<b>Sandy Hook</b>

The best bite at Hudson Canyon so far this season turned on this week, and previously the tuna fishing had been slow, said Capt. Freddie Gamboa of <b>Andrea’s Toy Charters</b>. Freddie was about to go on vacation and was doing no fishing for a few days. Boaters at the Hudson were apparently reeling in ridiculous numbers of tuna on the troll and chunk, probably because clean water moved in. Before this week’s bite, Freddie had said that all the fish-holding eddies were very far offshore at the Hudson. He also said no bluefin tuna to speak of were around yet in the Mudhole closer to shore. Today the bluefin bag limit opens up north of Great Egg Harbor Inlet to include one schoolie fish in addition to one larger bluefin that is already allowed to be kept. Some of Freddie’s friends looked for mahi mahi at the Mudhole and had to sail all the way to the Glory Hole to find the fish. Andrea’s Toy is sailing on mixed-bag, open-boat canyon trips once a week for tuna, mahi mahi, tilefish and sharks. When bluefin tuna and more mahi turn on at places like the Mudhole, mid-shore, mixed-bag, open-boat trips out to 30 fathoms will be offered.

Friends told Capt. Bill Hoblitzell from <b>Outback Fishing Charters</b> that they had an amazing tuna trip at Hudson Canyon this week on the Jenny Lee, Bill said. The tuna bit all night on the chunk, and the friends said they never saw such action, and they gave Bill yellowfin tuna steaks from the charter. The 40- to 70-pound tuna were busting the water surface among bait, and previously the Hudson’s fishing had been terrible over the weekend and last week, Bill said. A few of Outback’s charters were scheduled to fish the inshore ocean for pelagics, but Bill rescheduled the charters, either because of bad weather or slow fishing reports. He plans to sail there this weekend, and 5- to 10-pound mahi mahi supposedly can be found at the lobster pots. No bluefin tuna were really in range yet, and this week and next week are the traditional times when that fishery picks up. False albacore were being caught this time last year, but Bill heard about no albies yet. His charters fly fish for the albies and also fish with conventional tackle with metal like Deadly Dicks. Bill also heard about no bonito bites yet at places like 17 fathoms, and bonito are around some places, but they’re all very small fish.

Capt. Brian Rice from <b>Jersey Devil Charters</b> heard that tuna fishing was very good at Hudson Canyon this week, and the Hudson’s fishing has generally been spotty, he said. Jersey Devil’s new boat, a 31-foot Contender, is running great, and charters on the boat will concentrate on offshore charters through the next months.

Manager Joe from <b>Michael’s Bait & Tackle</b> on Staten Island was part of the crew that won second prize in this week’s Mid Atlantic $500,000 Tournament for a 79-pound white marlin on the Over the Top, he said.

<b>Manasquan Inlet</b>

Hudson Canyon’s tuna fishing was good this week for yellowfins to 80 pounds, and tuna were starting to bite at night on the chunk, and anglers averaged 7 to 10 on the chunk, said Capt. John from the <b>Defiant</b>. The Defiant will fish the canyons Sunday and then will run eight or nine canyon charters. A charter will also look for tuna inshore on Saturday, because the bluefin tuna bag limit will then be open to one schoolie fish as well as the one larger fish that’s already allowed.

Fishing at Hudson Canyon had been dead, and everyone was sailing south to the Toms and Carteret canyons for tuna, said Capt. Ed Tapping at <b>Jersey Coast Bait-N-Tackle</b> in Bricktown.

A charter on the <b>Canyon Runner</b> scored 19 yellowfin tuna Tuesday, including 14 on the chunk at night in 500 feet at an edge, the fishing report on the boat’s web site said. The chunking produced a very good pick all night, and the best fishing was 11 p.m. to 1 a.m., and a bunch of the fish hit jigs and live squid. Tons of squid surrounded the boat as soon as the lights went on. Earlier in the trip the charter went 5 for 6 on 50- to 75-pound yellowfins on the troll, and the fish hit Canyon Runner Green Machines spreader bars, bonito plugs and ballyhoos on Moldcraft chuggers. Capt. Mark DeBlasio on the Hooked Up II, who’s part of the Canyon Runner team, ran an overnight charter Monday and got into a great trolling bite, landing 14 yellowfins from 40 to 70 pounds in 300 fathoms in two hours. The fish attacked Canyon Runner Green Machine spreader bars, bonito plugs and ballyhoos on green Mini-Mambas. The bite slowed at 4 p.m., but another yellowfin was picked, and then marlin turned on. The anglers went 1 for 2 on white marlin, releasing the one that was landed, and that fish hit a Green Machine. Then a 350- to 400-pound blue marlin crashed the spread, hanging itself on a Green Machine behind a bird fished far back and down the middle, and the blue was released after a 45-minute fight. By then the charter was happy with the great catch and decided to leave for port early instead of staying the night, and made it back to the dock in the middle of the night.

