2007 Fishing Reports
07/26/07
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Hosted the Turner Construction Co charter from Somerset NJ for a shortened
fluke trip. With no morning drift we slow drifted rubble piles on the Sea Girt Reef.
The charter boated 14 sea bass with as many shorts and 5 keeper fluke with two over
4 lbs.
This was Jennifer Biro's first saltwater experience and her great technique landed
the 4-1/2 lb pool winner and several other fish.
07/15/07
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Hosted the David Pope charter from Brick NJ for a day of Fluke fishing.
Stayed close to the inlet knowing the ugly south wind would get worse thru the day.
By 11:OO am the charter had boated close to 40 fluke but only 4 keepers and several
members were very green so we tried drifting in the Manasquan river. To our surprise
we boated close to 20 more fluke but only one more keeper.
07/14/07
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Hosted the Andrew Banchi charter from King of Prussia, Pa for a combo
bluefish/fluke trip. Anchored on the farms and after no bites moved to west side of
the mudhole and drifted with chum. It didn't take long for the charter to enjoy
double and triple hookups on 6-12 lb blues. After boxing 15 blues the charter
continued catching and relesing blues till 11:30 when we moved to the Sea Girt area
and drifted for fluke. The charter enjoyed solid action there also boating 30 plus
fluke but only 3 keepers.
07/2-3/07
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Hosted our annual 4th of July Exploratory Canyon trip to the Carteret and
Lindenkohl canyons with beautiful weather. Afternoon troll produced a short strike
on a skirted ballyhoo and a 40 lb yellowfin on a rainbow spreader bar. Drifting at
night from 500 to 1000 fathoms was uneventful with no bites. Morning troll produced
a short strike on a ballyhoo and a 50 lb yellowfin on a ballyhoo. Avid fishermen Ron
Bryan, Gary Brozaud, Gary Fekete, Ryan Scialaba and Roland Roth pulled out all the
stops to coax the tuna to bite in 65 degree varying color water. Thanks to their
efforts we were able to get four bites amongst widely scattered fish in less than
desireable water conditions.
06/29/07
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Hosted the Rees Flooring crew from Cranbury NJ for a combination
bluefish/fluke charter. Anchoring on the farms took a few minutes before the charter
was enjoying non-stop action with 6-12lb bluefish. When the box was full we moved
just north of Shrewsbury Rocks drifting for fluke and the charter also enjoyed
non-stop action with fluke to 20". They boated countless shorts and a dozen
keepers before heading home.
06/24/07
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Hosted the Val Gabella charter from Manasquan NJ for a combination
Bluefish/Fluke trip.
Anchoring on the farms we found the bluefish hungry and the charter enjoyed constant
action with 6 to 10 lb blues. At 10 o'clock we decided to drift for fluke north of
shrewsbury rocks and the charter enjoyed constant action with fluke as well. The
charter boated 24 fluke with 5 keepers to 19" before an early departure to meet
other commitments.
06/23/07
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Hosted the Greg Casella charter from Clark, NJ and fished the Mako Mania
tournament. Drifted in the Glory Hole and had no action until 4:15 pm when what
looked like a mako shark attacked a drifting balloon but would not take the deeper
lines. We drifted another line back with no weight and he took the bluefish fillet.
After a short fight the fish broke off with only a frayed mono line left, and a very
disappointed crew. We fished till 4:45 and left for home.
06/17/07
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Hosted the Steven Rezac charter from Philadelphia for a combination
bluefish/fluke trip.We began by anchoring on the Farms and the charter had constant
action boating 44 bluefish from 6 to 12 lbs. We moved to the Mantoloking area and
drifted for fluke where the charter boated 15 fluke with 7 keepers to 19 inches.
06/16/07
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Hosted the Andrew Aran charter from Bergen County for a day of Fluke fishing.
Started at Sea Girt but in absence of drift moved to sea girt reef and the charter
boated a half dozen Sea Bass. When the wind picked up we drifted in the Mantoloking
area and the charter boated 30 fluke with 7 keepers the largest of which was 24
inches.
06/11/07
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Hosted the Alan Chuderski charter from Lakehurst Naval Base for a day of
Bluefishing. We anchored on north Barnegat ridge and had fish respond within
minutes. The charter had constant action on alligator class fish that were all in
the 10-15 lb range. By 11am both coolers were full and we decided to try fluking off
IBSP. On the way we encountered large pods of dolphin 3 miles off the beach that put
on a show not unlike what you see in the canyons. The charter managed a few short
fluke with no keepers and
some skates.
06/09/07
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Hosted the Greg Casella charter from Clark NJ and started clamming off Sandy
Hook. After three hours with only skates we switched to Fluking and the charter
began a nice pick south of the Highlands. They boated a dozen fluke and wound up
with 6 keepers to 19 inches.
06/02/07
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Hosted the Russell Thistle charter from Lakehurst NJ for a day of clamming
around Sandy Hook. Tried the ocean short of Sandy Hook and the charter boated a 30
in keeper ,one short and dozens of skates. Moved off the highlands bridge and found
more skates. Moved to the drop off at the rocks and the charter boated three
fat sea bass. Moved back to our original drop and boated only skates and one
bluefish.
05/27/07
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Hosted the Chris Hong charter from Blue Bell, Pa for a combo Bluefish/Fluke
trip. Started trolling at the Rocks and bird action convinced us to start jigging.
The charter caught medium sized bluefish until they were tired of reeling them in.
We moved to the Red Church area and began drifting for fluke. April Hong boated the
first fluke at 19" and we thought we were in for a good bite. It was not to be
and the charter only boated two more shorts in dirty brown 70 degree water.
05/23/07
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Hosted the Chris Russo charter from Freehold for a day of clamming for
Stripers. Started in the ocean and boated one short, went to the knoll and boated
one short, went to Roamer and had no bites. Frustrating day with clams. The charter
did enjoy rod bending with blues all along the beach.
05/21/07
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Hosted the Joe Girondo charter from Conshehocken, Pa for a day of clamming at
Sandy Hook. Conditions were not good to start the day with wind against tide and a
stiff north breeze. The charter managed to boat 5 stripers with two keepers to
31" on the first drop till the bite died about the same time as the day before.
The second and third drops were non productive with bluefish and skates. The fourth
drop at tide changeover produced 5 more stripers with two more keepers and 6
bluefish which were released.
05/20/07
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Hosted the John Geddes charter from Brick for a day of clamming at Sandy
Hook. Started the day with a steady pick on the first drop and the charter boated 12
stripers with 6 keepers to 33"" and 15 lbs.
The bad news is the bite shutdown at 10:30 and three other drops produced only an
occasional bluefish and some skates. 8 yr old Coby was a happy camper with his first
striper and the big fish of the day.
05/11/07
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Hosted the Chris Hopkins charter from Bergen County for striper fishing to
start the season. Tried three drops at Sandy hook and the charter boated four
stripers with two keepers. The charter got ansy for action and we complied by
jigging endless blues from Sandy Hook to Sea Girt. The weather cooperated despite
the forecast.
2006 Fishing Reports
11/14/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie and mate Ron Brian hosted the H&R Welding Group from Brick NJ for a day of Striper fishing.We returned to where we fished Saturday short of Sandy Hook and the charter boated a striper on clams while we were still anchoring. The charter continued to enjoy plenty of action landing 45 shorts and 4 keepers to 32". The weather forecast had obviously deterred other fishermen as there was only one other boat in the area and we enjoyed fishing with a light northwest wind and lines straight off the transom.
11/11/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capts Bernie Roth and Mike Copeman hosted the Joe Girondo charter from Conshohoken Pa for a day of striper fishing. We joined the fleet short of Sandy Hook and the charter began clamming. There was a flurry of shorts initially and then a slow pick developed with the first keeper measuring 37 " weighing 22 lbs. The second keeper measured 29 " and the action died till after the change. We fished for one hour into the outgoing but only caught more shorts and we headed for home.
10/15-16/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie and Ron Bryan hosted the George Spodak charter from Manalapan NJ for an overnighter in the Hudson Canyon. Afternoon trolling at the tip produced 3 yellowfins so we setup for chunking in that area and boated three small swordfish which were released early. At 10 pm bluefin tuna began biting and continued until 5am. The charter boated and released 20 bluefins from 42 to 46 inches. Shortly after 5 am the yellowfins began biting and the charter boated 9 more yellowfins to 65 lbs until 6:30 am when they stopped biting. We left for home at 8am with the 12 tuna and mahi on ice.
10/13-14/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie and Ron Bryan hosted the Gary Fekete charter from Byram NJ for an overnighter in the Hudson Canyon. Afternoon trolling on the east wall produced 3 yellowfins and 3 longfins so we decided to setup for the night there. By 10 pm we only had three shark biteoffs and a small mako released so we decided to move further north where the Reel Fever was chunking tuna. Drifting in that area produced 3 more yellowfins and 9 more longfins.We left for home shortly after first light with 18 tuna and mahi on ice. Our thanks to the reel fever for his hospitality!
10/09-10/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capts Bernie Roth and Tiny Miles hosted our second open boat overnighter in the Toms Canyon with Joe, Jeff, Charlie, Pete, Stan, and Tom Afternoon trolling was uneventful and chunking was slow as we only managed to go 3 for 3 on yellowfins to 75 lbs. Morning trolling was also uneventful until we heard Baby Bear Bender go 5 for 6 on the troll and when we joined the party we trolled 6 longfins and 1 yellowfin in our last hour. We left for home at 11:30 with 10 tuna and mahi on ice.
10/02-03/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capts Bernie Roth and Tiny Miles hosted the John Vidalis charter from Jackson NJ for an overnighter in the Toms Canyon. Water was cold where we caught on our last trip and we setup farther south. Caught and released a small sword and had first tuna bite at 11pm. Had difficulty catching squid and relied on sardines at 120 ft to get bites. Charter had constant action till first light with large yellowfins most of which were 75+ lbs and more belligerent than normal. Out of 20 hookups the charter managed to boat 11 and for ist timers they did very well on these brutes. We chunked till 8am but there was no daylight bite.
09/29-30/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Captain Bernie hosted the Dennis Machamer charter from Harrisburg PA for an overnighter in the Toms Canyon.Arrived at 9 pm and setup for chunk. Action started at 11 pm on live squid down 150 ft and flatlined sardines. Steady pick all night boating 11 yellowfins to 65 lbs and 2 large longfins out of 20 hookups.Left for home at 8 am with the 13 tuna and mahi on ice.
09/26-27/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Hosted the Greg Casella charter from Clark NJ for an overnighter in the Hudson Canyon. Trolling was uneventful and we set up early for chunking south of the tip. We were inundated with swordfish shortly after dark and the charter boated four keeping one 90 lber. They began a slow pick of yellowfins on mostly large live squid and went 8 for 16 on yellowfins to 75 lbs. They also boated a 65 lb longfin and released a Mako. The charter asked to leave for home at first light with the 9 tuna , swordfish and some mahi on ice.
09/21-22/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Hosted the John Geddas charter from Brick NJ for their first canyon trip and an overnighter in the Hudson. Afternoon trolling was non existent. Shortly after setting up in the 100 square for chunking a screamer rod went off and the fish could not be stopped breaking the leader as the spool nearly emptied. The second and third hookups were lost due to inexperience. The charter got their act together on the fourth hook up and began a slow pick on yellowfins down 120ft. They boated four yellowfins to 65 lbs by 3 am and the action died except for some mahi.. Morning troll produced a fat longfin at the bombs and shortly thereafter we left for home with the 5 tuna and mahi on ice.
09/17-18/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth and Capt Rich Oris hosted the Jeff Lambert charter from Sloatsburg NY for an overnighter in the Hudson Canyon Sunday into Monday. Trolling away from the fleet on the east wall flats we had a triple header hookup of longfins and the charter boated one. Shortly thereafter an orange stalker spreader bar was inhaled by a large fish and the charter took turns on the rod cycling twice thru all anglers before they saw color and a 175 lb Bigeye was harpooned. We setup for the night in that area and had a pick of four 60-70 lb yellowfins before 1 am. However the tuna bite died for us at that point and we only caught a small mako which was released and mahi till first light.We trolled for two hours in the morning with no hookups and left for home with the 6 tuna and mahi on ice.
09/13-14/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie hosted the Gary Fekete charter from Byram NJ for an overnighter in the Hudson Canyon. Could not get past the tip due to constant hookups. As the first spreader bar was put in the water it was crashed by a yellowfin. The charter boated 7 yellowfins to 60 lbs and 1 longfin by 6:30 pm.Ran to the east wall below the elbow and as we setup for the night the charter dropped a jig on 50 lb line which was engulfed by a 125 lb allison. An hour and four sore backs later it came up and was harpooned.Around midnight yellowfins began taking sardines and live squid and the charter boated 9 yellowfins and 1 longfin. At first light the charter cried uncle and we headed for home with 18 tuna on ice.
