Bigeye Bite is On!

With all the ceremony that a big money fishing tournament can muster, the Mid Atlantic 500,000 kicked off this week with poor sea conditions and 118 hopeful crews and captains ready to test their skills against each other, and Mother Nature, for big payoffs.  Total prize pool for this year’s event tops $1.5 million dollars.

Day one was pretty much a wash out since boats have the option to pick the best three days.  Only Reel Toy and Taylor Jean decided to brave the elements to try and get a head start on the others.  Nothing hit the scales Monday, but Day two was a whole different story with 40 weigh-ins. Eight eyeballs (bigeye tuna) hit the scales ranging from 199 to 233 pounds. Reel Chaos led the pack in the tuna category. Only one bigeye was weighed in last year, a 500-pound-plu monster.

On Wednesday, with 101 boats on the water, Brent Morrison’s “Why Not” out of St. Augustine, Florida brought a Blue Marlin to the scales at 416 pounds that has a current payout of almost $310,000 if it stands.  Reel Chaos’s 233-pound bigeye still stands, but 12 more eyeballs were brought in. With a total of 273 white marlin both landed and released for the first 3 days of competition, Robert Warder’s “Reelentless” still leads the pack with a 79 pounder. There is a whopping $667,330 on the table for the Parkland, Maryland boat.

The fireworks appear to be just beginning for the big money boys, but how about for you? Sea conditions for the rest of the week look amazing with no area forecasts even suggesting seas topping 2 feet. Time to fish gentlemen… time to fish! Where?  For what?  With what?  Let’s find out!

Ron at Fisherman’s Supply in Point Pleasant was treated to one of the most amazing displays of sharks blowing out of the water on bunker schools that he has ever seen. It was amazing for those of us with rods in their hands, but a movie nightmare come true for the beachgoers.  We’re going to need a bigger beach towel? Kingfishing on the beach continues to be great as does the deepwater fluking. Six-inch Berkley Gulp is still the ticket (with a teaser) dropped deep in the rubble of the reefs and wrecks. There are bluefish to be had at the Mudhole with a few albie schools blowing through. Inside, the weakfish bite, which should make all of us smile, is still better than it has been in years.

Rich from Reel Life Bait & Tackle in Point Pleasant confirms big chopper blues 15 to 18 miles off the beach. If you can get to the structure in 60 to 75 feet, do it and bang some of those big fluke. If the back is your game and you want to have some fun with the weakfish, don’t forget to bring a basket for blue claws. Crabbing is still very good.

Lenny at Captain Hippos in South Tom’s River is having a blast with snapper and cocktail blues up and down the river.  Don’t forget that a live well full of snappers is a great way to start any trip to the structure to fill the box with big fluke.

Dock Outfitters in Seaside has big fluking on the upswing this week. Most of the action had been above Manasquan, but Barnegat Light reef and more southerly structure seems to be catching up.  The bay is loaded with juveniles of just about every species including some smaller black drum that are big enough to keep.  There are blowfish, croakers, kingfish and snappers all over the place.

Team Tackle Direct got bounced around a little on Tuesday morning, making the mistake of actually believing the marine forecasts for an easier ride to the inside tuna grounds.  The good news is that there are both yellowfin and bluefin on the prowl, but the number of knockdowns on the chunk has dropped off considerably in the last two weeks.  Fluke fishing on the Atlantic City and Ocean City reefs continues to be a great plan if you are willing to lose some rigs and get deep into the structure.  Live spot, snapper blues and 6-inch Gulp all are on the menu.  If you are going to be inshore, be sure to have a rod rigged for one of the many cobia that have been spotted and caught in the area.  If you see some cow-nosed rays, look closely both behind and below them.  A bucktail with a big trailer, a 9-inch rigged Slug-Go, a live eel (deadly), or a very unhappy spot can connect you to a bulldog of a battle. These babies go ballistic and are dangerous when you get them in the boat so be super cautious of their freakouts and the very sharp dorsal spines that run down behind their heads. They make gaffed mahi look tame.

Across the inlet in Ocean City, Phil at Fin-Atics is talking about the bigeye tuna bite.  Several Ocean City boats that made longer runs this week were awarded with hour long battles with big tuna.  A few bluefin were also reported in the Baltimore.  Inshore structure like the GE and Ocean City reefs are still steady for fluke and sea bass and the inlet itself is starting to get productive for flatties again.  The back is just loaded with bait including corncob mullet that are showing up in huge schools.  Reports from the night prowlers of a continued brown shark bite from the beach and even a few stripers by guys throwing artificials.  With the cooling temps in the evening this week, the back should be firing up.

Moving down one more inlet, Joe at Two Chums Bait and Tackle in Sea Isle reports that the surf is heating up a little bit.  Lots of small weakies, 2# bluefish, nice kingies and still a few fluke.  You can walk across the spot in the wash.  Lots of guys are netting them for bait, but surprisingly they seem to be doing better after the bluefish chop them in half.  Many beach boys just cutting them in half and throwing noggins out there are connecting with more action, including some smaller stripers.  Crabbing bumped up a little in the back this week on their rental boats and again, if it cools this week, it should really step up.

Good to hear confirmation from Sea Isle Bait and Tackle on the surf bite.  Mike adds on that the evening bite on stripers way in the back is treating fly fisherman and those throwing poppers at the bait schools real well.   Once dark, the shadow lines of the bridges are holding bait and stripers.  Brown sharking at night on the beach continues to be good with some duskies mixed in.  When the sun is up, the OC, TI and Wildwood reefs are still consistent hotspots but seemingly for short durations.  The bite lights up and shuts down after a couple hours so pick your tides carefully.  Nice sea bass taken on the Deepwater and Barringer structures.

Best Bet For The Weekend
Best Bet for this weekend is a “pick it.” For me, I’d say take the lead of the guys with the money on the line.  GO LONG!  The sea conditions are going to be perfect for those that have the skills and gear to take on the mighty pelagic.  Big tuna are roaming the deep, there are plenty of whities out there if you want to hunt them and frankly I can’t imagine a better time to go.  If bottom bouncing is your deal then you should be chomping at the bit with the wrecks and reefs still solid strategy.  In the back, or on the beach, there should be plenty of action… and still a few bikinis to distract you!

All in all, it is most definitely a fishing weekend!  Don’t let this one pass you by.

Stay Tuna-ed!