Jeff Bauer of the Carolyn Ann III said squid and spearing are doing the job on the fluke as well as jigging with bucktails. Sea bass and fluke won the pools this week. Steve Nulph of Southhampton landed the big fish for the week. It was a 6.2-pound fluke. There were quite a few 5 pounders brought to the nets also. Ren Nociti of Barnegat Light had one at 5 pounds that Bauer said he caught in between naps. Sounds like Huck Finn style. On and off days with the blues reports the crew of the Miss Barnegat Light. They are finding the fish in the two-pound range hitting bottom jigs with teasers fished off the bottom. Some days anglers can catch a limit and other days the catch is just a pick. The captains of the Beach Haven Charter fishing Association have been fishing in a variety of locations for a variety of fish. Capt. Carl Sheppard of the Star Fish reported the inshore ocean water is cold and the fish do not seem to want to bite. Most of the black sea bass he has been keeping have been males. Capt. John Koegler took the Star Fish to the canyons and returned with a catch of tuna and mahi-mahi. Capt. Fran Verdi spent several days last week fishing on the Hot Tuna as a mate fishing the marlin and tuna tournament. He said they returned empty-handed after a couple days of hard work. It is now back to the inshore ocean fluke and sea bass trips for him now. Capt. George Finck of Sparetime took Todd Kutikoff and Frank Smith out in the ocean for a nice catch of fluke and sea bass, all on the drift. Scott Albertson of Scott’s Bait and Tackle said water temps cooled off a little bit. Jake Pysher had a pair of fluke this week, one at three pounds and the other 2.6-pounds fishing aboard the SonKat. They were fishing back up in the bay in the Intercoastal Waterway. Jesse B. also found some kingfish by the clam stakes in the Great Bay.
Dan Radel