Hello Everyone,

Next week is our 2024 Philadelphia Fishing Show in Oaks, PA, Feb 16-18. This will be our 5th Annual and biggest show to date. There are 145 different companies filling out over 220 booths, as well as boats, RV’s, and attractions. This is a pure fishing show, no junk booths. Only five percent of our floor is non-fishing and I hand pick those exhibits: hot sauce, pickles, mustard, jerky, crab cakes, moonshine, bourbon, and more! Check out the Hawg Trough, a 5,000 gallon aquarium full of freshwater gamefish. The kids can even catch a fish at the show in the fully stocked Trout Pond. There is also a fishing simulator where you can go toe to toe with a tarpon or sailfish. FREE Seminars: there are three seminar rooms going around the clock for all three days with some of the area’s best guides and captains sharing what they know about their favorite sport. 

I do have some news about the Hi Flier. I retired from my truck driving job, so I will be available full time, 7 days a week for charters. We will be starting to striper fish in late April and will keep fishing into Thanksgiving. Those of you that fish with us know we fish Barnegat Bay to the tuna grounds and everything in between. 

We will have a booth at the show, Booth 426, if you want to stop by and say Hey to me or Capt Nick. I am rarely in the booth, as I am usually all over the show making sure everything is running smoothly. But if you want to book a trip, have a question, or just say hello, have Nick or anyone with a bright green STAFF shirt get me on the radio and I will meet you at the booth.

Looking forward to a great show and fishing season!

See you on board.

Thank you,

Dave

Dave DeGennaro

Back Bay Adventures

732.330.5674 cell

phillyfishingshow.com

hiflier.com

Looks like a nice weather pattern coming up so we will be sailing Open Boat or Charter for Stripers Thurs Nov 2, Fri Nov 3, Sat Nov 4, and Sun Nov 5. These cooler temps along with the passing of the full moon should really accelerate the migration. We have been catching 35 to 50 lb class fish on live bunker recently but there should be a good push of school size fish this week. We are going to make a left and trek north each day until we find them. We will be ready to snag, drift bait, jig, cast lures, or troll, whatever conditions dictate. We always have everything on board. We have bonus tags for everyone on board so we can keep one fish between 24 and 28 inches per person, and one fish between 28 and 31 inches per person.

Open Boat or Charter for Stripers Thurs Nov 2, Fri Nov 3, Sat Nov 4, and Sun Nov 5. 6AM to 2PM (or later).  

$275 person. 4 people max. All fish are shared.

Pics are from our Fri and Sat trips this past weekend.Hope to see you on board.

Thank you,

Dave

Dave DeGennaroHi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

The striper fishery is heating up. I had the Gordon Soda group from Allentown, PA out for some personal best striper fishing. A 45 and 50 pound bass on live bunker off of Island Beach State Park in 10 feet of water. Pics below.

There are now some smaller size fish mixed in so that we could try to put some in the cooler, as well. We will have to trek some miles north for that but I don’t mind if you don’t mind. I don’t have any north or south boundaries when it comes to finding fish. Number one rule: Fish where the fish are. We are armed to the teeth with gear for snagging, bait fishing, jigging, casting, and trolling.

Sailing Open Boat or Charter: Thurs Oct 26, Fri Oct 27, and Sat Oct 28. 6:30 AM to 2:30PM (could be later) $275 person. 4 people max. All fish are shared. Everything is included. We are available tomorrow, Wed Oct 25 and Sun Oct 29, as well, for charters.

We have bonus tags for everyone, so we can keep one fish per person between 24 and 31 inches.

Thank you,

Dave

Dave DeGennaroHi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cellhiflier.com

We have a few spots available on our Open Boat Tuna trip scheduled for this Thurs Oct 12. Departing at 4AM, returning sometime late afternoon, approx 4PM. The weather and sea condition look great. Light and variable wind and calm seas. The target is tuna, bluefin and/or yellowfin. We have good intel on both. Everything is on bait and jigs. Best way to catch them!

$450 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared. 

Thank you,

Dave

Dave DeGennaroHi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cellhiflier.com

It appears that this “End of all time” weather is finally coming to an end. Monday is borderline for our boat, so I am going to give it one more day for the seas to come down even more by Tues. Then Tues thru Fri, Oct 3, 4, 5, and 6, we will be running Open Boat or Charter for anything we can. Nobody has been out, so it is going to be a work in progress schedule. 

The bay does not have a lot to offer as my shrimp supplier is done for the season. The good news is that there are plenty of options in the ocean.
If I had to pick a place to start, it would be Barnegat Ridge. Good chance of finding bonita and albies there. Right before all this messy weather, there were quite a few big bluefin taken there, as well. I plan on bringing every size gear from 12 lb spinning outfits to 80 class standups. I have pails of spearing and peanut bunker to get the party started. The big bluefin were taken on live bait that could be caught right on the same grounds. 

The other fishery we are all watching and hoping is at the 60 to 65 mile range where we left the yellowfin tuna biting. These fish were bruisers, all 50 to 80 plus pound fish.  On bait and jigs during daylight hours, the most fun way to catch these tuna. We will be trading info within our network and if those fish are there, we’re gone!

October is a good time of year to fish the inlet jetty for stripers and blues. We will be mostly casting lures at the jetty. There is a chance of finding migrating albacore along the beach, as well.

