One would be hard-pressed to recall the last time a bluefin tuna was caught in Raritan Bay but it happened Wednesday when a 135-pound bluefin took Steve Nosti of Holmdel for a Nantucket Sleighride - around Flynns Knoll and through the Sandy Hook Rip in Nosti's 12-foot aluminum Jon boat, the Silver Bullet.
Nosti, who works in the charter industry and has a permit for such fish, had seen the bluefin in tight to the beach and left from his dock slip at Pleasure Bay Yacht Basin in Oceanport after sunrise to try to get one. He was outfitted with an 80-pound class tuna rod and reel and some Ron-Z lures. He called it "a shot in the dark."
It's about an 8 or 9 mile ride from the marina to the tip of Sandy Hook, so Nosti said he stopped at Bahrs Landing in Highlands to fuel up his 12-gallon tank. Then he was off to area known as the Rip, where the bay and ocean currents collide.
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Nosti said the water temperature Wednesday morning was 75 degrees and there were a ton of bluefish and small baitfish in the Rip, which most likely explains the presence of the much larger bluefin tuna. It did not take long for one of the bluefin to be lured by the flashy jig darting in and out of the water and make a run at it.
Nosti said he was on the bay side of the rip when the reel started to hum. Once hooked up, the bluefin towed him for a couple of miles toward the ocean. As the fish pulled, the Jon boat acted as drag with Nosti gaining line until he had the big fish boat side where he could gaff it.
On his way in, Evan Bremner at Pleasure Bay Yacht Club snapped a picture of Nosti in the boat with the big tuna.
The bluefin haven popping up in several locales and fishing grounds from the beach out to the Chicken Canyon and some of the wrecks even further east. Fishermen's Headquarters in Ship Bottom reported one even washed up in the surf on Long Beach Island. It's reminiscent of the stories the old salts tell of horse mackerel, or giant tuna, shredding the pound nets set up in the surf.
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Capt. Chris Dos Santos of the Sea Owl got one on Wednesday as well. He took a ride to test out the new fuel injection line he installed before a scheduled tuna charter he had on Thursday. He checked a few inshore spots before running about 90 minutes from Manasquan Inlet. He said the area was loaded with sandeels.
He trolled ballyhoo through the bait and soon the rod was screaming with a runaway 200-pound bluefin tuna. The fish was decked and Dos Santos spent the rest of Wednesday handing out tuna steaks.
When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel is not reporting the news, you can find him in a college classroom where he is a history professor. Reach him @danielradelapp; 732-643-4072; dradel@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Fisherman towed by fish, catches 135-pound tuna in Raritan Bay
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