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August 18, 2008

Received: Monday, August 18, 2008 8:40 PM Subject: BHCFA Report

    The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association have been seeing a noticeable improvement in their catches over the past week.
    Captain George Finck of “Sparetime Charters” had the Jim Musser family just 3 miles offshore on a trolling trip. They boated 35 nice bluefish, keeping 27. On the next day he had Janet and Margie Mitchell and family on a trip to the Little Egg Reef. The group picked up 2 keeper fluke out of 8 total caught along with 6 keeper sea bass out of a total of 14. Matt Pribila and friends went out with Captain Finck to the Little Egg Reef another day where they managed one 20-inch keeper fluke out of numerous shorts along with 7 keeper sea bass up to 4-pounds.
    Dave Wittenborn on the “Compass Rose” says his fluke fishing remains hot. He took Joe McCall and family out who were cashing in Joe’s Father's Day gift certificate. They fished the Garden State South Reef and had a steady pick of fluke for the entire trip. They landed 35 fluke and put 9 keepers in the box. The largest was 22.5-inches with several more over 20-inches. They also landed a nice sized ling and a big blue humpback sea bass.
    Captain Frank Camarda on the head boat “Miss Beach Haven” said everything fell into place on Sunday with a “perfect drift.” Pool winner was Al Benedict from Philadelphia with a 5.5-pound fluke. Many anglers had 4 keepers each along with many shorts.
    On Sunday morning Captain Dave Kreines had the Marty Kounitz family on the “Sweet Baby” for a combination of fishing and nature-seeing on the bay. The ocean looked so calm that the group asked for a change of plan. They spent the balance of the trip on the glass smooth Atlantic catching and releasing a half dozen Fluke.
    Captain Lindsay Fuller on the “June Bug” fished the Kennedy family from California on Saturday Cpl. Steven McKenney, USMC aboard who just returned safe and sound from Iraq a month ago. It was interesting to find out what is really going on over there. Steve told us that the play that the U.S. media gives the relatively few insurgent attacks is overkill. Things are far more peaceful than portrayed. His job was to set up the computers and communications for all of the outlying bases, both for the U.S. forces and the Iraqi policy and military. Hoping for some Bonita on light tackle, they fished the Barnegat South Ridge. They found no Bonita but plenty of big slammin' Bluefish. Ryan Kennedy (9) caught the biggest fish of his life. There was lots of huffing and puffing to get those 12-15 pound monsters to the boat. Junior Mate Hep Hepburn ran the cockpit for the day. That was a first for him and he handled it well. On Sunday, the Kennedys fished on again with Captain Fuller for fluke in the bay but could find no keepers.
    ~ Jim Hutchinson Sr.

Received:Monday, August 18, 2008 8:41 PM Subject: Lockjaw

Stopped at the shop at 5:45 AM and bought some sand eels and smelts. It did not matter... It's a moon thing. Fished both trips on the Carolyn Ann III out of Barnegat Light, NJ. The fish were not biting. I am an OK fluker, not the best and not the worst. Bouncing big baits, small baits... No luck. The Spro bucktails did not do well either. Very few keepers on both trips. Only about half a dozen on each trip. It's the moon. Captain Will did his normal very best and no dice. Very frustrating. To add to it, Fluke Season is almost over. I had ten shorts for the day. ~ Jim T., Bridgewater, NJ

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August 17, 2008

Received: Sunday, August 17, 2008 7:15 PM Subject: Sundays report

Every day has been different, some days the fluke bite well and some days they don’t. As we all know it’s all about conditions. Today every thing fell into place. THE PERFECT DRIFT. I was starting to believe there was no such thing. There’s either NO wind or TOO much. Today we had a nice catch of fluke up to 5.5-lbs. Several anglers had 4 keepers each and a lot of shorts. Cheeseman John, Jules and Jay had 4 keepers each and dozens of shorts. Not too shabby. Pool winner today was Al Benedict from Philadelphia, PA with that 5.5-lb flattie. ~ Miss Beach Haven 609.978.9951

Received: Sunday, August 17, 2008 3:29 PM Subject: Fishing Report

While casting and dragging squid on the beach at 101st St. around 9 AM this morning, I landed one small blue (12 inches) and fed a lot of others. I'm heading back this eve with smaller hooks. ~ John R.

Received: Sunday, August 17, 2008 12:53 PM Subject: FW: Reel Fantasea Charters fishing report

This weeks fishing remained on fire with plenty of spikes and some nice weakfish to 22". Fluke about every where you dropped a "Gulp" bait down to the bottom. Bluefish to 8-lbs. Keeper "August" Striped Bass to 28-1/2".

On one trip our catches of weakfish topped 101 for just two anglers with some small blues thrown in as well. The fun thing about the weakfishing we are doing right now is that we have visible fish in our chum slick with almost every throw of shrimp. The guys released all but one nice weakfish for the table.

Later that same day Armon Shashnian was out with his sons for a catch and release slam fest with bluefish to 8-lbs on light spinning tackle at the inlet area. They also topped-off their catch with hickory shad and weakfish.

Regular Joe Franke teamed up with his friend and new comer Ed Groch for some more action with Stripers and even managing a 28-1/2" keeper on light tackle. From their the guys bent the rods again on some more catch and release fiesty blues and topped their catch with 40+ weakfish.

The Mark Fry family was out for more of the same stellar action, catching and releasing 6 Stripers and missing about double that. They also topped their catch with 50+ weakfish and blues. I still have some available dates for September for bay, inlet and ocean trips. ~ Captain Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Charters 609-290-1217

Received: Sunday, August 17, 2008 10:45 AM Subject: Barnegat Bay Fishing Report

Did you hear that loud boom last week? That was the sound of weakfishing exploding in the bay. We had five trips this week, and hooked over 500 weakfish along with assorted other fish including fluke, small blues and stripers, and kingfish. The weakfish aren't large, but once the action starts it's non-stop and a lot of fun on the scaled down tackle we use. As usual, we've been chumming them up with grass shrimp and fishing almost exclusively artificials in the slick.

Monday started the week off with the "Jim's Charters" (Jim Stockdale, son Jimmy and brother-in-law Jim) landing 75-80 weakies plus a bunch of small blues. Wednesday we hosted the management team from Infragistics in East Windsor in a team building "fishing tournament" on the bay. Special thanks go to Captains Alex (Debbie M), Steve (Reel Fantasea) and Bill (Mole) for helping our clients, many of whom had never before fished, to land almost 400 fish in a short four hours on the bay. The overall tournament winner was Dave Keuning, in from Japan for meetings who landed a pretty 22" weakfish aboard the Rambunctious.

Thursday saw vacationing Bill Burd down from upstate New York with daughter Margot and buddy Jim Brown from Philadelphia catching well over a hundred weakfish before we switched over to fluke and added a 22" back bay flattie to the box. Friday brought Jack Hough back again this week, this time with son Rich and granddaughters Chelsea and Nicole. After a bit of a slow start, the fish really turned on and started coming over the side two and three at a time with an uncountable number of fish being landed in the last couple hours of the trip. To wrap up the week, Brooklyn's Paul Gleser brought out three coworkers, none of whom had ever touched a fishing rod, out to give it a try and the group proceeded to land 80-85 weakies before calling it a day.

What a week, and what a blast! This kind of action should stick with us well into September. I've still got some dates open the last week in August and first week of September. If you've ever been thinking of trying out this unique fishery, it doesn't get any better than now. ~ Capt. Jack Shea, "Rambunctious", Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632

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August 16, 2008

3:30 PM

Offshore:
Dr. Steven Wurst caught a 125# Bluefin and three other much larger fish were released while fishing the area of the "Lobster Hole". The fish fish were caught using sardine baits.

Inshore:
Most boats fishing outside Barnegat Inlet are reporting catching mostly short Fluke. Very little word on keeper size Fluke.

Bonita reports at the Barnegat Ridge are varying with the water temp. On warm water days the hook-ups have been great.

Front Beach:
Uncle Moe fished the Surf City beach on Friday with no results. Any beach reports are welcome.

Bayside:
Along with good reports of plenty of Weakfish and short Fluke we are still getting reports on Kingfish on the bayside. Very consistent Kingfish results in the Ship Bottom area.

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August 14, 2008

2:30 PM

This morning, Nick and Lexi drifted around the Hi Bar Dike catching lots short Fluke and Sea Robins. They did manage to get two keeper Fluke by the end of the trip.

Received: Thursday, August 14, 2008 8:07 PM Subject: Hi Flier Fishing Report--Thurs. Aug. 14, 2008

The weakfish are in and on the feed. Yesterday we had a few bigger fish at Meyer's Hole for the first time this season. Today I ran two trips and scored big numbers on both trips but keepers are another story. In the morning we managed to put six nice ones in the cooler including Joe "Keeper" Hayes' 18-incher. The action with the 12 to 14 inch fish is red hot and we are using mostly lures and six pound ultra-lites to enjoy them.

I am sailing an open boat trip to Barnegat Ridge on Sunday and already have two of the three spots filled, but we still have room for one more person. The cost is $175 and we depart at 5:30 AM and return approximately eight hours later. The target is bonita but the water there is 74 degrees and blue right now, so you never know what else might show up. There is a ton of rainfish and sandeels on the both the North and South Ridges right now. I plan on trolling and chumming with spearing on this trip.

Do not email me if you are interested as I will not be on the computer for a few days. Call me on my cell at 732.330.5674 ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 cell

Received: Thursday, August 14, 2008 4:14 PM Subject: Report from ED and Phil

Ed and Phil had some spike weakfish on the drift and 1 keeper fluke 19.5" (only fluke caught) and some assorted junk fish. Shrimpers appeared to be doing very well with many spike weakfish plus keeper fish to 5-lbs on the West side off Barnegat and Waretown. Should break open after Monday and the current moon phase is done ~ Ed C.

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August 12, 2008

Received: Tuesday, August 12, 2008 6:27 PM Subject: Hi Flier Fishing Report--Tue. Aug. 12, 2008

I have been on the water every waking moment and the fishing is excellent. The weakfish are running small, most fish are 12 to 12 and a half inches with the legal limit being 13 inches of course. We are catching into triple digits of quantity on most of our live grass shrimp trips and putting anywhere from 2 to 5 fish in the cooler. I scaled down the tackle to the 6 pound ultra-lites to really enjoy the action. Catching a few 20 to 24 inch fish, but not with any consistency. Catching quite a few 14 to 18 inch kingfish in the shrimp slick and they are a welcome bonus as they not only fight hard but are a delicious addition to the fillet bag.

Both Barnegat Ridge north and south are holding bonita and we are sailing there frequently banging away at 3 to 6 pound fish while high speed trolling feathers and cedar plugs. These fish are high powered and great as table fare too. We are just starting to chum these fish as well as troll so we can scale the tackle down to lighter gear.

August is filling up fast and September has plenty of availability with both of these fisheries running at least into October. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 cell

Received: Tuesday, August 12, 2008 1:00 PM
Subject: Harvey Cedars Hooked on Fishing Surf Fishing Tournament - Results

HOOKED ON FISHING, NOT ON DRUGS (H.O.F.N.O.D)
The 4th Annual Harvey Cedars “H.O.F.N.O.D” kids’ Surf Fishing Tournament was held on Saturday, August 9th.

