Report on BFT at the Claw and other locations

[Caveman Sportfishing]

I wrote this last night after very frustrating day fishing at the Claw and trolling all around that area yesterday. I know one boat hooked a couple of BFT on jigs right at first light but they were about 8 miles from the Claw itself and that was the only bite I heard of all day by anyone. Hot green water with little if any bait but that does not mean that a few fish are still not around but they are far and few between. I am really puzzled and trying to make the right call with a few upcoming charters that had counted on jigging BFT and will be contacting them to discuss the options. We may ultimately cancel or at least try to reschedule these trips to canyon night jigging or something similar. I hope I am wrong about the BFT being gone and some others found them yesterday but I talked to a lot of very good fishermen and everyone was pretty much in the same boat.

I was excited last week when we were able to catch a few nice Yellowfins around this same area but that is only a pick at best now as well as a few Mahi. The water was cooler and dark blue last week and it held some decent Yellowfins but the last few days the water got hot and much semi ugly green and got up to 82 degrees yesterday where we had caught the Yellowfins last week and this is far too warm for tuna. The crazy thing was this water help so much life it was hard to imagine why it was not loaded with tuna but the only thing I can attribute this to is either they are not enough of them around any longer or the water was just too hot. All I know is it is going to take some exploring to put together a good tuna catch and the canyons are probably your best bet now.

I certainly cannot predict exactly where the BFT tuna will show up but North Jersey or Long Island would be my best guess. I personally think the canyons might be the place to be but if they hold enough tuna to make it worth the trip is a question I am facing today. (The local canyons within charter boat range of Cape May, DE and MD ports.) I know if I were of a port more North of Cape May I would point the Hooked Up II towards one of those canyons above the Spencer for sure and bag the Claw at this time.
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[Sweet Caroline]

Thanks for the update John, I always apreciate the info. I thought for sure you would have found a couple fish yesterday. I guess it is time to change the game plan a little bit to see if we can get things going.

[Stripersniper]

Thanks for the honest report Capt John. Always appreciated.

[Capt. Terry]

WELL PUT REPORT.......I HOPE THAT IT IS NOT,......BUT IT STRONGLY APPEARS THAT IT IS OVER FOR THE TUNA FISHERY IN FRONT OF OC, IRI, LEWES AND CAPE MAY FOR THE AREAS THAT YOU HAVE TALKED ABOUT FOR RIGHT NOW.

A SLURRY GREEN PEA SOUP WATER AS YOU SAID......

IT SURE IS HARD TO MAKE A DECISION ON WHERE TO GO FOR CHARTER FISHING OR ANY FISHING FOR THAT MATTER RIGHT NOW........

AND AS FAR AS THE THEORY ABOUT THE TUNA FISH BEING IN THE DEEP........SCATTERED MAYBE,....BUT HONESTLY WHY WOULD THEY BE SCHOOLED UP IN THE DEEP WITH NO CLOSE STRUCTURE TO HOLD THEM ON BAIT?

IT IS A TOUGH STRUGGLE RIGHT NOW.....I TOLD THE OWNER THE WEEKEND AFTER THE WMO WAS FINISHED AS AFTER DRAGGING BAITS ALL DAY WITH NO BITE OVER MUCH GROUND AND THE BEST BAIT I HAVE SEEN ALL YEAR.........LET'S JUST LAY OFF OF IT UNTIL A 10 MILE LONG WEED LINE FORMS........IT'S AWFUL HARD IN MY MIND TO GET TOO EXCITED ABOUT GOING BACK OUT RIGHT NOW AFTER THE FISHING THAT I HAVE SEEN THE PAST TWO WEEKS.

BEST OF LUCK TO YOU AND I HOPE THAT YOU FIND THEM!