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Great opening to WMIT

The Beach Haven Marlin & Tuna Club’s 49th annual White Marlin Invitational was a week late in terms of good weather, and thus took a beating in entrees as only 22 boats hung in with the contest that was  moved back to provide for better fishing weather. Even then, no boats sailed into still lumpy seas on Thursday. It came down to a three-day tournament for each boat to get in two days of fishing, and only nine boats took a shot at Friday — which turned out to be probably one of the best in WMIT history despite a wicked late afternoon  thunder storm the held up the weigh-ins.

Every boat caught or released fish. The total reported came to only five white marlin releases and one 8.95-pound dolphin — but the expected 15 yellowfin tuna and the hoped-for eight bigeye tuna plus a rarely-seen blue marlin weigh-in.

Melina, a BHMTC boat, had a great day with the blue marlin longer than the contest minimum, which weighed 356 pounds, plus three bigeyes from 86.3 to 117 pounds.  However, their bigeyes weren’t big enough as Mary Joe (bigeye specialists MJ’s) took the tuna lead with a 156.2-pounder. The first day was already a huge improvement over last year when Jersey Nutz won the Treasure Chest with only a 62.5-pound tuna

Though only 22 boats are involved, the Calcutta total up for grabs is $67,500. After yesterday’s fine fishing, there should be plenty of action at the weigh-ins this afternoon. The results came in much too late last night due to the storms, but there shouldn’t be any problem in getting another blog out when results are in tonight.

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands did well all day with sea bass and mixed-size fluke despite a lack of current for drifting.

The Jamaica from Brielle reported a hot Friday bite of chub mackerel plus a few blues and lots of ling and sea bass’

The Golden Eagle from Belmar had another busy day today with sea bass to get the two-fish limits plus ling.

Capt, Dave De Gennaro is going to run open on Sunday for a trip to Barnegat Ridge with his Hi Flier from Barnegat for bonito and sharks  — and hopes the weather continues to look good Monday for the mid-range offshore areas that have been producing bluefin tuna.

 

There was no lack of boat traffic in Shark River this morning as stir-crazy boaters rushed out to sea. I managed a couple of small stripers casting from shore right away, but soon moved to the still somewhat rough surf where  I did nothing on poppers. Frank Manzi stuck it out with the small bass in the river and ended up with nine, while Vinny D’Anton got three there (including one on a Chug Bug) before adding another on that popper in the Belmar surf.

The Ocean Explorer from Belmar found an 8 3/4-pound fluke that was close to the seasonal leader despite still large swells Friday. The Big Mohawk from Belmar did even better today as Joe Links boated a 10 3/4-pound doormat fluke.

TBM-Joe Links

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Last minute mako wasn’t legal

Unfortunately, the last minute mako brought in by Seaquested to win Mako Mania turned out to be short when brought over to be weighed for Mako Fever.  The skipper had made the measurement on a curved fork length as with tuna. Yet, as I noted in my blog about the tournaments, sharks must be measured on a straight line basis. The measurement at Mako Mania was done while the shark was on the scale and with a Conservation Officer present, but when laid flat at Mako Fever it was inches short of their 83-inch caliper — and wasn’t weighed. Already disqualified there, that entry also awaits its fate when the Mako Mania committee meets. More about all this tomorrow.

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Just ounces short of $100,000

Winning a tournament is a thrill for any angler, but the joy is modified somewhat when it turns out that the winning fish fell just ounces short of being worth $100,000.

John Frione from Ct. was fishing with Joe Bartnecki on KB3 from Shark River in the Staten Island Tuna Club’s Saturday contest that had a $100,000 prize for the largest striped bass over 50 pounds. Anthony Arcabascio Jr. was trolling near them off Sandy Hook when Frione trolled a bass of about the right size on one of Anthony’s father’s lures — a Tony Maja Magic Mojo. Frione was a runaway winner of the modest contest purse, but the scale recorded 48.9 pounds — just short of the magic $10,000 50-pound mark.

