Page 3 of 4

Posted on

My Christine wins Bluefin Open at 191.5 pounds

The Manasquan River Marlin & Tuna Club took advantage of the improved bluefin tuna fishing this year, and sponsored a successful first annual Bluefin Open tournament that was won by Neil Franzoni’s My Christine with a 191.5-pound bluefin that took the basic entry $7,040 prize. Douglas Johnson was second on Double D at 180.5 pounds, and Robert Wedeking third on Over Ride with a 155-pounder. Haley Adyson took the day 3 prize with a 132-pound bluefin. The yellowfin tuna Calcutta was won by The Right Place with a 64.55-pound entry, and the small boat Calcutta (35 feet or smaller) went to On The Line for a 48.7-pound bluefin. No one could come up with a dolphin for that prize.

The MRMTC Jack Meyer Trolling Tournament also concluded with a big change after Frank Criscola’s Crisdel had a sweep going until the end. Pete Torcicollo on Clean Livin took over first with an 81.20-pound yellowfin, followed by Rob Wedeking’s Over Ride at 53.60 pounds — while Crisdel hung on for third with a 48.65-pound yellowfin.

Capt. Chris Di Stefano said the big yellowfin bite in the canyons cooled off as the waters blended and most of those trolled were small.

That jumbo bluefish jigging that the Queen Mary from Point Pleasant found Sunday and Monday wasn’t repeated today. The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported the blues didn’t cooperate so they switched to bottom fishing for a boat limit of sea bass (two per man) plus some porgies and a couple of ling. They will sail at 7:30 a.m. for July 4 blues. Miss Belmar Princess stayed with the bluefish hunt until mid-morning before switching to sea bass and porgies. They’ll also be seeking blues on July 4 at 7:30 a.m.

The Big Mohawk from Belmar reported it was a lot cooler on the water today than forecasted, and fluking was OK with a showing of 3-to-6-pounders plus a pool fluke just under 7 pounds. They note that spinning rods and Gulp have proven to be a “huge game changer”.

The Sea Hunter had the only report from Atlantic Highlands, and Capt. Rob Semkewyc notes that he only had a few anglers aboard due to the weather forecast — though the heat wasn’t bad at all today as they had a slow start before finishing up well. A 5.6-pound fluke took the pool.

Capt. Stan Zagleski had a tight finish for the pool during Monday’s trip with Elaine B. II from Bahrs in Highlands as Bob Evans of Waldwick (center) and Anthani Limaxes from New Milford each had 7 1/16-pound fluke — but were nosed out when young Dominic Rocco of Parsippany boated his first keeper fluke on his first fluke trip at 7 1/4 pounds.

Elaine B three 7's

Vinny D’Anton of Wall found the right trough in the surf this morning and released seven small stripers on his Chug Bug. I tried Shark River and quickly caught a 21-inch striper on a jig, but never had another hit.

Steve Mirande, a follower of this blog, reports he was catching fluke from the Bay Head surf on Monday morning when he was surprised by a 23-inch striper that hit his jig.

The Jamaica from Brielle will be bluefishing at 7:30 a.m. on July 4. A $15 coupon for adult or senior fares is available on their web site.

Posted on

Hot weather — mixed fishing

One thing everyone could agree on today was that it was HOT! Unfortunately, there wasn’t a repeat of the hot Saturday fluking in Raritan Bay.

Capt. Ron Santee of the Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands said there was little drift, and power drifting didn’t help much this time.  June Benson started the day off right with a 5 13/16-pound fluke, and then added an 18-incher. However, only a few managed multiple keepers in contrast to yesterday on the Fishermen when all the fluke were at lest 19 inches.  The Sea Hunter had a similar report of decent fluking over the weekend despite the conditions.

John Vanderstad of Pompton Lakes had this pair of 6-pound fluke Saturday on the Elaine B. II from Bahrs in Highlands.

