Tight Lines

There are only two days left in the 30th MidAtlantic before millions are distributed to the winners, but those last two days usually produce several changes as skippers zero in on any perceived weak link.

That certainly doesn’t apply to blue marlin as yesterday’s 958-pound tournament record on Wolverine will be hard to beat as, depending on what’s weghed in this evening, the next two spots are held by a 681-pounder on Goin’In Deep, and a 487 by Reel Tight. It was sad to watch a small boat, Pelagic Hunter II. offload a great catch- a blue marlin that was long enough to qualify, but not heavy enough at 383 pounds to make the 400-pound minimum.

Tuna trolling has been excellent, especially for Bob Hugin’s The Right Place even though his best at 188 pounds was pushed back by Pipe Dreamer’s 235 and 227 yesterday. Hugin still has a huge lead in tuna points at 626 to Pipe Dreamer’s 231. Yet, there’s room for improvement even there as Bernard and Drew Dinardi hit a blast of bigeyes on Absolut-ly from Brielle Yacht Club that included the still standing tournament record of 254 pounds in 1993.

The Dinardis were among the nicest people I’ve ever met. and ran their boat without any professional help.

The Jamaica from Brielle reported excellent bluefishing this morning, followed by limits of sea bass. they have room in the morning at 7:30, and also sail for blues at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.The forecast is for light west winds

Capt. Lou Grazioso found fine mid-range yellowfin tuna action yesterday while fishing with the Cody’s on their Hookin & Rocking from Brielle. Lou threw his cast net in the river and was surprised to come up with anchovies which the tuna jumped on. They caught six out of 16 — including a couple that hit poppers cast by Matt Cody. Most of the tuna were in the 35-50-pound class, but a couple were over 75 pounds.

I’ll be back with a late blog after the MidAtlantic scales close at 9 .

When you start a N.J. tournament with a 681-pound blue marlin. as Goin’ In Deep did in the MidAtlantic this week, you might figure that marlin should stand up. Yet, just a couple of days later it proved to be not even close as Wolverine weighed a tournament-record 958-pounder.

Following is Dave Merrill’s official tournament report from day 3.The:previous record of 847 pounds was set by Wade Lober aboard his Why Not back in 2014.  Congratulations tothe crew of the Wolverine!  Larry Hesse’s Goin’ in Deep out of Manasquan, New Jersey is now in second place with his 681-pounder followed by Steve Pilipauskis’ Reel Tight from Riva, Maryland with his 487-pounder.             

The tuna bite continued to be very good and once again on Day Three and numerous big eyes and yellowfins were weighed and a major shake-up occurred in the standings.  Captain Bryan Boyle had Chip Caruso’s Colts Neck, New Jersey-based Pipedreamer at the scale shortly after the tonight’s weigh-in session got underway at 5 pm. with a pair of barrel-sized big eye tuna in the cockpit that anglers Caruso and Andy Confortini battled.  The pair of big eyes weighed 235 and 227 pounds and moved Pipedreamer into the lead and second place in the tuna category.  Bob Hugin’s Summit, New Jersey-based The Right Place is now in third place with a 188-pound tuna. 

Anthony Martina’s Sea Wolf from Middletown, Delaware remains atop of the white marlin division with his 82-pounder followed by Art Boykin of Berlin, Maryland on his Lucky Duck II with his 80-pounder.  Andrew Dotterweich’s Fish On from Jupiter, Florida sits in third place with his white marlin of 75 pounds. 

In the dolphin category William Keller’s Blood Money from Brielle, New Jersey remains atop the board with his 31-pounder followed by Jeff Spencer’s Bent Tent from Easton, Maryland and Jeremy Blunt’s Wrecker’s out of Ocean City, Maryland who are tied at 26 pounds.     

There’s a new leader in the wahoo category after Captain Danny Veid of Tarpon Springs, Florida weighed a 57-pounder for angler Gerry Imparato aboard Amarula Sun.  Patrick McGovern’s Mack 900 based in Somerset, New Jersey was bounced to second place with his 32-pounder.  John Homick’s Salt Lick hailing from Annapolis, Maryland is now in third place with his 18-pounder.     

