They blew the forecast for Saturday (yesterday). It was supposed to be torrential rain all day so we cancelled all fishing for the day. I don’t mind a few hours of rain but I’m not scheduling a long day in an open center console with nothing but rain. I woke up at 7AM and checked the Weather Channel forecast, no more rain forecasted for the day. I started mad texting people, scrambling to put a few people together to run to the tuna grounds. Two people jumped at the chance and we were off the dock by 9AM, a very late start in the world of tuna fishing, but it beats staying on land.

I had the GPS set for the 35-40 mile run where the fishing has been good the last few days, but 20 miles in, the sea condition worsened and the two footers we started out in were now three to fours and capping. I opted for the closer grounds, only 5 miles behind us, and we went on the troll. It was not good. The ocean was very sloppy and the lures were not tracking right, and mid day is not the best time to be trolling as it is. 

I did have some good readings on the machine and some bait in the cooler so we reeled in all the trolling gear and got two bait rods ready. You will see trolling rigs in the tuna pic because I was going to properly stow them while we were drifting and waiting for a hookup. I put a sardine on the first rod to go out, a weightless flatline that I was going to go really long with except about 30 feet from the boat, the line was snatched out of my hand and what followed was a smoking run off against full drag on the AVET LX. Obviously a tuna.We decked a nice 35 lb bluefin and ran back to do another drift. Hooked up again on the flatline, only this fish never hit the RPM’s of a tuna run. After a 20 minute fight we got him all the way to the boat for a quick release, looked to be about 130 lb class dusky shark. 
A few more drifts with no more action and we headed for the barn.

Running an Open Boat Tuna trip tomorrow (Monday) July 11. Looks like a good marine forecast to hit these closer tuna grounds. We are going to use bait and jigs. I will have the trolling rods and gear on board but the emphasis is going to be on bait with light 30 class conventional outfits. It’s just more fun to catch them that way. If we are not hooking up and the boats trolling around us are, then we can always change things up to what’s working. 4AM to Noon. $300 person. 4 people max. All fish are shared. Everything is provided.

Herman Diaz of Waretown, NJ with a 130 class Dusky Shark release.
Ross Mansbach from Atlanta, GA with his first tuna, a 35 lb bluefin.

Dave DeGennaro

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

Lots of options this week for fishing. Fishing the inlet jetty for stripers and blues. We will also be getting our first batches of live grass shrimp this weekend to target weakfish and the mixed bag on ultralite tackle in the bay. Saturday looks like a good day to run offshore for tuna and we have our first good reports from the mid range grounds on that fishery. 

Here is the reality of all the trips listed below:

Our Striper/Blue trips in the inlet have been producing more blackfish (Tog) than anything else. We have to catch 30 Tog to catch a few nice stripers as they are all hitting the same bait. The tog are all 2 to 5 pounders but they are out of season until August 1. The upside is we are catching everything on 10 pound spinning rods and bobbers drifted right into the jetty. As some of our customers have pointed out, there are worse problems to have than catching too many fish. Agreed. The bluefish are in there thick one day and gone the next. The bass are mostly 25 to 30 plus inch fish and we have tags to keep the 24 to 28 inchers. 

Live Grass Shrimp trips. This is the first time we have been able to buy this bait this season. The same slime or snot grass that has plagued our bay fishing has also made it impossible for our shrimp supplier to catch the bait…..until now. So, I don’t have any weakfish reports but shrimping usually stirs some kind of action up and we go all the way down to the six pound spinning outfits for this fishery. I like the idea of combining this with the jetty fishing in hopes one or the other will be successful. 

TUNA!!! For the last 7 or 8 years our inlet has been close to countless choices of mid-range tuna grounds for bluefin and yellowfin tuna. So far, this season, it has been a struggle to locate them at a reasonable distance. Cape Cod is loaded with fish and Cape May/OC,MD just heated up. Yesterday there were finally some nice fish caught at a reasonable distance from Barnegat Inlet. That’s where we are headed on Saturday as long as the marine forecast holds up. It’s not a slam dunk, a few boats went and caught yesterday (Wed), that’s all I got. And no, I can’t share where, as it was given to me in confidence. If I find them first, then I can tell whoever I want. It’s just the code we live by. 

