Fishing remains a bit slow. With warm waters most fish will shut down and look for deeper cooler waters. Drifting for fluke and sea bass remain the only game in town. Piers, docks and rock piles are continuing to produce small snappers, porgies and all the crabs you can scoop up within reach. Anglers are coming across a few small weakfish but no solid reports yet. With warm bay waters in August, baitfish like spearing and sand eels are thriving which is always a good sign for the fall.

If you’re not fishing for fluke or sea bass then you are looking at two options.

Option one: wait until the waters cool down and get ready for fall bass and blues.

Option two: break open the check book and take a shot in the canyons for tuna.

A charter in the canyons can run anywhere from $350 to $600 per angler, but worth every dollar to the experienced angler. Fishing the canyons is all about preparation. Being prepared is half the battle. Your Health being the most important factor. You need to be in decent shape if you plan on fighting any offshore fish. Finding the right day, weather, tuna reports, water temperature and even the moon are all equally important when fishing the canyons. Food, ice, bait, fuel and tackle add up quick and can cost you several hundred dollars before you even touch a fishing pole. Finding the right captain is everything. Do your homework and talk to the captain you choose, make sure you are both on the same page.

The canyons are not a place for amateurs. You can have everything lined up, weather, great captain, excellent reports and the day you get out there the bite is turned off. To enjoy a trip to the canyons the captain’s experience will make all the difference in the world. Every angler who has experienced the canyon will have a great story to tell, you will never forget your trip to the canyons.

NJSWF Bob Maehrlein with a nice Bluefin Tuna caught aboard The Phyliis Ann

The canyons are a place equivalent to the Serengeti’s of Tanzania or the to the Amazon jungle. For the most part you are about a hundred miles offshore which leaves you no room for error. You need to be prepared for everything and anything. A hundred miles from Sandy Hook and its like National Geographic in your own back yard. Whales and dolphins for as far as the eye can see can appear and disappear in minutes. Whale sharks, giant sea turtles, schools of big squid can light up all around the boat. Sharks by the dozen can show up like a hungry pack of hyenas and keep tuna away from the boat all night. The biggest problem is other boats. What looks like a city of lights the Canyon is a huge place but anglers will jockey into position for water temperature and water depth. This is where an experienced captain makes all the difference between a bad trip and an amazing lifetime experience.  (Read More)

On Wednesday, July 28^th site sponsor and good friend of NJ Saltwater Fisherman, Captain Rich Wilkowski, piloted his new 43’ boat “Jersey Hooker” down to Long Beach Island to participate in the Beach Haven Marlin & Tuna Club 41^st Annual White Marlin Invitational Tournament (BHWMIT). By Saturday night, he and his four man crew would be over $70,000 richer! Here’s how it happened.

The rules of the BHWMIT are fairly simple. It is a trolling only tournament. No live bait or chumming is allowed. The boat must choose one non-fishing day out of the three days of the tournament. Each boat may weigh in up to 3 tuna, 3 white marlin, 1 blue marlin, 1 dolphin and 1 wahoo per day. The heaviest single fish of the tournament wins.

After considering the weather reports, Capt. Rich chose to use their non-fishing day on Thursday. Their first day to fish was Friday. They shoved off from Morrison‘s Marina at 2:30am and they took their time heading out to the canyon. “It was sporty on the ride out,” explained the captain. “The weather report said it was going to lay down. Boy! Were they wrong! It was solid 4-7 foot seas with white caps all day and an occasional 10 footer.”

Once offshore, the captain studied his sea surface temperature charts and decided to set course for the 82 degree water east of Lindenkohl Canyon. At 8:00am, upon arriving at their blue water destination just inshore of the break line, the tournament committee boat called, “Lines in.” First Mate Captain George Paley put out the Jersey Hooker’s favorite marlin lures, which included a couple of Tuna Busters from Carolina Lure Company, which Capt. Rich described as “infamous”.

Rich recounted the ensuing action. “Just as Big T (crew member Tom Wortmann) was letting out the outside rigger on the starboard side, a 56 pound yellow fin crashes the bait. The crew quickly landed him and got the spread back out. We had a white (marlin) window shopping, but it didn’t take the bait.” The trolling over the next few hours produced nothing. Then Capt. Rich noticed a slick out on the 1000 foot line and decided to work the area. That’s when it happened. “I looked toward the stern and here comes Mr. White,” explained the captain with a smile. The marlin took the bait and the controlled chaos of the experienced offshore crew began. Shouts of “Marlin! Marlin! Marlin!” were heard around the boat as Capt. George took the rod and the crew scrambled to clear the other lines. “The white freight trained a 50W (fishing reel) and just kept peeling line off. The crew was a little worried because all they saw was the bill and a shadow. They thought it might have been a small blue (marlin). But, after about fifteen minutes they got color. We realized that this could be a potential money fish.”........Hit Read More