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Gina L. won SJ Shark Tournament with a 269-pound mako

The 38th annual South Jersey Shark Tournament out of South Jersey Marina in Cape May had great weather Thursday and Friday, but catches were well below their normal standards. That was no problem for Joe Zuccarelli on Gina L as Patrick Sheehan fought a 269-pound mako from the 31 Bertram. They weren’t in the biggest Calcuttas, but still ended up with $117,826.

El Cid III, a 28 Mako, boated a 278-pound thresher  that earned $36,434,  while My Time took home $2,323 for a 249-pound thresher.

South Jersey winnerOne other mako didn’t qualify, and 29 were released. The blue shark money wasn’t claimed as only one short of the 200-pound minimum was brought in while 53 were released.  Other releases by the 68-boat fleet included a brown, three tigers and two duskies as the cold spring waters seem to have delayed the usual shark migratory pattern.

The Warriors for Warriors Charity Shark Tournament out of Hoffman’s Marina West in Brielle hasn’t posted any official results as yet, but the last leaderboard indicated that Tra Sea Ann weighed an 86-inch, 225-pound mako.  Just Bill Me had a 243-pound thresher. Miss Tress was way ahead in the tuna division with a 131-pounder, and Taylor Jean was on the board with a 35-pound tuna.

Warrior's mako

Despite the early morning rain, there were some fluke fishermen who braved the weather at Atlantic Highlands. Capt. Ron Santee was happy with the morning bite on the change of tide as Rich Mullenbrock limited up to a 6 7/16-pound fluke on the Fishermen.  Capt. Rob Semkewyc said conditions were horrible where he had been catching with the Sea Hunter, but there were still a few limits and fluke of 5.5 and 4.7 pounds.

Party boats along the Shore cancelled, but sea bass fishing has been very good for bottom fishermen who’ll  be glad to get back to them tomorrow. The Golden Eagle at Belmar and Miss Belmar Princess will be looking for the 5-to-8-pound bluefish they got into last week. Those blues weren’t hitting very well Sunday after a good jig bite Saturday.  The forecast for Tuesday features light southeast winds.

The Surf Kings almost held their home ground at Sea Girt during a weekend afternoon surf contest with the Hudson River Fisherman’s Association and American Angler as Tim MacMahon had an 18-inch fluke before a 34 3/4-inch blue hit a clam fished by Ron Stesney of America Angler late in the afternoon.

Bob Matthews reports from Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina that fluke are hitting in Shark River, and some big stripers are being trolled in the ocean. Ray Soyka of Lincroft put a 52-pounder on his boat. Brett Thibedeau was trolling with his father two miles off Belmar when he fought a 48-pound striper. They also caught another over 40 pounds.  Matthews says clams are producing mostly short stripers in the surf.

Vinny D’Anton of Wall waited for the rain to stop this morning before trying to bait stripers in the surf, but they didn’t turn on.

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Sharks starting to show in surf

Surfcasting for sharks at night has been catching on the last few years, and Grumpy’s Tackle in Seaside Park notes that fishing seems to be getting underway with several sand tigers  reported recently. Daytime fishing was slow yesterday with only one striper and one blue weighed in. There are some fluke in the surf, with Colton Connell bringing in a 25-incher that weighed 3.55 pounds. Striper weigh-ins recently were topped by Annalee Nelson with a 39-inch, 19.20-pounder on clams in the surf — along with a 41.5-inch, 21.15-pounder the same way by John Radice.  Betty & Nick’s Tackle reported big blues were in the inlet Saturday.

Capt. Dave De Gennaro had no hits trolling for big stripers Friday with his Hi Flier from Barnegat, but while finishing up by casting soft plastics in Barnegat Inlet for 2-to-4-pound blues on 10-pound spin,  he was surprised after the tide turned by stripers up to 12 and 21 pounds.  De Gennaro will be looking for more of them, and is also taking along some shedder crabs and sandworms after getting reports of weakfish in Barnegat Bay. He also hopes to get offshore to the tuna that are edging closer — but only when the weather is right.

