<b>Keyport</b>

Three anglers aboard plucked a couple of 19- and 22-inch keepers among a bunch of throwback fluke at the Ammo Pier and the T.C. buoy on the bay Wednesday, Capt. Joe said. Many of the fish were only ½ inch or 1 inch short. Seas were fine on the bay, despite forecasts for strong winds. Frank Hemberger, Tom Crockett and Don Mas from Middlesex were the anglers. Bottom fishing for sea bass and porgies will become a focus on both charters and open-boat trips, because fluke season closes on Saturday. Space is available on open trips Saturday and Sunday. Open trips will also sail daily when no charter is booked.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

Bottom-fishing will gain more attention, now that fluke season is closing, and bottom-dunkers could pull in plenty of sea bass and porgies from the ocean, said Jimmy from <b>Julian’s Bait & Tackle</b>. They could mug ling farther offshore in deeper waters at the Mudhole. Anglers could also chase after bluefish, and lots of larger blues were chummed at the Mud Buoy in the ocean. All kinds of small blues like 1-pound snappers could be jigged in the bay, and small blues also filled the rivers. Weakfish could be located in the rivers, mostly caught on worms, and Jimmy nailed a mess of them previously, but did no fishing for them recently. Weaks were hooked off some of the docks at the marinas and at places like bridges every night. But anglers there had to fish at night. Still, Jimmy limited out on weaks and released more during the day when he fished for them last. Weaks supposedly swam the bay, and nobody gave first-hand reports, but that’ll change as soon as fluke season ends, because flukers will try for the trout instead. Flukers found the flatties just about everywhere lately, and even the rivers turned out a bunch of keepers, because they were feeding up to make the migration offshore. Striped bass were wormed pretty much every night at the channels, and surf anglers beat the bass at the Sandy Hook Rips early in the mornings like 4:30 a.m. One angler said he was banking them every morning around then, nailing two 34-inchers the other day. Waters were warm everywhere, but were beginning to cool, and will keep cooling if this northeast blow continues. The weather was like fall already. The blow was roughing up offshore waters, and Jimmy’s friends who fished for tuna 40 miles offshore this week talked about how rough seas were. “They don’t make fishermen like they used to,” he joked. Ha. 

After some of the better fluking of the season happened on the boat Sunday, covered in the last report, the fishing became about the same as most of the summer the rest of the week, with lots of shorts and some keepers landed, said Capt. Tom from the <b>Atlantic Star</b>. But anglers would occasionally bag two to three keepers and once in a while four. Trips fished the bay at Reach Channel and the Navy Pier, and the weather or winds and seas were no problem on the bay, unlike on the ocean at times. Spro jigs worked somewhat better than bait, but a good Spro angler on one trip hooked one keeper and lots of shorts, for example. So a Spro was no guarantee of nabbing more keepers, but the chances might be better. Killies seemed somewhat of an advantage, if anglers wanted to bring their own. The boat supplies spearing and squid for fluking. The Atlantic Star is fluke fishing on two trips daily 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. through the last day of the summer flounder season on Friday. The plan for afterward as of today was to switch to bottom-fishing on the trips for porgies, sea bass and blackfish starting on Saturday, with clams supplied for bait. Tom heard about no weakfish caught from the bay, but the trout could show up, sometimes moving in as late as mid September. If enough weaks show up, trips will fish for them.

The <b>Fishermen</b> was steamed to the ocean channels Wednesday morning to catch a short window when fluke should bite during the change of tide,  before currents became too strong, and the timing was just right, Capt. Ron said in an e-mail. Shorts and keepers gave up tons of action, and just as the drift started to get fast, Scott Ure from Kearny slammed an 11.2-pounder, taking the lead in the boat’s season-long pool. Then the trip moved farther offshore to escape the currents and fish rough bottom, and a quality catch of keeper fluke and keeper sea bass to 4 pounds was pinned down. The Fishermen is sailing for fluke 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily through the last day of the flattie season Friday. Those trips will run for striped bass and blues through the weekend, and then will take a break through the following Friday, until starting to fish for stripers daily that weekend. Trips will keep running for bluefish 7:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Fridays and 3:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays as long as customers come down.

