Blue Fish Frenzy in Bridgehampton

There was a blue fish frenzy over the weekend of July 10-11 just off the beach in Bridgehampton, NY. A school of large blues pinned a school of Bunker (Atlantic Menhaden) up against the beach in a feeding frenzy.

It was so crazy that dozens of Bunker up to 12" in length beached themselves in an attempt to avoid being shredded by the razor sharp teeth of the bluefish. On the outgoing tide I even saw one 30" bluefish in a large puddle left on the beach chasing a lone bunker in circles. A big wave broke over the beach and that fish got a new lease on life, returning to the ocean.

Bunker are the main source of protein for both bluefish and stripped bass growing up in the Chesapeake Bay. Bunker is one of the best baits to use when fishing for stripped bass. They can be "live lined" or cut up into chucks, including the head. A fishfinder rig is a good choice to use when fishing bunker chunks for striped bass, if the bluefish don't take it first!

Yellow Fin Tuna at the Hudson Canyon

We had the thrill of the season so far this season on a trip that left Hampton Bays, NY at 3:30 AM last Saturday July 3rd. We headed due south about 90 miles to the Hudson Canyon.

The Hudson Canyon is a submarine canyon about 100 miles east of the mouth of the Hudson River off the coast of NJ. Its wall rise nearly three quarters of mile from the canyon floor making it comparable to the Grand Canyon, cutting through the continental shelf, and having been formed by the Hudson River during the last ice age over 10,000 years ago.

It is a very well known fishing destination for "blue water" deep sea fishing, with large tuna species including yellow fin, blue fin and big eye; and other game fish like Mahi Mahi following the gulf stream north every spring and summer in search of bait such as squid.

We also landed a large Mahi Mahi trolling earlier in the day. These fish are sought due to their beauty, size, food quality and healthy population. Both fish were caught trolling with Ballyhoo.