Some of the boats with notable billfish releases on Day Three include Jamie Diller’s Canyon Lady with seven white marlin and David Bowen’s Big Stick with five.  Dave Anderson’s Krazy Salts and Luke Blume’s C Boys each released four white marlin.  John Dougherty’s Outrage, Pat Healey’s Viking 80, Sid Gold’s Can Do Too, Andrew Kevlahan’s Dorothy Marie and Adam Youschak’s Reelin’ Feelin’ each released three white marlin today.  George Robinson’s Polarizer and Jim Walker’s Conspiracy each released a blue marlin.     

The mid-range yellowfin tuna have been off-and-on, often disapointing when there’s too much boat traffic. However, that didn’t seem to be a problem on Tuesday.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported 10 in the 85-90-pound class were boated and many lost. Two were on jigs while the rest hit chunks. Their last Exotics trip of the season will sail next Monday night.

Capt. Dave Riback said his previous Tuesday tuna trip “stank”, but some yellowfins were caught this week — up to a 130-pounder. In contrast to the Golden Eagle report, Riback noted there was a 60/40 edge in favor of jigs.

The Golden Eagle reported bluefish from 3 to 10 pounds hitting jigs close to the inlet provided quick limits before they did the same with sea bass.

Bob Matthews reports from Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina that while Shark River keeper fluke ratios are down the ocean fluking has been very good. Surf striper action has been primarily at night.

Vinny D’Anton thought he had a big bass running line off his light tackle yesterday morning in the Spring Lake surf before realizing the fish had to be a ray. Fortunately, it was a relatively small one of about 15 pounds which shortened the fight before release. That was the first tme we’ve heard of a cownose hitting sand fleas.

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands had spotty fluking today, and is taking tomorrow off to let the weather get by. Though the forecast is for only south at 5-10 knots, thunderstorms are possible.

Today is the last call for early entry into the Oct. 8-9 Barrier Island Brach Brawl and a chance in a drawing for Costa sunglasses. Visit saltwaterunderground.com/barrierislandbeachbrawl

Today’s action at the MidAtlantic started as the scales opened at 5 with Amarula Sun blowing out the wahoo category with a 57-pounder while Pipe Dreamer took over in tuna with bigeyesof 227 and 235 pounds. I’ll have a late blog after the scales close at 9.

The big money winner in last weeks Beach Haven Marlin & Tuna Club”s White Marlin Invitational was Kaar, but the prize catch was a last minute 182;9-pound bigeye tuna on Crazy Tuna.

Jeff Merrill’s recap of Day 2 at the MidAtlantic follows:

As noted yesterday, the 2021 MidAtlantic is indeed off to a record-setting start. In addition to a record field of 203 boats the tournament’s total cash purse is now officially set at $5,939,050!  Worthy of note is a significant portion of that cash pot this year comes from a special calcutta that was added to commemorate 30 years of MidAtlantic tournaments.  The 30^th Anniversary Mega Marlin Calcutta, with its $30,000 additional fee to participate, pays out 32% and 18% to the top two white marlin and top two blue marlin respectively.  This calcutta alone has a total payout of nearly $1.6 million!  It’s also important to mention that the MidAtlantic tournament is donating 1% of the total proceeds of that specific calcutta evenly to three worthwhile fishing organizations that benefit recreational anglers including the International Game Fish Association, Recreational Fishing Alliance and The Billfish Foundation.             

Day Two dawned partly cloudy with a light breeze for the 94 boats that gave it a go.  Yesterday’s billfish bite saw 169 white marlin and 13 blue marlin released and the hot bite continued on Day Two.  The evening’s weigh-in session saw changes to several categories but the big news of the day came in the white marlin category where we have a new leader after Captain Donnie White pulled Anthony Martina’s Sea Wolf based out of Middletown, Delaware to the scale and weighed an 82-pounder for angler Pete Roskovich.  Captain Andrew Dotterweich had his Fish On from Jupiter, Florida at the scale at exactly 5 p.m. when it opened and weighed a white marlin of 75 pounds and moved into second place bumping Luke Blume’s C-Boys from Berlin, Maryland to third place with his 69-pounder.     

In the blue marlin category, Larry Hesse’s Goin’ in Deep out of Manasquan, New Jersey remains in the lead with his 681-pounder followed by Steve Pilipauskis’ Reel Tight based out of Riva, Maryland with his blue marlin of 487 pounds.  Third place remains vacant. 

