<b>Staten Island</b>

Windy weather forced <b>Barbara Anne Fishing Charters</b> to stay in port during the past days, but Capt. Anthony expects trips to sail today through Saturday in forecasts for better conditions, he said. Anglers on board are fishing for sea bass and blackfish. The vessel obtained a Research Set Aside Permit that allows trips to sail for sea bass during New York’s and New Jersey’s currently closed seasons for them. He expects trips to fish hard for sea bass, and the fish should be stacked up, because of the lack of angling pressure. New York’s blackfish season opened on October 1, and four fish is the bag limit, while New Jersey’s limit is currently one blackfish. Charters are fishing, and so are open-boat trips by reservation, including open trips that are fishing for sea bass inshore every Tuesday and Thursday. Open trips are also sailing on other days when enough anglers are available. Open trips are sometimes fishing offshore for sea bass and other species such as cod, including on October 26 and 31. Call for availability and to find out other dates on the open schedule.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

After being tied to the dock on Friday and Saturday because of the weather, striped bass fishing on Sunday’s trip was “like starting all over again,” said Capt. Ron from the party boat <b>Fishermen</b> in a report on the vessel’s Web site. The trip looked between the channels first thing, and the angling was no good. The boat was sailed down the ocean beach, to the Shrewsbury Rocks, and both inshore and offshore, and two bluefish were jigged. The anglers then tried clamming without a bite. They tied jigs back on, and a handful of stripers were clocked. Rocco Farrina bagged two beauties, including the pool winner, and “Zambony Tom,” “Doc Sal” and some others boxed two. Too many miles for not enough fish, Ron said. But he hoped today’s anglers would “kick some bass!” he said. Previously Ron said jig fishing for stripers seemed to take hold, but clams were still carried on trips. A huge body of stripers showed up on Wednesday’s trip, disappearing on Thursday’s trip, covered in the last report. “Just have to search for the next mother lode!” he said at the time. The Fishermen is sailing for striped bass 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily.

On the party boat <b>Atlantic Star</b> a daily bottom-fishing trip sailed Sunday for the first time since Wednesday, because of the storm Thursday night and the winds afterward, Capt. Tom said. The weather was actually beautiful on Thursday, but forecasts called for the storm to last longer, keeping anglers home. But a good catch of porgies was claimed on Wednesday’s trip, and a few blackfish were tugged aboard the outing when anglers brought their own crabs for bait. Clams are provided on the boat for bait. The porgies were mixed sizes, and some were big. The bottom fishing was productive lately when trips got the weather to sail. Sizeable, out-of-season sea bass were tossed back on the trip. The porgy fishing is fun, and the fish are great to eat, and there are anglers on the boat who love them. The Atlantic Star is bottom fishing 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily for porgies and blackfish. <b>***Update, Tuesday, 10/19:***</b> The trip today pounded another great catch of sizeable porgies, Tom said. So the fishing held up, and the weather was good.

<b>Highlands</b>

Fishing was weathered out on Friday with <b>Jersey Devil Charters</b> because of winds, Capt. Brian said, but a couple of trips are slated to fish in the evenings this week. Reports about good catches of decent-sized striped bass rolled in from the Shrewsbury Rocks from those who managed to sail during the blow in the past days and on Sunday. They jigged and trolled the fish, and blues were mixed in. Striper fishing was also productive in Raritan Bay at the channel edges on eels. Jersey Devil is doing all this fishing, and is also fishing for stripers on the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers on a smaller boat, a 21-foot Contender, with one or two anglers per trip. That fishing is solid on livelined peanut bunker or eels, and is a fun trip. Plenty of big porgies were feeding, and a one-blackfish-per angler limit could be caught, and others could be released, if anglers wanted to bottom fish. Tuna fishing was productive at the canyons but seemed hit or miss, inconsistent. Some boaters ran into better catches, and others ended up with fewer of the fish. Brian heard nothing about bluefin tuna fishing closer to shore during the weather, but a trip with him might return to the fishing on Tuesday if the weather holds. Charters are fishing for bluefins, and so are open-boat trips, when enough anglers want to go. Call if interested in the open trips, because the more who are interested, the easier to schedule.

