New Jersey Fishing Reports

An open-boat shark trip on Wednesday fought one blue shark to the boat and got a couple of other bites at the Monster Ledge, said Capt. Tom from the Nan Sea J from Belmar. Slow fishing, for some reason. Waters were 70 degrees, and lots of birds worked the waters, and turtles and dolphin swam around. Open shark trips will run through July, and charters are also sharking, Tom’s favorite fishing. Overnight tuna trips will kick off in September at the canyons.

Manasquan Inlet

Sharks stayed on the prowl, and anglers on one boat tackled five makos on Saturday, said Dave from The Reel Seat in Brielle. Bluefin tuna were fought 40 miles offshore, and the crew on the Intrepid beat seven of the fish to 70 pounds. They trolled some on ballyhoos on Ilanders and jigged others. Mike Smith ran a trip that wrestled in five of the bluefins to 50 pounds on the troll. Trolling for small yellowfin tuna and for skipjacks became slower at Hudson Canyon, and anglers had to wait for better waters. The better catches came from Toms Canyon and farther south.

The Big Kid from Brielle is supposed to fish the canyons for tuna this weekend, but rough weather might nix those plans, Capt. Ken said. A buddy shellacked yellowfins at Spencer Canyon this week. The Big Kid has already trolled a load of small yellowfins and a 200-pound bigeye tuna this year. The fish last weekend mostly gathered at Toms and Spencer canyons, after previously honing in on Hudson Canyon. Sharking improved a little, if anglers wanted to get after them.

A mixed-bag charter, targeting multi-species, headed to the deep last Thursday with Andrea’s Toy Charters from Point Pleasant, the report on the boat’s Web site said. On the way to Hudson Canyon two bluefin tuna, one over 47 inches and one under, were trolled when a fishy-looking area with bait, working birds, dolphin and whales was found. The fish were stuffed with sand eels. At the Hudson the crew didn’t like the looks of the waters with no bait and the wrong water temps. Nothing was trolled after an hour, so the trip started steaming to Toms Canyon. On the way, perfect conditions for sharking were seen, so the trip set up a drift. A 5-foot mako was bagged. A swordfish entered the drift but wouldn’t commit. Up in the morning, the anglers went on the troll. Yellowfin tuna, all shorts but action, and skipjacks slammed the spread within minutes. The boat started to be motored to the next spot, and an insane yellowfin bite began. Five were on at a time, and more than 15 were landed. None was a keeper, but the action was wild. Next the anglers deep-dropped for tilefish, muscling in 1 ½ of the fish to 15 pounds on the first drift. The “half” was a tile that got sharked on the way up. In addition to charters, Andrea’s Toy is running open-boat, mixed bag, offshore trips, and space is available on a first-come basis. See details on Andrea’s Toy’s home page.

Barnegat Inlet

One angler last week nailed a 260-pound bigeye tuna on the west wall of Hudson Canyon, and he and his crew returned with a load of small yellowfin tuna from the canyon, said the report on Barnegat Light Bait & Tackle’s Web site. Tuna fishing was picking up, and charter boats started to book solid trips for the fishing, it said.

Little Egg Inlet

On the June Bug from Beach Haven, a trip pushed to waters along the lumps and holes north and offshore of 28-Mile Wreck on Saturday, Capt. Lindsay said. No bluefin tuna showed up, but a sizeable mahi mahi hit the long rigger way back and got reeled in. Seas were super on the beautiful, sunny day.

A bluefin tuna trip Tuesday bagged a 40-incher and released a 35-incher, said Capt. T.J. from Legal Limit Charters from Tuckerton. A couple of bluefins to 50 inches were trolled on the boat at 28-Mile Wreck last week on Wednesday. Twelve-hour charters are sailing for bluefins.

Great Egg Harbor Inlet

A trip on the Stray Cat from Longport looked for bluefin tuna at the Cigar toward the end of last week, and none was found, but a 20-pound mahi mahi was clubbed, Capt. Mike said. Some mystery bites from smaller fish got off, and maybe three tuna were boated in the whole fleet. Waters were beautiful, and 20 turtles, 10 sunfish and a couple of sharks were seen. Winds kicked up in the afternoon, but the vessel was already on the way home and sheltered from the land. Mike hoped to return to tuna fishing at the Cigar, 28-Mile Wreck and the 750 Square in the next days. Mahi mahi could also be found on the grounds. Two or three spaces are available for an open-boat, canyon tuna trip that will fish during the second or third week of August.

Several anglers said they battled bluefin tuna at 19-Fathom Lump, and Dave Fiocca and crew on Daves Poppy’s Cruiser stuck a 40-pounder at Lemke’s Canyon, said T.C. from Brennan Marine in Somers Point. Karl Smollinger and crew on his Night Moves ventured past the 750 Square to fish in 385 feet toward Lindenkohl Canyon, boating two 50-pound yellowfin tuna. Bill Haas and gang on his Rose Lee ran into huge schools of small yellowfin tuna, more of the tuna than he’d ever seen, and as many as they could handle, 100 miles offshore, finding two keepers, 50-pounders, among the fish.