Capt. Vinnie Vetere was fishing the contest with his Katfish Charters from Great Kills, and managed to put together a striper catch — but without a bass to challenge the leader. He noted that Frione is a friend, and on the next day another friend caught the bass he needed the day before as Capt. Rudy on Lady L. II boated a 52-pounder.

h17 oz from $100,000

 

Yet another “50” was caught on Father’s Day — the eighth to be weighed so far this season at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina. Jason Hadzimichalis was trolling a Tony Maja bunker spoon from High Life off Asbury Park with his father William when the 54-pounder hit.

Father's day 54  The Canyon Runner from Point Pleasant almost never has room on any of their canyon tournament trips, but the group scheduled for the Ocean City, Md. Tuna Tournament from July 13-15 fell apart. The Canyon Runner fleet has won lots of money in canyon tournaments, and this is an unusual opportunity for a group to pick up at the last moment.

It’s taken some time to track down last weekend’s shark weigh-ins at Brielle, but it appears that a 729.5-pound mako was weighed at Hoffman’s Marina for the Brett T. Bailey Mako Rodeo from Nor’ Easter. Capt. Tom Savastano had heard about that weigh-in over the weekend, but thought it wasn’t in a contest. I couldn’t find it on Hoffman’s web site, but came across it on their Facebook today. The Mako Rodeo organizers don’t send out press releases or maintain their web site. Last year it took weeks and many requests before I could find any results from that contest. In addition to the huge mako, there were other weigh-ins for Mako Rodeo listed in Hoffman’s facebook as follows: A 242-pound mako on Fin-ominal; a 206.5-pound thresher from Tra Sea Ann; and even a 196-pound bluefin tuna from Lucky Strike.

Capt. Rob Semkewyc was surprised to see very few fluke fishermen at Atlantic Highlands this morning. They must have read weather reports from earlier in the week that had predicted possible showers and thunderstorms in the morning. I didn’t see any of that in the forecast last night, and it was a picture perfect day. Semkewyc said fluking was also pretty good on his Sea Hunter with a couple of limits and a couple of 5-pounders.

The Jamaica from Brielle was in on yesterday’s big bluefish jigging bite that started out with 2-to-4-pounders. It was topped by the largest bluefish I’ve heard of this year — reported as a 20-pounder by Stephen Chesonis of Hopatcong. If he’s a Fisherman subscriber that blue would blow away the current leader in that division of the Dream Boat Challenge which is just 16.56 pounds from Long Island. As noted here last night, four of the 10 places in bluefish have been filled due to the 15-pound minimum. Golden Eagle from Belmar reported blues up to 18 pounds yesterday, but there was no report when this blog was published,

Speaking fof big blues, Vinny D’Anton of Wall was shocked to hook a 36-incher this morning in the Belmar surf on his Chug Bug. He said the fight lasted at least 15 minutes before he was able to release the chopper which may have been the largest in the Jersey surf during this disappointing season.  D’Anton also plugged two stripers up to 25 inches.

I had been casting at Spring Lake, but never raised anything to my popper there. A quick stop at Point Pleasant Canal on the way home around 7:30 revealed no one fishing at the public access, but I decided to make a few casts with the Z Man 6-inch jig — and I was surprised to catch two small stripers.

Grumpy’s Tackle in Seaside Park had a big surf bass weighed in Monday as Terry Mcquad used bunker to attract a 42-inch, 31.10-pound striper.

Those attending tonight’s meeting of the Salt Water Anglers of Bergen County are in for a treat as famed fluke pro Dave Lilly of Hazlet is the guest speaker.  Lilly is a regular winner in almost every fluke tournament along the Jersey Shore. The 8 p.m. meeting is at the American Legion, 33 W. Passaic St., Rochelle Park.

Mimi VI from Point Pleasant has scheduled a Hudson Canyon open trip that will leave at 10 p.m. Monday night and return at that time Tuesday. It’s limited to 12 at a $400 fare.  Call 732 370-8019 for reservations.. That boat is also open for bottom fishing at 7 a.m. on Friday.

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Manhattan Cup was a success

“Following is the report on Friday’s Manhattan Cup as provided by Garry Caputi of the RFA, who organized the event along with Capt. Frank Crescitelli:

 The Manhattan Cup is Back

 

On Friday, June 8th the return of the legendary Manhattan Cup Charity Striped Bass Tournament—presented by Yamaha—was held and proved to be a huge success. After a hearty buffet breakfast at the Liberty House 28 boats departed Liberty Landing Marina for a special two column blast off, the columns honoring those who lost their lives in the Twin Towers attack on 9/11. This was the 18th time the event was held, and it is back after a two-year hiatus.

