<b>Sandy Hook</b>

<b>Jersey Devil Charters</b> from the Highlands shark fished Sunday at the Monster Ledge, tackled a 150-pound mako and released a blue shark, Capt. Brian said. A couple of bluefish were landed for bait, and tuna charters will begin soon.

<b>Jersey Shore Fishing Charters</b> from Sea Bright also ran to the Monster Ledge on Sunday and trolled three football-sized bluefin tuna and seven or eight bluefish in 70-degree water, Capt. Jake said. Rainbow squid spreader bars and Tuna Klones with birds did the trick. Another boater was seen hooked up with a big fish for 45 minutes, but Jake never saw whether the fish was landed. Sharking’s also been good, and Jersey Shore ran a shark trip the previous weekend, and three swam the slick, and a couple were broken off. Tuna trips will start in maybe a week or two, and tuna season’s still early.

Offshore boaters scored plenty of mako sharks at places like the Mako Motel and the Monster Ledge, and waters near the BA buoy gave up brown sharks from 50 to 70 pounds, said Sal from <b>Michael’s Bait & Tackle</b> on Staten Island. Tuna fishing hadn’t really taken hold yet for customers, and there were rumors of a few tuna, but no solid fishery seemed to develop.

<b>Shark River Inlet</b>

Three of four shark trips with <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b> from Neptune fought mako sharks to the boat so far this season, so sharking was good, and another shark charter was sailing today, Capt. Ralph said. He wanted to mix in inshore bluefin tuna trolling on the shark trips, but rough seas prevented him, but maybe today’s trip will try. Ralph knew boaters who tried tuna fishing at Toms Canyon but failed, so the fishing wasn’t really happening at the northern canyons yet. The tuna that had been biting farther south at Baltimore Canyon had recently pushed even farther south toward Washington Canyon.

The weekly, open-boat sharking trip was weathered out Wednesday on the <b>Nan Sea J</b> from Belmar, Capt. Tom said. But it’ll continue next week, and a couple of openings are available, and a few openings remain for the following week. The trips sail every Wednesday through July, and shark charters are also running.

<b>Manasquan Inlet</b>

Friends sailed for tuna Sunday, heading very far, 120 miles to the east of Manasquan Inlet, and they bagged six yellowfin tuna, said Capt. Mike from the <b>Katie H</b> from Brielle. But that distance is impractical for charters, so tuna fishing wasn’t really happening yet, until warm water pushes closer to shore. Shark charters are sailing, and anglers still have a good chance at catching a mako.

Capt. John from the <b>Defiant</b> from Point Pleasant heard reports about yellowfin tuna boated far offshore, pushing 120 miles out, and if anyone wants to fish that far, the boat is available, he said. The rate on offshore trips is based on trips 100 miles from shore, so if a charter sails farther, the extra fuel cost will be factored in. Still, here’s your opportunity. Charters are also currently shark fishing, and shark season is definitely in full swing.

So far, nobody’s been reporting many catches from Hudson Canyon, and <b>Andrea’s Toy Charters</b> from Point Pleasant will wait until warm water pushes in and the bite takes off, Capt. Fred said. Charters and open-boat trips will then sail to the canyon for combos of tuna, mahi mahi and tilefish. Andrea’s Toy is already fishing mid-shore for combos of sharks and bluefin tuna at places like the Monster Ledge on both charters and open-boat trips. Those trips have already produced mako sharks and blue sharks, and bluefin tuna were jigged 60 miles from shore on one of them. Andrea’s Toy specializes in mixed-bag trips for more fun and greater chances of hooking up.

The <b>Reel-Ality</b> from Brielle will sail for bluefin tuna in the inshore ocean if that action turns on, Capt. Larry said. He knows an angler who fished the Monster Ledge over the weekend and bagged one small, keeper mako shark and released a big, 12-foot blue shark, and bluefish were everywhere, and the friend said other boaters were trolling for bluefin tuna there, but he saw them catch nothing.