Not a lot of news came in about bluefin tuna catches along the 30-fathom line, and the fishing seemed spotty, said Bill from Fin-Aics in Ocean City. Yellowfin tuna from 35 to 50 pounds were trolled at the northern canyons or the Spencer and the Lindenkohl, and a few white marlin were tied into. Overnight chunking at the canyons nailed mako sharks more than anything.

Townsend’s Inlet

Mike Mancini’s crew set out for bluefin tuna on Tuesday on the boat, trolling at the Hambone, said Capt. Joe Hughes from Jersey Cape Guide Service and Gibson’s Tackle from Sea Isle City. One large bluefin, probably close to 150 pounds, was fought but broke off. A 12-pound mahi mahi was also trolled. Disappointing, but the fishing was improving for bluefins. Weekly, open-boat tuna 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 is offering mixed-bag offshore charters this summer, trolling for tuna in the mornings, then casting lures, bait or flies to mahi mahi in the afternoons. The mahi fishing was beginning to heat up, and peanut bunker, used for chum, were becoming available. Offshore trips fish on either the Regulator or a 42-foot Liberty, depending on the number of anglers and type of fishing, like angling with conventional tackle or fly gear.

Bluefin tuna trips from Ocean City, Maryland, leadered nine of the fish on Monday and four on Tuesday with Over Under Adventures from Avalon, the report on Over Under’s Web site said. The fishing was hopping 30 to 50 miles from the coast, all on trolled ballyhoos, and chunking and jigging for them usually turns on in late July and early August. Over the weekend Capt. John Oughton from Over Under won the Ocean City Tuna Tournament with a 158-pound bluefin. From Jersey, a bluefin trip on Sunday was slow, maybe because of calm weather, weekend boat traffic or an approaching weather front, but who knows? the report asked. The trip left a 2:30 a.m. to try to capitalize on a daybreak bite, but the only fish that bit, a 40-pounder, was taken at 12:30 p.m. A mahi mahi was also nailed on the trip. The tuna was caught at Massey’s Canyon, and the anglers fished from 19-Fathom Lump to Massey’s and along the bumps and lumps between the two. Somewhat of a bite seemed to happen at 11 a.m., and boats that happened to be on top of the fish got a few shots at catches. Otherwise the fishing was a slow pick all day. Bluefins seemed to settle in to northern spots like the Lobster Claw by now, and they also continued to get boated off Virginia, so more should be on the way. A canyon trip on Wednesday slammed one of the best catches in a long time: eight 40- to 50-pound yellowfin tuna, an 80-pound bluefin, three blue 175- to 350-pound marlin that were released, a white marlin that was released and a few mahi mahi. The crew was just getting back from the trip when a brief report was posted on the site, and more info was going to be posted after they got rest. Both charters and open-boat trips are sailing, and see the open schedule on Over Under’s Web site.

Cape May Inlet

Bluefin tuna anglers on the Fishin’ Fever from Cape May went 1 for 5 at the southern lumps on Monday, keeping a 50-inch 78-pounder, also tackling a 15-pound mahi mahi, all on the troll, Capt. Tom said. Among the four other bites, two of the fish were fought a while before the hooks pulled. Many bluefins seemed around, and he heard an unconfirmed report that a party boat hooked close to 20 of the fish during the weekend. Large mahi mahi roamed 20 to 30 fathoms, and Tom heard about some to 35 pounds. He also heard about three white marlin leadered in 20 fathoms so far this season. Yellowfin tuna, including a larger number than before of bigger ones or fish 40 to 70 pounds, schooled up and down the line at the canyons.

Capt. George from the Heavy Hitter from Cape May mated on a party-boat sized charter boat that ran an overnight trip for bluefin tuna during the weekend, he said Six of the fish to 40 or 45 inches were landed, and a limit of two were kept, among lots of others broken off. Two mahi mahi were also decked, and a small hammerhead shark was landed. The boat trolled both when it arrived and during the next morning, and at night it drifted in 150 feet while the anglers fished sardines. They hooked the fish when they dropped the baits to the bottom and reeled up a few cranks. Do you only have three or four anglers for a trip, not six to create a full charter? Call George, because he can probably put you together with other anglers on a make-up trip during mid week.

Rich Savage’s charter on the Down Deep from Cape May landed two 60-pound bluefin tuna, keeping one, on a trip last week, Capt. Bob said. The Hambone and 19-Fathom Lump held bluefins, but so did all the lumps. The boat did no fishing for yellowfins at the canyons so far this season, and tuna charters were concentrating on bluefins.

Boaters trolled bluefin tuna at the inshore lumps, said Matt from Jim’s Bait & Tackle in Cape May. One captain reported boating two bluefins, three gaffer mahi mahi and a white marlin at the lumps inshore of the Elephant Trunk. Dan Fabri and crew wrenched in six bluefins and some sizeable mahi while trolling lumps on the 20-fathom line. At Massey’s Canyon reportedly 20 of the tuna were hooked and six were landed on the Bodacious. Offhore fishing produced at Baltimore Canyon toward the end of last week. On Thursday of last week, five yellowfins 50 pounds apiece were taken on the Salty Susan, and two blue marlin and two white marlin were raised.