09/7-8/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie and mate Ron Bryan hosted our first open boat canyon overnighter with Paul Czaya etal. Started trolling short of the bombs on the 50 fathom line and the charter boated a triple header of yellowfins to 60 lbs. Worked the area and had a double header of yellowfins boating one Chunked right in that area and boated a yellowfin before dark. After midnight the charter fought and gaffed a 115 lb mako that jumped twice and almost reached the tip of the outrigger. Moved to the east wall at 3 am and had no further action. Returned to the west wall in the morning and trolled another yellowfin and a longfin. Left for home at 10:30 am with 7 tuna and the mako on ice.
08/18-19/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie hosted the Bill Haas charter from Monmouth NJ for an overnighter in the Hudson Canyon. The trolling bite was terrible, we didn't get a touch in the afternoon or morning. The charter had some early action at night boating one of the two tuna bites they had after we set up in the southwest corner. After midnight they boated and released one sword and lost a large sword at the boat. They also boated 12 large size Mahi that lingered in the chunk slick. Highlight of the night was boating what they thought was a Wahoo which turned out to be a Barracuda--only in New Jersey.
08/16/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie hosted the Bob Van Nostrand charter from Brielle for a combination Bluefish/Fluke trip. Bobs grandsons from Racine,Wisconsin, Ryan 11 and Tyler 9 had the time of their lives pulling in the 6-12 lb Blues on the Farms. By 10:30 the charter boated 30 fish and were ready to relax and drift for Fluke. Drifting at the Red Church produced constant action with shorts but only 2 keepers and 1 sea bass.
08/14/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie hosted the John Cassidy charter from Carlstadt NJ for a combination Bluefish and Fluke trip. We returned to the farms for the charters bluefish fix and the bite was much better than yesterday. By 10 am the charter had sore arms wrestling with the 8-12 lb blues and we decided to return to the Red Church to drift for Fluke. Fluking was also better than yesterday and the charter boated 5 keepers to 20 inches and one sea bass. By 1:30 pm the South wind won and we left for home in 3 to 5's.
08/13/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie hosted the Sheila Ludwig charter from Schuykill, Pa for a day of Bluefishing. Anchored on the Farms and chumming produced a slow pick of 8 to 12 lb bluefish. We moved to the Mud Buoy but the action was still a slow pick. The charter caught all they wanted by 11:30 and we decided to drift for Fluke. On the way inshore we saw blues breaking water and the charter jigged some more medium blues and filled the cooler. Drifting for fluke produced a dozen shorts and one keeper.
08/12/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie hosted the Brian Hodes charter from Forked River for a combination Bluefish/Fluke trip Saturday. With 4-5's out of the Northeast we decided to forgo running north for Bluefish and we tried trolling south with no bites. We then decided to drift for fluke from Mantoloking to Seaside and the charter began a steady pick of fish with mostly shorts. By days end the charter boated 5 keepers and 1 Sea Bass.
08/10/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Hosted the Jim Cronce charter from Flemington NJ for a combination Bluefish/Fluke trip. We starting heading to the farms but just outside the inlet Bluefish were breaking water and the charter started jigging. After filling two coolers with LARGE bluefish to 14 lbs from Manasquan to Mantoloking, we decided to drift for Fluke. The charter caught over 60 fluke including 8 keepers to 20 inches just off Mantoloking and called it a day at 2 pm.
07/29/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie hosted the Greg Casal charter from Clark NJ for a day of Shark fishing. We made two drifts in the Glory Hole during the day and the first drift was uneventful. Before setting up on the second drift we jigs some pots and caught a Mahi-mahi for bait. The charter caught a Mako about 60 lbs on a bluefish fillet on the second drift which was released.
07/25/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie hosted the Joe Stallings charter from Pocono, Pa for a combination Bluefish/Fluke trip.
Anchoring on the Farms produced solid action with 10-12 lb blues. The charter was in release mode by 9:30 am and decided to go fluking at 11 am. Drifting in the red church area also produced solid action with mostly short fluke but the charter did manage a 4 1/2 lb 23" keeper along with one other and two Sea Bass.
07/18/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Captain Bernie hosted the Don Mlostek charter from Escanaba, MI for a combination ins-shore trolling/bluefish/fluke trip. Trolling at the monster ledge produced 4 large bluefish. Chumming at the oil wreck and farms did not produce bites so we decided to drift for fluke at the red church. The charter began picking shorts and keepers and ended the day with 5 keepers to 4lb.
07/15/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie hosted the Andrew Banchi charter from King of Prussia, PA for a combination Bluefish/Fluke trip. Anchoring on the farms in pea soup fog the charter began picking 10-12 lb bluefish and within an hour there was constant action with 2 to 3 rods bent at a time until 10:30am when the charter cried uncle and we decided to try fluking at the Red Church. For the first time this year the first fluke was a keeper
followed by a 5 lber and later followed by a second 5 lber with a total of 8 keepers. Best bluefishing and fluking action this year.
07/14/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Captain Bernie hosted the Greg Casala charter from Lodi NJ for a combination in-shore trolling/shark trip in the Chicken Canyon. Trolling produced 1 Bluefin Tuna which was released and two Mahi-Mahi. Sharking was uneventful except for the show put on by three fin back whales feeding in the deepest part of the canyon.
07/7-8/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie hosted his annual Exploratory Canyon charter with his son Roland and customers George Spodak, Ryan Scialabba and Dave Klugle. We headed for the Hudson while the rest of the free world headed for the Toms Canyon and heard a report of Yellowfins at the bombs from the Wave Dancer. We trolled that area for an hour before the charter went 2 for 3 on 40 lb yellowfins. We continued trolling the area from there to the west elbow and the charter boated 2 more yellowfins up to 70 lbs. Night chunking was uneventful and trolling in the morning produced one more yellowfin. We headed for home at 10:30am with 5 tuna and 5 mahi-mahi on ice. Good start for the Canyon season.
07/03/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie hosted the Merik Rogala charter from Chatham NJ for a combination Bluefish/Fluke trip.
Trolling on the Rocks produced some large bluefish so we decided to setup and chum. 6 year old Julian
Merik caught two bluefish along with the rest of the party. The largest weighed 14 lbs. Drifting on Monmouth beach produced 2 keeper fluke along with the usual shorts.
06/30/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie hosted the Ed Hooyman charter from Lodi for a combination Fluke/Bluefish charter on Friday.
Drifting from the Red Church to Monmouth Beach produced constant action with mostly short Fluke but the charter managed four keepers to 18". Reports indicated Bluefish were almost non exsistant on party boats and sport fishing boats so we waited till the last hour to troll on Shrewsbury Rocks. To our surprise the charter began fighting large 10-12 lb bluefish near the green can and also hooked and lost a large striper in the same area. Six large bluefish were also put on ice for the ride home.
06/25/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie hosted the John Montillo charter from Lyndhurst, NJ to fish in the Mako Mania Tournament.
Starting at the Resor wreck we were inundated with dogfish and drifted several other areas before reaching the Glory Hole by mid day. We livelined Bluefish and drifted mackerel the rest of the day with no shark bites.
06/23/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie hosted the Patrick Lim charter from Manhattan to fish in the JCSA Shark tournament. Drifting the area around the Resor wreck produced one Blue Shark and hordes of dogfish. The water was clean and blue with dolphins but no mako bites.
06/19/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Captain Bernie hosted the Joe Stallings charter from Pocono Manor Pa for a day of Fluke fishing. The charter enjoyed constant action but the keeper ratio was 10 shorts to 1 keeper. The charter did manage 6 keepers in the brisk south winds.
06/17/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Captain Bernie hosted the Gary Fekete charter from Byram NJ for a day of fluke fishing off Mantaloking.
The charter enjoyed constant action with mostly short fluke which kept his two daughters 5 and 9 happy thru the day. We anchored on the Axel Carlson reef to try sea bassing but after a few sea bass the dogfish became unbearable. By days end they had 8 keeper fluke and a handful of sea bass.
06/15/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Captain Bernie hosted the Sanford Brown charter from Princeton for a combination Bluefish/Fluke trip. It was difficult to find any bluefish today and the ones we did find were small so we went to plan B early. Drifting off the Rocks, Elberon and Long Branch the charter had constant action on fluke catching over 100 of which only 3 were keepers. The charter also caught some decent size Sea Bass for their dinner.
06/10/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Captain Bernie Hosted the Bob Alexander charter from
King of Prussia Pa for a day of Bluefishing. Jigging and trolling off Mantoloking produced only small blues which were released. Moving to 4 mi off Barnegat inlet produced non stop jigging action with large alligator blues.
06/04/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Hosted the Elaine Hinsch charter from Montvale for a combination Bluefish, Sea Bass and Fluke trip. Large Bluefish were trolled and jigged off the Seaside pier. Sea Bass to 3lbs were caught on rubble at the Axel Carlson Reef on clams. 4 keeper fluke were boated and 16 released in 40 ft of water off mantoloking.
05/21/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie hosted Patrick Lim from Manhattan for a jigging and trolling trip at Shrewsbury Rocks. Starting at 9am the bass bite had slowed and we began jigging blues. Switching to spoons we continued catching blues but the charter did manage to catch 2 Stripers to 37".
05/18/06
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie hosted the Joe Girondo charter from Consohocken Pa looking for some striped bass action. Started the day trolling and jigging at the rocks -nothing but Bluefish. Tried clamming at Romer and caught two Stripersa to 30". Worked down the beach and jigged more blues at the highlands and Elberon. Frustrating day!
2005 Fishing Reports
11/5/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Captain Bernie Hosted the Scott Devinney charter from Morristown Pa, for a day of Bluefish/striper fishing.We decided to pass on the solid bluefish action off seaside to try clamming for stripers before we tried fishing for bluefish. That turned out to be the wrong decision. Running up to Romer shoal and anchoring in 15 ft the charter boated a 34" striper in the first 5 minutes and then the skates moved in along with slack tide. We switched to trolling at the rocks and off Elberon/Asbury with no luck. We could not buy a bluefish the rest of the day
11/4/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Captain Bernie hosted the Reese Powell charter from East Brunswick for a day of Bluefish/Striper fishing.
The brisk SW forecast led us south off seaside rather than journey to the hook and face a nasty ride home.
The charter had constant action on large bluefish most of the day amidst constant bird action from tight to the beach to 5 miles off. No stripers were boated and the 50+ bluefish were all released.
10/4-5/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie hosted the Gary Fekete from Byram NJ charter for their second overnighter and they enjoyed an unforgetable experience in the Spencer Canyon. Afternoon trolling produced one longfin and some mahi amidst large fin back whales, porpoises and birds. Night time chunking produced early yellowfin bites and by midnight the charter boated 8 yellowfins to 80 lbs.Shortly after midnight a large swordfish was hooked up and two anglers alternated on the rod for three hours before bringing it to boatside to be harpooned on 60 lb flouro leader. Congratulations to Gary Fekete and Ron Bryan for an outstanding and professional job of boating a 254 lb swordfish against the odds on 60 lb leader while staying on anchor. This was truly a fish of a lifetime for them to experience and for the rest of the party to witness. We headed for home at 7am with 9 tuna, some mahi and the swordfish on ice. The swordfish was weighed and pictures taken at Hoffmans Marina.
10/2-3/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie hosted the Kevin Miles charter from Spring Lake for an overnighter in the Spencer Canyon. Afternoon trolling produced 2 longfins and a yellowfin.Chunking started out slow but became a nice pick of 2 longfins and 4 yellowfins after midnight. Morning trolling produced 1 additinal longfin and at 10 am the charter headed for home with 10 tuna and 8 mahi on ice.
09/30-10/01/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Captain Bernie Roth hosted the Ryan Scialabbi charter from Westfield NJ for an overnighter in the Spencer Canyon. Trolling from the Carteret to Lindenkohl produced only mahi and lots of porpoises and whales. We received a call from the Gypsy Tuna that he was into longfins in the Spencer Canyon. We ran to that area, began trolling and were covered up with six longfins of which the charter boated five. We set up for the night in that area in 440 ft of water and had yellowfin bites through out the night on mainly sardines but also live squid and butterfish. By dawn the five man charter boated their limit of 15 yellowfins from 50-80 lbs and lots of mahi. We headed for home at 7am with 20 tuna and the mahi on ice. My thanks to Gypsy Tuna for putting us into the fish.
09/22-23/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie hosted the Glenn Nordstrom charter from Bud Lake NJ for an overnight trip to the Carteret Canyon. Trolling in the afternoon provided some action as the charter boated two longfins and over a dozen mahi-mahi. The area was loaded with life including pilot whales, finback whales and porpoises. We had planned to troll down to the Lindenkohl canyon but with all the life and the longfins there we decided to setup at the tip of the Carteret. Around 9:30 pm the charter fought and boated a 60 lb yellowfin and we thought we would enjoy an action packed night. It was not to be as that was our last tuna bite. Toward morning the SW winds picked up to 20 kts and we headed for home in sloppy seas with the 3 tuna and mahi on ice.