We had over 250 children register this year on a gorgeous summer day. Unfortunately, only 4 kids caught a total of 5 fish this year. This did not seem to matter to the children, who still enjoyed the day and all the free food, prizes, rides in the Harvey Cedars Police buggy, and the N.J. State Police helicopter demonstration.

This year’s winners were:

5-8 Age Group
1st Place - Devin Wiest ( 2 Kingfish )

9-12 Age Group
1st Place – Zachery Cartwright ( 6.25” Bluefish )

13-17 Age Group
1st Place – Tina Rodano ( 14.5” Sea Robin )
2nd Place – Amanda Wyld ( 11.5” Sea Robin )

~ John Castrati

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August 11, 2008

Received: Monday, August 11, 2008 4:44 PM Subject: BHCFA Report

    The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association have been putting some good numbers of fluke into their fish boxes along with sea bass and even some nice bonito.
    Captain Adam Nowalsky of the “Karen Ann II” out of Great Bay Marina had Eric Evenson and sons out for a half day of ocean fluking where they boated over 24 fish and kept 5 up to 22-inches. Jerry Colangelo’s group had 4 keeper fluke among 30 caught. Captain Nowalski took Jim Sutphen’s group to the Barnegat Ridge where they boated over 24 fish, mostly 5-pound bonito, and one jumbo bluefish.
    Captain George Finck on the “Sparetime” had the Paul Weinberg family out for a bay fishing trip. Three seven year olds had a great time catching their fill of fluke, skates, and sea robins. The next day Captain Finck had John Davoren and boys on a trip to the Garden State South Reef for a nice catch of fluke, sea bass, and ling.
    Captain Dave Wittenborn on the “Compass Rose” has seen an improvement in his fluke catches. The Dave Wertheim family had a great day catching everything from keeper fluke to an electric stargazer in 35-feet of water off the Holgate tower. His Saturday trip saw the best fishing of the year with 10 keeper fluke to 22-inches and another 30 throwbacks in the 16-17 inch range. Sunday’s trip was cut short by storms, but still managed two keepers on Gulp Minnows and peanut bunker.
    Captain Fran Verdi on the “Cousins” has been fishing the area reefs and other drift areas with varying success on fluke and sea bass. The Friel party took 6 keeper sea bass on their first drift on the Garden State South Reef. Despite a storm forcing them in early, they picked up 9 keeper sea bass and 1 fluke. They had numerous undersized fluke.
    ~Jim Hutchinson Sr.

Received: Monday, August 11, 2008 3:47 PM Subject: Kev & Ash Report

Fished north of BL inlet amongst storms Sunday 8/10. Caught 30-40 fluke, with 7 keepers. No fish on baits being dragged. Spros and gulp were the way to go. ~ Greg C.C.

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August 10, 2008

Received: Sunday, August 10, 2008 2:41 PM Subject: Barnegat Bay Fishing Report

The big news around here is that the summer influx of weakfish we've been waiting for seems to have finally gotten started this past week. On Thursday's trip, we set up chumming with grass shrimp on the turn of the tide, and as we usually do began tossing plastics into the slick. After boxing a couple of nice fat 21-22" weakies towards the southern end of the bay, I headed north to see if we could find more consistent action and started marking immense schools of fish spread over a two mile area. Once we got anchored up, Jack Hough, son Jeff and grandkids Matt and Katie combined for over a hundred fish in a couple of intense hours of fishing before we left the fish biting. Most of the fish were small, but the fishing couldn't be beat for light tackle action.

Now that the weakies have put in their annual appearance, we'll be pretty much focusing on them for the next few weeks. I've still got a couple days open the week before Labor Day if anyone wants to get in on this exciting fishery.

~ Capt. Jack Shea, "Rambunctious" Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632

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August 9, 2008

1:45 PM

Today, received a report from a boat that fished this morning off the Island Beach State Park Bathing Beach catching 4 keeper fluke and 25 shorts. "There had to be a hundred boats out there."

Spotty schools of bunker spotted outside of the Barnegat Inlet with nothing seemingly around them.

On the LBI beach front... kingfish and fluke off the beaches. No word on Stripers.

Received: Saturday, August 09, 2008 11:48 AM Subject: More from the Fishery councils

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080808/SPORTS06/80808081/1020/SPORTS06&template=column

~ Jim T., Bridgewater, NJ

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August 8, 2008

2:00 PM

Yesterday morning the Wild Honey started drifting the Barnegat Inlet catching fluke that were short after short. A cow nose ray made things interesting as it took off with on of the rigs. It was amazingly brought to the boat on a light tackle outfit and released. Then the boat headed off to work the Fish Haven area outside of Barnegat Inlet. Had a tremendous keeper ratio of 2:1 in one 100' spot that was drifted. Lost a few rigs to the structure below but what a surprise. That was great until the drift slowed at about 9:30 AM and all shut down. Later in the afternoon the Wild Honey fished the drop offs around Ol' Barney were there were plenty of fluke but not one keeper.

Today Rob fished off the Island Beach State Park bathing beach along with plenty of other boats. The fluke action was great but the keeper ratio was 10:1 until everything shut down at 9:30 AM when the drift ended.

Wednesday, Sam W. and grandson Connor fished near BI catching 17 weakfish from 12-14" using bucktails dressed with Gulp.

Received: Friday, August 08, 2008 1:24 PM Subject: Phil and Ed

Today, Phil and Ed fished for kingfish east of the 40 buoy and had a box full of kingfish by 9 AM.

Weakfish were caught east of the BB and near the ICW 44 both on Thursday and today... mostly spikes, but it appears weakfish are filtering into bay... some Fish Hawk members caught a fair amount of weakfish keepers at the white can on the west side between BB and BI.

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August 7, 2008

Received: Thursday, August 07, 2008 12:37 AM   Subject: News on Summer Flounder for 2009

ESSINGTON, Pa. -- Fishermen could get an additional 2.6 million pounds of summer flounder to take home in 2009, after a scientific reassessment reported the East Coast flounder population is far closer to being rebuilt than had been thought.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission agreed today to propose an 18.45 million pound flounder quota for 2009, up from 15.77 million pounds this year. It's the first major increase since 2005, when federal officials ordered a reversal in what had been an expanding fishery.

"This is only the first part of the equation. But it's good news,'' said Tony Bogan, a Brielle charter captain and an organizer of the Save the Summer Flounder Fishery Fund, a recreational group that hired West Coast scientist mark maunder to advise experts who reappraised the flounder situation.

Their findings lead to a sharp revision downward in the biological target population for flounder, to 132 million pounds of spawning, adult fish. The Mid-Atlantic council and the National Marine Fisheries Congress are legally obligated to hit that goal by the end of 2012, and before this the target had been significantly higher at 197 million pounds.

That meant round after round of more restrictive fishing rules, even as fishermen reported more fluke in the ocean. Just how the new quota affects New Jersey anglers, in the form of minimum fish sizes and the fishing season, won't begin to take shape until the actual catch numbers for 2008 are reported near the end of this year, Bogan explained.

~ Jim T., Bridgewater, NJ

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August 6, 2008

Received: Wednesday, August 06, 2008 11:09 AM Subject: Ed and Phil

Fished about 1-3/4 hrs Tuesday and caught approx 40 x kingfish, 1 x blowfish and 1 x 3-lb weakfish in 8 ft of water on the east side of the bay... kingfish is a real no fail fishery the past few days... clam chum log and small pieces of squid on kingfish/blowfish rig. ~ Ed C.

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August 5, 2008

6:00 PM

Again today, Greg reported that during the outgoing tide he and his friends stood on the beach at the tip of the High Bar Dike working Gulp baits catching fluke after fluke. At the same time Rob R. was in his boat doing the same just 50 yards away.

Received: Tuesday, August 05, 2008 7:13 PM Subject: kingies

On Sunday, 8/3, PM dead low off the first bar on the north side of Ocean Ave Jetty in Beach Haven, caught four nice kingfish on bloods. Wasn't there for the rest of the incoming, so I don't know if they moved in with the high. ~ Fran R.

Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2008 1:49 PM Subject: HOOKED ON FISHING NOT ON DRUGS®

This is not a fishing report but post for the kids. We are holding our 4th annual “Hooked on Fishing Not on Drugs” (HOFNOD) event on August 9th, this Saturday. See below ~ Paul V. Castrati – LBIFC Pres.

HOOKED ON FISHING NOT ON DRUGS®
Surf Fishing Tournament

Saturday August 9th, 2008
Ages 5-17

Registration at Sunset Park in Harvey Cedars
8:00 to 9:00 A.M.

* FREE T-SHIRTS TO THE 1st 200 CHILDREN TO REGISTER *

Activities run from 9:00 to 2:00
Educational Booths on Fishing, Casting, Knot Tying and Drug Awareness

FREE LUNCH, BAIT, GIFT BAGS AND DOOR PRIZES
* AWARDS PRESENTED TO THE WINNERS *

Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times

BRING A SURF FISHING ROD IF YOU HAVE ONE
Only a Limited Number of Loaner Rods will be Available

Presented by
The Borough of Harvey Cedars
LBI Municipal Alliance
LBI Fishing Club
ASAC for Kids
PBA #175 PBA #373
D.A.R.E.

For Questions/Information
Call John Castrati @ 856-220-2082 (Evenings or Leave Msg)

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August 4, 2008

8:00 PM

Greg reported that during the outgoing tide he and a friend stood on the beach at the tip of the High Bar Dike working Gulp baits catching fluke after fluke but they were all shorts.

Received: Monday, August 04, 2008 6:27 PM Subject: This week's BHCFA Report

    The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association have seen their fluke catches improving as the ocean water temperatures rise.
    The “Miss Beach Haven” with Captain Brant fished in some different spots last Friday and found 69-degree water, but poor drifting conditions. They managed to boat some keepers including several fish over 19 inches and one whopper. Catherine thought she was stuck on the bottom at first and ended up boating a 13-pound, 10-ounce doormat. She was using a rental rod which was almost bent over double. On Saturday the fluke fishing was pretty good, and the water temperature finally hit 73 degrees. There was a fair amount of keepers caught with an average catch of 2 to 4 keepers per angler. The pool winner was a 5.5 pounder.
    Captain Adam Nowalsky of the “Karen Ann II” out of Great Bay Marina had Jim McTague of Virginia and family out with a mixed bag of sea bass, tog, and porgies. Another day Rich Salvatore and his son Sam caught 10-15 pound bluefish at the Barnegat Ridge until they had to take turns reeling in a single fish. Colin Walsh and his brother Michael from Ireland landed a handful of fish before being chased in by a squall featuring thunder, lightening, and 40 mph winds.
    Captain Dave Wittenborn on the “Compass Ross” fished a charter with the Levy family of Atlanta. After a fog delay, they fished a rip in the bay and had steady action on short fluke. They then fly fished for short bluefish until the greenheads chased them into the ocean. Drifting there brought numerous short fluke and three keepers.
    Captain Carl Sheppard of the “Star Fish" had parties of 8 and 9 people over the weekend. Inshore and back bay fishing produced mostly throwbacks while on the reefs they had a pick of larger fluke and sea bass. Off shore they found tackle-busting bluefish over 12-pounds and some feisty bonito.
    The “Compass Rose” fished in the Beach Haven White Marlin Invitational. Captain Dave was pleased with how his new boat performed, and they managed to put some nice yellowfin tuna in the box from the Spencer Canyon.
    Captain Bob Gerkens of the “Hot Tuna” also fished the Tournament and while empty handed on billfish, took third prize in the Calcutta for yellowfin tuna when Mark Jordan of Beach Haven boated a 90.9-pounder.
    ~ Jim Hutchinson Sr.

