With temperatures rising and spring only a few days away, the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are preparing for the 2016 fishing season.

 

Captain Fran Verdi of the “Francesca Marie” plans to be on the water shortly to get in on the early season striped bass action. He has been doing the little chores on the boat to prepare it for a splash in another week or so.

 

Captain Frank Camarda of the “Miss Beach Haven” spent the winter in Florida running his pirate excursion boat, the “Black Pearl,” out of Naples. Captain Frank says the “Miss Beach Haven” will be running out of Beach Haven once again in another couple of months.

 

Captain John Lewis has kept busy this winter delivering boats up and down the east coast. He has been outfitting the “Insatiable” with new gear including electric reels for tile fishing and equipment for pulling dredges as well as new down riggers for trolling striped bass.

 

Captain Jimmy Zavacky installed new heating and air conditioning on the “Reel Determined.” In addition, he added some new electronics and updated offshore fishing gear. Captain Jimmy also spent a great deal of time at various fishing and boating shows spreading word of the BHCFA.

 

Captain Lindsay Fuller took the “June Bug” to its winter home in North Carolina to install new teak decks along with other maintenance. With the project nearly completed, Captain Lindsay hopes to get fishing out of Oregon Inlet on some of the excellent bluefish tuna action. He will bring the “June Bug” back to Beach Haven sometime in May.

 

Captain Carl Lewis is preparing the “Star Fish” at Morrison’s Marina in Beach Haven for the season. He had the bottom soda blasted and added three coats of sealer before putting on two coats of bottom paint to add some speed to the boat. He overhauled the fuel system and plans a launch for the first week in April. He hopes to be in on the early spring striper run.

 

Captain Ray Lopez has a new boat this year. The new “Miss Liane” is a 28-foot Carolina Classic with twin Volvo diesels, a full tuna tower, and generator. Captain Ray and his first mate Liane have been active attending various fishing flea markets this past winter. They have plans to launch the new boat in the middle of April.