<b>Sandy Hook</b>

Richie Yost on the Gina Lisa reeled in a 421-pound thresher shark, said Vinny from <b>Michael’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Great Kills, Staten Island, and Vinny thought it was hooked at the Glory Hole. Two blue sharks were also landed on the trip, and Matty, an employee from the shop, sailed to the tip of Hudson Canyon and caught two small yellowfin tuna and a bunch of tilefish on Monday.

No offshore trips took place with <b>Andrea’s Toy Charters</b> this past week because of bad weather and also because of no good, warm water in Hudson Canyon recently, Capt Fred said. But open-boat Hudson Canyon trips will resume and will run once a week, and the trips are fishing for sharks and tilefish. Bluefin tuna are within range of Andrea’s Toys’ 31-foot Contender at the canyon, but the fish are small, so the trips will do no trolling for the bluefins at this time. But bluefins are also inshore now, and charters will troll for them inshore, and charters will also shark fish inshore. The sharking is hit or miss these days, but Fred thinks that if shark trips can get off by themselves, like on weekdays when boat traffic is light, and if conditions create a good drift, good sharking can be found at the Glory Hole and Chicken Canyon.

<b>Outback Fishing Charters</b> will fly fish for mako sharks soon, and Capt. Bill’s been hearing about small, 60-pound makos in the inshore ocean that are great to catch and release on flies, he said. Outback will exploit that fishery, and Bill’s hearing about more and more bluefin tuna showing up inshore.

<b>Shark River Inlet</b>

A shark trip with <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b> on Tuesday nailed a 100-pound mako and released a big blue shark, Capt. Ralph said. Last Lady won second prize in the Jersey Coast Shark Anglers Tournament two weekends ago with a 177-pound mako, and the fish also placed fourth in the Mako Mania Tournament that weekend. A canyon tuna charter was cancelled for Sunday night because of windy weather. Last Lady’s first open-boat tuna trip takes place July 25 to 26, and a couple of spots are available.

<b>No Respect Charters</b> landed three mako sharks Saturday, but all were undersized, Capt. Layne said.

<b>Manasquan Inlet</b>

A couple of canyon tuna trips were cancelled on the <b>Defiant</b> because of rough seas, Capt. John said. The boat is scheduled to sail offshore this weekend, and little news was heard about offshore fishing this week.

A charter on the <b>Canyon Runner</b> last Friday went 2 for 4 on yellowfin tuna from 40 to 50 pounds, pulled the hook on an 80 pounder and nailed a 130-pound bluefin tuna in the deep off Hudson Canyon, the fishing report on the boat’s web site said.  This happened from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., and all the fish bit on the troll, and previously the boat trolled at the tip and  down the east wall, but the water along the wall was greenish and was getting greener, so the lines were pulled in, and the vessel headed to the deep. At first on the trip the boat stopped just west of the Texas Tower where birds were working and skipjacks swam, but nothing was caught after an hour, so the boat headed to the tip. After the fish were caught out in the deep, the charter wanted to go home early for a jump start on the holiday weekend after only four hours of trolling on a 24-hour trip. The charter said the fish were the biggest they ever saw, and they had enough, but the crew convinced the group to stay the night. Later another bluefin was missed 150 feet deep on mackerel, and the charter sailed home at first light.

Joe Natoli on the Janice nailed a 220-pound bigeye tuna, a 175-pound bigeye, yellowfin tuna to 50 pounds and a couple of dolphin at Hudson Canyon last week, said Dave from <b>Reel Seat Bait & Tackle</b> in Brielle. The Heart to Heart bagged a bigeye in the 200-pound range at the Hudson last week. By the same token, some boats didn’t do well at the canyon that week, so the action was inconsistent. Scattered reports were heard about bluefin tuna found at the Glory Hole and Mudhole.

<b>Barnegat Inlet</b>

Three different boaters each caught a mako shark in the ocean on Saturday, and one guy got three makos on Friday, and another person hooked one mako on Sunday, said Josh from <b>Barnegat Light Bait & Tackle</b>.

<b>Beach Haven Inlet</b>

<b>Legal Limit Charters</b> has been catching some nice mako sharks, and three makos were boated on a trip Friday at 28-Mile Wreck, Capt. T.J. said. One of the fish was 115 to 120 pounds dressed. Legal Limit is slated to tuna fish this weekend.

Tuna charters are coming up on the <b>June Bug</b>, and bigeye tuna slammed lines at the Wilmington and Hudson canyons, and yellowfin tuna were scarce, Capt. Lindsay said. Bluefin tuna to the 100-pound class hit off North Carolina at the Knuckle buoy.

<b>Absecon Inlet</b>

Bluefin tuna fishing was okay in the inshore ocean at places like 28-Mile Wreck, the Cigar and the Elephant Trunk, said Bill from <b>Offshore Enterprises Bait & Tackle</b> in Atlantic City.

<b>Great Egg Harbor Inlet</b>

<b>O-Beth Sportfishing Charters</b> nailed a good catch of sharks Tuesday around 28-Mile Wreck, releasing a 100-pound mako, a smaller mako and a 250-pound tiger shark, and losing a whopper, 300-pound mako, Capt. Eric said. Dolphin swam through the slick, and seas were 3 to 4 feet, and the water was crystal blue and held sea turtles and sunfish. A couple of reports about bluefin tuna were heard in the area, and bluefin action is heating up.