Here is our Open Boat schedule for the next few days, of course, you could charter the boat for your own group, as well:

Fri July 8 11AM to 4 PM Stripers and Blues in the inlet.  $175 person
Sat July 9 2AM to 4PM Mid Range TUNA.  $450 person
Sun July 10 6AM to Noon Bass & Blues at the Inlet and Live Grass Shrimp in the Bay Combo $200 person
Mon July 11 6AM to Noon Bass & Blues at the Inlet and Live Grass Shrimp in the Bay Combo $200 person
All trips are 4 people max, all fish are shared.
Call to reserve a spot right up until “go time”. Phone is best as I am fishing more than I am checking email.

See you on board!

Dave

Dave DeGennaro

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

I just spent the last four days on the water and finally got a chance to put a report out. Every trip has been at the inlet jetty fishing a  bobber and worms, targeting stripers. All on10 lb spinning gear. A lot of fun. Catching a few legal fluke and too many blackfish in the effort. We are using in line circle hooks as required, so all the tog are released unharmed. The bass are anywhere from 25 to 30 plus inches and we have tags to keep 24 to 28 inch fish for all on board. Any given day we are catching bluefish on lures there, too, but some days they just aren’t there. 

Running Open Boat to Barnegat Ridge for bonita and albacore Monday, July 4, 7AM to 2PM. $250 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared. I do not have any bonita reports, only albies that I have heard of, but there could be anything there this time of year, it’s just time to try. 
Also available during the week, Wed, Thurs, and Fri, July 6, 7, and 8, 11AM to 4PM for the inlet stripers and blues fishing. 

Dave DeGennaro

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

We struggled on our Sat and Sun trips with 20 plus knot winds and some sporty conditions in the bay and inlet. On our Sat trip we eeked out a catch of a slot striper, a tog, a fluke, and a bluefish for Bill Fitts and his family. On Sunday we fought the worst of the weekend conditions for a bluefish and a sand shark. On Monday, the wind subsided and we had “lights out” fishing for the entire six hour trip for Dave Estey and his gang. Casting lures around the inlet jetty, they had 25 two to five pound blues. Drifting bobbers with bait into the jetty produced a 28 and 29 inch striper as well as a bunch of 2 to 4 lb tog. The tog are out of season, so we released them. We are using in line circle hooks while targeting the stripers so all of the tog have been mouth hooked and released in very good condition. 

We have two spots booked and two spots available for an Open Boat trip this Friday June 24 11AM to 4PM for fishing stripers and blues in the inlet. $175 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared. 
Open Boat TUNA!! The weather looks really good for this Sat June 25 to head to the tuna grounds. There isn’t any mid range action yet, so we are making the 80 to 90 mile trek to where the fish are. It is all trolling right now. 2AM to 5PM. $550 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared.

Sun and Mon, June 26 and 27 are also available for Open Boat or Charter for stripers, blues, and fluke. $175 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared. 

Dave DeGennaro

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

We ran to the Lindenkohl Canyon early Saturday morning in search of tuna. We arrived at the spot and as Nick started letting out the second rod in our spread it got tanked by a nice 45 pound yellowfin that liked the Joe Shute ballyhoo he had just rigged minutes before. That would prove to be our only fish for the cooler. We released three others throughout the day that did not tape out to be legal size. 

On Monday I had Mike Fuhrman and friends out for some inlet fishing. They caught 7 or 8, two to four pound tog that ate our striper bait, but sadly the season is closed, so they were all returned to swim another day. They also had a 29 and 31 inch striper. Everything was on 10 to 12 pound spinning gear, so the bass battles were epic. 
We are heavily booked through the weekend but we are adding a second slot on Saturday June 18 from 1PM to 6PM if anyone is interested in chartering the boat for that time. The possible species to target are stripers, blues, and fluke. Capt Nick will be running this one, he’s a better fluker than me, anyway. 
Also available Wed June 22 and Fri June 24 for afternoon trips, 11AM to 4PM. Targeting stripers and blues at the inlet jetty. We could also mix in some fluke fishing. 

