<b>Sandy Hook</b>

Nobody fished offshore in the past days because of the storms, Capt. Tom from the <b>Nan Sea J</b> said. The boat’s first offshore charters of the season begin this month.

<b>Manasquan Inlet</b>

No boats fished the canyons this week because of the weather, said Capt. John from the <b>Defiant</b>. A canyon charter slated for Saturday looked doubtful because the remnants of Hurricane Ernesto were barreling toward Jersey. Hudson Canyon tuna fishing seemed good last week on the troll and on the chunk, and seas were calm. If anglers want to fish the canyons but don’t have six people to fill an entire charter, the Defiant will put them together with others to make an open-boat trip.

The <b>Jamaica</b> sailed on its first canyon tuna trip of the season from Sunday to Monday, and the weather didn’t make the trip easy, and the ride out was choppy, but conditions were good once the boat arrived offshore, an e-mail from the Jamaica said. The first tuna was hooked 30 minutes after the vessel anchored, and a few minutes later four more yellowfins were boated. Then a 175-pound swordfish was landed after a 30-minute fight. The action lulled for an hour, until tuna began feeding again, hitting jigs and live squid. Two white marlin, including a nice 70 pounder, were the surprise catch of the night and were released, and another white was lost, and another sword was also taken. A tremendous number of squid schooled around at night, and in the morning the action lulled again for an hour after sunrise. But then longfin tuna started to hit, and a few were jigged, and there were a couple of hook-ups on bait, until two mako sharks were hooked. A 250-pound mako leaped from the water twice after grabbing a bait, and a 150-pound mako took several jumps before breaking off. Afterward no more tuna were read under the boat, but it was time to go home anyway. The Jamaica is sailing on open-boat canyon trips every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, and canyon trips will start sailing every day beginning September 17. A special, two-day trip for tuna, mahi mahi and tilefish is slated for September 12. 

Winds howled Saturday and Sunday and kept most from fishing, said Dave from <b>The Reel Seat</b> in Brielle. The few offshore boaters who sailed anyway took a pounding, and apparently none did well on tuna or other big game at Hudson Canyon. Previously the Hudson’s tuna fishing was very good last week, and lots of big, 100- to 130-pound yellowfins were boated, and quite a few blue marlin were fought, and Dave heard about a few bigeyes hauled in and a 66-pound wahoo that was scored. Trollers did well at dawn and dusk, and the night chunk was not as good, and smaller, 25- to 35-pound yellowfins were bagged at night, but early last week nighttime chunking had turned on.. Prior to last week the Hudson’s fishing was spotty. The bluefin tuna season opened last Friday north of Great Egg Harbor Inlet for one schoolie fish that could be kept in addition to the one larger bluefin that could already be bagged, but Dave heard of nobody who fished for the bluefins in the inshore ocean since then.

Tuna fishing seemed good at Hudson Canyon last week, although the action was apparently slower this weekend in rough seas, said Capt. Mike from the <b>Katie H</b>. He talked to a couple of boaters who fished the canyon over the weekend and had slow fishing. The canyon’s fishing so far this year seemed like it was yet to settle in, and sometimes boaters had good fishing at the right place and right time, but nothing consistent lasted. A charter was scheduled to head offshore Thursday, and no news was heard as of today about whether the boat made it offshore then.

<b>Nauti-Dog Charters</b> was weathered out this weekend, Capt. Neil said. He hoped to sail 20 miles offshore this week for bluefin tuna if there was a break in the weather. With the easterly blow lately, Neil hoped Gulf Stream water would be pushed inshore to bring in the bluefins.

<b>Little Egg Inlet</b>

On the <b>June Bug</b> a 120-bluefin tuna, a 100-pound bluefin and a 30-pound yellowfin tuna were trolled Saturday 45 miles offshore near the Knuckle, Capt. Lindsay said. So was a 2-pound bluefin, the smallest Lindsay had ever seen. The water was 77 to 78 degrees and green, and no other life was seen in the area, except a few pods of skipjacks, and no sea turtles were around, and very few birds worked the water. Seas were 2 to 4 feet with probably a 4-foot swell and were fishable. A charter was supposed to fish offshore today but was pushed up to Monday, probably the first fishable day after the storm, Lindsay said.

An overnight trip with <b>Legal Limit Charters</b> at Lindenkohl Canyon last Thursday to Friday bagged a half-dozen longfin tuna about 40 pounds each and three good-sized yellowfin tuna over 100 pounds apiece, Capt. T.J. said . Last week on Wednesday a charter boated a number of good-sized yellowfin tuna in the inshore ocean and a 129-pound bluefin at the Lobster Claw. Charters were weathered out Saturday and Sunday.

