New Jersey Fishing Report...By Captain Bob Pennington
The Sea Devil is privately chartered on Saturday July 31, and Monday, August 2; plan to fish on any other day!
Wednesday, July 28: We started out on the Sea side Lump. (…took that right turn out of the inlet.) We had 3 good drifts catching the small blues on jigs. We moved a little further east and caught a few more; although when the SW wind picked up and it started to get uncomfortable, we made a move closer to home. We found the blue fish stacked up on the edge to the high bottom. Fantastic catching; 2 at a time for those with teasers. Everyone caught their limit & then released even more! Art Weber, Newark caught his limit and then released 25-30 fish! A great way to end the day! This was the biggest catch in more than a week!
Tuesday, July 27: Captain Bob made a right turn out of the inlet today and we sailed south off the beaches of Seaside Park. On the way we stopped to watch some dolphins we had spotted. A handful jumped close to the stern; although we saw them in many places from the bow around the port side. All fish caught today were of the “cocktail” blues variety. We made a first drift and Jules had one on and in the boat in a matter of 1 minute. Many anglers quickly had the same. We were using teasers and many had double hits. Jules, had a triple hit! Young Christopher Marken, Tempe, AZ fished with his grandfather and had fun reeling in the small bluefish. Jenn Casey, Norwood, PA had fun and Amy McHugh, Philadelphia, PA soon had a personal best catch of blue fish! Jules easily filled buckets with fish and the rest of us easily filled the barrels.
Sunday, July 25: Welcome Boy Scout Troop 91, Hamilton, NJ. These guys fished hard the entire day! It was tough catching blue fish today, although it was a great day to be out on the water.We sailed north by the rocks and then looked further north and east. We had a variety of catches early on. Victoria caught a beautiful sea bass and others hooked into sea robins, fluke and a sand shark. Janet Ross, Middlesex, NJ was happy to catch a fish. Three generations of Jim Hendrickson family, Levittown, PA, had a fun time fishing today. Chris Scordo, troop 91, caught the first blue fish of the day. Ian Baker caught the most fish in the group. Captain Bob made several moves to find the blues. Often times we read many, yet they were shy of biting. Cruising south, we saw some dolphins jumping and watched a dolphin chase a big blue up out of the water and snag the bluefish in mid air! Captain Bob quickly got on those blues and many more big blues were caught before we headed back to the dock. Troop 91 leaders Mr. Ondersin & Mr. Verrinder each caught a big blue fish in that drift. Rob Verrinder ended up with the thirteen pound pool winner! Except for Eddie “Jig master” Mackin, Team Sperco was among the missing today…
Saturday, July 24: Fun fishing today. The weather was pretty perfect. The blue fish did not cooperate early on. Many caught sea bass & fluke, and we had a “cocktail” blue. Later in the day we found some big blues and managed to catch some on jigs. Highlights include: Mike & Karen Steiper, (25 years of fishing aboard the Sea Devil), Rock Tavern, NY, were the first to hook into 2 big sea bass. Chris Zotti was good for a few keeper fluke. Eddie “Jig Master” Mackin was the first to hook into a big blue on a jig. It was a twelve pound beauty & quickly took over as the pool contender. (Zotti’s fluke was contender for most of the day.) Things changed when we ran into them again & Matt Liland, Washington, NJ landed a 13 pound winner. Happy Birthday, Matt! Joining Matt to celebrate were many friends. Some friends caught fish, including Shannon Nye, Washington, NJ & Amanda Engel, Tannersville, PA caught some fish. A beautiful day and a fun time as always. Aboard the sea Devil!
Friday, July 23: It took some time to find the fish, but we finally caught some on jigs. Art Weber was back for more. He was high hook with a half dozen blue fish.
Thursday, July 22: Always fun fishing for fluke with Team Randy
Wednesday, July 21: Slow finding the fish near home today; yet by the early afternoon they were biting up north and there was a good catch of blues on jigs. Too late for the Sea Devil to head up there; however that’s our plan for the next few days. Art Weber, Newark, was high hook and had the biggest fish of the day.
