Gambler tuna reports????

[togzilla]

Any word yet? My guess is that with no posts this was another bust.

[Walleyed]

Total bust, no tuna boated, not a single run off.

I won the pool with a 6 lb tilefish.

[Pennsy Guy]

Total bust, no tuna boated, not a single run off.

I won the pool with a 6 lb tilefish.

That about sums up the trip. Details: First stop on way to the Hudson was weather buoy, 3 passes produced a few Jacks. Next: to some pots, first had 2 chicken mahi-neither boated. The rest were empty. Entire trip out wasn't too bad with the NW wind but looking back, that's what we have coming back. Started on the drift, nothing & no readings. Ran & anchored for the night. NOAA was a "little" off, had a few honest 15'ers with wind up to 35kts. & not just gusts. Saw one squid, a Mola Mola and a chicken Mahi in the lights @ nite--at least no blue dogs; but then no run-offs either. With wind against the current you know the routine--lines out port side, then up to bow, then under hull & out stern, then start it all over again...With anticipation, false dawn, magic hour & full sun-up came & passed with nothing--even with readings from 200' to 50' @ different times. I tried offering sardines, round scad, mackerel pike, butters with 8 oz. to flat-lining to no avail...tuna didn't want metal or plastic presented to them either...this whole season has been REALLY screwed up as we all know...Bob took us to a wreck on the way in for possible pollack, hake, sea bass, ling and whatever else. I know a few 13-14" bass were caught but not what else--most were caught towards the bow even with a couple of repositioning's (I was at the stern).As always Capt. Bob, 2nd Capt. Todd, mates Chris, Chris#2 & Shawn were always there to help & entertain---always a class act. Water was in low 60's. Wind finally lay down a bit in the AM with seas decreasing to short period 7-10'ers to less as we progressed towards the "squan inlet.
Congrats to Walleyed on the pool, "in the face of adversity, we shall prevail".

[AndyS]

Time to sell all the tuna tackle, the market is flooded. Been how many years now with little to no tuna ?

[Jigman13]

Time to sell all the tuna tackle, the market is flooded. Been how many years now with little to no tuna ?

The june/july/August bite was insane. One tournament on block island had over 60 bigeyes weighed in in just one day. Plus the midshore bite off jersey was insane right up until the 1st hurricane. Yellows and bigeyes. The inshore bluefin bite off the south shore of long island and off of jersey was also very active with fish from rats to giants over 300 lbs. To say little to no tuna is a bit of an exaggeration. This being said, the late season chunk bite has been shitty the last several years. I think it would have been lights out if we didnt get that storm a number of weeks ago... but that's the way it goes.

[Capt. Debbie]

Bigeyes in the midshore- Mudhole? Really. Some YFT's in Chicken. And a scattering of BFT's with lock jaw in the mudhole.

Mahi was a banner year. Tuna banner year... Sorry I beg to differ I could not say north NJ tuna year was even mediocre. IT was not - it was poor like last year.

It was scattered and never consistent beyond a single day in northern NJ. Plenty of bait and no pelagics. Great tuna years in RI, Block Island and points in deep south NJ fill stories in northern NJ, but not coolers.

And it's not the Gambler. Its a cycle we are sadly in.


The june/july/August bite was insane. One tournament on block island had over 60 bigeyes weighed in in just one day. Plus the midshore bite off jersey was insane right up until the 1st hurricane. Yellows and bigeyes. The inshore bluefin bite off the south shore of long island and off of jersey was also very active with fish from rats to giants over 300 lbs. To say little to no tuna is a bit of an exaggeration. This being said, the late season chunk bite has been shitty the last several years. I think it would have been lights out if we didnt get that storm a number of weeks ago... but that's the way it goes.

[lettman2]

Bigeyes in the midshore- Mudhole? Really. Some YFT's in Chicken. And a scattering of BFT's with lock jaw in the mudhole.

Mahi was a banner year. Tuna banner year... Sorry I beg to differ I could not say north NJ tuna year was even mediocre. IT was not - it was poor like last year.

It was scattered and never consistent beyond a single day in northern NJ. Plenty of bait and no pelagics. Great tuna years in RI, Block Island and points in deep south NJ fill stories in northern NJ, but not coolers.

And it's not the Gambler. Its a cycle we are sadly in.

Our boat didn't do too much better. We had one swordy that was short, and two bluefins that were hooked up on jigs at the same time. Due to the regs the second guys bluefin was released. Felt really bad for him since he was working really hard at jigging for tuna most of the time.

Great crew and great captains that tried their best to make the best out of the situation. I guess that's why we call it fishing and not catching.

[captbogan]

The Gambler was out on a 36 hour canyon trip that left Weds morning. The crew and passengers were optimistic. The weather report had diminished from 30 knots and 9ft seas to 25 and 7 foot seas. Nobody had been out all week due to the weather. The satellite temp charts didn't show any good breaks but Capt Bob was hoping to see some mahi before sunset and Longfin at day-break.

We made a few drifts near a sea bouy to start and we caught some jacks. Tried on some pots as we made our way along the canyon wall. Some guys jigged for tuna as we went. But the pots were sparse with life. Just before sundown, the wind cranked up top 35 knots and it the seas got rough. Anchored up on the west wall by 7PM and hoped for a dusk bite. The wind did not let up till about 3AM. Near day break, we saw some readings and a few mahi were caught along with a couple of small bluefins that we had to release. Tried to wait it out for a bit, as Capt Bob saw marks at 50 and 200 feet.

The seas were still pretty big as we picked up anchor and headed for a deep water wreck, hoping to catch some pollock. We ran for a couple hours to get to the wreck. Anchored up over it. Not the best conditions for that either, as the lines ran to the bow with a hard current against the wind. The fishermen managed just a few bigger sea bass but it was dissapointing.

We are looking to make another trip leaving the night of Nov 6th. As always, Capt Bob and the Mighty Crew of the Gambler will do their best. Hopefully the longfin will move to the edge by then. We have availability for that trip if you are interested.

Our Striper trips begin on November 1st. The striper schedule will be 7:30 till 2:30, everyday except November 7th (when we will be offshore) and on Thanksgiving, we will run our traditional 1/2 day trip, 7:30 till 12:30 so that we can all be home for striper stuffed turkey.

Hope to see you on board

Capt Bob and Crew

[JDTuna]

Bigeyes in the midshore- Mudhole? Really. Some YFT's in Chicken. And a scattering of BFT's with lock jaw in the mudhole.

Mahi was a banner year. Tuna banner year... Sorry I beg to differ I could not say north NJ tuna year was even mediocre. IT was not - it was poor like last year.

It was scattered and never consistent beyond a single day in northern NJ. Plenty of bait and no pelagics. Great tuna years in RI, Block Island and points in deep south NJ fill stories in northern NJ, but not coolers.

And it's not the Gambler. Its a cycle we are sadly in.

Tuna fishing was very good and consistent from late May to August. There was a consistent bite July to early September on yellowfin out of Northern NJ as well. Just the fall season has been dismal.