Anglers registered 5,191 trophy-size fish for Citation awards during the 52nd Annual Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament, which ran from January 1st through December 31st.  This was the tenth year in a row anglers registered at least 5,000 Citations since the Tournament began in 1958.

For the first time in Tournament history, speckled trout accounted for the largest number of Citations among the 35 eligible species.   The 849 speckled trout registered last year represented 16% of all Citations awarded and was the second most ever for the species.  Released speckled trout composed 28 % of the species total.  Among the speckled trout Citations registered for weight, seven speckled trout topped the magic10-pound mark while 45 fish weighed 8 pounds or more.

Offshore anglers found white marlin willing targets in 2009, as bluewater anglers set an all-time mark of 775 whites, accounting for 15% of all Citations.  The previous best was in 1978 when 728 of these acrobatic fish were registered in the Tournament.  White marlin are only eligible for release so all of these beautiful billfish were released.  The season’s first white marlin was caught June 26 but the fishing did not become consistent until mid-July.  All of August and early September produced substantial catches of whites.    What stood out about the 2009 season was some of the very best action occurred the last two weeks of September!  Catches would have been much higher if the summer fishing fleet had been in place.

Only slightly behind white marlin and in third place for 2009, striped bass Citations totaled Continue Reading »

Striped Bass, Bluefish, Ablies and Bonita (aka Bones) fishing is busting loose in the Northeast! The last few days there has been some bad weather which has kept anglers off the water, but before that it’s been pretty wide open for light tackle and fly anglers. Full details below….let’s roll!

Northeast Saltwater Fisheries News
There are striped bass hearings coming to your state regarding the topic of allowing North Carolina to roll over their commercial quota on a yearly basis, ASMFC refers to it as Addendum II. You need to read this and make your position known. Click here for full details and dates of meetings.

Northeast Saltwater Fishing Reports
*note the northeast fishing reports work their way up the coast from south to north starting with New Jersey.

New Jersey Saltwater Fishing Reports

Capt. Byan DiLio from Iowa Fortune Guide Service fishing in and around Ocean City and Atlantic City reported in:
Extreme weather had me blown out all week. will be back on the water starting this weekend.Have a great week end. Bryan

The Beach Haven Charter Boat Association reported in from Beach Haven:
The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are making the preparations for the upcoming shift from summer to fall fishing. Captain Adam Nowalski of the “Karen Ann” reports he will be targeting sea bass and croakers in September.Captain Adam says the drop in air temperatures will soon bring a drop in water temperatures provoking a hotter bite from the sea bass. He also is looking for some good croaker action in the ocean. Meanwhile Captain George Finck of “Sparetime Charters” had Richard and Allison Trosko and their two sons out for a half day fishing trip in the bay. The boys had a nice catch of bluefish, really enjoyed the steady action. Captain Fran Verdi of the “Dropoff” is already planning to start fishing for Continue Reading »

Virginia Marine Resources (VMRC) 2009 Saltwater  Fishing Tournament Leading Entries for the week ending September 11, 2009 .Click on the image for a larger view of the fishing tournament leaders.

With all the traveling I have been doing and still being boatless I have not fished the Chesapeake all too much the last two months. Don called me the other day and asked if I wanted to hit the middle bay with him and do a little saltwater fly fishing, I took him up on the his offer. We launched out of Claiborne boat ramp around 3:00pm just at the top end of the incoming tide and headed to Poplar Island area in hope of finding some fly rod action. There were birds everywhere, first few cast we picked up some punk striped bass on the east side of the island. . Ran into old friend from the CBBT, Brian, who said he had been out since morning and had a great bite fly fishing the whole time. We visited for a while and then he headed to the barn and we headed over to the west side. Messed around with ton of birds and more punk striped bass. Ran into a few more friends who were having some luck on light tackle and the fly rod. We fished this area for a while and then the tide quit, when it quit so did the fish, well at least we lost track of them. Hung out and chilled for a while and then as the tide started so did the fish. By this time there were a few more boats around and between all the running around they were doing in the shallower water it was hard to stay on top of the stripers. So we took a chance and ran south of Poplar, the gamble paid off and we found acres of birds and breaking stripers and spanish and Continue Reading »

Virginia Marine Resources (VMRC) 2009 Saltwater  Fishing Tournament Leading Entries for the week of September 3 ,2009 .Click on the image for a larger view of the leaders.

Northeast reports are a little thin this week, but we did get some guides checking in. The big news is that the Bones arrived in and around Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The Albies should not be too far behind. Oh yea, bluefin have been landed on the fly. The picture says it all on that front. Even with the elevated water temperatures there are still plenty of striped bass around if you are willing to spend the time looking. When you hit then you can hit the jackpot. Also around in good numbers are decent blues to give you a good pull on your fly rod or light tackle. (Pictured is is a nice bluefin tuna caught on the fly. The picture was sent in from Capt. Chris Hessert from Manhattan Fly Charters fishing in and around the New York City Area. NICE FISH MAN!)