Offshore tuna fishing was kind of hit or miss last week, but some boaters did well at the 100 Square at Hudson Canyon, said Dave from <b>The Reel Seat</b> in Brielle. However, they would do well one day and then have slow fishing the next. Dave heard about a few tuna landed inshore, but those were all second-hand reports, and no customers reported finding the fish themselves. Trolling for bonito was decent at Manasquan Ridge, and Dave heard about no bonito fought in the surf.

<b>Three of Us Sportfishing</b> found no tuna inshore yet, and tuna fishing for small, football-sized bluefin tuna usually picks up in the inshore ocean throughout August, so the fish were late, Capt Dick said. He’s looked for the bluefins this season at the Mudhole, and conditions were excellent, with clean water and 76- to 78-degree temps. He heard that Barnegat Ridge lit up with small bluefins earlier last week for one or two days.

A trip was supposed to run to the canyons for tuna on the <b>Katie H</b> from Saturday to Sunday for the first time this season but was cancelled because of a bad weather forecast, Capt. Mike said. He talked to a few boaters from the marina who fished at Hudson Canyon on Saturday night, and the action sounded slow, with one or two tuna being caught on each vessel. A bunch of other boats seemed to head south to tuna fish this past weekend because of the slow reports from Hudson Canyon.

Ken Switzer’s charter sailed to Hudson Canyon on the <b>Jenny Lee</b> last Friday to Saturday, Capt. Dave Bender said. Nothing bit on the daytime troll, but on the nighttime chunk two small swordfish were hooked, and the charter went 1 for 5 on tuna on the chunk. Capt. Jimmy Gahm ran the boat and said everybody on the radio that night was complaining about slow fishing, according to Dave. Gahm ran a charter on the boat last week from Wednesday to Thursday that was a bang-up trip that nailed 17 tuna.

<b>Nauti-Dog Charters</b> is scheduled to look for bluefin tuna this weekend at the Mudhole or Barnegat Ridge, Capt. Neil said.

<b>Barnegat Inlet</b>

Mike Johnson fished at Hudson Canyon and tangled with yellowfin tuna, longfin tuna and a 500-pound blue marlin, said Josh from <b>Barnegat Light Bait & Tackle</b>. Barnegat Ridge fishing was slow, but bonito and dolphin could be found there, and the north ridge held the only action.

The owner of <b>L&H Woods & Water</b> in Waretown fished at Hudson Canyon this week on his boat the L&H, and he trolled 11 tuna and a 400-pound blue marlin, Dale from the store said. Dale thought two white marlin were also raised on the trip, and he also thought the tuna were yellowfins. A couple of customers scored tuna at the Spencer and Toms canyons. Nothing was heard about fishing at Barnegat Ridge, including bonito fishing, and fishing there seemed off this season. Bonito last week showed up close to shore at places like off the Island Beach State Park bathing beach, where small schools popped up, but nothing was heard about them this week.

<b>Little Egg Inlet</b>

A trolling trip with <b>Fine Line Fishing Charters</b> at the AC pots and the Lobster Hole area on Tuesday produced five big bluefish, and no warm water was around to produce mahi mahi, bonito or such fish, Capt. Dave said. The water was 73 degrees.

<b>Fish the Dropoff</b>’s newest vessel, a 28-foot Bertram, was put into action Saturday, and left the dock at 4:30 a.m. to head to the Lobster Claw, the Hambone and the A.C. Ridge, Capt. Fran said in an e-mail. Six dolphin to a 30-plus incher were nailed on a spread of cedar plugs in red-and-white and blue-and-white, feathers in red-and-white on spreader bars and a Green Machine down the middle. The fish hit every rig, and what a great day, Fran said.

Anglers with <b>Legal Limit Charters</b> have been tackling lots of mahi mahi at the lobster pots 12 to 15 miles offshore and to the south, and they’ve caught yellowfin tuna and bluefin tuna within 30 miles from shore, Capt. T.J. said.

<b>Great Egg Harbor Inlet</b>

A trip 35 miles offshore was good for lots of mahi mahi and some yellowfin tuna for <b>Stray Cat Charters</b> on Wednesday, Capt. Mike said. The mahi were stacked up under a seat cushion that was found floating, and all the fish on the trip hit cedar plugs. The fish were stuffed with sardines, and the water was gin clear, cobalt blue, 80 degrees and held lots of life. Special canyon tuna charters are sailing from 3 a.m. to 5 p.m.

