The boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association have been kept in port the past few days thanks to strong winds and high seas from a typical late season Nor’easter. Winds are expected to subside over the weekend allowing the boats to get back on the fishing grounds.
The “Star Fish” with Captains Carl Sheppard and Vic Bertotti report that since the black sea bass season now closed, they are concentrating their efforts on summer flounder. Mate Max Goldman says it has been a mix of shorts and keepers caught mostly on Gulp and live minnows. There have also been some Spanish mackerel around.
Captain Dave Wittenborn had the Beach Haven “all-star team” out for an overnight swordfish trip and landed the first swordfish for the “Benita J.” Captain Dave said a good time was had by all even though the tuna action was a bit slow. He is hoping the northeaster will kick-start the fall action.
Captain Brett Taylor is back teaching but ended summer charters with a triple booking. In the morning he had Michelle Bilbao with her two children on a 3-hour charter. The crew boxed 27 blowfish and released countless blowfish, sea bass, and juvenile porgies. Next up was Noel Allud and his son Matty on a 4-hour bay fluking trip. They boated 5 quality keepers to 22 inches. Lastly was the Bob Reim charter on a 4-hour bay trip boxing 6 keepers to 22-inches.
BHCFA president Captain John Lewis has announced the association will be having a fund-raising cruise on the pirate ship “Black Pearl.” The excursion is billed as a “fireworks cruise” running from 7-8:30pm on Friday, September 23. This is part of the efforts by the BHCFA to deploy additional materials on area artificial reefs.
Reservations are required with a donation of $75 for adults and children to age 18 just $25. Reservations can be made by calling Captain Lewis at 609-670-5980.