The bite was slow this week, said Capt. Mike from <b>Stray Cat Charters</b>, and tuna fishing dropped off on a trip Wednesday 34 miles offshore in 2- to 3-foot seas. The Stray Cat was the only boat in sight, and lots of boaters seemed to stay at port lately because of bad-weather forecasts. On Stray Cat’s previous offshore trip, tuna fishing off the 500-fathom line was phenomenal for big yellowfins about 70 to 75 miles on a 170-degree course from Great Egg Harbor Inlet. Open-boat tuna trips have started, and call for the schedule. Shark trips last week whacked makos, and it was the best bite Mike saw in 25 years. The mako fishing was spectacular at 30 fathoms. “Definitely worth the price of admission,” he said. Lots of dolphin were also around, so many that the mahi actually hit wire line fished for sharks in the shark slicks. The water was 72 degrees starting at the 30 line and got warmer the farther offshore, and inshore waters were cold and barren.

Bruce Breunig battled a 100-pound mako shark 40 miles offshore, said a fax from Rob and Joan Barrett from <b>Dolfin Dock</b> in Somers Point.

Tom Little on the Mischievous tackled a 255-pound mako shark northeast of the Dump, said a fax from T.C. from <b>Brennan Marine</b> in Somers Point. Reports persisted about warm water at the canyons last week, but windy weather kept offshore boaters from sailing.

<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 on Saturday started fishing at the Tea Cup and then worked out to Baltimore Canyon, he said. He trolled Green Machine spreader bars and rigged ballyhoos and went 1 for 2 on yellowfin tuna on rigged ballys and also landed a mahi mahi, and the fish definitely preferred the ballyhoos. The water was 73 degrees and not that great a color, but the fish didn’t seem to mind, and tons of porpoises were around, and squid were marked 100 feet down, mostly inshore. Joe heard about other yellowfins and longfin tuna caught at Baltimore and Wilmington canyons and about two blue marlin bites that day. He also heard reports on the radio about two white marlin released and several other whites that bit. Later this week Joe said yellowfins were also at places like the Sausages, Massey’s Canyon, the Hot Dog and the Elephant Trunk. Joe will fish offshore this weekend, and he saw a satellite shot that showed good, warm water at the canyons. Bluefin tuna should be at inshore spots like the Cigar and 28-Mile Wreck, and dolphin are roaming from 30 fathoms out. Brown sharks are starting to bite in the inshore ocean.

<b>Cape May Inlet</b>

On the <b>Top Shelf</b> six yellowfin tuna to 50 pounds were trolled at Baltimore Canyon at the 50-fathom line on Monday, Capt. Bill said. Four of the tuna were 45 to 50 pounds, and the other two were 35 pounds, and the fish hit two at once and four at once, smacking a Green Machine spreader bar, a rainbow squid spreader bar, a cedar plug and a Zucchini lure. Two dolphin to 20 pounds were boated on a trip at Massey’s Canyon on Saturday on a rainbow spreader and a Green Machine spreader. A charter was supposed to sail for tuna yesterday if it didn’t blow a gale.

<b>Jaftica Sportfishing</b> sailed on its first tuna trip of the year on Sunday and grabbed three yellowfin tuna and a couple of small mahi mahi at the 40-fathom line on the troll with the Allen Bromawitts charter, Capt. Ray said. The yellowfins were 30 to 40 pounds, and the water was in the mid 70s. On Monday a trip trolled inshore and nailed probably 20 mahi to 15 pounds, two throwback bluefin tuna and uncountable numbers of bonito and bluefish. There was good action, with triple headers and sometimes six lines going down at once.

A trolling trip on the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> looked for bluefin tuna at the inshore lumps this week but found none, Capt. George said. But the trip scored well on lots of bonito, dolphin, a king mackerel and bluefish, and there was lots of action. The dolphin were 4 or 5 pounds, and the king mackerel pushed the scale at 12 pounds. A charter is slated to fish for sharks Sunday.

Shark fishing continued to be pretty decent along the 20-fathom line last week, when makos to 200 pounds were weighed in, said a fax from Matt from <b>Jim’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Cape May. Shark fishers also saw lots of dolphin coming into the slicks, and small yellowfin tuna and bluefin tuna were trolled at Massey’s Canyon and at the South Dump Site. Bluefins were also trolled at the Cigar, and small jet lures, cedar plugs, mini Green Machines and such lures hooked the fish. At the offshore grounds the best tuna bite came from inside Washington Canyon at the 30-fathom line. Big bluefins, yellowfins and nice-sized bigeye tuna were hooked there Saturday. A tuna bite took place at Wilmington Canyon on Saturday but was over as fast as it started. Chris Weith fished the Poorman’s Canyon and released a white marlin and caught five dolphin.

Mako sharks continued to be available along the 20-fathom line last week, when bigeye tuna, large bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna and gaffer dolphin also showed up in good numbers inside Washington Canyon, a fax from Capt. Fred from <b>Harbor View Marina</b> in Cape May said.

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