<b>Highlands</b>

The bow was set on a course for the bluefin tuna grounds on a trip that Capt. Derek from <b>Fisher Price Charters</b> took with friends today, he said. They went 3 for 5 on bluefins to 50 pounds 50 to 55 miles offshore in bouncy seas on sardines. Plenty of skipjacks and false albacore were landed on jigs and sardines. Waters were blue, 75 degrees, holding tremendous life, including bait, rays, whales, porpoises, everything. Fisher Price is chartering for the tuna, and get aboard while the fishing lasts. Bluefins also swam closer to shore, and Derek heard about yellowfin tuna ploughed closer, as near to land as 22 miles. A fluke trip left port Tuesday with Fisher Price, picking away at catches at the channels on bucktails with big strip baits, dealing with winds, but hooking the fish. Space is available on open-boat bottom-fishing trips Saturday and Sunday, and sea bass, porgies, blackfish and ling are on the menu. Bottom-fishing will become a focus, along with the tuna trips, now that fluke season is closing.

<b>Neptune</b>

With <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b> anglers on Wednesday racked up fluke catches for the first couple of hours on an individual-reservation trip, Capt. Ralph said. Then winds blew against the tide, hampering the drift, slowing the fishing. The 17 anglers ended up with about 20 keepers to the 6-pound pool-winner and a few large sea bass. Seas were calm, but fishing conditions were difficult. One more individual-reservation trip will fish for fluke Friday, the last day of the flattie season, and space is available. A bluefish charter knocked the socks off the slammers on Tuesday at the Mud Buoy. An individual-reservation trip for cod slam-dunked the fish offshore on Monday, covered in the last report. More of the cod trips will be scheduled, and call Ralph or keep an eye on Last Lady’s Web site for the dates. Open-boat, overnight canyon trips for tuna and big game are slated for September 9 to 10 and 23 to 24 and October 7 to 8 and 14 to 15. Those are the only ones scheduled, so grab the dates. An inshore bluefin tuna charter was supposed to sail today. Charters are fishing for cod, inshore bottom fish, blues, canyon tuna or big game, and inshore bluefins.

<b>Belmar</b>

The weather was tough, although the strong northeast winds and rough seas calmed down on Wednesday, said Capt. Tom from the <b>Nan Sea J</b>. The boat did no fishing that day, but ran a trip for fluke on Tuesday, and the weather was blowing, conditions that made catching difficult. A couple of keeper fluke and some keeper sea bass were managed, and shorts and a mess of sea robins bit. The fishing was usually better on the vessel in better conditions this season. The winds were forecast for the foreseeable future, although they were also forecast for Wednesday but happened less than predicted. The Nan Sea J will bottom fish for sea bass and other fish and will sail for blues, now that fluke season is ending. Overnight, canyon tuna trips are on the books for later this month. An opening is available for a charter in two Saturdays, September 19. That’s a rare open date on a weekend, and most weekends for the rest of the season are full.

A group on the boat Sunday piled up 5- to 10-pound blues, a load, at the Shrewsbury Rocks, on bunker chunks in a chum click, said Capt. Rob from <b>Last One Charters</b>. The charter also reeled aboard a few sea bass. Seas were a heave but otherwise fine, no tight seas like a chop that would rock the boat around.

Some 7-1/2- and 8-pound fluke were belted on the <b>Big Mohawk</b>, Capt. Chris said. Trips fish the rocky bottom in the ocean, mostly with jigs. But fluking season was coming to an end, and trips will start bottom fishing for sea bass and porgies this weekend. Trips sail 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.

Blues were pounded night and day on the <b>Miss Belmar Princess</b>, “real good,” Capt. Alan said. Bait and jigs caught them during the daytime trips, and bait took them on the nighttime trips. False albacore began to mixed in during the day, too. The Miss Belmar Princess will now fish for blues 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily except on Wednesdays, because trips will sail for bluefin tuna at the Mudhole 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Wednesday starting next week. Trips are also sailing for blues 7:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. daily.

