None of the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are complaining about the current fishing action around Beach Haven except that they wish more fishermen would take advantage of the red hot bite going on.
With fall weather becoming iffy as time goes by and the summer flounder season closing on September 24, this is the time to go fishing.
The tuna action along both the inshore 25-fathom line and offshore continues to be awesome. Captain Bob Gerkens and mate Dante Soriente on the "Hot Tuna" have been raising bluefin tuna along the 25-fathom line consistently. A recent trip resulted in 6 bluefin in the 60-90 pound range caught on the troll along with a couple of mahi and some skipjack tuna. A short period of chunking and jigging produced several hookups, but no fish to the boat. Captain Bob says he will continue the inshore runs into the fall if the fish remain and notes that reports indicate the some yellowfin tuna are starting to move back into the inshore waters as well.
Captain John Lewis on the "Insatiable" had the Helias/Walzak party out last weekend for bluefin along the 20-fathom line. Despite an abundance of other boats, they had a double hook-up right after the lines went out. To their surprise they landed two yellowfin tuna. There was a steady pick of false albacore along with yellowfin and mahi all day. The bluefin did not show until late in the day. Captain John says there is agreed bigeye tuna bite in the canyons but the crowds on the weekend make it difficult. He advises the best results are during the week when the traffic is lighter.
Captain Carl Sheppard took his family out to the Little Egg Reef last weekend on the "Starfish" and put together an impressive catch of keeper fluke. On a 4-hour trip they caught 46 fluke of which 9 were keepers weighing from 4-9 pounds. Hagen Sniffen of Long Valley, NJ, caught the largest fish, a doormat weighing 8-pounds. Also in the mix were some keeper sea bass which is a good indication of what to look forward to when that season opens in a few weeks.
Additional information on the association can be found at www.fishbeachhaven.com.