09/7-8/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Captain Bernie hosted the Gary fekete charter from Byram NJ for an overnight tuna chunking trip. Setting up in daylight there were no bites till after dark when the charter began picking 40-70 lb yellowfins and one longfin. Chunking continued until 7:30 am when we left for home with 12 yellowfins and 1 longfin on ice.
09/4-5/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie hosted the Jeff Lambert charter from Rockland County NY for an overnight tuna chunking trip in Toms Canyon. Setting up before dark the charter boated two yellowfins while it was still daylight on butterfish. Once the squid appeared the charter began picking yellowfins throughout the nite. At daylight we left for home with the 5 man limit of 21 yellowfins on ice.
09/2-3/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie hosted the Mark Bennet charter from Totowa NJ for an overnighter in Toms Canyon. Trolling was slow so the charter set up for the chunk early and fishing was uneventful till 11 pm. At that time the charter boated their first yellowfin and had non stop action till 3 am when the charter cried "uncle" and decided to head for home with fish still in the slick. A total of 27 yellowfins up to 80 lbs were boated and 8 were released. They also boated a mahi-mahi and released a hammerhead shark. Our slick was given to another boat who proceeded to land two yellowfin within minutes as we headed home with the six man limit of yellowfins on ice.
08/26-27/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Captain Bernie hosted the Patrick Lim charter from Manhattan, NY for an overnighter in the Hudson Canyon. We started trolling from the Toms canyon to thw Hudson without a touch. We drifted the Southwest corner of the Hudson and the charter boated a 40 lb yellowfin. At 1 am we moved and anchored in the 100 square and the charter boated a 50 lb yellowfin and 13 Mahi-Mahi.
Morning trolling produced one hookup which pulled the hook. Trolling past a pot the starboard prop was fouled by a 200ft trailer and required the mate to dive and cut it free. Be careful when trolling near the pots!!
08/20-21/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Captain Bernie Roth hosted the Chris Gross charter from Phila PA for a saturday/sunday overnighter in the Hudson Canyon.Afternoon trolling was slow until just before dusk the charter boated a four bagger of small yellowfins, two of which were released. Setting up on the drift for chunking the charter started getting bites immediately and by daylight they went 6 for 10 on 60 to 80 lb yellowfins. At 6:30 am a 100+lb yellowfin was fought and brought to the boat and when struck with the gaff it went crazy and pulled the gaff overboard requiring the use of a successful bluefish gaff the second time around. Within minutes a second larger 120 lb fish was hooked up, fought and harpooned. At 7am the charter opted to forgo morning trolling with the building southwest wind and we headed for home with 10 yellowfins on ice.
08/19/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Merik Rogala charter from Chatham, NJ for a day of Bluefishing. Anchoring near the Mud Bouy, the charter began wrestling with the bluefish within minutes. The real trooper in the party was 5 year old Julian who reeled in three fish with help from his dad. After 5 fish were put in the box it was catch and release until noon and then the charter drifted for Fluke off Monmouth beach. Surprisingly the first four fluke the charter boated were all keepers and they finished the day with two more interspersed with shorts and some tailor blues.
08/15/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Captain Bernie hosted the Steve Lauter charter from Great Meadows NJ for a day of fluke fishing. Drifting on the Mantoloking Ridge and off Seaside the charter boated a decent catch of 13 keepers and 2 dozen shorts. The largest fluke measured 20 inches.
08/14/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Captian Bernie Roth hosted the Jim Cronce charter from Flemington NJ for a day of trolling for bluefin tuna. We trolled all the local hotspots out to the Lillian and monster ledge without a bite. Also tried chunking butterfish at the ledge without a touch. Decided to come inshore drifting for Fluke off Lavalette and boated 2 keepers in strong southwest wind. It was not our day!
08/13/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Captain Bernie Roth hosted the Andrew Banchi charter from Phila,PA for a bluefish/fluke combo trip. Anchoring on 17 Fathoms the chartewr had a slow pick of medium sized blues to 10 lbs and after they had their bluefish "fix" they drifted for fluke off monmouth beach. The southwest drift was fast but the fish were in a biting mood and the charter boated 7 keepers to 20" and about 15 shorts.
08/07/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Kevin Shannon Charter from Hackettstown NJ for a day of inshore tuna trolling. We started trollong at the north Barnegat Ridge for bluefins and after 2+ hours of no bites and bad radio reports we decided to chumm for bluefish and then drift for fluke. Once anchored on the ridge the charter began to pick bluefish but they were very line shy and most bites came with circle hooks and no wire. After the charter caught all the blues they wanted we moved outside barnegat inlet and drifted for fluke with nothing but shorts, skates and half a dozen sea bass.
08/06/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Tom Christou charter from Bergen County NJ for a combination bluefish and fluke trip. Once anchored on the farms we started a slow pick of 6-10 lb blues. They were not as agressive as they have been but the charter still managed to get their "bluefish fix" in by 10:30 am. We drifted for fluke the rest of the day and boated a ton of shorts but only two keepers. The charter had surprisingly good fishing for sea bass on the rough bottom and that offset the disapointment with keeper fluke.
08/02/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Kevin Smyth charter from Mantoloking Shores NJ for a combination Bluefish and Fluke trip. Anchoring on the farms produced constant action with larger sized bluefish. Kevins three sons age 9-12 wrestled with them till they were arm weary. The charter kept 9 fish and released the rest to fight another day. Drifting off Long Branch produced 6 keeper fluke with approx 2 dozen shorts.
07/16/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie Hosted the Patrick Lim charter from Manhattan for a day of in shore tuna trolling. Starting at the Monster ledge where we were invaded by monster bluefish, we headed toward the HA buoy and the charter had a double header hook up of bluefins. The hook pulled on one and they boated the second, a 29" bluefin. We trolled south and when we reached the Lillian the charter boated a second 29" bluefin. In that same area we had several fish strike the green machine shotgun but none of them hooked up.
07/15/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie hosted the Ron Bryan party from Port Murray NJ for a day of in shore tuna trolling. Starting at the Monster ledge Ron's grandson Lucas fought and boated a 29" bluefin which was released thinking they would have frequent bites. We trolled the rest of the day in the area of the Glory Hole and finally boated a second 29" bluefin at the Slough which was put on ice for the ride home.
07/5-6/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
06/28/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Patrick Lim Charter for a day of Shark fishing in the Mako Mania tournament. We stopped at the Glory Hole with nothing but Bluefish and an armada of boats. We moved to the triple wreck area and the charter fought and brought to boatside an estimated 250 lb thresher. The charter decided to release the shark after taking pictures. A third stop in the same area produced more bluefish.
06/18/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie hosted the Kevin Diamond charter from NY City for a day of sharking in the Brett Bailey Mako Tournament. We started in the Glory Hole bailing dogfish so we moved to the Chicken Canyon and found that we got rid of the dogfish by staying on the edge of the deep holes. We fought and released two large blue sharks and a handful of bluefish. We even tried livelining bluefish but makos were scarce. No qualifying makos were weighed in during the tournament.
06/15/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie hosted the Patrick Lim charter from New York city for a day of Bluefish and Striper trolling. We were headed to Raritan bay when the northeast wind and fog came at us so we decided to troll at the rocks and then along the beach toward home. Bluefish were everywhere and the charter had constant action. Amidst the blues the charter boated two stripers of 39 and 43"
weighing 25 and 31 lbs. It was not fun trolling in the northeast wind and fog but the charter took it in stride and still enjoyed the day.
06/12/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie hosted the Ryan Kimmins charter from Manahawkin NJ for a combination Bluefish and Fluke trip. It was almost a repeat of yesterdays trip with all the blues the charter wanted in the same place off the highlands. Lots of bait has kept the fish there since early May. Fluking from Monmouth Beach to Asbury produced lots of shorts and skates and one 17" fish in 53 degree water. Ryan made the best catch of the day when he reeled in an ugly stick with a Penn spinning reel and a crippled herring still attached to the guide.
06/11/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie hosted the Gary Fekete charter from Byram NJ for a combination Bluefish and Fluke trip. Going out the inlet in 50 degree water was unsettling to say the least. We didn't hit 60 degrees till we went north to Asbury park. We trolled the rocks with no bites and found the blues off the Highlands where trolling and jigging produced all the fish the charter could handle, keeping only 20.
When they said uncle we drifting by the Red Church and boated 6 short fluke in 20 ft of water but could find no keepers.
06/09/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie hosted the Patrick Lim charter from NY city for a combination bluefish and sea bass trip. We were heading north to the Rocks when we ran into birds offshore of Belmar and began jigging large blues. One of the large fish turned out to be a 43" 33lb striper.
When the action died we headed for a rock pile off shore and anchored for sea bass. Despite the south wind the sea bass were hungry and the charter boated 30 fish to 3lbs, 2 blackfish and a small cod.
06/08/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie Hosted The Joe Girondo Charter from Conshohocken PA for a last effort at clamming stripers.
On the way to Romer shoal we ran into large schools of bluefish and the charter had a ball catching and releasing them at Belmar, the rocks and along sandy hook beaches. We anchored on Romer shoal at the start of the outgoing but it was clear after almost two hours of no bites it was fruitless. We moved to some rocks piles and the charter caught some nice sea bass for their dinner.
06/02/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie hosted the Patrick Lim charter from NY City for another day of striper fishing. We decided to troll and jig instead of bait fishing and started off well near Mantoloking with a 38 1/2" fish weighing 21 lbs on a jig. However it was tough getting through the bluefish and we moved north to the Rocks where we lost a large fish 6" from the net. The rest of the day was spent releasing bluefish by the dozens. Patricks charters are always enjoyable because of their positive attitude and their zeal for action whether its bluefish or stripers.
05/30/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie took his family and some nieces and nephews for a memorial day cruise to Manasquan Inlet and trolled near the mile bouy. In less than an hour they boated 9 Bluefish from 7-9 lbs and pulled the hook on several others. It was a pleasure to watch the ladies and young children fight these medium sized bluefish. It was a memorable day on the water!!
05/27/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie hosted the Patrick Lim charter from NY City for their third try at Striped Bass fishing on Romer Shoal after two successful trips and unfortunately they were disappointed as we did not have a single hookup with stripers during the last of the incoming and the beginning of the outgoing. The Bluefishing however was excellent both jigging off the Highlands bridge as well as bait fishing. The party had tired arms and were smiling at days end despite the lack of striper bites.
05/20/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie hosted a party from Munson Engineering for a Striped Bass charter on Romer Shoal. The charter enjoyed constant action on slot and larger stripers before the howling southeast winds convinced us to head for home at 11am. In less than three hours the charter limited out on slots, boated two bass over 34" up to 37", and released 6 bass between 29" and 33".
05/18/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Captain Bernie hosted the Patrick Lim party from NY City for their second Striper charter and they were not disappointed. On the way to Sandy hook the charter jigged 2 doz bluefish at Monmouth beach. On anchor at Romer they had constant action through the outgoing as well as the slack. They limited out on both slots and over 34" with the largest 37". They released an additional 12 stripers by days end.
05/14/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie hosted the Jim Mcquire charter from Yardville NJ for a day of striper fishing near Sandy hook. The first stop on the ocean side produced 2 slot fish and some bluefish. The second stop on Romer shoal produced a slow pick and the charter limited out on slot fish, released several fish in the 28-34 categoryand boated a dozen bluefish.
05/10/05
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie kicked off his 2005 season by hosting the Patrick Lim charter from NY City for a day of striped bass fishing in Raritan Bay where patience was rewarded with quality fish. The first 3 hours of clamming on Roamer shoal produced bluefish and one slot which was released. The charter stuck it out till the outgoing and got a pick going, In the last hour they boated a slot, a 33 inch fish, a 36 inch fish, two 37 inch fish and a 38 inch fish. The 2nd slot and 33 were released
2004 Fishing Reports
11/02/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Ryan Kimmins charter from Greenbrook NJ for a day chunking charter in the Hudson Canyon. We arrived at daybreak on the east wall and found no draggers and one party boat. The charter had a hookup immediately but lost the fish due to a broken line. They did not have another bite until noon
despite outstanding markings fron 35 to 200 ft and boated a 90 lb bluefin. We left for home at 1pm with the bluefin on ice. We communicated with the party boat and three other boats that arrived during the day and were the only boat that landed a fish by the time we left.
10/28-29/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Gary Fekete charter from Byram, NJ for an overnighter in the Hudson Canyon. Nightime chunking produced plenty of action as the charter landed and released two bluefins to 100 lbs, lost an estimated 120 lb mako at the boat and battled numerous blue sharks. Daytime chunking was very frustrating watching tuna stacked under the boat with no bites from 7am until noon. Then the bluefins came on strong and the charter boated a 120 lber,fought and released two more bluefins to 100 lbs and pulled the hook on two others. The happy campers left for home at 2pm in flat calm seas.