 

“The fishing was tough,” said tournament co-director Capt. Frank Crescitelli, “but some of the teams, including the many donated boats carrying the 22 wounded warriors attending as tournament’s guests, caught a mix of striped bass and bluefish. Bluebird weather can make it hard to put together a good catch, but it did make for a great day on the water for everyone.”

 

The FCT Manhattan Cup included fishing teams in private boats fishing alongside boats donated for the day by the area’s top charter and light tackle guides. Its goals are to highlight the amazing fishery that exists within sight of downtown New York City, provide a great day on the water for at-risk veterans and generate funds for fisheries conservation. The event is all charity, with donations to the Fisheries Conservation Trust and toward sponsoring warriors who were assembled by our very own Robert Gil, a hero veteran of the Iraq War. He returned with physical and physiological wounds and credits the Manhattan Cup with saving his life. Today Robert is the Cups official warrior liaison and favorite son.

 

After a full day on the water the boats returned to the docks, the teams turned in their score cards and headed inside for beverages, dinner and festivities inside Liberty House a stone’s throw away from the docks. Crescitelli reprieved his role as master of ceremonies, as raffles and the live auction got underway raising money for the charities. Celebrity angler and astronaut Bruce Melnick—two-time space shuttle veteran and a hero Coast Guard rescue helicopter pilot—address the crowd and then auctioned off autographed replicas of the Shuttles Discovery and Endeavor, which he flew. Among the many exceptional auction items was a fishing trip for six aboard Wicked Tuna multi-season winner Capt. Greg Meyers’ Fishing Frenzy out of Oregon Inlet, NC and a $1500 fly fishing outfit by Redington and Sage.

 

“Many companies stepped up to help us put on the 18th Manhattan Cup,” said tournament co-director Gary Caputi,” and we can’t begin to express our gratitude and the appreciation of our warrior heroes who fished with us. A special thanks to Yamaha Marine for taking on the top sponsor roll recognizing the importance of this very special event.”

 

Sponsors included Liberty Landing Marina, Costa del Mar, Gray Taxidermy, Yeti, D&R Boat World, Raymarine, Mojo Sportswear, Maui Jim, AllTackle.com, AFW/Hi-Seas, Pettit, Tony Maja Tackle, Tsunami Tackle, The Fisherman magazine, Princeton Tec, Interlux, the Recreational Fishing Alliance, Guides Secret Fishing Gear, Fin Chasers TV and Mustad. Thank you all for donating.

 

The winners of the 18th FCT Manhattan Cup are:

 

Manhattan Cup Champion

Largest Striped Bass Overall– Steve Liesman fishing with Capt. Howard Owens

 

Bluefish Categories:

Largest Bluefish Private Boat – Al Ristori fishing with Guy Talarico

Largest Bluefish on Artificial – Bruce Melnick fishing with Capt. Frank Crescitelli

Largest Bluefish on Bait – Rick Dunn fishing with Capt. Vince Trapani

Largest Bluefish on Fly – Steve Liesman fishing with Capt. Howard Owens

 

Striped Bass Categories:

Largest Striped Bass on Private Boat – Marc Kennis fishing with Dave Rooney

Largest Striped Bass on Artificial – Karl Anderson fishing with Capt. Howard Owens

Largest Striped Bass on Bait – Steve Liesman fishing with Capt. Howard Owens

Largest Striped Bass on Artificial – Robert Gil fishing with Capt. Frank Crescitelli

Smallest Striped Bass –  Alex Folmar fishing with Capt. Pete Santero

 

Warrior Division:

Largest Bluefish – Robert Gil fishing with Capt. Frank Crescitelli

Largest Striped Bass – Roger Totten fishing with Capt. Ted White

 

Celebrity Division:

Largest Bluefish – Bruce Melnick fishing with Capt. Frank Crescitelli

Largest Striped Bass – Kim Melnick fishing with Capt. Frank Crescitelli

 

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Sharks & bluefins well underway to the south

As northern anglers are gearing up for the first weekend of offshore tournaments,  those to the south have already been scoring with sharks and even some relatively inshore bluefin tuna.

