Another epic day of bluefin

Restless Lady 2 was out today, in a little rougher conditions than Wednesday, but the action is just as good if not better! Last we talked to them they had caught 4!! Saturday looks rough and windy but Sunday is still looking good! Get out there and get some!!! Also uploaded a new little video to the YouTube with Capt. Chris Huk and some great advice and tips on how he catches Bluefin! Good luck and tight lines!!

Lights out bluefin bite!!

First Happy Thanksgiving! We have a lot to be thankful for!! Yesterday the weather was beautiful, and the tuna were chewing!! We had our first bite at 6:55am we pulled up to the 12 fathom lump at sunrise and saw lots of life soon as the sun peaked up, birds working, tuna airing out, and shortly after getting lines out we had our first bite on the long! An hour and 20 minutes later we had a 72” giant in the boat!! Our biggest bluefin yet, ended up weighing 240lbs! We missed 2 other bites and then we ended up hooking another over at 64” that we had to release, but the tuna were airing out all over the place pretty much all day! Lots of other boats caught fish yesterday Fishizzle and Capt. Chris had a good day catching multiple, as well as the Shad Darts crew catching multiple, just an awesome day of fishing! We think this is the peak or prime of our winter season, from now till about Christmas is good as it’s gonna get! We hope it lasts into January or February but this will most likely be the best of the bluefin bite! So get out there when you can, work the structure, find the bait, find the life! Same thing we’ve been doing, 4 rods 2 long, 2 short, 3oz 5oz and 8oz heads, red, white and blue, black and purple, trolling 5-7mph changing our speed here and there, but staying in that 5-7mph range for the most part. At the end of the day they are still Bluefin and are an elusive species of fish, so don’t get discouraged, remember we are out on the water 3-4 days a week, and our social media page is a highlight reel! We’ve have made it look easy this winter and we have been blessed, but time on the water is a big part! You can’t catch em from the couch! Those of you who see these reports and follow along know we have skunk trips and frustrating days too, where you know you're doing everything right but just can’t get a bite, it happens! The wind is back but we will keep an eye on the weather, as of now Sunday looks best. Happy Thanksgiving, good luck and tight lines!!

Bluefin bite the best its been yet!

If you fished yesterday (Monday) then you probably know or have heard how good the bite was! Lots of boats catching, with some bigger tuna in the mix! Jeff and crew on the Bad Habit went 2 for 4 landing two unders, and breaking a rod on a giant! This is most likely the peak of our winter bluefin season, they are here and making their presence known now! Foolish Pleasures and Fishizzle also both got a limit of 2 unders and 1 over, and we saw Brother B of Pure Lure and his crew land nice bluefin as well! Tomorrow the wind and overall conditions are looking beautiful! We will be headed out again and may even try some casting and jigging if the opportunity presents itself! Still working the same general areas, working the structure, and lumps, from as close to the beach as Bass Grounds and Isle of Wight to as far out as JackSpot, they are being caught all over! Trolling still seems to be most effective, red heads, and white and blue still seem to be the hot colors. 3oz 5oz and 8oz heads depending on your preference, we’ve gotten bites on all 3 sizes, we have been running a 4 rod spread with 2 longs and 2 shorts that has been working well for us. This is the hottest we have seen the bite yet, from tuna airing out of the water, to boats killing their limit and releasing a few! Get out while the bite is hot! Good luck and tight lines! We’ll check in after tomorrows trip!

Both unders and some large overs still biting

The wind has picked up for now, but over the last few days there was a lot of bluefin killed! A handful of some healthy unders in the mix, but we saw some hammers come in as big as 72.5” which is a dream fish it weighed 248 lbs!! Shad Darts crew also stuck a nice 66” butter ball, and ended up going 6 for 7 killing their limit and releasing the rest! So the fish seemed to have filled in nicely as they continue migrating south and staying on the bait and structure. We have reports of people seeing them airing out from as close as Bass Grounds and Femwick Shoal to African Queen and the Jack Spot, to the 12 fathom lump, the key is picking an area you wanna work and using your sonar to work the lumps and structure! There are nice lumps both inside of and east of Jackspot that also hold fish, there’s lumps around African Queen that hold fish, Twin Wrecks has a few different lumps and shelves you can work, but working the structure, marking bait, and looking for life is your best bet. Skirted Ballyhoo on the troll still seems to be most productive, some guys are using smalls, some using selects, heads anywhere from 3oz to 5oz to 8oz some guys using all of them and staggering them running 4-6 rods maximum with some only running two! Spreader bars and side trackers will most likely result in a bite from a skippy or albie maybe even an under bluefin, but in our opinion you’d be better off with skirted ballyhoo. Also Jeff took a run to the Washington and found a piece of water he scoped out on the SST shot that was warm as 73 degrees and slid right over the canyon, they saw tons of mahi and then yellowfins airing out everywhere on what appeared to be small ballyhoo, but we were later informed they are called “halfbeaks” and are more common in the northeast than down here, unfortunately Jeff and the crew only managed one bite that came off but was still a cool site to see this time of year!