10/18/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Joe Croce charter from Hackettstown for a day chunk in the Hudson Canyon. Arrived at the east elbow 11:30am in choppy seas and began drifting near the draggers toward the 100 square. The charter began hooking up Bluefins with four on at a time and boated one that measured 76 inches and weighed 230 plus. In between the bluefins they boated three yellowfins to 70 lbs and at one point we could see them in the slick but they were very selective and we had to go to light leaders. We planned to stay until dark but left for home at 5pm because the winds were not settling down.
10/8-9/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Patrick Lim charter from NY City for an overnight chunking trip in the Hudson Canyon. We arrived at the east elbow at midnight and began chunking. Reports indicated a slow to non-existant night bite which proved true for us until 5 am when we had our first hookup. We boated and released a 100 lb bluefin. Shortly thereafter we hooked up another bluefin which took over an hour before we could estimate its size and harpoon. It weighed 130 lbs. We hooked up another bluefin and after a short sizzling run it pulled the hook. The fishery then shutdown despite unbelievable readings and we headed for home at 10:30 with the bluefin on ice and calm seas for the ride home.
10/7-8/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Kevin Miles charter from Manasquan for an overnighter in the Hudson canyon.We began trolling 2:30 pm at the east elbow and began picking longfin. The 4th fish boated was a yellowfin and while the charter was fighting it they noticed fish off the transom. We threw chunks, baited the chunking rods and the charter began hooking up both yellowfins and longfins. We drifted till dark and then anchored in that area at 6:30 pm. We picked longfins and yellowfins thru the night and at sunrise we began hooking good sized bluefins, boating one to 80 lbs and releasing four others. We left for home at 8:15 am with 10 longfins, 9 yellowfins and 1 bluefin on ice.
10/3-4/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Gary Fekete charter from Byram NJ for an overnighter in the Hudson Canyon. We got a late start and started chunking on the east elbow at 5:30 pm. We boated 3 longfins early and the action went to blue sharks at midnight. We moved to the 100 square area at 2pm and began picking yellowfins boating 8 by sunrise. At sunrise we also boated 3 more longfins. We moved to the Texas tower area and began chunking bluefin tuna. We hooked up five bluefins, boated one 60lber and released the rest. At noon we headed for home with 15 tuna and some mahi on ice.
10/1-2/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Noel Querrazzi charter from Ringwood NJ for an overnighter in the Hudson Canyon. Afternoon trolling produced one longfin on the east elbow. We setup for night chunking in that same area and boated 5 more longfins and one yellowfin. At sunrise we headed to the Texas Tower area and chunked for Bluefin tuna. We hooked up six bluefins boating one 70 lber and released the others. At 10:00am we headed for home with the 8 tuna and some mahi on ice.
9/26-27/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Brian Flaherty charter for an overnighter in the Toms Canyon. Afternoon trolling produced no hookups so we setup early for the night chunk and the charter had a ball with 15 lb mahi. At 5:30 pm the charter boated a 60lb yellowfin, the first this year in the daytime, on 60 lb fleuro leader. We thought we were destined for great things with such an early start but it was not to be. By midnight the water temp dropped three degrees to 70 and after we moved twice we finally managed to chunk two longfins
before sunrise. The charter opted to again fish for mahi rather than troll and we boated a dozen mahi before heading for home with the 3 tuna and mahi on ice.
9/25-26/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Jesse Obryan charter from Beaver Dams NY for an overnighter in the Hudson Canyon.
Afternoon trolling produced two longfins to 55 lbs in the southwest corner. Chunking produced two more longfins and some mahi in the same area. The morning troll produced four hookups as we trolled up the west wall and the charter boated two longfins and pulled the hook on two others. We headed for home at 9:15 am with 6 tuna and the mahi on ice.
9/22/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Berning Roth hosted the Don Murnane Charter from Bergen NJ for a day of Bluefishing. We stopped at the farms and had difficulty getting hookups until we switched to 20 lb line and no wire leader. It didn't take long until the charter was in release mode with all the fish they wanted. At noon we moved to the Sea Girt reef and drifted for fluke with nothing but shorts. Highlight of the trip was a hookup with a bull nosed ray that put up quite a fight on spinning tackle.
9/12-13/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Jackie Neulinger charter from Allentown, Pa. for an overnighter in the Hudson Canyon. The anglers were two 14 yr olds, Sasha Neulinger and Hiram Stelzig who were making their first canyon trip. They were extremely competent fishermen who by themselves boated a 60 lb wahoo and two longfins on the afternoon troll, three 60lb yellowfins on the nighttime chunk and some mahi on the morning troll. Their zeal and stamina was amazing to witness. We headed for home at 10 am with the wahoo, 5 tuna and mahi on ice along with two very excited fishermen.
9/10-11/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Bob Chicarine charter from New Hope, Pa for an overnighter in the Hudson Canyon. The afternoon troll produced 7 for 7 longfins. The night chunk produced 1 for 1 yellowfin, several mahi and a pulled hook on a estimated 200 lb swordfish which jumped 50 ft from the boat and twice more further away. The morning troll produced another longfin and another yellowfin. At 9am we headed for home with 10 tuna and the mahi on ice.
9/02-03/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Rob Swartenberg charter from New City, NY for their second overnighter. On the first charter they wrestled with four bigeyes boating two to 140 lbs and were convinced it was a trip of a lifetime never to be repeated. They were wrong. At 4:30 pm on Thursday four more bigeyes crashed the spreader bars and lures and the three man charter and mate had their hands full. The first 135 lb tuna was boated in 20 minutes. One fish broke the line and another pulled the hook.The fourth fish would not come up despite three rounds of four fisherman on the give and take. After an hour plus a 190 lb bigeye was gaffed and in the boat. Trolling till dark produced a 70 lb yellowfin, two longfin and a mahi. Chunking produced a small swordfish which was released. The morning troll produced a screaming reel with the green machine/bird which broke the line at the hook. The lucky anglers headed home at 8:15 am wondering what will happen on the next charter.
8/27-28/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Chris Martin charter from Philadelphia for an overnighter in the Canyons.We started trolling the west wall of the Hudson and then headed south to the Toms Canyon. We picked 6 mahi halway to the Toms and set up for the night just south of the Toms. The night chunk was uneventful till a daybreak shark bite. The charter fought the fish for 10 minutes and just as we saw some color the line parted before we could tell exactly what it was. The morning troll produced a larger than normal longfin of 50 lbs.
8/17-18/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Rob Swartenberg charter from New City New York for a Tues/Wed overnighter in the canyons which they will long remember. Afternoon trolling in the Hudson Canyon was uneventful and hearing a good report from the Toms Canyon we moved there and chunked for the night with no action. Up on the troll in the morning the charter boated a 50lb yellowfin. Shortly thereafter four rods went off and the four man charter was wrestling with four bigeyes. Unfortunately one rod pulled the hook and a second rod became entangled with the other lines and broke off.
Once the lines were cleared the charter brought the other two 140 lb fish to gaff after 45 minutes of give and take. This was the first time the charter had encountered bigeyes and they were awed by their brute strength and aching backs. With a rainstorm coming we headed for home with the three tuna on ice.
8/14/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Ben Serretsia Charter from Bethlehem Pa for a day of Bluefishing & Fluking. We anchored on the farms and action was very slow for the first hour, however once the current began to move the blues began to bite and the charter had triple and quadruple hookups till noon when they decided to rest and start fluking. Moving to the sea girt lumps we had little drift but surprisingly the charter began to boat nice sized fluke. At 2:00 pm we left for home with 7 keeper fluke and large bags of bluefish fillets on ice.
8/08/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Jung Tokashi charter from Pt. Pleasant Beach for a morning of Fluke fishing. The charter picked a few fish in the Armada outside Manasquan inlet and they also picked a few at the north end of the reef. Moving inshore to the Sea Girt lumps produced more consistent action where the charter boated a few fish each drift. They ended with 16 Fluke to 20 inches on ice at 12:30 when we headed for home.
8/07/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Dave Kolsky charter from Brick for a day of Bluefishing. After getting reports from three sources that the bite was still on at the mud bouy, we headed to the farms to avoid the weekend crowd. It was a wise choice as there was only one other boat anchored up Once we anchored it was constant action till 10:30 when the box was full and the tired charter wanted to relax and fish for fluke.
Drifting off the sea girt lumps the charter boated 7 keepers to 20 inches to end the day.
8/01/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Mitch Marini charter from Toms River for a day of Fluking. Armed with raincoats but optimistic that rain will not come till afternoon, we headed for the Sea Girt lumps and began drifting. By 10:30 am we had 8 keepers on ice but we also had off and on downpours which the charter tolerated bravely. However when the lightning flashes commenced amid the dark skies we opted for the safety of the inlet and then for home.
7/29/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Brendan Mcmahon charter from Rivervale NJ for a day of Bluefishing and Fluking.
Anchoring on the farms produced immediate hookups with large Bluefsh. The charter kept 5 fish and caught and releaased dozens more until 10:30 when they cried UNCLE and requested to go fluking. Drifting off the Red Church and Sea Girt lumps produced 10 keepers to 20 inches and a few sea bass. 10 year old Kevin caught the 20 inch fish!!
7/24/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Dave Kolsky Charter from Brick for a day of Bluefishing. A short stop on the Farms produced no bites so we moved to 17 fathoms and began chumming. Within 5 minutes the charter had the first fish on and after that it was mayhem with triple and quadruple hookups. After the cooler was full, the charter began releasing fish till noon. Drifting off the sea girt hotel produced good action with fluke on the way home but the short ratio was high and they managed three keepers for the table.
7/17/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Paul McCartney charter from Rochester NY for their second day of Bluefishing.
We made the fishing more challenging by only allowing spinning reels with 20 lb test line. The fish were very reluctant to bite initially and by 10 am we only had two fish on ice. We took off the wire leaders, added circle hooks and the fish turned on with triple hookups. Although they lost as many as they boated, the charter still managed to fill the cooler by 1130am.
Fluking off sea girt on the way home surprisingly produced 8 keeper fluke to 20 in.
7/16/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Pal McCartney charter from Rochester NY for the first of two days of bluefishing.
Using conventional reels the charter filled the cooler with 20 Blues by 10am and continued in release mode until the chum ran out at noon. Fluking in the red church area produced one keeper.
7/10/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Eddie Schwartz charter from Manhattan for a day of Bluefish and Fluke fishing. We arrived at the Farms at 8:15 and by 9am the cooler was filled with twenty large bluefish. Eddies two 10 year old cousins accounted for most of the fish boated.They continued in release mode till 10 am when we switched over to Fluke fishing. The first fish hooked was a 4 1/2 lb Sea Bass followed by three keeper fluke to 20 inches. The dogfish and skates started to plague us so we moved to the Sea Girt reef and they put a decent catch of Sea Bass in the cooler.
A great day for the kids!!
7/6-7/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted his annual exploratory canyon trip for some of his frequent customers. Started trolling at the Toms south to the Lindenkohl, boated onee yellowfin south of the Carteret and had several short strikes and skipjacks before setting up for the night in the liondenkohl with no bites or bluedogs.
Trolling in the morning produced another yellowfin south of the Lindenkohl and pulled the hook on a good fish. Beautiful weather and loads of porpoises, whales, birds, squid boats and longline gear.
7/03/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Tim Hageman charter from Brick for a day of Fluke fishing. The charter enjoyed constant action boating over 75 fluke drifting from elberon to Sea Girt. The bad news was there were only 8 keepers. The really good news was we did not hook one skate and only a single dogfish. A few nice sea bass were also boated.
6/30/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Elaine Hinsch charter from Montvale for a day of Bluefishing and Fluking.
Tried the lumps off Asbury and Red church for fluke and boated two keepers plus 50 skates. Went to the farms and chummed 6-10 lb bluefish till the charter said Uncle. Ended the day on the Sea Girt reef with a 4 lb Sae Bass and three other keepers with hordes of dogfish.
6/27/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the John Moran charter from Lincroft for a day of Bluefishing. The charter was a fathers day gift from Johns wife and Johns only request was for action. Trolling the oilwreck area with green amd yellow nylons provided John with all the action his tired arms could take. After putting 20 6-10 lbers in the box John and his two buddies went into release mode and continued catching fish till noon when we tried fluking on the klondike with nothing but dogfish bites. Trolling toward the Sea Girt hotel provided more bluefish action with all the fish released.
6/19/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Joe Romano charter from Bedminster for a day of fishing in the Mako Rodeo Tournament. Drifting in the Glory hole we had several sharks in the slick early but they seemed more interested in biting off the baloons than the baits. We decided to make a scond drift and as we pulled in the lines a shark took one of the baits and dropped it. Another line was dropped and a blue shark of estimated 175 lbs was fought and released. Subsequent drifts produced no bites as the wind and drift died.
