NJ Thresher Sharks and Bluefin Tuna

[SWS Regional Reports]

It was an awesome weekend of fishing. After a good trip of bluefin trolling on Thurs, I rode shotgun on my nephew Chris' boat, the Kaley Marie, out of Manasquan on Fri, with my two sons, Nicholas, 13, and Maxwell, 11. We arrived at the Atlantic Princess early and started to catch tuna on the troll. The boys each got to do battle. After a good morning and 4 or 5 fish, we ran inshore to try sharking. After just ten minutes, a big blue shark put on a cool show of playing with our floats and swimming under the boat. The kids had seen this on NatGeo before, but never in real life. Just when they thought their day was made, the deep line I was standing next to went screaming. I set up on what I was sure was a mako but in a few moments a big thresher shark took to the air in an awesome display. Forty five minutes later we had him boatside and steamed in just before the storms. He hit the scales at 205 pounds. Saturday was a lay day. On Sunday, I ran the Hi Flier back out to the Atlantic Princess with Pete Menges and Bill Hirst. We went three for three on 30 pound class bluefin tuna trolling mostly spreader bars for what was Pete and Bill's first tunas. The winds were light, the seas were flat calm and the fish were biting. Here's some video of Pete on his second tuna of the morning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJA-7kraV9w

The pics are:

9303 Capt. Dave DeGennaro w/ 205 lb. Thresher Shark
9305 Pete Menges w/ 30 lb. Bluefin Tuna
9309 Bill Hirst w/35 lb. Bluefin Tuna


The bunker/bass fishing seems to be slowing up, though I wouldn't count out one more blast before it wraps up. I plan on early departures that have us either leaving for the offshore grounds for tuna or combing the shore for bunker and bass and then bouncing to Barnegat Ridge for bonita and albacore. It is very possible to find bluefin and mahi there, as well. The run to the Atlantic Princess is 50 miles each way and I will only consider it with the most mild of weather forecasts. Light and variable winds and no storms predicted. In addition, we do pack a 4 man survival raft and an EPIRB on any of our offshore ventures.


Capt. Dave DeGennaro
Hi Flier Sportfishing
732.330.5674
www.hiflier.com