Memorial Day weekend is upon us already, and the boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association will be heading out in pursuit of striped bass, bluefish, and the newly opened season for summer flounder. It appears the weather will be decent for some serious angling.
Captain Ray Lopez of "Miss Liane Sportfishing" along with mate Max Goldman had the Brian Lahullier party from Toms River out front for a taste of the spring striper run, and bass weighing 35 and 42.1 pounds were boxed after busting bunker spoons in 65-feet of water off the Ferris wheel at Seaside. On another day with a very sporty scene in the ocean, it was a troll with Clarke spoons with the Harrison charter from Bordentown, and eight good size blues came over the gunwales.
Capt. Lindsay Fuller on the "June Bug" reports that he and his crew brought the boat north from Wanchese, NC, near Oregon Inlet, where she spent much of the winter getting some needed repairs done along with some upgrades. While they did not fish on the way north, they did keep track of what they saw on their new onboard top-of-the-line Garmin electronics suite. Captain Lindsay was able to identify bait pods as deep as 15,000 feet deep with attacking game fish and saw sizable schools of Striped Bass as they came north. The new electronics allow the crew to pre-search various areas for inshore species as fluke, sea bass, Tog, bonita, etc., are all clearly seen, and the structure in which they are living was clearly tracked.
The 2017 Jr. Mate schedule is now posted on the BHCFA's web site. As in other years most of the sessions are hands on. Some changes in the curriculum have been made in response to requests from the mates and some of the captains. Classes will start on Thursday, June 22, with registration and an overview of the fisheries, and work on knot tying. Any youngsters 13 and older who would like to become involved in the Junior Mate's Program can find information and registration materials on the BHCFA website.
Information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.BHCFA.net.