Finally some good weather!

We finally got a break from the wind and swell to get out and fish! The bluefin are still right out front, from Isle of Wight and Bass Grounds to JackSpot and African Queen, they continue to migrate through. We are also keeping an eye on a nice piece of 73 degree water moving into the Washington Canyon, Jeff and the Bad Habit crew are thinking of possibly going out to look for some late season yellowfin action! Always pays to keep an eye on the SST shots! Specially this year, guys in Jersey were still catching yellowfins at the Hudson and Tom’s canyon within the last 2-3 weeks so they could very easily be in that piece of warm water sliding into the Washington! Another thing we have noticed and is something to keep in mind is that the Omega boat are working up the coastline off VA and MD in front of Assateague and OC and will unfortunately wipe out a lot of the bunker moving down from the north that these bluefin and the striped bass are feeding on, lets hope not but someone really needs to do something about Omega!! With that being said we should be moving into the prime time for these tuna, with the striper coming in right behind them, so get out and get bit while you can! Another observation we noticed was all the dogfish this year in Jersey, and they too have seemed to show up here in our water now as well which is a good sign! Good luck and tight lines!

Bluefin pushing in closer..

The bluefin are beginning to push closer and closer to the beach, just like last year, we are getting reports of guys seeing them right off the beach in DE, and even a few boats seeing and catching at Isle of Wight, and Bass Grounds! Hoping to get out Sunday if the wind stays favorable, if not next week looks decent! We are also hoping to be able to target them on spinning gear here soon, whether jigging or casting!

Will the blow change up the bite?

We are in for some much needed rain, along with some brutal wind for the next couple days, Wednesday will most likely be sloppy, Thursday is looking like the next day to fish, but we’ll keep an eye on the water and weather as we move through the week. The question is how will this wind affect the bluefin? We have our theories but in our opinion it will either greatly improve fishing and get them fired up and be even better than we’ve seen recently, or it could temporarily shut the bite down or make it harder to find and target them and entice a bite, we’re hoping for the first rather than the latter but only time will tell! Jeff was able to catch two unders yesterday while avoiding the crowds at Jackspot, we also saw our members the Shad Darts crew at it again with Capt. Paul Dailey on the Moon Dog out of DE with a 3 fish limit of unders! The fishing overall should only improve as we move closer to Thanksgiving and Christmas. Last year the best we saw was when we first found them which was November 14th 2023, so sooner than later we could be in for some epic bluefin fishing! Good luck and tight lines!

Bluefin bite continues..

Unfortunately we couldn’t get one to bite on Friday, but we marked em good at both the Twin Wrecks and the 12 fathom lumps. So we were stoked to hear the Shad Darts crew was able to stick a 67” 188lb stud of a bluefin, on a skirted ballyhoo right around sunset! Pretty work boys! We also heard a couple of unders were caught but for as many boats were out there it seemed like a tough bite on Friday. We will see what these dropping temperature do to the water temps and these tuna over the next few days. Sunday is looking like it’s gonna be nice so I’m sure there will be a lot of boats out both big and small, private and charter, so we’ll see how many get caught! We most likely won’t fish till next week not only to avoid the crowds, but Jeff fished 4 days in a row and is probably ready for a break LOL Jackspot, African Queen, 12 Fathom Lump are all still the current hot spots 20 fathom lumps to the north east of Jackpot is likely holding them too, as the water temps cool they should start to push in closer to places like the Bass Grounds and Femwick Shoal. Good luck and tight lines!

Bluefins continue to chew!

