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VOYAGER TUNA NEWSLETTER - March 29, 2009

Dear Fellow Offshore Fishermen,

As spring approaches, it is time to recap last year's offshore season, as well as let you know about all of the exciting trips on the VOYAGER for the upcoming 2009 season.

Last year, we started our spring season with an Offshore Cod and Pollock trip.   Fishing was quite good and despite having to deal with many Dogfish, we landed over 70 Cod up to 12 pounds, 100 Ling,30+ Sea Bass up to 5 pounds, and 15 Pollock up to about 30 lbs.   (Click here to see photos.)   This year, we will start our season off with a more ambitious version of this trip.  We will be making 2-day offshore wreck trips where we offer anglers an extended opportunity to fish some special far offshore wrecks for Cod, Pollock, and Hake.  We will fish for Pollock and Hake at night and Cod during the day.  The dates for these 2-day trips are May 1 and May 29. 

After being blown-out by the weather on every Tilefish trip last May, we finally made it offshore Sunday night June 1.   Our first trip started out uneventfully as we tried several areas that produced for us last year, but with little or no success.   We finally found some hungry fish around mid-morning and started to pick away.  When we went up the slope for our second drift in the same area, we only caught a few.   We then moved a short distance and made a few drifts with nothing to show but Dogfish for our efforts.   With nothing biting where we were, we gambled on a spot about 40 minutes away.   Soon after the lines hit the bottom, the rods started to bend.  For more than an hour, we had between three and six fish on all the time, and we even had a few double-headers mixed in.   The Tilefish were nice sized with most weighing between 10 and 20 pounds.   (Click here to see photos.)

On our second Tilefish trip last year we fished two areas and had good results at both.  At the first area, we had fish from about 10 to 15 pounds with a few bigger ones mixed in.  The only problem was that we had to fight through quite a few Dogfish to get to the Tilefish.  The guys did an excellent job sticking it out because it was tough to let your line back down when you had just reeled up 600 feet with a Dogfish double-header.

Although we were still picking away at fish we decided to try a different area.  At first, there was only a very slow drift and just a few fish.   After about 45 minutes, we made a short move in the same area hoping to find a hungrier bunch of fish.  For about 25 minutes, fishing was slow with just a few bites, but as the current picked up and we started to drift, the fish started to bite.  As the drift continued, the fishing got better and better.   This drift continued for over an hour and the crew was busy gaffing and storing angler's Tilefish.   The nicest thing about this drift was that this was "clean" fishing with no Dogfish.   The Tilefish were bigger than at the first spot, with a number of 20-plus pound fish.  We had a few 30-plus pound fish mixed in, as well as some double headers.   (Click here to see photos.)

Things were looking good for the Tilefish season at this point, but on the next few trips, we battled Mother Nature and NOAA weathermen.   We sailed on good forecast days that ended up windier than predicted, and others where there was no wind at all and the boat didn't drift.  There were also a couple of days with strong currents that made fishing difficult.   Despite these factors, we still put together decent catches of Tilefish throughout the summer of 2008 with a few Wreckfish and Grouper mixed in.  (Click here to see photos. And click here for more photos.)  

For 2009, we will be running Tilefish Trips almost every week.  During the spring, the VOYAGER will be sailing 10:00 PM Saturday night May 9, May 16, and May 23.   From June 7 through August 16, we will be sailing at 10:00 PM every Sunday night.  Our Tilefish trips are limited to 22 anglers per trip and return to the dock between 7:00 to 8:00 PM on the following day.

Two years ago, our early season Tilefish trips were combination trips where we fished on a couple of wrecks during the night and targeted Pollock and Hake followed by Tilefish during the day.   Anglers have asked us if we could make more of these trips and three of our summer Sunday night Tilefish trips will be leaving at 6:00 PM instead of 10:00 PM.   On these trips, we will fish wrecks on the way out for Pollock and Hake, and then fish the edge for Tilefish during the day.  These trips will return at the same time as the regular Tilefish trips.  Combination Trips are scheduled for June 14, July 12, and August 16 and are limited to 22 anglers per trip.

Last year there was a great tuna bite in July and early August.  It looked as though medium to large Yellowfin tuna had invaded our canyons and they were here to stay.  Tuna were being caught trolling and chunking during the day and at night.  We started our tuna season in mid-August with a 40-hour Tuna and Tilefish trip.  While this should have been prime time, the Yellowfin had moved on and we were left with just a few small "tinker tuna" in our area.  We did well on the Tilefish portion of the trip, but the tuna fishing was poor.   Unfortunately, this was a forerunner of what was to come.

The canyon tuna season last fall ended up as "the tuna season that wasn't".  There weren't any Gulf Stream eddies or spin-offs in our canyons from August through November.   The water was what commercial longliners call "flat", with no temperature breaks or color changes.   On most canyon trips, we only made single-digit catches of Yellowfin.   We did have very good swordfishing and Mahi-Mahi fishing on some trips, but it really did not ease the pain of the poor tuna fishing.   It was hard to see so much time and effort put in by anglers and crew alike with only a few good results.   We had a few trips where we caught a mix of Longfin and Yellowfin, with our best trip scoring 45 tuna.  Unfortunately, decent trips were few and far between.