The hot tuna bite continued on Day two and once again a solid count of yellowfins and big eyes were weighed at Canyon Club Resort Marina in Cape May and Sunset Marina in Ocean City but cracking the top three proved to be difficult.  Bob Hugin of Summit, New Jersey still is atop the leaderboard with a 188 pounder on his The Right Place.  Val Fichera’s Warden Pass based in Cape May, New Jersey weighed a 182-pound big eye today and moved into second place.  Ken Hager’s Taylor Jean from Tinton Falls, New Jersey is now in third place with his 179-pound big eye.   

We have a new leader in the dolphin division after William Keller’s Blood Money from Brielle, New Jersey weighed a 31-pound mahi.  Jeff Spencer’s Bent Tent from Easton, Maryland weighed a 26-pound dolphin today and moved into a tie for second place with Jeremy Blunt’s Wrecker’s out of Ocean City, Maryland.   

No wahoo were weighed on Day Two so Somerset, New Jersey’s Patrick McGovern’s aboard his Mack 900 remains in the lead with a 32-pounder followed by John Homick’s Salt Lick from Annapolis, Maryland with an 18-pounder.  Third place remains vacant.   

Pat Healy’s New Gretna, New Jersey-based Viking 80 factory demo led the day in releases with 16 white marlin which included two triple headers and one double header.  Some of the other boats in the field with notable billfish releases on Day Two include William Keller’s Blood Money with five white marlin and one blue marlin.  James Davis’ Wave Paver released 10 white marlin on Day Two and Dave Anderson’s Krazy Salts released eight.  Anthony Martina’s Sea Wolf released six white marlin while Doug Allen’s Big Oil and Lance Converse’s Lunatico on Effe Mae each released four white marlin on Day Two.  Fletch Creamer’s Ditch Digger released two white marlin and one blue marlin and Michael Savino’s Texas Tea released two blue marlin.        

As noted in last night’s late blog, the MidAtlantic’s 30th tournament opened with a bang as most categories filled in with potential winners. That trend continued as the scales opened this afternon as Fish On weighed a 75-pound white marlin to move into third — ahead of a 69-pounder by C Boys. I’ll have an update with a late blog after the scales close at 9.

At Atlantic Highlands, the Fishermen reported slugging away at fluke and sea bass despite a cranky sea. The Sea Hunter called it OK fluking with plenty of action between shorts and keepers.

Tomorrow’s forecast is for south winds at 5-10 knots with showers likely in the afternoon.

Tropical species are moving into warm northern waters. That included a tarpon in Barnegat Inlet reported by Fisherman;s Headquarters in Ship Bottom. Unfortunately, it was speared. A sad ending for a great, though virtually inedible game fish.,

Even if a hurricane blew out the rest of the week, the 30th MidAtlantic would still be considered a success with most of the categories already filed in with hefty fish. Jeff Merrill’s official account of the first day follows:

The first ballyhoo hadn’t hit the water on Day One of the 30^th MidAtlantic and already two records were set at sportfishing’s “Main Event.”  The tournament field is set at 203 boats, smashing the previous record of 183 set last year.  Both tournament venues were busy prior to the Captain’s Meeting yesterday handling calcutta entries and last-minute registration and although cash payouts are still being verified, another cash purse record has been set this year at $5.9 million-plus, breaking the previous record of just over $4 million, also set last year.   

On Day One 163 boats headed offshore into light winds and sea conditions were beautiful on the edge based on reports heard around the weigh stations.  The evening’s weigh-in session got off to a fast start as Luke Blume’s C-Boys from Berlin, Maryland weighed a 69-pound white marlin but unfortunately their time atop the leaderboard would be brief.  Less than 30 minutes later Art Boykin’s Lucky Duck II, also out of Berlin, Maryland set the standard in the category after weighing an 80-pounder bumping C-Boys to second place.  Nick Shriver’s RoShamBo from Leonardtown, Maryland and Lance Converse’s Lunatico on Effe Mae based out of West Palm Beach, Florida are tied for third place after weighing 68-pounders on Day One.       

In the blue marlin category, Larry Hesse’s Goin’ in Deep based in Manasquan, New Jersey with Captain Walter Harmstead at the wheel weighed a blue marlin of 681 pounds and currently sits atop the leaderboard in the category.  Steve Pilipauskis’ Reel Tight got on the leaderboard after weighing a blue marlin of 487 pounds and currently is in second place.  Third place is vacant. 

