The late summer tuna bite has become red hot as anticipated for the boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association. The only obstacle to very good catches right now has been occasional stints of poor weather conditions.
The "Hot Tuna" with Captain Bob Gerkens and mate Dante Soriente continues to work the inshore tuna bite, with the best day being Labor Day with some 19 bluefin tuna caught up to 100-pounds, with all but 4 over 47 inches. The fish were mostly caught on the troll, but there were also hookups on the chunk and jig as well. The tired crew on Labor Day consisted of Albi Jordan, Chris Martin, Chris Johnson, Jim Murray, and Kurt Lustig. A trip two days earlier in sloppy weather for Captain Bob did not produce any tuna, but 4 mahi.
Captain Tim Knorr had the "F/V William Knorr" out in the Carteret Canyon on an overnight trip recently after receiving sea temperature charts that were very promising. The overnight chunking action was slow but they boated a nice 9-foot Thresher around 2am. They trolled and boated mahi on the first day and on the way back in ran into some skipjack and more mahi. The Thresher was grilled with Teriyaki marinade and was worth the trip despite the lack of tuna. One of Captain Tim's half day trips wanted to do some reef fishing, and on they had to release 4 of the nicest sea bass he has seen in a while. They boated 3 fluke from 21 to 26 inches along with 21 short fluke.
Captain John Lewis on the "Insatiable" had an offshore trip and after several hours of hunting found the bluefin tuna. They caught seven, released five, and kept two. Another day he had the Dewey party out for John's birthday in the bay and had a relaxing morning catching blowfish, kingfish, spot and a constant procession of small black sea bass.
Captain John is telling all fishermen that this time of the year is the best time in the Beach Haven area for fishing. He is advising all anglers that now is the time to catch tuna whether inshore for bluefin or the canyons for bigeye and yellowfin. He adds the September marlin bite is also starting.
Additional information on the association can be found at www.fishbeachhaven.com.