Author: Hi Flier

Hi Flier: The Fish and the Weather Are Here!

Heading to the dock right now to jump on the boat and head out. Birds, bunker, whales, stripers, blues, and albies are up and down the beach. Perfection westerly forecast and temps in the 70’s. These next few days are not to be missed.
Open Boat or Charter tomorrow (Fri) Oct 20 leaving at 11AM to 5 PM. Also Sat, Sun, and Mon, Oct 21, 22, and 23 leave at 6AM return around 1 PM. 4 people max on Open Boat trips. $175 person. All fish are shared. We provide everything.
Never too late to try for an opening, you can call right up until “go time”.
Capt. Dave DeGennaro
Hi Flier Sportfishing
732.330.5674 cell

Weakfish and Blowfish

It looks like the ocean is going to be a little rough for the next few days so we are going to fish the bay. Sun and Mon, Oct 8 and 9. I ordered live grass shrimp for both days so we will be targeting weakfish and whatever else swims into our shrimp slick on light tackle. I”ll pack some clam chum and clams as there are some blowfish chewing on the west side of the bay, as well. We will give the inlet a look over, as the albies have been popping up as far inside as the lighthouse. 8AM to 1PM each day. $125 person. Call to reserve a spot.
Capt. Dave DeGennaro
Hi Flier Sportfishing
732.330.5674 cell

Hi Flier Open Boat Bonita and Albacore Monday, Oct 2

Looks like a break in the weather and sea condition is forecasted for this Monday, Oct. 2. We are planning an Open Boat trip to Barnegat Ridge for bonita and albacore. Trolling and bait fishing with the light rods. We will also be prepared to cast any surface albies on our way out and back. Depending on sea condition and our success we could also mix in some bay fishing for weakfish. 7AM to 2PM. A full day to allow us some time to hunt them and then catch them. The boat is also available to charter this day and then you could dictate the hours and agenda. Some folks prefer the bay,and that’s fine with me. $175 person if we run the seven hour Open Boat trip. Four people max. All fish are shared.

Also mixed bag bay fishing this Wed, Thurs, and Fri afternoons, Oct 4, 5, and 6. Depart at 11AM and return at 4PM. $150 person.
Capt. Dave DeGennaro
Hi Flier Sportfishing
732.330.5674 cell

Hi Flier Inshore Sharks, Fluke, and Tuna

This is a great stretch of fishing we are experiencing right now. On the inshore scene we are catching brown and blacktip sharks within five miles of Barnegat Inlet. Three to five foot sharks on spinning and light conventional tackle. After a few hours of that, we have been hammering the fluke in the bay. A very high percentage of small fish with some really nice keepers making it into the cooler. You have to catch 30 shorts to put one on ice, but it is steady action.
If you want to go on an adventure, the tuna have moved within 45 miles of the inlet and the upcoming weather for Sunday and Monday looks good. Yellowfin and bluefin mixed together. 20 to 60 pound fish on the troll, chunk, or jig. This is the closest they have come to our inlet all season. We are going to load the boat with slabs of bait, the trolling arsenal, jigging rods and come home with some tuna!
Tomorrow (Thurs), Friday, and Saturday, August 17, 18, and 19, I am going to stay close to shore as there is still some sea condition in the forecast. We will be doing the shark and fluke combo. If the inlet or ocean is too rough, we will just stay on the fluke. Open Boat or Charter, Noon to 6 PM. $175 person for the combo trip, $150 person if we just fluke.
Sunday and Monday, August 20 and 21, we will be headed to the bluewater for tuna. Open Boat or Charter. Leaving at 4AM and returning around 4PM. $300 person.
All Open Boat trips, inshore or offshore, are limited to 4 people max and all fish are shared. Any of these dates can be booked for your own charter, as well. It’s never too late to check availability. You can call right up until “go time”. On inshore charter trips, the headcount is more flexible.
Here’s my boys Nick and Max who jumped on Monday morning for a few hours of shark fishing:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ytb87JNFGQ
We had seven brown sharks in the morning and then we had seven more on the afternoon trip for Mike Fuhrman and his friends. We came back in the bay, caught a ton of short fluke as well as a 19 incher and a 25 inch, 6 1/2 pounder, that Erin Foose of Cumberland, MD is holding in the pic.
Capt. Dave DeGennaro
Hi Flier Sportfishing
732.330.5674 cell

Hi Flier Flukin’ and Sharkin’