The first big shark contest is the 38th annual South Jersey Shark Tournament out of South Jersey Marina in Cape May which runs from Thursday through Saturday after the 7:30 p.m. captains meeting on Wednesday. That $600 entry event paid out $307,763 in 2017.

The 5th annual Warriors for Warriors Charity Shark Tournament runs out of Hoffman’s Marina West in Brielle to benefit Operation Restored Warrior from June 8 to 10 with a $500 entry. The captains meeting is 5-7 pm. Friday in the marina.

Hoffman’s then hosts the 17th annual Brett T. Bailey Mako Rodeo on June 15-16 after the June 14 captains meeting.

While the Jersey Coast  Shark Anglers have changed their Mako Fever Tournament (732 551-3912) to a nine-day format from June 16-24 in order not to have to deal with weather problems, the Greater Point Pleasant Charter Boat Association is sticking with the weekend format for their 33rd Mako Mania on June 23 and 24.  For info call 732 892-3666 or visit gppcba.com.

Adam La Rosa reports the Canyon Runner from Point Pleasant is still doing very well with bluefins in the canyons, but private boats using their information service are also trolling them at such nearby areas as the Hot Dog, Tea Cup, Elephant Trunk and the 30 and 40 lines out to the Lobster Claw and inshore of the Lindenkohl. One boat even came across some yellowfins.  Below are veterans with the bluefins they caught last week with Capt. Deane Lambros during one of the Canyon Runner’s free canyon trips for the military.

military on c.r,

The Ocean City, Md. Mako Mania produced a possible Maryland state record 644.9-pound thresher, while the winning mako was 200.9 pounds.

Fluking bounced back after the northeast blow. Bob Matthews of Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina reported very good catches from his rental boats in Shark River. John Hunter and a friend from Ridley, Pa. limited two days in a row up to a 5-pounder. Jesse Thomas of Wall limited to 4 pounds, and Ben Green also had a 4-pounder.

Capt. Stan Zagleski had a good drift early with the west wind on the end of the ebb and found good fluke action with Elaine B. II from Bahrs in Highlands until the tide switched. Some fares had limits. He’s looking forward to tomorrow morning with another hour of ebb.

At Atlantic Highlands, Capt. Ron Santee said there was still a swell running, but fluking on the Fishermen was decent — especially for Dan who had a 6.9-pound pool winner. Capt. Rob Semkewyc  said fluking was good enough for everyone on his Sea Hunter to end up with dinner.  He has only one spot left on next Tuesday’s afternoon trophy striper trip, and that Thursday’s trip is 1/3 full.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar found small blues on the surface that wouldn’t hit, so they eventually switched to sea bass and did very well.

The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant reported very good jigging for those blues that ran from 3 to 5 pounds and were caught on light tackle with small, plain jigs.

Matt Slobodjian sent the following report from Jim’s Tackle in Cape May: (scroll past boxes)
 

“We held our annual Shark Tournament Friday and Saturday. The weather held up and 31 boats competed. There was plenty of action with blue sharks, threshers, tigers, browns, makos, and even a couple of hammerheads. All but 4 fish were released. Another little bonus was there were bluefin tuna in several areas along the 30 line and out to the canyons. A few guys took the time to troll up a couple for dinner. The first place mako was caught by the crew of the “Miller Time” , a 261-lb. fish. Second was a 226-lb. mako caught by the crew of the “Fishin Technician”. The third place fish was a thresher caught by the crew of the “Team Player”  — a 324-lb. fish. I should explain even though the thresher was heavier, a mako shark takes precedence in our tournament. We would like to thank everyone who participated. You are the reason the tournament is a success. Thank you all we hope to see you again next year.

We are still seeing some striper action on the surf from Poverty Beach and still from the North Cape May beaches. We are also starting to see some nice bass coming from the surf in North Wildwood.  Steve Parness of Springfield NJ brought in a 33-lb. bass he caught on bunker chunks at Poverty Beach. George Harris of Philadelphia brought in a 28-lb. bass he caught on bunker around 5th street in North Wildwood.

