As Irene rocks the Northeast this weekend, at least the anglers who got out last weekend and this week will be able to swap some stories of excellent bluewater fishing.
The canyon bite has been top notch. Boats sailing from New England this weekend found large numbers of yellowfin tuna, with some larger specimens showing up mid-week. The overnight bite had sparse tuna action, but at least two swordfish. Mike Savlen, who does some tremendous fishing artwork (check out his website here), hopped aboard the Helen-H for an overnight trip to the canyons this past weekend. Mike said good numbers of tuna were picked up on the troll, and while the boat was stopped so anglers could fight their fish, other anglers dropped jigs and hooked up with tuna. Overnight a few fish fell to chunks, and one swordfish was taken.
The southern canyons produced as well. There were reports of good yellowfin action in the Hudson Canyon, some white marlin and even a blue marlin. Lindenkohl also had its share of yellowfin, and several anglers reported longfin albacore. These tuna have been a bit hard to come by this year, so seeing a resurgence in their numbers has made a number of anglers happy.
Bluefin wise, despite finding plenty of bait and life on the tuna grounds east of New Jersey, the tuna were missing. Guides from the Shore Catch Guide Service instead set their sights on mahi, which have crept inside of the canyons and are providing good action around floating buoys and debris. Anglers are catching the dolphin fish on cut sardines, small jigs and even flies. The inshore dolphin have weighed as much as 15 pounds, making for awesome fly and light-tackle sport.
In New England, the bluefin have been a bit easier to find. East of Chatham, the bite is spotty, but anglers are still catching slot-sized bluefin by trolling spreader bars. On Stellwagen Bank, Peaked Hill Bar and off Race Point, it’s a live bait game right now. Live mackerel is doing a number on football bluefin. There are some giants around, and Dan from the Hook Up in Orleans, MA had a close encounter with a 500-pounder that erupted next to his spreader bar on Stellwagen Bank.
Hurricane Irene promises to shuffle the deck, so we’ll have to see where the fish and good water is after the storm.