It appears that the off-color waters may ave turned the bluefish bite off, though chub mackerel continued to hit. Miss Belmar Princess reported some 2-pound blues at anchor this morning, but their anglers added lots of chubs.
The Big Mohawk from Belmar had poor fluking conditons, but managed a pick including some limits. Tomorrow looks a lot better with west w at 10-15 knots, though there is a chance of morning showers.
The run-off from recent heavy rains impacted NY/NJ Bight inshore fishing today as one skipper described the waters as “ugly brown”‘
The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported seeing bluefish on top and reading them on the fishfinder, but the jigging was only a pick of blues and chub mackerel. Even fluking seemed to be effected, when there wasn’t good current.
It had been a different story on Friday for the Jamaica from Briellle as bluefishing was good both during the day and on the night trip. Krestina Amanaza of Hammonton also caught the only bonito that day plus a lone cobia — though the cobia was a short and was released.
The Jamaica reports that two spots just opened up on Monday night’s tilefish trip. Call 732 528-5014 to reserve them.
At Atlantic Highlands, the Sea Hunter reported a decent pick of keeper fluke when the current finally got going in the afternoon — though lots of sea bass had to be released.
The Fishermen had a couple of limits and a 6 11/16-pound pool winner.
The weather looks good as boaters who haven’t used up their fishing days will be doing so before it’s all over Saturday evening in the Offshore Open. The great bigeye tuna bite Tuesday and Wednesday at the 100 Square of Hudson Canyon produced lots of changes in the tuna category as Hubris started ou with a 213-pounder, but that fish was in seventh place by this morning as RightBite leads at 257 pounds, followed by Millimg Around wit a 251, Canyon Runner at 240, Endorfin with a 220, Riptide at 218, and Ledge with a 214-pounder.
I was finally able this morning to find leaders in other categories. Polorizer leads in white marlin releases over Pepper 8 to 3; Ledge has a huge 43.7-pound dolphin which leads Cheapshot’s 34.5 — and Papa Bear has no competition in wahoo for their 105.7-pounder. There’s another exceptional catch leading in albacore with a 59.5-pounder by Allison that’s well ahead of Caitlin’s 44.7.
The swordfish leader is a 93.5-pounder on Hooked N Rollin’ — not 19 pounds as I mistakingly listed last night.
There were no fluke reports today, but the Golden Eagle from Belmar reported good early action with blues of 3 to 8 pounds on jigs before it turned to a pick during a gorgeous day at sea. The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant had the opposite experience with a slow start followed by an afternoon improvement that kept them out into overtime.
The Jamaica from Brielle will also be seeking blues in the morning. Their tilefish trip was a success this week as anglers limited on bluelines. There were also a few golden tiles up to the 30-poind golden tthat took the pool –plus a surprising 24-pound grouper . George Hanakis boated what may be a state record blueline tilefish of 23 1/2 pounds. Another southern canyons tilefish trip has been set for 10 p.m. Sept. 13. Call 732 528-5014 for reservations.
The Mimi VI from Point Pleasant has a last minute opening for anglers on Sunday’s limited fluke trip. The cost is $110 for the 6:30 to 4 trip. Call 732 370-8019 for reservations..Tomorrow’s forecast is for northwest winds at 5-10 knots, shifting to southwest in the afternoon,
Last night’s blog was published after Milling Around had taken the lead in the Manasquan River Marlin& Tuna Club’s 41st Offshore Open with a 251-pound bigeye tuna, but it turned out that there was an even bigger tuna to come as RightBite weighed a 257-pounder to take the tuna lead.
Entrants in the Offshore Open can run two day trips or one overnighter, until the contest concludes after Saturday’s fishing.
Capt. Lou Grazioso reports the the Cody’s had plenty of excitment during their Tuesday overnighter with Hooked & Running even though they only brought back some yellowfins and a 19-pound swordfish that could win that category. Two bigeyes hit as the were reeling in lines that evening, but the one hook-up was lost at boatside. The next day they were surprised by a blue marlin that Lou estimated at 600 pounds and put on a great show. Blue marlin are a release species in this contest, and it wouldn’t have been eligible because three anglers fought it.
Boats stayed in today, but tomorrow looks good with sunshine and light northwest winds.