Dave DeGennaro

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

I have been watching this weather window for days and it is still right on the fence for what I like to sail in. The early morning looks good, but they have the wind coming up in the afternoon. I am going to keep getting ready as if we are going but there is always a chance I will cancel right up until our ride out the inlet or during our ride out to the grounds. It’s not beyond me to pull the plug if I don’t feel it’s right and I don’t make these decisions based on people’s level of disappointment. I feel it’s important to offer this information so you know what you are signing up for. You will always have a better chance of getting to the tuna grounds if you book another boat. I openly tell people that all the time. I’m not ashamed of it, I know where I am in the food chain. At the end of the day, we are a 25 foot center console. It is a very capable 25 foot, twin engine catamaran, with all the necessary safety equipment, including an inspected 6 man Viking life raft, EPIRB (search and rescue satellite beacon), on board Sirius/XM weather station that lets us track any storm cells and see new ones as they are born, redundant electronics including radar. I had all that stuff before I bought the first gold reel. 

I will continue to monitor the marine weather forecast right up until “go time”. The inlet is another factor in these departures in the dark. Fortunately, we have incoming tide on both our departure and return, which always makes for calmer conditions in the inlet.  

Open Boat Canyon Tuna, this Saturday June 11. 2AM to 4PM (usually later). $650 person plus tip for the mate. 4 people max. All fish are shared. We will be mostly trolling, targeting yellowfin and mahi. There is some warm water that pushed in and the boats that ran did well on good size yellowfin and gaffer size mahi. I will also have the tilefish rods and gear on board if we want to try. Sorry, no electric reels, we hand crank. Anyone interested in reserving a spot should call me on my cell below.

Dave DeGennaro

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

I had Marty Rodgers and his family from Ship Bottom, NJ out today for an interesting mix of fishing. We had two keeper sea bass among a lot of throwbacks, as well as a legal 21 inch cod, all at the Tires. We stopped to fish the inlet jetty on the way back and added a 28 and 30 inch striper to the cooler. Both on bunker we snagged right there at the jetty. 
Going to do more of the same tomorrow, Monday May 30 7AM to 1PM, Open Boat or Charter. If Open Boat, $165 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared. We could mix in the bottom fishing at the reef or just stay on the stripers the whole time. This time slot works perfect. The tide will be on the slow down and start up. The wind is light all morning and doesn’t come up until late in the afternoon. Tons of bunker right now.
Call to reserve a spot.
Dave DeGennaro

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

We will be sailing Open Boat Sat, Sun, Mon, and Tues this holiday weekend, May 28, 29, 30, 31. Sat 5:30AM to 11:30AM, Sun 6AM to Noon, Mon 7AM to 1PM, Tues 10AM to 4PM, all based on tide. $165 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared. Also available to charter these days. 
We will try fishing the inlet jetty for stripers and the back bay for fluke. If the ocean is nice, we could also try the reef for sea bass. 
Here are a few short clips of the 25 and 33 inch stripers we had this past Sunday. Chris Hartman of Lancaster, PA in the blue/silver jacket and Dennis Destefano of Harrisburg, PA in the green sweatshirt.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofAawGphXw4
www.youtube.com/shorts/ZZ_F1MlEbcQ

Call to reserve a spot.

See you on board!

Dave DeGennaro

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

FINALLY! The wind subsides enough to have a good go at it in Barnegat Bay this weekend. I will be loaded up with a flat of sandworms and a bucket of fresh salted clams. The target will be stripers, blues, and fluke. Casting lures along the sod banks and channel edges, drift jigging with shad darts tipped with sandworms usually does well for me this time of year for the schoolie bass. Anchoring up and chumming with the fresh clams can produce bigger stripers. Poppers on the west side for blues if we can find them. We can mix in some fluke fishing, it’s all up to you guys. We will be bringing the “kitchen sink”…something has to work…right? 

Sat, Sun, and Mon, May 14, 15, and 16. 6AM to Noon each day. $165 person, 4 people max. All fish are shared. Also available to charter these dates.

See you on board!

Dave DeGennaro

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

We just got in the water this past weekend. We are available for charter or Open Boat this Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, April 23, 24, and 25. My plan is to try a few hours of winter flounder and a few hours of casting for schoolie stripers in the bay. We could try anchoring with clams in the channel for the bass, too.  

7AM to 1PM. $165 person on the Open Boat, 4 people max, all fish are shared. $650 for the whole boat if you are chartering it.

This is earlier in the season then I usually start, but I am going to load up on worms, clams, and chum and go on the hunt with plugs and soft plastics looking for life in Barnegat Bay. 
Looking forward to seeing everyone on board this season.
Dave DeGennaro

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com