With <b>Fisher Price Charters</b> a trip fished for striped bass on the ocean on Sunday, after the winds, and catches were slow, but a couple of keepers were bagged while the trip jigged and trolled, Capt. Derek said. The outing also bottom fished, pulling in a healthy catch of porgies. Seas and the weather were gorgeous in the morning, and winds picked up again in the afternoon. Charters are fishing, and the next open-boat trips are slated for Thursday and Friday to sail for stripers. Derek will wait to see the weather forecasts later in the week before deciding the weekend’s schedule. Anglers can call Derek to be kept informed about the open schedule.

<b>Neptune</b>

Other boats swiped up good catches of striped bass and blues on the ocean today on jigs, and <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b>  landed a couple of blues early, then bottom fished, Capt. Ralph said. The bottom fishing put up porgies, not great but decent angling, and a few blues. An individual-reservation trip will sail for a mix of stripers, blues, porgies and blackfish on Friday. One of the trips will run for stripers on Wednesday, October 27. Another individual-rez trip will steam offshore for cod, pollock and hake on Thursday, November 11. The season’s first individual-reservation trip for blackfish will sail on Tuesday, November 16, when the bag limit is increased to six from the current limit of one.

<b>Brielle</b>

Boaters began fishing on Sunday after the winds, trolling and jigging striped bass and bluefish on the ocean from Asbury Park to Seaside, said Chuck from <b>The Reel Seat</b>. A few of the stripers were good-sized, and the bass bit in the morning, and the blues, big alligators, hit afterward. Quite a few pods of bunker schooled that day, and 20- or 25-pound stripers were beaten among them. Stripers were mostly trolled in deeper waters, and blues were mostly taken in shallower. Chuck ran a trip last Monday, before the winds, that trolled and jigged 17 stripers to 26 pounds at the Shrewsbury Rocks. Boaters also fished the ocean today, and lots of blues were around more than stripers were. The only news about surf fishing were reports about catches made to the south toward Island Beach State Park, Seaside and Lavallette. That’s not to say the surf produced no fish closer to the shop, but that was the only news that came in. The weather kept boats from fishing offshore, but many of the anglers planned to head out today. The charter boat Jenny Lee reportedly sailed on a trip that whaled 22 yellowfin tuna to 90 pounds, mostly trolling the fish, at the canyons five or six days ago. Mahi mahi supposedly showed up at night on the outing. The last word heard about bluefin tuna was that the fish, sizeable ones 100 to 200 pounds, good catches, were trolled east of the Chicken Canyon.

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

After constant winds on Thursday and Friday, the party boat <b>Cock Robin</b> sailed on Saturday, “in … constant wind,” an e-mail from the boat said. Forecasts had called for diminishing winds. The boat sailed north and tight to the beach, ducking out of the westerly blow. A handful of false albacore, weakfish and blues were decked, but the weather “never allowed us to really get going,” the e-mail said. That was despite “serious jigging,” it said. Sunday’s trip departed in near perfect weather, and reports from boats that left the dock earlier sounded less than stellar to the north. Birds worked the waters far to the south, so the boat was headed there. Every time the vessel caught up to the birds, they moved. “How rude!” the e-mail said. But striped bass and blues were finally found, and they fed on weakfish, and all three species were caught. That was what the trip had been looking for. “This week’s weather will have conditions set for your fall bass,” the e-mail said. “Come get one!” The Cock Robin is sailing 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily.  

The party boat <b>Gambler</b> was supposed to fish offshore for tuna every day, and the weather kept canceling the trips, Capt. Bob said. But the vessel is supposed to steam to the grounds tonight, and a few spaces are available on upcoming tuna trips, and see the <a href=" http://www.gamblerfishing.net/offshoretrips.html" target="_blank">Gambler’s tuna schedule</a> online. Closer to shore, striped bass trips were supposed to begin November 1, but trips will sail for stripers 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. this Wednesday through Friday. Some stripers, blues and false albacore were around on the ocean.