Capt. Stan Zagleski had tough fluking conditions today with his Elaine B. II from Bahrs in Highlands, but his regulars jigged some better fish topped by a 7-pounder for Mike Schmidt of Cranford.

 

 

Mike Schmidt 7-lb-Elaine B

 

Allen Riley and John Mazzeo from South Plainfield worked the Sandy Hook surf with bunker Thursday morning for lots of big sea robins and only one skate. John also released a 22-inch striper, and Allen hooked a 5-pound blue.

Fluking conditions in Raritan Bay were tough today, but Capt. Rob Semkewyc of the Sea Hunter at Atlantic Highlands said he did much better than on Saturday as a few limits were taken. Colin Bennett (10) boated a 5-pounder to take the pool while his grandfather limited.  Capt. Ron Santee said he fought wind against tide with the Fishermen and stayed later as the fishing improved.

At Belmar, the Big Mohawk reported very good sea bass fishing with many limits. Jigs produced the bigger fish. The Golden Eagle even had some sea bass limits on the Saturday afternoon trip.

The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant had lots of sea bass today, but Capt. Dave Riback noted that keepers are getting harder to come by. The Sunday and Monday magic hours trips were cancelled due to ocean conditions.

There were no bluefish reports today.

 

 

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Work your baits for fussy fluke

Fluke fishing in the Raritan Bay area has been tough most days even though party and charter boats usually end up with decent catches. The difference between those anglers who limit regularly and those who struggle for a dinner is usually working the baits. Bait has generally been best so far, but just dragging it isn’t normally productive. Every skipper is frustrated when he sees anglers waiting for a fluke to commit suicide rather than continuously bouncing bait off bottom.

Modern lightweight tackle makes it a lot easier to work baits, but Dave Orlkel proved today on the Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands that it’s not necessary to fool fluke as Capt. Ron Santee said his customer used his grandfather’s wooden-handled reel on a rod at least 50 years old to limit out and boat the pool-winning 7.4-pounder. Santee noted that there were also fluke of 6.5 and 5.7 pounds while some fares managed a couple of keepers  — but he emphasized that “In no way is it easy”. The Fishermen is chartered Saturday.

Also at that port, the Sea Hunter had similar fluking with a couple of limits and a 7.5-pound pool winner plus many shorts.

 

The small bluefish in the Shrewsbury Rocks area cooperated today and there were some limits up to 3 pounds jigged on both Miss Belmar Princess and the Golden Eagle from Belmar — while the Ocean Explorer, Big Mohawk and Capt. Cal continue to load up with sea bass out of that port.

Capt. Deane Lambros had a facebook post of a great canyon trip yesterday on the Canyon Runner from Point Pleasant that produced two giants of 96 and 90 inches plus a bigeye and 10 yellowfin tuna.

Capt. Dave De Gennaro trolled out of Barnegat Inlet with his Hi Flier from Barnegat and only caught a 14-inch fluke that actually was hooked in the mouth on a turn with a Tony Maja bunker spoon. However, there were bunker schools up that have attracted thresher sharks. Some threshers have been caught, and he was looking for another as I talked to him late in the afternoon.

Many short stripers and a few larger ones are still being reported by the Seaside Park tackle shops — and there’s also been a bonus of black drum on clams.

Vinny D’Anton of Wall didn’t have another day on his local beach such as the day before when he caught six stripers up to 35 inches on sand fleas. He hooked a similar bass right away this morning only to lose it almost in the wash due to a broken circle hook. After that there was only a pick of small bass. I even caught three, but none over about 23 inches. Joe Milko got a surprise when he hooked a 17 1/4-inch fluke on sand fleas.

