The inshore artificial reefs and wrecks off Beach Haven continue to provide some great action for the boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association. The populations of fluke and black sea bass are large although most fish continue to be on the small side. Some other species are being caught there to make things interesting. There have been catches of nice triggerfish, porgies, ling cod, and even some stray mahi-mahi wandering around. In addition, some 1-2 pound bluefish always seem to make their way into the mix.
On a recent trip Captain John Lewis had four happy anglers out on the "Insatiable." The group managed 55 sea bass, 18 fluke, a ling cod, and a bluefish. Although most of the fish were throwbacks, there were enough sea bass fillets to take home for a meal. Captain John says the good news is that the small sea bass and blow fish are now in the bay. That is a great way to get the kids started fishing with plenty of action.
Captain Fran Verdi of the "Francesca Marie" is urging his regular anglers to get their fluke action in before the season closes on September 27. He also notes that the sea bass daily limits will be going from the current 3 fish per day to 15 from September 1 to September 6. At that point the season is closed until October 18. He had a party out recently for some decent action on fluke and sea bass despite some choppy seas. He had some catch and release fishing on some small mahi.
The offshore tuna fishing action has been a bit iffy due to some large swells. The tropical storm Cristobel, which is expected to pass far offshore, will continue to have a negative effect on that action. When the boats did manage to get out, there were good catches of yellowfin tuna both trolling and on the day chunk along with some decent bigeye tuna trolling action.
Addition information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.BHCFA.org.