Received: Monday, August 04, 2008 6:00 PM Subject: Your Monday, August 4, 2008 Fishing Report

I had three very good quality keeper Fluke. One four pounds and two were three pounds. One short. About half a dozen skates. Used smelts and squid strips. Lots of current. Very nice day on the water. All keepers were caught after 11:30 AM. Meaning a very slow morning. If you want quality keeper fluke, I suggest using big smelts. ~ Jim T., Bridgewater, NJ

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August 3, 2008

4:30 PM

Anthony Baldino reported using Bubble Gum Zoom soft baits (like a Fin-S) to catch a 3.66-lb (22") Fluke at around 3:30 PM in the Brant Beach Surf. That was about "dead" low tide.

That's the second report today of Fluke being caught in the surf on artificial "long and lean" soft bodies. Both reports were around the tides transitional time. Uncle Moe's fluke were at the top of the tide and Anthony's was at the bottom of tide.

2:45 PM

This morning,  Uncle Moe fished the Surf City beachfront first catching nothing while plugging for about 30 minutes then he switched for the next 30 minutes to casting and retrieving a 3-way set-up baited with Gulp New Penny Jerk Shad. Doing this he twice in knee-deep water hooked up with short Fluke. This was all around the time of the morning high tide with the fluke hook-ups happening as the water started moving out.

Received: Sunday, August 03, 2008 9:07 PM   Subject: Hit and Run Boating Accident, Brick NJ

Posted on the AP Press Website
BREAKING NEWS: Man dies after hit-and-run boating accident
By STAFF REPORT • August 3, 2008

BRICK — A man has died in a hit-and-run boating accident took place off the coast of Brick early this morning, according to authorities. At 1:14 a.m. this morning, a 17-foot Whaler was hit by an unknown vessel. One man has died while four others survived the crash. They were taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune. Police are currently searching for an unknown boat believed to have bow and hull damage. A press conference is scheduled for noon. Anyone who has any info on who did this please call the NJ State Police or US Coast Guard. (08/04/2008 Update - The second boat has been located today)

Received: Sunday, August 03, 2008 6:48 PM   Subject: Sundays fluke report

Sunday morning finally some wind from a different direction. I thought this was going to be a day to remember for catching fish. The first drift was excellent nice size fish coming over the rails along with plenty of shorts. By the second drift the wind dropped out to nothing, still caught shorts and picked a few more keepers pretty much had no drift from 9:30 to about 1 PM. Once we got a drift again we picked a few more keepers and called it a day. Would of loved to stay longer but we were already late. Pool winner today was Carl with a 4-lber ~ MISS BEACH HAVEN (609)978-9951

Received: Sunday, August 03, 2008 11:57 AM   Subject: Fishing Report

Not too much new to report this week as not much has really changed on the bay fishing front. We had four trips this week, spending part of the time each day chumming grass shrimp for weakies before switching over to fluking in the back. Fluke fishing is still good to excellent throughout the bay, with consistent action whenever there's enough breeze to create the slightest drift. The 18" size limit this year has limited the kept fish to a couple per day, but there's plenty of quality fish coming over the side to make it great fun on light tackle. Summer weakfishing so far is best described as inconsistent, with good catches some days and none to be found on others. Fortunately some nice sized kingfish and small blues have also been showing up in our chum slick with pretty good regularity to keep things interesting. I'm hoping that we're just experiencing a somewhat delayed arrival of the big schools of weakies due to the cold ocean waters we've had all year. If that's the case things should start looking up pretty soon now that we're finally seeing some warmer ocean waters in our area.
~ Capt. Jack Shea, Rambunctious, Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632

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August 2, 2008

6:30 PM

A 14-1/2 pound doormat Fluke was weighted in today by Brian Coen that he caught in the Barnegat Light surf. Rob and his dad, Rocco fished for about an hour and a half this morning along side of the high bar dyke and caught 8 shorts and a 23-inch fatty. Rocco also surf fished this morning in Ship Bottom and caught a short fluke. Steve on the Sea Treaver landed 3 tuna. They were 60 to 70-pound yellowfin tuna. Also caught was a Barracuda and a small blue marlin all while fishing at Toms Canyon. Received: Saturday, August 02, 2008 5:47 PM Subject: Saturdays report Fluke fishing today was pretty good water temperature finally hit 73 degrees there was a fair amount of keepers caught today .Average catch was 2 to 4 keeper fluke per angler some of the guys also had over 20 shorts. Pool fish today was a 5.5 lb fluke. ~ Capt Brant, Party Boat: Miss Beach Haven (609)978-1336 Received: Saturday, August 02, 2008 2:49 PM Subject: FW: Reel Fantasea Charters fishing report This week saw steady action with fluke, bluefish, hickory shad, schoolie stripers, and blackfish to 3-lbs. But the weakfish were a disappointment. Joe Kinlin of the Green Briar fishing club was out with son Tom for some back bay weakfishing but found the trout to have a case of lock jaw, so it was off to see what else we could catch. The guys ended the trip with a steady pick on feisty blues and stripers on plastics using light spinning tackle. Bill Artigilier was out with daughter Jessica to experience some light tackle action with blues, fluke and ended the night catching hickory shad (aka: Jersey Tarpon) that were swarming and free jumping in our grass shrimp slick. Regulars Jay Simmons and Joe Franke teamed up in hopes of some grass shrimping weakfish action but found again the trout not responding to our grass shrimp. It was time once again to see what else we could catch and found piles of just undersized fluke to get the rods bending. After the tide went slack in the back we moved around a bit to locate a "Slam Fest" with over a dozen schoolie stripers and keeper blackfish to 3lbs. The guys ended the day throwing back more undersize 17" to 17-7/8" fluke. Everyone keep your fingers crossed that the powers that be come to their senses and relies that our fluke stock is in phenomenal condition. ~ Captain Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Charters 609-290-1217

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August 1, 2008

6:00 PM

Yesterday, "Uncle" Moe, Al and Stan fished on the Wild Honey during the entire outgoing tide in the Barnegat Light area. Two spots concentrated on were along the Barnegat Inlet South Jetty and the South-side drop offs along the natural channel (The Cut) West of Old Barney. Over 36 Fluke were caught with more than triple that in Sea Robins. Only three Fluke were keepers with the largest going 20". No word on the Weakfish.

Today, John reported going out with Rob and his father to the Reasor. Only hooked up with two bluefish on the troll. Tried for Bonita around Oley's but no luck. Rob remarked that the water clarity was very poor even 30 miles out.

Sent: Friday, August 01, 2008 3:43 PM Subject: Fridays report

Friday morning Capt. Brant headed offshore to try some different spots. The water temperature finally popped up to 69 degrees, we had about 2 knots of wind all day pretty much no drift. There was a slight current which did help. We managed to boat some keepers today despite the poor conditions several fish over 19 inches and one whopper I was working the deck today and didn’t know if I should have gaffed it or netted it. Catherine thought she was stuck on the bottom at first. She was using a rental rod which was bent over pretty good as that fish thumped the whole way up. What a monster fluke 13 lb 10 oz. Catherine, congratulations on that awesome job. ~ Miss Beach Haven

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July 29, 2008

1:00 PM

    The Beach Haven Marlin & Tuna Club (BHMTC) White Marlin Invitational Tournament (WMIT) begins Wednesday. There may may still be an open slot so don't delay. Click Here for More Info
    Offshore, about 45nm east of Barnegat Inlet it's been the "Glory Hole" otherwise out of Little Egg Inlet it's been the southern waters around the "Elephants Trunk" that have been producing cyclical reports on 50 to 80-lb class tuna.
    Near offshore, it's areas like the Barnegat Ridge where bluefish, bonito and even fluke are providing action. No sure bets but spotty reports from Olley's Lump ( Northeast of Barnegat Ridge ) and "The Star" ( This spot is the true North mark on the compass rose of navigational chart ) on "football" size tuna.
    Beachfront, with the cold surf temperatures the beach action is mostly blackfish with spotty reports of Fluke and the occasional Striper. 
     Bayside, the weakfish are coming on strong along with fluke and kingfish. The top bait for these weakfish is live grass shrimp. If you need live grass shrimp try Bobbie's Boats in Barnegat Light first since they often have extras to sell but to make sure contact Bobbie's Boats at 609.494.1345 and reserve grass shrimp for your trip. This recent influx of weakfish will put pressure on the availability of grass shrimp.

Received: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 9:43 AM   Subject: BHCFA Report

    The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association have been fighting unseasonably cold water temperatures and uncooperative weather to produce decent catches for their parties.
    Captain Adam Nowalsky on the “Karen Ann II” has restricted his fluke fishing to the bay waters where the water temps are higher, and the fluke more willing to bite. He experimented with some deep water bottom fishing for Jim Sutphen and crew, and they came home with a very good catch of ling and big sea bass to over 3-pounds. Nowalsky also gave the Kirkpatrick family some excitement with 1-2 pound bluefish in the inlet.
    Captain Dave Wittenborn on the “Arlene Ann” fished the Garden State South Reef one day and had a steady pick of sea bass, fluke, and a ling until the bite suddenly stopped. He moved several times and finished up with 15 fluke and 16 sea bass. All fish were caught on Gulp minnows and peanut bunker.
    Captain Dave Kreines on the “Sweet Baby” had the Farley family out and picked away on some fluke and some nice sea bass at the Garden State South Reef. On a move to a wreck they came upon a school of 8-10 pound bluefish which provided great action for several hours. Kreines had the Josephson family out for some bay fishing for fluke. They had plenty of action on small fluke which made everyone happy.
    Captain Bob Gerkens had the Chris Boyle family out on the “Hot Tuna” to the Barnegat Ridge to look for bluefish. They found all they wanted in the 8-10 pound class. They stopped fishing when everyone tired out and released most of those caught.
    Captain Fran Verdi has been trying many spots to find fish. He had the Malino party out and fished four different spots on the Little Egg Reef. He then moved to the Garden State South Site and found little. He moved several other times and did manage to boat 3 keeper sea bass along with several short fluke. ~ Jim Hutchinson Sr.

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July 28, 2008

7:30 PM

Captain Rob and his Dad planned on going outside Barnegat Light this morning until the fog rolled in. Instead they fished along side the Dyke and Double Creek channel and found tons of short fluke and sea robins. They did catch two keepers.

A 12-lb 33" bass was weighed in today that was caught on the North Beach surf this afternoon using a chartreuse Fluke rig baited with squid.

Received: Monday, July 28, 2008 5:36 PM Subject: Hi Flier fishing report--Mon., July 28, 2008

Awesome day of grass shrimping today. I had Frank Palmadessa of Kenilworth on board with his son Eddie and nephew Justin. We bounced around from spot to spot with only a few small weakfish early on. Eventually we set up a slick on the west side of Barnegat Bay where I have been hitting a few bigger fish and they hit us hard. We were floating out our shrimp baits with bobbers in seven feet of water behind mainland Barnegat when a school of 18 to 23 inch weakies found our slick. They were all drag burners and we put seven in the cooler and broke off three others all in an hours time before we ran out of shrimp. We were finding shrimp on the deck and baiting up with scraps and connecting with these big weakies. We also had one short fluke and three nice size kingfish that added to our fillet bag. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 cell

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July 27, 2008

2:45 PM

Yesterday our staff spoke to a free driver who was working Barnegat Inlet's South Jetty. "The water was murky on the top but at the bottom it would clear up." At the bottom is where he speared a Fluke that was just shy of 10-lbs.