The Shark River’s anglers lambasted fluke, including lots of keepers, and decent numbers of porgies and kingfish, said Bob from <b>Fisherman’s Den</b>. Flukers on the party boats scored plenty of the fish, dealing with heavy weights like 10, 12 or 14 ounces because of winds and full-moon tides. Most of the fluke boats will switch to bottom fishing for sea bass and porgies this weekend, when fluke season closes. Dynamite catches of blues were bombasted on the head boats. Surf anglers began to pick up more striped bass than before, and clamming for the stripers worked well, because of the churned up waters that broke up clams along the beaches. But plugs also worked. Fishing in general was good, but anglers had to fish around storms the last two weekends and tolerate strong northeast winds this week. The boats were able to sail during the week’s winds, but anglers had to work in the difficult conditions.

<b>Brielle</b>

Fluke bit whenever trips could leave the dock, said Capt. Jerry from <b>Fish Monger Charters</b>. A charter Monday snatched aboard 21 keepers and pummeled a giant sea bass, a 5-pound 12-ounce 24-incher, the biggest humphead to date on the Monger. The anglers began fishing at snaggly bottom close to shore, because of strong winds, in a fast drift. A couple of keeper fluke and shorts were pelted right away, and then the fishing dropped off. Winds settled down, so the trip moved to sandy hills a few miles out, staying there all day. A patch of fluke was found, and the group had to wade through tons of shorts, but dialed up one or two keepers on most drifts, mostly while dragging bait. Then the big sea bass was latched into, seemed like a blackfish fighting, until the fish was netted and seen. One of the anglers limited out on fluke to 4 ½ pounds on the day. The weather was beautiful, but gusting, northeast winds were forecast for the next day. Fish Monger will bottom fish, with fluke season ending, and will continue both charters and open-boat trips for light-tackle action on bonito and false albacore. Call to jump aboard.

On the <b>Jamaica</b> bluefish were clobbered, good catches, today and throughout the week on both daytime and nighttime trips, an e-mail from the boat said. The fishing was best 15 miles to the north and offshore today while the boat was anchored with a chum slick. The fish, 6- to 12-pounders, chomped bait and jigs but mostly bait. The fishing was best 17 miles to the north and offshore on Wednesday night, on bait like always in the dark, and limits were common. On a bluefin tuna trip, the boat’s first of the season on Monday, more than 50 of the fish were creamed 50 miles from the coast, and the fishings’s been excellent. A mess of false albacore and skipjacks also got ransacked, and all these fish plus yellowfin tuna swam the area lately. More of the bluefin trips will sail 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. Labor Day and 3 a.m. to 4 p.m. September 10 and 17, and more might be added to the schedule. The Jamaica is fishing for blues on two trips daily 7:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. through Sunday and on weekends afterward. The Atlantis will fish for bluefish on Labor Day, when the Jamaica is running for bluefins. Check the boat’s Web site for discounted specials on the bluefish trips, and visit the site to be added to the e-mail list for specials. The boat’s canyon fishing for tuna is about to begin, and reports about quality catches at night rolled in this week.

<b>Point Pleasant</b>

Bluefishing “took some time to get a steady catch” earlier in the week, but “the fish were biting jigs and bait immediately” by Wednesday, said Cindy from the <b>Sea Devil</b> in an e-mail.  The jigs and bait worked all day, and on Monday Sultan Ozgen from Parsippany won the pool with an 11-pound blue, and on Wednesday Michael Payne from Freehold took the pool with a 12-pounder. A charter fished on the boat Tuesday, rounding up various fish, including blues, sea bass, fluke and many false albacore. The boat’s first canyon tuna trip of the season ran offshore Sunday, facing a big swell through most of the night. Not much action happened at night, so the trip was moved inshore before daybreak, and lots of action took off. One couple of anglers teamed up to land a 125-pounder. Another two landed a total of three tuna. The e-mail never mentioned the species of tuna, but sounded like bluefins, considering the size and location. Trips are sailing for blues 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily, except when tuna trips run. See the boat’s Web site for the tuna schedule. Check out Sea Devil’s Facebook page. <a href=" http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sea-Devil-Fishing-Co/107891348938
" target="_blank"> Sea Devil’s Facebook page </a>.

