Tight Lines

I wasn’t able to connect with AOL yesterdsy evening, and have only been on-and-off today. As a result. I’m trying to get something out ASAP. Hope to have the fluke contest results tomorrow.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar found that bluefish were still very fussy in the large swell and strong current. Those whostayed at the rail and worked their jigs still managed a five blue limit. Not surprisingly, sea bass fishing was also tougher under those circumstances, though some were able to add the two allowed as a by-catch during the summer in N.J. waters. This fishing should improve as the ocean settles. Tonight’s. southeast blow is predicted to drop to south at 5-10 knots. Showers are possible.

Capt. Jim Freda ran his Shore Catch out of Manasquan Inlet very early in order to start jigging on the bluefin grounds at 5:30. His crew tripled up with unders right away and added two king mackerel while losing a large tuna that was cut off by another boat.

hick any took a break for somq freshwater fishing, but also got back on stripers one evening earl in the week on Tyman from Highlands.

As noted in yesterday’s blog, I’m running a garage sale in the morning at my home — 1552 Osprey Ct; , Manasquan Park, NJ 08736; The hours are from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. , and there is a wide selection of tackle and accessories for most types of fishing –ranging from ultra lght to giant tuna rods selling for just $20. If tjere’s enough interest, I may add Sunday morning hours. . Call me at 732 757-5531, or e-mail cristori@aol.com

I’ll also have my surfcasting book for sale, and some old and new fishing magazines can be picked up at no charge.

Elsa eliminated fishing today, but the weather looks good tomorrow with northwest winds at 5-10 knots.

Chuck Many is usually pictured with fish that have stripes, but he also catches big fish in fresh waters as with yesterday’s carp.

Kathy and I are downsizing homes, and I have to sell off a lot of fishing tackle and accessories to prepare for less space. As a result, I’m running a garage sale at 1552 Osprey Ct. in Manasquan Park (Wall) N.J . on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Almost everything must go, and there are such bargains as giant tuna rods at $20. Lots of rods are available along with some reels and many lures from freshwater to big game. Some household items will be displayed and everything is available — including the house. For info call me at 732 757-5531 — or e-mail cristori@aol.com

I’ll also have my surfcasting book for sale plus many fishing magazines that anglers may be interested in which are free for the taking.

Though I never got any notice of them, I found out that the Raritan Bay Anglers Fluke Tournament is set to run on Saturday — as is the Sandy Hook Bay Anglers Fluke Tournament over the weekend. Though tomorrow looks like a total washout from Tropical Storm Elsa, Saturday should be much better. The forecast for Friday is north winds at 15-20 knots with gusts to 30 before going southwest in the afternoon. Showers and thunderstorms are also in the mix, but party boats expect to be sailing again on Saturday.

Doug Rusch with a hefty fluke on his boat out of Manasquan Inlet.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar has had decent jigging for blues from 2 to 8 pounds plus some sea bass and fluke the last two days. Those who work at it mange limits.

The Monmouth County surf has been quiet recently, but i did manage two small stripers Wednesday morning on sand fleas while Vinny D’Anton added another. I just did some casting this morning and scratched out a small bass on a purple Band of Anglers Dart Spin.

-Off-shore tuna fishing is at a summer peak, with good catches from both the canyons and lumps not too far offshre.Thursday’s forecast is for south winds at just 5-10 knots before it increases to 10-15 plus gusts to 25 and possible thunderstorms in the afternoon.

Capt. Jim Freda postponed his charter yesterday due to the forecast, but his son Tommy talked him into trying the nearby lumps where they jigged nine bluefins up to 45 inches.

Paul Haertel of the JCAA ran out to the canyons yesterday where his crew quikly trolled yellowfins up to a 41-pounder and released a large white marlin.

,Bob Correll and Zac Eisenbrey joined Mike Heaney of Bay Head on his 40-foot Cabo ,October Sky; in Lindenkohl Canyon for a hot yellowfin tolling bite at dawn yesterday.The rest of the trip out there wasn’t as productive, and a missed swordfish bite was the only overnight activity.

The Canyon Runner from Point Pleasant reported the bigeye trolling bite of a lifetime as follows:

Capt. Mark DeCabia whad the trip of a lifetime – maybe the best ever big-eye trip on record for a sport fishing boat with 37 big-eyes on the Rebel with Owner Mike Tucci in one overnighter. Capt Mark just wanted to pass along the following in his own words – and with what they accomplished it’s worth the read: From Capt. Mark……….”I’ve waited a long time to have the opportunity to pull off an amazing day and feat with my crew and could not have done it without them. After getting located on a few piles it was a slow pick with still very good fishing under most circumstances, then for some reason it really turned on. What made this different from any other day on the edge is that it lasted 8hrs straight without a break. If you put 6 rods out you hooked 6, we even put 1 rod out just so everyone could rest for a second. But without having all the time and prep that is done during the winter things wouldn’t have gone as smooth. Catching 37 bigeyes and big daytime sword is something ill never forget it was right day, right time, right crew which made it successful.”

