With the rough seas, tuna reports south of Cape Cod were scarce this week. Seems like things have slowed in the canyons, but the bluefin bit is picking up in New England.
New York and New Jersey Offshore
Nick at Paulies Tackle in Montauk talked to a crew who reported seeing “tons” of small mahi over at the Fishtales. Some of the other offshore boats fishing in the 30- to 60-mile range have had days where they boated over 15 yellowfin tuna in a single trip, and there’s also been scattered reports of swordfish in the local offshore haunts.
In the canyons, the tuna bite has slowed considerably with a couple of the major tournaments not really making strong showings at the weigh-in docks. Lower numbers of white marlin releases than usual and smaller blue marlin high up on the leaderboard.
Dave at The Reel Seat in Brielle has had some good reports, and a couple nice yellowfin steaks, from the Hudson. An overnight troll-chunk-troll yielded a couple very nice 60- to 70-pound yellowfin and raised two swords. Mid-range, there have been picks of yellowfin and bluefin with the bluefin seeming to turn on the jig more than other options.
New England Offshore
Bluefin fishing is excellent on Cape Cod, as there has been an big influx of small tuna in the waters east of Chatham over the past week. Boats are putting up some impressive numbers from Nauset Inlet down to Crab Ledge. Eric Stewart of the Hook Up had 10 fish on Monday and at least 6 fish on each of his other tuna trips since last Friday. They are hitting all colors of spreader bars but white has been the best. While trolling has been the most productive method, jigging and popping is working as well, especially in the early morning.
The big news according to Pete from Belsan’s in Scituate is an invasion of 60 to 70-pound tuna that are whacking everything from squid bars to live bait to soft plastic stick baits. The SW corner of Stellwagen has been especially hot but there have been fish taken from Peaked Hill Bar as well.