Summer has officially arrived in Beach Haven for the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association, and warm summerlike temperatures have arrived on schedule. This means water temperatures have gone up, and the summer agenda for fish is here.
Although the black sea bass season has closed for a period in New Jersey, there are plenty of other species to keep anglers happy. Fluke are plentiful in the bay waters and will be massing by the inlets in a matter of weeks to migrate into the ocean. In addition to the flatties, there have been some catches of weakfish, kingfish, and bluefish in the bay.
In the ocean there are bluefish of various sizes, and a few bonito have already appeared close to shore. The tuna fishing continues to be red hot both mid-range and in the canyons.
Captain Ray Lopez and mate Kieran Chenoweth-Hafner got into some of those tuna on a recent trip on the “Miss Liane.” They had Keith and his crew on an inshore bluefin trip. The group caught 8 bluefin up to 40-inches. Kieran reported it was a beautiful day with wildlife all around the boat.
Gary Dugan concluded the black sea bass season with several particularly good days. He is now making the switch to fluke and is finding plenty of keeper fish for his guests on the “Irish Jig.”
Captain Carl Sheppard also had a busy season for black sea bass. Right at the end of the season he had the “Star Fish” out for a doubleheader with parties in both the morning and afternoon.
In the morning, a group of friends caught over 40 fish including sea bass, fluke, and sea robins. Mate Max Goldman reported the season’s record for the boat was set with a 17-inch sea bass.
In the afternoon, the bite continued as nearly 50 fish were caught including sea bass, fluke, and sea robins. The action was so busy the kids on board ran out of energy.
After several weeks of red-hot fluke fishing, Captain Brett Taylor of Reel Reaction Sportfishing took a few days off with the arrival of his newest crew member. Jakob “Jake” Taylor was born weighing over7-pounds and measuring 20-inches in length-a definite keeper. Captain Brett expects to be on the fluke once again and continuing his streak of 6-10 keeper fluke a day.