<b>Toms River</b>

Angling at some locations was shut out during the winds, but boaters fished Barnegat Bay, collecting fluke, mostly throwbacks, at places including the BI and BB markers and Oyster Creek and Double Creek channels, said Jeff from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b>. Barnegat Inlet gave up similar fluking. Customers claimed weakfish at the clam stakes off Berkeley Island Park in the first several hours of morning, starting like at 5 a.m., on small, live snapper blues. One did a job on big weaks there, and Jeff saw a photo of the fish. Weaks were also rustled up at other locations on the bay, such as the BI and BB. Nobody mentioned fishing for kingfish or blowfish on the bay. At the Toms River snapper blues were played, and bigger blues sometimes showed up, and 19-inch striped bass were clammed. Crabbing on the river and other areas depended on the day and location, and results could change at a location daily. Like some people would catch a bunch of small ones and say they wouldn’t return to that spot, “but it doesn’t work that way,” Jeff said. The ocean was too rough to fish, and the surf pretty much was, too. Some customers attempted to try the surf but gave up. 

<b>Seaside</b>

Surf anglers began beaching short striped bass at the pocket at Barnegat Inlet and along the inlet jetty and also at Lavallette and Brick, said the report on <b>Grumpy’s Tackle</b>’s Web site. Small blues ran in and out of the surf, but somewhat bigger ones popped in, like a 2.6-pounder that was weighed in. Fluke hugged bottom along the surf, and the shop is holding a big sale on fluke tackle through the final day of the flattie season Friday. <a href="http://www.grumpystackle.com/fishingreports/" target="_blank"> Click here</a> for updates.   

<b>Forked River</b>

Barnegat Bay’s weakfishing somewhat picked up, and Dave from <b>Grizz’s Forked River Bait & Tackle</b> heard about catches made around the BI and BB markers on pink Fin-S Fish, sandworms and squid, he said. Some were also nabbed toward Forked River, and fluke, mostly throwbacks, were boated at places like the BI and BB. Many customers headed out for fluke today because the season was closing Friday. Kingfish came up from the bay at the 40 buoy and Oyster Creek Channel, and blowfishing improved on the bay at Tice’s Shoal, off Waretown and at the Route 37 Bridge. Chum with clam and fish with pieces of clam or squid for both. Crabbing was good, including at Berkeley Island Park. The ocean was too rough for fishing.

<b>Barnegat Light</b>

A few striped bass were dragged from the surf, and dunk clams for a bite, said Basil from <b>Barnegat Light Bait & Tackle</b>. Croakers occasionally rolled through the wash, but no kingfish appeared there. An unconfirmed rumor said sharks were wrestled from the suds on the southern end of Long Beach Island. Fluke were boated in 30 feet in the ocean and offshore of the range buoy. In Barnegat Bay weakfish arrived 1 ½ weeks ago, getting toggled up on artificials like Fin-S Fish, bucktails, Gulp shrimp and other Gulps, and also on grass shrimp. No shrimp are stocked at the moment, because the shrimper’s dredge was out of commission. Kingfish and blowfish were rustled up from the bay. Tog hung along the rocks at Barnegat Inlet, and sometimes triggerfish, previously abundant, were angled in from along the inlet and from the bay.

<b>Beach Haven</b>

All big fluke to just under an 8-pounder were creamed on the <b>Miss Beach Haven</b> on Sunday on the ocean, Capt. Frank said. That trip was able to sail between the rough weather. A couple of 5-pounders and 6-pounders were also clocked, and now trips will switch to bottom-fishing for sea bass, porgies and blackfish, because fluke season is closing. Eventually the vessel will hit blackfishing hard, when the bag limit jumps to six on November 16 from the current limit of one. The vessel’s open-boat trips will sail on weekends only, instead of on weekdays too, because summer is wrapping up. Charters are also available for everything from bottom fish to tuna, whatever’s biting. Open-boat trips are bottom fishing 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

<b>Tuckerton</b>

Stiff, northeast winds that built 4- to 6-foot seas did not equal ideal conditions for fishing on the ocean Wednesday. A trip that day with <b>Legal Limit Charters</b> scratched out a half-dozen short flounder out front, Capt. T.J. said. A few keeper sea bass, lots of croakers that the anglers chose to release, and a few short, spike weakfish released, a mixed bag, were also pumped up.  Lots of croakers littered the ocean, if anglers wanted to bag them. A trip is supposed to sail for tuna on Sunday, but the northeast winds were forecast to continue through then. T.J. heard no news about tuna, and probably nobody got out.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

