The attentions of the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association will now be focused on other species with the 2013 summer flounder now officially closed in New Jersey.

With the weather pretty much cooperating, the final days of the fluke season went well. Captain Fran Verdi on the “Francesca Marie” put his largest fluke of the season in the box when Dave Sikorski of Manahawkin and the Village Harbor Fishing Club boated a 7.95 pound doormat. Verdi already has trips booked for black sea bass trips when the season opens on Friday, September 27. After a couple of months of no fishing pressure, he expects the sea bass to be hungry.

Captain Carl Sheppard took a party of 10 anglers offshore last weekend and

stopped first at a depth of 80-feet and found a fine collection of large black bass. Since the season was closed, he moved on out to the 100-foot line and found a mix of false albacore and bonito on the troll. Those sporty fish provide a very fast first run and a good tussle for their size. Later in the day he hooked up with a 4-foot mahi-mahi.