Weakfish slowed down this week, though more small trout are starting to show up around the rocks.  Sea bass fishing turned on again this week on the 20 fathom wrecks. Some charter boats reported limits by mid-morning. It seemed the fishing slowed down around the full moon and picked right back up after it.

The drum bite is still good. Bait is the issue now that the clam boat isn’t getting enough orders to go fishing, so they’ll be in short supply.”

  4 Attached Images
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Giant cubera release rather than record

The Pacific cubera snapper is noted for its ability to break off after being hooked in the rocky areas they populate from Mexico to Ecuador and out to the Galapagos Islands. I felt fortunate last week after catching yellowfin tuna out on Hannibal Bank to release a normal-sized 25-to-30-pound cubera  a that hit live Lane snapper on a stout Shimano spinning outfit while drifting over a high spot on the way back to the Pesca Panama barge. Since cuberas dive right into the rocks upon being hooked, spinning tackle seems an unlikely choice for stopping them just as it would be for trying to catch cod around wrecks. Yet, it worked again the next day when my nephew, Bobby Correll of Bay Head, and I returned to another underwater peak after catching tuna off Jicaron.

Felix, our mate on one of the Oceanmaster center consoles, had rigged the same spinning rod with a chunk of black skipjack (similar to our little tunny, and called bonito in the tropics), which I dropped to another high spot. No weight is used in order to prevent snags, and just the weight of the big bait is sufficient to get it to bottom on the drift as Capt. Thomas backs the boat a bit at times to stay in the pay-off zone for a few more seconds.

Bobby hooked up just before I lifted into a very heavy weight. He had a beautiful cubera of about 40 pounds to the boat before I had worked my fish hallway up twice only to have it dive back down again. Yet, because it didn’t break off in bottom after those dives I thought I might be fighting a big shark or amberjack. We were all shocked when I eventually saw the water turn red with the body of the largest cubera I’ve ever seen.

In the “old days” every big cubera was boated because they are a favorite food fish. However, Mike Augat, new owner of Pesca Panama, has established a conservation ethic for one of their most important species — and all are now released. The crew were all shocked at the size of the cubera, and were anxious to release it. I barely had time to get the tape I always carry in my pocket to measure it at 43 inches long with a huge 37-inch girth. What I didn’t do as they released the cubera was to measure it on the IGFA release length category tape that I received just before leaving for Panama. That tape is in centimeters.

After getting back, I used the formula (length times girth squared divided by 800) to get the approximate weight of the cubera which came out to be 73.58375 pounds. The all-tackle world record for Pacific cubera snapper in the 2017 IGFA World Record Game Fishes Book isn’t far larger at 78 pounds, 12 ounces from Costa Rica in 1988. That made me feel a lot better about the successful release of a great old warrior which I would never had expected could be caught on a spinning rod — and by an 81-year old!

Though probably everyone aboard Pesca Panama this week, including former Giants punter Jay Feely,  caught at least one tuna, and many added roosterfish and cubera releases, it was a slow week for black marlin. Connor Correll, son of my nephew Todd Correll from Fort Lauderdale, released the only black at over 300 pounds after 12 had been caught the previous week. Joe Massa, of My Three Sons at Morgan Marina in N.J. hooked a similar black on light spinning tackle after it took a black skipjack that he was bringing in for bait. Though the black threw the big bait after some time, the tiny treble of a Deadly Dick held it until the inevitable break-off much later.

For variety and the opportunity to hook world class game fish it’s hard to beat Pesca Panama!

Pesca Panama Sportfishing

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Back at it

Hopefully all of the many followers of the blog I was doing for the Star-Ledger and nj.com will join me on this new personal blog which will update fishing news on a regular basis — including everything from regulations to upcoming prospects.

I’m looking forward to everyone participating in this effort. Send reports and ask questions through my e-mail at cristori@aol.com. To clear up any confusion about that address, my daughter Cyndi set that up many years ago with the “c” for captain. Participation by other anglers is the only way this blog can be successful, and I’m looking forward to hearing from anglers of all skill levels and fishing for all species

Welcome aboard!IMG_5711