<b>Staten Island</b>

Tons of fish, maybe three bluefish for every striped bass, pounced on bunker chunks at Flynn’s Knoll all day long on Saturday on a trip with three anglers, said Capt. Chuck from <b>Angler Sportfishing Charters</b>. The fishing was the best all year on the vessel. “We just couldn’t do anything wrong,” he said. All the fish were chunked, and the trip didn’t even troll, he said. Waters were 54 to 55 degrees, depending on location. Fierce winds weathered out another charter on Sunday. Winds were also rough on Saturday’s charter but were manageable. An unidentified fish 5 or 6 feet long was seen slashing at bait in the waters. The fish seemed probably a shark, though a shark would be out of place in the area this time of year. Whole-day, half-day and nighttime charters are sailing.

Blackfishing was as good as it gets, said Capt. Anthony from <b>Barbara Anne Fishing Charters</b>, and trips sailed on every day the weather allowed. The tog weighed up to 9 pounds, and Barbara Anne began focusing on them. Four of the fish is the New York bag limit, compared with the current limit of one in New Jersey. Open-boat trips are running every Tuesday and Thursday and on other days when enough anglers want to go.

The anglers with <b>Outcast Charters</b> limited out on blackfish early on two trips Saturday and Sunday, catching and releasing more afterward, good fishing on both days, Capt. Joe said. The tog weighed up to 9 pounds on Saturday and 6 pounds on Sunday. The weather was breezy on Saturday morning but calmed down, and was windy all day on Sunday. But the fish were bailed. Regs allow four blackfish per angler to be bagged in New York, compared with the current limit of one in New Jersey.

<b>Bayonne</b>

Fishing on the East River and the Hudson River squashed seven keeper striped bass to 40 inches on eels on a charter Saturday, said Capt. Akira from <b>True World Tackle</b> and <b>True World Tackle Charters</b>. Not many stripers bit, but the seven were bagged. The weather was somewhat windy but not bad, though not many boats were on the waters, and Akira wondered why. Maybe because of the cold. The waters were full of boats two weeks ago. Another charter was supposed to eel for stripers today on the East River. Not much was heard about bottom fishing on the ocean, because the weather and seas were rough for that angling. Many anglers fished from the bulkheads and piers at places such as Hoboken and Liberty State Park. They banked stripers, not many, but did catch. Fresh bunker was the favorite bait, and the menhaden was scarce, difficult to obtain, and none was available at the shop on Sunday. But frozen bunker also drew strikes.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

With winds and a heave churning up the ocean, striped bass fishing was tough on Sunday on the party boat <b>Fishermen</b>, a report on the vessel’s Web site said. No fish bit until 11:45 a.m., until the anglers switched to fishing with clams, instead of jigs. Then the trip got lucky, scoring a couple of healthy shots at stripers, and a handful of customers limited out. The high hook landed three stripers, and many of the patrons reeled in none. The trip fished from the channels to Sea Bright, Scotland and out east. Today’s trip would try to head out, so long as winds weren’t blowing 40 knots. The Fishermen is sailing for striped bass 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily. However, Tuesday’s trip is chartered.

Trips were kept docked Thursday and Friday, because of the weather, and the vessel sailed on Saturday and Sunday, but bottom fishing was slow in a ground swell, said Capt. Tom from the party boat <b>Atlantic Star</b>. A few porgies and sea bass bit, and because angling for them was off, some of the anglers decided to practice on blackfish, angling up some, keeping no more than their limits of one apiece, releasing the rest. Crabs began being provided for blackfish bait recently, in addition to clams that were already supplied for bait for porgies and sea bass on the boat. Today’s trip would probably be cancelled because of winds, and Tom hoped the vessel returned to fishing on Tuesday. The fishing was a matter of waiting on the weather. The Atlantic Star is bottom fishing 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily for sea bass, porgies and blackfish.

<b>Highlands</b>

Fishing for striped bass was up one day, down the next, but was rewarding, even if challenging, because some sizeable stripers could be hauled in, said Capt. Bob from <b>Sandy Hook Fishing Adventures</b> in an e-mail. The fish were jigged, clammed, eeled or trolled, depending on the day and conditions, or weather, time of day, tides and so on. Anglers should prepare with suitable clothing and footwear at this time of year. Charters and open-boat trips are fishing both day and night, and some good dates remain before Bob and crew “pull out in early December,” he said. “Don’t miss the action!”

