<b>Shark River Inlet</b>

The first sharking of the season with <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b> from Neptune is slated to break the inlet on several back-to-back trips next week, Capt. Ralph said. Mako moved within range, time to get after them. Canyon fishing for yellowfin tuna already started on the troll.

The weekly, open-boat shark trip was cancelled Wednesday, and a shark charter was nixed Thursday, said Capt. Tom from the <b>Nan Sea J</b> from Belmar. “A little too breezy,” he said. The open trips will run through July, and space is available next week. One kicked off the season last week, battling blue sharks all-trip long, no makos yet, covered in the last report. But Tom at the time was eager to get back out this week, expecting makos to show.

<b>Manasquan Inlet</b>

On the Pepper with Capt. Dave Matthews, Steve Matthews and Billy Smith a trip limited out on yellowfin tuna, decked a 37-1/2-pound bluefin tuna and boxed a 15-1/2-pound mahi mahi at Toms Canyon and South Toms Canyon on Saturday, said Dave from <b>The Reel Seat</b> in Brielle. That was the first confirmed report about a catch of yellowfins on this site this season.  Shark anglers mostly wrestled with lots of blue sharks. Thresher sharks were around, fewer than this time last year, and another week or so would probably pass before the population reached that level.

<b>Great Egg Harbor Inlet</b>

Bluefin tuna were fought at the Elephant Trunk and 19-Fathom Lump, mostly on the troll, said Bill from <b>Fin-Atics</b> in Ocean City. Thresher sharks swarmed the ocean, and makos were sometimes found.

Boaters laid out bluefin tuna at the 19-Fathom Lump and the Hot Dog, and some headed to Lindenkohl Canyon to search for yellowfins toward the end of the weekend, because warm waters moved in, said T.C. from <b>Brennan Marine</b> in Somers Point in a fax. No results were heard.

<b>Townsends Inlet</b>

Friend Frank Steedley and crew boated a mahi mahi at Lindenkohl Canyon during the weekend, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Gibson’s Tackle</b> in Sea Isle City.  Then they moved inshore between 40 and 50 fathoms, beating six or eight bluefin tuna to 40 pounds, keeping a limit of one. So the tuna arrived for sure, and it was good to hear they were closer to port than before, like when Joe caught bluefins at Baltimore Canyon on the last weekend of May. He hoped to fish offshore today or tomorrow but would see how the weather played out. In addition to charters, Jersey Cape will offer open-boat trips for tuna on Wednesdays, and call for details. The trips, sailing on a 26-foot Regulator, will fish either inshore for bluefins or at the canyons for yellowfins. The outings will probably target bluefins at the moment, but Joe wouldn’t limit the options, wanted to catch, he said. If that meant pushing out to the canyons, he’d do it. Offshore trips fish on either the Regulator or a 42-foot Liberty. 

Joe encourages anglers to go tuna fishing now, not to wait, because he’s walloped some of the best catches early in the last seasons. Last year’s catches got hopping in June and July, then dropped off, and he hoped that didn’t happen this year, but the fish were biting now. Joe will offer mixed-bag offshore fishing this summer, trolling for tuna in the mornings, then casting lures, bait or flies to mahi mahi in the afternoons.

Waters off New Jersey and Maryland started to draw in plenty of bluefin tuna by last week, an e-mail from <b>Over Under Adventures</b> from Avalon said. The fish seemed to show up earlier each season and stay later, and the current population of the fish seemed to promise another exceptional season of the fishing. There was no better time to target them than now, because they just arrived, and fishing fleets were yet to hammer them. To make news more interesting, reports about quality numbers of yellowfin tuna rolled in from the canyons. In past years, the crew suggested fishing for yellowfins in late summer. But during last year the best catches were nailed in June and early July. So there’s no reason to wait. The angling could become better in late summer and fall, and that would be terrific, but the fish were here now, and fishing pressure was light. Bluefins could be targeted on 12-hour, day-long trips. But to reach the yellowfins, an overnight trip that allowed the extra distance and fishing at dusk and dawn was the deal. Over Under will offer special, 28-hour, overnight trips for the rest of June and in early July for the same rate as 22-hour trips, giving 6 extra hours to allow precious time for trolling. Sharks could also be fished for at night, and bluefins could possibly be hunted inshore as an extra. The season’s first open-boat trip, a 12-hour one leaving at 4:30 a.m., was sailing today or tomorrow, limited to six people. Call to get aboard open trips. Over Under’s fleet is also sailing from Ocean City, Maryland, this season, and is looking at adding a second boat, the Pretty Work, a 46-foot Whitticar,  to compete in the Ocean City Tuna Tournament from July 10 to 12. Two or three anglers were already interested. The price will be between $2,500 to $3,500 per person, depending on whether four or six anglers sail and the Calcuttas they enter. The Pretty Work won more than $250,000 in the tournament a few years ago.