The tuna bite was very good on Day One with a mix of big eyes and yellowfins weighed at both venues.  Summit, New Jersey’s Bob Hugin aboard his The Right Place was definitely in the right place today weighing five big eye tuna including a 188 pounder which leads the category and a 175 pounder which is in third place.  Ken Hager’s Taylor Jean from Tinton Falls, New Jersey weighed a big eye of 179 pounds and is in second place. 

With no minimum weight for dolphin, many were weighed on Day One and Jeremy Blunt’s Wrecker out of Ocean City, Maryland leads the category with his 26-pounder followed by Joe Drosey’s Rhonda’s Osprey with a 24-pounder.  Third place currently belongs to Curtis Campbell’s Reel Estate from Baltimore, Maryland with a 23-pounder.

Numerous wahoo were also weighed and Patrick McGovern’s Mack 900 based out of Somerset, New Jersey is atop the category with his 32-pounder followed by John Homick’s Salt Lick out of Annapolis, Maryland with his 18-pounder.  Third place is vacant.   

Some of the boats with notable billfish releases on Day One include William Keller’s Blood Money with seven white marlin released while Peter Cherasia’s Shark Byte and Wil Thornhil’s Showtime each released six white marlin.  Eddie Wheeler’s Cabana, James Davis’ Wave Paver and Matthew Weber’s Max Bet each released four white marlin.  Rusty Carter’s Stream Weaver released three white marlin and a blue marlin.  Jamie Diller’s Canyon Lady released four white marlin and two blue marlin while Darren Helwig’s Roll Groove let go two blue marlin and two white marlin.  Boats with three white marlin released on Day One include Jon Duffie’s Billfisher, Ryan Putman’s Is That So, Joe Bernert’s Quick Raise, Billy Wrede’s Lovin’ Life, Anthony Alves’ Kaarmaa, Adam Youschack’s Reelin’ Feelin’, John Gudelsky’s Reel Joy, Joseph Stein’s III Marli, Daniel Burt’s Pumpin’ Hard and Warren Halle’s Cookie Monster. 

There should be many weigh-ins during today’s opening of the MidAtlantic in Cape May plus Ocean City, Maryland, but I will wait to summerize them in a later blog after the scales close tonight

The Mimi VI from Point Pleasant has a last minute availability on a Wednesday 7 a.m. 32-hour offshore tuna trip. The cost is $480, and the one spot can be reserved by calling 732 370-8019.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported bluefish jigging was decent today before they added sea bass plus some fluke and chub mackerel. Both plain and tubed jigs were equally effective. That boat is fishing offshore on its weekly Exotics trip tomorrow.

Chuck Many got back to striped bass fishing and put his crew on them, including a ouple over 25 pounds, before heading east for a boat limit of fluke up to a 7.74-pounder on his Tyman from Highlands.

The forecast is for southeast winds at 5-10 knots before increasing to 10-15 in the afternoon.

Capt. Jim Freda said he saw a white marlin in the Sea Girt surf a few days ago. Could that be the same lost marlin observed from LBI to Bay Head a few weeks ago?

The big money MidAtlantic Tournament begins Monday and runs through the week.There were 170 boats registered going into today’s captains meetings at Cape May plus Ocean City, Maryland, but I haven’t received the final number or the size of the purse so far.

The White Marlin Invitational concluded yesterday at Beach Haven, but I haven’t been able to find any results.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported bluefish jigging was picky this morning, but they had no trouble adding sea bass.

The Big Mohawk from that port had their best fluking of the season yesterday with action from start to finish and many limits.

Capt. Jim Freda of Shore Catch said yellowfin tuna fishing was slower the last couple of days — and some boats turned back today due to the surprsingly rough northeast sea.

Tomorrow’s forecast is for east winds at 5-10 knots.

Jim Hutchinson Sr. reports as follows for the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association:

“The New Jersey summer flounder action does not get much better than it is right now. The boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are right in the middle of the action.

Captain Dave Kreines has been running his boat “ByteMe” down to the inlet areas for great August fishing. Jeff, Beth, and their two kids were out, and everyone caught fish, with over 30 f”luke landed, including 2 keepers over 20-inches. Patrick and Jennifer booked a 4-hour trip without the kids for their first taste of saltwater fishing. They happily took home 21 and 22-inch fluke and were excited to catch a variety of other species, including black sea bass, bluefish, sea robins, and small sharks.”

