Buckle up.
I don’t care what the fluke are doing. The stripers could be jumping up on the sand flipping me the fin, the sea bass could be doing the tango, the bluefish the bossa-nova. I don’t care. The tuna are here.
Bluefin up north, yellowfin down south. Gentlemen, start your engines.
Every fish brings an adrenaline rush that makes the most potent street drug look like a flat Dr. Pepper. Blinding speed, mind-bending power causing muscle-screaming fatigue with their relentless will to live. Tuna are a master of escape, unforgiving of any error. Tuna are addictive, and I am totally hooked on being totally hooked up.
Ron at Fisherman’s Supply in Pt. Pleasant reports catches of bluefin at the Glory Hole and the Atlantic Princess on spreaders and green machines.
Team Tackle Direct hit the southern canyons over the past weekend and whomped the yellowfin. A full limit of 35- to 50-pound speedsters were collared and iced with plenty of time left over to try for a mako (without luck) and deep drop for tiles.
If you consider yourself a serious offshore angler, the only thing that should be able to keep your feet on dry land is the weather. The canyon forecast for this weekend is not looking good (as usual) with 3- to 5- and 3- to 6-foot seas predicted out near the edge both days. Inshore, Sunday is looking much better than Saturday both rain-wise and wind-wise. Sunday’s 2- to 3-footers looks much better than Saturday’s 3- to 5-footers. The good news is that both days are supposed to blow west, so even though it might get a little buggy, the near land seas should be totally workable.
Let’s tour the stores!
After Ron at Fisherman’s Supply finished dialing me on on the tuna, he shifted gears to stripers, which have been hitting hard about 2 miles off of Seaside. Fish in the 40- to 50-pound range are in the mix, so be ready for the big girls with heavier tackle and bigger nets! There are lots of bluefish to play with in the canal, sea-bassing is reported good, but the fluking is still tough.
George from Go Fish Bait & Tackle in Tom’s River is in on the bunker play with boat guys doing exceptionally well. The stretch from Barnegat to Asbury has lots of pods and they are not happy. The surf has been a little slow on bass, but there have been enough blues running through to make you pay close attention. Blowfish are puffin in the bay like crazy (so tasty!), and to add to your shore catch dinner, the blue claws are literally crawling all over the place. The fluke pick is still kind of slow, but Spro bucktails with a GULP are still connecting. For freshwater guys, the ponds have turned on with largemouth whacking the Gary Yamamoto Senko worms. Grab a bag.
Reel Life Bait & Tackle is replacing lots of stuff being chewed by the blues in the Manasquan River. Marauding schools of 4- to 5-pounders are chomping up a storm (or lots of Storms). The striper bite in 40 to 60 feet of water is hot for those both snagging and jigging,, but the fluke bite is not. Big humpback sea bass are being taken from the deeper water and wrecks with smaller ones on the nearshore structure.
My buddy Tom at Jersey Coast in Brick had sand eels in the wash the past couple of days but clams and bunker are still the key bait that is working from the beach. Tom confirmed that the deeper you go, the better the seabassing gets. He had two trips this past week to Sea Girt and some much deeper wrecks. Spearing was working better than clam or squid. He had some cod in the Mudhole on jigs and bait and TUNA from the Mudhole to the Chicken Canyon on the troll.
I’d like to welcome my friend Lenny to our network this week from Capt’n Hippo’s B&T in South Toms River. Lenny has had a steady catch of blues near the mouth of Cedar Creek off Berkley Island Park and solid striper action from boats pulling Tony Maja’s. Fluking in the river has been best with squid & killie combos or squid & spearing. In the sweet water, Wells Mills Park and Crystal Lake have both been good targets for crappie and largemouth.
John at The Dock Outfitters has dropped the “GO” flag on crabbing with his buddies reporting just amazing catches of blue claws. Seriously, how can you not grab a few kids and run the boat out for this? Striper action is still much, much stronger on the boats than in the surf with big catches coming from around 50’ of water on snagged bunker. The back side of IBSP is boiling with smaller blues for the kayakers and guys willing to work the banks with one hand and swat bugs with the other.