John Vanderstad 6-lb fluke

The Angler from Atlantic Highlands  settled their monthly pool yesterday as John Brock of Clifton held on all month with his 6 15/16-pounder to win $1,560.

The Canyon Runner fleet from Point Pleasant had a last minute cancellation, and the 60-foot Ritchie Howell  is open for the July 2-3 overnighter. Yellowfin trolling has been hot as 72 were caught Saturday though the boats only trolled for seven hours.

canyon tuna on canyon runner

Mark Roy ran his Release Me from Raritan Marina in Hazlet out to the Chicken Canyon area yesterday and got into 50-to-60-pound bluefin tuna on pencil poppers. He and his crew caught four casting, and trolled a yellowfin on a spreader bar. A trip to the Hudson Canyon was fruitless, and overnighting only produced a brown shark.

There were no reports from the bluefish boats as of the time this blog was written.

It was delightful being on the Spring Lake surf this morning, but the only small striper I saw was caught by a fluke fishermen on Gulp. I switched from a popper to a Storm Searchbait jig to break the ice with a small fluke. Vinny D’Anton said he caught a short bass at Belmar on a Chug Bug, and Frank Manzi managed a 15-inch fluke on sand fleas at Spring Lake.

Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina is still raving about that 13 1/4-pound fluke from Shark River as reported here this week. Henny Green and Marty Westerfield have been catching lots of keepers in the river up to 4 pounds. Matthews has seen the first very small snappers in the river.

The Mimi VI from Point Pleasant is running open for bottom fishing on July 2, 9, 10, and 11.  Call 732 770-8019 for details.

 

Posted on

Best day of Raritan Bay fluking

It’s not often that a flat calm sunny and hot summer day turns out to provide the best Raritan Bay fluking of the year — except for shorts!

The early start that Capt. Stan Zagleski had with his Elaine B. II from Bahrs in Highlands enabled John Vanderstad of Pompton Lakes to limit by 6:55 a.m. — before other party boats had even left the dock.  He ended up taking his limit out of seven keepers that included two 6-pounders that won the pool. There were several other limits, and some of the fluke were spitting out sand eels — something Zagleski never saw last year.

Capt. Ron Santee said the drift was poor and he had to power drift with the Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands — but there wasn’t a fluke under 19 inches. There were several limits, and the pool fluke was 7 3/16 pounds. Young Marcus Coe was fishing with his dad and caught a fluke over 5 pounds that he wanted to release. He did just that, and the skipper rewarded him with a Fishermen tee-shirt for his conservation spirit.

Lady Christine took the lead in the first Manasquan River Marlin & Tuna Club Bluefin Open. Capt. Chris Di Stefano had originally heard that boat was bringing in a bigeye from Wilmington canyon (which was noted in last night’s blog), but it turned out that Neil Franzoni boated a 191.5-pound bluefin at the Bacardi to move ahead of Douglas Johnson on Double D at 180.5 pounds.  That left Frank Criscola still with all three places in yellowfin tuna on his Crisdel in the Jack Meyer Trolling Tournament

The Golden Eagle from Belmar jigged some 1-to-3-pound blues along with porgies. Some sea bass were released, but they’ll be able to keep them Sunday when the two sea bass by-catch season starts.

The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant reported nice action with the porgies.

Kevin Markow of the Surf Kings at Sea Girt reported catching a 28-inch striper just before daylight on a small swimmer despite the dead low tide.

Jim Louro of Spring Lake fished his local surf Fridy evening to release a 26 1/2-inch striper on sand flies — and added a 26-incher this morning.

At Seaside Park, Grumpy’s Tackle reports good fluking in the surf where cownose rays are also being reported. Betty & Nick’s reported a 31-inch striper was caught.