<b>Cape May Inlet</b>

A 125-pound mako and a 125-pound blue shark were beaten on Steve Bush’s charter Sunday in 150 to 160 feet 35 miles offshore, said Capt. George from the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> from Cape May. Waters were 67 degrees, and not a single bluefish showed up, though extra heavy chum was set out, because the charter wanted additional chum. George’s friend nailed two bluefin tuna to 40 inches at the southern grounds Sunday.

Plenty of sharks--lots of blues, big threshers around 400 pounds and a few makos--got subdued during the weekend, said Capt. Bob from the <b>Down Deep</b> from Cape May. Bluefin tuna arrived on the inshore grounds, seemed to swim around the Elephant Trunk. The Down Deep had been focusing on drum fishing on Delaware Bay but would begin to steam for sharks and tuna.

Dave Noetzel’s group busted out to the ocean for a shark trip last week on Thursday with <b>Schmedley Charters</b> from Cape May, Capt. Joe said in an e-mail. Four blue sharks, 120- to 140-pounders, were muscled in, and a big thresher was lost in the 63-degree waters at the North Pacific wreck. On Saturday and Sunday John Stetz’s gang competed in the South Jersey Marina Shark Tournament with Schmedley at the Elephant Trunk in 65-degree waters. On the first day they smoked two makos, including a 120-pound keeper that they bagged, and nine blue sharks. On the second day they wrenched in seven blue sharks, and a mako entered the slick but refused to eat. Although none of the fish was entered in the tournament, those were three great days of sharking, Joe said. A cancellation opened up a charter on the boat to compete in Jim’s Bait & Tackle’s annual shark tournament from Cape May this weekend, and call to get on deck. The crew saw and heard about bluefin tuna in the area while the trips shark fished, so enough seemed to be around, but hardly anyone got after them. Space is available on a shared charter to compete in the Mid Atlantic Tuna Tournament on July 16 to 18 from Cape May. Two anglers already committed. Don’t wait to book.

Sharks, including large makos, threshers, blues and duskies, were pounded during the weekend, despite boat traffic from the South Jersey Marina Shark Tournament, said Capt. Ray from <b>Jaftica Sportfishing</b> from Cape May. Bluefin tuna moved to the inshore grounds, and shark anglers started to see them. Sharkers always spot the tuna first, but Ray heard about a 400-pounder caught last week. A crew trip will probably scope out tuna fishing soon. Yellowfin tuna were sometimes run across at canyons like the Poorman’s and the Washington.

Mako sharks and big threshers got slammed, said Capt. Tom from the <b>Fishin’ Fever</b> from Cape May, so good sharking was under way. One-hundred-pound bluefin tuna now pushed in to the southern, inshore lumps. Small yellowfin tuna, but keepers, traveled up and down the 100-fathom line.

<b>Jim’s Bait & Tackle’s 27th Annual Shark Tournament</b> in Cape May will take place Saturday, Matt said in an e-mail. Shark fishing went fairly well through last week, and big threshers and quality makos were weighed in. Carlo Santucci and crew tamed a 322-pound thresher, six blue sharks and a brown shark at the Lori Dawn wreck. Art Cambrilla and gang knocked down a 166-pound mako and four blue sharks.

The crew from the Fat Cat won the prize for heaviest shark in the two-day <b>South Jersey Marina Shark Tournament</b> last weekend with a 590-pound thresher, an e-mail from the marina said. The crews from the 114 boats who entered weighed in 39 sharks, mostly threshers, makos and blues. The crew from the Hot Works nailed a bigger thresher, a 631-pounder, but had lots of difficulty getting the beast into the boat, causing them to miss the weigh-in time, the e-mail said. But the catch was being submitted to be considered the new state record thresher, it said. The other winners for heaviest shark were:  second place, 567-pound thresher, Common Sense; and third place, 537-pound thresher, Good Times II. Heaviest makos were: first place, 232 pounds, 100 Proof; and second place, 212 pounds, Miss Edna Jane. No mako was entered for third place, and 200 pounds was reportedly the minimum weight, according to other sources. The heaviest blue shark was a 265-pounder clubbed on the Re Joyce.  The entrants competed for a total purse of $298,670. <a href=" http://www.southjerseytournaments.com/" target="_blank">Click here</a> for more info.

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