Note, Friday, 9/9: Nobody fished offshore since the September 2 report, because of Tropical Storm Hermine off the coast.

So a new report wasn’t posted September 9, but a couple of updates were that day.

Welcome to September! Stormy weather, wind and rough seas because of changing seasons arrived like clockwork. But offshore fishing usually only improves this time of year into fall. The weather is part of the fishery.

<b>Sandy Hook</b>

<b>***Update, Friday, 9/9:***</b> Fishing for yellowfin tuna, sizable, turned on last week at Hudson Canyon before the storm, said Chris from <b>Fisherman’s Den North</b> in Atlantic Highlands. He spooled a reel yesterday for a customer who was headed for the tuna and wanted to jig for them, because the angler heard some of catches were jigged. The customer never said whether the catches were jigged during daytime or at night.

<b>Manasquan Inlet</b>

<b>Mushin Sportfishing</b> from Point Pleasant Beach competed in the Manasquan River Marlin & Tuna Club’s Offshore Open during the weekend, Capt. Alan wrote in an email. Fishing aboard seemed to find the season’s beginning of solid yellowfin tuna fishing, “like old times,” he said, with bigeye tuna mixed in. Mushin hooked tuna on the troll, but other boats chunked the fish since, even during daylight. Sizable yellowfins 50 to 70 pounds were tackled, and Alan hopes this weekend’s storm, Hurricane Hermine’s remnant, fails to disrupt the angling. He looks forward to trolling and chunking yellowfins this month and in October.  <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Mushin-Sportfishing-520121731393091/" target="_blank">Mushin’s Facebook page</a> showed photos of the boat’s catches from the tournament, including eight yellowfins, including a 71-1/4-pounder entered in the event, and “one of the (white marlin) we released,” it said. “(We) ended up with some nice yellows and small big eye,” the page said.

Bigeye tuna and yellowfin tuna gave up a few catches, nothing great, between the Dip and the Fish Tails, said Eric from <b>The Reel Seat</b> in Brielle on Monday in a phone call. Plenty of white marlin and a few blue marlin swam Hudson Canyon, he said. Quite a few mahi mahi held along lobster pot buoys in the area. Closer to shore, catches of bonito and false albacore were rumored but unconfirmed.

<b>Barnegat Inlet</b>

The storm was going to keep the <b>Hi Flier</b> from Barnegat fishing Barnegat Bay this weekend, Capt. Dave DeGennaro wrote in an email. But false albacore and bonito now swam Barnegat Ridge, and open-boat trips and charters are getting after them. Trips can even combo bay and Ridge fishing.

<b>Great Egg Harbor Inlet</b>

Trips are trolling false albacore and Spanish mackerel on the <b>Stray Cat</b> from Longport, Capt. Mike said.

No offshore fishing for tuna and other big game was reported since last week’s MidAtlantic tournament, said John from <b>Fin-Atics</b> in Ocean City. Weather made fishing tough, and that will happen this weekend, too, apparently.

<b>Townsend’s Inlet</b>

Before the ocean swell, catches including bonito, skipjacks, false albacore, Spanish mackerel and king mackerel were heard about, said Mike from <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b> in Sea Isle City. They came from places like Sea Isle Ridge and other spots 10 to 15 miles from the coast or so. Not much was heard about tuna.

No trips fished since the weekend aboard, and a bit of a swell built on the ocean, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> from Sea Isle City, affiliated with <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. But trips have been smashing mahi mahi and false albacore aboard. A buddy drilled six mahi Monday “doing what I do,” Joe said.  A trip Sunday with several anglers with Jersey Cape trolled two mahi mahi to 15 pounds, a bunch of false albacore and lost a wahoo that was fought 2 hours. The ocean held a swell then, too, because of stormy weather offshore, but fish bit. A big push of fish-holding water had shoved inshore. The number and sizes of albies became great toward the end of last week through the weekend. Albies heavier than 10 pounds – that’s big – were landed. A trip last week on Thursday trolled five mahi 10 to 18 pounds on the boat. Keep up with Joe’s fishing on <a href="http://captainjoehughes.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s Blog</a>.

<b>Cape May</b>

Capt. George from the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> from Cape May heard that yellowfin tuna, good catches, were trolled and chunked during daytime at Hudson Canyon, he said. That’s too far to sail from Cape May, but maybe the fish will slide south to canyons in range. <b>***Update, Friday, 9/9:***</b> The first charter since this past week’s storm is slated to fish for mahi mahi Saturday aboard, George said. He heard about good catches of sizable yellowfin tuna to 60 and 70 pounds landed at Hudson Canyon just before the storm. A boat across the dock chunked two last week on Thursday on a short trip, and that boat owner’s buddy’s trip got into the fish non-stop on the chunk previously that day on a longer trip.  George wasn’t asked whether the fish were chunked during daytime or nighttime, but said in the above report that the fish previously were chunked and trolled during daytime.

“Batten down the hatches,” Nick from <b>Hands Too Bait & Tackle</b> in Cape May said! Not much was heard about offshore fishing lately. Closer to shore, good catches of mahi mahi were trolled. 

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