Tournament season is in full swing along the Northeast tuna grounds, and offshore anglers are finding solid fishing opportunities despite a few stretches of tough weather and finicky fish. From the Outer Banks to Cape Cod, there’s something happening on nearly every piece of water.
White Marlin Open
The White Marlin Open kicked off with 286 boats registered and the fishing window extended through Sunday, August 10, due to windy offshore conditions. On Monday, 128 boats fished through a sporty 4- to 6-foot sea, and the Barbara B made the most of the conditions bringing a 929-pound blue marlin to the scale, the fifth biggest in the tournament’s 52 years.
Two white marlin had hit the scales by Wednesday. One, a 67-pounder, failed to qualify, but the 72-pounder weighed by the Billfisher made the grade, and is currently worth more than $4 million. The big blue marlin is set to take home about $1.2 million for the Barbara B crew.
Catch counts for the first three days of the tournament totaled 280 white marlin, 17 blue marlin, a spearfish, a sailfish, 28 tuna, and 7 mahi.
The leading tuna as of Wednesday was only 95 pounds, and worth almost $800K. While the big blue marlin will be tough to beat, tuna and white marlin are very attainable, especially with two extra days to fish.
You can follow all the White Marlin Open catches here.
New Jersey
Off New Jersey yellowfin tuna remain active and willing, with jigs and poppers producing solid results. Mike Gleason from TAK Waterman reports good numbers of fish, with a growing presence of small to medium bluefin showing up in the mix.
Inshore, an influx of smaller bluefin on squid has improved fishing. While the size of the fish has dropped, it seems like most boats in the fleet are getting bites now, whereas when it was predominantly 60- to 80-inch fish, only a few fish were taken each day.
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Southern New England
The Southern New England tuna bite has been spotty this week. Recent reports describe lots of marks on the fishfinder, but relatively few bites, with dead-sticked Ron-Zs being the MVP of tuna skunk-busting this week. Boat pressure may be impacting the bite, making setting out to find your own fish a wise choice for fishermen who can trust in their instincts and ignore the radio chatter. Bluefin from 40 to 70 inches continue to be abundant, with commerical class fish, 73 inches and up, also present in this zone.
There are plenty of mahi-mahi on floating debris and lobster pots, and has been the theme all season, there are a number of good ones around, with 10-, 15, and even 20-plus-pounders in the mix. Another theme is that the mahi have been picky, . The blue water is out around 20 to 30 miles, and trolling or casting around flotsam can produce fast action. Swordfish reports from deeper drops are also trickling in, particularly around Hudson Canyon, where some crews are connecting on daytime sword bites.
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Massachusetts to Maine
There’s been some improvement in the tuna action off Chatham, and some giants have settled in on Jeffries, where fishermen are finding steady action on bait. Living whiting are working best, but mackerel are catching as well. Recreational-sized fish have been scarce in this area, but some promising reports from Crab Ledge and the Regal Sword are giving hope to the trolling and the run-and-gun crowds.
Mid-Atlantic
In the Delmarva region, the 24- to 40-mile range has produced good numbers of bluefin tuna, though sizes are on the small side. Boats trolling between the 20- and 30-fathom lines have had luck on spreader bars and small feathers.
Farther offshore, boats are finding white marlin, mahi, and even a few wahoo around the canyons. As the Gulf Stream filaments push north, expect more pelagic species to arrive inshore. It’s shaping up for a productive late summer.
With improving weather and stable water temperatures, expect the action to ramp up across the region. As boat traffic settles and moon phases shift, many captains anticipate the late August bite to be one of the season’s best—especially for bigeyes, swords, and larger class yellowfin.