Ron Nuzzolo
Fish On Well, the first Hi-Mar kids’ trip is in the books for this year.Hi-Mar’s first group was from Hooked on Fishing, Not on Drugs, led by Wayne Tomelson. It didn’t seem to matter what kind of fish they caught – every one reeled in brought a big grin to the face of each kid.
They fished on the Captain Dave out of Atlantic Highlands. Be it sea robin, shark, skate or fluke, every catch was an adventure. Mate Brett is one of the best when it comes to fishing with a group of kids. He was always willing to take the time to explain what type of fish they caught, what that particular species did, and just how it fit into the ecosystem. He also gave a small seminar on filleting. Yes, the kids did manage to catch enough keepers so that every kid went home with some fish for dinner.
The “pool winner” was 12-year-old Jimmy P. (much to the chagrin of his twin sister Sarah). Jimmy managed to reel in a monster 22-inch fish for the honors. For his efforts, Jimmy won a nice Capt. Dave baseball hat and a bright red sweatshirt donated by Pete’s Bait and Tackle.
A special thanks to trip committee Chairman Mike McLean, Hi-Mar members Mark Stanick and Rich Caroselli, Capt. Dave and Mate Brett for the great job. The next trip is July 8, with a group from Monmouth County Juvenile Diabetes.
Capt. Ed from NJSaltwater
fisherman.com reported extraordinary fishing if you are targeting fluke and sea bass. NJSaltwaterfisherman members Rayz and HotRod came to the Toms River area to check out the fishing. They started out at the Mantoloking wreck in 45 feet of water with a good pull of sea bass, but a high throwback ratio. They took a shot out to the Axel Carlson reef and put a very nice catch together of sea bass and ling. The ling were returned to live another day (biggest to 5 pounds).
Capt. Steve from Reelfantasea, Barnegat Light, reported this week the bay fishing was more reliable than the ocean. Thursday, he saw regular Chris and Jim Spring out for a striper trip; they covered about 50 nautical miles in an attempt to find some feeding fish but were unsuccessful, although they did manage to locate bunker (the schools were small at best with no one home except small blues). Sunday, Robert Waterson, with son Hunter, went out for a bay trip, where the guys had some fun with a combination of blues, fluke on plastics and gulp.
At the rocks in Shrewsbury, Capt. Keith Bush on the Byte Me had a fun crew – Mark Gassoso of Old Bridge and first-timer Darren DiGiorgio of Monroe – celebrate Darren’s birthday with all-you-can-fight slammer blues on bunker chunks. Darren had eight blues up to 12 pounds and a 6-inch bruise under his arm as a reminder as the relentless bluefish leaves its mark. Happy birthday, Darren.
Keep those reports coming by e-mailing me at [email protected].
Canyon report
Canyon Runner with Capt. Phil Dulanie and Capt. Mark DeCabia left Manasquan at 11 p.m. last Wednesday with the Damien Romeo charter, and got down to the Baltimore right where they finished off Tuesday, but the water had moved out a little. They pulled one small yellowfin there and then found the water off the bank at 200 fathoms, where they went 3-for-3 on the bigger 50-75-pound yellowfin. Every single fish came on a 9-inch squid spreader bar with two on Zuccihini and two on Rainbow. They were trolling four bars to off the riggers and green machines and tuna clones and ballyhoo on the other baits. They set up in 72-degree water to start swording and sharking at 10 p.m.
The night bite for Capt. Phil had him releasing one small mako and jumping off a bigger one. First bite in the morning, back in at 150 fathoms, was a nice big-eye tuna they fought for 35 minutes and broke him off 30 feet from the boat, 5 feet from throwing the harpoon. The morning bite started at 5 a.m. and lasted until 10 a.m. They boated six more yellowfin in the 40-50-pound class and two 40-pound bluefin, releasing one. The fish that morning ate ballyhoo and green machine spreader bars, and all the action moved over to the west wall of the Baltimore in 100 fathoms. Again the key was staying in the 68-70-degree water.
Tournament information
Attention, New York, New Jersey anglers
Staten Island Tuna Club 19th annual Shark Tournaments – July 14, with a rain date of July 15. It’s the first time ever that they are guaranteeing a first-place prize of $10,000 with second and third place determined by number of entries. The entry fee per boat is $300.
This year, the morning committee boat will be at the Chapel Hill/Raritan Reach Cross Channel Buoy at 5 a.m. for the convenience of many participants.
A captains meeting will be held at Michaels Bait & Tackle, 187 Mansion Ave. in Great Kills, Staten Island, N.Y., starting at 7 p.m. July 13, with refreshments and prizes. An awards ceremony will be at Coles Dockside Restaurant on the corner of Cleveland and Mansion avenues, also in Great Kills, starting at 8 p.m. on July 14. For information, call Chris (732) 685-7777 or Darrin (718) 809-8237.
July 8-11 – Seventh annual IGFA Inshore World Championship, Islamorada, Fla. The “super bowl” of light tackle and fly fishing is where the winners of over 50 IGFA-qualifying tournaments held on four continents in 2006 are invited to compete in this three-day, all-release championship. From a drawing, the qualifiers are paired with a different premier Keys guide each day, fishing for tarpon, bonefish, permit, shook and redfish using fly or light tackle equipment. Beginning in 2007, the four major award categories include: Grand Champion (the angler who accumulates the most points for all five targeted species) and first places in the fly, artificial lure and bait casting divisions. There are also trophies and merchandise for second- and third-place divisional winners in the three categories as well as the Top 3 guides. Contact IWC tournament coordinator Denise Hartman at (954) 927-2628 or [email protected].