 

 

i

Capy. Ron Santee

Posted on

Hot canyon trolling continues

Frank Criscola’s Crisdel from Brielle Yacht Club was posting a sweep in the ongoing Manasquan River Marlin & Tuna Club’s Jack Meyer’s Trolling Tournament after boating 13 yellowfin tuna Wednesday in Toms Canyon, but that lead may not last through today.

The yellowfins weighed in by Crisdel were of 48.65, 56.55 and 43.85 pounds. However, Capt. Chris Di Stefano heard that My Christine had boated a bigeye today in Wilmington Canyon estimated at 135 pounds. Provided My Christine arrives in time this evening, that bigeye will be the new leader.

The MRMTC also has their first annual Bluefin Tournament in which most prizes are for the biggest bluefin under 73 inches. There are Calcuttas for bluefins over 73 inches as well as for the largest yellowfin and dolphin. That contest started June 28 and runs to July 1.

The Canyon Runner from Point Pleasant has had limits of yellowfins on the last six canyon trips. They have had a last minute opening for a July 5-6 overnighter  on the Viking 48. The entire boat is available — or else they’ll take open boat reservations. Call Adam La Rosa at 732 272-4445.

canyon tuna on canyon runner

Big fluke were also in the news today. Capt. Rob Semkewyc reported a decent pick of keepers aboard his Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands that included their largest of the season — a 9. 54-pounder by John Corvino from the Catskills.

There was also a Facebook posting of a 13 1/4-pound doormat at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina. That giant hit Gulp fished by Kevin Newberg of Avon in Shark River. If he’s a Fisherman magazine subscriber, that fluke would take over first place in the coastal Dream Boat Contest.

Capt. Vinnie Vetere reported a limit of large stripers up to a 44-pounder trolling in the Hudson River with his Ho-Jo;s from Katfish out of Great Kills. He’s open on Saturday.

Tom Fote reports there was a decent turnout at last night’s Bluefish Public Hearing in Toms River. I had intended to make that hearing, but was tied up all afternoon in my wife’s purchase of a new car and got back too late. Fote said a few party boat captains testified, and everyone seemed to oppose any changes until a new stock assessment is available.

Bluefishing has been very tough this year so far, except for a couple of localized spurts. There was no change in that today as Capt. Dave Riback of the Queen Mary from Point Pleasant frankly reported “Friday was very nice on the water, but that’s the only good news.” He’s chartered on the mornings of June 3, 8, 15 and 21,

Allen Riley of South Plainfield fished the Sandy Hook surf for fluke with plastics under ideal conditions this morning to catch four and a half short fluke. The “half” was actually a mere 10-incher that managed to inhale a 4-inch Gulp Swimming Mullet.

I cast a jig in Shark River to catch a small striper within a few casts — and never got another touch. Vinny D’Anton later walked to another area and released four of those small bass\ on the Storm Searchbait jig.

 

f

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

giant was caught on Gulp in Shark River by Kevin Newberg of Avon.

 

Posted on

Canyon fishing has been hot

Adam La Rosa reports the spring canyon season has left little to be desired for his Point Pleasant boats. The two boats combined for 42 yellowfin tuna, 10 bluefin tuna, four mako sharks, and two bigeye tuna during one overnight trip. The makos caught at night were released as they were short of the new 83-inch minimum. Though most of those fish were caught in the canyons, some of the bluefins were trolled coming or going in the Glory Hole — such as the one below.

ffCR Glory Hole bluefin

Fluke fishing was surprisingly good for the northern party boats depite the east wind being against the current all day as skippers used their engines to create drift. At Atlantic Highlands, Capt. Rob Semkewyc had five limits on his Sea Hunter, while Capt. Ron Santee, Sr. put on a clinic by catching fluke of 5 and 7 pounds on his son’s Fishermen while others were happy with the number of  3-5 1/2-pound fluke sprinkled in. Capt. Stan Zagleski reported a 5 1/2-pound pool winner for Mike Pylypyshyn of Little Egg Harbor on his Elaine B. II from Bahrs in Highlands.   \

 

 

Elaine B limitAs good as the fluking was in Raritan Bay, it was the opposite when Tank Matraxia and his Lyndhurst crew fished in the normally productive and protected waters of the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers with Capt. Fletcher Chayes on Two Rivers Charters from Highlands as only a few shorts and sea robins hit.

