Download the mobile app!
Hooking Up Anglers Since 2011.
The 26th annual Mako Mania Tournament, sponsored by the Greater Point Pleasant Charter Boat Association, will be contested the next two days after tonight’s 6:30 captains meeting at Clarks Landing in Point Pleasant. The entry fee is $475 per boat for a purse of $80,000 based on a field of 300 boats. In addition, there’s a 2011 GMC Sierra truck...
The 26th annual Mako Mania Tournament, sponsored by the Greater Point Pleasant Charter Boat Association, will be contested the next two days after tonight’s 6:30 captains meeting at Clarks Landing in Point Pleasant. The entry fee is $475 per boat for a purse of $80,000 based on a field of 300 boats. In addition, there’s a 2011 GMC Sierra truck for the angler who breaks the state record for mako shark. A 66-inch fork length discourages killing of small makos that have no chance to win, and after the first day it will be clear to anglers how large a mako has to be in order to have a shot at the leader board. For information, call the Mako Hotline at (732) 892-3666, or visit gppcba.com.
Peter Vican of Rhode Island is proof positive that lightning can strike twice. On July 19, 2008,he boated a 75.4-pound striped bass on a live eel at Southwest Ledge, off Block Island, to blow out the state record of 70 pounds that had stood since 1984 — and then the same angler boated a 77.4-pounder at night off Block Island on a live eel that was weighed on a big game scale during Father’s Day to break his own mark. Once again, he left New Jersey with the most coveted IGFA world record by just missing the 78-pound, 8-ounce mark established by Al McReynolds on the night of Sept. 21, 1982, while casting during a nor’easter from an Atlantic City jetty. That catch occurred little more than a year after Capt. Bob Rocchetta had made history with his 76-pounder taken on a live eel at Montauk during an eclipse of the moon on July 17, 1981. I happened to be fishing at Montauk when Rocchetta’s catch was made, and took many photos the next morning of the bass that finally broke the historical record of 73 pounds established at Cuttyhunk in 1913 by Charles B. Church. Rocchetta’s bass still stands as the IGFA 50-pound line class record. Tony Checko’s “Bible” of huge stripers, The Striped Bass 60+ Pound Club (iUniverse Inc., Lincoln, Neb., 2008) listed only 12 70-pounders caught by anglers in the history of the sport. Vican’s bass didn’t have impressive measurements (53 inches long with a 35-inch girth), but he noted that it was built like a “brick with a tail.”
If anglers release most of the big stripers they’re catching , we should see more “super stripers” in the future. Especially after an extended battle, and in warm summer waters, it may be necessary to work with bass alongside in order to get them swimming down instead of floating away belly-up. Joe Greco and Harold Smith illustrated that concern while fishing with Gene Graman on Tuesday by working with a striper in the net for 10 to 15 minutes while leaning over the side of That’s It until it was ready to shoot out of their hands toward the bottom.
Though live lining bunkers hasn’t been very consistent along the Shore this week, Capt. Sal Cursi said there was a big change Thursday morning as he ran down the beach to find a school that was being belted by big bass. The Jerry Smith party from Caldwell limited with linesiders up to a 44-pounder.
Fluking in the Navesink River was just a pick Thursday morning for Tank Matraxia of Lyndhurst, Don Alonzo from Point Pleasant, Frank Biviano of Nutley, and I on Riverman from Bahrs in Highlands, with Capt. Fletcher Chayes and Capt. Lou Grazioso. We managed four keepers up to Matraxia’s21 1/2-incher — and he tagged 15 shorts of 14 inches or more with ALS tags while some smaller ones were released without tags.
Capt. Bob Egger had Shep Belyea and John Shuster on Spunky II, out of Manasquan Inlet for a run to Chicken Canyon on Tuesday, where they went 9 for 11 on 40- to 50-pound bluefin tuna, keeping one and tagging the others in 2 2/1 hours. Mate Brian Shortino had his 11-year-old son, Nick, of Toms River along — and he caught a 50-pound-class bluefin all by himself from the bridge rocket launcher. Then he went to the pit to place a tag in his own fish prior to release.
Capt. Joe Bogan reported good fluking this week from his Jamaica II, with quite a few 3-to-5-pounders and lots of shorts. Ed Murkowski of Little Falls had a limit to 5 pounds; Bill Sampantino from Trenton bagged five to 5 pounds; and Fred Morris of Ewing had five to 4 pounds.
Dave Lilly of Hazlet didn’t like the looks of weekend Raritan Bay waters discolored by what was probably a plankton die-off, and ended up running 18 miles to the east where Ken Campbell of Trenton and his brother-in-law from Fl. helped him catch about 50 fluke in 80 feet, including a dozen keepers to 3 pounds.
Capt. Tom O’Connor from South Amboy did fine in the back of the bay on the weekend as he had Bryan Hoffman of South Amboy and Addie Wagner from Middletown aboard to catch seven keeper fluke up to Addie’s 4 1/2-pounder.
Hi-Mar Striper Club ran their first kid’s trip of the season on the weekend as retired Fish & Wildlife Officer Wayne Tonneson led a Hooked On Fishing: Not On Drugs group on the Bingo from Atlantic Highlands during the best weather they’ve had for the trip in six years. There was lots of action with shorts, sea robins and skates, while four keeper fluke up to a 4-pounder were boated.
The 30th Sandy Hook Bay Anglers Two-Day Fluke Tournament will be contested July 9 and 10 at Atlantic Highlands. The captains meeting is at 7 p.m., Friday, July 8 in the Senior Citizens Building in the harbor. For information, call (732) 787-4008, or visit www.sandyhookbayanglers.com.
This Fishing Report was submitted on 7/19/2008 6:30:00 AM by Seamus and last updated on 6/24/2011 8:17:58 AM.
Including GPX (Universal GPS Format), KML (Google Earth), and XLS (Excel) files.
Gives You Access To:
Download GPS files of fishing spots. Create Custom Maps of fishing spots. Fishing predictions w/ future date & location. Featured Listings for your fishing business.
$7 month or $49 year