A few anglers flounder fished at Little Egg Reef today, getting pounded by seas, but said lots of small flatties and a few keepers chewed, and the action kept them busy, said Scott from <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>. Seas pounded boaters all week, but forecasts called for 2- to 4-footers on Friday, the final day of flounder season, instead of the usual 3 to 6’s. Looked like boaters would get a shot at the fish.  A good population of small weakfish and a few keepers schooled Marshelder Channel near Tuckerton Bay, like they did last year. Most were hooked on 3-inch, pink Gulp swimming mullets or live or fresh peanut bunker, but bloodworms and shedder crabs, if anglers could get shedders, also worked.  Snapper blues but few weaks swam around the mouth of the Mullica River. Kingfish, sea bass, porgies and blowfish were landed on the bay on the Mystic Island side of the Fish Factory, not great fishing, but busy. None of the sea bass, babies, was a keeper, but some of the three other fish were big enough to bag. Nobody mentioned since last week fishing for brown sharks that hold at Grassy Channel on Great Bay at this time of the year, but the fish should be there. Anglers usually anchor for the sharks, up to 5-footers, from dusk until 10 p.m. or so, chumming and fishing with baits such as mackerel fillets. Scott’s sells a special shark rig for the bay fishing and a chum ball that’s perfect, and can help with advice. Nobody talked about fishing for white perch or tog. Crabbing was okay, nothing to rant and rave about, but alright. Scott expects the fall migration of striped bass to hit the area around October 28.

<b>Port Republic</b>

Fishing for flounder produced best in the ocean, when boaters could sail, and weakfish were knuckled in from the mouth of the Mullica River, said Keith from <b>Chestnut Neck Boat Yard</b>. Plenty of white perch could be angled from the river. A crew on a boat at the fuel dock today said they claimed two 28-inch striped bass and some small blues but mentioned no location for the catches. Crabbing was good. Shedder crabs and other baits are stocked.

<b>Absecon</b>

Anglers could catch and release 1-inch-short flounder all day from the bay, but a few keepers were around, said Ray from <b>Absecon Bay Sportsman Center</b>. Frank Hannon grabbed a 21-inch keeper today, and another angler checked in a 7-pounder the other day. Plenty of striped bass turned on at night on the bay, chasing down live spots or eels at the bridges or plugs along the sod banks. Weakfish could sometimes be scared up from the bay, and Hannon creeled three on the trip when he got the flounder. He also fought a 3-foot hammerhead shark on the bay on a recent trip. On high tides tons of blues and peanut bunker swam all over the bay. Kingfishing never really materialized this season, and more kings seemed to hold in the bay than in the surf. But boaters could anchor and chum on Great Bay farther north for a smorgasbord of fish like kings, porgies, lots of small croakers and a handful of weaks. White perch fishing was decent on the rivers. Nothing was heard about ocean fishing in the weather. Crabbing should take off, because the shed just ended. If anyone was looking for something productive to do, now should be the time to crab. Shedder crabs, live spots, eels, peanut bunker and nearly every bait is stocked. The shop was working on stocking mullet.

<b>Brigantine</b>

Was difficult  to believe flounder season was closing, when the population of keepers just seemed to be improving for anglers, said the report on <b>Riptide Bait & Tackle</b>’s Web site. Surf anglers wondered what they’d fish for until the fall run of striped bass. But blues swam all around, and croakers schooled in 30 to 40 feet in the ocean. Folks at the shop wondered if kingfish might show up in full force immediately after Labor Day like two years ago.

<b>Margate</b>

The back bay’s flounder fishing somewhat slowed in the northeast winds, but Wednesday was calmer, and waters already started to clear, said Capt. John from the <b>Keeper</b>. So he hoped calmer conditions picked the angling back up. Still, lots of flatties, mostly shorts but some keepers, were hooked. Sizeable ones including a 5.83-pounder, a 4.66-pounder and a 4.23-pounder sometimes came up. Three or four blues were boated through the week, but John saw quite a number of blues splashing the surface. When flounder season closes on Saturday, trips will probably fish for tog and weakfish. Tog were around, and weakfish supposedly swam the waters. John saw none but never looked for them on the flounder trips this season. The Keeper through Labor Day is fishing on two trips daily 8 a.m. to 12 noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Afterward the boat will fish on two trips on Saturdays 8 a.m. to 12 noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and one trip on Sundays 8 a.m. to 12 noon.