The bluefish fleet had another tough day after being spoiled by all those huge blues jigged last week in Raritan Reach.

Capt. Vinnie Vetere lost last Saturday to the weather, but made up for it Sunday with a good striper catch on Katfish Charters from Great Kills.

Vinny D’Anton of Wall had a hot hand in the Spring Lake surf Monday morning when he caught three 21-inch stripers on a MirrOlure  plug, and later added two more releases to 24 inches on his Chug Bug — before finishing up with a 23-incher on sand fleas. There were three anglers, including me, keeping Vinny company this morning, but nothing was caught.

Allen Riley and John Mazzeo of South Plainfield fished the Sandy Hook surf early Monday morning, and enjoyed the great sunrise while catching only a very small fluke and a few sea robins on Gulp.

Grumpy’s Tackle in Seaside Park is encouraged with two verified reports of sand eels in the local surf.

Posted on

Friday is theend of NJ spring sea bass season

Friday is the last day for N.J. anglers to fish for sea bass with a 10-fish bag limit at a 12 1/2-inch minimum.

After that closure, there will be a summer by-catch season intended to accommodate summer ocean fluke fishermen from July 1 through Aug. 31 with just two sea bass allowed at the same 12 1/2-inch minimum.

New York is going in the other direction with sea bass as they re-open from June 23 to Aug. 31 with a limit of three at a 15-inch minimum — followed by a Sept. 1 to Dec. 31 season with seven at a 15-inch minimum.

Jersey anglers must be aware of the fact that regulations are different in New York. I heard of one case this summer where anglers from Morgan were catching fluke off Hoffman’s Is. and happy to have found 18-inch N.J. keepers when they were boarded by the N.Y. D.E.C Police and found their fluke were under that state’s 19-inch minimum  — a costly mistake. The Angler from Atlantic Highlands fished the N.Y. side with good success one day this week while observing the 19-inch minimum.

Also at that port, Capt. Rob Semkewyc reported that today was just O.K. — with a couple of limits and a 6.8-pound pool winner on his Sea Hunter. The Sea Tiger II had their best fluke so far when Roger Lee boated a 7 1/2-pounder Wednesday afternoon.

Sea Tiger II fluke

Capt. Vinny Vetere will be sailing the maiden trip of his new Dina Maria out of Great Kills Friday morning. The usual cost is $1250 for a party of six, but the charter had to back out. Vetere wants to make the trip anyway, so he’ll take up to three walk-ons at just $150 each. Call him at 917 693-8908.The 43-footer is powered by three 350-hp Yamahas, and has a width of 13.5 feet — plus air-conditioning. Vetere says the striper fishing has been hot the last two days

Capt. Chris Di Stefano of Wall said canyon fishing wasn’t hot today as Frank Criscola’s Crisdel from Brielle worked from Lindenkohl Canyon to the Carteret for only one hit and a lonely yellowfin tuna. He only heard of about five tuna today in a big fleet attracted by the calm seas. There was a report of a blue marlin caught further south, but the whales that had been in the canyons left with the bait.

John Schachel of the Jersey Coast Shark Anglers reported their ongoing Mako Fever Tournament had its first entry yesterday when Big Nutz Required weighed a 258-pound mako.  Schachel fished the contest today and found beautiful warm water far offshore that were full of life. They had 11 releases that included a mako that would have been boated before the 83-inch minimum went into effect.

Bluefishing continued to the north today. Capt. Dave Riback of the Queen Mary from Point Pleasant said he only got into the smaller blues, but had his best volume so far. Blues up to 14 pounds were jigged yesterday.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar started out with the small blues, but got into jumbos later in the day — and even a keeper striper.

