Tight Lines

With the threat of Debbie hanging over the event, 199 boats entered in the White Marlin Open got their first of three days in yesterday when bigeye tuna blasts created most of the action. Not surprisingly, bigeye specialist MJ’S Sportfishing got into a school that hooked up on five rods — of which they managed to boat four up to 164 1/2 pounds to pull just behind a 166-pounder by ex-Senate candidate Bob Hugin on his The Right Place. However, before the weigh-ins at Ocean City, Md. ended, the boat CTRL ALT DEL arrived with a 178.5-pound bigeye as well as a 154.5.

MJ’S also released a blue marlin that may have barely been big enough to be weighed in.

The rush to get in a fishable day continued today as 210 of the 318 boats fishing for a purse of $8.5 million are on the water. I’ll try to add a blog tonight if there’s a substantial change and Word Press stands up.

The 51st White Marlin Open out of Ocean City, Maryland has been extended by one day through Saturday in order to compensate for the effects of Tropical Storm Debbie, That contest has a field of 318 boats fishing for a purse of $8.5 million. Boaters can select any three days to fish from today through Saturday.

Paul Haertel of the JCAA reports the results of the JCAA Heavy Hitters Fluke Tournament as follows:

“2024 JCAA Heavy Hitter Fluke Tournament – Final Standings

The Jersey Coast Anglers Association’s Heavy Hitters Fluke Tournament began on 8/1 and concluded on 8/4. The weather was not as good as many would have liked and the ocean temperatures were very cold. That resulted in generally poor fluke fishing though there were a few good catches. Kevin Cole of Newton, NJ was the big winner with a 5.82 lb fluke that he weighed in at Atlantic Bait and Tackle. Kevin won a YAMAHA 9.9 HP 4 stroke engine and cash for his first place fish. He also swept the 1 fluke and 3 fluke Calcuttas. Congrats to Kevin and the other winners listed below. Thanks to all those who participated along with our sponsors and weigh-in stations.

Fluke

1^st – Kevin Cole 5.82 lbs *

2^nd – Adam Schechter 5 lbs.

3^rd – Robert Pagiuco 4.86 lbs

4^th – Keith Scaglione 4.79 lbs (caught by Jon Lasser)

5^th – Tom Lichnak 4.53 lbs.

*Also won all 4 fluke Calcuttas ( 1 fish 5.82 lbs., 3 fish 13.4 lbs.)

Sea Bass Calcuttas

Adam Schechte

Dave Lilly couldn’t find any fluke bigger than 3 to 4 pounds to enter in the weekend Leonardo Flukemasters Tournament, but had a moment of excitement when a tripleheader of rays was hooked up.

The forecast is for west winds at just 5-10 knots before going south in the afternoon with showers and seas up to 5 feet.

N.Y.C. Capt. John McMurray has a real problem with too many bluefins these days as some are too big for the casting tackle his customers are fishing with and that often results in a long fight that doesn’t end well.

Capt. Ron Santee Jr. started off with another good fluke trip on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands. Several 3-4-pounders were boated and Arnoldo had a 4 5/16-pounder, before it suddenly went dead there and everywhere else Ron went. There was a big swell that might have had something to do with that.

A small craft advisory is up until late tonight.

The morning forecast is for west winds at 5-10 knots before going southwest in the afternoon at 10-15 plus gusts to 20.

Capt. Ron Santee Jr. had a charter with his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands today, and the fluke cooperated as he noted there were lots of keepers along with plenty of shorts.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar loaded up with chub mackerel while also picking some blues and sea bass.

The White Marlin Open gets started Monday in Ocean City, Md. after the weekend captains meeting.

A small craft advisory is up into Sunday afternoon. Sunday’s forecast is for southwest winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 25 and possible showers and thunderstorms.

Can’t open anything except Facebook. Chasin Tails B&T in Atlantic Beach, NC reported a very unusual surf catch as follows:

with a metal jig he picked up from the shop this morning. He snagged a shad on his retrieve then this 32 lb king came up and smoked the jig & shad combo. After a 45 min fight on 12 lb mono David finally managed to pull him up on the sand and headed for the shop.

Nice catch and great story

Hope to have this cleared up tomorrow.

The White Marlin Open at Ocean City, Maryland begins fishing on Monday. I’ll be covering that if Word Press holds up — which it isn’t doing at present as I haven’t been able to open messages today.

Vinny D’Anton reports surfcasting along the north Jersey Shore remains picky. He manages to get into a few bass and blues most mornings by working hard with a variety of lures. Today he was surprised by a blue of almost 10 pounds on a popper, and last week one of his bass was a 28 1/2-incher. The usually reliable sand flea bite has never turned on — and those baits have been hard to rake — which may be why bass haven’t been feeding on them.

Vinny has heard that some Spanish mackerel have been showing up in the surf well south of his usual Monmouth County surf spots.

The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant has been into great jigging for small blues most days, while bonito, sea bass and a few Spanish are often added.

Anglers seeking big bluefin tuna have been using live blues to attract their target just a few miles offshore.

A small craft advisory is up this evening. West winds at just 5-10 knots by morning increase to southwest 10-15 in the afternoon.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar got into lots of small blues on jigs plus some bonito on jigs today, That boat is chartered tomorrow, but will be back on the blues Thursday.

They made their first exotics trip this week and got into some mostly smaller yellowfins, but up to 40 pounds. They also reported a lot of skipjack tuna, and saw two marlin chasing baits.

A small craft advisory is up tonight. The morning forecast is for south winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20 and likely showers.

Fluke pro Dave Lilly quickly limited his crew on fluke in the ocean — as usual. He says the trick is to avoid long drifts, and pound any piece that gives up a keeper. He says fluke are staying on very small spots this year.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar got into lots of small blues on top once again — and there were some bonito mixed in.

There was a dramatic change in area fishing today as Capt. Ron Santee Jr. reported his best day of fluke fishing on the Fishermen out of Atlantic Highlands — and the Golden Eagle from Belmar got back into 2-pound blues on the surface.

Santee said he was into keeper fluke right from the beginning as some fares managed limits among many just short. There were also some sea bass, and Tina won the pool with a 4 3/8-pound fluke.

The Golden Eagle blues hit diamond jigs readily, and some bonito were mixed in.

The weather looks good with north winds at 5 knots that switch to southeast in the afternoon.

Jimmy Johnson’s Quest for the Ring out of Atlantic City started with bigeye tuna blasts that had been absent during the Big Rock. Bigeye specialist MJ’s Sportfishing started on top with a 193.5-pounder, but Sushi had the early volume lead as Cameron Coblentz fought every tuna. However, Ro Sham Bo came on at the end to boat a 202-pounder and win the Box of Bigeyes title. The prize fish of the contest was boated on the last day as Christian Sanchez boated the only big blue marlin — a 649-pounder for Team Harvey. The white marlin winner was La Barca at 65.3 pounds.

The 63 boats caught or released11 blue marlin, 105 whites, 3 sails, 18 bigeyes, 12 yellowfins, 10 dolphin and one wahoo.