<b>Longport</b>

Trips got out Tuesday and Wednesday, and 8- to 10-ounce sinkers had to be used, but a few fish were found to make a day, despite the northeast winds, a big ground swell and the full moon, said Capt. Mike from the <b>Stray Cat</b>. Sea bass, triggerfish, short flounder and short weakfish were wrangled in. Forecasts for the weekend look better, and space is available for charters Saturday through Labor Day for bottom fishing, trolling for pelagics on the inshore ocean or tuna and big-game fishing farther offshore at the canyons. The bottom fishing will probably kick right back in with better weather, and the trolling for pelagics, fish like false albacore, Spanish mackerel, bonito and skipjacks, with blues mixed in, was great this year. When boats last could sail offshore, tuna, including better-sized yellowfins that began to appear, were taken to the north like at Toms Canyon. Those fish should trek down to the southern canyons, and Wilmington Canyon usually begins to heat up at this time of the year. Annual daily, open-boat, bottom-fishing trips will begin on Friday, September 11, except when charters are booked.

<b>Ocean City</b>

Small blues roamed everywhere from the bay to the inlets, and were played on the ocean before the winds, but the northeasterlies, blowing for days, put a stop to ocean trips and to most fishing anyplace along the coast, said Ed from <b>Fin-Atics</b>. A few kingfish, not a lot, were picked from the surf before the weather. The surf remained fishable but difficult for angling, and was getting churned up in the seas that the winds kicked up. Small flounder held in the bay. Nobody seemed to fish offshore in the winds.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Winds honked and wouldn’t stop, building seas like a 5-foot chop at the inlets, said Wes from <b>Gibson’s Tackle</b>. So not much was heard about fishing. The surf might’ve been fishable, if anglers could hold bottom, and previously spots, small kingfish and small blues turned up in the suds at times. Small blues were battled on the ocean before the weather, and so were false albacore. Striped bass were nailed on the bay at dawn and dusk on surface-popper, swimming or soft-plastic lures or any lures imitating peanut bunker or mullet. Nobody fished offshore.

The right tides and times of day coincided for the best striped bass fishing with surface-popper lures and flies on the flats of the back bay, and the fishing produced great, including catches of larger bass that were mixed in, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b>, affiliated with <b>Gibson’s Tackle</b>. The tides were high at dawn and dusk, the ideal conditions, and on Tuesday evening Dustin Laricks released two stripers to 27 inches and a 5-pound blue that swiped a Rapala Skitter Pop lure on spinning tackle. On Wednesday evening a trip hooked stripers on a Crease fly pattern that Joe ties. His version throws lots more waters than commercial versions, making all the difference. The commercials would fail to attract the bass. The tides will last another couple of days but will return later, and the fishing is a specialty with Jersey Cape. Joe poles his flats boat on the bay shallows for the angling, like in a tropical destination, but right here in South Jersey. The explosive, visual attacks are the thing. Chase Kneeland jumped aboard Monday for a fly-fishing trip on the ocean. First he whacked a dozen hard-fighting ambjerjacks to 3 pounds and several blues on popper flies. When he got his fill, the trip moved to Sea Isle Ridge farther from shore, and he fly-rodded a false albacore. Joe chummed with live bait while Chase fought the fish, and after the albie was landed, a mahi mahi was spotted. Chase targeted the mahi with the fly rod, hooking, landing and releasing the 12-pounder, an impressive catch on a 7-weight rod. Joe’s trips sometimes shellacked albies on the ocean before the weekend’s tropical storm, and he won’t be surprised if the speedsters are still around, after the weather calms, like this weekend. Some of the best news was that trips were able to sail throughout the week despite winds. The ocean was rough the past couple of days but was calm Monday. Joe heard no news about offshore fishing during the weather, but his trips are fishing the blue waters out to the canyons. Lots of white marlin and mahi mahi roamed the waters, and the marlin fishing was especially awesome this year. But the mahi were also abundant this season, and were large. Offshore charters are available that troll for tuna, marlin or other big game during the mornings and cast bait, lures or flies to mahi at the lobster pots during the afternoons.  Jersey Cape is offering after-work special trips on the back bay from 4 p.m. to dark, a great time to fish, when nobody else is on the waters, and action can be best. Convenient, too.  Joe will offer traveling charters this month and next, and one type is coming up quickly: Weekend trips in Montauk for the blitz of stripers and blues from the middle of this month to late October. If you’ve wanted to fish the migration at Montauk, here’s your chance. The other will be to Martha’s Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands in Massachusetts for fly-rodding for stripers on Columbus Day weekend. Joe, Capt. Mike Corblies and Capt. Chris Goldmark were planning to hold a Ladies Saltwater Fly Fishing Clinic in October, teaching everything from casting to equipment, knots and so on. But they’ll now hold the event in spring. They hope to include hands-on fishing experience on the waters. Feel free to call Joe for info.