Striped bass to 18 or 20 pounds, fairly good catches, were clammed and eeled with <b>Fisher Price Charters</b> this weekend, Capt. Derek said. The anglers fished along the channels and at the mouth of the bay, but a big spread of the fish filled different waters. Charters are running, and the next open-boat trips will sail for stripers on Friday and Saturday. Call to jump on the open trips or to be kept informed about future ones. Reservations are being booked for striper charters through the month, and trips will be able to concentrate on blackfish once the bag limit is hiked up to six of the tog on November 16, from the current limit of one. In other news, friends who surf fished found the angling tough in the ground swell.

Bill Powers and crew from Philadelphia walloped more than 30 striped bass, including 13 keepers to 23 or 24 pounds, and several blues near Sandy Hook on a trip Saturday, said Capt. Brian from <b>Jersey Devil Charters</b>. That was a great catch, and Rich Wolfe from Pennington and his father Rick from Kansas City met windy weather that made fishing difficult on a trip Sunday. Nonetheless, they landed 10 or 11 stripers, including six keepers to 25 or 26 pounds, a decent catch, and no bluefish near Sandy Hook. Both trips trolled the fish on umbrella rigs with tubes. Openings remain for striper charters, including this weekend, and the angling is good. Combo striper/blackfish trips will begin when the blackfish bag limit is increased to six on November 16 from the current limit of one. Nothing was heard about bluefin tuna fishing, and practically nobody probably sailed for them in the winds. But a friend who mates on a party boat saw big bluefins pushing waters close to shore from the head boat. Jersey Devil fishes for bluefins on charters and open-boat trips, when enough anglers want to join the open trips. Call if interested in the open trips, because the more who are interested, the easier to schedule.

<b>Neptune</b>

Twenty-three striped bass were crushed on a trip Friday with <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b>, Capt. Ralph said. Fishing was slower on a trip Saturday, and about a half-dozen keepers and a few blues were landed. One space was probably going to be available for an individual-reservation trip to the offshore wrecks on Thursday, Veteran’s Day, for cod, pollock and hake. The trip was rescheduled to that day after being weathered out last week, and some of the anglers couldn’t make the new date, so space opened up. The tog bag limit will be increased to six next week on Tuesday, November 16, from the current limit of one. Openings are available on  individual-reservation trips for blackfish on that day and on Sunday, November 21, and Friday, November 26.

<b>Belmar</b>

Plenty of striped bass, fish to 34 inches, none of size, but good catches, were jigged Friday and Saturday on the <b>Nan Sea J</b>, Capt. Tom said. Only a few blues hit, and Saturday’s trip had to run all the way north to the channels, but once the trip arrived, striper fishing was on. The ocean held a large swell from the southeast during the days, but seas were fine otherwise. The anglers also bottom fished 1 or 1 ½ hours on Friday, wrestling with lots of blackfish, limiting out on one apiece, releasing more.

<b>Brielle</b>

On the <b>Big Kid</b> charters were cancelled because of weather Friday through today, Capt. Ken said. But the Manhattan Bagel charter from South Plainfield bottom fished on Thursday, pumping in sea bass to 4 pounds, a limit of blackfish to 6 pounds for the whole boat, and porgies. Charters are also striped bass fishing, and the angling seemed to be picking up, and should be good, especially because of the cool weather and winds. The run seems like striper fishing will last into December, and some openings are available then. Blackfish charters will also sail then, kicking off on November 16, when the bag limit is raised to six of the tog from the current limit of one.

Surf fishing for striped bass hit the wall from Point Pleasant to Seaside in the past days, said Dave from <b>The Reel Seat</b>. Lots of striped bass, no blues, were pummeled on metal. Seas were rough for boating the ocean for the fish, but boaters picked at stripers and nailed lots of blues on the waters early last week. The angling from boats was only a pick, period, toward the end of the week. Seas were too nasty for bottom fishing on the ocean the last few days. But a Point Pleasant Beach party boat racked up lots of sea bass on a bottom trip with only a few anglers aboard on Saturday. One customer tried for blackfish on a private boat on Sunday, but the ocean was too rough. The Point Pleasant Canal turned out blackfish and, at night, striped bass. Bluefin tuna were battled, and one customer hooked the fish 12 miles from shore on Saturday. Bluefins lately were sometimes found at Manasquan Ridge and between there and the Mudhole. One here, another there, seemed to be tackled at Sea Girt Reef. Plus the fish continued to be located at the Atlantic Princess wreck. Trolling and fishing with Butterfly Jigs and surface plugs axed the bluefins. Farther from shore, party boats fished for yellowfin tuna at the canyons during the break in the weather in the middle of last week, and the angling was slow. On the next day a Barnegat Light party boat headed out for the tuna and caught. Coming up, The Reel Seat’s 2nd annual free surf striper tournament will take place on Thanksgiving weekend from 12:01 a.m. Friday, November 26, to 2 p.m. Sunday, November 28. Dave was yet to decide on prizes but the prizes will be good, he said. Again, the event is free, and the only requirements are that the fish must be caught in the surf and weighed at the shop.