Lately we’ve been participating in two fisheries that we usually don’t target: fluke and sharks. After throwing gallons and gallons of shrimp and not connecting with any weakfish I decided to fish for what is here instead of what is not.
Although, they are mostly shorts, the bay, inlet, and ocean are all giving up good numbers of fluke. If you put your time in, you wind up with some good size fish for the cooler.
We have been targeting sharks for the last week and a half and catching them on every trip. Mostly all are 3 to 4 foot brown sharks. We are using lighter conventional outfits and releasing all that we catch. Only a 4 to 5 mile run from the inlet. They are super aggressive and give a great fight.
It is possible to combine both of these fisheries in the same 5 or 6 hour trip. We could also cast lures in the inlet for blues and small stripers when the conditions are right.
Sailing Open Boat or Charter: tomorrow (Friday) Aug 11, Noon to 6PM and Sat, Sun, and Mon, Aug 12, 13, and 14, 6AM to Noon, and 1 PM to 7 PM. $150 per person, 4 people max.
Attached pic: Lucas Petruzzo, 14, of Yorktown Heights, NY, with his first ever saltwater fish, a 4 ft. brown shark about to be released.
Capt. Dave DeGennaro
Hi Flier Sportfishing
732.330.5674 cell

Hi Flier Afternoon Shark Fishing Trips

We have been running afternoon shark fishing trips and doing very good. We are having a blast catching three to four foot brown sharks on 20 and 30 class tackle. So far all the action has been within five miles from the inlet. All catch and release. We go on the drift, deploy a bucket of chum overboard to create a slick, and set out a rod for everyone with a balloon bobber. We did this on Thurs and Fri afternoon and on each trip we had the sharks visibly eating at the chum can.

Open Boat or Charter tomorrow (Wed) and Friday, Aug 2 and 4, Noon to 5PM. We could also mix in fluke in the bay or blues in the inlet. $150 person, 4 people max.
We are booked Thurs, Sat and Sun, Aug 3, 5, and 6.
Monday, Aug 7, is available and the early look at the marine forecast is favorable so we could be headed offshore for tuna, Open Boat or Charter. The day is available to fish inshore or offshore.
Capt. Dave DeGennaro
Hi Flier Sportfishing
732.330.5674 cell

 

We’re Back from OC,MD. Hi Flier Fishing Bay and Offshore

We just got back from OC,MD yesterday with the Hi Flier. She’s back in Waretown and we are jumping back in to our home base fishing. We did pretty good down there. We didn’t kill it, but we weren’t awful. The weather allowed us to get out four days out of the ten we were there. Attached are the pics of our catch. Steve Spina of Canton, CT with his first ever tuna, a 60 lb bluefin that crushed a rainbow spreader bar. Here’s a few minutes of the end game: www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhB5RBwXsvA
Anthony Scalea Jr. of Cranford, NJ with a mahi that snatched a flatlined cedar plug. Nick DeGennaro, my son and first mate with his first wahoo, a 31 pounder that smoked a ballyhoo he just learned to rig on the ride out. Steve Ondrof of Rockaway, NJ with his first billfish, a 90 plus pound white marlin that put on endless show of jumps and greyhounding. We counted eight jumps in a row on just one of his ariels. Big thanks to Darren Dorris who gratefully was on board to teach Nick how to rig Joe Shutes with ballyhoo as well as how to maneuver the boat and handle a marlin boatside. I didn’t anticipate a billfish as I had tuna on my brain when making our packing list so I didn’t have any leader gloves. Nick volunteered the sleeves of his sweatshirt and Darren used them as makeshift gloves to bill the fish for a few quick pics and then we revived her until she swam away on her own. A magnificent thing to experience. Had the trip of a lifetime down there with both my boys, Nick 18, and Max 16, working deck while I ran the boat. Max stuck his first fish with a gaff, the 60 lb bluefin. He also did battle with a 150 pound Southern Sting Ray that ate a chunk bait and after 30 minutes he got him close enough for me to cut the leader at his mouth. Nick filled the void of Darren’s departure by taking over the cockpit and rigging all the baits, and they caught fish.
Locally we will be jumping right into grass shrimping and other gourmet baits for weakfish and the mixed bag on light tackle in the back bay. There are also blues and bass to catch in the inlet throwing soft plastics and surface lures. We will also be running offshore in search of tuna and mahi. I have availability this Fri, July 14 for an afternoon trip in the bay and inlet. Sun and Mon, July 16 and 17 I am available for inshore or offshore morning and afternoon. The marine weather looks favorable so if nobody charters those days, I will be running Open Boat trips on Sun and Mon to the 50 to 60 mile bluefin tuna grounds. This is mostly a trolling trip but we will always be armed with jigs and casting gear just in case the opportunity presents itself. $350 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared. Depart at 3AM, return around 12 hours later (probably later). Everything is provided, just bring whatever you want to eat and drink for the time we are out.
Capt. Dave DeGennaro
Hi Flier Sportfishing
732.330.5674 cell