<b>Wildwood</b>

On the back bay flounder fishing was okay, and catching a keeper was just challenging, said Ryan from <b>Canal Side Boat Rentals</b>. A few weakfish, small ones but some keepers to 3 pounds, were around, though. Small sea bass filled the bay, and blues would school through once or twice a week, and everybody would boat a couple. Fishing was spotty for kingfish and croakers. Short striped bass bit in the bay at night. Crabbing was so-so, serving out alright catches one day and terrible ones another. The crabs were yet to shed, as far as Ryan saw, though the full moon that can trigger the shed was taking place. Minnows and frozen shedder crabs, whole and filleted mackerel, various types of squid, fresh-frozen clams, salted clams, frozen mullet and bunker, including for crabbing, and more baits are stocked. Live blueclaw crabs, currently 1’s and 2’s, are carried for eating, and the crabs will be carried though the month. Canal Side rents canopy boats and kayaks for fishing, crabbing and sightseeing. The shop is open 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, probably until the end of the month or the beginning of October, when the doors will be closed through winter. After Labor Day the daily hours will probably continue, unless a day is slow for some reason, when the shop might close early.

When not forced to be tied up because of the blow, the <b>Adventurer</b> put patrons on croakers and sea bass, a bunch, actually, Capt. Gary said. Trips broke the inlet Sunday and Monday, making their way 6 to 7 miles from the coast to fish. Unbelievable numbers of croakers were stacked up Sunday. With flounder season closing, the boat will wreck-fish for sea bass but stop on croakers and blues when the fish are run across. As waters cool weakfish should ball up close to shore this month and next, and trips should begin to anchor there, with patrons cranking in weaks, blues and croakers together.  The Adventurer is fishing on open-boat trips 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, but call to confirm, making sure no charter is running instead. An open trip will fish for blues 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. Saturday.

<b>Cape May</b>

Capt. George from the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> mated on another boat on a flounder trip Wednesday that racked up lots of throwbacks and a couple of keepers off Capt May Point, he said. Rough seas kept the trip from fishing farther out on the ocean, and an attempt was made to hit McCrie’s Shoal, because the crew knew about flounder hooked there recently, but 6- to 7-foot seas made the trip come back to the point. Lots of flounder hovered around the point, like at the Cape May Rips, but many were small. All the party boats seemed relegated to fishing off the point, too. An inshore trolling trip is slated to sail on the Heavy Hitter on Sunday, and that fishing’s been hammering catches like false albacore, blues and Spanish mackerel. Saturday is available for a charter because of a cancellation. Only have three or four anglers for a trip instead of six to create a full charter? Call George, because he can probably put you together with other anglers on a make-up trip during mid week.

The Old Grounds and Wildwood Reef were the main places customers socked flounder, said Nick from <b>Hands Too Bait & Tackle</b>. At least that’s where most found the fish before the weather kept boats in port. Snapper blues and a few croakers loitered along the Delaware Bay front in Cape May. Weakfish were almost no place to be found. But a scarce showing of small ones appeared at Reeds Beach. Inshore trolling was good for catching fish like false albacore and mahi mahi on the ocean. Back-bay striped bass fishing could get anglers into plenty bites at dusk and dawn. Sometimes the fish cooperated at the $1.50 Bridge.

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