Captain Brett Taylor of Real Reaction Sportfish had Tom Clark and his daughter on a 5-hour ocean charters. The pair caught a full boat limit to 7-pounds. They released close to 25 short fish along with several keepers to 20-inches. The S&S Bigeyes tipped with natural baits were the ticket. Another trip with Captain Brett had Bob Reim and crew on a 5-hour fluke charter with mate Luke. They fished a few spots ending with 10 keepers to 24.5 inches.

Captain Gary Dugan of the “Irish Jig” has been consistently finding keeper fluke for his parties fishing the waters off the southern tip of Long Beach Island including artificial reefs and other areas.

Several of the BHCFA captains participated in the recent Beach Haven Marlin and Tuna Club’s annual white marlin tournament. Noticeable were the stalwart efforts of the Association’s junior mates as they were active serving as volunteer helpers for the event.

Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.BHCFA.org

The MidAtlantic begins its 30th year with captains meetings Sunday at Canyon Club Resort Marina in Cape May and Sunset Marina in Ocean City, Maryland. Originally it was called the Mid Atlantic $500,000 because it offered the biggest pay-out along the northern coast. Last year the tournament purse came to $4,074,470. I’ll have more about this tomorrow.

Kevin Kloza got a big surprise while triggerfishing Friday at Shrewsbury Rocks on the Mary Louise as he tangled with a 57-inch black drum that had a 40-inch girth and was estimated at 102 pounds before release.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported good bluefishing on jigs this morning before adding sea bass and fluke to the catch. Some of those abundant blues finally moved into the surf yesterday morning as Greg Tirpak was casting at Monmouth Beach and caught 10 ranging from 2 to 10 pounds.

The forecast is for north winds at 10-15 knots with gusts to 20 before east at 510 in the afternoon.

Paul Haertel of the JCAA passed along the results of last week’s Heavy Hitters Fluke Tournament as follows:

2021 JCAA HEAVY HITTERS FLUKE TOURNAMENT FINAL STANDINGS

The final results are in and the big winners in the tournament were Walter Fisher’s team who won the tournament with a three fish total of 22.05 lbs. However, it was actually his wife Kim who led the team to victory by catching the largest fluke in the tournament at 10.05 lbs. They swept the fluke Calcuttas and won a total of $7,851. The other big winner was Eric Engard who caught the biggest sea bass in the tournament at 3.05 lbs. His team also swept the sea bass Calcuttas and won a total of $2101, not to shabby for a sea bass. Below are the complete results. Thanks to all our sponsors, weigh in stations and participants! 
Three Fluke Total1st Walter Fisher 22.05 lbs.2nd Danny Nykoforuk 17.22 lbs3rd Tony Pacitti 16.13 lbs4th Jason Rawa 15.44 lbs 5th Jeff Jones 14.5 lbs.  Largest Fluke – Walter Fisher 10.05 lbsLargest Sea Bass – Eric Engard 3.05 lbs.

The Beach Haven Marllin & Tuna Club’s White Marlin Invitational is winding up this evening. So far the only report I was ,able to find was of yellowfin tuna on Highly Leveraged the first day,but will keep searching for the results;

Though the overall jigging for blues on the Golden Eagle from Belmar was rated just O.K., there were bigger ones of 8, 9 and 10 pounds mixed in. Sea bass once again provided some action later in the trip along with “plenty of ling”. They have room on the Saturday and Sunday mornng trips.

The Jamaica from Brielle had good bluefish and sea bass fishing today, and is also fishing at 7:30 p.m. tonight and tomorrow for blues.

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands had poor drifting sonditions again, but still recorded several limits and fluke up to a 5 7/8-pounder by Bill Goorman. They are chartered Sunday.

The forecast is for southwest winds at 5-10 knots. Showers are possible early — and thunderstorms in the afternoon.

Chuck Many took a break from stripers to fish in upstate New York for lake trout with Kurt Hoefig for lake trout, and enjoyed great jigging on 4-pound tackle in Cayuga Lake. Kurt is guiding in the Finger Lakes area for trout, Atlantic salmon and bass — and can be contacted at 908 442-3656.