Strong winds often weathered out shark fishing, and, for example, two customers tried to head offshore for shark fishing Sunday morning, but they turned around because of stiff seas, said Dave from <b>The Reel Seat</b> in Brielle. He heard about no customers tuna fishing.

<b>Barnegat Inlet</b>

A 43-pound bluefin tuna was weighed in that was landed at the Cigar, and the angler said he hooked 15, and they were everywhere and weighed in the 40-pound range, said Josh from <b>Barnegat Light Bait & Tackle</b>. The Fingers still gave up a variety of sharks.

<b>Little Egg Inlet</b>

The crew took a shark trip Sunday on the Cousins, <b>Fish the Dropoff</b>’s offshore boat, Capt. Fran said. They headed out with the boat’s owner, Nick Rausch, and several small sharks were landed in 4- to 6-foot seas and northeast winds from 10 to 15 knots, not a nice day. One 12-pound bluefish was reeled in, and the wind direction made for a slow ride home. The water is warming, so this will be the last week of sharking for the season on the boat, and afterward all attention will be paid to tuna fishing.

Shark fishing on charters slowed down during a few days last week, and a shark trip Friday night had no drift, and a couple of brown sharks were landed, said Capt. T.J. from <b>Legal Limit Charters</b> from Tuckerton. The boat’s mate ran a shark trip during the daytime and fought makos. The first tuna charter of the season is slated for Tuesday.

<b>Absecon Inlet</b>

On the <b>Fishin’ Fever</b> from Brigantine a charter tuna fished Wednesday and trolled four bluefins from 30 to 35 pounds along the 20-fathom line, keeping one and releasing the rest, Capt. Tom said. The anglers only fished two hours before they had enough and decided to head back to port. Plastics including Green Machines scored the fish, and the tuna were piled up in those waters, so if anglers want to bend a rod with tuna without running far, go now, because the bite is on at the inshore grounds. Tom thinks it might only last another couple of weeks.

The <b>Carly A</b> from Atlantic City fished on its first tuna charter of the season Tuesday at Spencer Canyon, and a few 40- to 60-pound bluefin tuna were hooked, and so were small mahi mahi, said Jack from Offshore Enterprises Bait and Tackle in AC. The boat’s owner also owns the tackle shop. Other boaters caught bluefin tuna at the Cigar. The store carries tournament-quality offshore baits, including ballyhoo straight from Bait Master and butterfish from Sea Freeze. Both medium and horse ballys are stocked, and so are trolling squid and plenty of other offshore baits.

<b>Great Egg Harbor Inlet</b>

The season’s first open-boat tuna trip on the <b>Stray Cat</b> from Longport fished the Cigar on Sunday, Capt. Mike said. Bluefin tuna to 40 pounds were trolled, and the fish bit until 8 a.m., when eastern winds shut down the fishing. Another couple of fish hit at 12 noon, and the water was 71.2 degrees and at first was cobalt blue and looked good. But by noon the water rolled over from the winds and turned green. Open-boat tuna trips will sail again 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Sunday and the Sunday of July 22 with six passengers. This Sunday’s trip is full, but a few openings remain for the 22nd. Stray Cat will probably start running the open trips every Sunday through summer. Several 24-hour, open-boat tuna trips are on the books for September 7 and 22 and October 7, also limited to six passengers, and these trips will mix in deep-dropping for tilefish. Tuna charters are also available.

A shark trip with <b>O-Beth Sportfishing</b> from Margate hammered two makos, a hammerhead and a brown shark over the weekend along the 20-fathom line, Capt. Eric said. One 150-pound mako was kept, and the other mako was bigger but was caught afterward, so it was released. The mako that was kept was fought on a spinning rod with 15-pound line and a 2-foot wire leader that was being used to catch bluefish for bait! Another shark trip sailed Monday, and Eric sent a photo of a mako landed on the trip, but a full report on that outing was yet to arrive. O-Beth will keep shark fishing as long as possible, probably until the middle of the month, and tuna fishing will probably start within two weeks.

