Tight Lines

It didn’t take long for Vinny D’Anton to make the transition from stripers to spotted sea trout after returning to his winter home in Sarasota, Florida. The first morning wade fishing at Indian Beach produced steady action casting lures, and a friend also released a 19-inch red drum.

That sounds a lot better than the N.J. small craft advisory through late Saturday night, and the forecast of northwest winds at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 25.

Looking back, the IGFA notes “The largest fish ever taken within IGFA regulations. Period. With great whites now protected, this IGFA record is destined to stand for the ages.

Weight: 2,664 pounds Line Class: M-130 / All Tackle Angler: Alfred Dean Location: Ceduna, South Australia Date: April 21, 1959 Fight Time: 1 hour Lure/Bait: Porpoise Tackle: Ashaway line; Penn 14/0 reel; Fiberglass rod Courtesy IGFA / igfa,org “

#fishing#fishingrecord#WorldRecords#sharks

Capt. Mony Hawkins of Morning Star from Ocean City, Maryland reported his Dec. 31 trip started “on a glassy sea with a clear sky revealing pre-dawn constellations in their glory. Cygnus the swan; or, as is also understandably known, the northern cross, lead a long string of boats east.

A hint of wind began to ruffle the sea’s surface just before dawn causing mirror-like conditions to be lost.

We paused briefly at Kathy’s Reef where Tyler & Jeff deployed a twenty block reef unit.

From there I pressed on — in the wrong direction. (again!)

Birds are dependent on predators forcing bait to the surface. We found hundreds of bonaparte gulls – the right kind for locating tuna – but they were mostly siting with a few sentinels on winged march; all waiting for a signal the show was about to begin.

For us? That signal, in that area at least, was not to be seen.

I pressed offshore.

With blank screens for hours I decided to interrupt our fishing with some catching – to put some sea bass in the box should the unthinkable occur.

While the cbass bite was not what we’d had just a few days ago, it dern-sure wasn’t bad either. With plenty of fish in the box after just an hour, and today’s summer-like southerly breeze picking up in a big way, we hauled anchor and got back to bluefin fishing.

And fishing..

Well? Then what happened?

Some dern fine tuna catching is what happened.. Our best day yet, in fact. Went 6 for 9. Two were caught on spinning gear. Two were lost also. The shelly caught one on the troll. There were four others – including Greg’s – which bit at one minute after sundown.

I’d heard the chatter on the radio. Fleet must have knotted up tight. Lots of ungentlemanly language owing cut off fish and gear!

Last day of sea bass. It’s closed until approximately May 15th.

Last day of generous bluefin limits too. We drop to just one between 27 and 73 inches January 1st. Hothrough latewever, we’re also allowed one over 73 inches a year.

Believe I’ll begin hunting that one before too long.

Happy New Year Everyone!”

A gale watch is up through late tonight in NY/NJ Bight. The Friday forecast is for west winds at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 25.

It appears that bluefin tuna can no longer read calendars as they remain within range in northern waters. Andreas Toy proved that on Dec. 17 when they filled a request for fresh tuna on New Years Day. After the first hook-up was lost, they were able to quickly come up with another off northern New Jersey.

A gale warning is up for NY/NJ Bight with west winds by Thursday afternoon gusting to 45 knots.

Here is the six-man tautog limit referenced yesterday on Capt. Joe Massa’s My Three Sons.

Party boat blackfishing has been generally picky, but Capt. Joe Massa had no such problem when he ran his My Three Sons up from Southside Marina in Point Pleasant to his spring slip in Morgan Marina. Fishing his small spots that aren’t practical for party boats resulted in a six-man limit up to a 9-pounder.

This is an earlier shot of Massa from a Rhode Island trip.I seem to have misplaced the shot of this trip I

A gale warning is up to Thursday afternoon for west winds gusting to 30 knots,

This Facebook entry details the famed “million-dollar tuna.

“Guy Yocom set out with the express purpose of catching an all-tackle world record yellowfin — he was registered in Mustad Hooks’ “Hook A Million” world-record contest, which promised $1 million to anyone who caught an IGFA all-tackle world-record fish with a Mustad hook. Amazingly, Yocom and his team pulled off the impossible.

Weight: 427 pounds Line Class: M-130 / All Tackle Angler: Guy Yocom Location: Cabo San Lucas, Mexico Date: Sept. 18, 2012 Fight Time: 50 minutes Lure/Bait: Chunk bait Tackle: Jerry Brown line; Shimano Tiagra reel; Melton rod Captain: Greg DiStefano Courtesy IGFA / igfa,org”

A small craft advisory is up in NY/NJ Bight through Tuesday afternoon. The forecast is for west winds at just 5-10 knots before increasing to southeast 10-15 with gusts to 20 in the afternoon.

The S.S. Miss Belmar got in its one-day tog tournament yesterday with a good crowd aboard on a beautiful day. The start in northern areas was slow, but boats fishing to the south were catching more blackfish — so that’s where the boat ended up. The only detail available was that an 8.5-pounder became the new seasonal leader. Another such tournament day may be set for Jan. 12.

SHO-NUF usually trolls for giant stripers out of Cape Charles, Virginia during the winter, but switched it up this week to try offshore for giant bluefins. A giant tuna was fought for 4 1/2 hours before being lost at boatside. The next day they missed a couple of hits before settling for a 66-incher that was cut up for fresh tuna dinners.

A small craft advisory is up through Monday afternoon. Southwest winds at 20-25 knots will drop to 15 by the afternoon.

The Miss Belmar is running a tog tournament tomorrow, but the Golden Eagle and Big Mohawk from that port will sail as normal for tog.

Though there’s a small craft advisory up from Sunday afternoon to Monday afternoon, the morning forecast is just south at 10-15 knots.

Fishing on offshore wrecks is at its peak. but the season for sea bass is coming toward closure. Fortunately. there are lots of openings left on N.J. party boats, while New York anglers can fish on the almost daily trips of the Capt. Lou Fleet at Freeport. Call Anthony Gillespie at 516 623-5833 for up to the hour info on the Capt. Lou trips.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar not only had sea bass up to 6 1/2 pounds on yesterday’s trip, but also jumbo porgies plus some weakfish and blues. To top it off, they fed dogfish to big tuna though those fish were lost.

The forecast is for southwest winds at 10-15 knots plus rain before going to west at 15-20 and gusts to 30 in the afternoon.

NW at just 5 knots tomorrow

Cold, but calm weather should prevail for the Christmas period in NY/NJ Bight. With north winds at just 10 knots forecasted for the next two days, conditions should be ideal for another shot at a striper in the surf which shouldn’t interfere with the holiday festivities.

MERRY CHRISTMAS & FISHY NEW YEAR!