The boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are getting into their summer fishing routines chasing fluke inshore and tuna and sharks further out.
The "Starfish" with Captains Carl Sheppard and Vic Bertotti has been fishing in the ocean looking for fluke and black sea bass. With the daily limit on sea bass dropping to 2 per day, the attention will now be on fluke. Adding to the action lately has been a large number of sand sharks on the bottom.
Captain Jimmy Zavacky had the "Starfish" out with a crew of 8 on a sea safari. After a couple hours of slow action trolling they went to the 28 mile wreck and had 9 keeper sea bass with the largest at 15-inches.
Captain George Finck of "Sparetime" Charters had his son Bill and grandson Will out for a day of bonding and fishing on the inshore reefs. In addition to a good time, they put together a good catch of sea bass and fluke.
Captain Gary Dugan of the "Irish Jig" has found the fluke action in Great Bay to be hot and cold. One day his anglers catch mostly shorts while other days they have been putting several keepers into the box. He also had a trip for some ocean bottom fishing where they picked up some large porgies and blackfish which had to be returned to the water. They managed to take home some sea bass fillets for dinner.
Captain Fran Verdi has been fishing the "Francesca Marie" in the ocean looking for a fluke bite. He found some small fluke along with some sea bass. He is hoping for the water temperatures to rise to spark the fluke bite. He is also planning some tuna runs.
Although weather kept Captain Bob Gerkens and the "Hot Tuna" from getting offshore this week, Captain Bob says he has some reliable reports that the bluefish tuna are in their usual spots. He plans some trips in the near future to troll up some of these fish.
Captain John Lewis reports his new "Insatiable" is now in the water and ready for action. He plans to celebrate the Fourth of July with friends and family and then be open for charters.
The Junior Mates Class began last week with 13 eager teenagers looking to learn more about fishing. This week's class features Captain Michael Yocco of the tournament winning "MJ'S" speaking about canyon fishing. There are still a couple of openings in the class. Information and application forms can be obtained at the Association's website www.bhcfa.net