Jim Hutchinson Sr. sent the following report for the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association:

“The sea bass season is temporarily on hold, but fluke fishing action continues to remain steady for the boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association. A few bluefish are around the inlets, and offshore reports are very good for both yellowfin and bluefin tuna. Sharks are also making their presence known offshore.

 Captain Ray Lopez and mate Liane Lopez on the “Miss Liane” reported some great family type fishing for black sea bass on inshore structure. The Occhipinti family celebrated Father’s Day in great style with “drop and reel” action.

 Captain Carl Sheppard reports he too has been running family trips of up to 12 anglers on mostly half-day trips. His groups have been averaging 25 fish per trip. He has been blaming cool water for the slow action but anticipates increased action as the water has started warming. On one recent inshore trip Captain Carl had bluefin tuna breaking water around the boat, but he was unable to coax any to his lines.

 Captain Brett Taylor of Reel Reaction Sportfishing reports a definite improvement in his fishing trips over the past few days. As the water temperatures have warmed, the slime grass on the bottom is leaving, making fluke drifting much easier. Weather conditions made fishing touch recently for Ian Habich and his wife Tracey. Using the S&S Bigeye, they managed to put 3 keeper fluke in the box up to 5.5 pounds along with a catch and release short striper. The finished the day with 3-6 pound bluefish caught in the inlet. Other trips resulted in 20 short fluke along with one keeper and another with five keepers to 22-inches. The bluefish in the inlet have been completing his trips. This is a good time to book an offshore tuna trip. The weather is decent and the fish are there. For information on tuna fishing and the boats of the BHCFA go to the website at www.bhcfa.net. “

There are still no reports of dolphin in the Mid-Atlantic, but Pete Connell of Avon just returned from Islamorada after clobbering them not far from shore on his outboard.  Luis Gonzalez of Palmetto Bay, Fl. ran his trailered Sheri Berri III out to 650 to 1050 feet off Triumph Reef where he and Austin Moore had a good shot of school dolphin such as we should be seeing very shortly.

 

The Sea Tiger fluke wanted a second showing!

Posted on

Big blues hitting jigs like they used to

After some lean years of ocean spring bluefishing, we’re finally seeing some old-fashioned action with large choppers. The Shore party boat fleet had been happy when small blues showed up for jigging after a terrible spring striper run in the ocean, but they’re now into blues of a size we haven’t been seeing much of until the fall in recent years.

The Golden Eagle reported that those blues were once again up on the surface chasing bunkers today, and they ranged up to 17 pounds. The action was on jigs, and many of those fish are lost by anglers who haven’t been hooking such sizes in a long time.

The Jamaica from Brielle was into that fishing yesterday as Abdullah Samardeen of Philadelphia took the pool with an 18-pounder.

Jamaica blue Jumbo blue yesterday on the Jamaica

At Atlantic Highlands, Capt. Rob Semkewyc reported lots of short fluke on his Sea Hunter along with decent catches of keepers up to a few limits and 5 pounds. That skipper has cancelled his afternoon trophy striper trips because the bass haven’t been responding to live bunkers.

Capt. Ron Santee was pleased with fluking on his Fishermen during a beautiful day. John Sabonis took the pool with a 5 3/4-pound fluke, and Gary Thompson had a 5 3/16-pounder. The Fishermen is chartered Saturday.

Jon Falkowski of Linden reported he caught eight short fluke on spearing and Gulp during the Tuesday evening trip of Misty Morn from Morgan, but keepers were hard to come by.

Capt. Vinny Vetere reported a epic striper trip today on his Katfish from Great Kills as the party caught 10 large bass on bunkers and 10 more trolling Vetere’s Ho-Jos.