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

Though blues and striped bass were wrestled aboard Saturday and Sunday, and conditions were prime, the angling was a struggle, an e-mail from the party boat <b>Cock Robin</b> said. Sunday’s fishing was better than Saturday’s. The blues on the ocean trips were gorged with sand eels. “This is a good thing,” the e-mail said. On Sunday the boat ran so far south that “we almost had to clear U.S. Customs to continue fishing,” it joked. The Cock Robin is sailing 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily except 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesdays. On Thanksgiving a trip will run 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.

A mini nor’easter blew on Thursday, and Friday brought a big heave on the ocean, and Saturday’s weather was only okay, and north-northeast winds caused nasty seas again on Sunday, Capt. Allen from <b>Reel Class Charters</b> said in a report on the boat’s Web site. Only a charter on Saturday was able to sail, though charters were booked for Thursday through Sunday. A combined charter, fishing with two groups, fished on Saturday. The fishing was slow in a ground swell on the ocean, and two 30-inch striped bass were bagged. The anglers broke the inlet at 7 a.m., meeting the big heave from the southeast, and incredibly dirty waters. The anglers, fishing a bit to the south, tried jigging farther from shore with no luck. Then they tried casting artificials close to the beach -- where surf anglers pulled stripers -- with the bow pointed into the heave, and nothing bit.  The trip ran farther south to Island Beach State Park, fishing in close, out in the deep and on structure, with no results. At noon winds turned a little, coming from the north-northeast, instead of the previous north, and increased to 15 to 20 knots. That created a 4- to 6-foot chop, so the trip bit the bullet, and decided to troll, motoring north. The first striper was decked after 10 minutes, and was the angler’s first-ever. The second was boated afterward, and the trip continued north, and nothing bit, and the anglers called it a day. The anglers toughed it out all day, and were a blast to have aboard, Allen said. Charters and open-boat trips are sailing, and see <a href=" http://www.reelclassfishing.com/rates/open-boat-info" target="_blank">Reel Class’s open-boat schedule</a> online for upcoming open-trip dates.

<b>Bricktown</b>

Striped bass blitzed the surf Friday evening, Saturday morning and evening and Sunday morning from Bay Head to Mantoloking, said 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. No news was heard about the angling afterward. The bass, lots of them, fish from 25 inches to 42 inches, the biggest he heard about, mainly jumped on teaser rigs with Ava jigs. Rich heard about the jigs with yellow tails working best one time, and black, white or no tails working other times, or all different tails worked. But casting to the waters behind the breaker was key. If anglers weren’t hooked up in the first five cranks of the reel, they should’ve reeled in quickly and cast again. Striper fishing from boats on the ocean sounded okay lately, but not a lot was heard since the swell began on Friday. The heave also made news scarce about bottom fishing. Blackfish and stripers were taken at the Point Pleasant Canal, and anglers didn’t cream them, but they caught. Incoming tides were the time, and the bite turned off once the tides switched.

<b>Barnegat Light</b>

A 56-pound striped bass held first place in the Long Beach Island Surf Fishing Classic, and stripers entered through late last week included four in the 40-pound class, said Bob Misak in the report on <b>Barnegat Light Bait & Tackle</b>’s Web site. Stripers entered in the event, running until early December, also included 12 in the 30-pound range and scores that broke 20 pounds. A bunch of slammer blues were also entered in the contest. The island’s north end surf was lit up with striper catches last week, and blues disappeared from the wash there but remained north of Barnegat Inlet, for some reason. More of the gators should push through before the fish depart for the season. Bob and friends saw heavy action in the surf north of 14th Street on a trip one sunny morning. Anglers there that a.m. beached a 33-pound striper and a 22-pounder, and Bob managed a 17-pounder.  Another of Bob’s friends nailed a 35-pound striper in Barnegat Inlet on a livelined herring. “What a job they must’ve had getting that cow over the rail,” Bob said. “I’ve netted big fish over there myself a few times, and it tests your prowess,” he said. Blackfish hovered along the end of the inlet jetty. Some of the tog also gathered along the condo docks, but the fish at the jetty were bigger. Boaters bagged 30- to 34-inch stripers around the inlet on livelined spots and eels. They sometimes nailed 30- to 40-pounders along the sod banks on Barnegat Bay at night on the live bait.