6/13/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Captain Bernie Roth took his nephews and neighbor on a fun trip to try livelining bunker for striped bass. The snagging and livelining was very successful but catching was not. We saw only one fish caught all morning from Sea Girt to the Rocks and heard only a couple others that were caught. Drifting and anchoring on the Sea Girt reef produced two keeper fluke and a decent catch of sea bass to 3 lbs.
6/12/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Dave Kolsky charter for a day of Striper chunking and bottom fishing. We started chunking bunker heads off Mantoloking but the northeast winds were a little too stiff for realistic chunking and we anchored on the sea girt reef for sea bass. The charter managed to put 50 keeper sea bass in the cooler up to 3lbs on squid and clam baits. A short drift by the bell bouy on the way in produced a 19' fluke.
6/06/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Captain Bernie Roth hosted the Sasha Neulinger charter from Allentown for a day of Fluking. Originally a Striper charter which was canceled the teenagers in the party wanted to do something despite miserable conditions and we tried fluke fishing. The bite was very slow and only a few keepers were landed. However the teenagers had a good time with the fluke, oyster crackers and sea Robins. We did try trolling to the bell bouy in 6-7 footers with no bites and quickly returned to the river.
5/30/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Art Congdon charter from Forest City Pa. for a day of striper fishing. Stopped at Shrewsbury Rocks and trolled on the way to Raritan bay with no bites. Tried the ocean off the hook during the outgoing with no bites. Moved to Romer shoal for the incoming with no bites. Just one of those days. Jigged a few bluefish along the beach.
5/23/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Joe Girondo charter from Consohocken Pa. for a day of striper fishing. We began trolling the rocks and boated one striper and several bluefish on spoons. We then moved to raritan bay to try clamming and boated one striper in very slow action. We trolled the rocks again on the way home and dropped two heavy fish on spoons halfway to the boat.
It was just not our day.
5/22/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Captain Bernie Roth hosted the Ted Sak charter from Doylestown Pa. for a day of Bluefishing. Originally scheduled as a Striper/Bluefish trip, because of the late start we decided to set our sites on bluefish.
They started jigging off asbury and began boating 2-4 lb fish. We moved to the Rocks and trolling umbrella rigs the action was non stop for three hours on larger blues to 8 lbs. Ted's and his brother's sons aged 7, 10 and 14 tired thenselves out boating and releasing most of the fish. Highlight of the trip was when the youngest son boated a 15 lb striper which he will never forget.
5/21/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Andy Slobisky charter from Brick for a day of Striper fishing. Although we had a late start we tried clamming in Raritan Bay with no success and we decided to try Shrewsbury Rocks. On the way we read a school of bluefish in 40 ft of water and began jigging. After boating a half dozen blues we decided to troll umbrella rigs close to shore on the way home with no success. A disappointing day to say the least.
5/16/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Jim Mcquire charter from Yardville NJ for a day of Striper fishing. Their results were a repeat of Fridays trip and they managed to boat their limit of 28" and bonus fish by 11:30 am.They continued fishing for slot fish and boated five by 12:30 when they decided to head home with 21 stripers on ice. A half dozen bluefish were also boated. The big surprise was the water temp going to 65 degrees.
5/14/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Captain Bernie Roth hosted the Brian Adelung charter from South Brunswick for a day of striper fishing. Brians charter continued their excellent record of limiting out on stripers in the 28 and bonus categories by 11:30 am. They continued fishing for slot fish till 12:30 but could only boat five while another dozen larger fish were released. They headed home looking forward to the next trip.
5/13/04
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Chris Martin charter from Philadelphia for some striper fishing. Action was a slow pick for us and the charter boated four stripers to 32" and released two shorts. Rather than move to another spot we decided to wait for the tide change in the early pm but that was a bad decision and fishing was no better.
2003 Fishing Reports
11/9/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Leggett and Platt supervisors for a day of sea bass and bluefishing.
We anchored at the mud buoy and after two hours of chumming with no hits we moved to Shrewsbury Rocks and anchored. Again we could not get any bluefish bites but the charter started fishing squid on the bottom and put together a nice catch of sea bass and one big porgy. We decided to try trolling along the beach on the way home and off of Asbury Park the charter picked some bluefish to 8 lbs and a 28 inch striper.
11/8/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Chris Martin charter from Philadelphia for a day of fishing for Stripers. The 25 knot north wind was not conducive to clamming so we decided to troll Shrewsbury Rocks. Trolling in those conditions was not nice but seemed to be the best of two evils. After hours of nothing but Bluefish which the charter did not want we finally changed colors to lime green shads and the charter boated a 35 inch 18lb striper and a 28 inch striper which made their day.
11/7/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Roy Schneider charter from Slatington Pa for a day of striped bass fishing. Anchoring on the west end of Romer shoal we found the fishing slow and the charter only managed 4 stripers during the first 3 hours. We decided to troll between the channels but that was non productive so we anchored on the shoal again for the last of the outgoing. The charter boated 4 more stripers to 31 inches before we headed home with 8 stripers on ice.
11/3/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Brian Adelung charter from Monmouth Junction NJ for a day of striper fishing which was originally planned as a Bluefish charter. Based on our success yesterday, the charter opted to to fish for stripers instead of Bluefish. We trolled Shrewsbury Rocks on our way up and boated a slot fish and two bluefish. After anchoring on romer shoal during the outgoing fishing was a slow pick with only four fish in the first two hours. When the tide changed to incoming the charter enjoyed non stop action with two and three fish on at a time. By 1:30 pm the charter was limited out with 21 stripers and released 6 fish with the largest going 16 and 16 1/2 lbs. We were using fresh clams and we also chummed with clam bellies.
11/2/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Joe Girondo charter from Conshohocken, Pa. for a day of Striper fishing. With reports of slow trolling the norm we decided to try clamming where we had good success in the spring. Joes daughters dropped their first baits off the transom after we anchored and they nailed stripers of 22 and 20 lbs. During the end of the outgoing and the beginning of the incomming the charter enjoyed non stop action. By noon the charter was limited out with 21 stripers including bonus tags and we headed home early.. We were using fresh clams and did not chum with clam bellies.
10/30-31/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Gary Fekete charter for an overnighter in the Hudson Canyon on Thursday and Friday.We arrived on the east elbow at 2:15 pm and setup for chunking in the same spot as our last trip.Within 15 minutes we began marking fish and ten minutes later the charter had their first Bluefin
hookup. From that point to midnight the charter (including one lady) battled 100 to 160 lb fish constantly. The fishing was obscene!!! We never witnessed Bluefins biting that voraciously and that late at night. The six person charter limited out in 2 hours with 125 to 160 lb fish. We had two boats in succession tie up to our transom before midnight and they limited out. The mate, Kevin Miles, caught and released two Bluefins on a spinning rod with 30 lb test line. In total the charter released 25+ Bluefins.
10/24-25/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Captain Bernie Roth hosted a group of customers for an open boat charter to take advantage of the weather window on Friday and Saturday after the midweek charter was blown out. Arriving at the east elbow at 3:45 pm we anchored up and started chunking. Within 5 minutes we had our first bluefin hookup and the charter had non stop action till dark. By 5:50 pm the charter had their limit of six bluefins, lost four and went into release mode. During the night we had one blue shark hookup but no yellowfin or bluefin bites.
At 8 am the action continued and the charter had three hookups, losing two to broken leaders and releasing a third. In total the charter had 14 bluefin hookups, boated and kept 6 and released 2. All the fish were between 100 and 200 lbs.
10/13-14/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Kevin Miles charter for an overnighter in the Hudson Canyon. Anchored on the east wall until 3 am and the charter boated 2 longfin and 2 yellowfins, some chicken mahi and released a small sword. Went on the drift and picked 3 more yellowfins. At 8 am decided to troll and the charter boated a 30 lb mahi. Headed for home at 9am with 7 tuna and the mahi on ice.
10/8-9/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Joel Frey charter for an overnighter in the Hudson Canyon. Trolling the east elbow produced two hookups and one yellowfin boated. Setting up for the night below the east elbow we had the first yellowfin by 7:30 pm. It was a consistent pick of yellowfins and one longfin all night with enough time to collar each fish and relax before the next one hit. At daybreak we had the fish at the transom but they would only take chunks on light leaders and by the time we rigged up they were gone.We trolled for an hour in the morning with no success and left for home with 11 tuna on ice.
10/6-7/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Joe Croce charter for an overnight trip to the Lindenkohl Canyon Monday and Tuesday. The evening troll produced 5 LARGE longfins that were pushing 70 lbs. The night chunk was very consistent and averaged one fish per hour starting as soon as we anchored. The charter boated 2 more longfins and 9 yellowfins between bouts with three swordfish. The first two swordfish came to the surface quickly and pulled the hook as they approached the boat. The third sword surfaced quickly also but then dove for the depths as 5 anglers took turns developing back spasms. 35 minutes later this sword was gaffed and weighed in at 150 lbs. The charter passed on a morning troll and we left for home with 7 longfins 9 yellowfins a swordfish and several mahi on ice.
09/30-10/01/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Joel Frey charter for an overnighter in the Hudson Canyon Tuesday and Wednesday. The afternoon troll on the east wall produced 3 yellowfins and a 24 lb Mahi. We set up for the night chunk near the elbow where we trolled the yellowfins and were inundated with Mahi. After boating 24 chicken mahi the charter began chunking for tuna and by 8:30 pm they boated another yellowfin and a longfin. Nothing but blue sharks till 4:30 am when the tuna really turned on and the charter boated 10 more yellowfins and 1 more longfin. Brief trolling in the morning produced no bites and we headed home at 9am with 16 tuna and 25 Mahi on ice.
09/24-26/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Ira Kornblutt charter for an overnighter in the Hudson Canyon Thursday into Friday. The seas were flat calm and the longfins were hungry. We trolled south of a fleet that was picking fish and found a pod of our own. The charter managed the lines without a mate and although they had little experience they were boating longfins like pros. They went 7 for 10 large longfins on the afternoon troll.
The night chunk was very slow for us and the charter hooked and boated one 50 lb yellowfin. On the morning troll the charter boated one longfin and we left for home at 10 am with 9 tuna on ice.
09/21-22/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Ray Sico charter for an overnight chunk troll trip to the Hudson Canyon. This was the Jenny Lee's charter but Capt Dave Bender asked me to take them out after his boat deveoped mechanical problems rather than send the charter home to Cleveland.We arrived on the west wall at 9pm and drifted till 6:30 am. Though the mates and charter worked their butts off we were unable to get a single run-off. We began trolling and the charter boated a double header of larger than usual longfins.
We continued up the west wall and began picking yellowfins, one an 80 lber. When we hooked up the 2nd yellowfin we had two white marlin follow the lures to the boat but they refused the pitch baits and further trolling in that area. We reached the tip at 12noon and headed home with 2 longfins and 3 Yellowfins on ice. What a pleasure it was to see the charter's and mate's long faces turn to teamwork and smiles as they went 5 for 5!
09/20-21/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Mark Bennett charter for an overnight trip to the Hudson Canyon. Trolling the east and west walls before setting up for the night on the east wall was unsuccessful. After a few hours with no bites or bait we moved to the west wall and drifted
around 200 100. The charter boated 4 yellowfins on the drift and at 3:00 am we anchored. At first light we had 4 more hookups and boated 3. We left at 8am with 7 tuna on ice.
09/07-08/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the John Labash Charter for an
overnighter in the Hudson Canyon. Trolling for two hours before setting up for the night produced only skipjacks. After anchoring on the west wall at 6pm we had the first fish on ice by 6:30pm on squid. The rest of the night chunk produced four more yellowfins to 60 lbs. At daybreak we went on the drift and boated one more yellowfin. We left for home at 9:30 with 6 yellowfins on ice, all caught on flat lines with squid.
08/31-9/1/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Chris Martin charter from Philadelphia for an overnight chunking trip to the Hudson Canyon. We anchored on the west wall at 7pm and did not get the first bite till 1 am although we had porpoises and squid around the boat most of the night.
From 1 to 3 am the charter boated 8 yellowfins. From 4:30 to 6am they boated 5 more yellowfins. Unfortunately we had to leave at 6 am for the charter to meet a scheduled return to Phila by 1 pm and we left them biting. As we were pulling the anchor we had a double hookup and we were marking fish on the screen. For all but one person, this was their first canyon trip and they did well boating 13 of the 18 solid hookups they had.
08/24-25/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Mark Bennett charter for an overnighter in the Lindenkohl Canyon on Sunday and Monday. The afternoon troll produced nothing but skippies and we set up for the night chunk early at 6 pm. At 11 pm the charter hooked a swordfish and the hook pulled at boatside. Shortly thereafter the charter began getting hookups with yellowfins with squid baits. By first light they boated six yellowfins to 60 lbs and lost as many primarily with the hooks pulling shortly after hookup. The morning troll was uneventful and we headed home at 9am with six yellowfins on ice.
