September 15, 2011

Our final 2-DAY TILEFISH trip was one of the best of the year. We had a great bunch of guys on the trip which always makes things fun and we were treated to the best back-to-back weather days we've had all season. We also had more great food brought aboard than any trip we've ever been on, something that is always very much appreciated by the crew. Thanks guys!

This trip was really highlighted by variety as much as anything else. We caught 10 different species of fish on the trip! We had Tilefish, Wreckfish, Rosefish, White Hake, Streamer Bass, Silver Eel, Bar Jacks, Mahi-Mahi, Yellowfin Tuna and Swordfish.

It was the first Tilefish trip for Henry Buddle of Lindenwold, NJ and it was extraordinary. Henry caught Tilefish, Wreckfish, Rosefish, Mahi-Mahi, Yellowfin Tuna and a Swordfish. He even hooked and fought a very acrobatic White Marlin, but it broke off after about 10 minutes. The largest Tilefish of the trip was caught by Mike Schmidt of Brooklyn, NY and it weighed in at 37 pounds. Not to be outdone by his father, Alex Schmidt caught a 150 pound Swordfish later in the trip. Unfortunately, Mike was not in the pool with his big Tilefish. The pool winning Tilefish was caught by Lou Dello of Asbury Park, NJ and it weighed 31 pounds. Lou also won the pool for largest 'other' edible bottom fish with a 28 pound Wreckfish. Barry Young of Wall, NJ had a limit catch of Yellowfin tuna as well as a bunch of large Mahi, Rosefish and some Tilefish up to 20 pounds.

Once again, we would really like to thank all of the guys that have sailed with us on the 2-day trips this year. You guys made these trips some of the best we've ever had. We're already working on next year's Tilefish schedule and are planning some trips with a few different twists. Keep an eye out... we will likely be posting the 2012 Tilefish Trip schedule within a month.

As you can tell by the report above, we did some tuna chunking during the Tilefish trip. We read tuna well at times and had a few shots at them during the night. We probably would have caught more of them, but fighting the two large Swordfish took up a lot of prime fishing time. It is pretty common that you don't get tuna bites when fighting Swordfish or even when fighting large tuna such as Bigeyes or Allisons. It was also good to see tuna biting on the full moon which sometimes slows down the bite.

Good tuna catches were made in almost all of the canyons that same night and we expect tuna fishing to remain good. There is beautiful water in our canyons and this is the best start we have had in quite a few years. If you are looking to cash in on some tuna action, now is the time. We still have plenty of availability on trips in September and October. You can view our trip dates on our Trip Calendar page. If you are interested in any upcoming trips, send us an email message.


Captain Jeff Gutman
VOYAGER
P.O. Box 1329
Point Pleasant Beach, NJ 08742
http://www.voyagerfishing.com
Call us at 732-295-3019