There were no reports today, and I doubt if any boats fished. Indeed, there were probably only a few diehards who fished from shore in rain and wind.

I have to admit I was one of those nuts.  I’ve often fished from shore in Shark River with a northeast wind and rain at my back. Yet, today that combined with very high water and a roaring flood tide that made it hard to maintain my footing while wading.  To make things worse, I didn’t get a hit during the short period I cast. Needless to say, I had no competition and there was no boat traffic.

Gale warnings are posted through Monday afternoon, and even as winds decline in the middle of the week we’ll be dealing with big waves from offshore storms.

Below is an 11.8-pound dolphin that Kyren Dooly caught while fishing for fluke with Paul Haertel of the JCAA in much better conditions last week.

There wasn’t much going on locally in the northeast wind today — and there will be even less Sunday and Monday if the forecast is right.

I fished in light rain this morning from shore at Shark River, and wasn’t bothered by the usual Saturday morning boat traffic. Unfortunately that didn’t make any difference in the fishing as I got only one hit and released a bluefish of about 4 pounds on a Z Man Swimmereez jig.

Vinny D’Anton tried there on the low tide in the afternoon and caught only one very small blue on his Chug Bug. The only boat I saw go out was Miss Belmar Princess, and they reported picking at 2-to-4-pound blues all day as limits were possible. They’ve cancelled Sunday and Monday trips as has the Ocean Explorer from Belmar which had tough fluking on Friday when the drift was already too fast during the start of the NE weather.

The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant had good bluefish jigging on Friday for choppers up to 6 pounds, but cancelled today and won’t be sailing the next two days. That boat is also chartered for the mornings of Sept. 12,15 and 17.

There were no reports today even from somewhat protected Atlantic Highlands. Check with skippers before coming to the Shore the next two days.

A better bet Sunday is to attend the free Jersey WILD Expo from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area at 299 East Colliers Mills Road, New Egypt. For additional info visit http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/expo.htm.

Capt. Chris DiStefano returned from a trip to Hudson Canyon aboard Frank Criscola’s Crisdel from Brielle Yacht Club after they went five for seven releasing white marlin in the Hudson Canyon area. Chris said that the white marlin fishery is breaking up, though there are still boats coming from as far away as North Carolina to seek them. Another boat hooked a blue marlin out there.  Once again, there were no tuna — but boats fishing the Triple Wrecks area were catching yellowfins up to 70 pounds. A blue marlin was also hooked in those mid-range waters.

Betty & Nick’s Tackle in Seaside Park reported that anglers who took advantage of the northeast wind got into a morning bluefish blitz at the pocket in Island Beach State Park.

 

 

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The spell of generally nice fishing weather in the NY-NJ Bight is being interrupted  by  east winds which are predicted to be worst from Saturday night to Monday.  Small craft warnings are going up tonight, but Saturday may be fishable in some areas. Be sure to check with skippers before coming down.

It was already somewhat rough on the ocean today, and only one report was received from Atlantic Highlands about the fluking. Prowler V started offshore, but only found a few keepers among many 16-to-17-inch fluke plus sea bass that also had to be released. They went into the bay for comfortable fishing by noon, and will only fish in the bay on Saturday for anyone willing to try there.

Capt. Stan Zagleski reported good fluking Thursday on his Elaine B. II from Bahrs in Highlands when John Lipari of Woodland Park  won the pool with a 5-pounder. 

 

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported a very good day of bluefishing which included an 8-pounder — the largest party boat blue I’ve heard of in some time. They also caught some fluke and released sea bass — and had excitement with a cownose ray.

Capt. Vinny Vetere of Katfish Charters in Great Kills used the big boat to deal with rough seas today as the Seakeeper keeps it stable. They used live bunkers to catch over a dozen stripers from 15 to 32 pounds. He may have one or two spots open on Sunday.

 

Vinny D’Anton of Wall fished his local surf this morning and nailed a 29-inch striper on a Chug Bug in very fishable conditions as the east wind was only blowing about 15 mph at the time. He also hooked a 24-incher, but I never raised a thing.  Vinny found only sand fleas and a calico crab in his keeper — no fish bait at all. The windy weather ahead may finally get mullet moving out of the rivers to improve surf fishing.