08/23/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the employees of Leggett & Platt for a day of Bluefishing and Fluking at Shrewsbury Rocks. After 2 hours of Bluefish chumming and jigging the charter had only a handful of Bluefish with the largest going 12 lb. After getting reports that 17 fathom and the mud buoy were very slow, we decided to try fluking in the same area. With the northwest wind the charter was able to catch seven keeper fluke just offshore of the people on the beach. Shorts outnumbered keepers 6 to 1.
08/19-20/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted Bryan Duncan and Hibberd Boat Works for an overnighter in the Hudson Canyon. Trolling toward the bombs we had a triple header hookup of yellowfins and the charter boated two. We set up for the night chunk at 200/100 and the boat was surrounded with mahi for over an hour. The charter had a blast boating 37 before they disappeared. The night chunk was uneventful till 4 am when we had a flurry of bites, boating 3 out of four yellowfins hooked. We trolled in the morning till 8:30 am with nothing but skippies biting and headed home with 5 yellowfins and 37 mahi on ice.
08/14-15/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Jeffrey Byrne charter from Mount Laurel NJ for an overnighter in the Hudson Canyon.The afternoon and morning trolls produced nothing but 35-40 skipjacks on the west wall, the east wall and the deep. The night chunk produced one brown shark which was released The charter was kept busy and were very upbeat despite the very frustrating and disappointing trip. We can't say enough about their positive attitude! In addition they provided all the food for the captain and mate which was excellent!
08/11/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Jim Martowicz charter from Millrift, Pennsylvania who opted for a day of Striper and Fluke fishing since we had trouble finding bluefish the past 3 days.Trolling shad rigs at the rocks produced (you guessed it)12 to 14 lb bluefish. The charter did not want to keep the bluefish so we set up and started drifting for fluke east of the rocks. The wind picked up toward noon and we had to use 10 oz to hold bottom but the charter boated 8 keepers up to 22 inches and some sea bass.
08/9/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Bill Hellenthal charter from Philadelphia for a day of bluefish and fluke fishing. Started chumming on the rocks for bluefish with no success. Started trolling on the rocks with no success.Moved to the rattlesnake and began drifting for fluke.Put a decent catch of sea bass and fluke in the box and moved south along the beach drifting different lumps. Caught a 24 in fluke on the Red Church lump and headed for home in the fog.
08/8/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Dan Ruhland charter from Frenchtown for a day of bluefishing. Tried chumming on the farms for an hour with one bite that pulled the hook. Went to the rocks on reports of small blues and started chumming with no success. Started trolling and the charter put four fish in the box and lost as many. The larger blues are definitely in their summer spawn.
07/28-29/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Captain Bernie Roth hosted the Jim Chivers charter from Binghamton NY for an overnighter in the Hudson Canyon. We encountered breaking fish inshore of the Canyon and a purple sprdr bar was engulfed by a bluefin tuna that took four anglers one hour to bring to gaff. This was their first tuna charter and they did a great job on the 150 lb fish. We continued trolling in the area and the charter also boated 3 40-50 lb yellowfins before we set up for the night chunk.
Jims grandson Pete fought and boated one of the yellowfins for his first tuna. The night chunk produced nothing but 15 lb bluefish. At 4 am the wind
began to blow 20+ knots and we decided to head for home at first light.
07/26/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Captain Bernie Roth hosted the Jae Eisenhower family charter for a day of bluefishing. Catches were slow to start using chunks of bunker and butterfish. As was the case last time on this spot, when we switched to whole butterfish baits we had triple hookups at a time and all the fish were 10 to 12 lbs. This year Jae's mother and father joined in the action and had a super day with beautiful weather.
07/19/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Captain Bernie Roth hosted the Mike D'antonio charter for a day of bluefishing. Anchoring near the oil wreck the fishing started slowly using bunker and sardine chunks and became a steady pick for the first two hours. Then we tried drifting a whole sardine in the slick and it was immediately engulfed by a bluefish. From then on using whole sardines for bait the charter was into fish non stop and they quickly filled the cooler. Mikes three children and nephew had a ball fighting these larger than usual bluefish. A stop at the sea girt reef on the way home netted one keeper fluke.
07/18/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Captain Bernie Roth hosted the Joe Girondo charter for
a day of fluke fishing. The fishing was to say the least Terrible. After drifting all the local hills and lumps with only shorts we anchored on the sea girt reef
and caught a few sea bass and a 24 inch fluke. It was just one of those days when even the sea bass were not
biting!
07/01-02/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Captain Bernie Roth hosted some of his regular customers for their annual 4th of July Exploratory Canyon trip. Trolling just before hitting the tip of the canyon a 120 lb Bluefin almost spooled a 50tw before we could back down and allow the charter to gain control of the situation and put him on ice. Trollin down the west wall the charter also had a double header of 40 to 50 lb yellowfins which were also dispatched. The night chunk was uneventful until hordes of rainfish, squid and porpoises came on the scene. It made no sense to chunk so the charter leisurely dipped squid from the water and filled 12 bags of 20 squid each for calamari on the 4th. They could have filled bushels with fresh squid. The only fishing action was a single shark bite off.
The morning troll produced a runoff amid a school of bluefins but quickly pulled the hook. This is the most life we have ever seen so early which I believe bodes well for the tuna season. Outstanding weather, some serious rod bending, tuna steaks and fresh calamari. What a way to start!!
06/29/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Leggett and Platt supervisors for a day of bluefishing chartered by Dave Kolsky. We returned to the farms area where we picked fish all day on Saturday. Sundays action was faster paced and the charter had little trouble filling the fishbox with medium sized blues. We also tried drifting for fluke in the Klondike area on the way home but experienced only shorts and higher winds which prevented the charter from holding bottom.
06/28/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Tom Wilson charter for a day of Bluefishing at the farms. Initially the blues hesitated to take the baits and it was a very slow pick. Once the party boats moved off to other areas the fishing got better and the charter was able to fill the fishbox with all the blues they wanted. On the way home we stopped on the north slope of the klondike to drift for fluke. Within one hour the charter put seven keepers on ice and threw back twice as many shorts. Uncle George won the bluefish pool and Tom won the fluke bragging rights.
06/15/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth took his nephews to romer shoal for a few hours of clamming for stripers. Fishing in the slack tide produced no bites. When the water started moving they each boated stripers of 39 and 32 in. They were happy with the biggest stripers they had ever caught and we headed for home to enjoy a fathers day picnic.
06/11/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Legett & Platt Supervisors chartered by Dave Kolsky for a day of Striper and Bluefish chunking. Fishing the last 3 hours of the outgoing tide the stripers began biting 15 minutes after anchoring. By slack tide we had 9 stripers to 37 " on ice and they stopped biting. We began chunking bunkers and the bluefish started biting which gave the charter a change of pace and lots of action on spinning tackle. We left at 1:30 to beat the rain which held off till we reached the dock.
06/07/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Tyrone Hospital Admin team
chartered by Tommy Bartlett on Saturday and made a fruitless attempt at clamming on Shrewsbury Rocks before heading to a wreck to catch some action and sea bass. They enjoyed non stop action even in the rain but decided to pack it in when it came down in buckets.
They had an enjoyable day despite the rain with plenty of filets for dinner
05/20/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Ron Bryan party for some striped bass chunking on Romer shoal. We returned to the same spot where we enjoyed bailing large bass the day before but we found a different situation. Fishing was a slow pick and the fish were not as big. However
the party filled all limit categories including bonus tags and released slots which we could not find the day before.
05/19/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Joe Girondo party for some striped bass chunking in Raritan Bay on Romer Shoal in 17ft of water. The first two fish were caught by the two woman in the party and weighed 20 and 18 lbsBy 12 noon the over 28 and bonus limits were filled and the party spent the last hour releasing 31 to 35 inch fish trying to fill the slot category. At 1 pm the party had only 4 slots boated but decided to call it quits.
Great fishing for a group that had never caught a striper before.
05/10/03
Captain Bernie Roth Reports:
Capt Bernie Roth hosted the Brian Adelung party for a cruise in Barnegat bay. One of Brians friends who was quite ill wished he could take a cruise and Brian made it happen. As we passed the BB buoy we noticed fisherman catching bluefish and we set out some diamond jigs for trolling. Before long we were boating 3-4 lb blues which no one expected.
We continued to Barnegat inlet and also trolled blues within a half mile of the inlet. All in all a very pleasant cruise and some fishing excitement as well.
2002 Fishing Reports
11/3-4/02
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie Roth had Ernie Kusterer and his son Mark on board for a Sun/Mon
overnighter in the Hudson Canyon. Filled with optimism after last weeks impressive
catch and reports of party boats bailing fish on the west wall, we anchored on the
same spot that yielded fish on the previous trip. After 12 hours and no tuna bites
we moved to the east wall and began drifting. On the third drift and 10 minutes
before our scheduled
departure the charter hooked a large tuna that eventually broke the 60lb leader. We
decided to stay an extra hour and the charter
boated a longfin and two yuellowfins that were in the slick. The recorder showed fish
stacked up from 100 to 200ft but they would not come up.
We left at 12 noon with 3 tuna on ice and very glad we delayed our departure.
10/24-25/02
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie Roth had the Kevin Miles party on board after their 3rd attempt at
getting good weather on an overnighter and it was a charm.
They put together the best trip of the year. Afternoon chunking started with hooking
up four bluefins and landing a 200 lber after 45 minutes and 6 trips around the boat.
They picked 6 longfins and 2 yellowfins until dark and we anchored on the west wall
where they picked 5 more fish until daylight. During the morning they picked 2 more fish
until 9 am when tuna were swirling in the slick and were being hooked right at the
transom. At 9:45 we ran out of bait and pulled the lines up to head home. As the
northeast
wind blew us home, we had 29 tuna on ice, 16longfins, 12 yellowfins and 1
bluefin.
10/20-21/02
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie Roth had the John Labash charter on board for a Sunday Monday
overnighter. Approaching the east elbow we were all set to drop the lines and troll
when we heard that fish were biting on the chunk in daylight.
We quickly changed gears and started a drift close to the squid boats and within 10
minutes we had three fish on. We continued drifting and chunking till the following
morning when we left for home at 10 am with 17 tuna on ice, 12 longfins and five
yellowfins from 60 to 90 lbs.
For whatever reason, night chunking this year continues slow. Most of the fish were
taken in daylight.
10/9-10/02
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie Roth had the Joe Croce charter on board for a Wed/Thur
overnighter in forecast 3 to 5 ft seas that were 4 to 8.
Trolled 3 longfins that hit ballyhoo and artificial ballyhoo. Chunked 4 out
of 5 yellowfins and another longfin that hit live squid down 100-125ft. Also hooked
two blue sharks and some good sized mahi.
Yellowfins were 60-80lbs, longfin were 35-45 lbs. We left at 10am with 8 tuna on ice
and enjoyed the smooth ride home with the southeast wind at our backs.
09/30-10/1/02
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie Roth had the Joel Frey charter on board for a Mon/Tues overnighter in the
Hudson.
Trolling produced 16 longfins including a 5 fish hookup
just before lines out. Since Tenacious allows experienced anglers to fish without a mate,
the four man charter and Capt Bernie fought and boated all 5. Chunking produced one
longfin, 3
yellowfins of 100, 90 and 80 lbs and some mahi. We left them biting at 10am with 20
tuna on ice.
09/23-24/02
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie Roth had the Mark Bennett charter on board for an overnighter.
Lured by NW winds that were forecast to drop to 10 kts we headed for the Lindenkohl
were we had action on Saturday night.
Trolling from 4-6pm produced no bites. The night chunk produced no bites. It was a
very frustrating trip with 3-8ft waves
the entire trip. There were four boats in the canyon that night. One had 4 longfins
and 2 yellowfins, one had 2 yellowfins
and two had nothing.We headed for home shortly after first light doing 16-17 knots to
the inlet. Despite the fact that four of the six person charter were dealing with sea
sickness
and miserable fishing conditions, they were real troopers and never complained.
09/21-22/02
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie Roth had the Joe Horvath Charter on board for an overnighter.
Trolling from the Carteret to the Lindenkohl produced two mahi. Chunking was very
slow until
midnight when live squid resulted in five hookups to large yellowfins. Two were
boated that were 90+lbs.
Two pulled the hook just short of the gaff after a 25-30 minute fight and one broke
the leader due to a birdsnest.
Despite their lack of experience the charter did very well fighting the larger than
normal size yellowfins.A mako also came into the slick and was hooked but chaffed the
leader after a short fight.The morning troll produced 1 longfin near the Carteret and
we headed home at 9am with 3 tuna and some mahi on ice.
Reports from other boats were "we should have been here yesterday" and "very
slow"
09/18-19/02
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie Roth had the Joel Frey party on board for a Wed/Thur overnighter in the
Hudson Canyon.
