<b>Sandy Hook</b>

<b>Outcast Charters</b> fished at Hudson Canyon near the 100 Square from Sunday to Monday and loaded up on 12 yellowfin tuna from 60 to 80 pounds, and eight other tuna also bit, and three mahi mahi from 8 to 10 pounds were landed, Capt. Joe said. All the fish were caught on the chunk, and there was action from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Live squid was the best bait, but not a lot of squid swam around the boat to be hooked for bait, and a few fish bit sardines and jigs. A big, 13-foot swordfish was seen free-swimming next to the boat for a moment. The water was 73.8 degrees, beautiful, blue and clear.

The Gina Lisa returned Wednesday from an overnight trip to the west wall of Hudson Canyon with six longfin tuna, four yellowfin tuna and some bluefin tuna, said Charlie from <b>Michael’s Bait & Tackle</b> on Staten Island.

<b>Andrea’s Toy Charters</b> sailed on an open-boat canyon trip Sunday to Monday with four anglers and limited out on yellowfin tuna from 14 to 70 pounds and nailed a half-dozen mahi mahi to 10 pounds, Capt. Freddie Gamboa  said. The fish were hooked at Hudson Canyon away from the fleet on flats in 400 feet, where a 67- to 75-degree temperature break held lots of life, and bait was marked, and the water was a great color, and seas were 1 to 3 feet. Everything was caught on jigs and sardines while chunking through the night, and the action started instantaneously as soon as the lines hit the water. The boat began trolling Monday morning, and a fish was hooked, but weeds were bad, and the anglers decided they were happy with the catch and came home early. The open-boat canyon trips take place once a week, and openings are available. The trips target a mixed bag of tuna, mahi mahi, sharks, tilefish and marlin.

Capt. Joe from the <b>Fish N Trish</b> had planned to sail to the Mudhole on Saturday to try for bluefin tuna and dolphin, and probably also to do some sharking, but the weather forecast made him change his plans, he said. However, seas ended up flat that day, and he probably should have gone. He heard that three giant bluefin tuna were landed at the Oil Wreck at the Mudhole over the weekend, and he had his giant rigs set up to take to the Hole before his trip was cancelled.

<b>Shark River Inlet</b>

<b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b> fished the canyons for tuna four or five times since its last report, and the fishing was very good, and patrons limited out every time, Capt. Ralph said. The next available spots on its open-boat canyon trips are October 3 to 4.

Tuna fishing on the Belmar party boats was up and down so far this season but was pretty good lately and sometimes produced 18 to 20 tuna, said Roger from <b>Fisherman’s Den</b> in Belmar. A few big swordfish were boated on the trips lately, and a 36-pound tilefish was hauled in from one of the trips.

<b>Manasquan Inlet</b>

Three giant bluefin tuna were supposedly caught at the Mudhole over the weekend, said Dave from <b>The Reel Seat</b> in Brielle, and one customer saw two giants swimming with schooling bunker close to shore Saturday. Giant fishing had been pretty good off Rhode Island and Long Island, and now the fish are here. Tuna fishing farther offshore at the canyons was still very good.

Capt. Larry from <b>Reel-Ality</b> heard that giant bluefin tuna about 300 pounds apiece were fought at the Oil Wreck over the weekend.

On the <b>Defiant</b> the Fernando Santiago charter fished at Hudson Canyon from Friday to Saturday, and it was a great trip, Capt. John said. The charter went 4 for 7 on yellowfin tuna and 1 for 1 on longfin tuna on the troll at the tip of the canyon the first day. At night at the 100 Square the charter went 10 for 10 on yellowfins to 97 pounds on sardines and butterfish while chunking. The water was 74 degrees, and seas were a little rough.

The <b>Canyon Runner</b> took a course for Hudson Canyon last week on Thursday and got set up on the chunk in 600 feet when it arrived, the fishing report on the boat’s web site said. The first tuna hit at 8 p.m., and then there was a pick of the fish through 10 p.m., and five yellowfins were boated, and surprisingly a 35-pound wahoo was also chunked. A good pick started at midnight and then was on fire the rest of the night. With excellent rod handling the charter bailed 19 big yellowfins from 60- to 80-pounds and a 120-pound Allison. Longfin tuna began showing up at 4 a.m., and five were kept, and 11 were released. The fish ate almost anything, including sardines, live and dead squid and butterfish. The yellowfins refused jigs, but the longfins hit the jigs. In total the charter went 36 for 52 on tuna, and another wahoo was also lost at the boat.