Capt. Dave De Gennaro fished the mid-range offshore areas with his Hi-Flier from Barnegat on the weekend and his party managed to jig a yellowfin tuna before the skipper anchored up to chunk. When a hit came, it didn’t seem like a tuna and the fish soon revealed itself to be a white marlin.  Though presently abundant in Hudson Canyon, whites rarely wander far inshore from the canyon edges.

That white was being fought on relatively light tackle with an Avet reel while Dave continued to chum. He was in for another surprise because a second white was eating every butterfish thrown in the water. At first it wouldn’t take one with a hook in it, but eventually made a mistake — and Hi Flier had an even rarer “inshore double of whites being fought. The original white was released, but the second one broke off.

De Gennaro noted that weakfish still haven’t shown in Barnegat Bay, but there’s lots of action with blowfish which have been of two sizes — tiny and “giant”.

The Shore party boat fleet had another good day with small blues. The Golden Eagle from Belmar started off well jigging before getting into bonito, chub mackerel, fluke and released sea bass. They start night bluefishing on Saturday Sept. 25.

Miss Belmar Princess had good jigging with A-27 diamonds both plain and with red tail for 2-to-4-pound blues north of the inlet. A couple of whales were spotted.

There were two totally different fluke reports from Atlantic Highlands. Capt. Ron Santee said he had his best day of the season on the Fishermen. Gary Long caught fluke of 7.7 and 5.2 pounds plus a 19-incher. Jeff Criswell  had a 6.9-pounder. Santee is chartered Saturday morning, and is worried that the weekend NE forecast could send the fluke offshore before the season closes on Sept. 22.

On the other hand, Capt. Rob Semkewyc had one of those days every skipper dreads as conditions were terrible where he was fishing with the Sea Hunter and only one keeper was caught among the shorts.  There’s never been any question but that Rob tells it like it is — good or bad.

Fluke pro Dave Lilly of Hazlet was incapacitated by a bad back this year and gave others a chance to win fluke tournaments, but got out for the fist time recently to fish with Charlie Parker in the ocean as they caught plenty of large fluke topped by an 8 1/2-pounder for Parker’s son CJ (5).

Capt. Vinny Vetere had another fine day of striper fishing Wednesday with a one-man charter on Katfish from Great Kills as Jim Calvo caught 20 up to 30 pounds. Vetere is open on Sunday.

 

 

 

Please continue past empty boxes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jim Hutchinson Sr, reports: “Labor Day weekend at the New Jersey shore is pretty much the traditional end of summer, but it certainly does not mean the end of summer fishing for the boats of the Beach Haven Charter Association. Rather, the captains are experiencing some of the best fluke fishing of the year as they fish out the final weeks of the fluke season.

 

To celebrate Labor Day weekend, the Senker Family and AVH Demolition jumped onboard the “Miss Liane” with Captain Ray Lopez for an offshore charter. By mid morning, the Senker’s son reeled in a 50 pound plus bluefin tuna. The bite didn’t end as the eager anglers caught 5 mahi-mahi also. Another day the Crotty family joined Captain Ray for a day of fishing off Barnegat Light doing some bottom fishing. Throughout the day 8 year old Connor caught a keeper fluke for his family and along with numerous black sea bass.

 

On the boat “Starfish” with Captain Carl Sheppard and mate Marlyn Graham there has been some good fishing for bonito within 2 miles of the beach. They trolled their favorite lures at different depths to score on bonito ranging from 6-8 pounds. The fish have been swimming in with the snapper bluefish along with the mackerel. The water is warm enough for the wildcards from the south.”

 

 

Capt. Chris Di Stefano was aboard  Crisdel from Brielle Yacht Club yesterday as Frank Criscola and his crew enjoyed another great day of white marlin trolling from Hudson Canyon east and north. It’s been the best white marlin bite in that area in many years, and Chis said it’s drawn not only the South Jersey fleet to the north — but even boats from Virginia.

