ESPN Saltwater

Editor's note: Capt. Chris Gatley can be found with his fishing clients chasing striped bass in front of the Statue of Liberty, or heading offshore to the Atlantic Ocean canyons off the NJ/NY coast for tuna. His articles on cutting-edge fishing techniques can be found in The Fisherman Magazine, and he's a regular presenter at key sports shows during the winter months (when he's not pursuing whatever he can find in East Coast rivers).

Saltwater fishing along the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast coast is really doing well.

Some great catches of cobia, croakers and fluke are being produced in Virginia and into the southern portions of New Jersey. This past week, the keeper-to-throw-back ratio of fluke really jumped a few notches.

Anglers fishing the Old Grounds off of Delaware, which are easily accessed by Cape May N.J., anglers, are catching plenty of 5- to 8-pound fluke, or summer flounder as they are sometimes called.

As you move north, the bluefin tuna fishery is on fire in the mud hole and glory hole region just outside of New York City. This area is the outflow of the old Hudson River or the Hudson River trench that cuts south and east toward the canyons. This trench is offering some of the very best bluefin tuna fishing we have seen since the early 1980s.

Anglers fishing Montauk, N.Y., and Long Island Sound, Martha's Vineyard/Nantucket as well as the Cape Cod are experiencing good catches of striped bass. Those fishing at night are having 20-30 fish trips while using eels and lures. And those anglers who fish during daylight also have quick access to tuna.

The further north you travel into New England, the bigger the fish. A few days ago, Nat Moody from First Light Anglers in Raleigh, Mass., put his customer on a 712-pound bluefin tuna.

Also, the Hudson Canyon is experiencing an insane bigeye tuna bite. Wolfpacks of 150- to 200-pound bigeye tuna are crashing entire spreads, leaving every angler on the boat to manage the fire drill.

The details

After a one-hour fight, Moody harpooned a 712-pound bluefin tuna. This 101-inch tuna took a bait rod outfitted with 90 pound fluorocarbon.

"The tuna fishing has been stellar with customers catching several tuna per trip," he said. "Anglers targeting the Cove, Half Way Hump and Old Scantum have a very good chance at catching tuna as tons of bait is holding on those spots."

Stellwagen Bank is producing tuna too.

Fishing on Cape Cod, especially the outer cape, is offering great striped bass fishing with eels taking center stage. Three way rigging eels are producing great numbers of fish but those casting and slow reeling eels at night near the surface are catching some very big striped bass.

Lures like Sebile's Magic Swimmer and bunker flies mimic are top producers. The bluefin tuna bite on the outer cape is decent so long as you don't get caught running around. Your best bet is to be patient near fish holding spots and to use plastics such as a Ron Z sand eel imitation, Hogy plastics or butterfly jigs.

Anglers trolling ballyhoo and Iland Lures as well as spreader bars and birds/daisy chain combinations are catching some tuna when fish are high in the water column. Stellwagen bank just north and east of Provincetown has been producing some nice tuna on Ron Z plastics and jigheads.

Fluke fishing in New York and Montauk waters turned on just in time before the season closed August 17. Bass fishing the rips and boulders of Montauk during the dark hours is producing bass but the bite is a small window. Poppers are taking small fish but eels and live bait is taking bigger striped bass and bluefish.

In North Jersey and western Long Island, tuna fishing is excellent. Personally, I have been running for bluefin tuna on the near shore grounds as Capt. Rich Kosztyu of MR Charters and myself are co-captaining his tuna boat. Butterfly jigging is producing plenty of bluefin in the 40-50 pound class for us.

This season is providing some of the best bluefin fishing we have seen since the 80s. This past week, we escorted three kayak fishermen to the grounds. Their highlight was catching their first bluefin tuna from a kayak, 70 miles from New York City.

Fluke fishing really kicked into high gear along Sandy Hook and down past Barnegat. Some areas are yielded lots of action with mostly throwbacks but if you can find a pile of big fluke, you will catch a lot of them, especially the further south down the Jersey coast you head. Eight-ounce bucktails tipped with meat is your best bet and look for sticky areas like wrecks and reefs.

Jenny Lee Sportfishing Boat based in Brielle, N.J., has been catching its fair share of bigeye tuna in the canyons. Capt. Jimmy Gahm told me that a white marlin was in his spread this week. As Capt. Jim was trying to bait the white marlin, the fish got pushed aside by a wolfpack of 25-30 bigeye tuna that exploded on his 10-rod spread. Eight rods went screaming and they were tight on all eight fish.

The charter was overwhelmed to say the least. They dropped two fish within minutes but held 6 for the next two hours. After the smoke cleared, the team had three bigeyes and a gorgeous 115-pound allison on the deck. The Lee was trolling custom built sand eel bars and daisy chains from The Reel Seat in Brielle, N.J., when the wolf-pack appeared.

Cape May and Delaware Bay in New Jersey is producing great fluke action and croaker fishing. Most anglers are targeting the Old Grounds just off Delaware but inshore sticky spots will hold giant fluke too.

Capt. Scott Pierce of Duct Work Charters in Cape May, N.J., likes to fish mahi mahi or bluefin tuna belly strips off of bucktails.

"This tactic accounts for more large fluke" says Capt. Scott than anything else.

The Lobster Claw area is still holding big submarine-sized bluefin tuna. Anglers jigging tuna are having the best success but live baits are taking fish, too.

The Chesapeake Bay region has been producing great numbers of croakers around buoy 262 according to Chris' Bait and Tackle in Capeville, Va. Using squid or shrimp, anglers are walking away with coolers full of legal croakers.

Flounder or fluke fishing has been really good too. Gulp Alive! Shrimp in the New Penny color is taking a load of fish fished off of fish finder rigs. Larger fluke are falling to whole squid fished along the bottom.

Cobia and Redfish fishing is really good right now along the channels. Cobia reaching 60 and 70 pounds are being caught on bunker. Bunker is your best bait right now and don't forget your chum. Redfish are taking lures in shallower waters and humps along the Eastern Shore.