The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association have been reporting some outstanding results from bay fishing, inshore ocean action, and a couple of offshore trips for tuna.
Captain John Koegler of the boat "Pop's Pride" had a party out fishing in the bay last weekend, and they mugged the blowfish. He said the trip was enjoyable as the anglers caught a wide selection of fish including a couple of 2-pound bluefish. They also reeled in quite a few very small sea robins and black sea bass. He said the bluefish were the first he has caught in the bay for quite a while, and he hopes it means something in the future. He tried one drift along the ICW at the end of the trip and brought 10 fluke to the boat with one of them a keeper. Captain John followed this up with a trip on Monday resulting in 32 big blowfish in the box and an equal number of smaller ones released plus intense action on sea robins and other small fish. He was fishing in the bay near the inlet. Captain John Lewis of the "Insatiable" had the Kline family out recently, and they had plenty of action with fluke fish the inshore artificial reefs. The next day the Solomon family fished with Captain John, and they too had a decent catch but the fluke seemed to be spread out more. Saturday's fish were in a more concentrated location. The calm seas and good visibility made for beautiful trips on the water.
Captain Jimmy Zavacky of the "Reel Determined" had the Washington clan out for a bottom fishing trip in the ocean, and they ended up with a fish box filled with 9 keeper black sea bass and 1 keeper fluke. He took the Kolb family and friends offshore where they boated 7 bluefin tuna along with 1 yellowfin. The next day he headed back out on a bluefin trip and caught 3 more bluefin with an early return to the dock as they had their limit.
Additional information on the association can be found at www.fishbeachhaven.com.