A very occasional bluefin tuna could be found at places like Sea Isle Ridge, said Dan from <b>Fin-Atics</b> in Ocean City. More bluefin tuna could be fought at Massey’s Canyon and the Hambone, mostly on the chunk, and yellowfin tuna were both chunked and trolled at the Sausages and the Hot Dog. Yellowfins were also at the 40-Fathom Fingers and the Lindenkohl and Spencer canyons.

Chris Lutz battled yellowfin tuna just outside the Lobster Claw, and Sue Burns and Stephanie Ward on the Terminator fished Lindenkohl Canyon and boated a 25-pound dolphin and a 23-pound dolphin, said a fax from T.C. from <b>Brennan Marine</b> in Somers Point.

<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 was competing this week in the Mid Atlantic $500,000 Tournament along with Allan Fellheimer, Joe said. On Monday they boated yellowfin tuna to 47 pounds at 40 fathoms, and there was lots of action and life. On Wednesday they fished in the deep and released two white marlin, and a 60 pounder was probably the biggest, and they also landed two mahi mahi, and there was a ton of action. On Thursday they wrapped up their trips in the event and went 1 for 2 on white marlin at 1,500 fathoms at Baltimore Canyon, a ride of 110 miles from Cape May. A bunch of marlin were on bait balls there, and it was tough to get the marlin to bite while they were chasing the bait. The fish were along an edge of blue and green water, and all the fish and bait were in the green water, and the water was 85 degrees. On the way home a 50-foot, dead humpback whale was seen being eaten by 10-foot blue sharks, and it was a wild sight.

<b>Hereford Inlet</b>

Good catches of yellowfin tuna and white marlin came from Wilmington Canyon, and chunking for tuna picked up in the area around the Hambone and the Hot Dog, said an e-mail from Cathy from <b>Sterling Harbor Bait & Tackle</b> in Wildwood.

<b>Cape May Inlet</b>

Tuna fishing was picking up at 50 fathoms just inshore of the canyons, and Mark Burcher’s charter on the <b>Down Deep</b> boated yellowfin tuna, released a white marlin and reeled in nice-sized dolphin from 5 to 10 pounds, Capt. Bob said. Frank Clark’s party also caught yellowfin tuna, and a few openings are available for tuna charters. Inshore-ocean trolling trips produced bonito, bluefish, dolphin and Spanish mackerel.

Capt. George Smith from the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> said on Wednesday that a friend on the Uncle T was leading the Mid Atlantic $500,000 tournament with an 88-pound white marlin. George knew nobody who fished offshore since the weekend, and the Heavy Hitter will head offshore Saturday and Sunday for tuna. The Heavy Hitter’s offshore charters this past week boated medium-sized yellowfin tuna in 40 to 50 fathoms just inshore of the canyons, where the water was 77 degrees and held lots of bait and porpoises. Chett Macintyre and Steve Unger landed yellowfins on a charter, and John McGarrigle’s charter also fought yellowfins to the boat. Chunking for tuna sounded decent at the Hot Dog, though it sounded like the bite was hot one night and not the other, and one angler who chunked there said there was lots of action, but keepers were hard to find, and most of the fish were an inch or two short of the 47-inch limit. Inshore trolling charters on the Heavy Hitter have been catching bluefish, bonito and dolphin.

A tuna charter was cancelled Thursday on the <b>Sea Fox</b> because one of the anglers was in an accident, Capt. Gary said. Tuna fishing seemed to be good at places like the Hambone and Chickenbone and along the 30-fathom line. Space is available for a charter this weekend.

Charters on the <b>Top Shelf</b> will sail offshore for tuna today and Saturday, Capt. Bill said.

Yellowfin tuna and lots of dolphin bit at Wilmington Canyon, and bluefin tuna with some yellowfins mixed in could be hooked at Massey’s Canyon and the Hambone on the chunk, said a fax from Capt. Fred from <b>Harbor View Marina</b> in Cape May. Some of the tuna weighed up to 100 pounds, and Harbor View’s charter boat fleet had good trips on tuna.

The Penguin fished at Wilmington Canyon last week and went 1 for 2 on blue marlin, releasing the fish that was landed, and also put together a good catch of yellowfin tuna and some nice dolphin, said a fax from Matt from <b>Jim’s Bait & Tackle</b>. The Hambone and the Hot Dog produced nice fishing for bluefin and yellowfin tuna, and Jack Costello on the Miss Andrea fished that area last week and nailed a 131-1/2-pound bluefin, caught another a little smaller and released three others. John Harrington fished at the Hot Dog last week and came home with six yellowfins that were chunked and a 26-pound dolphin, and he had to drop to 40-pound fluorocarbon to get the fish to strike.

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