Anglers aboard Sunday, after the days of winds began to calm, wanted to try jigging on the ocean, said Capt. Allen from <b>Reel Class Charters</b>. The trip first jigged weakfish and blues just north of Manasquan Inlet. Then the anglers ran north, stopping on birds working the waters here and there, hooking a few big blues. They moved to the Shrewsbury Rocks, and more big blues attacked, and big porgies began to hit the jigs. The anglers decided to try porgy fishing. Small porgies bit, and the trip moved to deeper waters, and large porgies, lots of 2- and 3-pounders, dinner-plate sized, were nailed. A bunch of out-of-season sea bass and some out-of-season fluke were landed and released. Allen got a call about striped bass popping up off Belmar and Spring Lake, and he sailed the boat there. Big glues, a big, 10-pound false albacore and one 25-pound striper were reeled in. Only the one striper was caught on the trip, and the anglers did decide to do some porgy fishing between jigging a while, but the fishing ended up good. A charter last week on Monday, Columbus Day, wanted to land as many species as possible. So the mixed-bag trip first fished at the Mudhole, and four cod 6 to 8 pounds and a bunch of sizeable ling were boated. The boat was moved closer to shore, and a few sea bass chomped and were released, but the fishing was a little slow, so the trip switched to jigging, and a few blues were fought. Next a healthy catch of porgies and one sizeable blackfish were banged out off Monmouth Beach and Sea Bright. The charter finished the day by jigging easily 50 weakfish, keeping no more than a limit of one per angler, in 45 minutes. Other fish were also hooked during the day, and the charter landed probably 10 species, mission accomplished, a good trip. Reel Class will keep running trips like these, and jigging for striped bass and blues will become more and more a focus in the near future, as the migration takes off. Not a lot of space remains for charters and open-boat trips, so book dates soon. Keep an eye on the <a href=" http://www.reelclassfishing.com/rates/open-boat-info" target="_blank">open-boat schedule</a> online.

<b>Bricktown</b>

A trip with friends sailed on the ocean Sunday with Capt. Rich from <b>Jersey Hooker Outfitters Bait & Tackle</b>, located in Bricktown, and <b>Jersey Hooker Charters</b>, sailing from Point Pleasant Beach’s Canyon River Club Marina, Rich said. That was after the fierce winds finally dropped out, and the trip began too late in the morning for a shot at striped bass. But the anglers aboard, who included Ken Jelnicki from Surf Rocket, tried for stripers an hour anyway, with no luck. Then they moved to 48-foot depths for the red-hot porgy fishing that’s been going down. The fishing was drop-and-reel for porgies, up to a 3-pounder, all caught on clams, and lots of out-of-season sea bass bit and were released. The anglers stuck with that angling until the tide screamed. Next they tried tog fishing at rock piles off Long Branch, “but (the anglers) did not have the patience,” Rich said. A 24-inch fluke and a 4-foot eel were also landed during the bottom fishing. The trip steamed back toward Manasquan Inlet, and found bluefish and striper marks on the nearby ocean in 55 feet. The readings were scattered, so the group trolled the area, but nothing bit. The blackfish bag limit increases to six of the tog on November 16 from the current limit of one, and call Jersey Hooker to reserve space on open-boat blackfish trips. At the tackle shop, a couple of customers talked about fishing for their one-tog limit already, dialing up good catches at the local reefs in the shallower waters to 50 feet. Ray Jones, Bricktown, found a ton of action on weakfish on the ocean just south of Manasquan Inlet early last week. Some customers scored big on stripers at the Point Pleasant Canal. Livelined eels were the ticket, and dawn and dusk were currently the times to hook the fish. Surf fishing was up and down, and slammer blues stormed the waters one day, and cocktail blues and some striped bass showed up the next. A few sharpies fished the Mantoloking surf, picking up resident striped bass daily. Jason Campbell, Mantoloking, traveled south to the surf at Holgate, “after hearing of all this commotion,” Rich said. Jason beached and released two 26- and 22-inch fluke. Catch the shop’s sale on Tica surf rods starting at $47.99 or wire line trolling rods beginning at $99.99. “And the list goes on!” Rich said.