Gotta Go Got on ‘Em Too! Capt. Mark DeCabia and Owner Mike Tucci’s bite were instrumental in putting our hardest fishing Member in the Coaching Service into one of his best trips of his career and as a Member. When Capt. Mark was in the middle of his epic bite Member John Levitt on the “Gotta Go” (who did 30+ canyon trips last year and has already done 12 canyon trips this year) found out through the service and was ready to drop everything – and did drop everything – grabbed his crew – and ran offshore. And as such – nailed 9 of his own big-eyes plus a ton of other fish – way to go John and the Gotta Go Team!

Small craft warnings are in effect through late tonight,with severe thunderstorms up to 10 p.m. However, the morning forecast is for just 5-10 knot southwest winds before becoming 5-15 with gusts to 20 in the afternoon.

The surf was down this morning, but there was still good whitewater cnditions for sand flea fishing. I missed a good hit on my first cast, but was waiting for a hit on the second hook when I became aware of some slack line. It turned out that the bass was actually hooked and had run into the beach. Circle hooks often make up for dumb anglers! I only added one other release, and Vinny D’Anton added another, with all in the 24-25-inch class. Unfortunately, I must have forgotten to put my sand spike in the car at Spring Lake the day before. If anyone should find a long plastic sand spilke colored international orange, I’d like to get it back as I must have had that for about half a century!

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported another good bluefish jigging trip this morning with 3-8-pounders for a boat limit plus some sea bass.

The offshore photos below are duplicatesCapt. Ron Santee reported much better fluking today on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands.There were four limit catches. and the pool fluke weighed 6 3/16 pounds.

The offshore photos below are duplicates that I couldn’t delete

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After a tough trip Saturday in rain and rough seas, northern N.J. Shore bluefishing bounced back to the limit action boaters have become used to.recently. The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported a hot jigging bite until the tide changed today around 10:30, by which time they had a boat limit and were releasing while also adding some fluke and sea bass. The blues ranged from 2 to 8 pounds. Unfortunately, there’s been no further mention of Spanish mackerel which were being picked at a few weeks ago.Those bluefish must be happy with the bait offshore, because they haven’t been providing much surf action. Indeed, there wasn’t much to be caught in the Monmouth County surf this morning. Those casting lures did nothing, and though the whitewater conditions looked good for sand flea fishing, Vinny D’Anton got the only hit –and that small striper got off. Jim Louro switched to fluke and released a couple of shorts on a Band of Anglers bucktail jig and Gulp combo.

Southwest winds at 10-15 knots are forecast for the morning before increasing to 15-20 in the afternoon.

Capt. Rob Semkwyc weighed his largest fluke of the season on the Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands when Tom Salerno boated an 8 5/8-pounder this weekend. There had been lots of shorts action, but that dropped off today as some 4-and-5-pounders hit.

The Big Mohawk from Belmar reported picky ocean fluking on Sunday, but they did have a good catch with favorable conditions on July 1.

Most boaters didn’t sail yesterday due to the northeast forecast and the Golden Eagle from Belmar reported “The sea conditions were really tough yesterday. There was heavy rain most of the day out there and everybody was wet and cold but those that stayed at the rail caught fish. There were plenty of readings and plenty of fish around but you had to stand out in the rain all day to catch them. ”

I haven’t received today’s report before heading to a holiday party, but suspect it will be a lot better. Though the Monmouth County surf was rough this morning, and lure fishermen weren’t getting hits, it was fishable with sand fleas. I managed three school striper releases.though the largest was only a 26-incher which surpised me by surfacing upon getting hooked. Vinny D’Anton had one release. but two other hits failed to hook up on the circle hooks that usually do the job.

Tomorrow;s forecast looks good with southeast winds at 5-10 knots and three-foot seas.

The striped bass migration has passed by NY/NJ Bight, but that doesn;t mean there are no stripers left in the area.

Chuck Many proved tht point Friday when he put his nephews Lukas and Jake into 17 released bass on Tyman from Highlands despite having to fight through smooth dogfish at times.

Today’s weather forecast pretty much shut down fishing, but small craft warnings qre going down this evening — and Sunday starts with northwest winds at just 5-10 knots before going southwest in the afternoon. There’s a chance of showers.

The Jamaica from Brielle had good bluefishing yesterday and continues those 7:30 a.m. trips. It’s all been on jgs and teasers. Jeff Huick of Jamesburg won the pool with an 8-pounder. The Jamaica has a few openings on tuna trips at 10 p.m. Monday and Tuesday. Call 732 528-5014 for reservations. They’ve heard of both blufins and yellowfins being taken short of the canyons.

The Canyon Runner from Point Pleasant has a discounted spot on its July 6-7 canyon overnighter. Call 732 330-5674 to grab it at $1600

Capt. Dave DeGennaro has his Hi Flier from Barnegat for charter or individual anglers on Sunday and Monday. Barnegat Ridge for bonito or the Reasor for bluefins are among the possibilities. Call 732 330-5674.