Good news from the front beach is scarce. Today even though the beach front water is still 60 degrees we did have an angler report catching 4 Fluke. The following reports from Capt. Dave DeGennaro's "Hi Flier", Capt. Jack Shea's "Rambunctious" and Capt. Steve Purul's "Reel Fantasea" are typical of the action both in the backbay and offshore...

The Beach Haven Marlin & Tuna Club (BHMTC) White Marlin Invitational Tournament (WMIT) begins this Wednesday. There may still be open slots so don't delay. Click Here for More Info

Received: Sunday, July 27, 2008 12:01 PM Subject: Hi Flier fishing report--Sun., July 27 2008

Ahh, all is right with the world, finally. After weeks of telling people the fishing is not up to speed, everything has turned on. The
weakfish are in Barnegat Bay and the bonita are on the Barnegat Ridge. What more could I ask for?

We are catching everything from small spike weakies to 20 inch plus fish on the west side of Barnegat Bay between the 42 Buoy and BB Buoy, Barnegat to Forked River. There are also puppy drum, fluke, and small blues in the mix.

The bonita are on the Barnegat Ridge and we are high speed trolling them right now with feathers and small jet lures. They run about three to five pounds but are high powered speedsters that burn line. They are also delicious to eat and cut just like tuna loin. The Ridge has 72 degree blue-ish water and is loaded with sandeels and rainfish. The fishing should get better every day.

I have booked every morning this week from Mon., July 28 to Fri., Aug. 1 but have all of the afternoons open, Noon to 5PM, except for Wed., July 30, which would be 3PM to 8PM.

Sunday, August 3 and Tuesday, August 5, I will be sailing open boat to Barnegat Ridge for bonita, albacore, and anything else that swims in the blue water. The cost is $225 for the first two people and drops to $175 per person if we have three people. The boat leaves at 5AM and returns around 2 PM. Reservations are required.

See you on board, ~ Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 cell

Received: Sunday, July 27, 2008 11:11 AM Subject: Barnegat Bay Fishing Report

I made it out four times this past week and to put it mildly, fluke fishing in the bay remains on fire. It's mostly on sub-legal sized fish (I
hate to call them "shorts"), but there are some decent keepable fish mixed in and enough action to make anyone happy. We also had our first good showing of weakfish this week, hopefully a sign of things to come for the rest of the summer.

A cancellation on Monday allowed me a little time to get out by myself for a couple of hours, and produced 35 fluke from 14" to 20" in a little over two hours. Wednesday I had Trenton's Mark Catalina with his sons Anthony and Chris and granddad Richard aboard, and the team landed another 35-40 fluke with a couple of fat keepers for the table. On Friday I had Beach Haven Park's Rodger Bogardus bring his son Dave and family friend Michael Borkowski out for a mixed weakfish/fluke trip. While the weakies didn't cooperate, the fluke provided steady action until the breeze died out late morning and sent us back to chasing weakies. The catch was topped by Dave Bogardus' 27" fluke that so far is the largest on the boat this summer. We did mark a lot of weakfish on the sonar, but I guess they just weren't in the biting mood.

Yesterday I had George Selph and Bob Keller back aboard, fishing in the Lacey Elks Tournament. We spent most of the day hunting the elusive weakfish, and were finally rewarded late morning with the guys landing weakfish after weakfish on grass shrimp and small plastics. We left the fish biting to spend our final hour or so on fluke, but the final tally for the day was close to 50 weakies, 4 fluke (including a 20" flattie that took the tournament calcutta), several small bluefish and a couple of nice kingfish. A real mixed bag of tasty fish that shows off Barnegat Bay at its best.

Until next week, ~ Capt. Jack Shea, "Rambunctious" Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters 609.698.3632

Received: Sun, 27 Jul 2008 16:57:32 Subject: Reel Fantasea Charters fishing report

This week we started seeing our first significant waves of beautiful weakfish to 24" inches and with bluefish and fluke readily available and stripers to 27" from time to time, a Barnegat Bay Grand Slam is just around the corner.

Thursdays trip was cancelled due to weather and with heavy rain with frequent lightening forecasted we just couldn't take that chance.

Friday morning's trip with beautiful weather and Larry Anthonssen along with grandchildren Patrick [8] and Daniel Hogan [10] were out for a slamfest with blues from 1-4 lbs all on light spinning tackle and plastics. Regular Chris Spring had first timer fisherman and nephew Patrick out for his first fishing trip ever, we managed only a few bluefish in the 1-2 lbs range before the nights end, but Patrick got his first taste of light tackle bluefishing.

The Ken Reed Party was out for the best weakfishing so far this year with all nice trout to 24" hitting plastics and shrimp. The guys had a blast with constant action with weakfish and blues on light spinning tackle in the back bay.

Best Regards, ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Charters 609.290.1217

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July 25, 2008

Received: Friday, July 25, 2008 1:24 PM   Subject: Please read this and post it

Your readers need to know what www.ssfff.net has done for us. And give what ever they can. Look at the link below 
from the Asbury Park Press. We all need to help each other here. Please, give to www.ssfff.net so we can get over 
the hump. Thank you, Jim T., Bridgewater, NJ

http://app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080725/SPORTS06/807250387/1020/SPORTS06&template=column 

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July 23, 2008

5:30 PM

Front beach remains cold with only the spottiest of action being reported. The bayside on the other hand continues to be productive with action coming from fluke, bluefish, weakfish, kingfish, blowfish, and puppy drum. Don't forget that crabbing is fantastic too.

Received: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 4:40 PM Subject: Hi Flier fishing report--Wed July 23]

They have arrived! The weakfish are in Barnegat Bay. Sure, I read that they were here about a week ago, but now I caught them. That is a whole other matter, as I am, and always will be a "show me" guy.

I had Anthony Scalea of Cranford and his two sons, Anthony, Jr. And Brendon on board for what started out as a slow morning and then got increasingly better as we bounced around the west side of Barnegat Bay between Barnegat and Waretown. We had a lot of shorts but managed some keepers including fish of 18 and 19 inches. All the action was on live grass shrimp and the weightless working line flatline was the most productive. We also released a puppy drum of 16 inches, some small sea bass, and a short fluke.

My shrimping weakfish season is officially on and it only gets better every day from here. The wind is going to keep me in the bay for a few more days but then this relentless south wind is supposed to let up and allow me to run out to Barnegat Ridge for some bluewater fishing as well. From here on in, I will be either anchored in the bay chumming live grass shrimp for weakies or trolling and/or chumming Barnegat Ridge for bonita, albacore, mahi and bluefin tuna.

You can pick either of these trips or combine both in the same trip for a fishing marathon that targets a lot of species in one day on the water. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 cell

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July 22, 2008

Received: Tuesday, July 22, 2008 8:20 AM Subject: Monday, July 21 fishing report

I had three quality keeper fluke and ten shorts. One dog and one bird. It was hot out there. Used smelts and squid strips for bait. ~ Jim T., Bridgewater, NJ

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July 21, 2008

1:30 PM

Since LBI is a Southward facing beach it is affected by the South winds which push off the surface water and up welled the colder bottom water driving the surf water temperature down. As per the LBI Township  Beach Patrol, the local ocean temperature in the surf was 58 degrees yesterday. Today is is about the same if not colder. There is warm water a few miles out and in the bay but along the beaches it's cold water because of the Southerly winds.

Report of a 31” bass caught around high tide this morning in Harvey Cedars using clam off the surf.

Adam Shear last week had a 400-lb Bluefin on a "little squid" on the South-side of the Toms Canyon. Adam said this is proof that, "elephants eat peanuts".

Yesterday, Mike Rose of Ship Bottom reported keeper Fluke among a few shorts.  He fished on the bayside of Beach Haven near Mordecai Island.

Received: Monday, July 21, 2008 3:18 PM   Subject: BHCFA Report

    The boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are continuing to find plenty of action on undersized fluke, but keepers are still hard to come by.
    Captain Lindsay Fuller on the “June Bug” took the Zalewski family from Newton bottom fishing. Fighting cold bottom temperatures they managed to boat a number of fish, but none of legal length. The group enjoyed the weather and ay on the water. Another day Captain Fuller fished the Patterson family from Haddonfield. Rebecca, nine, and Decker, six, worked very hard catching short fluke, skates, and sea robins. On their last drift at a secret spot of mate Nate Figley, the kids boated a 19-inch fluke to take home.
    Captain Frank Camarda fished the “Miss Beach Haven” in the bay recently in order to find some warm water. There were not many keepers but ton of action on fish up to 17-inches. The incoming tide brought non-stop action. On Saturday the “Miss Beach Haven found a patch of fish in the ocean holding several keepers along with some ling. Pool winner was Darrel Vandeleur of Hamilton with a 4-pound flattie.
    Captain Adam Nowalsky of the “Karen Ann II” reports a change in wind direction brought a return to some decent bottom fishing. The Dave Young party had a mixed bag of ling and sea bass to 3-pounds while Robin Cunningham and Linda Yost caught some nice sea bass on a half day trip. Nowalsky tried a tuna trip to the 20-fathom line but only picked up some big bluefish.
    Captain Fran Verdi of the “Drop Off” had the Van Orden party out for some reef fishing and they picked up nine keeper sea bass to 19-inches. The Butterworth party ran into some problems with thick fog but managed 8 keeper sea bass.
    Captain Dave Wittenborn fished the Garden State South Reef with Ed Lawson and party and managed a handful of keepers. The catch of the day was a 6.22-pound blackfish which it a fluke rig baited with squid and spearing. On Sunday heavy fog forced him to fish the fish factory area of Great Bay for fluke. They had some keepers but the throwback ratio was 12-1. Gulp bait on bucktails worked best. Wittenborn snuck a trip to Lemke’s Canyon for tuna around his fluke trips. He saw signs of tuna in the 77-degree water, but rough sea conditions made catching difficult. ~ Jim Hutchinson Sr.

Received: Sunday, July 20, 2008 9:03 PM   Subject: Fishing Report

    This week’s action was solid whether fishing the back bay, inlet or ocean. The Dave Cole party was out for a solid wreck fishing trip with plenty of sea bass making and filling the cooler with ling and blackfish spicing the catch as well.
    Regulars Andy Pemrick and Chris Weed from Albany N.Y. along with Chris's son and first timer Brandon were out for a back bay/inlet trip. The trip started slower than I would have preferred but once we got the right location and tidal stage the bluefish started to chew. The guys had a blast and were doubled at times with bluefish to 7 lbs on plastics using light spinning tackle.
    Regulars Jay Simmons, Ernie Rosenberg and Tony Longino were out for some more wreck fishing, the guys had a good pull of keeper sea bass as well until we lost the bite. Back at the inlet area the guys had a blast catching a good mix of bluefish and seven stripers to 27 inches. Not bad for a mid afternoon in July.
    Crabbing remains on fire. The “Reel Cool" sighting of the week was when we witnessed what may have been a mating ritual of huge 8-15lb (female) blackfish free jumping and finning the water surface all the while having a vast school of smaller 3-5lb (male) blackfish encompassing them. Wow! That was so cool to see. They did not respond to any crab or clam baits so I think they had other things on their minds.
    July 25th just became available for open or private charter, if interested let me know ASAP. ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Charters 609 -290-1217

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July 20, 2008

Received: Saturday, July 19, 2008 10:56 PM Subject: kingfish

The kingfish are back! Caught 5 in the surf in a little more than an hour fishing w/bloodworms in the middle of the island. ~ CC

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July 19, 2008

Received: Saturday, July 19, 2008 7:11 PM Subject: Saturday report

Saturday July 19th the Miss Beach Haven fished on open bottom all day and did manage to find a patch of fish that were biting. A lot of shorts were caught today. Some of the guys had over 10 each. Also caught today were several keepers and some ling. Pool winner today was Darrel Vandeleur from Hamilton NJ with a 4-lb fluke. ~ Miss Beach Haven

3:30 PM

A customer stopped in this afternoon the get stocked up with Kingfish rigs and bloodworms.  His friend had nine Kingfish this morning on the incoming tide in the town of Holgate. 

