5. Barnegat Bay

	Name	Hometown	Entry #	Weight	Length
1st	Knott, Fred * **	Wrightstown, NJ	62	6.34	25.25
2nd	Sturman, Cole	Forked River, NJ	68	5.91	24.875
3rd	Garrity, Damon	Pottstown, Pa.	8	3.3	21.125
4th	Zingis, John	Brick, NJ	11	3.2	21
5th	Gohr, George	Waretown, NJ	32	3.05	19.625
6th	Peter, Tom	Monroe Twp., NJ	30	2.25	19.125
7th	Plichta, Edward	Forked River, NJ	66	1.79	17.375

6. Long Beach Island

	Name	Hometown	Entry #	Weight	Length
1st	Paolella, Dean * # ##	Springfield, NJ	34	5.43	24.25
2nd	Lutz, Steve **	Columbus, NJ	71	5.03	23.25
3rd	BePamphlis, Willie	Manahawkin, NJ	4	4.89	22.75
4th	Caruso, Nicholas	Whiting, NJ	60	4.7	23
5th	Carr, Kevin	Barnegat, NJ	52	3.13	20.5
6th	Hillman, Barb	Manahawkin, NJ	23	2.75	20
7th	Witczak, James	Bangor, PA	1	2.72	19.5

7. Southern Region (Great Bay, Ocean City, Atlantic City, Cape May)

	Name	Hometown	Entry #	Weight	Length
1st	Reuter, Drew	Mullica Hill, NJ	67	6.02	25.5
2nd	Horgan, Terry **	Berwyn, Pa.	83	5.49	24
3rd	Karwoski, Paul	Bala Cynwyd, Pa.	15	4.84	23.5
4th	Rawa, Jason *	Little Egg Harbor	76	4.47	22.75
5th	Slobodian, George	Twin Oaks, Pa.	39	3.6	21
6th	Daunoras, Joseph	Little Egg Harbor, NJ	19	3.58	21
7th	Fenton, Jim	West Berlin, NJ	37	3.445	21.5
Sea bass fishing has been tougher the last couple of days as it winds down to Sunday’s closure. Even fish that marked well yesterday weren’t biting, and Capt. Ron Santee of the Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands said today started with rain and turned into terrible conditions when the south wind ran into moon currents. They picked away at sea bass and some ling and added a 22-inch cod. Tomorrow is the last sea bass trip before switching to fluke Saturday. Small craft warnings are up though Friday afternoon. Southwest winds at 10-15 knots will gust to 25, and there is a chance of afternoon showers.