Vinny D’Anton of Wall put in the time this morning, and after not finding anything to the north ended up catching a couple of short stripers on his Chug Bug at Spring Lake during mid-morning. One of those bass had a bloated stomach that felt full of sand fleas, yet an angler fishing that bait couldn’t get a hit.

Capt. Dave De Gennaro made the long run from Barnegat to Wilmington Canyon under ideal conditions Saturday — and it payed off for his party on Hi Flier as they filled the box with legal yellowfins plus a 40-and-50-pounder. On the way back they spotted some bluefins on the surface and Jarett Powell of Tuckerton fought a 50-pounder on a 20-pound rig for 45 minutes to top off the catch.

HHi Flier tuna

Posted on

Sea bass still abundant as season is running out

There doesn’t appear to be any shortage of sea bass off the Jersey Shore as the spring season draws to a close on June 22. After that the bag drops from 10 at 12.5 inches to a by-catch of just two at the same minimum during the summer season from July 1 to Aug. 31.  The only problem now is getting through all the shorts to catch a limit — especially on the heavily-fished inshore reefs and wrecks.

Jigging has been the best bet for getting through to the bigger sea bass, The Ocean Explorer from Belmar reported that today’s most successful angler was loading up on a sand eel teaser.

It was a beautiful calm day until the afternoon west wind, and another fine day seems sure for tomorrow.

Capt. Chris Di Stefano was fishing aboard Frank Criscola’s Crisdel from Brielle Yacht Club yesterday as they trolled for eight hours without a hit from Raritan Bay to the Shore. Ricky Stavola was a guest angler fishing the Navesink-Shrewsbury Club contest, and he got busy in the afternoon when seven bass, all in the forties, hit bunker spoons. shad rigs and mo-jos off Monmouth Beach.

Di Stefano also had reports that canyon trollers were enjoying great yellowfin action from Lindenkohl to Baltimore canyons.

There was a Friday blitz of school stripers in Point Pleasant Canal, but lots of boat traffic put an end to that this morning. The miracle was that there was still a pick of small bass even though canal anglers had to wait for openings between boats in order to cast. I released three stripers up to 21 inches on a Z Man jig and lost an even smaller one.

Jerry Lasko and Maren Toleno of Point Pleasant caught a couple of 26-inch stripers yesterday evening on sand fleas at Island Beach State Park before skates took over at dusk. Maren released a 30-inch striper there on that bait last Sunday.

Conditions weren’t great for Raritan Bay fluking today as Capt. Rob Semkewyc  said the wind came up against the tide when it switched.  His fares on Sea Hunter still managed to pick away. Also at Atlantic Highlands, Capt. Ron Santee was happy with his results on the Fishermen as 3-to-4-pounders were hooked by many anglers, and a pool winner over 6 pounds was boated at the end.

The fluke below was caught on the Elaine B II from Bahrs in Highlands last week, but had no chance of being accepted in the pool as the doormat was obviously stone dead and falling apart when snagged on the bottom.

Elaine B dead fluke

Posted on

Big money mako shark contests coming up

There will be lots of money at stake in the upcoming mako shark tournaments which get started this weekend.

The opening tournaments were somewhat disappointing, but that might have been due to the late and cool spring. However, water temperatures are up to 60 degrees and betting closer to the 64 degrees usually favored by makos.

Last weekend’s South Jersey Shark Tournament at Cape May only produced one mako at the new 83-inch minimum. Another mako didn’t make the contest’s 200-pound minimum, and there were only 29 mako releases by the 68-boat field. Gina L. ran off with $117,826 for their 269-pound mako.

I happened to come across a round-up of the 2002 South Jersey contest by Nick Honachefsky for comparison. During that contest, the winning mako was 443 pounds, and 1,115 sharks were caught. That included 264 makos, with 19 boated and 245  released.  Blue sharks are usually a pest early in the season, and 844 were caught in 2002.  This is the only N.J. contest that offers a prize for a blue shark, but only 54 were caught this year — and none of them made the 200-pound minimum for the prize money.

