<b>Shark River Inlet</b>

Bluefin tuna fishing, on the inshore ocean, became slow, said Capt. Derek from <b>Fisher Price Charters</b> from Highlands. But if the fishing picks up, charters can steam for them. 

Motoring from <b>Twin Lights Marina</b> in Highlands, Greg Schnell and Bill Looney fished southeast of the Lillian wreck, boating mahi mahi to 15 pounds and skipjacks, Marion from the shop wrote in an e-mail. Twin Lights, conveniently located on Shrewsbury River, with no bridges before the ocean, features boat slips, rack storage, a fuel dock, ship’s store supplies, and a complete bait and tackle shop. Inshore and offshore baits are carried.

<b>Manasquan Inlet</b>

A trip returned Saturday from offshore that released four white marlin and boxed a bunch of mahi mahi at the charter’s request on the <b>Big Kid</b> from Brielle, Capt. Ken said.

Canyon fishing last got the weather to sail during the weekend with <b>Andrea’s Toy Charters</b> from Point Pleasant Beach, Capt. Fred said. He hoped to make it out this weekend, but weather looked rough from the tropical storm. On the weekend’s trip, at first, a half-dozen mahi mahi were boated at a lobster pot buoy on the way to a canyon, a report on Andrea’s Toy’s Web site said. At the canyon that evening, trolling for tuna was slow, and the boat was set up for chunking at night. A 30-pound yellowfin tuna was caught not long after dark. Through the night, several tuna bites were missed, and blue sharks and mahis “kept the crew busy,” the report said. At 5 a.m., the anglers went 2 for 5 on yellowfins. The trip got up on the troll afterward that morning, “and had no luv,” the report said. After a few hours, the anglers tilefished, cranking in seven of them. Each angler landed a first-ever tile. Back at the dock, the tuna weighed up to 65 pounds, and the mahi weighed up to 12, and the tiles weighed up to 25. Andrea’s Toy is only offshore fishing now, after sailing the mid-range ocean for a mixed bag of bluefin tuna, mahi and cod. Bluefins were no longer around, really. The offshore trips, both open-boat and charters, are hunting a mixed bag that can include tuna, mahi, swordfish, sharks, tilefish and more, all in one outing. Andrea’s Toy specializes in mixed-bag trips for greater fun, better chances of hooking up, and more variety for dinner. Telephone if interested.

Bluefin tuna fishing was sort of like small bodies of the fish swam, but if anglers ran into them, they caught, Eric from <b>The Reel Seat</b> in Brielle said Sunday. Most were trolled, because no large bodies were usually found that anglers could stop and jig on. A few bigeye tuna were trolled at Hudson Canyon, and a few more were trolled at Toms Canyon, he said that day. Lots were trolled at Wilmington Canyon. Longfin tuna and occasionally yellowfin tuna were trolled at Hudson and Toms. Some trips landed three or four swordfish, extraordinary, at night at canyons. A state record 18-pound 14-ounce blueline tilefish was weighed-in from a Point Pleasant Beach party boat last week.

<b>Barnegat Inlet</b>

From an edited e-mail from Capt. Dave DeGennaro from the <b>Hi Flier</b> from Barnegat: “Barnegat Ridge has been lit up with lots of bonita and a few albacore. Most of the bonita are big, 3 to 6 pounds. There are also some 1- to 2-pounders in the mix, so we are just releasing those. Once in a while the rod doubles over screaming with a false albacore. We troll 20-class conventional outfits until we find them. Then we reel in a few of those, and replace them with 10-pound spinning rods. That's when the fun starts. Bonita are great sport on light tackle, and delicious to eat. The Hi Flier will be running open-boat trips this Saturday through Monday, three people max per trip. Saturday from 6 to 11 a.m.: Live grass shrimp (in Barnegat Bay for weakfish, hickory shad, snapper bluefish, spots, blowfish, fluke and more). Sunday and Monday from 6 a.m. to 12 noon: Barnegat Ridge bonita and albacore.”

<b>Great Egg Harbor Inlet</b>

Nothing was heard about offshore fishing, said Justin from <b>Fin-Atics</b> in Ocean City. Seas were often rough, but no customers talked about going on the few days when waters were calmer.

<b>Townsend’s Inlet</b>

Offshore news was most recently heard from Saturday, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> from Sea Isle City, affiliated with <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. A friend’s trip on Friday landed four white marlin and three bigeye tuna at Wilmington Canyon. But the fishing was no good on Saturday.

Faint rumors talked about false albacore in the ocean, but none was seen at the shop, said Mike from <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b> from Sea Isle City.

<b>Cape May Inlet</b>

Fishing offshore will probably be tough this weekend, because of rough seas, said Nick from <b>Hands Too Bait & Tackle</b> in Cape May. But a customer at Wilmington Canyon during the weekend raised a few white marlins and boated six mahi mahi to 18 pounds, among like 250 boats, on a trip. Another customer during the weekend arrived at the Wilmington, found too many boats, moved to Baltimore Canyon, and landed two blue marlin, raised some whites and missed a couple of yellowfin tuna. Tuna at the canyons seemed a little “shy,” Nick said, but some boaters caught them well, and good catches of other fish were put together from the waters.  

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