John and Diane O’Connor from East Brunswick took the family on their first party boat bluefish fishing trip. They went out on the Miss Belmar Princess. Son Max and daughter Jackie caught their first bluefish on jigs. Nephew Mike Crispiano of Staten Island, N.Y., caught his first as well. His sister, Marisa, was the best with three blues. John’s brother, Kevin, boated 14 in all. Wife Diane snapped photos all day and hit the sun deck. They told me they all had a great time and plan to make it a Labor Day tradition. They are hooked!
My good friends from NJSaltwaterfisherman. com squeezed in one more trip for fluke before the season officially ends. Captain Joe on the Irish Ayes, along with Hot Rod, Bob Cole, John B, Lenny B and Kenny, left Shark River Inlet and headed to a lump off the Red Church and made four drifts. Put six fish in the box. Kenny led the way with a 22- 7/8 inch fluke.
Moved to Shrewsbury Rocks and we were met with a strong current. Needed 10 ounces plus to hold bottom. Made three drifts and boxed four more fluke. Hotrod brought one to the boat just under Kenny’s fish, missing Kenny’s mark for big fish by 1/16 of an inch. With a final move to a lump off England Bank, they boated five more keepers. Kenny made the almost tie for big fish a moot point when he stuck a 24-½ inch fluke. This fish weighed 5.6 pounds on an uncertified digital scale. The boys ended the day with 15 keeper fluke and two keeper sea bass.
Captain Steve Purul from Barnegat Light had regular Jay Simmons aboard with friend Ernie Rosenburg for a scheduled Barnegat Ridge “Speedster Trip”. They were met with a brisk south/southwest wind in the early morning and with a forecast of increasing wind. The guys agreed to see what the sea condition was before we committed to the run to the Ridge. Well, it didn’t take long before a new plan was initiated. Thankfully, the bay’s weakfish were more than rewarding. The guys mixed it up between quality weakfish [3-4 pounds], blues and even a nice 4-½ pound fluke on live mullet caught by Jay. Vaughn Edmonds with wife Joyce, son Scott and Scott’s son
Dan the Trout Man” [age 11] were out from the Pocono Mountains for some more grass shrimping action. The folks had nonstop bites from the usual suspects weakfish, blues, silver perch, and loads of hickory shad aka “Jersey Tarpon.” With every throw of shrimp there was visible response as the fish were within 1 to 2 feet of the boat! Just a reminder, folks, it is already September and our world-class fall fishing is already showing signs of life, and if this spring’s fishing was any indicator of what we can expect, look out. Don’t miss out on the action. Between stripers, blues, weakfish, wreck fishing, false albacore or a combination of any of the above, these trips are sure to please. Check out Capt. Steve Purul Reel Fantasea Charters (609) 290-1217.
The Jenny Lee from Brielle had an awesome overnight trip to the Hudson Canyon, bagging 27 tuna. Capt. Dave Bender, assisted by Capt. Rick, put the George Costa party of six, including Greg Vongas, onto a hot evening trolling bite. While Capt Rick was putting the first line in, it was ripped out of his hand by a 40-pound long fin tuna. The hot trolling continued all evening with 19 long fin tuna boated. The trolling highlight was when they hooked up six tuna simultaneously and boated them all. By 7 p.m., we all had aching arms, so we left them biting and moved slightly to start chunking. Once we started the chum line, mahi moved in, and we had a blast boating a dozen mahi in the first hour chunking. Night chunking was slow with three yellow fin tuna at 70 pounds each, but at sunrise the long fins came under the boat and they had five more. That’s what tuna fishing is all about. Keep those e-mails coming to ron@signbrothers. com. I will do my best to fit your reports in. Fish on.
Upcoming events
IGFA-recognized upcoming event in our area is Oct. 20 in Forked River: the Forked River Tuna Club Annual Striped Bass Tournament. Visit www.forkedrivertunaclub.org for more events and news or log on to www.IGFA.org.
Seafood lovers don’t miss the 30th annual Festival of the Sea, Saturday, Sept. 15 at Downtown Point Pleasant Beach. This is an all-day event featuring N.J. seafood at its best, live entertainment, arts, crafts, exhibits and more. For additional information, call 1-888- PPBFUN2.