The official results for the Warriors for Warriors Charity Shark Tournament out of Hoffman’s Marina in Brielle produced just one mako of 86 inches and 225 pounds that swept the mako Calcuttas for Tra Sea Ann. Just Bill Me had the big shark with a 243-pound thresher. The new tuna division was no contest for Miss Tres at 121 pounds, with Taylor Jean second at 35 pounds.

The 17th annual Brett T. Bailey Mako Rodeo will be contested out of Hoffman’s Marina West in Brielle from June 14-16 with a new 48-hour format.  The captains meeting is on June 14 at the marina. Visit http://www.btbmakorodeo.com for details.

The Jersey Coast Shark Anglers also jump into action with a new format as their 40th annual Mako Fever runs from June 16 to 24 — allowing contestants to pick good weather days and fish as many as they want to by paying entry fees for each day. The captains meeting is at 6:30 p.m. on June 15 in Manasquan River Club, Brick. For details visit http://www.jcsa.org

The Greater Point Pleasant Charter Coat Association waits until June 23-24 for their 33rd annual Mako Mania which will be run out of  Captain Bill’s Landing in Point Pleasant. The captains meeting is on Friday June 22 in Wehrlen Bros, Marina on Princeton Ave. in Brick. For info call 732 892-3666 or visit gppcba.com

Matt Slobdjian reports from Jim’s Tackle in Cape May as follows: “The tuna bite really turned on last week in the canyons. The fishing moved from north to south throughout the week. The water was in the Lindenkohl and the Spencer canyons mid-week and moved down from the Spencer to the Wilmington by Saturday. There were good numbers of yellowfin, bluefin, and also some bigeye tuna caught through the weekend. A couple of large blue marlin were sighted, but not hooked up in the same areas.
Drumfish are still biting, but have slowed down a bit. They are still being caught at Tussy’s Slough and in the lower Bayshore Channel.
We are starting to get some fluke reports from the artificial reefs. The bite is not great yet, but some nice fish are being caught on the party boats and private boats fishing the reefs.
Small blues are starting to show up around the inlet rockpiles early morning and again in the evening. There are still some weakfish around the inlet as well.
The surf was slow last week, but we did see the first few kingfish come from the Point, and we weighed the first nice fluke from Sunset Beach for George Barnard from Folcroft Pa.  — a 4.23lb., twenty-two incher caught on a bucktail with a squid trailer.”

Capt. Chris Di Stefano of Wall got word from offshore that the good water has moved out, and canyon boaters are on the prowl again.

CR canyon tuna

Canyon Runner tuna last week

The forecast of some rain seemed to scare off most party boat anglers today. The Sea Hunter didn’t get out from Atlantic Highlands after having a good pick of fluke, including some 4-to-6-pounders, Tuesday until the SE wind shut it down. That wind also hurt the afternoon trophy striper trip as some areas weren’t fishable. Some bass were marked, and Capt. Rob Semkewyc saw a few caught by trollers — but there were no hits on bait. He’s giving it another try at 2 p.m. Thursday.

Also at that port, the Angler reported that their 7 a.m. sailing time put them into a good fluke bite Tuesday morning, including their best drift of the year with 22 keepers coming aboard. Dennis Fuchs of Cranford won the pool for the second straight day with a 5-pounder. Juan Cortez of Bayonne had a very long 35-inch fluke for Sunday’s pool, but it was so thin that it only weighed 5 1/2 pounds.

At Belmar, the Golden Eagle got into lots of small blues splashing under birds today — and they stayed up most of the day even though they were a bit fussy. Jigs and teasers also produced some sea bass and a short striper.

