Pipe Dreamer's blue marlin holds on, wins $1.18M in Mid-Atlantic tournament
Pipe Dreamer's blue marlin held up over the final fishing days of the Mid-Atlantic tournament, which meant a very big pay day for Carmine "Chip" Caruso and company.
Caruso, of Colts Neck, earned a tournament record $1,180,342, the most ever paid out for a blue marlin in the prestigious Mid-Atlantic, which this year drew 181 sport fishing crews from up and down the East Coast. One of the boats, it's worth noting, belonged to NBA Hall-of-Famer Michael Jordan.
The Pipe Dreamer crew, which has been fishing together for the better part of two decades, Caruso said, landed the 889-pound blue marlin at 9 a.m. Wednesday then had to hold their breaths until the scales closed at 9 p.m. Friday to see if they won.
They opted to fish out of Ocean City, Maryland, which along with Cape May, were the two eligible ports. Capt. Rich Fernandez was at the helm and Andy Confortini was the reel man on a 130-pound class outfit. Surprisingly, it only took 20 minutes to boat the huge fish, which is the third largest blue marlin in the tournament's history.
More: Big blue marlin could net Pipe Dreamer over $1M in Mid-Atlantic tournament
Caruso said the big billfish cooperated. The fish never had time to take a run because Fernandez backed down on it hard and Confortini got its head turned and to the side of the boat in a hurry.
In total, the tournament paid out $5.79 million to 35 boat crews. Jordan's boat Catch 23, by the way, took home $462,318 for a 75-pound white marlin, good for third in that category.
Fluke, bluefish
I took the family on the Jamaica II for the afternoon fluke trip on Sunday. Capt. Ryan Bogan steered the boat out to the local reefs outside of Manasquan Inlet. As far as the conditions went, the wind was out of the north, and the drift speed was a bit quick, though it had slowed down from the morning and continued to ease up as the day wore on. There was a lazy swell on the water.
We had plenty of opportunities to hook fluke, and I know for sure I left a couple down there. We had steady bites, though most were shorts. One in our party pulled in a keeper. The sharpies in the bow of the boat did not miss a beat tossing bucktails and an assortment of Gulp baits. Chey Baybay caught her three-fish limit as did Ryan Fityere. There were a few others with limits, though I did not get everyone's name.
Capt. Ron Kish on the Capt. Cal II out of Shark River Inlet had a fare land a 7-pound fluke on Sunday. Kish said he's drifting around wrecks, drop-offs and mussel beds.
More: What's biting: get the latest fishing reports here
At times, the bluefish were right on top of the water where they were easily located by the boats working the coastline up towards Sea Bright. Capt Rich Falcone on the Golden Eagle out of Shark River Inlet, said they had a good showing of bonito on Saturday. The blues were running up to six pounds. The Queen Mary out of Manasquan Inlet, had a Spanish mackerel in the mix of blues and bonito.
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: NJ fishing: Pipe Dreamer blue marlin catch wins Mid-Atlantic prize