Offshore anglers found bluefin tuna at the Cigar and 28-Mile Wreck, and sometimes makos were fought in those waters, and so were bluefish, said Dan from <b>Fin-Atics</b> in Ocean City.

 

<b>Townsend’s Inlet</b>

Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Gibson’s Tackle</b> in Sea Isle City took an exploratory trip to look for bluefin tuna at the Cigar on Tuesday morning, he said. The point was to scope out the possibilities of catching the bluefins on flies, and he liked what he saw. He hooked a few small bluefins, about 25-inchers, on the troll, and so did others, and most larger ones and keepers were caught right at daybreak, so it did seem to be an early morning fishery. A 45-inch tuna was the biggest that Joe heard was caught, and mahi mahi from 10 to 15 pounds were mixed in with the catches. He also saw a number of mako sharks landed during his trip.

<b>Over Under Adventures</b>’s boat the Low Profile is gearing up to fish for big game offshore from Avalon for the summer and fall after fishing in the Bahamas since winter. But several boats from Over Under’s fleet are already fishing offshore from Ocean City, Md. Over Under’s web site said that the boats averaged 13 tuna per trip on four outings last week before the weekend, and the fishing slowed down a lot by the weekend, like it also did the previous week. During the weekend three of the vessels totaled 11 yellowfin tuna, and the best catch was five nice-sized yellowfins that weighed a total of 268 pounds. Some mahi were also caught on the vessels, and the fish over the weekend were landed from the Poorman’s Canyon to waters south of there in 40 to 70 fathoms. Two of the boats fished Wednesday, and one went 7 for 11 on bluefin tuna to 65 pounds or 52 inches, keeping the legal limit and releasing the rest, and the fish bit both ballyhoos and spreader bars. The other boat went 8 for 9 on yellowfins  from 35 to 45 pounds and a mahi mahi. The fish on both trips were caught well inside the canyons, instead of offshore of the canyons, so that was good news. Check out Over Under’s schedule of <a href="http://overundercharters.com/?page=opendates" target="_blank"> open-boat trips</a>, and more dates will be added as groups call and ask about splitting costs with other anglers. 

<b>Hereford Inlet</b>

Sharking was good, and tuna were trolled at the Cigar and 19-Fathom Lump on cedar plugs, jets and small feathers, said Cathy from <b>Sterling Harbor Bait & Tackle</b> in Wildwood in an e-mail. Greg Bulifant and crew on the Big Bully from Wildwood went 5 for 7 on bluefin tuna at the inshore lumps while trolling.

<b>Cape May Inlet</b>

The <b>Heavy Hitter</b> from Cape May was weathered out from strong winds and rainstorms earlier this week, Capt. George said. A friend hooked bluefin tuna at the inshore spots Wednesday, and the friend’s friend got there earlier in the morning and landed more, five or six.

A decent number of tuna started showing up, including bluefin tuna at the inshore lumps and yellowfin tuna at the canyons, said Capt. Bob from the <b>Down Deep</b> from Cape May. The boat is ready to start targeting the fish.

Inshore trolling picked up nicely for schoolie bluefins, and the area offshore of the Cigar was holding good numbers, said Matt from <b>Jim’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Cape May in a fax. The Cigar itself was home to great numbers of bluefish, and a few bonito were mixed in, and so were some false albacore. No canyon tuna reports rolled in, but shark anglers still fought decent catches at 20-fathom spots north of Cape May.

Plenty of makos swam 20 fathoms last week, and yellowfin tuna and mahi mahi could be found between Poorman’s Canyon and Baltimore Canyon at that time, said Capt. Fred from <b>Harbor View Marina</b> in Cape May in a fax. Bluefin tuna and a few mahi started to show along 30 fathoms, and trolled cedar plugs were scoring them.

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