# 57350: Subject: Reasor Inshore, New Jersey

Submitted by Bill K (ip 69.142.211.36)

• Fished on 8/16/2008
• Report received: 8/18/2008

Water Temperature: 68-72
Water Clarity: GreyBlue
Seas: Calm
Weather: Clear/Warm
Fishing_for: Bluefin Tuna
Boat: FinFun
captain: Doug

Report:
We passed by a very fishy looking area well inshore of the Reasor thinking the fish were still farther out. Wrong! We left chicks and terns which were actively working an area at least ten miles from the Reasor thinking they were working over bluefish. The Reasor area was dead! It didn't take us too long to figure out our mistake and we finally ran back to find a small fleet had already formed and most of the boats had at least one or two bluefins in the same area we had left earlier. Some boats had released even more. We got in on the tail end of the action and the bait and tuna were scattered. All we could find were the huge bluefish. That's two weeks in row that we were shut out. The water in the area was 72 degrees and the water offshore was 68. The huge porpoise schools and whales were still in the area telling me there is lots of bait around.

On the way back home, about a mile from the action, I spotted a ten foot log which bailed us out. Our guests from out of state loved seeing the mahi under the log. It was like looking into an aquarium. They liked catching a few even more when we cast bucktails on light tackle to them. A female (hen/cow) of about 15 pounds put smile on the face of our guest from New Hampshire. The bull which was bigger, eluded us as the fish got smart quickly and became very selective.

I gave the numbers to our neighbor who took his family out there on Sunday. As soon as he put his lines in, he had a double header of 30 pounders. In an hour and a half, he caught and released eight fish on traditional tuna lures (cedar plugs, feathers and clones). Gene Quigley on Shore Catch dropped Shimano butterfly jigs after hooking up on the troll to double up on the deeper fish. Bluefins had obviously found the large schools of anchovies and had them zeroed in. We never found the bait balls because of the fleet that scattered the tuna and the bait. Our neighbors got on them early and found the tuna and bait concentrated.

If we learned one thing, it was to trust your instincts. We left some very fishy water and bait to go "where they were"! Stay with the bait! These tuna are inshore of the Mud Hole and are following the bait. If we are lucky, their big brothers will continue to drop in as a few around the century mark were quietly boated this week not too far away. It's about time! Tuna on the troll less than an hour from the inlet is fine with me.

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