<b>Sandy Hook</b>

A good spread of yellowfin tuna and a few bigeye tuna swam from Toms to Lindenkohl canyons, Capt. Joe Baumle from <b>Sour Kraut Sportfishing</b> from Leonardo heard recently, he said. Bluefin tuna held in the Chicken Canyon and Bacardi wreck areas. Trips aboard are sailing for tuna.

A couple of regular customers tackled two bluefin tuna on one trip and two on another a couple of days later, said Ron from <b>Julian’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Atlantic Highlands.

<b>Manasquan Inlet</b>

Tuna fishing was good, Capt. Alan from <b>Mushin Sportfishing</b> from Point Pleasant Beach wrote in an email. Mushin fishes for them from Cape May each June through July. A healthy spread of tuna ranged north and south of Cape May last weekend. A 30-hour “Canyon Safari” during the weekend aboard first tilefished. That angling limited out on bluelines to 22 pounds and boxed some goldens. In the evening, the charter trolled a good pick of yellowfin tuna to 70 pounds. At night, the trip drifted for sharks, releasing five makos 150 to 175 pounds. In the morning, Mushin got back up on the troll, and the charter caught as many tuna as they wanted. Charters and open-boat trips are fishing.

Ten yellowfin tuna 30 to 50 pounds and two mahi mahi, small but good-eating sized, were trolled at southern canyons Saturday on the <b>Tin Knocker</b> from Point Pleasant, all on spreader bars, Capt. John said. The water, 72 to 73 degrees, was loaded with life including porpoises everywhere, whales and birds working. The water wasn’t deep blue. “It was one of those blended blues,” he said, and was flat-calm.

Toms Canyon sounded like the place to be to troll yellowfin tuna, not large but some 30- and 40-pounders, a handful of bigeye tuna and a fair number of white marlin, said Eric from <b>The Reel Seat</b> in Brielle yesterday. Bluefin tuna seemed to hold at Chicken Canyon but seemed tough to get to bite. Afternoons seemed the time to catch any, and the bluefins were trolled on ballyhoos and spreader bars, and were sometimes hooked on cast sliders. Eric on Sunday said fishing was good for yellowfins and bigeyes at Carteret Canyon on the troll. Closer to shore, he said on Sunday, a healthy spread of bluefins swam Little Italy, the Chicken Canyon and along the 30-fathom line past the Bacardi wreck, or that area. The bluefins weighed 30 to 40 pounds and up to 200 pounds, depending on the pod. Most were trolled, but some were popper-plugged.

<b>Barnegat Inlet</b>

Trolling for yellowfin tuna went pretty well at offshore canyons with <b>Tuna-Tic Sportfishing</b> from Forked River, Capt. Mike said. No tuna bit at night on the chunk yet. Nighttime fishing was dead. That was all Mike could report at the moment because a phone call came in that he had to answer.

A trip for tuna is supposed to run today on the <b>Super Chic</b> from Barnegat Light but might be weathered out, Capt. Ted said before the trip. Spaces are available for an open-boat trip for tuna offshore July 20 to 21 and another inshore on July 22.

Tuna fishing was good offshore, whether at Spencer or Carteret canyons or other canyons, said Mike from <b>Grizz’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Forked River. Yellowfin tuna 40 to 70 pounds were trolled. A customer said all the bluefin tuna an angler could want swam Chicken Canyon, closer to shore. The complete supply of offshore baits is stocked. Call ahead for big orders.

An email from Capt. Dave DeGennaro from the <b>Hi Flier</b> from Barnegat on Sunday: “We are headed to the canyons to catch tuna. The bite is red hot and we have good intel on where to go. The boat is fueled, iced, and turn key ready to leave at 2AM tonight (last Sunday), or technically tomorrow (last Monday) morning. We have three guys signed up already and we take a maximum of four … all fish are shared. Return around 4 or 5 PM on Monday. We have everything. Just bring whatever you want to eat and drink for the time we are out (14 to 15 hours). Wednesday's canyon trip is sold out but we will be announcing more as we see nice weather windows coming up. As a result, these will be announced on short notice. We are still sailing every day for inshore fishing which has been made up mostly of casting lures at 3 to 5 pound bluefish in the inlet. We will also be running trips to Barnegat Ridge for bonita, albacore and who knows what else if that blue water pushes in a little closer. Live grass shrimp is now available to us, so we will be mixing that in for bay and jetty fishing. It's also time to start inshore sharking. Just three to four miles off the beach we chum for small sharks on light tackle. Most are 2 to 4 foot browns, spinners, and Atlantic sharpnose sharks.”

<b>Great Egg Harbor Inlet</b>

A couple of spaces are left for an open-boat tuna trip on Sunday, July 15, on the <b>Stray Cat</b> from Longport, Capt. Mike said. Stray Cat will probably sail on two more open trips for tuna this season.

Fishing for tuna and mahi mahi was fairly consistent at Baltimore and Wilmington canyons, said Nick from <b>Fin-Atics</b> in Ocean City. Been a good year for tuna fishing. Most of the tuna were trolled, but some were top-water plugged on a couple of occasions heard about.

<b>Townsend’s Inlet</b>

Tuna fishing sounded excellent offshore, mostly on the troll, said Mike from <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b> in Sea Isle City. Lots of splash bars and tackle like that was trolled. Mostly yellowfin tuna were hooked. But sometimes bigeye tuna and bluefin tuna were taken on the trips. Mike heard about his year’s first swordfish that a recreational trip docked. Good trolling for bluefish, a few bonito and a couple of mahi mahi was reported from inshore to mid-shore. Triggerfish were angled at floating structure including buoys on those trips, too.

<b>Cape May Inlet</b>

Trips tuna fished Friday and Saturday on the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> from Cape May, Capt. George said. Near Cape May, tuna are all at the canyons, all the way offshore. Trips need to cover ground and run across them. Mahi mahi and white marlin began to show up on the grounds.

A trip fished offshore a few days ago aboard, Capt. Tom from <b>Fishin’ Fever Sportfishing</b> from Cape May said on Sunday. The water seemed to move a little overnight. A yellowfin tuna, a white marlin and a mahi mahi were reeled in. A tilefish trip Sunday aboard boxed 23 goldens to 25 pounds, 32 bluelines to 18 pounds and six blackbelly rosefish. Charters and open-boat trips are sailing for both fishing.

Fishing caught yellowfin tuna, mostly on the troll, at canyons like Lindenkohl and Carteret or farther south at Washington Canyon, said Nick from <b>Hands Too Bait & Tackle</b> in Cape May. A few bluefin tuna were spotted at inshore lumps and canyons like Massey’s. Some of those began to be chunked or jigged. A couple of trips reported trolling a few mahi mahi at 5-Fathom Bank. One of the trips spotted a cobia.

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