Two anglers shark fished at the Monster Ledge with <b>Jersey Jim’s Fishing Charters</b> on Sunday, Capt. Jim said in an e-mail. They fished most of the day, and there were two run-offs, but no sharks could be landed. Tons of bluefish were marked during the drift, and the anglers did have fun catching some big blues. On the way home the boat stopped along the beaches, where large schools of weakfish were found, and a few were jigged, but most were shorts. It was a great day on the water, even though no sharks were caught, Jim said.

The Jamaica was headed to the canyons for tuna when Chris from <b>Brielle Bait & Tackle</b> gave this report Wednesday night, and so far three of the boat’s canyon trips were very productive, and two were alright, he said. Tuna fishing picked up recently and was hot. 

<b>Barnegat Inlet</b>

Dale from <b>L&H Woods & Water</b> in Waretown and John, the owner of the store, got a tip from a scallop boat that giant bluefin tuna 600 and 700 pounds were following the boat, Dale said. So they met the boat near the Triple Wrecks on Sunday night, grabbed scallop guts from the vessel and started chunking, but no fish except sharks showed up all night through 5 a.m.

A trip on the Searcher limited out on yellowfin tuna this past week, Rusty from <b>Barnegat Light Bait & Tackle</b> said.

<b>Great Egg Harbor Inlet</b>

An offshore trip sailed Monday with <b>Stray Cat Charters</b> and did pretty well on yellowfin tuna, mahi mahi and one longfin tuna at Wilmington Canyon, Capt. Mike said. All the fish were hooked on the troll in 400 to 800 feet, and the water was 79 to 81 degrees. Special offshore charters are available that take place 3 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Stray Cat will fish for tuna until December.

Seas were often too big for many people to fish offshore lately, said Jeff from <b>Offshore Enterprises Bait & Tackle</b> in Atlantic City. But on Monday a hot spot for tuna was a 6- to 7-degree temperature break between the Fingers and Spencer Canyon. One boat fished there and scored 14 tuna and a blue marlin, and another fished there and landed seven tuna, a white marlin, a wahoo and missed a blue.

<b>Townsend’s Inlet</b>

As the lunar cycle was fading to a new moon this week, the canyons were full of 76-degree water with temp breaks all over the place, and the fishing was going off, an e-mail from <b>Over Under Adventures</b> said. The Over Under fished Sunday to Monday and went 11 for 16 on tuna on the troll in the afternoon and then went 14 for 14 on tuna on the night chunk in only 2 hours, and was on its way home by 10:30 p.m. The anglers onboard played catch and release for a while until they had enough. It was just incredible, the e-mail said, and everybody whom the crew talked to was catching fish everywhere.
A previous e-mail said the boat had a busy week last week as the overnight canyon season jumped into high gear. Although bad weather plagued last week, and forecasts kept changing, the 54-foot boat managed the seas and made sailing comfortable, and trips fished last week from Wednesday through Saturday. Plenty of hungry tuna were found, and the two best trips produced a dozen yellowfins each, and chunking during those nights gave up 20 to 25 bites apiece. Another night was slow, and only three tuna were caught, but a hot trolling bite the next morning made up for it, when two white marlin, a 67-pound wahoo and a handful of gaffer dolphin were hooked. A 123-pound bluefin tuna was boated when the crew opted to stay on the chunk into daylight one morning, and that resulted in a couple of bluefin bites around 7 a.m. The bluefin was fought for 1 ½ hours on 40-pound leader on a Penn 16 VXS. The Pretty Work, Over Under’s boat from Ocean City, Md., continued to pound yellowfin tuna from Baltimore Canyon to Poorman’s Canyon. Saturday’s charter on the Pretty Work was supposed to stay overnight at the canyons, but after boating 16 yellowfins, including a 90 pounder, and a 55-inch bluefin on the day troll, the anglers opted to go home early and eat sushi for dinner!

<b>Cape May Inlet</b>

A charter on the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> was supposed to sail for tuna this week on Thursday but was cancelled because of forecasts for rough seas, Capt. George said. The forecast looked iffy for a tuna charter this coming Saturday, but George was going to try to go. The weather’s been blowing a long time, and sometimes it’s stopped a day or so, but then it’s turned bad again four or five days. Not many Cape May boats seemed to be getting out, and George was at the dock Saturday, and it looked like a ghost town.

Though the weather was less than ideal last week, a few reports came in, said a fax from Matt from <b>Jim’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Cape May. A few Ocean City boats reported running to Baltimore Canyon last week, and tuna were there. The King’s Folly bagged six yellowfin tuna and a wahoo at the Baltimore on Saturday on the troll, and the Lisa Marie III fished on the 100-fathom line at the Baltimore and scored two yellowfins, a white marlin and several mahi mahi last week.

Back to Top