Author: Hi Flier

So our bonita/albacore trip sucked last week. Ran 26 miles north to where the bite had been good for a few weeks just to hear the “What happened?” chatter on the radio. We eeked out one nice bonita on bait and that was that. The only good thing that happened was I broke in one of the six new Fish Head rods I just acquired from Fishermans Headquarters on that fish, and they are awesome! Flexible enough to enjoy the fight but has enough backbone to control the fish. Love them! Paired with 5000 spinning reels, these are going to be our “everything” outfits. Bonita, albies, mahi, stripers, blues and anything else that shows up.

We are crushing the weakfish and big blowfish in Barnegat Bay. All on six pound ultralite rods. The weakies are ranging from 11 to 18 inches, with most in the 13 to 15 inch range. We are available for your private charter for these trips Fri Sept 2, 5, 6, and 7.

We have been laying low on the tuna trips because, frankly, we were not scoring. It’s been a tricky season. SO, I do what most boats in my size class do (25 ft), we wait and watch the marine weather, and wait, and watch, sometimes we watch and wait, and then BAM! The weather window is there and I have some good intel from a friend who just got back from a good yellowfin trip. So we are headed east in search of the bite. Should be mostly bait and jigs. I will have the trolling gear on board but I am hoping not to use it unless we are scouting. Saturday Sept 3, 3AM to 5PM, $450 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared. We need to fill all 4 spots to sail. The boat is also available for charter for this day, but only for tuna. I need a shot of blue water once and a while to stay sane. Saturday is that day. Call to reserve a spot, that is the best way to get me. 
Hope to see you on board,
Dave
Dave DeGennaro
Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

Pic: Billy Fellows of Absecon NJ with a nice bonita

It looks like a really nice marine forecast coming up for the weekend, light winds, and calm seas, so we are headed offshore to target bonita, albacore, and whatever else we could coax into our slick. I am loaded with fresh spearing, and that is the key into getting them around the boat. We are going to anchor up and fish them with bait and jigs on light tackle. Sailing Open Boat or Charter: Sat Aug 27 and Sun Aug 28, 5AM to 1PM, $325 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared. The boat is also available for charter on either of these days for inshore or offshore.

We have been doing really well catching weakfish in the bay on live grass shrimp. They are anywhere from 11 to 17 inchers. Also in the mix are blowfish, hickory shad, snapper blues, spots, sand sharks, kingfish, fluke, and more. Constant action on the six pound ultralite outfits. I am available Tues Aug 30, Wed Aug 31, Thurs Sept 1, and Fri Sept 2, 10AM to 3PM for these trips. Charter only, not Open Boat on these trips. 
There are also sharks to catch just a few miles outside the inlet. Two to three foot Atlantic Sharpnose and Spinner sharks along with 125 to 150 lb Brown Sharks. This could be combined with the bay fishing as well.

Pics:Baxter Thomas of Summit NJ in the red life vest putting the boots to a 130 lb class Brown Shark on 30 class conventional tackle.

Dave DeGennaro

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

Had a good week of fishing. Returned to the inshore tuna spot on Monday. After waiting for the messy weather to blow thru which delayed our departure from 3AM to 7AM, we took it on the chin head on into the northeast wind and waves that were a little stiffer than forecasted. Lines in at 9:30 AM. No readings and no hits until 12 Noon when the deep rod goes screaming. It was a sardine bait with a sinker, four cranks off the bottom. We use light gear, 30 class conventionals, so this fish took a ride. 90 minutes later, an 80 lb yellowfin hits the deck. A little while later we released a five foot hammerhead shark. No more hits until 5PM when we are cleaning up and clearing the rods to go home and the last rod to be cleared starts singing. Fifteen minutes later, we deck a 50 lb yellowfin and head for the barn. That one hit a weightless flatine. 