Joe Melillo has had some weigh-ins recently at Castaways Tackle in Point Pleasant. Bill McCrystal of that town had boat stripers of 27 pounds, and 35 7/8 pounds. Terry Martuscelli of Brick landed a 24 9/16-pound bass from the surf on bunker.

 

 

 

 

 

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Still time for anglers to enter Friday’s Manhattan Cup

The weather forecast for the revival of the Manhattan Cup on Friday looks great, with sunshine and light west winds. That should be a big change from many of the past events which were held earlier in the spring. The first I fished featured wind and rain which turned to sleet — before ending in thunder and lightning. I’m looking for a much nicer day Friday in the contest to benefit wounded warriors which will be held at the much more accessible Liberty Landing Marina in Jersey City.  There’s still room for anglers on charter and private boats that were volunteered for the fundraiser being promoted by the Recreational Fishing Alliance.  Any angler wishing to join in the fishing and the festivities from breakfast to a big dinner and prize party at Liberty Landing Restaurant should call Capt. Frank Crescitelli at 917 468-4817 or Gary Caputi  at 732 740-9982.

Fluke fishing was surprisingly tough today.  Capt. Stan Zagleski expected much better with a extra hour of outgoing in the morning, but the early bite on Elaine B. II from Bahrs in Highlands didn’t hold up.  There were some limits, and decent keepers (as shown below), but shorts dominated.

Elaine B Weds, fluke

At Atlantic Highlands, Capt. Ron Santee  of the Fishermen reported it was a pick for a couple of hanfulls of keepers among many shorts. One angler released 14 shorts. The pool went to a 4.3-pound fluke.

Capt. Rob Semkewyc had a similar story on his Sea Hunter as he had to do a lot of moving for a few limits up to 4 pounds while some fares only caught shorts.

At Belmar, both the Golden Eagle and Miss Belmar Princess jigged some fussy small blues early before switching to sea bass to add to the catch.

Capt. Vinny Vetere was disappointed in the striper trolling from his Katfish out of Great Kills as only smaller bass up to 25 pounds cooperated even though he stayed out an extra hour. He’s open both Thursday and Friday.

 

Vinny D’Anton of Wall had a fine morning of shore fishing when he caught a couple of stripers up to a 25 1/2-incher and four cocktail blues on his Chug Bug in Shark River before going to a local beach to fish with sand fleas. After starting with a short, the bass turned on and he kept a 28-incher before staying much longer than expected to end up with six up to 31 and 35-inch releases. His bass had calico crabs in its stomach along with some sand fleas and a clam-baited hook from some unfortunate angler who has probably been telling stories about the big one that got away.  I got to the river late, but was surprised by a 21 1/2-inch stripers that blasted a relatively large Tactical Anglers Bomb Jr. popper, and also released a small blue that destroyed a Kettle Creek soft plastic.

At Seaside Park, Grumpy’s Tackle reported that surfcasters fishing clams for mostly short stripers are catching ever-larger black drum up to over 26 pounds. The only surf blues have been hitting bunker chunks.

Jerry Lasko and Maren Toleno of Point Pleasant cast poppers on the bay side of IBSP in the morning, but the only hit came from a houndfish that grabbed Maren’s popper. Those tropical needlefish aren’t normally seen this far north until late summer.

 

 

 

 

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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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First doormat reported from Raritan Bay

Bob Matthews passed along a report from Fisherman’s Den North in Atlantic Highlands that a 10 1/2-pound doormat fluke had been weighed in there by Justin David of Morristown, who caught it off the Navy Pier — presumably yesterday,  as the northeast wind pretty much wiped out today’s fishing. Party boat captains had hoped they could get out in the somewhat protected waters of Rartan Bay, but Capt. Rob Semkewyc of the Sea Hunter conceded that “the weatherman was right this time” and no boats sailed from Atlantic Highlands. He noted that Monday looks like a washout, so he’s looking ahead to sailing again for fluke on Tuesday.

