The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association have been busy for the past several weeks preparing for the 2010 season. Some have already made several successful trips, others have just gotten ready, and some others are taking time to have everything just perfect when the weather breaks for good.
Captain Frank Camarda on the "Miss Beach Haven" has experienced some very good days catching some nice blackfish and experiencing some surprising action on codfish. One trip recently saw 24 keeper cod come over the rails with another 50 cod just shy of the size limit.
Captain Carl Sheppard reports he has the "Star Fish" in the water and ready for action. He and Captain John Koegler of "Pop's Pride" had 8 anglers out Sunday on the "Star Fish" on one of Carl's favorite blackfish wrecks, a high one in 65-feet of water.
The group fished for 2 hours and ended up with 30 nice blackfish. The largest was over 25-inches. Captain Sheppard also reports bass and bluefish in the bay waters.
Captain George Finck of "Sparetime Charters" expects to have his boat in the water this week after its winter maintenance. He will be fishing right away for stripers and is looking forward to the May 22 opening of the sea bass season.
Captain Lindsay Fuller is currently fishing the "June Bug" out of Oregon Inlet in North Carolina and reports big bluefish tuna are thick there right now. In addition the yellowfin tuna are also on the scene. He expects to have the "June Bug" back in Beach Haven by mid-May.
Captain Fran Verdi on the "Drop Off" has been running open boat trips for striped bass for over two weeks now. He has been fishing in the Graveling Point area at the mouth of the Mullica River, mostly with fresh clams. He reports catching fish on all of his trips, but adds he has to work to find keepers.
He fished the Rob Fraley party on Rob's birthday fished the incoming tide with little luck but found the action picking up when the tide started out. They experienced several runoffs and ended up with two keepers to 31-inches.
Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association and its captains can be found online at www.fishbeachhaven.com