1:00 PM

Bill Klaas started the day out today down in Holgate drifting for fluke.  "Lotta boats!" Bill proclaimed, "Gulps! Those thing are banging."  Whole lotta shorts with three keepers up to 22" all on the white swimming mullet.

Rob and crew fished this morning near Gulf Point using grass shrimp for "weakies". They ended up with 3 keepers and a king fish. Later this morning they headed up between the BI and BB buoys and caught a few short fluke. 

11:00 AM

Yesterday, Bonita and Monster Bluefish at the Barnegat Ridge South. Bluefin reports from the Lindenkohl and Toms Canyons.

Received: Saturday, July 19, 2008 7:43 AM   Subject: From Captain "G" and the Crew of "Work Release"

Friday, we headed out to the LE Reef with not much happening (1 short caught by Capt "G"), we fished off the Red and Green Towers off the beach without a bite. Headed into the inlet where our visitor "Florida Mike" had all the action hauling in 2 keepers and several shorts. As the tide slowed and the heat rose we called it a day.

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July 18, 2008

Received: Friday, July 18, 2008 6:32   PM Subject: fishing report

Fished in the bay for most of the week which seems to be the best bet for catching fish. Not many keepers but tons of action with fish up to 17 inches. Incoming tide was very good for the past few days. Thursdays trip in the morning there were over 150 shorts caught. Awesome fishing everybody. ~ Miss Beach Haven

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July 17, 2008

7:00 PM

Yesterday, Sam W. was out with his grandson fishing the bayside around Waretown. During the last two hours of the incoming tide they caught 28 Fluke using bucktail jigs tipped with gulp and spearing. Only one of those fish was a keeper which measured 22".

For the last two days Ed and Phil also fished the last two hours of incoming around the same areas that Sam did. They hooked 24-36 fish per day but had a better keeper ratio of around 8:1. Their biggest Fluke was 6-1/4lbs. Ed also uses a bucktail jig tipped with gulp and spearing while Phil uses a bucktail jig tipped with the new Spro Duragrub and spearing. Phil likes the Spro Duragrub because it can take a lot of abuse from the ever present crabs.

Whispers are being overheard of much better Fluke fishing at the Southern-end of the Island. Those same whispers are also talking about kingfish still in the bay and blowfish making their presence known.

Good crabbing especially on the West-Side. 

On the beach, best action is for Kingfish and Fluke. Blackfish season has now re-open (1 fish at 14") so maybe more Blackfish reports will start trickling in soon. Bluefish reports mostly from around the Barnegat Inlet area. A few days ago, a 40" Striper was caught at night in Ship Bottom using bunker.

More Southern winds are predicted for the next few days which should keep that ocean water cool.

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July 14, 2008

Received: Monday, July 14, 2008 6:06   PM Subject: BHCFA Report

    As the water temperatures in the ocean off Beach Haven gradually warmed, the boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association began finding action on hungry fluke. The problem was rooting through all the sub-legal fish to find keepers to take home.
    On Thursday on the “Miss Beach Haven” Captain Frank Camarda said his morning trip was not bad considering there was little drift. The fluke were biting and a lot of shorts came over the rail with some nice keepers mixed in. The pool winner was Dave Agar from Beach Haven with a 4-pounder. On Saturday on the “Miss Beach Haven” the water temperature finally crept up to 66 degrees. Initial fishing in 55 feet of water found some keepers and some shorts. After moving around looking for some current to keep the boat moving, a little breeze came up, bringing a few more keepers over the rail. The pool winner was the Duke of Fluke himself, Ted Alves, with a 5-pound fish. Sunday’s pool winner was Jules Majerski of Hamilton, NJ with a 3-pound fluke.
    Captain Fran Verdi of the “Drop Off” is encouraged by the rise in water temperature. One trip resulted in 7 keeper sea bass, but no fluke. On Saturday he fished the Sunshine Foundation Tournament. Most of the fishing was in the back bay for fluke catching three keeper fluke and another 35 ranging from 12 to 17.5 inches. 
    On Friday Captain Verdi took the “Cousins” on his first tuna trip of the year with mate Cody Meyer, Nick Rausch and Mark Sever. They left the dock at 4am and got to Lemke’s Canyon by 7:30am and found a nice water break of about 5 degrees. Mark Sever caught a bluefin tuna, a 75-pounder, after a 45-minute struggle. The group also boated a 30-pounder along with some big bluefish.
    Captain George Finck of “Sparetime Charters took first place in the 2008 Offshore Tournament of the Beach Haven Marlin and Tuna Club. He and his crew had a catch of 7 yellowfin tuna ranging from 50-74 pounds. His 79.4-pounder was the first place winner. ~ Jim Hutchinson Sr.

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July 13, 2008

Received: Sunday, July 13, 2008 1:17 PM Subject: Hi Flier Tuna!

There is a wide open bite on bluefin tuna off of Cape May and now some yellowfin tuna just arrived in the mix to make it even more interesting. The bluefins are anywhere from 30 to 150 pounds and the yellowfins are 30 to 70 pounds garden variety. The best of the bite has been very early so it is a must to depart very early each morning from Cape May inlet. The run to the fishing grounds is 25 to 35 miles depending on the day to day action. The fish are being caught on bait and jigs in 120 feet of water. Either drifting or anchored. Daytime chunking bluefin and yellowfin tuna, leaving in the morning, returning in the afternoon, early evening.

The Hi Flier is moving to Cape May this week and will be keep there from Wednesday, July 16 to at least Thursday, July 24, and possibly longer. Whether a charter or an open boat run the price will be a total of $750 per day for either. The Hi Flier can accommodate three anglers/passengers maximum per day. If you have fished with me before I can take your word as your reservation, if not, you will need to PayPal your fare in full ahead of time. If you do not have a PayPal account or are not versed in how it works, it enables you to pay with a VISA or Mastercard.

I am initially offering eight days of fishing starting with Thursday, July 17 and fishing every day including Thursday, July 24. Call me to grab one of these spots on what is probably some exciting fishing. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 cell

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July 12, 2008

Received: Saturday, July 12, 2008 7:58 PM Subject: Saturday report

Today the water temperature finally crept up to 66 degrees. A good size ground swell out of the south and no wind to speak of. We started out fishing in 55 feet of water found some keepers and some shorts. Moved around trying to find some current to keep the boat moving finally we got a little breeze and a few more keepers came over the rail along with some shorts. Pool winner today was the duke of fluke himself Ted Alves with a 5.5-lb fluke. Over all it was pretty good day to be out fishing. ~ Miss Beach Haven

Received: Saturday, July 12, 2008 8:33 AM Subject: From Captain "G" and the Crew of WorkRelease

Friday we headed out to the Little Egg Reef from Beach Haven West, fished the LE Reef with 1 keeper fluke and 2 sea bass. "Sonny Boy" had the first fish of the day. Fish were hitting on squid strips even though we tried live kellies as well. A couple shorts as well. Nothing to get your attention quicker than coming in from a day of fishing to see a porpoise surface right in front of your boat! ~ George F Wagner

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July 11, 2008

10:30 PM
I caught some fluke at Double Creek channel as well as at the mouth of Oyster Creek near the 31 buoy. Also had a bunch of bluefish; mainly small but just enough to break the leader. Did not do much at the BI or the BB. Was in search of the elusive weakfish, but there were none to be found. Had some hearing in the inlet as well. Dan W. of Barnegat Light 

A customer stopped in to prep for his outing tomorrow. He reported that his neighbor fish Little Egg Reef today and caught 2 keeper Seabass and 2 keeper Fluke.

Also Tom W. of Barnegat Light stopped by and gave us a surf report. He had a keeper fluke (19”) as well as his first Kingfish of the year. He was fishing squid strips on a no frills fluke rig.

For those who want to target Kings from the beach bloodworms are the bait of choice with a small hook.

Morning Report:
Cocktail blues are beginning to savage the bay. There are many reports of anglers drifting for Fluke and running into these 1 to 2 pound fish from inlet to inlet. These Bluefish are chasing bait all over the bays. Just make sure to have at least one or two outfits ready with a small metal onboard. When these fish are in the bay you can track them pretty much as long as you desire and just keep casting metals into the fray for almost continuous action.... Especially great on a slow day with the kids aboard.

There are the usual reports of many Fluke caught but very few meeting the size limit. Again this applies to pretty much the entire bay. On the outside though we are hearing of a slight increase in keepers. This seems to be centered around boats running a bit further out than the usual places. Try the 70 - 80ft depth areas. You are still going to see more throw backs than keepers. But there have also been quite a few 5+ pound fish caught in those deeper waters.

The Garden State North and South seem to be alive with Sea Bass. We had more than one report of 50-plus fish being boated in a few hours of fishing. You can always start out in the deeper water doing the Fluke drift and then move to a reef site for Sea Bass if the Fluke don't cooperate.

Surf action as of now is primarily Fluke. Try using either a plain lead head dressed with a Squid Strip/Spearing or Gulp Strip/Spearing. You may also want to try a floating jig head rig baited with the same strip & Spearing.

There are plenty of Kingfish out and about in the back bay. Sometimes it takes a little hunting. But typically look for a hole or some type of bottom structure and make sure to have bloodworms or small clam baits.

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July 10, 2008

Received: Thursday, July 10, 2008 8:14 PM   Subject: LBI FLUKE REPORT 7/10/08

Thursday's morning trip was not bad considering we had no drift. The fluke were biting with what little current we had. A lot of shorts came over the rail with some nice keepers mixed in. Pool winner today was Dave Agar from Beach Haven, NJ with a 4-lb fluke ~ Miss Beach Haven

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July 8, 2008

Received: Tuesday, July 08, 2008 6:29 PM   Subject: Sundays report

Sunday July 6th we fished in thick fog all-day visibly was about 100 ft and a steady rain for most of the morning. Trying different depths we did manage to find a nice shot of fish on open bottom.

Today, the pool winner was John from Morristown, NJ with a 5-1/2 lb fluke. Cheeseman John had one a hair over 5 lbs. Not enough for the pool but none the less a nice fluke. I have to say today was one of our best days for fluke so far this year despite the cold water temperatures ~ Miss Beach Haven

Received: Tuesday, July 08, 2008 3:32 PM   Subject: Kev & Ash report.

