New York Metro &
New Jersey

August 13th, 2004

A Comedy of Errors

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No…  I’m not talking about the Bush administration…  I’m talking about what happens when you unexpectedly encounter inshore tuna… The yelling and screaming, the lines whipping in every direction, the inevitable tangles, the broken rods, the cursing and eventually the laughter.   Last weekend that’s exactly what happened when Bryan, Kyle and I decided to run east in search of bonito.  After an extraordinary sunrise and an hour-and-a-half of searching.  We found some big blues that were feeding on large schools of bunker in the Jones Beach area.  After about an hour of that, Bryan noticed a tightly packed group of birds a couple-hundreds yards away.  Even though we all agreed that it was probably cocktail blues, we thought it was worth checking out nonetheless.   As is typical with this sort of thing the birds had dispersed before we got close enough to get a look.  So, I killed the engine and waited.  In the space of 5-minutes the water had begun to erupt around the boat as some sort of football-sized tuna began crashing bait.  Expletives and lines went flying in the direction of agitated terns…  I tossed out a small tin with a spinning rod and immediately hooked up with something that just tore line off my reel in a way that no albie or bonito could have done…  And then the sickening pop and dead line.  After retying I managed to hook up again and immediately brought a tuna of around 15-pounds to the boat, which apparently didn’t realize it was hooked yet.  We all got a good look, and it was definitely a bluefin.  A successive two more lost fish before I settled down enough to change a leader that had been through a month of bluefish nicks.  Bryan hooked another bluefin that looked a bit bigger and after and extended fight we broke it off at the boat. 

Finally we managed to get our stuff together enough to get one on a fly.  Of course we lost that one as well as he just spit the hook.  After chasing around pods for hours, the bluefin turned into skipjack tuna.  I managed to get a solid hook up after many unsuccessful tries and wouldn’t you know it, my reel falls off…  What happened next was 15-minutes of uncontrollable laughter and trying to fight a 15-pound skippy on a rod with a second angler unsuccessfully attempting to put the reel back on the rod when the fish turned and swam back towards the boat.  We eventually got that skipjack in the boat despite all the mishaps, managed to snap a few pictures, and get it back in the water… 

There’s nothing quite like that sort of adrenalin rush… that pure excitement when you encounter something completely unexpected.   It’s when grown men act like 7-year-olds.  When you can scream at your buddy to get the hell out of the way and for it to be totally acceptable.   It’s when you can hoot and holler and not have to worry about someone calling you a jackass…  It’s when you can pin the throttle and race toward busting fish while your buddies hold on for dear life…  It’s just about as good as it gets out there.  I can’t think of too many things out there that are quite as fun.

We paid the price having to make the 10-plus mile run back to Breezy Point at 10-knots on a skiff with 25-knott head winds and 3-foot choppy head seas the whole way.  Needless to say, we really took a beating.  I further paid the price of being two hours late getting home for lunch with two of our friends from out of town.  Of course I had the weather as an excuse but my wife’s no dummy.  She knew exactly what happened and surprisingly understood. 

So leading into the reports, yes, there were bluefin around in the Western Long Island area, although they’re not there anymore.  The skipjack were around good for a few days also, but on Wednesday they skipped town with the bluefin and went to god knows where…  In New Jersey, the mid-shore and offshore tuna and mahi bites have been awesome, but the weather has made getting out there difficult.  In south Jersey the cooler water turned on the marsh flats somewhat.  There has been sporadic fishing for skipjack and bonito all along the Jersey Coast.  The New York Bight got a good run of skipjack tuna, but it turned off just as soon as it turned on.  Not much to report inshore except for the occasional bluefish blitz with some weakfish to be found here and there.  There have also been schoolies along the rips and structure.  Western Long Island, as previously mentioned, had that brief but exciting run of bluefin and skippies but bonito are being reported now as well now.   The North Shore also seems to be filling in with bonito and it should only get better from here on out.  Out east, there have been school bluefin reported quite close to the point.  They have been tough to catch but fly anglers have been scoring. 