<b>Great Egg Harbor Inlet</b>

Offshore fishing had been good for tuna and dolphin before the bad weather started over the weekend, said Capt. Mike from <b>Stray Cat Charters</b>.. Big tuna hit at the Lobster Claw, and the Toms and Spencer canyons also gave up tuna. Special offshore charters are available that sail from 3 a.m. to 5 p.m.

<b>Townsend’s Inlet</b>

The forecast looked like the weekend would be a washout, with the remnants of Hurricane Ernesto bearing down, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Gibson’s Tackle</b> in Sea Isle City. Seas were too rough for offshore fishing this week, too.

<b>Cape May Inlet</b>

Three tuna charters were cancelled this week on the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> from Thursday through Saturday because of the forecast, Capt. George said, and the weather was blowing since last Friday. But a few offshore boaters braved rough seas Wednesday and hooked bluefin tuna that were a few inches undersized at the southern lumps and also a few mahi mahi. A friend ran a charter early this week on an overnight trip and nailed 19 tuna, including two on the night chunk and the rest during the daytime troll.

A charter on the <b>Top Shelf</b> fished offshore of the Elephant Trunk on Saturday in seas that were “fresh to frightening” and landed a bluefin tuna and a dolphin, Capt. Bill said. The water was 75.6 degrees to 77.4 degrees. Last Friday a charter at the Lobster Claw scored a 50-pound yellowfin tuna. The Lobster Claw’s tuna fishing had been good the previous four days, and boats there picked up four or five yellowfins per trip among a bunch of peanut bunker in the water, but the bite slowed down that Friday. Lots of timber was in the water over the weekend that apparently fell off a freighter, and a piece of the lumber bent one of the Top Shelf’s props, and Bill was pulling the vessel out of the water Monday to make repairs. But charters were expected to be back on the water the next day.

John Crowe’s party sailed on the <b>Canyon Clipper</b> on Friday, trolling the inshore lumps for big game, Capt. Stan said. No tuna were hooked, although there were a few knockdowns, and one yellowfin tuna was lost at the boat. So Stan headed farther inshore, and mahi mahi and king mackerel were nailed. The water where the charter tuna fished was 85 degrees, and the water was a little murky but was clean farther inshore. Lots of debris seemed to be in the water, and Stan ran into a piece that caused him to stumble and break his wrist, so at that time Stan cautioned boaters to be careful and run less than full throttle, especially at night. Chunking for yellowfin and bluefin tuna seemed slow pickings at the Hambone and Hot Dog as of the weekend, but more and more yellowfins seemed to show up at the Elephant Trunk. Stan also heard reports about lots of white marlin, some swordfish and tuna caught at the Spencer, Toms and Lindenkohl canyons by the end of last week. Mahi mahi and king mackerel fishing is very good inshore, and charters are available for them as well as tuna.

<b>Jaftica Sportfishing</b> fished 50 miles offshore last Friday and trolled yellowfin tuna, Capt. Ray said. The water was clean and in the upper 70s, and there was a 2-degree temperature break.

A charter on the <b>Sea Fox</b> was supposed to run to 30 fathoms for tuna Thursday, but that trip was scrubbed because of the weather forecast, Capt. Gary said. An overnight tuna charter was cancelled last Saturday to Sunday because of big seas.

Fishing was tough because of strong winds, but the hearty fought tuna to 90 pounds at Massey’s Canyon over the weekend, said a fax from Capt. Fred from <b>Harbor View Marina</b> in Cape May.

In last week’s Mid Atlantic $500,000 Tournament Steve Castelini and crew on the Uncle T won top prize with an 88-pound white marlin, the second time Steve won the top spot, said a fax from Matt from <b>Jim’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Cape May. The best fishing during the tournament was for white marlin in the deep of Baltimore Canyon, where bait was balled up, and white and blue marlin and even swordfish fed on the balls. Some nice bigeye tuna were fought last week at 500 fathoms at Lindenkohl Canyon. Jim Posserelli fished there and weighed in a 130.5-pound bigeye and went 2 for 2 on additional bigeyes. The Hot Dog last week produced 40- to 50-pound yellowfin tuna, and light, 30- or 40-pound fluorocarbon leaders seemed to be the trick. Also last week, tuna fishing at the Hambone slowed down, but Massey’s Canyon and the Lobster Claw were still holding bluefins.

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