<b>Manasquan Inlet</b>

Hudson Canyon’s tuna fishing amped up, and yellowfins to the mid 50 pounds were around, and a few bigeyes to 240 pounds were creamed, said Dave from <b>The Reel Seat</b> in Brielle. He heard about a couple of white marlin released, but heard about no bluefin tuna boated at local inshore waters.

The season’s first canyon charter was slated for this week, said Capt. Fred from <b>Andrea’s Toy Charters</b> from Point Pleasant. Lots of yellowfin tuna, not a lot of keepers but some, plenty of action, were on tap on the troll at the canyons. By the end of last week they mostly held between the Toms and the Lindenkohl. A few bigeye tuna were on the hunt, and mahi mahi were around. On Wednesday the government booked the boat to repair the weather buoy at the Texas Tower. But fishing was done during a spare couple of hours afterward. Triggerfish were reeled up from around the buoy, and no mahi mahi hung around the structure. Then during a little trolling, ten bites were scored, and short yellowfin tuna and some skipjacks were landed. Next the anglers deep dropped to catch tilefish to 20 pounds. If bluefin tuna show up in substantial numbers at the Mudhole, charters will go after them. The John Gregory charter took a shot at bluefins last week on Thursday, breaking the inlet in 15- to 20-knot winds. Fishing at the Glory Hole was the original plan, but the winds slowed the going, and when the boat got to the Monster Ledge before the Hole, the anglers trolled. Great marks were read, but bluefish were impossible to get through with the spread, sometimes slamming the hooks in quadruple-headers. The abundance of sand eels was unreal. Seas calmed down, and the boat was motored to the Glory Hole, but the waters were lifeless. So the anglers fished a nearby wreck, and plenty of ling were found, and monster-sized winter flounder hit, and no cod showed up. Schoolie bluefin tuna busted around the boat a couple of times while the vessel was anchored at the wreck. Live bait and jigs were fished to attempt to hook them, but none attacked. Sharking was then attempted at the Glory Hole, but winds against the currents prevented a drift. Another attempt was made at the Monster Ledge, but no sharks took the baits. Long day but a great family to fish with, the report said. Andrea’s Toy’s annual open-boat, mixed bag, offshore canyon trips are about to begin, and space is available on a first-come basis. See details on <a href="http://www.andreastoycharters.com" target="_blank"> Andrea’s Toy’s home page</a>.

The first tuna charter of the season was supposed to head out today, said Capt. Mike from the <b>Katie H</b> from Point Pleasant. Small yellowfin tuna and a bunch of skipjacks were abundant, and a boater from the dock beat three or four keeper yellowfins and two bigeye tuna. Don’t have enough anglers for an offshore charter? No problem. Call Mike, and he can probably arrange an individual space on a make-up trip.

<b>Little Egg Inlet</b>

Three mako sharks--a 130-pounder that was kept and two that were released that weighed up to 160 pounds--were battled to the boat last Friday with <b>Legal Limit Charters</b> from Tuckerton, Capt. T.J. said. No other sharks showed up, and waters were 70 to 71 degrees, getting warm for the monsters. On Saturday two bluefin tuna, a 50-incher that was kept and probably a 49-incher that was released, were trolled at 28-Mile Wreck in somewhat sloppy seas in winds. Legal Limit will probably offer a bluefin-tuna special.

<b>Great Egg Harbor Inlet</b>

Mario Mortarella and crew on the North Coat headed to the Cigar to search for bluefin tuna toward the end of last week, found no tuna but trolled three makos on Green Machines and spreader bars, said T.C. from <b>Brennan Marine</b> in Somers Point in a fax. They also dredged up a mahi mahi. Mike Fox on the High Trend trolled a 40-pound bluefin north of 28-Mile Wreck and ran into big numbers of bluefish. Small bluefins were also reported tackled at the 20-Fathom Fingers.

<b>Townsend’s Inlet</b>

Trips with <b>Over Under Adventures</b> sailed from Ocean City, Maryland, an e-mail from Over Under said. Trips also run from Avalon in New Jersey, and were probably headed out this week from there, but the fleet at Maryland was the focus before. The fishing wasn’t as easy as two weeks ago, but was productive for yellowfin tuna. Trips fished between South Poorman’s Canyon and Washington Canyon, mostly in 120 fathoms. A 500-pound blue marlin was landed on an open-boat trip, the highlight of the outings. Waters were mostly 70 degrees but varied, and bait became difficult to find in the deep, but the grounds inshore of 45 fathoms were loaded with bait. Bluefin tuna were scarce last week in those waters, although trips tried and tried to catch them. Over Under gave no update on the fishery since then. One to six keepers, averaging 45 pounds, were usually taken per trip, and four to ten throwbacks were usually released each day, and several mahi mahi were typically caught. The main body of bluefins held 70 miles to the south at the time. Larger ones were caught to the south, and occasional larger ones were hooked at areas farther north like the Fingers, Massey’s Canyon, the Ham Bone and 19-Fathom Lump. Both charters and open-boat trips are sailing, and see the fishing reports on Over Under’s Web site for the open schedule.