The only problem from his point of view has been the complete lack of tuna in that area. The yellowfin tuna bite has been much further inshore, and the same applies to dolphin. Crisdel trolled the canyon lobster pots and didn’t raise any dolphin. They’re also inshore, where blue waters extend into the Mud Hole and flying fish are a common sight. Surprisingly, Di Stefano said there was no surface life where the white marlin are abundant.

Fluke fishing was much better for the Atlantic Highlands fleet today.  Capt. Rob Semkewyc of the Sea Hunter said there many more keepers plus lots of short action all day. Capt. Ron Santee had a similar report from the Fishermen, where his father boated the largest fluke at 6.6 pounds. The pool went to a 4.5-pounder.

At Belmar, the Big Mohawk reported OK fluke fishing that wasn’t as good as the previous day though there were a few limits and the pool fluke was about 8 pounds. They sail at 6:30 a.m.

The Golden Eagle picked at 2-pound blues before adding some fluke and releasing many sea bass.

The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant had an angler aboard who limited on blues plus two bonito by 10 a.m. Capt. Dave Riback noted that four of his last six trips have been successful.

Vinny D’ Anton of Wall fished his local beach this morning to release stripers of 20 and 24 inches on his Chug Bug. Lots of snappers were also hitting it.

John Bushell Jr. got out of Betty & Nick’s Tackle in Seaside Park yesterday to fish and reported some blues up to 6 pounds in a surf full of bait.

 

Capt. Mark De Blasio was one of the big money winners with his specialty bigeye tuna during the MidAtlantic Tournament out of Cape May, and he continued his hot streak with Blue Runner during the 38th Manasquan River Marlin & Tuna Club Offshore Open that concluded over the weekend.

The Joe Miele party boated tuna of 95.55 and 93.85 pounds that took most of the Calcutta funds, over a 75.75-pounder by Charles Heil on Miss Tres — though the latter was in the tuna stringer Calcutta and won at 138.05 pounds just ahead of the 134.95 pounds posted by Marshall Allegra on Internal Fixation.  Miss Tres also won the Small Boat Calcutta.

De Blasio left no doubt in the mahi and wahoo Calcuttas with a huge 51.25-pound dolphin and a husky 44.85-pound wahoo.

The Costa Release Award for blue marlin releases was tied at one and decided on earliest release by Tom Britt on Lucky Strike over Adam La Rosa on Canyon Runner.

The Costa Release Award for white marlin was a tough one as so many whites were caught that it took 33 releases on Jason Parker’s Reel Steel to win. Larry Hesse recorded 28 white releases on Goin’ In Deep.  There were no entries for the swordfish and longfin albacore awards.

There was no contest on Labor Day, but Blue Runner scored big with tuna at the mid-range grounds. Capt. Hans Kaspersetz of Sheri Berri at Twin Lights Marina in Highlands was aboard as the crew limited on yellowfins and used up all their mackerel for chunking before returning a day early. A big golden tilefish was added on an electric reel drop along with the smaller grey tilefish. (see below)

 

Ocean bluefish jigging was very good today. Miss Belmar Princess got into them north of Shark River Inlet on long drifts as A-27 jigs both plain and with tails produced best on the small choppers. The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported very good bluefish jigging as anglers could limit with fish up to 4 pounds plus some bonito before they switched to catching some short and keeper fluke.

The Jamaica from Brielle got into blues that didn’t hit jigs well on Labor Day morning, and switched to chumming offshore where fish were in the slick but not hitting during several drops. They finally found eating fish and ended up with lots of chub mackerel plus some bonito, blues and fluke. The pool went to a 5-pound bonito caught by Sammuel  Florea from Reading, Pa. Reservations are available for the first canyon trip on Thursday at 7 a.m. Call 732 528-5014.

Bob Matthews reports from Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina that anglers continue to weigh in big fluke. Ryan Sherwood boated a 9 3/4-pounder on the Big Mohawk, and Noah Pokojni (9) from Easton, Pa. had a doormat of 10 pounds, 1 ounce in Shark River. The river also produced fluke of 5 1/2 pounds for Myra Reevey and 5 3/4 pounds for Harris Reevey. Bob also noted the great tuna bite at the mid-range areas, and hopes for better surf striper action when the mullet drop out of the river.