Fished Friday July 4th and had 72 keeper sea bass and a handful of ling for 3 people. Slow steady pick of fish. Also had several 5-6 lb blackfish that were returned unharmed. Slower fishing on Sat July 5th yielded 30 keeper sea bass, including one that weighed 6.5 lbs, and 11 ling. Fished bayside on Sunday 7/6 and caught 15 fluke or so in 2 hours with only 1 keeper. ~ Gregory C. Carr

Received: Tuesday, July 08, 2008 10:55 AM   Subject: Hi Flier Fishing Report--July 8, 2008

Things are starting to heat up. The ocean water temp was up to 66 degrees outside in the ocean, up from the 54 degrees just this past Thursday. The water temp in the bay is 75 to 78 depending on where you go. As a result quite a few summer flounder (fluke) retreated back into the inlets and bays. Using spearing and went on the drift the last few days for some incredible action. Eighteen inch keeper Fluke are still tough, but we did manage an 18+ and a 21+ fish yesterday. We must have caught 25 others that were not legal but still a blast on the light rods. We were vertical jigging shad darts tipped with spearing. 

Before or after the fluke fishing we are casting poppers in 4 feet of water for two pound blues. We have had three houndfish on so far in the last three trips and every one has broken us off or thrown the hook. You get to see it first because they come flying out of the water and take really accelerated runs across the surface, even faster than the blues. For those of you that have never seen a houndfish, they look exactly like the needlefish or garfish that you see swimming on the surface when you are fishing for snapper blues, only these are thicker and as long as a yardstick.

I usually don't target fluke, but when the fishing is hot, I don't ignore it. Plus the fact that I could couple it with the topwater blues makes it a worthwhile 5 hour bay trip. I am going to sail today (Tue) from 2 to 7 PM and tomorrow (Wed) from 2:30 to 7:30 PM to coincide with the outgoing tide in the channels I have been fishing.

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday the relentless south wind is finally going to let up and I will be headed for Barnegat Ridge in search of bluefin tuna, bonita, and albacore. We are going into a mild west, northwest, northeast pattern of wind direction. I will take single reservations for an open boat on each of these days or of course you can charter the boat any day. The cost for the open boat is $225 for the first two people and if three people go, it drops to $175 per person. If you need a fix of warm clean water and the tuna-ish species that live in it, give me a call to jump on one of these spots. I limit each trip to three people and I will sail with only one person. These trips leave the dock at 5AM and we return around 1 PM (usually later).

I am still waiting for our summer weakfish to kick in so that I could start grass shrimping. It should start any minute. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 cell

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July 7, 2008

Received: Monday, July 07, 2008 5:19 PM   Subject: Monday, July 7 Fishing report

I had four good keeper fluke today. 22 inch range. And I had eight shorts. Six would have been keepers last year. All fish caught with smelts and squid strips and using a home made rig. ~ Jim T., Bridgewater, NJ

Received: Sunday, July 06, 2008 8:16 PM   Subject: Fluke mortality

I have not fished for fluke with a boat for many years but since I have been reading your fishing reports about the numbers of fluke being caught and released it made me wonder if there is a large percentage of throw back fluke that are being killed due to deep hook sets. I know that when I did fish for fluke off the boat some of those fish took the bait down real deep. If there is a problem is there anything that can be done to educate anglers on how to limit fluke mortality. ~ Dave, Barnegat

Dave, Most anglers already know that to improve catch and release mortality for all fish species an inline circle hook should be used. This might be a good time for a reminder. ASMFC has a report from the year 2003 which contains a lot of information on this topic and it can be found at... http://www.asmfc.org/publications/specialReports/sr77CircleHookDefinition.pdf 

Received: Sunday, July 06, 2008 6:55 PM   Subject: Reel Fantasea Charters fishing report

This week's action remained very dependable for bluefish , fluke, and a more weakfish starting to show along with sea robins just about everywhere you go. The fluke keeper ratio is low but the action is constant. Most of the action has been while jigging plastics or various "Gulp" on bucktails in the back bay. What makes this fishing so much fun is the bays very clear waters coupled with reliable action with various species of fish. You just never know what will be reeled in next! The blues have been very consistent found under bird activity with weakfish spicing the mix. If the birds aren't present as was the fact with Sunday's foggy conditions you can still find the blues rolling on top of shallow 2-4ft bay flats making for some fun and excitement. I have one open boat spot available this Thursday for anyone interested call ASAP 609-290-1217. I know it may sound early but, I have been taking reservations for Fall Fishing and the book is filling up at a faster rate than ever before. Anyone interested may want to think about checking their calendar to reserve their date now. By the by this year's crabbing is simply AMAZING! If your someone who loves crabbing and even better loves to eat crabs, it just doesn't get any better than this ! ~ Captain Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Charters 609-290-1217

Received: Sunday, July 06, 2008 5:17 PM   Subject: Lighthouse Sportfishing Report

I have continued to make fluke my main target during the last week. With ocean temperatures consistently staying in the 50’s, efforts were concentrated in Barnegat Bay with great success. The new fluke regulations continue to make the number of throw backs exceed keepers but the action has been fast and furious during every trip. The keeper to throwback ratio has ranged from 1:10 to 1:15 but when you are catching 40 to 50 fluke in a few hours you are boxing enough fish for dinner and then some. During a recent outing I had Bob Lane and company out for their annual trip with me. We had action from the first to last drift boating 40 fluke and keeping 4 to 22”. ~ Capt. Alex Majewski, Lighthouse Sportfishing, Barnegat Bay, NJ 609-698-8326

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July 6, 2008

Yesterday morning Jack J. from East Windsor fished clams in Loveladies.  Around 9am he released a short; right about 28".  He tried casting a metal for a bit too, nothing.

A couple customers have reported plentiful weakfish. -Greg

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July 5, 2008

Received: Saturday, July 05, 2008 4:12 PM   Subject: Fishing report

The fluking in the Barnegat Bay has been very consistent over the past few weeks.  A lot of shorts with only a few keepers. Today held true for me. In all we landed about 25 fluke, all between 13" and 17 1/2", which meant an empty cooler on the ride home. Every fish was caught in 11-13 feet of water between the BI and BB markers on an incoming tide. We also fished Oyster Creek but were unsuccessful because of the lack of drift. It was a fun yet disappointing day. ~ Rob R.

12:00 Noon

Tuna at  the Wilmington and Spencer.

Shark action around the Mud Hole with reports of a Mako topping 300-lb's as well as big Threshers.

Sea Bass are being mugged out at the reef and tire sites. Currently fishing for Sea Bass seems to be very productive. Still dominated by clam baits and small jigs. Boaters are reporting coming in with these great eaters being up to 5-lbs.

Bayside Fluke activity is reported good from both the North & South ends of LBI. The keeper ratio is the disappointing part. Just remember 18" is minimum. The incoming cold water also shuts the catching off quickly. Minnows, Spearing and Gulp seem to have the edge over the other baits. Some of us have been using a strip bait of Gulp along with a Minnow or Spearing to great affect.

With boats loading up on some nice blue claws right now, it would be a great time to get out and have some fun crabbing. Nothing beats a day of crabbing with non-stop action for the kids. An added bonus is enjoying a crab feast with the whole family. North of the Causeway and West side of the bay seems most productive. If headed South you might want to try the Parkertown area.

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July 4, 2008

HAPPY HOLIDAY!

6:45 PM

Gregory Pylypiak Jr. came in today to weigh-in a 8.58-lb Fluke for The Fisherman Magazine “Dream Boat” Tournament. This morning he caught numerous sea bass outside the Little Egg Inlet reefs. Later fishing inside the bay around Holgate during the outgoing tide is when the 8.58 lb fluke was caught. Gregory used a white bucktail dressed with a squid and minnow combo to catch that big Fluke. It sounds like a good day on the South-end today.

12:00 Noon

There has been some misinformation being tossed around lately regarding sharks. Just as a reminder this is where the state of New Jersey stands right now.

"If you are fishing in NJ waters... ocean front inside 3 miles and backbay areas... a shark permit is NOT required. NJ does not have one. However NJ prohibited sharks are: Basking, Bigeye Sand Tiger, Sand Tiger, Whale & White Sharks."

As for the current state of our local fishing...

That chilly ocean water temp has made watching tidal stage more crucial when selecting a location and time to fish.

A few Kingfish are being picked at mostly from mid-island and points South. Surprising with the ocean temps still being low. We have not heard of any Bluefish in the surf. But there sure are plenty of snappers in the bay and local lagoons.

Fluke have stayed pretty steady. There does seem to be a lot of 17-1/2" fish out there. The Southern end seems to have a slight edge in the Fluke keeper ratio. The Southern action is centered around the regular spots like Marshelder and Grassy channels. The North end has steady action around the South Jetty, the Hi Bar dike, Oyster Creek Channel and going East of the inter coastal waterway across from the mouth of Oyster Creek. Best reports seem to be timed before or after the top of the tide.

The bunker pods have thinned down and Striper fishing is an on and off affair. We hear of a few caught one day, then nothing the next.

Received: Friday, July 04, 2008 12:37 AM   Subject: Monday, June 30 and Tuesday, July 1 Fishing report

Fished Monday and had 25 Fluke, 3 were keepers. One was a 3 pounder. The other two were not bad at all. Tuesday afternoon was a different story. Six Fluke and Zero keepers. All my fish were caught on sand eels and squid strips. On Monday I out fished some Spro guys. Sand Eels! ~  Jim T., Bridgewater, NJ

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July 3, 2008

Received: Thursday, July 03, 2008 8:40 PM   Subject: South-end fishing report

AM Report Thursday for Great Bay. Fished the early morning in Great bay near the Rutgers Station to find a total of 9 keeper flounder the largest 20 inches was caught in 30' of water. The keeper ratio to throw back has come down. We had good luck power drifting back and forth across the channels instead of riding the tide. ~ Martin Meagher

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July 2, 2008

Received: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 5:44 PM   Subject: South-end fishing report

We fished the South-end of the island for about 5 hours today:
-First we stopped at Morrison's for a few casts and only had a few hits.
-Next we fished the sedge banks and caught a few short fluke.
-The fish factory had a bit more to offer but nothing of note.
In all the south end of the island was a very disappointing day.
~ Rob R.

Received: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 2:07 PM Subject: fish report

Fished today with wife Judi off of Waretown from 08:00 AM to 12:00 Noon. Caught 32 fluke of which 4 were keepers. Judi had one at 4-1/2 lbs and I had one at 7-3/4 lbs (26-1/2"). All were caught on bucktails with either spearing or Gulp. After the big one hit the deck it spit up a 10" manta shrimp. ~ Sam W.

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June 29, 2008

6:00 PM

Michael Liss weighed-in a 16-lb (36") Stripers that he caught before 5 PM in the Beach Haven surf using bunker for bait.

Received: Sunday, June 29, 2008 5:09 PM Subject: BHCFA Report

The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are slowly but surely making their transition into the summer mode of fishing. Captain Fran Verdi took the Nutaitis party on the “Cousins” out for some sea bass on the Little Egg Reef recently and fought the fog most of the day. He had the reef to himself as they boated 13 keepers out of a total of 24 fish. Another day he took the Hugh Brown party out of “The Drop Off” to the ocean for some fluke fishing. Fishing the inshore lumps brought only small fish and they picked up 8 sea bass on the reef. They finished the day in the Middle Grounds where they found no action. Captain Adam Nowalsky of the boat “Karen Ann II” out of Great Bay Marina reports a mixed bag. He had Vinnie Kugler and sons from Kugler Lures out for a respectable catch of sea bass doing some wreck fishing despite some tough conditions. The Wayne Jepsen party from NJ Transit made a stop in the inlet to catch 3 dozen bluefish to 2-pound before heading offshore for 10 sea bass per man. Bill from Mystic Island boated the season’s largest sea bass, a 4-pound, 13-ounce fish. ~ Jim Hutchinson Sr.