Lots of wind this weekend as not one but two tropical storm remnants work though our areas.  But weather reports have been wrong before.  So give it a shot… 

And don’t forget to email me your own reports. Tight lines all.

Tight Lines!

John McMurray

New Jersey

From the southern portion of the Garden State Captain Bryan DiLeo checks in with this report from Ocean/Atlantic City.  Check it out:

Finally this past week the air temps dropped dramatically and in turn so did the water temperatures triggering some spectacular top water action for both my Fly as well as light tackle anglers. As hurricane Alex passed off the coast we had good water pushing through out the back country as the ocean swelled and that big current push will always translate into great skinny water Striper action. Good sized tightly packed groups of Bass made their way into their usual shallow water haunts and with the cooler water they were willing to show them selves readily as they balled up huge schools of peanut bunker as they made their way across the flats. Most of the schools this week could be spotted as they pushed water/waking as they made their way over the thin water sections of the flats making it easy to pole the skiff in front of them offering good head on or ¼ angle shots as they would approach the boat   Most Bass throughout the week jumped in size from the warm weeks prior with only a few smaller fish in the 22"-24" range but the bulk of our catches were between 31" and 33" with my Saturday and Sunday trips catching nothing under 10lbs and all were taken exclusively on top water both on the fly and 6lb light tackle gear. Water temperatures stabilized in the 70-75 degrees and with it being forecasted to remain unseasonably cool over the next week with another front to pass mid week and the new moon approaching I can only think that this week will be action packed surely making up for the past couple of weeks prior.   As is always the case all Bass this week were photographed on released in great shape. www.iowafortune.com

Farther North the guys at Shore Catch Guide Service report a stellar week:

John,
 
Yet another tremendous week of offshore fly fishing this week down here of the Jersey Coast. There is a true mixed bag of species from Bluefin to Skipjack, Bonito, Albies, and Dolphin (Mahi) in the inshore lumps right now anywhere from 15 to 35 miles out. Weather has been an issue as always, but on the good days man is it ever good. Had out regulars Joe Quinn and Jim Solly over the weekend for a total of 12 dolphin on the fly from six to eighteen pounds. On the Bluefin scene the fish are getting bigger, and they have moved further inshore as well. Most of the fish are now ranging anywhere from 25 to 40 lbs. Some days they are up good, but other days we have to use alternative motives to get them to hit a fly like chumming peanuts or spearing. Capt. Jim and I took a little R & R earlier this week and got Jim his first Bluefin of the season.
 
Inshore there have been good days with Bonito and Skipjack Tuna right in the surf but it is not something that you can count on every day, its pretty much pot luck. In addition to the little Tunas - medium sized blues have been crashing the inlets daily giving our beach guides plenty of action when the Bones are not around.
 
Looks like we have cruised right through the doldrums of summer and are on our way to what could be one of the best inshore and offshore pelagic seasons yet to come.
 
Talk to you next week!

Jamaica Bay remains on the slow side but if the weather will allow you to work the outside areas the odds of encountering tunoids is good.  The water is crystal and the bait concentrations are extraordinary.  The skippy bight isn’t consistent but it’s certainly worth a look.  Pound for pound these fish are even tougher than albies.  Speaking of albies we should be seeing them really soon…  Maybe by next week. 

Raritan Bay seems to be picking up some.  Captain Joe Mattioli from On the Bite Charters checks in with this report:

Hi John
 
Bluefish continue to please, taking poppers and crease flies on top, mixed in with the school are Spanish mackerel. The Spaniards are taking small deceivers tied on #2 & #1 hook size with silver flash. Bass fishing is a pick fishing structure and rips. I have dates available. 