Vinny D’Anton caught a school striper in the river this morning, but the only other action was from pound-size blues. He moved to the beach and caught two mini-bass on a Chug Bug before switching to fluke to catch four small ones before snappers started tearing up his lures.

Bob Correll of Bay Head was on his local beach at about 10:30 yesterday morning when birds started working over cocktail blues. Bob did well with them on metal, but two friends each caught a legal striper in the midst of that bluefish blitz.

Capt. Ron Semkewyc said drifting conditions were horrible for him yesterday on Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands, as the current was too strong. Today started out the same, but conditions turned around at noon and his fares started catching fluke up to the 4.6-pound pool winner.

Capt. Vinny Vetere reported another good day of striper fishing on his Katfish from Great Kills with over 10 bass up to 30 pounds.

Grumpy’s Tackle in Seaside Park noted a mix of fluke plus small blues and stripers in the surf along with an occasional bonito or Spanish mackerel. Blowfish are building up in the bay at the BB and BI markers. Chumming is important.

Capt. Chris Di Stefano said Frank Criscola’s Crisdel from Brielle Yacht Club had red hot white marlin fishing this week in Hudson Canyon — but there were no tuna at the time. They couldn’t catch up to the 33 whites posted in the Manasquan River Marlin & Tuna Club Offshore Open by Reel Steel. That contest has ended, but the club hasn’t posted official results as yet.

Fluke fishing conditions were good today on a calming ocean and with less current.

At Belmar, the Big Mohawk reported a pick that included several limits and an 8.5-pound pool winner.  They will sail at 6:30 a.m. all week. The Ocean Explorer had high hooks that took limits from four to six keepers, though others had a hard time hooking the fluke holding tight to structure. The Golden Eagle  found blues to be a little tougher today, but some fares caught up to 10 plus a few  bonito and Spanish mackerel.

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands reported a couple of fluke limits were taken, but jiggers didn’t do as well as yesterday. Gulp and bait was best.

Capt. Stan Zagleski had a decent pick of keeper fluke  on his Elaine B. II from Bahrs in Highlands. Robert Finley of East Brunswick took the pool with a 6 1/4-pounder by just two ounces over Melanie Fazio of Spotswood.

The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant did well with blues, bonito and a few Spanish mackerel today, but they are chartered on Tuesday.

Capt. Jim Freda of Shore Catch Guide Service in Point Pleasant reports there has been great mid-range action on both poppers and jigs the last few days for both yellowfin and bluefin tuna in areas not far from each other. This is the time to take advantage of a surface fishery that doesn’t occur every year. Lots of whales and dolphins out there also.

The ocean was a lot more comfortable today, and boaters took advantage of that. The forecast has hardly any winds over 10 mph during the next several days.

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands reported Jeff Criswell Jr. caught five legal-sized fluke today — topped by a 27 1/2-inch 9-pounder. Capt. Ron worked rock piles, and said jiggers did best.

Also at that port, the Angler had a new monthly and big pool leader on Thursday when Tom Karg of Millington boated a 29-inch, 9 13/16-pound near-doormat.  Ray Slodowski of Toms River had an 8 1/2-pounder Wednesday. Prowler V reported a 7.11-pound fluke Tuesday for Carlos Santos of Newark, and an 8.8-pounder Wednesday for Pa. angler Wayne Horner.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar had very good jigging for blues today, with some limits and a pool blue of about 6 pounds.

The Big Jamaica from Brielle had slower fishing today, but ended up with good little tunny action  along with bonito, chub mackerel, and some blues. The pool went to a 14-pound little tunny boated by Dylon Podlinski of Bayonne.

At Seaside Park, Betty & Nick’s Tackle noted continued good fluke action in the surf. A 3 1/2-pounder was weighed in from Island Beach State Park after it hit nuclear chicken Gulp.

 

 

Little tunny are building up in waters closer to shore, and that gamest of our inshore species should be providing lots of opportunities into at least October.

