The current fishing action in the Long Beach Island area as shared by the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association is centered on tuna in offshore waters and fluke action inshore. Plus, there is good action on black sea bass on the inshore wrecks.
Captain Bob Gerkens of the boat “Hot Tuna” reported fishing in the “Jimmy Johnson Fishing Tournament” in Atlantic City with the crew of the boat “MJs.” That crew took second place money with three big eye tuna weighing between 102 and 123 pounds.
Captain Bob indicated that catching big eye tuna during the daylight hours is always a challenge, since they are usually more likely to be feeding close to the surface in the time right before the sun is up and shortly after it sets. This is why “Hot Tuna’s” big eye charters are run overnight.
Yellowfin tuna, on the other hand, are being caught on the troll during the day on the shelves of the canyons rather than the deep water where big eyes are almost always found. When big eyes come close to the surface once or twice a day in daylight, it is usually as a school, and they will hit multiple lines within seconds of each other.
In the tournament in three days of fishing, all three bigeyes hit together and were boated within 25 minutes on Captain Bob’s trip.
On the fluke scene, Captain Gary Dugan of the “Irish Jig” reports catching fish both inside the inlets and on trips to the nearby reefs. He terms it a “decent pick” with keeper fish coming back to the dock on every trip. He notes the fish are transitioning to deeper water with catches both inside in the deeper holes inshore and outside fishing structure. In addition to his fishing trips, Captain Gary has been busy taking folks on his tiki boat on sightseeing trips and to area restaurants on the water.