Vinny D’Anoon figured the surf would be too rough and dirty today, but gave the same spot as yesterday a try with sand fleas and was surprised to catch six 18-20-inch stripers.
Paul Haertel ran out of Barnegat Inlet to Lindenkohl Canyon recently and found good-sized dolphin.
Boaters entered in the 41st Manasquan River Marlin & Tuna Club Offshore Open have through Saturday to use up their fishing time, and even bigger fish could be weighed later today, but there are already impressive bigeye tuna on the leaderboard.
Hubris had been holding the top two spots with bigeyes of 213 and 181.8 pounds going into today. Following Seas had a 136-pounder for third, and Reel Estate was next with a 76.2-pound tuna. All that changed as bigeyes were weighed this afternoon.
Milling Around has taken the lead at 251 pounds. Endorfen moved into second at 220 pounds, and also weighed a 178.1. Ledge weighed a 214-pounder to move a pound ahead of Hubris for third. Miss Mikayla Ann had a great trip with tuna of 199 and192 pounds, and Tireless boated a 180.5-pounder. i’ll bring the standings up to date tomorrow.
Capt. Jim Freda had a farther and sons trip yesterday on his Shore Catch as they struggled to find yellowfin tuna before jigging produced three tuna out of four hooked;
The Golden Eagle from Belmar got in a day of bluefishing before the bad weather, and it was excellent. The five-blue party boat limits were quickly filled before going into release mode. The smallest blue was 1 1/2 pounds, but most were 4 to 7 pounds. Tomorrow is a blowout, but they’ll be back on the blues Friday.
Bob Matthews, at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina, says the party boats there have been doing very well with fluke — and its been more like the old days with 6-and-7-pounders being common. Rental boaters are still catching fluke in Shark River, but the keeper ratio is getting worse as those fsh move out to the ocean for the trip to offshore spawning areas. Bob notes there’s good action with blowfish and snapper blues in Point Pleasant Canal at the Barnegat Bay end. The striper bite is mostly at night.
The Spring Lake surf was fishable this morning when Vinny D’Anton and I gave it a try with sand fleas. I quickly released a 25-inch striper, and was hoping for a good bite — but that was it. Vinny switched to Gulp to release a couple of small fluke.
The marine forecast is for north winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20 knots with morning thunderstorms and showers throughout the day. Yet. the forecast for the weekend looks good.
Nick Honachefsky reminds that the Barrier Island Beach Brawl is just ahead from Oct. 8-9 with a chance at $16,000 of tackle to be given away for just a $45 entry. Visit http://www.saltwaterunderground.com for info.
The Jamaica from Brielle has added offshore tuna trips leaving att Sunday Sept. 12 at 11 p.m. Call 732 528-5014 for details.
Mid-range tuna trips weren’t successful with the target yellowfins, but there’s usually something else out there to provide some action.
The Golden Eagle frim Belmar had no tuna, but the Exotics trip was just that with lots of dolphin and little tunny plus sharks. They will be sailing for blues in the morning, but not again until Friday.
The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant had a large yellowfin by 7:30 a.m..but that was the only one as little tunny and 20 dolphin were caught. Inshore trips the next two days are cancelled.
Andreas Toy from Keyport had a goood dolphin trip for a family group on Monday, and added a surprising yellowfin well inshore.
Capt. Ron Santee said fluking was much better today on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands as there was some drift in contrast to hardly any on Monday. Kelly Riley collected his monthly pool earnings for his 13.8-pound doormat, but had another good day with a 5 9/16-pound fluke while also catching several others from 3 to 5 pounds. The pool winner today was 7 pounds, 5 ounces.
Tomorrow’s weather forecast is marginal, with only 5-10-knot northeast winds and 1-3-foot seas with a chance of showers. It gets bad after midnight, but the weekend may be saved.
Vinny D’Anton had a big fish hooked on sand fleas at a Monmouth County beach this morning, but a bad spot in his line gave way to what was probably a ray. Small dogfish were a pain, but Vinny did release a small striper and I pulled the hook on one that felt a bit larger.
The two sea bass by-catch ended today.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported marking plenty of blues today, but jigging wasn’t up to par before they added sea bass and fluke. The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant had a similar problem as only the regulars were able to limit on blues.