In case that name isn’t familiar to you, little tunny is the proper common name for what most people refer to as false albacore. Like the albacore, the little tunny is a member of the tuna clan within the mackerel family — but it has little resemblance to the long-finned albacore which is a canyon species that rarely even moves into the mid-range tuna grounds. There’s also a world of difference in eating quality between those species.

Little tunny are just as fast as albacore, and a great fish to catch on light tackle. Most are released, but that’s often difficult to do because they literally fight to death. Though I haven’t heard of surf reports yet, little tunny should give surfcasters a thrill if they can get a small metal ahead of them and reel as fast as possible.

The Big Jamaica from Brielle got into little tunny today along with bonito plus some chub mackerel and blues. The pool went to a Maryland angler with a 14-pound little tunny.

 

Capt. Howard Bogan advises fares to use small blue or silver jigs or epoxy jigs.  The first canyon trip departs at 7 a.m. on Sept. 6. Call 732 528-5014 for reservations.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar got into good bluefishing as some fares had limits of 2-to-6-pounders. Be sure to bring spinning tackle for best results.

Though the ocean still had a swell today, Capt. Stan Zagleski of Elaine B. II from Bahrs in Highlands said it was perfectly fishable for a mix of shorts and keeper fluke.

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands made it out to the ocean and had decent fluking with a pool fluke of 6.9 pounds — but some big sea bass had to go back as that season is closed again.

The Big Mohawk from Belmar waited another day for conditions to improve, but will sail for fluke at 6:30 Sunday morning. Light winds are forecast the next two days.

Capt. Dave De Gennaro has been doing well with a mix of king and Spanish mackerel plus bonito and dolphin at Barnegat Ridge with his Hi Flier from Barnegat; On Sunday he’s planning to seek tuna at 2 a.m., but may return to the Ridge at the same time on Labor Day.

Grumpy’s Tackle in Seaside Park weighed in fluke up to 4.85 pounds and blues to 1.4 pounds that Phil La Grossa Jr, and his brother Nick caught on their father’s boat this week. 

 

 

 

 

 

Chuck Many once again proved there are lots of stripers in all sizes available in the Metropolitan NY/NJ area during mid-summer along with the more usual targets.

He already had lots of action before I arrived at 4:30 with husky porgies plus some small stripers and blues in Shrewsury River  on his Ty Man from Gateway Marina in Highlands for Mike Greene of the Bronx, Bob Bowden from Little Silver and Jason Marti of Harvey Cedars. After loading up with large bunkers. Many ran past schools of small blues to the Hudson River, where those bunkers were drifted for stripers in the 20-pound class until dark. Then he switched to power drifting for weakfish with sandworms, but couldn’t find any of the target species while putting his crew into school stripers (including one over 28 inches) and a surprising triple of big cownose rays where he’d never seen them before. I even caught a short fluke in the dark on a worm.

Many then anchored for chunking, and we were soon getting hits from bigger bass than expected. A 29 1/2-pounder was larger than anything we had caught on live bunkers, but it was soon surpassed by a 38-pounder. We had to work through some bluefish and a smooth dogfish to release additional legal stripers, and I added a 33-pounder just before leaving.  Below is a shot of Mike Greene with the biggest bass just before Many (left) released it.

The bass release count ended at 41, and brought the Ty Man’s total over the 1,000 mark for the season. I’ll settle for striper fishing like that in prime time, and was amazed to do so well in the dog days of August.

We got in well before the northeast wind slew in, but it arrived with some rain this morning. Many skippers cancelled trips, but Capt. Rob Semkewyc warned nine customers that he’d have to stay in protected waters with his Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands. They wanted to go and had action with shorts, but the biggest fluke was 17 inches.

Vinny D’Anton said Shark River was fishable this morning, but he only caught one bluefish there on his Chug Bug. Sea Girt pro Frank Conover got a couple of blues on a jig. It’s great to see him fishing again after having to go through an adjustment to his hip replacement.

The Jamaica from Brielle got into bluefish on jigs early Thursday before switching to what’s become the usual variety of small dolphin, chub mackerel, bonito, sea bass and fluke. A 5-pound bonito won the pool. Unfortunately, the two-fish sea bass by-catch ends with the end of the month.