Capt. Stan Zagleski was sure he would get out with his Elaine B. II from Bahrs in Highlands, but there was no report after the good one about Saturday’s fluking. Here’s a shot of Danielle O’Brien with her Memorial Day fluke on Elaine B. II.

Danielle O'Brien fluke

The Manhattan Cup renewal is right around the corner. As noted in a previous blog, it’s set for June 8 out of Liberty Landing Marina in Jersey City. For details and sign-ups call Capt. Frank Crescitelli at 917 468-4817 or Gary Caputi at 732 740-9982′

 

 

 

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Smooth dogfish taking over in Raritan Bay

Capt. Rob Semkewyc  was hoping to finish up his daytime striped bass fishing on the Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands with a good catch, but wherever he went today there were smooth dogfish and no bass. He did report that trollers were catching stripers, and the first two blues of his season were boated. That was a complete mystery as blues were usually interfering with Raritan Bay striper fishing by May 1 — not June 1. The Sea Hunter switches to fluke from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily, but some evening striper trips will be added.

Capt. Chris Di Stefano confirmed those trolling reports from Crisdel out of Brielle Yacht Club. He was part of Frank Criscola’s crew as they picked at large bass trolling mo-jos from Flynn’s Knoll to Deal. They had a couple of bass in the 40-pound class aboard  before the deadline for weigh-in at the Manasquan River Marlin & Tuna Club Tournament

Scott Leadbeater of Haddon Heights  ran his old 20-foot Aquasport out of Atlantic Highlands this afternoon and was trolling a mo-jo on a spinning rod in Swash Channel when a fish almost spooled him. An angler in another boat watched the battle and offered Leadbeater a scale to weigh his 46-inch bass at 41 pounds before releasing the largest striper of his life. He noted that the bass was spawned out.

Stripers haven’t been easy for anglers fishing live bait. Tank Matraxia and his crew from Lyndhurst never had a hit on lively bunkers fished yesterday  from Two Rivers Charters out of Highlands.

At Belmar, the Golden Eagle and Miss Belmar Princess have been getting into lots of jigging action to the north with 1-to-3-pound blues.  Sea bass have been the targets on other boats there, and the Big Mohawk reported an early boat limit today.  Take advantage of that action on Saturday, because lots of NE wind is forecasted for Sunday.

The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant has been working on both the small blues and sea bass. They report that magic hours trips have been tough so far. The only remaining openings for the evening bite are on June 3, 5,10, 12 and 14.

Capt. Ron Santee  said he fished into overtime to bail out a slow trip with a late bite on the Fishermen up to Iris’ fluke of over 5 pounds.

Capt. Stan Zagleski had his best fluke action today from Elaine B. II out of Bahrs in Highlands on the incoming tide as almost all had a keeper and there were some limits.

 

If you’ve ever wanted to take advantage of a big price break in order to fish at world-famous Pesca Panama, there’s an opportunity coming up this month. Mike Augat has one boat open from June 17-22 for two to three anglers at a $1,500 reduction per person. He says the tuna bite has been red hot, and cuberas and roosterfish to over 50 pounds have been caught. Contact him at pescapanama.com

Chuck Many with a 46-pound striper release down the beach this week

huck-46.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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An unusual surf release

I’ve been trying to do some catch and release surf fishing the last couple of days, but I haven’t gotten the “catch” part figured out yet. After trying Sea Girt, Shark River and Spring Lake, I finally came across something to release without catching it when I spotted a turtle above the surf line at Spring Lake. It wasn’t a marine turtle, and I assumed it was dead until I nudged it with my boot. Surprisingly, it stuck its head out and tried to move toward the water with its claws.  Even though I gave it some help, the waves tossed the turtle on its back. Vinny D’Anton, a retired science teacher, was casting nearby. He thought it was a snapping turtle that might have gotten washed out of Shark River along with lots of wood and other trash that was cast up on the beach today. I was amazed that a freshwater turtle could be surviving in saltwater, but it appeared as lively as turtles usually are — so Vinny released it on the calm side of a jetty. Unfortunately, we didn’t catch any finny critters to release.