Received: Sunday, June 29, 2008 4:44 PM Subject: Reel Fantasea Charters fishing report 

This weeks Trophy Striped Bass just couldn't have been any better. We landed our first 52-lber along with a few forties, and plenty of thirties and twenties. We had to travel North to find the fish, but once there it was total chaos. As we approached what appeared to be acres and acres of bunker under attack from bass of all sizes, the sights and sounds were electrifying with bass from 20-40 lbs free jumping. Regular Joe Franke teamed up with first timer Tom Breeland for an absolute slam fest with big stripers hitting as aggressively as a bluefish frenzy. It was "drop and reel" type fishing for huge Stripers. Tom landed his and Reel Fantasea Charters first ever 52-lber. Joe landed his biggest stripers in the 30-lb class as well. We actually left the bite still going. New comer Mark Fry along with sons Brenden and Shamus and brother Denise and his wife Linda were out the next day for more insane action. Mark was first on the board with his first ever 40+ lb striper, from there on the whole boat was doubled, tripled and even quadrupled up at time with huge stripers and releasing most of these fish even a beautiful 40+ lb fish to fight another day. Friday nights trip was met with a nasty thunder storm that ended the trip for Phil Engel and sons before it got started. 60+ mph winds, driving rain, hail and vivid cloud to ground lighting started minutes after we were safely back at the dock. Another blown weather forecast changed the minds of regulars John Repko, Tom Wilson and son Alan's trophy striper plans to a backbay trip as the forecast was for a "small craft advisory" with 4-6 ft seas, SW 20-25kt winds... too late we realized the weather turned out to be a glorious day with light and variable winds. The guys had a steady pick of fluke, along with sea robins, blues, and skates. The best action came on the out going tide as the incoming was a chilly 57 degrees with the outgoing tide being almost a whole 20 degrees warmer. ~ Capt. Steve Purul, Reel Fantasea Charters 609-290-1217 

Received: Sunday, June 29, 2008 4:19 PM Subject: Lighthouse Sportfishing Report

The biomass of fluke in Barnegat Bay is truly amazing; however, the new size limit is keeping most of them off the dinner table. Over the last week I have had over 100 fluke come over the gunnels of the Debbie M. The keeper to throw back ration is about 1:20 right now. Many of the fish are very close to the limit and should grow enough in the next few weeks to be of legal length. Speaking of the next few weeks, my dates for chumming grass shrimp for weakfish are filling up, so if you are thinking about booking a trip let me know. There are still some big blues in the bay. ~ Capt. Alex Majewski, Lighthouse Sportfishing, Barnegat Bay, NJ 609-698-8326

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June 28, 2008

5:45 PM

The Hope fished early this morning. Leaving the dock at 5:30 AM.  Started out just North of the BI daymarker in 10-12 ‘ of water.  Water temp was 72 degrees. The squid/spearing combo produced better than minnow/squid combo. Results: 12 fluke, 2 keepers.

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June 27, 2008

3:45 PM

Local wave ripper (surfer) Greg reported bunker along the bars of Ship Bottom. He spoke with two surf fisherman working the beach and they reported no action.

    Today, Dr. Steven Wurst fished using his "Little Boat" drifting along the sedge banks of Oyster Creek Channel and caught 6 keeper Fluke. Many more shorts were released. The bait he used was Berkley Gulp Pumpkinseed Swimming Minnow.
    On Wednesday his boat the Sea Triever trolled the Wilmington Canyon catching 4 x 50-lb class Yellowfin and 3 x 20-lb class Dolphin.

10:00 AM

The Hope just got into the dock after a short but productive morning fishing just north of the BI daymarker (~8-10' of water).  "The ticket was spearing", Capt. Joe Solon said. "A lot of small fish but good fun to catch and release on light tackle!" In the early AM there was a good drift because of the south breeze.  Around 8 or 9 the wind laid down.  "Without a drift we packed it in."  Results: Twenty shorts and Two keepers. ~ Greg

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June 26, 2008

5.30 PM

The Wild Honey drifted the Barnegat Inlet area for Fluke today. Caught plenty of short Fluke along the South jetty during the bottom of the outgoing and then during the start of incoming we did very well on the East side of the Hi Bar Dike. Lost track of how many Fluke the three anglers aboard caught but not one fish was a keeper. Once that cold incoming water came in the water temp dropped from a fish catching 67 degrees down to a 55 degree Shut Down. That upwelling because of the South winds has dropped the ocean water temperatures in the Barnegat Inlet area to a Ch-Ch-Chilling 55 degrees.

Received: Thursday, June 26, 2008 4:07 PM Subject: Hi Flier Fishing Report--Thurs. June 26, 08

Wow! You had to see it. I had Steve Wallin, his son, Ryan and their friend Carl on board. We left Barnegat Inlet at 5:15 this morning and ran north for 14 miles where we ran into a foaming mess of 20 to 30 pound stripers crashing big schools of bunker off of Lavallette. We boated six and released two in a very short amount of time. The bass were relentlessly crashing the surface and inhaling bunker. We caught all of our fish on sinker rigs with live bunker we just snagged from the pods.

Yesterday, I spent all day snagging bunker and never caught a fish for the two people I had on board. That's how it goes. But today we were armed with the most important part of a fishing trip: INFORMATION. We knew to the North the water was 62 degrees and Stripers were caught yesterday while the temp outside Barnegat Inlet was only 58.5 degrees.

I picked up my first batch of live grass shrimp from Bobbie's Boats today after our striper effort. We tried three different spots, but did not scare up any action. The water on the west side of the bay is 75 degrees and it should turn on any minute. I am going to continue to shrimp until it does.

I am booked tomorrow (Fri) and Monday, but available this weekend and beyond if anyone wants to hit those bunker pods. The boat leaves at 4:30 AM and we can fish 5 to 8 hours depending on what you would like to do. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing, 732.330.5674 cell

Received: Thursday, June 26    9:54 AM    Subject: Fish Report
Fished Wednesday 6-25-2008 at the Little Egg Reef. Beautiful weather but no drift in the AM.  The breeze started around 11 am.  Caught 12 Fluke, no keepers. John H.

Received: Thursday, June 26    10:30 AM    Subject: Fluking Great in Oyster Creek
We drifted from buoy 20 west along Oyster Creek on the incoming tide 6-25-2008 and caught 5 keeper fluke to 24" with about as many shorts in a 3 hour period.  No tide, no bites then headed for the dock.  Great day! FISHINATOR Barnegat Light.

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June 25, 2008

2:30 PM

Started Tuesday afternoon June 23rd at the Spencer Canyon and worked South to the Wilmington trolling spreader bars and ballyhoo on jets. Soon after arrival, two single takedowns. Then, shortly after that had 8 takedowns out of the 10 lines in the water and went 6 for 8 catching 6 yellowfin up to 65lbs. Set up for a shark drift at night. The 9-mile drift produced a mako and a blue shark. Then back to the Northeast corner of the Wilmington for the Wednesday, June 24th AM troll resulting in 18 yellowfin up to 65lbs. ~ Capt. Stew Hitchner, The Pez Machine

10:00 AM

Lately it seems like the Striper action off of the beach's has slowed. Other than a few scattered reports of fish being boated we have little to report. There is a rumor of a large school of bunker somewhere to the South. But this is unconfirmed.

Fluke are still plentiful in the bay on the South-end. But that 18" and over fish is very elusive. We've had some fisherman saying that it's been almost a 15 to 1 ratio for keepers. There has been talk of some larger fish starting to show up on the multiple reef sites off of the Island. This seems to be a good choice at the present time. Some great reports regarding Seabass from these reef sites. So Seabass should be a good main choice or a fall back plan. Small diamond jig or green curly tail if the current is slow enough. Otherwise small clam or squid baits is the way to go.

Big Bluefish at the ridge. ~ S.I.

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June 24, 2008

Received: Monday, June 23, 2008 9:43   PM Subject: Saturdays report

Sunday the weather man put the hurting on us once again, not many fares today. One quick storm in the morning just enough to wreck our day for customers. Anyway the weather turned out to be beautiful. I wish I could say the same for the fishing, the water temperature dropped to 61 degrees. Fishing was slow all day, bites were few and far apart we had very poor conditions wind up against the tide 8 to 10 oz barely held bottom. We did manage to catch a few keeper fluke and several sea bass Pool winner today was Cheseman John with a 4# fluke. Still in all it was great to be out on the water away from it all and enjoying life.

Saturday super nice day to be on the water we fished on little egg reef all day. We had some nice size fluke today several keepers just enough to keep our interest. Brant and I got to fish today. We each had two keepers and several fish 17 to 17.5 inches that were released and some quality size sea bass. The fluke must have been thick if I got two! Pool winner today was Ted Alves from mount holly NJ with a 5-pound fluke. Cheeseman John is still the leader in our season long pool with his 8-pound fluke.

~ Miss Beach Haven

Received: Monday, June 23, 2008 9:06 PM   Subject: Hi Flier Fishing Report 6-23-08

Plan B... I had Jan Gladstone from East Brunswick, NJ on board today for what was supposed to be a bunker dunking striper trip. We met at the dock at 5 AM, fired up the motors and we were on our way. Yup... on our way to a massive fog bank that started right at the inlet and laid heavily up and down the coast as we would learn from the VHF radio listening to those who ventured out. Reports of zero visibility up to 100 feet or less were common. We jogged back and forth in the channels near the inlet to see if the fog would soon blow or burn off, but to no avail. Finally, I suggested we throw some Fin-S for bass, blues, or weaks that might be inside. Our first few drifts in Oyster Creek Channel brought only one bluefish chop. The next stop was the sod banks for the last of the outgoing tide and Jan hooked up right away to what turned out to be a 10-pound weakfish. In the next few drifts he caught two more 8 to 10-pound weakfish and a small bluefish. The bite slowed up and after another failed attempt at breaking the inlet, we opted to tie up to Bobbie's Boats in Barnegat Light and head over to Mustache Bill's diner for some breakfast. We jumped back in the boat, tried to get outside one more time but the fog was relentless. We stopped at the sod banks for a few more casts of what was now incoming water and Jan bagged another big weakfish for a total of four and one blue. We released all but one weakfish that didn't revive.

I still have openings for individuals on Wed June 25 and Fri, June 27 chasing bunker and stripers as well as casting for these big weakfish. I am told that live grass shrimp are now available, so we will be starting up our shrimping trips now, as well. It's possible to do it all in one day. Start out with the stripers at daybreak and move on to the bay in the late morning/early afternoon.

The fishing down here is getting very interesting. The wind is going north/northwest and will blow the fog out as well as providing a calm ocean. Call me to go fishing. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing, 732.330.5674 cell

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June 23, 2008

Received: Monday, June 23, 2008 8:22 PM Subject: Fwd: Make this Fluke Meeting

Tues the 24th at 7PM at the Belmar Taylor Pavilion (Located on Ocean Avenue between 5th and 6th Avenues), 512 Ocean Avenue, Belmar, NJ 07719 732- 681-3700.