Here is how the Open Boat trips will play out:

Tues Oct 3, Wed Oct 4, Thurs Oct 5, and Fri Oct 6

Barnegat Ridge 6AM to 2PM $300 person or $1,200 Charter

60 to 65 Mile Yellowfin Tuna: 4AM to 4PM $450 person or $1,800 Charter

Inlet or Inshore Trips 7AM to Noon $700, or 7AM to 1PM $800 for Charter only, no Open Boat

All trips are 4 people max, all fish are shared. Call right up until “go time”! If it goes right to voicemail it means I am offshore, out of cell range, and will call you back as soon as we get back in range.

Hope to see you on board!

Thank you,

Dave

Dave DeGennaro

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

We will be running Open Boat Tuna on Mon/Tues/Wed, Sept 18/19/20, 5AM to 5PM, 60-70 mile range, $500 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared. Everything is provided. If you have a favorite rod or two that you want to use, bring it.

These are 50 to 80 lb yellowfins. Bait fishing and jigging. Everything is provided.Call to reserve a spot, right up until “go time”.

These dates are also available for your private charter, inshore or offshore, as well. This is an exciting time of year for fishing. Tuna offshore, albies and bonita at the Ridge, weakies and more in the bay. Today we had a bunch of weakies, a 20 inch fluke, and 11 species total on the live shrimp using 6 lb spinning rods. Weakfish, fluke, sea bass, blowfish, sand shark, bluefish, skate, pinfish, silver perch, goggle eye, and spots. All spots are immediately confiscated and are property of the Hi Flier.

Dave DeGennaro

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

There’s good reason for the exclamation point. The weather looks excellent for going offshore tomorrow and that is going to change very soon. Also, there is a hot bite on big yellowfin tuna within our range, 50 to 60 miles. A lot of these fish are being caught on bait during daylight hours. To me, there is nothing more exciting than having that reel go from zero to 40!

We will have the trolling gear on board in case we have to scout around, but I am hoping not to use it all. We will also have jigging rods and jigs, as it sounds like that has been producing, as well. 

OPEN BOAT TUNA: Thurs Sept 7, 4AM to 4PM, $500 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared.You can call right up until “Go Time”, I am really pushing to get this trip off while the fishing is hot and the sea condition is right.

Call to reserve a spot.
See you on board!

Dave DeGennaro
Hi Flier Sportfishing
732.330.5674 cell
hiflier.com

The Barnegat Ridge is loaded with false albacore. Great sport but not edible. To make it interesting, though, there are bonita mixed in, which are also fun to catch and delicious to eat. Any way you prepare tuna, you can also make bonita, including sashimi. The squid boats are there dragging squid and we jigged a bunch of those yesterday and set out lines for bluefin tuna, but no takers. We did catch some small mahi mahi whenever we drifted by any floating debris. There is 72 degree blue-ish water there that is also holding flying fish. It is a lively piece of water right now. 

We will be running Open Boat trips there Wed Sept 6 and Thurs Sept 7, 7AM to 3PM. We will be hi-speed trolling as well as drifting with bait. I am supposed to be picking up pails of spearing today which means we could chum them up and use the light spinning rods. We will have everything on board from the light tackle to the 50 class tuna reels. $300 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared.
We are also available for charter 7 days a week now, including these dates, for any type of fishing, inshore, the bay, or offshore.

Dave DeGennaro
Hi Flier Sportfishing
732.330.5674 cell
hiflier.com

This has been one of the trickiest weather windows to try and figure out on the backside of the recent storms. Tomorrow looks pretty good. There is going to be a long moderate swell with light winds that change direction all day. The big question is: Are the squid and tuna still where we left them? Inside of 20 miles from our marina. Only one way to find out. We are running an Open Boat Tuna trip tomorrow, Sat Sept 2, 6AM to 2PM, I want to be back through the inlet before that outgoing tide stacks up against the incoming swell. $350 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared. We are going regardless of how many people sign up. My son Nick is in town to work deck, so even if it’s just him and I, we are going. 

Sunday, Sept 3, it blows up a little bit, so we are available for shrimping weakfish in the bay. Monday Sept 4, Wed Sept 6, and Thurs Sept 7 we will be running Open Boat Tuna also, leaving at 6AM each day, returning 8 to 10 hours later. Any of these dates can be also be chartered to fish the bay or Barnegat Ridge for bonita, albies, and more.

Call to reserve a spot.

See you on board.

Thanks,

Dave

Dave DeGennaro
Hi Flier Sportfishing
732.330.5674 cell
hiflier.com

I am not liking the marine forecast for ocean fishing the next few days so we will be focusing on fishing in the bay. Available Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat, Aug 30 thru Sept 2 for Live Grass Shrimping trips for Weakfish. We use ultralite 6 lb spinning outfits so everything we catch provides great sport. The weakfish have been mostly 13 to 17 inch fish with a few bigger ones mixed in. Once we start chumming with the live shrimp we get a lot of fish around the boat, often it becomes visual with fish eating our chum right at the boat. Little bluefish, fluke, hickory shad, spots, croakers, blowfish, juvenille sea bass, sand sharks, sea robins, kingfish, and more are common visitors to our live shrimp slick. 

These are 5 hour trips. $700 to charter the boat for up to 4 people. Everything is included. Just bring whatever you like to eat and drink. 

I am now available 7 days a week for Charters and Open Boat trips.

Hope to see you on board!

Dave

Dave DeGennaro
Hi Flier Sportfishing
732.330.5674 cell
hiflier.com