Anglers locate some serious weakfish action
RON NUZZOLO Fish On
My trip on the Island Girl this week resulted in an all-out blitz on some nice-size weakfish. In two hours, Rich Nuzzolo, Bill Lee, Frank Iannone and crew maxed out on weakfish. The scene at the entrance of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge on the Staten Island side was like the movie "Jaws." There were over 100 boats positioning in for the same drift. Each drift produced three to four fish on sandworms. After maxing out in two hours, we switched to Berkley artificials and continued to land weakfish to 24 inches and some of the biggest porgies I've seen in 20 years. With over 36 fish in the cooler, it was time to call it a day, but not without a shot at some alligator-size bluefish on the way in. Birds were working the entire Raritan Bay with plenty of peanut bunker on both sides of the bay. Anglers have continued some serious bluefish action. Bluefish have been plentiful and causing havoc on all tackle.

Outside the hook, Capt. Allen from Reel Class charters of Point Pleasant had Mike Accordino, his buddy Shawn, Steve Magyari and Jeremiah Jacobs for a jig trip.

Setting up off Asbury, they landed a few nice-size blues. We ran farther up, found some better marks with a bird here and there working off the Deal-Long Branch Stretch, and had some bigger blues whacking jigs. Blues were roughly 8-12 pounds. Mike was able to fool a nice 30-inch bass on a crippled herring around noon, right off the church while working around some patches of bait. They made a run to the rocks, where Steve had an albie on, but lost it near boat side. Albies have been spotted all along the shoreline from the Sandy Hook rips south. Very few anglers have been able to land these fast-moving fish. All you can do is throw everything you have at them and the rest is luck.

Reports on NJSaltwaterfisherman.com have been spotty, if any, on striped bass action. We really need the water temps to drop and quickly if we want a shot at some trophy bass. We had a small decrease in temps followed by a spike later in the week.

With all the angler traffic in the bay, we need to remind people of boating safety and ethics. I witnessed some concerning practices by boaters who just don't think of others. I hate to say it but there is a major problem in the boating community. We need 100 percent competence and compliance when operating a vessel. I saw boaters more concerned about getting into position for a drift at full throttle throw a fleet of anglers like no one was there. I saw one angler anchored in a shipping lane. Just this week, tragedy hit our area when two men drowned and two were plucked from the water in a dramatic rescue after a motorboat hit the towline of a passing tugboat and capsized in Lower New York Bay Saturday night, authorities said.

Three of the boaters were tossed from the 24-foot Mako into the Ambrose Channel, and one was pulled off the overturned vessel by a Brooklyn party fishing boat at about 11 p.m., authorities and witnesses said.

Coast Guard boats from Sandy Hook and Staten Island, and NYPD marine and helicopter units rescued the other man and retrieved two bodies. The tugboat, the Melvin Lemmer, was pulling a loaded barge to a destination six miles off Sandy Hook when the captain noticed the motorboat headed toward the towline, authorities and witnesses said.

The captain tried in vain to warn the powerboat, blowing his whistle four times, but the Mako continued. "They saw the tugboat, but they didn't see the barge," Paris said. "The cable lifted them up and capsized the boat." This is why we need to take our time and be aware of our surroundings. You need to practice safety and use common sense. These two rules will save your life."