Offshore Fishing Report- August 11, 2023

by OTW Staff

Inshore/Midshore

Bluefin tuna in the 50- to 60-inch range continued to barrage schools of squid off the coast of New Jersey, according to a report from the guys at Fisherman’s Supply in Point Pleasant Beach. While the occasional bluefin might take a well-placed popper, paddletail or a jig, dropping a live squid is nearly a sure thing. The best part of it all: you don’t have to race out there, because bluefin are eating squid for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Meanwhile, yellowfin played hard to get this week. Most anglers opted to save their gas money rather than fuel their own frustration in search of a bite that may or may not materialize; but, there were a few boats of yellowfin-atics that enjoyed steady action on jigs and poppers from the Triple Wrecks out to the Bacardi. Just slightly north, massive schools of menhaden have invaded the Bight between New York and New Jersey, and anglers are anxiously awaiting some of those larger rec. fish to find the schools for a bluefin-on-bunker bonanza.

 

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Anglers in southern New England are enjoying a mixed-bag of mid-size bluefin and yellowfin on a jig bite that just won’t die. And while fun-sized bluefin and yellowfin are responsible for the bulk of the action, some anglers experienced more of a “knife to a gunfight” type outing when giant bluefin came out to play. According to a report from Connor Swartz at Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay, oversized bluefin kept rods bent for anglers at The Claw last Sunday, while The Dump was quiet and almost devoid of life.

That report is consistent with the word from Pamela May Charters in Rhode Island, who enjoyed catching both yellowfin and bluefin on the transition from trolling to jigging this week. The giants were taking both jigs and live baits, like the mackerel that Captain Cam Faria of Cambo Charters fed to an 86-inch bluefin over the weekend after breaking off a commercial-size fish on a live hickory shad.

Doc Z  sent in this stud yellowfin from the Suffolk area that he caught on the troll, reporting they also got one off the bottom on a squid and hooked up to a thresher at night drifting.

The big yellowfin came at sunset after the fleet of boats left. They have been incorporating tuna trips by pushing offshore after their bass trips and it’s been awesome!

And the consolation prize for those who began the trek home empty handed, are the scattered pods of mahi that are taking resin jigs, paddletails and bucktails thrown their way. Mahi fishing has slowly improved over the past two to three weeks, but the bulk of the catch have been chicken mahi, so think small when casting towards pots and buoys.

Jeff, at White Water Outfitters on Long Island, followed suit with the rest of the reports, sharing that the mid-shore yellowfin bite off of Block is where it’s at right now. With fish hanging in 200-foot depths, jigs have remained the number one producer for bluefin, especially; but anglers are getting yellowfin on little bit of everything, from jigs and poppers to spreader bars.

It seems like the giants are just about everywhere from south of Block Island through The Claw, east of Chatham, to Cape Cod Bay and Stellwagen Bank.

The Canyons

The Canyons had some consistent action with swordfish, mid-size yellowfin and even some bigeye tuna before this incessant wind kept almost everyone at the docks for the past week. There have been a couple boats that made the trip out to Hudson Canyon, but according to Fishermen’s Supply in Point Pleasant, NJ, those boats are bringing tilefish bait with them to avoid the sulking trip home with an empty cooler.

Out of Slip 14 in the Nantucket Boat Basin Rainmaker, a 61’ Garlington, took down the Big Game Battle last weekend, and probably had the points to wrap up the win with just Yellowfin and Mahi points in what seemed like semi-slow fishing across the tournament. However, they sealed the deal with the points they got from 2 blue marlin and one white marlin for a landslide victory in a great offshore tourney which this year is raising funds for the Dion Foundation, a charity that supports children with rare diseases. I spoke to Kevin Gould who fished the tournament, who reported that the yellowfin and mahi were there, but very picky, especially the yellowfin. They had them up to 100 pounds and found their bellies loaded with shrimp which explains the finicky bite. They also raised a blue and a white but couldn’t get them to eat. He told me a few boats hit the big eye lotto, with a couple landed amongst the fleet.  

 

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I had a good buddy Matt Fronius fishing with a crew of savages on his 30’ Grady center console Miss Madeline out at Veatch as well, and the goal was to get dialed in on day dropping to add to the boat’s program. I can guarantee from first-hand experience, even for a trip that was focused on getting their reps in doing something new, fish or no fish, plenty of fun would be had. I checked in late Sunday afternoon on the inreach and they were off to a slow start with a couple mahi and a small yellow after blanking on the deep drop. However, things turned around for them around 1:30AM when they nabbed a small keeper sword, and once they got on the troll in the pre-dawn darkness Matt awoke to 6 rods screaming drag as they got covered up in 80-100 pound yellows. Matt had also managed to pop a nice yellowfin while trolling past a feed that ate a Nomad chug Norris. This was followed with a stud bigeye that managed to shake the hook just out of dart range boatside after an hour battle rounding out a very solid trip considering plenty of boats reporting a slow bite in that general area.

The White Marlin Open  

Further south, today is the last day of the White Marlin Open out of Ocean City Maryland, and 357 boats are fishing today, so hopefully, it’ll finish with a bang. From what I’ve been hearing the only game in town has been tuna. A 221 lb bigeye is currently in the lead, so heading into the last day not a single billfish has been weighed. That’s never happened and you need to go all the way back to the mid-80’s to find a year when no white marlin were landed, but from 84’-86’ blue marlin did account for the winning fish. It’s got to be a pretty intense feeling that one bite could seal the deal on a $7M grand prize! 

Delaware Mid-Shore/Offshore

I caught up with Les over at Lewe’s Icehouse Bait & Tackle out of Delaware, who reported a chunk bite has started to take shape with some yellowfin being caught at the hot dog, and the 12 & 19 lumps. That should improve as we turn the corner into fall, out at the 100 fathom line the troll bite has been productive with both big eye and yellowfin action over the last week when boats were able to get out. Poor man’s canyon had some tuna action, but the most notable report was a nice wahoo brought to the gaff. Folks looking a little further inshore for mahi have put together consistent catches by targeting the sea bass traps and offshore lobster pots. 

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