NJ bluefin tuna report 8/3/09

[gradyfish22]

Ran out today expecting the forcasted 2-4 seas, found a 5-6 ft sweel right at the bow, only managed 18mph on the ride out, so it took us a little longer then planned to get to the grounds. Ran about 55nm miles SE of Sandy Hook and set up on the troll a mile or so from the fleet, we wroked the outside edge of the contour line everyone was fishing and about 15 min into the troll the WWWB got smacked, landed our over 47" fish. About 45 min later the same rod went off within a 1/8 mile of the last strike and we put our under 47" in the boat, did not have another touch all day. Both fish were caught on a medium ballyhoo trolled on a 1/2 chin weight with a Joe Shute's fish finder, 3 oz dark red head with crystal skirt. Had a 3 oz fishfinde rin blue white, and pink crystal running about 40 ft forward of the WWB but neither got touched. WWB was about 400 ft back. Seemed the few fish trolled were all 300+ ft back from chatter on the radio and all on ballyhoo. We tried various bars and single lures as well as a bird, no luck on any of them. Some guys did better then others jigging, some had as many as 10 if they knew what they were doing and wanted to bust their behinds slinging the jigs hard, but fish were mostly on the smaller size on jigs today. Some fish were chunked as well, but very early and then it died out, not the bite that existed for the past week, hopefully it is only the full moon or something and the bite picks up again. Might sneak out again later in the week or early next week depending on weather.

 

[gradyfish22]

Going back out Friday night-Sat, going to try and chunk the evening and early morning, if that doesnt work we will be out early to jig and troll an hour or so before the fleet of boats arrive on the grounds. Hopefully we will have our fish by then and can call it a day and get home early. Anyone else going out let me know

S.T. Barb II
ch 65

 

[Tuna Man]

Good luck out there. Glad to see someone is taking advantage of this good fishing. We are hoping to get out next week if time permits.

 

[glastron21]

I'm leaving around 3am Staurday. I'm out of LEI. Not quite sure if I'm gonna run North or South. I go by "The Rook" and will be on 68. Good luck and be safe.

Jim
01' 265 Express

 

[gradyfish22]

We actually ran the Hudson canyon, changed our minds and course about 15miles out. Arrived at the hudson at 9pm ish, did not set on the chunk til almost 10pm. looked for a pot but did not find one, the 75 or so other boats out there had them all, so we found a stretch to drift and set the lines out. Very very little chatter on the radio, only a small handful of guys with 1-3 fish caught, maybe a handful of swords if that, but it was a full moon which makes fishing tougher, honking currents with the NE wind. Covered over 8 miles at night without a touch. Got on the troll at 4:15 am and found the big eyes down at 180 ft just off the 100 fathom line and worked them a few hours, could not get them to bite. With a fleet of 90 boats on them, it became apparent that if you were not in a big sportfish over 40ft you would not get one, only 2 smaller boats got a shot at them, the one guy lost theirs and the other put 1 in the boat about 180lbs. Had 2 buddies in bigger boats let me pull between them really tight, all 3 of us pulled identical spreads with identical lures and positions and distances, well one went 2/3 and other went 3/3 on that pass..we didn't get a touch. Watched maybe 60+ big eyes hit the decks of big boats, very frustrating fishing. As we were heading w and getting ready to leave we found yft on top and trolled along them and went 2/4, should have been 4/4 but my crew made a mistake with lever positions and hooks never came tight on 2 fish, made the trip even more frustrating. Then, had 7 boats decide to drag lures through the school after seeing us hooked up only to push the fish down and scatter them. I guess these guys never learned the art of trolling along side then turning into the school slightly to present their lures at the fishesd faces and not break a school up, only saw one of the 7 boats hook up, the rest ran there boats through the school and never got a touch. If they had common sense and went by the school correctly we would have all limited off this big school in no time...made me even more frustrating. Didn't have a ton to show for our effort but we surely gave it hell and then some. Did have some meat in the box but not as much as we hoped for. Smooth seas on the way in, did 30+kts the whole way, quiet the opposite of the ride out at maybe 19kts in confused choppy seas.

Will be back at the hudson Wed for a day troll on a friends boat, going to give them hell and hopefully get the big eyes to come up. Going to blast some music and turn the bass up to add a little commotion. Might also try jigging on the marks if the fleet is not tight with lots of boats, as that has been very productive as well. Will post a report as to how we do wed.

 

[Walk The Line]

Good luck, I'm heading out for a Thurs/Fri run, but haven't decided if I want to deal with the parking lot at hudson. Sounds like there's life to the east in the Dip too.

 

[Grog]

You made out pretty well given the situation. We were going to go ot the Mud Hole Saturday morning but given the crew and seas just hit the Manaquan ridge then the inshore reefs. Saturday afternoon the seas laid down quite a bit.

 

[gradyfish22]

It was worse Fri, but the boat handles well if trimmed out right, just needed to pull the throttles back and take our time. Autopilot helps a lot too, lets me play with the throttles to soften the ride and not have to worry about staying on course every 30 seconds.

Wed and Thurs should not be too bad, far less boats then the weekend, but still a fleet. Plenty of spots in the hudson holding fish if you work away from the big eye fleet. Coming from where your out of I'd stay closer to home, no need to run further, plenty of fish in this water and lots of great breaks throughout the NE canyons to hold fish in. Heard the Tom's had a nice bite as well. Looks like were going to target the big eyes all morning Wed then maybe work off the fleet in the afternoon and search out some yft before heading back to the barn. There were a number of whites and blues hooked as well so have pitch baits rigged and ready.