This year, we will start our tuna season with two "early bird" tuna trips on Thursday afternoon, August 20 and Friday afternoon August 21.   After those two trips, we will start our full tuna schedule with the first of two 40-hour Tuna and Tile (TNT) combination trips.  These trips will sail at 10:00 PM August 23 and August 30.   On these trips, we spend the first day fishing for Tilefish and/or trolling tuna as the weather permits.  At sunset, we will start chunking and fish all night for tuna and Swordfish.  On the morning of the second day, we will make a couple more stops for Tilefish, jig some Mahi-Mahi, troll or just head home.  Our TNT trips return to the dock at about 2:00 PM on the second day.   This schedule allows us the best chance for a good tuna catch, as well as plenty of time to fish for Tilefish.  Our TNT trips are very popular, so if you are interested, please book early.   Click here for a complete description of the TNT trip, and please note our 'bad weather' policy for these trips before you book.

There are a few changes to our 22-hour tuna trips this season.   We will not be doing our special 18-man limited trips on Wednesdays this season.  Instead, all of our Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday afternoon trips will be 21-man limited trips.   These limited trips will be priced the same as our Friday and Saturday night trips, but with more elbow room, and that makes these trips a true bargain.

We will be starting our regular schedule of Overnight Canyon Tuna Trips on Wednesday afternoon August 26.   Our August and September trips will depart at 4:00 PM and return about 2:00 PM the following afternoon.  Our October trips will depart at 5:00 PM and return around 3:00 PM the following day, and our November trips will depart at 6:00 PM and return around 4:00 PM the following day.   We think these departure times will give you the most rail time during the prime fishing hours.   Please check our Trip Calendar for specific dates.

In 2009, we will be bringing back our special 30-hour Extended Offshore Tuna and Mahi Trips. We are only scheduling seven of these special trips and they will depart at 8:00 AM Tuesday mornings and return about 2:00 PM on the following day.   The Extended Tuna Trip dates are Tuesday September 8, 15, 22, and 29, and October 6, 13 and 20 and are limited to 22 anglers per trip.  Our Extended Tuna Trips offer anglers more fishing time than any other trip except the TNT trips and represent one of the best values going.   Upon arriving at the fishing grounds, we will spend the afternoon fishing for Mahi-Mahi and possibly do a bit of tuna trolling if there has been hot trolling action.  The decision on what to fish for will be a 'captain's choice' depending on conditions.   We will then fish for tuna during the 'sunset bite', the entire 'night bite', and the 'morning bite'.  This works out to between 12 and 15 hours of fishing time for tuna alone.  For those of you who made the extended trips last year, Chef George will be back in the galley serving his tasty meals and goodies.   Click here for a complete description of our 30-hour Extended Trip, and please note our 'bad weather' policy for these trips before you book.

There is one very important change to our 30-hour Extended Offshore Tuna Trips.  We will no longer be fishing for Tilefish on the Tuesday morning trips.   The Tuesday trips will be for Tuna and Mahi ONLY.   Last year, we had problems with half of the boat having proper Tilefish gear and the other half trying to make do with tuna gear.   This caused nothing but tangles and frustration as well as limiting the areas and depths we could fish.  To compensate for this situation, we have added three more 30-hour Extended Offshore Tuna Trips and they are designed for those that want to Tilefish if and when conditions permit.   They will depart at 8:00 AM Thursday morning September 10, September 24, and October 8 and are limited to 22 anglers per trip.  These trips will work in the same way as the Tuesday trips, but we will focus on Tilefish during the afternoon.   Only if conditions make tilefishing too difficult, will we fish for Mahi.   If you sign up for this trip, please make sure you have the correct gear for Tilefishing.   Click here to see our recommendations for the proper Tilefish gear.  Click here for a complete description of our 30-hour Extended Tuna Trip and please note our 'bad weather' policy for these trips before you book.

As a reminder, sleeping bunks are included in the fare for all VOYAGER offshore trips and the choice of bunk and your spot at the rail are made in the order of payment received.

All VOYAGER offshore trips sail from our berth at Fishermen's Supply Co., 69 Channel Drive, Point Pleasant Beach, NJ.   Fishermen's Supply is one of the largest tackle shops in New Jersey and carries a full selection of lures, jigs, hooks, high-quality monofilament and fluorocarbon line, rods, reels, knives and pliers as well as some of the best prices on boots, foul weather gear and other outdoor clothing.  The tackle shop is just a few feet from the boat dock, so you don't have to worry if you forget anything.

For those of you interested in chartering our boat for a summer Tilefish trip or a fall tuna trip, we suggest you contact us early to ensure you get the date you want.   Click here to see our 2009 charter rates.

We are currently accepting charter bookings, and will start accepting open trip bookings and payments on April 15, 2009.  You can call our office at 732-295-3019 and leave a message, or you can e-mail us.  (Leave a phone number and time when we can reach you.)

We hope you will join us during the upcoming offshore season.  See you at the dock!