Northeast Saltwater Fishing Reports
*note the northeast fishing reports work their way up the coast from south to north starting with New Jersey.

New Jersey Saltwater Fishing Reports
The Beach Haven Charter Boat Association reported in from Beach Haven:

Some of the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are reporting very good action in the ocean on fluke and sea bass. For the most party the fish are biting very well, but the keeper fluke are still tough to come by.

Captain Frank Camarda on the headboat “Miss Beach Haven” reports the fluke fishing has been pretty good in the ocean for the past week with a good mix of keepers and shorts. The water temperature is currently right around 73-degrees. Captain Frank adds that the bay fishing has also been decent as the fluke are making their way to the ocean. He has also seen a few cocktail sized bluefish and some croakers around.

Captain George Finck of “Sparetime Charters had Phil McNeil out last week with son Carter and daughter Sidney for a day of bottom fishing. He reports the kids especially enjoyed the nice weather along with a nice catch of both sea bass and fluke. Another day he had Kevin Kernan and son Jack out for a nice catch of sea bass and short fluke. Captain George reports keeper fluke are hard to come by some days.

Over the weekend he had the McCauley’s and Smiths out for bottom fishing. The fishing was great despite a lack of keeper fluke, but they were happy to put a mix of sea bass, fluke, and bluefish in the fish box.

Captain Dave Wittenborn had Sarah Brown and family out last Friday on the “Compass Rose” celebrating Dad’s 60th. The conditions were excellent in the ocean, and the fish cooperated with practically non-stop action for some five hours. The happy party returned to the dock with six nice keeper fluke, several sea bass, and released at least 20 shorts.
Captain Dave had even better action on Saturday for Dave Nyre and his crew. He said he did not even have time to eat lunch the fishing was so constant. Besides well over 50 throwbacks, they had 16 keeper fluke. He went through extra bait he had brought and was cutting up strips of sea robin and fluke bellies which produced well.

New York Saltwater Fishing Reports
Capt. John McMurray from one More Cast Fishing Charters did not report in, he must be busy with his twins.

Capt. Chris Hessert from Manhattan Fly Charters fishing in and around the New York City Area:
Did not check in, but he had a great picture of a fish that I was not able to get in last weeks report because I did to get it the first try. I think the picture at the top of the reports about sums up the fly fishing action.

Connecticut Saltwater Fishing Reports
Capt. Sandy Noyes from Rum Runner Guide Service reported in from in and around Stonington:
Bonito! We just came back from a mid summer vacation. The fishing was so bad it wasn’t even worth me going out for fun. Gail and I went out yesterday on reliable reports of bonito. We found some but as usual Continue Reading »

The Spanish are invading Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay, Spanish Mackerel that is. Reports are in with excellent catches of Spanish Macs from the Maryland line all the way up to in and around the bay bridge area. Flounder pounding reports are in the from the middle and lower Chesapeake. It’s been a few years since I’ve heard such good reports coming in, but keeper flounder are back in Maryland’s Chesapeake waters. Punk (ie undersize) striped bass are all over the bay along with their friends the bluefish. The action has mainly concentrated from Sharps Island, Popular Island up to Thomas Point, mostly on the eastern side.
(pictured is Steve’s (aka michasp1) son Randy with a nice spanish mac caught in the middle bay. You can check their full report with more pictures here )

My Fishing Shop Visit
I was in Baltimore this week and stopped in to Tocherman’s Tackle located on Eastern Ave. in Baltimore. I heard about the the shop for years, it’s actually been there before I was even born. I was having lunch with a friend around the corner and decided it was time to stop in and check out the action. I had remembered that local well know fly angler Joe Bruce (formally of the Fisherman’s Edge) had told me he ties flies in the store on Fridays and sometimes on Thursdays. As soon as I walked into the shop I was overwhelmed, fishing tackle everywhere. A huge selection of lures, rods, reels, and a breath of fresh air as I kept walking and looked to my right and saw Joe tying flies surrounded by fly tying materials and tackle. I finally got to meet Tony Tocherman and his lovely wife. I hung out with Joe watching anglers steam in on a regular basis. A fly angler even came in and bought a Continue Reading »

August is usually a slow month in the northeast. It does not mean there are not stripers or blues around, but it seems the fish take a bit of a vacation. But, that is not always the case as evidenced by Capt. Brendan McCarthy’s monster striper last week and this week follows that rule just a little further up the coast. The spotlight this week is on Maine striped bass fishing where Capt. Eric Wallace reports that the fishing in shallow water has been fantastic. This is great news for a fishery that many considered was pretty much dead based on past years fishing. You’ll have to read the report for the details, but you can trust that I’ll be putting Maine and Capt. Eric on my list to visit.

August also usally marks the arrival of the bonita and albies in and around the Nantucket area and sure enough as clock work some reports are coming in that they arrived. Another surprise this week is the striped bass are still un and around Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. Usually the bulk of the fish have left, not this year.  All great news for the saltwater fly, surf and light tackle anglers! Read the reports for details… Continue Reading »