The Sea Hunter didn’t get out from Atlantic Highlands today, and tomorrow will be their last morning striper trip before switching to fluke on Saturday. Fluking worked out well for the Fishermen from that port today as Capt. Ron Santee reported their largest so far.  Mike Nicholas boated a 27 1/2-incher which weighed 8 pounds, 6 ounces. That beat out a 6 5/16-pounder for the pool, and there were also a couple of five-pounders. One fare caught over 20 fluke to put two in his cooler.

Bob Correll of Bay Head fished with a corporate group yesterday afternoon on Two Rivers Charters out of Highlands. Capt. Fletcher Chayes said there had been a big bass bite morning and evening off the Highlands Bridge, but he noted that it hadn’t happened when he was down there that morning. Therefore, they fished in the bay with live bunkers where one large bass was boated. Correll had a powerful fish tearing line off his reel, but the circle hook pulled.

One that didn’t get away this week was Paul Haertel’s 54.8-pound  personal record that was noted in yesterday’s blog.

Paul 54.8

Capt. Vinnie Vetere said it was picky striper fishing today in the Hudson River from his Katfish out of Great Kills. He marked bait, but few stripers, and the bass didn’t want live bunkers. His dependable Ho-Jos did the job  as usual and trolling filled the box.

At Belmar, the Golden Eagle once again got into the small blues north of the inlet and lots up to 2 1/2 pounds were boated. That boat has room on a Friday afternoon striper trip at 3:30. Reservations are required by calling 732 681-6144. The Ocean Explorer reported another great day of sea bass fishing with limits for most.

At Seaside Park, Grumpy’s Tackle weighed a 24.65-pound striper caught in the surf on clams by John Grodzicki.  Betty & Nick’s said there was a hot Wednesday evening bite on bunker by bass and blues while the usually reliable clam was ignored.

The Jamaica from Brielle is fishing daily at 7:30 a.m. for stripers and blues, but also gearing up for a tilefish trip departing at 10 p.m. Sunday.  Call 732 528-5014 for reservations.

 

Mako Fever tournament 
Jersey Coast Shark Anglers from Brick NJ will be holding their 
40th Annual Mako Fever Tournament
which is a 9 day event on 
$250,000 IN PRIZES!
Prizes based on 300 boats entered
ENTRY FEE: $500 PER BOAT PER DAY
 
ANGLERS CAN WIN A 2018 CHEVY SILVERADO LTZ!*
PROVIDED BY LESTER GLENN AUTO GROUP!
*MAKO WEIGHED IN MUST BREAK NJ STATE RECORD!
 
Check Out times: via text to 732-551-3912
Crystal Point Yacht Club, Pt. Pleasant NJ
 
Portions of the proceeds will go towards 
Ocean Reef Foundation, 
St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital and the 
NJ Make A Wish Foundation charities.
 
For additional info please visit http://www.jcsa.org
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Canyon Runner starts mako season

Adam La Rosa reports his Canyon Runner crews from Point Pleasant have fought at least one big fish during all but one of the eight canyon overnighters they’ve run so far. It’s been mostly giant bluefin tuna, but Capt. Deane Lambros and mate Mike Kelly came up with the variety Friday morning for the Vincent Ponte charter as they boated an 85-inch giant drifting before catching three makos. The first two were in the 150-pound class and too small under the new regulations– but then they added a legal 84-incher of about 200 to 220 pounds.

CR mko

cr nj canyon giantA pretty good Friday morning canyon catch for the Canyon Runner!

Yesterday’s title of “Time for a 50” worked out for Paul Haertel of the JCAA as he put a 54.8-pound personal best striped bass in his boat out of Barnegat Inlet.   Paul has the unique honor of having caught 50s from both boat and jetty.