The Afternoon troll produced one longfin and one short strike on a ballyhoo. The
night chunk produced one 80lb yellowfin
on 50lb fluoro leader with a live squid. The short morning troll till 8am proved
unproductive and we headed home with two tuna on ice.
09/9/02
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie Roth took the Mike Vallario charter to the canyon for a day troll instead
of a day troll in the Glory Hole hoping for the
same kind of action we enjoyed on Friday. It was not to be. We arrived at the west
elbow at 9:30am just as the longfin bite was shutting down.
We trolled that area and further north till 3pm with only one short bite on a
ballyhoo to show for our efforts. A very frustrating day in beautiful weather and
good company.
09/7-8/02
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Captain Bernie Roth had the Ken wilson charter on board for a sat/sun overnighter
amongst "hundreds" of boats. The afternoon troll from the w100 to w50 line
produced 3 longfins and 1 yellowfin. The night chunking produced 2 longfins with most
of the night spent fending off drifting boats and boats dragging their anchor as we
sat on anchor.
If we had not stayed alert during the night we would have been rammed and lost our
own anchor. Fishing at night on the weekends is not fun!!
The morning troll produced 2 longfins as we trolled through the gridlocked west wall
to an open area where we headed for home with 8 tuna on ice.
09/6/02
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie Roth took the Will Evans party to the canyon for a day troll
instead of a day troll in the Glory Hole after hearing how poor the inshore tuna
fishing has been. It turned out to be a wise decision. Arrived at the letters at 10am
just when the morning longfin bite
slowed to a pick. Trolled till 3pm and went 4 for 7 on longfins. Only one of the six
man party had ever been to the canyon and they were very happy and pleased with the
experience.
08/25-26/02
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie Roth had the John Labash charter on board for a Sun/Mon overnighter with
outstanding weather and trolling action.
The afternoon troll produced several Mahi and Skipjacks but no Tuna bites.The night
chunking produced a lone 60lb Yellowfin and a Blue Shark.
After starting the morning troll with a 5 bagger hookup of larger than normal
longfin, the charter went 14 for 17 on longfin, including a second 5 bagger hookup,
in less than three hours.
Highlight of the trip was Teddy Jr.,13, boating his first tuna on standup tackle.
08/16-17/02
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Capt Bernie Roth had the Mark Bennett party on an overnight trip to the Hudson
Canyon. The afternoon troll produced a small yellowfin which was released.
We encountered massive bait readings with whales and porpoises on the 190 091 line
and decided to set up there for the night chunking. The squid were so thick through
the night that chunks never penetrated below them.
We boated a 60lb yellowfin on a live squid and had two unknown runoffs that almost
spooled the 50tws before breaking the 60lb leaders. The morning troll was uneventful
in the very green water despite the fact that we constantly marked fish and bait.
The fish are there and all we need is clean water to be more productive.
08/10-11/02
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Had the Ron Antonelli Fishing Team on board for a weekend overnighter.
Went to the 100 square and east area where fishing was good earlier but could not
getany bites.Returned to the east wall and trolled a barely legal yellowfin. Chunking
produced two manta ray runoffs and a 40lb yellowfin at sunrise on a bait fish we netted.
The morning troll produced a 60lb yellowfin on the west elbow. The water at the 100
square went from 76 to 71 degrees overnight.
08/3-4/02
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Took the John bullock party to the Hudson Canyon for an overnighter.
The afternoon troll produced nothing except a good sized mahi. The night chunk
produced two
runoffs of huge manta rays. The morning troll produced one bite on a ballyhoo and the
60lb yellowfin was boated.
Despite the once a year flat calm weather, it was a very frustrating and slow
trip.
07/13-14/02
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Had the Ron Antonelli fishing team on board for a Toms Canyon overnighter.
Started the afternoon troll off brisky with a tripleheader of 50-60 lb yellowfins. In
the same area we raised a blue marlin that slashed a ballyhoo several times before
being hooked and immediately pulled the hook.
On the chunk boated a 40 lb yellowfin on a 120ft lightstick after a couple of missed
runoffs. Then hooked up a 125lb mako that jumped several times before being gaffed
and iced.
On the morning troll we boated 7 more yellowfins and released 5 to grow larger. An
exciting trip with action for everyone. Also enjoyed the forecast 1 to 2 ft seas with
an occasional 8 footer!
07/2-3/02
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Had the Joel Frey party on board for the annual "Fourth of July Exploratory" Canyon trip.
Began trolling 7 miles short of the dropoff and boated a 40lb yellowfin.
When we reached the edge we boated 5 for 5 and then 4 for 4 smaller yellowfins
which were released. At 6:30pm we hooked up with a 250-300 lb blue marlin and in the
20knt winds
we were backing down for 1 1/2 hours before the leader was grabbed and the fish was
released. What a beautiful site to behold!
We chunked all night with no runoffs and trolled in the morning till 10am when we
boated 3 for 3 smaller yellowfins which were released.
The party had constant action during the day and with the acres of porpoises and
pilot whales plus the blue Marlin it will be a day long remembered!
06/29/02
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Had the Paul Marino party on board to participate in the Brett Bailey Mako Rodeo
Tournament. We started chumming and drifting in the east end of the Glory hole.
At 10 am the deep line went off and proceeded to strip the 50w. We backed down on the
fish but
when the dacron backing showed, the angler panicked and tightened the drag, snapping
the 100lb line.
At 11:30 the deep line went off again and a mako came quickly to the boat. After
being hit with two tuna gaffs
the fish flapped his tail, bent off the tuna gaffs and sounded. When he came to the
boat the second time the captain hit him with the flying gaff and it was all over.
Back at Hoffmans Marina the mako weighed 180 lb and won the winner take all tournament.
Congratulations to Paul and his party for an exciting and memorable day!!
2001 Fishing Reports
10/23/01
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Took advantage of the unusually nice october weather to schedule three consecutive charters.
On thursday friday had the H&R welding group on board and fished the east wall near the draggers. They
had a nice pick of larger size yellowfins to 100lbs and ended up with 15 yellowfins and 6 mahi on ice.
This was their first canyon experience and they did very well handling the yellowfins.
On saturday sunday had the Ron Antonelli fishing team on board and we set up on the east wall again.
They started by hooking up a triple of yellowfins and broke one off in a tangle. They continued picking
fish through the night and left with 11 yellowfins, one longfin and four mahi on ice.
On monday tuesday had the John Labash group on board and started on the east wall where they boated two
longfins. Action slowed and we moved to the west wall where we drifted with no action. Heard some good
reports near the 150/050 and moved to that area and drifted. At 2:30am the fish found our slick and they
left at sunrise with 20 yellowfins and 3 longfins on ice.
10/13-14/01
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Had the Kevin Miles party on board for an overnight chunk/troll trip and put together the best catch of
the season thus far.
Based on input from Dave Bender, Capt of the Jenny Lee, we set up for chunking early on the east wall.
From 3pm till dark the charter boated 6 yellowfins and 11 longfins. By 9 pm they limited out on
yellowfins and they stopped fishing. They allowed another boat, Primetime, to tie up to our transom and
they watched while Capt Bill Madden and his crew also had non stop action limiting out by midnight.
After a good nights sleep we headed for home at 6am with 32 tuna on ice, 21 yellowfins and 11
longfins.
10/2-3/01
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Had the Joel Frey party on board for a Tues Wed overnighter.
Trolled from the Texas Tower area to the Hudson picking up two mahi.
Marked some fish on the west wall and set up for chunking at dusk.
During the night released a small sword and foul hooked a sunfish. No tuna bites.
Set up for trolling at 7:am and hooked two yellowfins on the west wall flats, pulling the hook on one
and boating one about 60lbs. Trolled the area for another hour with no bites and headed for home at 8:45
am with 1 tuna and 2 mahi on ice.
9/26-27/01
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Had the Joel Frey party on board for a Wednesday/ Thursday overnighter in the Hudson Canyon
Stopped at the tower area and chunked for two hours with no bites and no marks. Continued to the Hudson
and started trolling below the tip and picked up a 60 lb yellowfin. A second fish tore the teaser arm
off a spreader bar. Decided to set up on the west wall below the bombs for the night.
Chunked from 6:30 pm until 6:00am with no bites when rods started going off. Hooked 7 large yellowfins
and boated 4 from 80 to 100 lbs. Most were hooked on live squid flat lines. The bite was over by 8:15 am
and we headed home with 5 tuna and 1 mahi on ice.
The 10kt noaa forecast was a little off with 25knt winds and 4 to 8 ft seas.
9/22-23/01
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Had the Ron Antonelli fishing team on board for a chunk and troll overnighter at the Hudson Canyon.
Began trolling 5 mi short of the west elbow and to the east elbow. Picked 3 longfin before setting up to
chunk just below the bombs. We were attacked by large size mahi for about two hours.
Went 1 for 2 on yellowfin boating a 100 lber. Released a small swordfish and had one other runoff
quickly dropped for the night. Began trolling after daybreak and picked 4 longfin on the east wall
before heading home at 9:15 am with 8 tuna and 20 mahi on ice.
9/18-19/01
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Had the Joel Frey party on board for an overnight troll and chunk trip.
Began trolling 5mi inshore of the west elbow and proceeded across the deep to the east elbowwith no bites.
As we turned to return to the west wall we hit a pod of longfins and went 4 for 5 by crisscrossing the
area until just before dark.
We returned to the west wall and setup for the night near where we had setup for four or five earlier
trips this year.
We read lots of bait and had squid around the boat most of the night. No action occurred until 9pm and
we began picking yellowfins, the majority on flat lines worked with live squid.
By midnight we had 8 yellowfins in the boat and action slowed until morning with another 4 yellowfins
boated. At times the fish were in the slick and were not leader shy. All fish were caught with 80lb
leaders.
At 7am we headed for home with 12 yellowfins, 4 longfins and several mahi on ice. Six of the yellowfins
were 90 to 110lbs and the rest were 60 to 75lbs. The charter did a great job and only dropped three
yellowfins to a broken line and hook pulls.
9/16-17/01
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Had the Mark Bennett party on board for an overnight chunking trip, their second canyon trip this year.
We were hopeful that despite the marginal weather conditions we could locate some yellowfins.
We setup on the west elbow amid bait and whales with no bites until 9pm when a deep rod with a
lightstick and live squid went off and produced a 100lb yellowfin.
A short time later we had a runoff and dropoff and did not get another tuna bite all night. We did chunk
a 15lb mahi and left for home at 7:30am.
This was the worst trip to the canyon for us this year and I began to believe, as others were saying
that our september season was slowing down instead of improving as it has in the past.
However, there is no mistaking the fact that the fish are there as evidenced by the marks on the screen
and that they will eventually bite, hopefully sooner than later.
9/6-7/01
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Had the John Mcsloy charter on board for an overnight charter in the Hudson Canyon.
Trolled 4mi short of the west wall to the east wall with no bites. Trolled back to the west wall and set
up for chunking.
Within 5 min we hooked up with a large fish which became wrapped on the propeller. The mate used a jig
to snag the line below the boat and we proceeded to hand line and gaff a 105lb yellowfin.
We had steady action till midnight on butterfish chunks on deep lines. No bites on squid or whole
butters. We fished till 6:30am with no more bites and began trolling with 8 yellowfins from 75 to 105
lbs on ice.
With no trolling action, we headed for home at 8:am.
8/30-31/01
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Had the Mark Bennett party on board for an overnighter in the Hudson canyon. As usual, began trolling 4
miles from the west edge
and picked up a longfin. Upon reaching the same area as our last three trips we found the whales and
bait and set up for chunking. Action started at 8:10 pm and continued through the night with fish behind
the transom at 4am. We broke off three large fish on 50lb leaders and began using 80lb leaders. We
boated 9 yellowfins and broke off as many. Most of the fish were 75 to 100lbs with only 2 in the 60lb class.
We headed for home at 6:30am with 10 tuna on ice.
8/26-27/01
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Had the Bill Laudien party on board for a Sunday /Monday overnight trip.
Began trolling 5 miles short of the west elbow with only skippy bites. After
an uneventful hour and hearing reports of slow trollin , decided to set up for the night.
At 8:30 we hooked up on a flat line with 50lb leader and after the sixth man took his turn on the rod we
boated a 100lb yellowfin.
Action continued through the night and by 7am we had boated 9 yellowfins and 2 longfins plus a few mahi.
Six of the yellowfins were
bruisers in the 80 to 100lb class. This was the first canyon trip for Bill and his father and friends.
They still can't believe the stamina and gut wrenching power of the yellowfins
and are planning to come back next year. We left for home at 7:30am with 11 tuna on ice.
8/21-22/01
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Had the Kevin Miles party on board for a Tues/Wed overnighter in the Hudson Canyon.Began trolling 4
miles from the west elbow and had a three bagger of longfin, putting two in the boat,followed by a five
bagger of longfin putting all five in the boat.