The forecast is for northwest winds at just 5 to 10 knots.
Sorry for the delay tonight, but I’ve been having a problem publishing.
It certainly wasn’t a nice day to be fishing the ocean, but that didn’t bother the bluefish as the Golden Eagle from Belmar reported all that was necessary to catch a chopper was to get a jig in the water. They were in the 4-to-9-pound class.
At Atlantic Highlands, Capt. Rob Semkewyc canceled fluking on his Sea Hunter because he knew the ocean would be too uncomfortable for his customers. Capt. Ron Santee gave it a shot in Ambrose and the upper bay with his Fishermen, but only had a pick of shorts and keepers.
The ocean should be better tomorrow as the wind drops to southwest at 5-10 knots before increasing to 10-15 later.
There’s been plenty of good fishing weather this summer, but this wasn’t one of those days. Most boaters stayed home or fished in protected waters, and beach conditions were poor. Vinny D’Anton had a very brief shot of striper action yesterday morning on his Chug Bug in Shark River, releasing a 33 1/2-incher and two 24-inchers, but he only hooked a 3-pound blue there this morning — and no one else even had a hit. Vinny wasn;t happy to see the several red spots on all of yesterday;s bass, but they seemed otherwise healthy.
After John Mazzeo broke the ice with his first little tunny tthe day before, Allen Riley joined him for the trip to Sandy Hook yesterday morning. Conditions were fine, and bait was inshore, but there were no tunny. Riley saw some short fluke caught, and an angler at the rock pile caught two triggerfish on squid — one of which was large.
Chuck Many got off to a good start with stripers in the bay yesterday before storms forced Tyman hack to Highlands.
The marine forecast continues the small craft warning tonight, but the wind drops a bit to east at 10-15 knots with gusts to 20 in the morning.
The Golden Eagle and Miss Belmar Princess found bluefish to be picky on jigs Friday morning, but were able to add sea bass to their catches.
You can never tell what may happen during a day of fishing at sea, but few anglers are likely to encounter the situation Denny Joyce and his South Jersey crew on Keepa from Waretown ran into after a yellowfin trip to the Atlantic Princess was unproductive. A move to Chicken Canyon for dolphin also didn’t produce, and they started trolling back to the AP. Fortunately. there was a strike – and a yellowfin of about 30 pounds was reeled to the boat. That’s when the fun started as a blue marlin estimated at 600 to 800 pounds was hot on the heels of the tuna.
When the marlin tried to eat the tuna it broke the leader and the tuna was free but wouldn’t leave the boat as the marlin was waiting on the other side. When the tuna would move to one side the marlin would follow – and he’d get back under his moving protection. Unfortunately for the tuna it was moving so slowly to avoid the marlin that Doug Itjen was able to free-gaff it and get his Joe Shute lure back.
Other South Jersey sharpies are targeting opportunities to the north. Jake Bowes ran his 28-foot Regulator Liquid Therapy 52 1/2 miles to the bluefin tuna fleet off the Rockaways before catching bunkers and bluefish to drift the live baits which resulted in a 71-inch bluefin fought on 50-pound stand-up tackle by Drew Wilmot.
At Atlantic Highlands, Capt. Ron Santee reported a good day with big fluke as follows; ‘Had to work the conditions once again but we were certainly on the Meat!!John Froelich landed 5 beauties with the largest coming in at 7 pounds 4 ounce’s.
We had 4 fish over 7 pounds today including Brothers Mark & John Hrubic who landed a 7.8, 7.5, 7.0 and a 6.4 pound fluke. The 7.8 took the daily pool.
Several fish in the 3-5 pound range along with plenty of short life for the action. Several guys had their 3 by trips end and several landed two nice fish including Mustachio Dan with 2 beauties. Sea Bass in the mix once again.“
The Sea Hunter also had a good day with fluke and sea bass, but due to tomorrow’s forecast of small craft warnings for east winds gusting to 25 knots plus showers Capt. Rob Semkewyc is canceling as it won’t be possible to fish in the ocean and there are few keepers in the protected bay.
Chuck Many got back to saltwater fishing yesterday and came up with a variety catch for Alex and Alyssa Katyan on his Tyman from Highlands.
Tight Lines 