<b>Barnegat</b>

Waters dropped to 60 degrees, and striped bass are on the feed! said Capt. Dave DeGennaro from the <b>Hi Flier</b> in an e-mail. Trips on the boat are livelining, jigging and trolling – take your pick – for stripers and blues every day. Forecasts are calling for west/northwest winds from today through Friday. “This is the week!” he said. “That means a flat ocean, low boat traffic, and a hot bite.” The stripers are 10 to 20 pounds, and the blues are 10 to 15 pounds. “Clams, live spots, bunker spoons, diamond jigs … we’re packing it all!” he said. Charters and open-boat trips are sailing.

<b>Surf City</b>

Surf fishing was slow on Long Beach Island the last couple of days, apparently because the strong west winds blew the bait away from shore, said Steve from <b>Surf City Bait & Tackle</b>. Only two stripers and two blues were entered in the LBI Surf Fishing Classic tournament, for example. But on the whole, though striper fishing was a slow pick in the suds, the angling was steadily improving this season. Plus boaters on the ocean mopped up on bass and blues, so surf anglers think that a switch in wind direction that pushes bait into the wash could kick off better angling from shore. Kingfish might’ve been gone from the surf by now. Steve tried kingfishing on Sunday, because the weather turned beautiful, and he hooked none, though he only fished a short time. Fresh bunker, fresh clams, fresh corn cob mullet and bloodworms are stocked.

<b>Beach Haven</b>

An overnight tuna trip to the canyons on the <b>June Bug</b> this weekend had to be postponed to this coming Friday to Saturday because of the weather, Capt. Lindsay said. Tuna were boated from Hudson Canyon to Carteret Canyon before the weather, and catches were spotty. Some vessels banged them up, and others brought back one or two. But tuna were out there.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

More striped bass seemed to be rounded up lately than Scott from <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b> had previously thought, he said in a report on the shop’s Web site. Not lots of the fish were angled up, but occasional ones were, and occasionally some gave up run-offs. The fish were reported taken on occasion around Little Egg Inlet, in the bay just inside the inlet toward Little Beach, nearby Grassy Channel in the bay, on the opposite side of the inlet in the bay toward Little Sheepshead Creek and Tucker’s Island, and farther back in the bay at the brick pile at Marshelder Channel. A number of anglers talked about missed fish that seemed a bit bigger than the fish that were around before, really bending the rods. One angler posted a report on the shop’s site that said he anchored at Little Egg Inlet after sunrise this morning among 10 to 15 boats. Not much was happening, and he saw one striper landed at 10 a.m. Then at 11 a.m. an angler on his boat hooked a striper on clam, and the bass wrapped the line around another vessel’s anchor line. Anglers on the other vessel landed the fish, and handed it over to the angler who hooked it. Another angler posted a report on the site that said a trip he ran at the inlet clammed a good-sized, fat, 38- or 39-inch striper at the white waters at the inlet on Sunday morning. Another striper was lost at the inlet on the trip when the line broke. The trip then fished in the bay until 3 p.m., hooking only skates and crabs. In other news, anglers still sometimes caught spots for bait in the back waters, but the spots became few and far between. A report from the shop on Thursday said Scott had found that waters had really cooled that day when he was out to catch grass shrimp to stock for bait at the store.

<b>Brigantine</b>

Capt. Andy from <b>Riptide Bait & Tackle</b> joined the bait supplier at catching bunker to stock fresh at the shop on Saturday on the ocean in 40-knot winds, a report on the store’s Web site said. “It was crazy,” Andy said, “but sometimes if you need the bait, you go to extremes to get it.” Seas were rough because of the winds, but they boated tight to the coast, sheltered by land from the westerlies. They grabbed 100 pounds of bunker to carry at the shop. Monster blues, weakfish, summer flounder and croakers also showed up in the nets. At the store, one customer said he beached a 36-nch striped bass from the surf on Friday night. Another said he hooked a huge striper from the shore that inhaled a bunker head, jumped three times and was lost. Another who boated the ocean caught big stripers among a large school of the fish that swam somewhat out of range of surf anglers. Plenty of stripers seemed to be out there, tumbling into the surf sometimes, willing to engulf a chunk of fresh bunker or clam. Maybe the big blues will also invade along the beaches, and that would “raise the excitement level,” the report said.

