The Fourth of July weekend means that the summer fishing season has officially arrived in Beach Haven. The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association have been making their mark fishing from the bays to the canyons and are making plans for more productive trips.
Captain Peter Doran fished the Wilmington Canyon on an overnight trip a couple of days ago on the "Mud Duck" and ended up with a good mix of pelagic species. They finished the trip with three nice yellowfin tuna to 50-pounds, mahi, tilefish, and a good-sized mako shark. They also saw several white marlin in the spread and tailing on the surface. Captain Doran feels it won't be long until they show up in better numbers.
Captain Dave Kreines had the Dahlberg family out for a bay fishing trip on the "Byte Me." They fished the Intercoastal waterway behind Beach Haven and had a nice pick of fluke, smooth dogfish, and sea robins. The group finished up with two nice keeper fluke and a great time on the water.
With the black sea bass season temporarily closed, it is frustrating to fish structure in the ocean for summer flounder and pull up big sea bass. Captain Carl Sheppard had the Young family out on the "Star Fish" and that was the situation. They did manage to pull in some keeper fluke in 60- feet of water. Mate Marlyn Graham was in constant motion running around the boat unhooking fish.
Captain Jimmy Zavacky had a father and son charter out on the "Reel Determined" recently, and they caught "tons" of large sea bass, but all were released with the season closed. Captain Jimmy announced the BHCFA Junior Mates had their first class with 12 eager junior mates in attendance and more expected at the next session.
Captain Ray Lopez had no trips slated last weekend but announced he has open dates coming up and is eager to put some anglers on the fish.
Captain John Lewis has just returned from Florida with his last boat delivery of the spring season. He is anxious to get the "Insatiable" out on the tuna grounds as he has gotten some excellent reports of bluefin, yellowfin, and bigeye already hitting the docks along with quite a few large makos.
Additional Information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.BHCFA.net.