Well the tuna are getting thicker and thicker! We are seeing lots caught this week, from unders to 65-69” fish as heavy as 200lbs! Jeff had a stellar week so far with a limit on Tuesday of 2 unders and an over, one under Wednesday, and then another under and 67” over today! The tuna are multiple places, African Queen, Jack Spot, Twin Wrecks, 20 fm fingers, Hambone, Chicken Bone, as they continue to migrate south they should only get thicker and thicker! If you all are sending it we will be out there tomorrow and were on channel 18! Skirted ballyhoo has been most productive, with all the different weight heads producing bites, 3oz, 5oz, and 8oz! We’ve been running 4 rods, 2 longs and 2 shorts and getting bites on all 4! Keep it simple, work the structure, and today avoiding the crowds was key, word got out about Jackspot and there was probably 60 boats out there, so we ventured off and found a lump/wreck to ourselves and managed the 2 we got! Good luck and tight lines, we’ll check back in tomorrow when we get in! Hopefully with another good report! Also we uploaded a YouTube video talking about the bluefin season so far and how its been!

4 for 4 on unders Saturday!

We ventured back out on Saturday into some pretty rough conditions, went right back to the 12 where we hd caught the big one on Wednesday, and sure enough they were stacked up and chewing! We got 4 between 27”-47” between 9-11am, 2 of em hit the long, and 2 hit the shorts right behind the boat which was awesome! All were on skirted ballyhoo! we killed two to take home and eat and released two to live on and grow to be giants! We’ve got word this morning they are still in the same general area, with lots of unders 27”-47” fish in the mix. We will be keeping a close eye on the conditions and the water as we move into the week, we will be headed back out this week. Bass Grounds, Isle of Wight, Femwikc Shoal, Masseys, 19, 12, African Queen are all good areas to work or scope out! We would really like to get them on spinning gear and jigs or artificial lures however trolling skirted ballyhoo has been the ticket recently, with blue and white being one of the hot colors! Good luck and tight lines to anyone headed out this week!

We got our winter bluefin!

Yesterday we ran out with an old friend of ours Phil Knapp, who has been catching bluefin tuna for 20 years now! We figured maybe he could teach us a trick or two or at the very least bring us some good luck, and sure enough he did! We went right to the 12 fathom lump as we had reports of ShoreBilly catching there the day before. Soon as we got there (at 1030am we got a late start) we started marking bait and tunas, we heard over the radio a couple guys had hooked up to the north of us so we started trolling north, we continued to have amazing marks but couldn’t get a bite! Patience was key, by 230pm we were thinking maybe it just wasn’t our turn yet, we set the gps for home and took one last pass over the lump, and sure enough right as we came off the lump we got a buzzer beater bite on the left long! I cranked on it for a few minutes in the beginning but when you have someone experienced as Phil Knapp why not use him!? I watched him put a clinic on that bluefin and we had him in the boat in just 20 minutes!! We heard a guy on the radio who fought one for 3 hours and lost it, so we didn’t want to take any chances. All around awesome day, can't wait to show you all the video and how much a good angler and good captain can help! Between Jeff driving the boat and Phil on the rod that fish didn’t stand a chance!! The fish are still kind of spread out all over, and no telling how long they will stay at the 12 fathom lump, but they were stacked up the last two days there, so def worth checking! Good luck and tight lines!

66” Bluefin Caught at Bass Grounds

Lot’s of boats went out yesterday with the favorable conditions, however we only heard of one Bluefin caught at the Bass Grounds. We also had multiple reports of guys both from the beach and also from the boat who’s aw whales and tuna busting as close as a half mile off the beach between 145th street and Bethany Beach! As we said before our theory is they are starting to migrate down for winter, and some of them are hanging around and eating (the ones guys are catching) while others are just passing through headed south. Not to say you can’t catch the ones passing through, but it’s more of a right time right place bite, rather than working the bait and structure like we normally would, but as these fish continue to migrate down they will begin to stack up on our local shoals and wrecks and the bite should get a little more consistent. If it’s anything like last winter we are gone be in for a fun little bonus season!! We may try and poke out this afternoon if we get all our work done today LOL Good luck and tight lines!

The bluefin hunt continues…..

