The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association have been putting some good numbers of fluke into their fish boxes along with sea bass and even some nice bonito.
Captain Adam Nowalsky of the "Karen Ann II" out of Great Bay Marina had Eric Evenson and sons out for a half day of ocean fluking where they boated over 24 fish and kept 5 up to 22-inches. Jerry Colangelo's group had 4 keeper fluke among 30 caught. Captain Nowalski took Jim Sutphen's group to the Barnegat Ridge where they boated over 24 fish, mostly 5-pound bonito, and one jumbo bluefish.
Captain George Finck on the "Sparetime" had the Paul Weinberg family out for a bay fishing trip. Three seven year olds had a great time catching their fill of fluke, skates, and sea robins. The next day Captain Finck had John Davoren and boys on a trip to the Garden State South Reef for a nice catch of fluke, sea bass, and ling.
Captain Dave Wittenborn on the "Compass Rose" has seen an improvement in his fluke catches. The Dave Wertheim family had a great day catching everything from keeper fluke to an electric stargazer in 35-feet of water off the Holgate tower. His Saturday trip saw the best fishing of the year with 10 keeper fluke to 22-inches and another 30 throwbacks in the 16-17 inch range. Sunday's trip was cut short by storms, but still managed two keepers on Gulp Minnows and peanut bunker.
Captain Fran Verdi on the "Cousins" has been fishing the area reefs and other drift areas with varying success on fluke and sea bass. The Friel party took 6 keeper sea bass on their first drift on the Garden State South Reef. Despite a storm forcing them in early, they picked up 9 keeper sea bass and 1 fluke. They had numerous undersized fluke.
Additional information on the association can be found at www.BHCFA.com