Many of those following this blog are probably not old enough to remember when huge trawlers from all over the world were dragging waters as close as 12 miles from our shores and destroying previously abundant stocks of cod, haddock, ling, whiting, mackerel and herring. To top it off, most of the damage was being done by the Soviet Union and their Iron Curtain allies while Americans were building bomb shelters to protect themselves against a likely attack from them. Yet, our State and Defense Departments were opposed to extending fisheries jurisdictions even as many small countrys were doing so. It seemed to be a hopeless situation, but when anglers and sportfishing skippers formed the Emergency Committe to Save America’s Marine Resources there was some hope as a massive letter writing to congressmen campaign resulted in inroduction of 200-mile legislation by Rep. Norman Lent (R-NY) and a rush of co-sponsers to the bill that started 200 mile interest in Congress.

All of this was brought to mind when I came upon a news release from a July 1977issue of the Fisherman magazine . It stated :”When the Emergency Committee to Save America’s Marine Resoures was formed four years ago there was much skepticism agout the possibility of enacting 200 mile fisheries legislation even among supporters of the cause. Yet, the Senate’s action in passing S 961 last week cleared the way for a 200 mile limit no later than July 1, 1977. In view of the intense lobbying effort directed against this legislation by both State and Defense Departments plus the wealthy high seas tuna and shrmp industries, it’s a miracle that the relatively unrganized fishermen and conservationists were able to achieve this vistory. Emergency Committee Chairman Allan J, Ristori noted “While it’s gratifying to taste success after years of effort, it is even more satisfying to know that the triumph belongs to the concerned citizens who took the time to write their congressmen. Big money and vested interests can carry the day when the citizintry can be lulled into thinking that they, as individuals, have no clout. However, the 200 mile fisheries jurisdiction battle proved the value of citizen participation in the political process.”

Bluefish jigging has been the most dependable inshore action lately. The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported decent fishing today as anglers who worked at it were able to limit out. Ocean fluking is also looking better. The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands got off to a poor start with wind against tide and no drift, but as conditions improved so did the fishing as many fares managed two or three kepers up to the 5.6-pound pool winner — and Capt. Ron Santee was able to catch five of legal size himself.

Small craft warnings are going up at 6 p.m., though the forecast isn’t that bad as northeast winds in the morning are only predicted to be at 10-15 knots. Showers are possible.

NOAA Fisheries is celebrating its 150th anniversary of fisheries science since the great marine scientist Spencer Baird opened the now famous Woods Hole, Massachusetts lab in a shed borrowed from the Lighthouse Commission. A bottom trawl survey to determine the abundance of species is conducted yearly, and those aboard the trawler are always anxious to inspect what comes aboard. Some of their favorite oddities are shown below.

Chief scientist Phil Politis noted: While hanging out in the dry lab, waiting for the net to come up, I was chatting with some of my day watch crew. One of them asked me, “What is something you always look forward to seeing when you come out here?” After thinking for a moment, it hit me. I’ve been waiting this entire trip to see some “eyed” Acadian redfish!  

Acadian redfish are ovoviviparous. This means their eggs are internally fertilized and hatch inside the female. She then releases live young. Not all fish do this, so we add an extra maturity stage for redfish to describe this condition. It’s called “eyed,” which simply means the larval fish have developed eyes and are one step closer to being spawned. When we sample these fish, the larvae may spill onto the cutting board, and if you pause for a moment, you can see their tails begin to flicker back and forth. This is the only fish we catch where you can witness the larval fish moving around first-hand.  

I then asked my fellow sea-going scientists what they most looked forward to seeing, and here are some photos of their faves.

Fan Favorites 

Joey Dunphy

Two long slender snipe eels coming down the sorting belt caught Joey Dunphy’s attention. This slender fish has a very thin, elongated jaw. With their mouth open, they’ll move their head back and forth and snag prey, such as shrimp, on their small, hooked teeth.  

Maggie Mahoney

Using extreme caution, Maggie Mahoney held up a mighty wolffish. Almost as long as Maggie is tall, this fish has sharp teeth and a powerful jaw.  They regrow their teeth annually because crushing their prey—crabs, starfish, sea urchins and clams—causes a lot of wear.

Katie Rogers

Not to be upstaged by the wolffish, Katie Rogers had a photo shoot for this beautiful red-eyed gaper. This fish is a member of a deep-sea anglerfish family. Typically, it is a little more flat, but it has ballooned itself up due to the change in pressure. Also, it’s hard to miss their deep lateral lines running all over their bodies. If there was a fish version of a baseball, this would be it.

Getting back to more familiar species; the Golden Eagle from Belmar reported very good bluefish jigging as a boat lumit of 3-7-pounders was quickly taken before going into release mode.

The Queen Mary from Pt. Pleasant has also been in on that daily bluefishing excep for the first of their weekly Tuesday tuna trips which produced two bluefins plus many little tunny. and a surprise blast of mostly 11 to 15 pound bluefish in the dark on their way offshore.

Capt. Ron Santee reported a pick of keeper fluke Wednesday while fishing in perfect ocean conditions with his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands as water temperatures were back up to 68 to 70 degrees. One angler limited, and the pool winner was 4 pounds.

The forecast is for west winds at 5-10 knots before dropping to 5 knots in the afternoon. Showers are possible early and likely later along with thunderstorms.