Bob Matthews weighed some big bass at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina.  John Reilly of Hookers Café in Belmar was credited with 50 pounds. Nickolay Kryvenka weighed a 45-pound striper that was caught this week on Miss Belmar Princess.  Ray Soyka had a 48-pounder from a private boat.

Mathews had no such big bass news from the surf, though small stripers are hitting clam. Jim Louro of Spring Lake has been catching a few school bass on Tsunami Shads from his local beach, but Vinny D’Anton of Wall returned from Florida and did much better in the middle of the morning today. After breaking the ice with bait for little bass of 20 and 21 inches, Vinny noticed splashes and switched to the Chug Bug to release four of 23 to 24 inches.

Capt. Sal Cursi has returned to Florida, but the former skipper of Cathy Sea from Sewaren had a good day of striper chunking in Raritan Bay before leaving while fishing out of Keyport with Ted and David Martinko as they caught bass up to 35 pounds.

It wasn’t like that in the bay today. Capt. Rob Semkewyc  didn’t have enough people to get out yesterday, when he heard the bass were up, and had high hopes for today. Yet, he said everyone was struggling to find any bass. He was fortunate to have two on his Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands, but only heard of another two trolled on a charter boat. He’s finishing up with stripers the next two days before switching Saturday to daily fluke from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily. He’ll also be setting up a few afternoon striper specials.

Capt. Ron Santee said most fares on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands had a couple of legal fluke today, and the pool fish was over 6 pounds.

At Belmar, both the Golden Eagle and Miss Belmar Princess ran north to get into good jigging for 1-to-3-pound blues that lasted to about 11 before they switched to sea bass. The Ocean Explorer reported a great sea bass bite, with a plain chrome jig working best.

At Seaside Park, Grumpy’s Tackle weighed a big bass for their own Sean after he worked for 15 minutes to try reviving it for a boat release. The 47-inch bass swallowed a bunker and weighed 48.25 pounds.

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It’s time for a 50

The big migrating stripers moving up along the Shore after spawning in Chesapeake and Delaware bays, provide possibly the best opportunity to join the elite of striper fishing with a bass over the coveted 50-pound mark. Though those fish lost a lot of weight after dropping their roe, they regain weight quickly by feeding on bunkers.  That’s what provided the 30-inch girth on only a 48-inch bass to get it over 50 pounds for John Wasnesky of Freehold when he trolled a Tony Maja #4 bunker spoon off Asbury Park last week with Capt. Jim Freda on Shore Choice out of Point Pleasant.

wasnesky 50That bass was released, but you can get a good idea of the weight by using the formula — length to fork of tail times girth squared divided by 800. Remember to use the fork length measurement , as the formula was developed in the old days when that was the standard for length measurements.

While going through some old JCAA newsletters last night, I read a Tom Fote column on striped bass in which he noted that trophy stripers are usually about 25 years old; At that time the great 1993 year class was the hope for the future — and Fote said he was looking forward to catching and releasing those 25-year-old fish from the 1993 year class in 2018 — “God willing”.  Tom, your time is here!

Capt. Vinnie Vetere had a great Memorial Day weekend except for the rain-out on Sunday as lots of big bass were trolled on his Ho-Jo lures from Catfish out of Great Kills — including a 52-pounder. Rockfish from N.Y had a 54-pounder on one of Vetere’s Ho-Jos.

Today’s great striper catch wasn’t a 50, but a 41-pounder fought on fluke tackle by Bob Evans of Flemington from Elaine B.II out of Highlands after it was hooked on a Spro rig.

Bob Evans 41 on Spro

Capt. Stan Zagleski said fluke fishing was also good. That was also the report from Capt. Ron Santee on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands as he made the most of the morning incoming tide that produced the 7-pound pool winner.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar picked at small blues before adding sea bass in the afternoon. Miss Belmar Princess ran north from Shark River to jig small blues, including some limits before switching to sea bass and fluke.