The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are smiling again as warm, decent weather has returned to Beach Haven. The winds have abated, the water temperatures are rising, and the fishing is on the upswing. Currently leading the hit parade are nice sized fluke in the bay waters and black sea bass on the inshore wrecks and artificial reefs. In addition, there is still a good population of bluefish ranging from 1-10 pounds in the bay through the inlet and out into the ocean.
Captain Carl Sheppard had Mark Giunta of Somerdale and three friends out on the "Star Fish" in the face of a northeaster that never materialized. Two of the original party cancelled because of the forecast but the day proved to be beautiful. The black sea bass were present at a number of wrecks. The four anglers boated over 120 fish with a goodly number of keepers in the catch including a 21-inch fluke and the largest black bass of the year, an eighteen incher.
On another trip Captain Carl had 10 members of a local fishing club out looking for black sea bass on the "Star Fish." Serving as mates were Liane and Nicholas from the BHCFA Junior Mates program along with Captain Vic Bertotti who finally returned from Florida. After a run to the south, they were fortunate to find wrecks loaded with sea bass. While their catch was over 160, only 18 qualified to end up in the cooler. The larger fish were all over 16". The best bait seemed to be bucktails with a long squid trailer. The water temperature finally registered over 60 degrees, and that seemed to have finally turned on the bite. There were a number of large sharks in the vicinity, and they saw one blue shark which must have been fully seven feet long swimming between schools of bunker.
Captain Jim Hutchinson Sr. fished his boat the "Clam Chaser" in the Recreational Fishing Alliance's Fluke Fishing Tournament last weekend with his son Jim Jr. and grandson Alex Harris. Although they finished out of the money, they weighed in four nice fluke caught on yellow Gulp swimming mullets in the Middle Grounds off Beach Haven.
Additional information on the captains and boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.bhcfa.net