I was satisfied with the light tackle casting in Shark River this morning, as I released two 3-pound blues and a small striper on a Z Man 6-inch Swimmerz jig, but there wasn’t much life despite a complete lack of boat traffic. I only had one other bump, and Vinny D’Anton of Wall raised just one small fish to his Chug Bug — which got off before being identified. Jim Louro of Spring Lake barely beat the rain to release a 26-inch striper on sand fleas at the beach. He caught a smaller bass and a 20-inch fluke there Tuesday morning when D’Anton caught two small bass and an 18-inch fluke on the bugs. There doesn’t seem to be any volume of bass in the surf, but the good news is that all being caught are in perfect shape — with none of those red blotches seen on almost every surf bass last summer.

Allen Riley of South Plainfield was surprised to see a rough surf Tuesday morning at Sandy Hook even though there was no wind. His bunker chunks produced only a 13-inch fluke and a “huge” sea robin, while Lou Vargas of Fanwood released a 16.5-inch fluke on bunker.

SH surf

Tank Matraxia and his crew from Lyndhurst fished Tuesday with Capt. Fletcher Chayes on Two Rivers Charters from Highlands as they worked Shrewsbury River for nine legal fluke including one over 5 pounds while using Gulp, killies and squid. Matraxia placed 15 ALS tags in the shorts.   He also received info from the American Littoral Society of a tag return from a 23-inch striper he tagged on Nov. 29, 2017 while fishing off Sandy Hook with Chayes. It was recaptured on June 7 at the west end of Nantucket, but the angler didn’t supply the length. That was Matraxia’s 203rd  ALS tag return.

At Seaside Park, Grumpy’s Tackle reports Tuesday’s surfcasting was improved, with a pick of blues on bunker in the evening in the park — and a few bass — including the release of a 36-incher on bait

Posted on

R.I.P. Capt. Dom Vitolo Sr.

Just before writing this blog, I checked Facebook and found the sad information that Capt. Dom Vitolo Sr. has passed away.  That former Belmar skipper was a great blackfish specialist, and a real gentleman.  I’ll add news about arrangements when received.

Capt. Ron Santee reported that fluking was good on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands when he started on the end of the flood. The first keeper turned out to be the pool winner at 4.9 pounds.  Fluking really turned on with the ebb until the SE wind came up and killed it.

Capt. Vinnie Vetere had to work hard again to make a good catch of stripers. He’s covered from Scotland to Stepping Stones Lighthouse recently, and his Ho-Jos have always come through on Katfish from Great Kills.  Anyone wishing to try them can place an order by visiting http://www.HoJoFishing.com.

The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant had a Monday afternoon charter for John D’Andrea that produced a good sea bass catch before they fished up to dark for stripers. There were some readings, and a 46-incher was jigged on a Kroc.

At Belmar, the Big Mohawk reported most fares limited on sea bass today and added some ling. The Golden Eagle found the 1-to-3-pound blues for jigging before adding sea bass and a few ling to the bags.

The Jamaica from Brielle got into the bite of bigger blues on Saturday, and found the biggest one I’ve heard of on a party boat so far this year — a 15 1/2-pounder by Marquise Berry.  They’re sailing daily for blues, but will be running another tilefish trip on Sunday June 24 at 10 p.m. Call 732 528-5014 for reservations.

Canyon fishing was outstanding over the weekend. Adam La Rosa of the Canyon Runner fleet in Point Pleasant says they were following a temperature break all week from South Toms to the Baltimore for big catches of bluefins, bigeyes. yellowfins and makos.   Both boats got in three overnighters during the week. Capt. Charlie Vanderbock on his first Canyon Runner charter put the Mike Earle party into a 403-pound mako as well as tuna. The 60-foot Ritchie Howell had a great catch for the Mike Kozak charter as three bluefins in the 125-to-150-pound class were caught along with smaller bluefins — plus four yellowfins —  and three makos of 125 to 175 pounds were released at night.  The Deane and Peter Wilcox party had giants of 400 and 500 pounds plus a bigeye and 10 yellowfins.  The John Mendes charter did very well on a bigeye barrage, catching five out of seven

403-lb CR mako