Hurricane Arthur slowed the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association down a little, but once the winds and waves calmed down, their boats were out finding fish once again. Right now there is a very decent bite going on for fluke and black sea bass.
Captain Carl Sheppard had the "Star Fish" out for wonderful Fourth of July. They fished Saturday afternoon and found good action for the young sons of the Gallagher family. The Little Egg Reef yielded only shorts, so they moved up to the Garden State South Reef where they found lots of black sea bass some good sized blue backed keepers. That night Captain Carl had a group out for an evening cruise to watch the various fireworks displays.
On Sunday morning Captain Carl found some large numbers of large black sea bass on the offshore wrecks. Many times as they reeled the sea bass to the surface they were followed by 3-4 pound bluefish. Captain Carl used this trip to break in three of the junior mates from the Association's training program.
Captain George Finck of Sparetime Charters had the Steve Rulis party out fishing for fluke. They fished the inlet and bay waters and faced a 10-degree water temperature drop that slowed the bite down. The group did have constant action with a nice catch of fluke, mostly shorts, and a great many skates and sharks which were released.
Once Arthur passed by, Captain Bob Gerkens took the "Hot Tuna" to the 30 Fathom Line looking for bluefin tuna. The fish were not schooled tightly, but they had a steady pick of bluefin with only one double hookup. They ended the day with 10 bluefin boats and plenty of tuna steaks to go around. Captain Bob was assisted by mate Dante Soriente.
Additional information on the association can be found at www.BHCFA.org