Matt in Manahawkin from Tony’s Bait & Tackle has had a regular hammering of big fish coming in from the boats and weighed a 45# slob from Holgate beach that took a bait. Bunker are on the top from Seaside down to the Light. Sea bass are thick on the reefs and the middle ground is giving up small top medium blues and some fluke.
Dave from Absecon Bay Sportsman’s Center spent the whole week staring at his crabs – shedders that is, instead of fishing but his guys are on the water. Check this out, Don Schuller (no, not the football coach, but my new personal hero) brought a 9-pound doormat to the scales at Absecon Bay this week. Big guy in a little metal boat with lots of big fish. Don backed up the monster with a 5-ish pounder, but they did not bother to weigh it—you know, it was just too small. These fish, along with lots of 3- and 4-pounders have been taken way up in the back in real skinny water. Fluking is getting hotter in his area and it is truly time to take advantage of it. If you want to get out, you can call Dave and he can hook you up with a charter, or just great advice.
I never know if I am going to get Bill or Ed on the phone when I dial up Fin-Atics in Ocean City, but either way the info is also 100% on the money. I got Ed this time and he is real excited about some of the catches that are starting to come in from the new fishing piers on that huge construction site formerly known as the 9th St Bridge. The fluke action in the back is pretty good with Ship’s Channel and Rainbow taking honorable mention. Lots of smaller bluefish in Great Egg Inlet spiced up the past weekend and some quality weakfish are being report from the guys that put ion the time. Sand stompers have brought a few bass through the suds, but it is still slow. If catching small locomotives on light tackle is your game, there have been some really nice kingfish motoring through the gullies just beyond the suds line. I can hear them frying now.
If you are in the Sea Isle area, need bait and tackle, and want to rent a boat, give Joe at Two Chums a buzz. You can call ahead and reserve, which on a weekday in the summer is a real good idea. Joe’s crew has been picking some nice weakies up in the back. Just like the bays North of him, the fluking has been really good. Smaller bluefish are running pretty solid and keeping rods bent while lots of the crabs are still coming up with egg sacks, unlike up north.
Also in Sea Isle, Mike from Sea Isle Bait & Tackle is cranked up about the late day tides this week. High water at sunset means great striper popping in the backwaters and along with a few regulars, that is his plan. The Sea Isle surf has given up a couple of nice stripers this week on both fresh and salted clam. Kingies are active in the suds on both bloods and Fish-Bytes and the sea bassing in the deeper water, 80 to 100 feet, is really hot with larger fish. His back bay crew is also reporting that it seems with the warmer waters that the best fluke bait seems to be switching over from long, meaty strip baits like mackerel to smaller lively minnows. Good call Mike.
Rusty is on the hook at Off The Hook in Cape May with lots of news. The yellowfin bite is on at the Southern Canyons with reports of limits, and a few surprises. The first report of a white marlin hookup, the first report of a big blue marlin hookup, and some mahi on the decks makes you scratch your head a little when you see it is still May. Sea bass fishing is great on the nearby reefs if you want to pick through 10 shorts for every keeper. It seems the ratio gets better the deeper you get. You can fish the City of Atlantis, Poseidon, or Reef Site 11, but you are going to have to jockey with the party boats to get a spot. I’d rather find my own. The drum in the bay seemed to have re-directed their energy from eating to mating as there is lots of booming going on, but not lots of catching. The Delaware side has been a little better, but next week’s moon will tell the true story.
Best Bet for the Weekend
Anywhere. In the back, little bluefish and LOTS of crabs for the kids. Off the beach, you should still be throwing bait unless the bunker move close (and I would not forget to try for a few kingies). Nearshore with a boat, sea bass on the structure will provide lots of action, with bigger fish hanging on the more distant pieces. And work those bunker schools like a full time job. There are monsters out there… let’s go slay some!
Stay Tuna-ed!