The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association just treated their junior mates to a reef fishing trip and pizza party after the fishing. Captains Vic Bertotti, John Koegler, Jimmy Zavacky, John Lewis, and Gary Dugan took over 20 eager anglers out for a successful day of catching black sea bass and fluke. All anglers caught fish. Zach Michot took top honors with his 2.86 pound fluke.

  

This day marked the culmination of 8 weeks of classes and hand-on activities for the youngsters covering a wide range of activities including cast nets, first aid, emergency training, safe boating, and much more. For some of these, this was their fourth summer of training, and they are ready to serve as mates.

  

In the past week the BHCFA captains have been fishing the reefs with their parties with occasional stops in the inlet to drift for fluke if the ocean waves get a little too intense. The action has been good on the Little Egg and Garden State South Reefs even if throwbacks continue to outnumber the keepers.

  

Captain John Koegler of the boat Pop’s Pride reports there is a huge mass of 1-2 pound bluefish anywhere from the Bell Buoy in Little Egg Inlet on out to a couple of miles. Trolling small metal lures seems to work best as the fish are not always marked by bird play.

  

The waters just inside the inlet are holding some large numbers of good sized croakers.