The fishing action for the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association has been sporadic recently. Although there always seems to be fish around, what is biting today may not be so hungry tomorrow. The striped bass bite recently has been on the slow side. The schools of bunker which often mark feeding fish are scarce, and trolling for the bass has been a pick at best.
One constant the past week or so has been the good bite on the black sea bass on the inshore wrecks and artificial reefs. The season is open until June 22 with a 10 fish daily limit. It closes until June 30 when it re-opens until August 31 with a 2 fish per day limit. The next couple of weeks are good to get in on that action. There are bluefish in the bay and inlet waters one day, and none the next. Fluke are spread around the bay waters, but it seems to be hit or miss in locating keeper sized fish.
Captain Brett Taylor of Reel Reaction Sportfishing has been hitting the back bays for fluke action. He had Erik Hansen of Doylestown out with buddies, Rodger Gensec and Michael Miele. They first worked the backwaters for fluke and boated over 25 shorts with 4 keepers to 23 inches. They lost a nice fish boat side that was estimated at 26-28 inches (7-8 pounds). Captain Brett finished the trip working the jetty with fresh bait for stripers and caught 3 Stripers to 26.5 inches.
The next day he had Mike Galindo out on a 4-hour Fluke/Striped Bass charter with his boys, Bennet and Mason. They worked the fluke for one keeper and over 20 throwbacks. All the fluke were caught on bucktails. They ended the trip fishing the inlet to release a 23-inch striper and a bluefish to 24 inches.
Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.bhcfa.net.