Current winner of the White Marlin Invitational, Captain Frank Crescitelli from Fin Chaser Charters, reports great mid and offshore fishing when his Contender has been able to get out:

Hey John, not much happening inshore with the fly, except for small weakfish and a few Bass. Lou Colacicco, had a grand slam with Weakfish, Bluefish, and a nice Striper last Monday. As for offshore, we will keep trying to get out, but the wind has been horrible. We are really itching, due to out big win of the White Marlin Invitational. See below:
 
The White Marlin Invitational, it is the oldest White Marlin Tournament of it's kind in the country! In a field of 80 boats, almost all of them double the size of my 31 Contender, we won overall White Marlin points with 3 releases and one qualifying fish @ 57.5 pounds, and that qualifying fish won us the Top prize in the tourney, Largest Overall White Marlin. We had the only qualifying White until the last day, the day we couldn't fish because we used our 2 day's already, and then the Sun Runner a big Sportfish, brought one in with 1 1/2 hours left. We were sweating it out until the scale read 54 pounds, 3 1/2 pounds lighter than ours. We are we heard the first center console to ever win he tournament in it's 35 year history. The first day the swells were so big Capt. Anthony Grassi worked the throttles, while I steered because we came completely out of the water on every fourth wave. We could have gone slower and just rode the waves, bit that wouldn't have been our style, and would have taken us double the amount of time. We went 2 for 5 on Thursday with Whites, and had a large Dolphin, which was 23.5 pounds, not large enough hold on a 26.5 won it. The second day we had a fish on 30 seconds after the "lines in" call and lost it. We later hooked and landed the winning fish, but kept fishing to release another large White Marlin, then head for the scales. Butch Hartman a Long Beach Township cop was the angler and Anthony and I co Captained. Clearly the underdogs did well, us along with the Crew of the MJ a group of college kids who tied the Tuna category. All the details are on the clubs website @ bhmtc.com. 

Western Long Island

Bonito have arrived on the western South Shore! Check out Captain Barry Kanavy from Natural Anglers’ report:

It's that time again! Atlantic Green Bonito on the beach. Hungry Green Bonito, in fact these fish ate everything we cast to them. What a blast!   New to fly-fishing, David L. was given a few casting tips then proceeded to catch. Looks like he wants to add species of fish caught by heir degree of difficulty starting from the top down. This is the time of year when tuna dreams come true.

Hope to see you out there.
Captain Barry Kanavy
www.naturalanglers.com
516-238-7642

From the North Shore, Captain Robin Calitri reports some bonito action as well.  Check it out:

The North Shore is full of bait.  There are small blues everywhere.  Bass are now more a morning or evening thing.  David Berman and I chased Bonito from Northport to Mount Sinai.  They are around but not stacked up yet.  Sharpie Captain Bob Robl is hooking up.  There are reports of Albies out east in the Fishers Island area.  I will be fishing Montauk next week and I will keep you updated.

Eastern Long Island

Spoke with Captain David Blinken last night who filled me in on the bluefin situation.  Apparently they are around, but very difficult to fool.  They may pop up anywhere in the Montauk area, but getting to them quick enough has proven difficult.  If you do manage to get there in time they are still very finicky.  Other than that, there is a ton of bait around and in a few weeks, most expect all hell to break loose.  Inshore there hasn’t been much but bluefish and the occasional skittish school of bonito. 

Salty Flyrodder Joel Filner checks in with a Shinnecock and Cape Cod report:

This is a tale of woe and a summary of sadness. I suffered a near
dislocation in my casting arm two Mondays ago on my vacation on Cape
Cod. I lost all the flyfishng days (three booked) and all the
mornings but managed a big boat trip with conventional tackle for 4
hours on Cape Cod Bay. Nice fish, about 35 stripers, 6 undersized the
rest well  over 30 inches, the majority returned to the water. Last
week visited the doctor, discovered no tears or misplacement and only
time will heal the wounds. Last weekend I toured the beaches, met the
fisher folk and garnered the reports around Shinnecock. A moderate
weekend, with shad, fluke, and stripers taken from the front with a
fly, albies reported but not confirmed, (I think they were spanish
mackeral or shad) on the back bay, and blues wandering around Jessops
and cow neck on the bay. Warm water and plentiful bait. And many
boats to scare the fish away. Bonito were sighted as well off the
shore but not near any landfall, and fluke in relative abundance.
Three more weeks of healing and then a return to the water. Meanwhile
I'm learning to cast left handed.

Joel

That’s all for this week…  See you on the water…