<b>Longport</b>

Capt. Mike from the <b>Stray Cat</b> was away traveling during the winds in the past days, he said. He shot down to Florida, considering whether he might sail the boat down in winter and charter from there. But he decided to stay in New Jersey the whole year, and will offer fishing the whole winter from the Garden State. Trips on the boat will resume Wednesday, and he’s trying to put together one of the vessel’s annual Cast and Blast Trips on Thursday, and anglers can call if interested. Cast and Blast Trips sail for a combo of fishing and gunning for sea ducks in one outing on the ocean. An open-boat trip on Friday will fish for whatever’s biting. Recent trips tackled porgies and blues, and migrating stripers and blues might be milling around now. A special, extended, 10-hour, open trip will run offshore for sea bass on at 6 a.m. Monday, November 1, when sea bass season opens, and call to reserve. Open trips will begin sailing for blackfish, a specialty on the boat, on November 16, when the bag limit is hiked to six of the tog from the current limit of one.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Winds blew, and not lots of fishing was possible, but trips sailed the ocean Saturday and Sunday, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Gibson’s Tackle</b>.  Lots of bird plays hit the waters, feeding on bait, and Joe heard second-hand that striped bass and blues blitzed toward Wildwood. Small blues and small weakfish were caught on the trips. Some of the weaks were keeper-sized. One of Jersey Cape’s annual weekend getaways to Montauk, fishing the migration of stripers, blues and false albacore, was slated for last weekend but was postponed until this coming weekend because of the weather. That will be the last weekend Joe offers the trips to the legendary fishing port this year. Afterward all his attention will turn to the migration of stripers and blues that should come on strong any time around Sea Isle City. The migration here traditionally starts during the second half of October, and November is usually prime time for the fall blitz. Charter dates for November are getting tight, so if anglers are interested in fishing the run, they better book now. See <a href="http://www.gibsonstackle.com/page6.html" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s Traveling Fisherman Web Page</a> for info about the trips to Montauk and other destinations. Weekend getaways to the Florida Keys are offered all winter. Keep up with Joe’s fishing, photos and videos on <a href=" http://captainjoehughes.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s blog</a>.

<b>Avalon</b>

Two reps from Penn jumped aboard an open-boat trip to Toms Canyon with <b>Over Under Adventures</b> during the window of great weather last week, a report on Over Under’s Web site said. They aimed to put to the test Penn’s new International 12 VS and VSX reels and Torque star-drag jigging reels. Put them to the test they did! the report said. Eight yellowfin tuna 60 to 75 pounds and a 200-plus-pound swordfish were bagged, and a couple of swords were released, and lots of sharks bit. Other tuna were broken off at the boat when extra pressure was put on the fish to keep them away from the sword. So that was a lot of fish, and the only drawback was that the sword bit at 3:45 a.m., and the tuna showed up thick under the boat at 4:30 a.m. The sword was fought 3 hours, and no tuna lines could be placed in the waters for 2 hours then, because the sword kept tangling lines. Many more tuna could’ve been landed. “But, oh well,” the report said, “no one was complaining when that thing came over the rail finally!” Over Under found the International 12’s “to be prefect, honestly … with plenty of smooth drag, and nice and light,” the report said. Over Under also enjoyed the Torque reels, a smaller, lighter, improved version of the Torque, with plenty of line capacity for the 50- and 80-pound braid that was on the spools. “In retrospect,” the report said, “we’re re-evaluating the need for 50’s and 70’s for the type of dead boat fishing we do as we move forward. Has the time come to go completely light tackle? Sort of seems so.” Charters and   <a href=" http://overundercharters.com/index.php?page=opendates" target="_blank">open-boat trips</a> are fishing offshore.

<b>Cape May</b>

The <b>Heavy Hitter</b> was kept docked since the storm toward the end of the week and the winds that followed, Capt. George said. He knew nobody who sailed during the weather, and he stopped at the boat on Sunday, and winds were still rocking the boat right in the slip. But the good news is that the season’s first striped bass charter is set for Saturday on the boat. Striper charters for the season should be booked now, and dates already began being filled a while ago. Anglers can also troll for blues on the ocean or fish for a one-fish bag limit of tog at the ocean wrecks, releasing the other tog. The tog limit will be increased to six of the blackfish on November 16. Charters can also do a combo of striper and tog fishing.

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