Set up for chunking at 5pm and began picking fish throughout the night. The first was a longfin followed
by eight yellowfin, five of which were bruisers in the 100lb class. We broke off
as many yellowfins as we caught on the 40 and 50 lb leaders which were required to get bites far back
in the slick. We left for home at 6:30 am with 8 longfins, 8 yellowfins and a mahi on ice.
8/5-6/01
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Had the Gary Schetlich party on board for a Sunday/Monday overnighter.
Decided to get away from the crowd on the west wall and trolled to the east wallwith no
bites. Set up to chunk at 4pm and by 5pm the first rod went off. By 7:30 we boated 9 of 12 large size
yellowfins and a 125lb mako. During the night we boated 2 more yellowfins and 1 longfin. On the morning
troll a 130 lb bigeye inhaled a spreader bar as the second bar was being put in
the water. We trolled to the west wall, boated another longfin and headed for home at 8am with 11
yellowfins, 2 longfins, a mako and a bigeye on ice.
7/28-29/01
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Took the Ron Antonelli Fishing Team to the Hudson Canyon
for a chunk/troll overnighter and began trolling 9 miles from
the west elbow. No action on the troll and set up for chunking about
3pm at the elbow using 50lb leaders. Began to pick larger yellowfins and by nightfall
we had 4 60 to 80 lb yellowfins collared and on ice. We anticipated
some good action through the night but it never happened: we did not have a bite all nite.
We continued chunking till 7am without a bite and pulled the anchor to head for home.
7/14-15/01
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Took the Ron Antonelli Fishing Team for a memorable overnighter in the Hudson Canyon.
Trolled the west wall south from the tip for 2 1/2 hours with no action and based on a tip from Capt
Kevin on the XTC, set up for chunking at 4:30 pm. Began catching yellowfins almost immediately on 50 lb
leaders and a 40 lb flourocarbon leader. By sunset we had
we had gaffed 5 larger size yellowfins and by 11:30 pm we had 10 60 to 90 lb yellowfins in the boat.
Action died until 3:30 am when non stop action continued until daybreak. At 6:30 am we headed for home
with 22 yellofins and 2 longfins plus several mahi on ice.
Demonstrating a large dose of patience and tenacity the charter and mate remarkably went 24 for 25
losing a single hooked fish when a three bagger resulted in tangled lines and one line was chaffed
through. Outstanding job! Outstanding chunking trip FOR JULY!!!
7/3/01-7/04/01
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Tenacious made the first overnight canyon trip of the season with the Joel Frey party. Trolling the tip
produced
two yellowfins of 30 and 35 lbs and pulling the hook on a third. Chunking produced one 45 lb yellowfin
and then boredom set in till 1am when two rods went off with larger tuna that could not be stopped. They
wrapped around the anchor line and eventually broke both lines.
As the lines were being pulled up at daybreak to start trolling a white marlin was hooked and put on a
jumping show for the party. It pulled the hook at boatside before it could be photographed. The morning
troll produced three mahi-mahi, two of which exceeded 15 lbs. NOAA was way off the mark with a calm
night and calmer morning.
2000 Fishing Reports
October 14-15,
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Took the Ron Antonelli fishing team to the Hudson Canyon for an overnighter.
Started trolling 4 miles short of the west elbow and picked three longfins
before setting up to chunk at 5:30 pm. We had constant action till 3am on dead and live squid,
butterfish and sardines.
When we pulled the anchor at 7:30 am we had 5 longfins and 12 yellowfins on ice ranging from 50 to
70lbs. Contrary to the previous night the moon did not seem to affect the bite.
The charter and mate Bob Billerman worked hard all night trying different baits, depths and line
sizes
and their efforts paid off. One of the great trips this year!!
October 12-13,
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Had the Kevin Miles party on board for an overnighter to
the Hudson Canyon. Started trolling 4 miles short of the hundred square
on the east wall and had one longfin and one yellowfin on ice before setting up for the chunk.
By 9:30 pm we had two longfins, three yellowfins and
a 145 lb bigeye on ice. When the moon came up our action died and we only caught blue dogs the
rest of
the night. At daybreak we trolled up the east wall
till 9:00 am and headed for home.
October 4-5,
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Had the Joel Frey party on board for an overnighter to the
east wall of the Hudson. We set up for chunking at 4:15pm
and enjoyed non stop action on larger size yellowfins
ranging from 70 to 90 lbs. The charter was exhausted by 3am
and they fished just one rod till morning doing catch and release.
They caught approx 40 plus yellowfins and kept 24. They also caught 2 longfins
and some mahi mahi. Great trip!!
September 30 - October 1
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Had the Kevin Miles party on board for a chunking trip.
Set up on the east wall of Hudson Canyon at 4pm and had the first fish
on at 6pm which pulled the hook. We picked fish till midnight going 5
for 10 with one longfin and 4 yellowfin from 50-75 lbs.
We were also invaded by large mahi and caught 5 before they became wary of the baits.
After midnight until 8am we got nothing but blue dogs
and headed home in friendly northeast seas. The bait and fish readings were impressive all night
but the fish were tentative at best and just mouthing
rather than grabbing baits--when they did bite. We were very lucky considering that the majority of
of the 200plus boats in Hudson City caught fewer or none. The seas were dead calm during
most of the night and it was enjoyable fishing!
September 27-28
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Had the Gary Vayianos Party from Brick aboard for an overnight
trip to the east wall of the Hudson. They enjoyed catching 50-80 lb
Yellowfins from 6:15 pm till daybreak with non stop action catching 21
and losing a half dozen. The highlight of the night was
a 235 lb mako that was initially mistaken for a blue shark and gaffed just when the line
parted. The party could not have asked for a better night in the Hudson!
September 17-18
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Had the Gary Shetlick party to the Hudson Canyon for a
Troll /chunk trip. Began trolling 7 miles west of the west
wall droppoff and caught a 70 lb yellowfin within a few minutes.
Trolled to the west wall and immediately set up for chunking due to the
rough water and winds which NOAA did not forecast. We picked yellowfin and one longfin most of the
night and by daybreak we had 11 yellowfin, 1 longfin and three large mahi
on ice. Most of the fish were caught on squid fished deep and flat. At first light we headed for home,
a ride which took 5 1/2 hours into south west wind and seas.
September 11-12
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Had the Joel Frey party on board for a troll/chunk/troll overnighter.
Began trolling on the west elbow and hooked a four bagger of longfins, dropping one and putting three
in the boat.
We trolled through acres of skipjack on the surface to no avail and trolled over to the east elbow were
we read fish and bait. Immediately after setting up for the night chunk a giant manta ray was hooked
and it leaped clear of the water twice before almost spooling the reel and pulled the hook
. We chunked two more longfins and action stopped. At 3am we decided to move to the west wall where
there was more chunking activity on the drift. We drifted till daybreak and then trolled till 9am
without a touch before heading home with 5 longfin on ice.
September 9-10
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Had the Ron Antonelli fishing team at the Hudson Canyon
for a troll/chunk/troll overnighter. We marked fish and bait on the east elbow in one particular spot
and aftertwo hoursworking the area
three yellowfins were hooked and two were put in the boat. The third was an allison of 120+ lbs and
pulled the hook when the leader was in hand.
We set up for chunking at that spot and put four more yellowfins and two longfins plus two small mahi
in the box.
On the morning troll we caught two more longfins and headed home with 10 tuna on ice.
September 7-8
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Had the Joel Frey party for a troll and chunk overnight
trip to the Lindenkohl Canyon stopping first at the Carteret
canyon to troll south. Nothing happened until we reached the edge of the
Lindenkohl were we boated two yellofins and one longfin which were caught
under boiling
skipjacks. Once on the chunk in 800 ft of 70 degree water we picked at
yellowfins going four for
seven and one mahi. On the morning troll we immediately hooked up a
yellowfin which pulled the hook
as we were about to gaff it. Another hour of trolling proved fruitless
and we headed for home in calm seas.
September 1-2
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Took Dennis Vandeputte and his two sons to the Lindekol
Canyon on a Friday Saturday overnight trip. Trolling was slow
and we decided to set up early when we heard reports of daytime chunking
activity.
At 7:30 we had two rods screaming and by midnight we had 8 yellowfins on ice.
At daybreak we added two more yellowfins to the box and headed home at
7:30 am in dead calm seas.
Dennis had bragging rights over his sons by subduing the last fish, a
90lber. The other fish were all 40 to 60 lbs.
First time mate Mark Bennett had fun with Dennis and his sons and worked
hard catching the squid which the fish wanted.
August 24-25
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Had the Mark Bennett party from Totowa NJ on a troll and chunk overnighter.
On thursday afternoon we trolled four longfins and set up for the night
on the west elbow.
It was a slow nightand we went one for two on yellowfin about 70 lbs. On
the morning troll we immediately caught a longfin and when the lines were
put back in three bigeyes came up. One was lost on a reel that locked up,
one pulled the hook and the thirdwas brought to gaff by mark Bennett and
weighed 165lbs. We continued to troll till 8:30 and added three more
longfins before heading home.
August 19-20
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Had the Ron Antonelli Fishing Team on board for an overnite
troll-chunk-troll.. Leaving Manasquan Inlet at 11 am. on saturday 8-19
and running into a north west 15-20 kt. blow, we arrived at the west wall
of the Hudson at 4 pm. Getting reports about the previous day which
resulted in a better troll bite than what was happening the past few
days, the crew consisting of mate Bob, Ron Antonelli, Ron Jr., Mike
Soriano, Dan Tolve, Pete Centanni, prepared the cockpit for the late
afternoon troll.. After a short time of cruising the pots, the outside
rigger pole screamed resulting in a solid hook-up with an 80 class
yellowfin..Continuing to troll until 7 pm., we then picked our spot for
the nite... As predicted by NOAA, the evening winds began to lay down.
The chunk bite did not exist for us until 3am. at which time a 60 lb.
class yellowfin committed itself to the ice chest. Squid were far and
few, the water temp. was cooler than normal, and the thermo layer was at
a skinny 50 ft., conditions not suitable for late August chunking. As 4
am. approached, the wind conditions were very tolerable and made for a
comfortable nite. At 4:30 another 60 class yellowfin decided to eat, and
was added to the box. Not having any other bites, at 6:30, we decided to
prepare for the troll once again.. Just as the wind had calmed 8 hrs.
prior, only to begin to blow-up by 7am.. As other boats had experienced
like us, with the chunk, they too got on the troll making for a
tournament -like condition, navigating in close proximity over the bait
pods and between the pots. Within a short time, a double of longfin
smashed the spread and were boated. Continuing to work the small area
along with 20 or so others, we again pulled a longfin from the center
rigger daisy chain. At 9 am., the lines were brought in and we headed for
the beach, with a total of 6 fish, 3 yellowfin + 3 longfin. Hope
conditions improve at the Hudson, real soon .........
August 15-16
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Took the Steve Colbert party to the west wall of the Hudson
Canyon for an overnight chunk trip. Set up on anchor at 5:30 pm and had the first fish.
It was a large yellowfin that decided to go around the boat instead of down
and was lost in the props. By 7:30 we had two yellowfins of 65 and 70 lbs in the
boat and the action died until 5:30 am when we boated two more yellowfins and lost another.
At 7:00 am we pulled anchor and headed home. The wind blew 20-25 knots most of the night and wind was
against tide.
The water was clear and 73 degrees.
August 10-11
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Took the Joel Frey party to the Hudson Canyon for an overnight troll/chunk trip. Trolled the east and
west walls from 4:30 pm till 7:30 pm and put one longfin on ice , the only troll bite. Set up for
chunking on the west wall and began to pick fish till midnight when we had 2 longfins and 6 yellowfins
on ice and the action died. At daybreak we opted to keep chunking due to the slow troll bite and it
paid off. By 8:00 am we put three more yellowfins in the box, pulled the anchor and headed for home.
The water was 77 degrees and flat calm despite NOAA forecasts.
August 5-6
Captain Bernie Roth reports:
Had the Ron Antonelli Fishing Team out to the Hudson for an overnite troll-chunk-troll. Leaving
Manasquan at 9am into a 15 knot north blow, we arrived at the west wall to find better water
conditions. Immediately setting up for the troll and deciding not to use bars,the guys proceeded to
set-out their array of single lures and birds. Working the area, we had a pick of yellowfin in the
50-70 lb. range. Finding the weather and water conditions improving and luckily not to NOAA's
prediction, we were beginning to enjoy a very,very nice day of trolling. Moving on across to the east
side and working the area with a bunch of others, we had a four fish knockdown boating 3 in the 60lb.
range. Continuing to pick a few singles thru the afternoon,opted to sit on the east side for the
night-shift. Hearing mixed reports aboout the previous night's fishing, the crew knew they were in for
a somewhat tough night. As the night went on, our weather and water conditions improved once more to a
flat calm sea making it a little easier to endure the overall slow fishing. Trying their usual methods
with the help of mate Joel, the crew continuously worked to provide a steady supply of fresh,live baits
to entice the few fish that were cruising under the east side lights, resulting in a d
