Right now is a bit of a holding pattern for the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association as they await the arrival of the striped bass and the big bluefish that mark the beginning of the traditional New Jersey fall fishing season.
There is still some top-notch offshore big game fishing to be had for tuna, mahi-mahi, and even some swordfish, but poor weather recently has made trips to the offshore canyons a bit dicey.
The inshore fishery for summer flounder ended a week ago, and black sea bass season re-opened which does fill a bit of a void there. Strong northeast winds last weekend, however, even put the damper on the trips to the inshore artificial reefs.
Captain Fran Verdi did manage to make one or two trips with the “Francesca Marie” after sea bass and did put some nice keepers into the fish box. The high seas made fishing a bit uncomfortable as well as hampering efforts to locate the boat exactly over the structure that he wanted to fish.
With more favorable weather forecast in the near future, Captain Fran has plans to put his anglers on some good sea bass action.
Meanwhile the cool evenings have slowly lowered the area water temperatures and brought a very large amount of baitfish around. There are huge schools of finger mullet and peanut bunker everywhere. When the bluefish and stripers arrive from the north and find this bait, the fall action should break wide open.