Subject: East of Barnegate, New Jersey

Submitted by Bill K (ip 68.32.6.226)

• Fished on 8/10/2008

  Water Temperature: 69
  Water Clarity: Grey Blue
  Seas: Calm
  Weather: Bright sunshine and warm. Thunderstorms late
  Fishing_for: Tuna
  Boat: FinFun
  captain: Doug
  

  Report:
  We broke the inlet at 5:45 A.M. and headed 35 miles out to a spot where there was some bluefin action the day before. As is always the case, we should have been there yesterday. About 15 miles out, we noticed a water temperature break down into the high 60's. When we were about 2 miles from our target, we saw slicks and chicks and dropped the outriggers and set the spread. We used two spreaders bars, three ballys with Ilanders, a cedar plug and a small clone. Within 10 minutes, we had our first hit on the long bally. Line was screaming off the reel but unfortunately, the hook never sank into any meat. When we checked the bait, the bally was bitten less than an inch from the hook so it never had a chance to set. How the line screamed off the reel is beyond me. We MOB'd the spot and trolled around and had another hit on the long bally but it too never came tight. That was it for the day. We saw sardines being chased by other tuna in the area but we could never put a bait in front of them. I'm not sure if the clear skies or the temperature drop put them off, but something did. On the way back in, we took our time since the radar showed some ugly weather near the beach. About three miles from where we had our hits, we came across a large school of porpoises (common dolphin) actively feeding. We spotted some small flying fish and started on the troll in and around the dolphin. We stopped to butterfly jig around them and then spotted a large (80 lb. class) bluefin greyhound on bait. It came out of the water twice (really something to see) but it was only one fish and we never could raise it after 20 minutes of trolling the area. On the way back we saw two huge turtles, a big ray, several very large schools of anchovies (17 miles out), two big whales (16 miles out) and several large schools of bunkers (14 miles out). The bait should attract the predators but the water temps have to rise or an eddy has to spin off the Gulf Stream. There was warmer water and bait at the Glory Hole and the Chicken but our contacts had the same results as us. I did hear one confirmed report of bonita being trolled at the Barnegate Ridge. Let's hope the tuna find their traditional fall haunts soon. These are bigger fish than last year. I'm hoping for some sashimi soon.

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