The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are reporting decent fishing on a wide variety of fronts. From the inshore bay waters, to the inshore reefs and wrecks, to offshore canyons, the action has been very respectable with happy anglers on the trips. Summer flounder season will be closing on September 27, and anglers are advised to get lines in the water before that season ends.
Captain George Finck had the "Star Fish" out with the Shawn Freed party. The group began the day as a trolling trip. Captain George started fishing the Lobster Hole and area pots for mahi and albacore, but found the water dirty and difficult to fish in. He then took the anglers bottom fishing on some wrecks and reefs for a catch of fluke, weakfish, and black sea bass. Although the sea bass were quite large, they were released as being out of season. On another trip he had the Todd Fetter family out for a three-quarter day bottom fishing. It was a day of great action with fluke, sea bass, weakfish, and large sea robins attacking their baits.
Captain Gary Dugan had a great bunch of Philadelphia firefighters out on the "Irish Jig" recently. In addition to some 40 undersized fluke, they ended up with five nice flatties for the cooler. In addition the anglers boated 5 cocktail bluefish, a half dozen huge sea bass, and a brown shark that bit off close to the boat.
Captain Lindsay Fuller of the "June Bug" says he has been hearing of some good tuna fishing conditions in the canyons. He is putting together trips to pick up some of the yellowfin tuna that are being caught along with some Mahi. Captain Lindsay says there is a nice Gulf Stream eddy that is covering the area of the tip of the Lindenkohl down below the tip of the Spencer Canyons. There are some decent temperature breaks and the spin of the eddy should be causing some upwelling.
Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.BHCFA.net