Yesterday (Thursday) we did some inshore sharking and caught three Atlantic Sharpnose sharks before heading into the bay to pickup some live grass shrimp I ordered. It was our first effort of the season with the shrimp and I was not overly optimistic as I know a few people who tried recently, and the reports were not good. I conveyed this to my charter and they were willing to try anyway. After about 15 minutes of chumming shrimp we had the first of the weakfish, they were all about 11 to 12 inches. Then it changed to 13 to 15 inch fish, one after the other, all on 6 pound ultralite spinning rods. It looks like this fishery is underway.  

Available for charter Sunday Aug 7, Mon Aug 8, and Fri Aug 12 for Back Bay Weakfishing with live grass shrimp. 5 hour trip $700. 

We are fully booked until Thurs Aug 25 is our next availability.
Hope to see you on board.

Dave DeGennaro

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

Not great. That sums up our own personal offshore fishing lately. On our last two trips, we covered 180 miles and 140 miles, respectively, with nothing to show for it except a 15 lb mahi. While I was covering all that water from the Texas Tower to the 28 Mile Wreck, some boats were catching 30 lb class bluefin less than 20 miles from my home port of Barnegat Inlet. I think I am going to keep it closer to home this weekend and Monday, unless I get some really good intel to change my mind. To be clear, they are not slaying the bluefin, they’re catching a few, one, or none. The grounds they are fishing on typically provide a variety of bonita, albacore, king mackerel, spanish, mackerel, mahi, and more. I’m not saying any of those species are there, I’m saying, historically, this time of year, any of those species could be in the mix. The water there is blueish and 74 to 77 degrees. A good amount of flying fish, which should attract some mahi. I will be running Open Boat or Charter to these grounds, armed with trolling gear and prepared to bait fish, as well. 

Our inshore sharking trips have been doing very well. I tell people to expect two to three foot Spinner, Blacktip, and Atlantic Sharpnose sharks. They are small in stature, but are high powered pelagic sharks that give a really good fight on light tackle. The bigger sharks don’t always get the memo that we are fishing for smaller sharks and on all three of our trips last week we had a 130 to 150 lb class brown shark. All catch and release, as these are not edible species. It is possible to combine some inshore fishing with this, as well, like casting lures at the inlet jetty for schoolie stripers and blues, or fluking inside the bay. We could also try some live grass shrimp for the ultra lite mix of species on six pound tackle. Weakfish are always the target, but they are not always there, so the goal is to catch as many different species as we can. 

Looks like a really good marine forecast for this stretch of dates:

Sailing Open Boat or Available for Charter: 
Thursday July 28 10AM to 5PM  Barnegat Ridge 15 to 20 Mile Range $275 person
Friday July 29 10AM to 5PM  Barnegat Ridge 15 to 20 Mile Range $275 person
Saturday July 30 6AM to 2PM Barnegat Ridge 15 to 20 Mile Range $300 person
Monday August 2AM to 4PM Mid Range Tuna 30 to 60 Mile Range $450 person
All trips are limited to 4 passengers. All fish are shared.
Any of these dates are also available for your private charter to fish inshore, offshore, or the bay.

Pic: Steve Ondrof of Rockaway NJ with his 15 lb Mahi caught at the 28 Mile Wreck this past Saturday.

Dave DeGennaro

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

Right now the forecast for this Sunday, July 17 and Monday, July 18 looks pretty good. 
I am hoping to run to the 30 to 40 mile grounds for Yellowfin Tuna. If the weather and sea conditions are not perfect for that, Plan B will be the 15 to 20 mile grounds for Bluefin Tuna, King Mackerel, and whatever else might be there. 

We will be prepared to troll, jig, and bait fish in either spot.
$450 person for the 30-40 mile run.3AM to 3PM
$300 person for the 15-20 mile run.4AM to 2PM
Four people max, all fish are shared on either trip.

I just stopped in Fishermans Headquarters to stock up on flourocarbon, gourmet hooks, and jigs!

I am only accepting reservations from individuals who are willing to do either trip. The decision on which distance is appropriate will be made right up until our ride out the inlet and some riding into the sea condition. Keep mind, I always error on the side of caution.

Monday is also available as an inshore private charter if you prefer.

Call me on my cell to reserve a spot. You can call right up until our departure time.

Dave DeGennaro

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674

hiflier.com

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