The offshore canyon fishing is very good right now for the captains and boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association.
Captain Bob Gerkens on the "Hot Tuna" decided to make a scouting trip last Friday to check out the canyon bite and found an outstanding white marlin bite along with some very good yellow fin tuna action. There was also quite a bit of whale activity going on for the visual effects.
With a crew of Bob Lefevre, John Guardabasso, Joe Zaccaria, and Val Zak, the owner of Oceanside Bait and Tackle in Brighton Beach, the group went three for four on white marlins. All of the billfish were released including two which were estimated at over 90-pounds. Captain Bob also helped them to boat 6 yellowfin tuna to 45-pounds.
At the return to the dock, both Val and Joe had to do the traditional fully clothed swim upon arriving back to dock for their first Marlin catch. Captain Bob recommends booking trips to the canyons now while the bait is present.
Captain Fran Verdi of the "Dropoff" took a "busman's" holiday and went fishing at the Washington Canyon out of Cape May. He reports a great trip on white marlin, skipjacks, sharks, and yellowfin tuna. He is anxious to make a trip of his own in the next week or so.
Captain Lindsay Fuller of the "Jun Bug" had a trip recently to the Lindenkohl Canyon. Arriving about an hour before sunrise, they started trolling about 3 miles inshore of the 100-fathom tip. The first action came about 7am. when a pod of nice yellowfin crashed the baits and five lines went down. Two stayed hooked and one was landed. As they spent the morning trolling they saw numerous whales and small porpoise around their boat.
In the same area where they caught the first tuna, they had a second one on that crashed a ballyhoo bait, but the fish was lost at the boat.
In closer to shore, the "Miss Beach Haven" under Captain Frank Camarda has seen the fluke fishing improving. The shorts are still outnumbering the keepers, but the bite is on, and keepers are coming across the rail. The boat is now sailing seven days a week with a full service galley Wednesday through Sunday.
Captain John Koegler on "Pop's Pride" had a good fishing trip in Little Egg Inlet last weekend. They released over 20 fluke and kept two larger ones, a 19-incher and a 20-inch fish. Captain John says the fish were in excellent physical condition with the top fillets measuring over ¾'s of an inch. He feels that based on last year's experience this great inlet fluke fishing will keep improving weekly until mid August when the fish really move into the ocean.
Additional information on the association can be found at www.BHCFA.com or by calling 1-877-LBI-BHCFA (1-877-524-2423).