As the word spreads, more and more boats are out hunting, searching, and hoping to catch bluefin tuna not far off the beach! Early in the week guys out wreck fishing were seeing bluefin airing out of the water from Femwick Shoal to Great Gull and from Great Gull to the African Queen, they’ve been spotted all over the place! We were able to get out a few times this week, missed a couple bites but no luck for us, the bluefin bite defiantly requires some patience and putting in your time! The Shad Darts crew was able to pick one off, as well as our friend Chris Truitt who caught the 152lb Bluefin 12 miles due east out of the inlet, they planned to head out north of AQ and troll south with the wind and swell for a more pleasant ride, and happened to stumble across them 2-4 miles north of AQ! At the moment our theory is that they are beginning to migrate and the Bluefin we have now are passing through during their migration and possibly stopping for a bite to eat, but then continuing to move, the bite just seems so sporadic, and they don’t seem quite as stacked up as last November-December when we were able to get on em good. We will be headed back out this afternoon to scout and troll around and see what’s going on out there, this week is looking good both weather wise, and as we move into the new solar lunar phase, with bigger tides, the tuna (and other species and bait) should be fired up!! We are thinking of trying Femwick Shoal today, we will keep you guys posted! Good luck and tight lines!

Bluefin are here!

The past couple days the Bluefin tuna have been airing out of the water going crazy on top, thrashing around, quite a sight to see! A few boats have caught but it has been tough to get a bite, skirted ballyhoo seems to be most productive, with some boats even trying live bluefish from a kite! They are spread out between great gull and the African Queen and even further south, some boats were reporting Bluefin as far as they could see! They are keyed in on the tiny little crack minnows and sand eels so matching the hatch is difficult, good luck and tight lines!

Time to start looking for bluefin?

Well you can feel it in the air! Fall is officially here, from striper and red drum being caught inshore, to our first reports of what appears to be a bluefin caught not far off the beach! This week it looks like the wind is going to lay down and we will be able to get out and do some hunting! Last year it Was the first and second week of November when we first spotted the bluefin, but we didn’t try looking earlier than that, so this year we are amped and ready to get out there and start looking! They could be as close as 5 miles off the beach, or as far as 10-15 miles off, places we always check like Bass Grounds, Femwick Shoal, Jack Spot are always worth a look when the conditions are right! For those still wanting to get out to the canyons, the Wilmington could be worth a look, as there is some warmer water still coming down the 100 fathom line from the north and could bring some late season tuna and billfish as well as potentially some swordfish and of course some mahi and wahoo. Get out and take advantage of the conditions this week! Might be some swell left over but the wind is looking very light and the ocean is looking very manageable! Good Luck and tight lines!

Tuna and Wahoo at hotdog again!

tuna as well as some wahoo were caught again yesterday at the hot dog! Lots of mahi still being caught as well as a few billfish. We’re also keeping our eye on a piece of water to the north that could move into the Wilmington soon! The late fall bite is a nice treat let’s see how long it lasts! Bluefin coming up next…

Tunas at the hot dog!

yesterday we got word of some yellowfins caught at the hotdog! Hopefully we have another couple weeks to get after them! Also still some billfish around in the canyons, and plenty of mahi around! Inshore bite is heating up with everything from sheepshead to flounder to weakfish and ebensome larger stripers and red drum! Fall fishing is in full swing!

Back from vacation, and the tuna are back too!

We’ve been getting reports of tunas being caught in the 15-30 fathom range, places like Lumpy Bottom, Sausages, Hot Dog, Masseys are all good spots to try! There was also a good sword bite a few days ago with quite a few boats catching swords! We also saw one big eye come to the docks, Wilmington and Washington both look worth trying if you want to go out to the canyons, or the inshore lumps have been very productive! Jeff and the crew on the Fish-Lik are out at the lumps now so we’ll see how they do!

Fall Fishing can be hit or miss

Well just as fast as the tuna started showing up in the Washington and some of the inshore lumps, they have seemed to disappear just as quickly, this time of year it seems like they are either stacked up or scattered and unfortunately we’ve been dealing with them scattered. The swordfish bite has been hot though! Several boats catching multiple swordfish, most deep dropping on electric reels and some boats even hand cranking! Mahi and Billfish are still around too for those looking to get out and get after them!

Tunas in the Washington

The wind has been brutal the last week howling out of the north east, with that system hovering off the coast. It has blown some great warm blue water in from the east which should make for some awesome fishing. We’ve got reports of Marlin and mahi being caught in the Baltimore and Poormans, and a report of some yellowfins caught in the Washington. The water still looks similar to the last shot, we’ll check it again tomorrow but as of now the Washington is the plan for Friday!