Inshore sharking for duskies, unique fishing offered on the boat, turned on during a couple of trips Saturday and Sunday, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Gibson’s Tackle</b> in Sea Isle City. Al Fellheimer and John Jocko were aboard Saturday, tackling and releasing at least a dozen of the fish, a protected species that must be released, to 40 pounds, the best fishing Joes’s seen for them in years. Fifteen might’ve been landed, and Joe lost count, and only two rods could be fished, because the action was too fast. The anglers fished with spinning rods, but Joe offers fly fishing for the sharks, and the fly-rodding would’ve been possible on the trip. Sometimes the sharks hang in the chum slick too far from the boat to fly rod, but the fish were fly-roddable this day. On Sunday Rich Duffy, his son Shane and friend Jake drilled and released six duskies to 30 pounds, an excellent catch, on spinning and conventional rods. The fishing usually begins in July, and Joe had scoped out the action last week and saw that it was ready. Catches could last through Labor Day, but that’s no guarantee, and the fish were here now. The angling is done as close as several miles from shore, an opportunity for sharking without a long run from the coast. Joe uses light tackle that maxes out the fun in fighting the fish, weighing up to 50 or 60 pounds. The sharks Saturday, weighing up to 40 or 50 pounds, and measuring up to 5 feet, were the biggest he’d seen. Joe sets up a chum slick and fishes with bait like mackerel strips, the bait used on these trips, or bunker strips. Chum flies are fished when fly rodding. Joe took an exploratory trip to the ocean to check out his spots like Sea Isle Ridge to see if bluefin tuna, bonito or false albacore were around, though the season was a little early. None of the fish showed up while he trolled, but he fly-rodded small bluefish among a ton of the speedsters there, and a saw a cobia. The cobia refused to chase anything Joe threw, but he found triggerfish that he landed.  Farther from shore, plenty of mahi mahi could be trolled at the inshore lumps, and bluefin tuna held at 19-Fathom Lump. Farther out, the mahi population was just beginning to build at the canyons. Yellowfin tuna gathered at the canyons up and down the Continental Shelf, mostly to the north lately. Joe’s uncle ran a trip that leadered a white marlin and small yellowfin tuna at Toms Canyon. One space is available on an open-boat tuna trip Wednesday with Jersey Cape. The open trips are sailing on Wednesdays but sometimes on other days, depending on the weather and when anglers want to go. Call for info. The trips, sailing on a 26-foot Regulator, will fish either inshore for bluefin tuna or offshore at the canyons for yellowfins. Joe won’t limit the options, and he just wants to catch, he said. If that means pushing out to the canyons, he’ll do it. The trips are a learning experience. Joe will offer mixed-bag offshore charters this summer, trolling for tuna in the mornings, then casting lures, bait or flies to mahi mahi in the afternoons. Offshore trips fish on either the Regulator or a 42-foot Liberty, depending on the number of anglers and type of fishing.

<b>Cape May Inlet</b>

Four bluefin tuna and four gaffer mahi mahi were landed on a fun trip that Capt. George from the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> from Cape May took with friends on a private boat Wednesday, he said. Two of the bluefins were kept--one about 42 inches and the other about 50 inches, both full of sand eels--and the others were around 42 inches and were released. The mahi landed were 10 to 15 pounds, females full of roe. But a big, 25-pound, bull mahi was reeled in but got off at the boat. All the fish were trolled, and the trip began fishing at the 19-Fathom Lump at 6 a.m. Boats crammed the waters there, so the trip moved off to a couple of nearby lumps and hooked up. Two of the bluefins were trolled before 9 a.m., and anglers on the radio said most of the tuna bit by 9 a.m. the previous day. But George’s trip trolled two more bluefins throughout the day, leaving for home at 1 p.m. Between the bluefins and the mahi, there was action all day. The tuna were marked from 50 feet down to right on the bottom. Two bluefins were banged out on another boat that George heard from, and a friend went 3 for 5, and most vessels in the area seemed to land at least one. The time of year was right for the fish to settle in, and the fishing seemed to be under way. George heard little about yellowfin tuna farther offshore, and the last he knew, the fish, small ones, were mostly caught toward Carteret and Spencer canyons. Some were also supposedly boated at the Baltimore, and the yellowfins generally swam anywhere from the Wilmington on up to the northern canyons.

Anglers went 3 for 3 on bluefin tuna on the <b>Fishin’ Fever</b> from Cape May on Wednesday at the southern lumps between 20 and 30 fathoms, Capt. Tom said. They kept a 57-inch 111-pounder and a 42-inch 49-pounder, releasing a 45-incher. They also boxed a 12-pound mahi mahi, and all the fish were trolled on ballyhoos. A mako shark 100 to 150 pounds also slammed a bally before it bit through the mono. That was the fifth mako that Tom heard was trolled in those depths. Mako sharks were still around, if anglers wanted to hunt them on the boat. Sand eels flooded the 70- to 71-degree, green but clear waters. The fish could be seen 30 feet down when fought. The trip arrived on the grounds at 4:30 a.m. and the first tuna attacked at 7:30 a.m. The last was landed at 10:30 a.m., and the anglers said they had enough, and headed home early. Tom heard about a small white marlin caught in the area, the second white he heard was angled from the waters this season. Lots of mahi, sizeable ones, seemed to swim up and down the 20-fathom line already, and the waters were cool for them. Could be a sign of good mahi fishing to come this year. At the canyons lots of small yellowfin tuna schooled, and occasional 40-, 50- or 60-pounders were mixed in, but not a lot. The fishing was better at the northern canyons lately. Some quality bigeyes were beaten at the canyons. Fishin’ Fever can cover a large range of the canyons, because if the northern waters are best, the boat can sail from its port in Brigantine. If southern waters are better, the vessel can run from Cape May.

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