A few weeks back, during the apex of New Jersey’s late-fall run of bluefin tuna, a live feed camera on Surfline.com captured footage of a large, surface-feeding bluefin in Manasquan Inlet. The short clip was reposted on Instagram by The Reel Seat in Brielle, causing anglers to marvel at the sheer size of such a fish swimming within casting range of the beach. The original video can be viewed below.
Since then, a second video of the same lunging bluefin has surfaced on social media after the Reel Seat received footage from a new point of view. Nicholas Petronaci (@nicholas_petronaci), who was fishing just outside the inlet, had a camera running on board his vessel when the tuna tore through a school of menhaden nearly 100 yards from the beach. The two anglers were justifiably baffled to have witnessed such an event, and you can almost feel their adrenaline spike in the short clip below, which shows both camera angles.
While this is the first time two cameras have captured video of bluefin in Manasquan Inlet, it’s unlikely it will be the last. These fish seem to be coming closer to shore with each passing year. In fact, earlier this fall, big bluefin tuna were seen slashing through schools of bluefish in Shinnecock Inlet on Long Island.
The bluefin madness is slowly winding down off New Jersey’s coast, and as they continue to migrate south, we’ll have to keep an eye out for more remarkable near-shore feeds in the waters off Ocean City, Maryland, where anglers have been enjoying similar inshore bluefin mayhem over the past several weeks.
Insane Bluefin Tuna Action off New Jersey and Long Island
LISTEN: Bluefin Biology with Dr. Walt Golet | OTW Podcast – Ep. 37
