Posted on August 10, 2020 Lots of yellowfins from mid-range to canyons There’s an exceptional run of yellowfin tuna going on off the Jersey Shore right now. Capt. Arthur Stokes said the yellowfins haven’t moved in some time, and Long Island boats joined the crowd Sunday. Yet, he had no trouble trolling up five yellowfins from 30 to 65 pounds plus two skipjacks on Side Job from Belmar for John Clark and his crew from Pa. by staying on the outside of the 150 boats. Some of those boats were jigging tuna, but others were complaining about the action. Bob Correll joined the crew on Mike Heaney’s 42 Cabo, October Sky to overnight in Hudson Canyon where they were catching squid all night, but only a 6-foot mako. A move to the south this morning put them into a hot trolling bite under tuna birds, with all multiple hits before they ran home to Point Pleasant early. Bob also boated a 58-incher which was probably a bigeye. Paul Haertel reports ” The JCAA Heavy Hitters Fluke Tournament concluded on Sunday, August 9th.  It was a three-day event although participants were only allowed to fish on only one day. Eighty-five boats were entered and most fished in very nice conditions on Saturday and Sunday. While fishing was slow for some boats, other boats had outstanding catches. The tournament was based on the total weight of the three heaviest fluke caught on each boat. The big winner was Matt Sorrentino who fished with Capt. Tony Pacitti aboard his Parker that does not have a name. The crew also included Tony’s Dad, David and their friend Joe Damiano. Their three-fish total had a combined weight of 24.42 lbs. Matt led the way with his personal best 9.92 pound fluke and also won the single prize that was awarded for the largest fluke in the tournament. The team also swept all the Calcuttas and won a whopping total of $14684!                  Dennis Machamer continued his hot streak in tournaments while captaining his new boat the Mistress. His crew’s three fish total was 20.40 lbs. Just behind them was Anthony Pansini’s crew with a total of 20.4 lbs.. Their catch included an impressive 9.64 lb fluke. The top three finishers in the tournament all weighed in their fish at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar. That might be an indication that the best fishing was out of Shark River Inlet but how far they ran is unknown. Fourth place went to Robert Murdza and crew with a total of 19.26 pounds and the fifth place went to Rick Paglivco and his crew with a total of 17.79 lbs. The tournament also had a single prize for the largest sea bass which was won by Robert Dalgish with a 3.26 lb bass. However, Robert did not enter the sea bass Calcuttas. Therefore, both sea bass Calcuttas were won by Paul Haertel and his crew with a 2.48 lb sea bass that was caught by Ryan Loughlin. Their winnings totaled $3413, not too shabby for a sea bass.” The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported good weekend action with chub mackerel plus some bluefish and sea bass, There were more and somewhat bigger blues Sunday along with sea bass and some mackerel, fluke and a bonito. They’re out on a tuna trip tomorrow. The last mid-range exotic trip produced a few yellowfins with many more lost. The forecast for Tuesday is for southwest winds at 5-10 knots, increasing to 10-15 with higher gusts later. I’ll have a wrap-up of the WMO open in tomorrow’s blog.