There are 70 to 100 plus pound Bluefin Tuna within 20 miles of our Barnegat Inlet. So much fun. Most of the time we are jigging for squid while we are drifting for the tuna. As soon as we catch the squid, we put them on as live bait. It’s so much fun catching bait that sometimes we forget we are there for a higher purpose…..TUNA!!

We ran to the spot I left them at last week and fished all morning without a bite. There was a sizable fleet to our west, but I would always rather be off on our own. A friend gave me some coordinates where they caught one in the morning within that fleet and being that it was 12:30 in the afternoon and we had not had any bites, I figured let’s go see. We entered the fleet and there was some radio chatter about a boat that was hooked up, good sign. Immediately the depth recorder was lit up with massive schools of squid. On our second drift the 30 International in the bow holder was screaming and we were no doubt hooked up to a bluefin. Thirty minutes later, my son, Max decked a 49″ Bluefin. Here’s the end game: youtu.be/TSSzeYW1_F0  Dave Flood on the gaff.

Something to know about Dave Flood, even though he isn’t in many of the pics, none of this happens without Dave. He gets to the boat an hour before anyone, dries all the seats, brings all the lunch and drinks, packs the coolers, gets the boat turn key ready and then never stops contributing during the day. Catching bait, jigging for tuna, getting new hookbaits, letting the lines out, constantly cleaning, giving the angler that’s hooked up water, and then when the rod goes off, his rod mind you, he steps aside to let someone catch the fish. Then he is there to gaff it and when we hit the dock he is the butcher. Every crew needs a Dave Flood.

Sailing Open Boat Tuna tomorrow, Wed Aug 2 and Sat Aug 5. 4AM to 2PM. $350 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared. We will be within 20 miles of the inlet, so a little over an hour each way from the marina to the fishing grounds. No trolling, we will be drifting and bait fishing. There are always jigging rods ready if you want to do that. And, of course, bait rods to catch live bait. Everything is provided, just bring whatever you like to eat and drink for the time we are out.

These and any other dates are always available for your private charter, as well, for bay, inshore, or offshore fishing. We are catching blues at the inlet jetty, fluke in the bay, and small Atlantic Sharpnose sharks 4 miles offshore. We are offering Live Grass Shrimp trips targeting weakfish and the assortment of species that find our shrimp slick. We scale down to the ultralite 6 pound outfits for this fishery and the goal is to catch as many different species as we can. 

Dave DeGennaro
Hi Flier Sportfishing
732.330.5674 cell
hiflier.com