Captain Ron Santee of the Fisherman out of Atlantic Highlands told me this morning that the www.ssfff.net will make a press release about the research done by the scientist hired by www.ssfff.net after the meeting in Belmar on Tuesday, June 24. I mention this because it is important. Fished on the Angler out of Atlantic Highlands, NJ today (6-23-08). Twelve people on board. Over 250 fluke caught. Only 17 keepers. I personally had 15 fluke and only ONE 3lb keeper. The fish stock is just fine. The politics are wrong! "Get involved and get involved now." ~ Jim T., Bridgewater, NJ

Received: Monday, June 23, 2008 7:41 AM   Subject: BHCFA report

Captain Adam Nowalsky of the “Karen Ann II” of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association reports fluke are appearing on the reef-sites off Beach Haven. The numbers are not great yet, but the keeper percentage is higher than in the bay. In addition, there is always the chance of a few sea bass showing up. He says the best bet for big bluefish is the Barnegat Ridge while some boats are traveling to the Spencer and Wilmington Canyons for yellowfin tuna. Captain Fran Verdi on the “Drop Off” made a couple of trips to the Little Egg Reef. One day he had Bill Ross and Skip Deckman out for some sea bass and fluke. Another day he had Steve Richter out for sea bass. Using salted clam he caught 24 despite difficulty in getting good drifts. Jim McAndrew was with Captain Fran for a trip in Great Bay for fluke. McAndrew boated 10 throwbacks and one keeper. Verdi’s final trip for stripers was with Pete Menges and friend Charlie. Despite chasing bunker all over, they could find no bass. They finished the day with some reef fishing for sea bass and a fluke. Captain Dave Wittenborn from Captain Dave’s Charters did well on fluke on the Garden State South Reef topped by a 5-pound fluke. At first they thought they were snagged on the bottom until the fish started tugging back. His highlight of the week was watching a large thresher shark clear the water in pursuit of a bunker school. ~ Jim Hutchinson Sr.

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June 22, 2008

2:00 PM

Fresh bunker should be here later today. Remember we close early on Sundays.

A surf fisherman reported fishing Northern Brant Beach this morning using frozen bunker at first and on this bunker caught skates and sharks. Once his bunker supply ran out he switched to artificial lures that were worked very s-l-o-w-l-y on the bottom and did well catching Fluke.

Received: Sunday, June 22, 2008 12:58 PM Subject: Hi Flier Fishing Report-Sunday June 22

The schools of bunker and big stripers are still here with no signs of letting up. 13 year old Elias Tait and his dad Theo fished aboard the Hi Flier. Elias caught his first striper, a 35 1/2 pounder that didn't hit until 9:00 AM. 

There are acres of bunker up and down the beach with 20 to 40 pound stripers pushing them to the surface as well as big bluefish, dusky and thresher sharks. It is quite a sight.

The Hi Flier is going to stay put in her slip in Barnegat for a while. I was considering moving the boat to Sea Isle City for a stretch to chase bluefin tuna, but those reports have not gotten any stronger and our local fishery is too good to move away from.

I have one or two open spots available on tomorrow, Monday, June 23 trip as just one person has signed on to go chase bunker and stripers. If anyone else would like to jump on, call me on my cell phone: 732.330.5674, I am sailing regardless.

The boat has room for one person Wed, June 25 and is full on Thursday, June 26. The wind is going west tomorrow, so we will be enjoying a flat ocean for the second week in a row.

Still available for charters on Tues., Fri, and beyond. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing 732.330.5674 cell

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June 21, 2008

12:00 Noon

BIG BASS is the word....... Over the past few days the bunker pods off of the monument North to the ferris wheel has exploded with 30 to high 40-pounders. The reports of yesterday had one continuous pod with nothing under it but + 30's. Even the Bluefish were absent.

Lefevre Painting was out this morning at the South end and scored a 44.4 pound bass caught on a bunker head. He informed us that 6 AM sharp the bunker left and as of that moment the fish shut off as well.

On a more serious note. (More follow-up on earlier reports)
Our Bunker suppliers have been having serious issues from some of the boat fisherman out there. Please keep clear of these guys. There is a real concern that someone could get hurt or damage their boat by following too closely and inadvertently getting caught up in the commercial gear. These guys are not out netting bunker for any other reason than to supply the sport guys the fresh bunker that everyone demands. So please... A little courtesy in this respect would be greatly appreciated by all involved. ~ Scott

11:45 AM

Some boat anglers don't seem to care...
We just received a call from our commercial netter. Same problem as yesterday. Boats are not keeping away from his vessel and he will not intentionally endanger his vessel, crew, gear or other boats. Along with the annoyance he is also wasting a lot of fuel. Looks like we have a good chance of no bunker again today. I'm wondering if the operators of these boats passed their safety course. Maybe someone like the NJ State Police or Coast Guard should check them out. ~ A very frustrated Stan

11:00 AM

Fisherman be aware...
Local gill-netters as more of a favor try to net bunker for us recreational fisherman. It's hard for them to do these favors for us if anglers crowd their vessels and fowl nets with snag hooks. Commercial fishermen want to do us recreational anglers this quick favor and get on with their day. They don't want to be wasting time pulling hooks out of their nets. Boating anglers… keep in mind that both fellow anglers from boats and surf fisherman rely very heavily on commercial fisherman to provide this bunker bait. You can ruin the day for many anglers with your disrespect for commercial anglers and it's plain embarrassing. Don't be one of the ignorant few that spoil this for the rest of the angling community. Make way for these commercial anglers and their nets so they can do their work as soon as possible and get out of the area. Believe us when we say local netters don't need to get us bunker we need their help. Keep it up and fresh bunker prices will go up faster than the nations gas prices. If we can even get them at all. I would think we want local quality gill netted bunker and not crushed dried out purse seined bunker!
...Gill-netters tried to get bunker for us on Friday but gave up in frustration... Now you know why we do not have fresh bunker! They are going to try again today. Let's hope the results are better. ~ Stan

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June 19, 2008

Received: Thursday, June 19, 2008 10:11 AM Subject: Big Bass

I have been fishing these big stripers like everyone else. The fishing has been incredible, however are we killing too many of these big cows? We all forget the bad times when if you caught a bass you were happy. Many of us get carried away with wanting to show everyone how many big fish we caught. ~ Thanks John H.

John, A lot of the fish reported here as caught are actually caught-and-released. Lets hope that kept fish are enjoyed at the dinner tables and senseless harvest of fish is not the norm. This goes for all species. Enough said. ~ Stan 

Received: Thursday, June 19, 2008 6:26 AM Subject: Lighthouse Sportfishing Report

I do not know if there were more bunker or boats Wednesday morning. Upon breaking the inlet before sun up I was surprised to see close to 40 boats all ready ahead of me. Working the bunker schools hard my client was rewarded with four bass to 36 pounds and two large blues. At one point I estimated one bunker school we fished to be a half mile long! ~ Capt. Alex Majewski, Lighthouse Sportfishing, Barnegat Bay, NJ 609-698-8326

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June 18, 2008

4:45 PM

Beach:
Matt Castello fishing the Surf City beach landed a 14-13 Striper on a chunk of bunker.

Boat:
More reports from boats fishing the Island Beach Bathing Beach area...
- Frank Gabriel, Manahawkin weighed-in a 41-1 and 33-11 Striper on Bunker.
- Nick Remer, Manahawkin weighed-in a 32-4 Striper on Bunker.
- Al, Greg and "Uncle Moe" went out again today before the break of dawn to catch more Stripers. Two 30-lb plus pound Stripers were caught on "Cut Bunker". Plus Uncle Moe had a "Much" bigger fish hooked that he fought for a l-o-n-g while on his classic Abu reel. Unfortunately Moe lost the fish when it was just getting close enough to net. When the winds picked up, the bunker were hard to spot, so they tried trolling bunker spoons but with no results.

Received: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 1:42 PM Subject: Hi Flier Fishing Report-Wed. June 18, 2008

Exciting morning of fishing today. I had Kevin Veal in from the West Coast and his father in law Gene Arico of Green Brook, NJ . We found the schools of bunker right away and started snagging live bait. In a short amount of time we had a double header hookup. The first fish turned out to be a 60 pound dusky shark that amazingly did not bite the snagger off of the 40 pound fluorocarbon leader. The second fish turned out to be a 40-1/2 pound striper for Gene. Kevin hooked the next fish and broke it off on an unlucky wrap around the reel handle. Later Gene decked another big bass, 36 pounds. There are plenty of bunker still around and lots of big bass chowing them down. I have trips for Thursday and Friday but the weekend is still open and I have lots of availability during the week. I have one person who is looking to share the boat and cost for Monday, June 23 in case anyone else is looking, call me. ~ Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing, 732.330.5674 cell

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June 17, 2008

Received: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 11:20 PM Subject: Fishing Report 6/17

I fished the sun down this evening. Caught one bluefish and lost a bluefish. Lots of skates around, they were eating my bunker chunks and I even caught one on a bunker head!? The bluefish I landed felt around 15lb and measured 37". It had a whole bunker in its stomach! ~ Zach

10:00 AM

Today; Joe Solon, Tom Lewis and Greg Cudnik fished off the Island Beach State Park Bathing Beach Area aboard the "Hope". They caught 6 Stripers total; 4 were 30-lb class fish and 2 were 40-lb class fish. They found the pods of bunker at dawn and did the snag & live line routine until 7:30 AM when the winds started to increase and the fishing turned off.

Received: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 11:50 AM Subject: Hi Flier Fishing Update

We're back! Just in time. If you are wondering why I haven't been sending any new fishing reports, it's because the Hi Flier overheated the port motor last week. The new powerhead and wiring is being completed today. My first trip is Thursday and we will be snagging bunker and targeting the big stripers that have been feeding on them. The bite is red hot right now and with the amount of bunker and the cool ocean water temps in the 50's, there is no telling how long it will hold up. The outlook is excellent. So is the weather window through the weekend. If you check the marine forecast the wind is going to blow 5 to 10 knots out of the west for the next week! That means a flat ocean that is not only comfortable to fish in, but it also makes it easier to spot the bunker pods. If you are looking to connect with some big stripers this could be the best opportunity of the season. 

Depending on the level of interest, I am seriously considering moving the Hi Flier to Sea Isle City from June 27 to July 3 to target the school bluefin tuna that just showed up this past weekend. The daily run to the grounds is only 15 to 20 miles from their inlet and they have had consistent fishing for these fish for a number of years in a row now. It is all on the high speed troll with feathers, cedar plugs, and small jet lures on light 20 class tackle. Three people is maximum for these trips and I will consider running open boat if you want to sign on as an individual. The cost for the all day trip is $200 per person if you are on the open boat or $600 to charter the boat exclusively for 1, 2 or 3 people.

July will be the start of grass shrimping the weakfish in the back bay as well as trolling Barnegat Ridge and beyond for bonita, albacore, mahi, and God willing some bluefin tuna this season.

We fish 7 days a week so call me when you have a date. Hope to see you on board. ~ Capt. Dave DeGennaro, Hi Flier Sportfishing Cell: 732.330.5674

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June 16, 2008

Received: Monday, June 16, 2008 7:30 PM Subject: LbI fluke report

Fishing on Sunday, tough conditions no wind or current pretty much impossible to anchor so we decided to drift I don’t think we drifted a quarter mile all day. We did catch some sea bass, a