The Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association held its annual Captain John Koegler Memorial Junior Mates Fishing Tournament recently. Several captains made their boats available for a morning of fishing for the teenagers. Despite some iffy weather, all persevered and managed a good catch of multiple fluke, black sea bass, and sea robins. Junior Mate Nick Haws took the first place trophy with a beautiful 20-inch fluke. John Koegler was one of the founders of the BHCFA and a well respected captain and advocate for recreational fishing.
The inshore wrecks and artificial reefs continue to be the spots to catch fluke as the summer comes to a close. Popular spots within a short trip of Beach Haven to find the fish include the Little Egg Reef, the Garden State South, and the Atlantic City Reef.
Captain Carl Sheppard on the “Star Fish” has had non-stop fishing for the last week, running two trips each day out to the wrecks and reefs with parities of up to 17 persons. On every one of his trips all anglers managed to catch fish. Large ocean swells forced one trip of 14 anglers to stay inside rather than head into the ocean. The group caught close to 70 fish, mostly fluke and black sea bass. They ended up with 5 bluefish and one 19-inch fluke in the box.
Captain Gary Dugan of the “Irish Jig” reports plenty of nice fish and says the wreck fishing has produced decent sea bass, triggerfish, tautog, and more. When the fluke season closes on September 5, Captain Gary will focus on wreck fishing until the stripers and big blues make their appearance. Last striper season was outstanding, and he expects this year to be more of the same.
Captain John Lewis of the “Insatiable” also reports a good supply of fluke and sea bass. He is finding them spread out over a variety of structure and not as localized as they were. As a result, he is moving more to put a catch together, but says the extra work is well worth the effort. He had the Offner family out for some inshore tuna fishing. He saw loads of bait and cow nosed rays by the thousands but could not locate any yellowfin tuna. He did manage to boat and release about 30 little tunny for plenty of rod bending action.
Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.BHCFA.net