<b>Barnegat</b>

The ocean and Barnegat Inlet were a mess toward the end of the week, said Capt. Dave DeGennaro from the <b>Hi Flier</b> in an e-mail. “We tried to get out (on Friday) and bailed out after seeing the business end of 10-foot swells in the inlet,” he said. But striped bass were on a hot bite in Barnegat Bay, so there was no problem. The trip stayed in the bay, hammering the 24- to 34-inchers on livelined spots at the convergence of Oyster Creek and Double Creek channels. The fish lately burned drags on 15-pound conventional rods, hitting hard in the brisk, 53-degree waters. Anglers on board drift the spots on a 2/0 or 3/0 hook through both lips. The hook is tied to a 3-foot length of 20-pound fluorocarbon leader with a 2-ounce egg sinker. Trips will fish both the ocean and the bay, but with the size of the stripers in the bay, “and the zero bluefish factor,” Dave said, “it’s hard not to give the nod to the bay.” Still, trips will be ready to fish either waters in every way: with live spots, clams, diamond jigs, umbrella rigs or bunker spoons. “You tell me how you want to catch them, or I’ll make a recommendation,” he said. Charters and open-boat trips are fishing daily on the bay, ocean or a combo of both, whichever offers the best chance of catching. Check out a <a href=" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2095FmjG2ZE" target="_blank">video of the Barnegat Bay striper fishing</a>.

<b>Tuckerton</b>

Six striped bass to 38 inches were clammed on the bay on Sunday with <b>Legal Limit Charters</b>, Capt. T.J. said. Anglers on deck are sailing for stripers on charters and <a href=" http://www.legallimitcharters.com/c-11-open-boat.aspx" target="_blank">open-boat trips/shared charters</a>. Both types of trips will fish for tog once the bag limit is amped up to six on November 16 from the current limit of one. T.J.’s other boat is fishing for stripers from Cape May, and see the report on those trips under that port below.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

Howling winds kept boaters tied to the docks today, and winds also honked on Sunday, but boaters fished for striped bass at the froth in Little Egg Inlet that day, and caught, said the report on <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>’s Web site. The high-hook boat knocked down three, and several vessels totaled one. Lots of stripers were weighed in on Saturday. A 30-pounder and a 29-ounder were the biggest, and a bunch measured 32 inches. Surf anglers scored no stripers at Graveling Point and Pebble Beach at the confluence of Great Bay and the Mullica River. That was strange, because stripers were boated at the inlet and on the river, and the fish had to swim past the point to reach the river. But the best action from the shore in the last two years happened 10 days before Thanksgiving, so the best seemed yet to come. Bunches of bass were bombed on Thursday and Friday, despite rough weather. Fresh clams, the favorite bait at the inlet,  and fresh bunker are currently scarce, but the shop lucked out with a supply of fresh, shucked clams harvested on Sunday, loading up with as many as the supplier would sell to the store. The clams are carefully stored on ice to last through Saturday, because winds will probably keep the clam boats from sailing until Friday, “when the nor’easter starts!” the report said. The shop had no hope to stock fresh bunker.

<b>Brigantine</b>

A 29-pound 3-ounce striped bass, checked in this morning, was the first striper weighed in from the surf today at <b>Riptide Bait & Tackle</b>, a report on the shop’s Web site said. The fish engulfed a chunk of fresh bunker, and plenty of the bait was currently stocked. More than 60 stripers were weighed in from the suds this weekend at the shop. A striper just shy of 28 pounds was the biggest brought in last week through Sunday. That fish won the angler, Rob Caruso, a 13-foot Breakaway HDX surf rod, worth $290, that  Phil Fors from Rolling Tackle Box donated to the angler with the biggest entered from November 1 to 7 in the shop’s season-long striper derby. Winds blew this morning but from the west, so the surf was calm. Winds were predicted to blow steady in the next days, “but as long as the fish are out there, you have to take advantage when you can,” the report said. The 5th annual Riptide Striped Bass Derby is under way, lasting until the end of the year, and Steve DiGiacomo was in the lead with a 46-1/2-pound 51-incher. Entrants win cash awards for the biggest stripers caught from the surf along Brigantine’s front beach. First place wins $750, and 2nd cops $400, and 3rd earns $150. The entrant with the biggest bass each month wins $25. The rest of the proceeds are donated to charity, and the event donated more than $13,000 to charity since the tournament began, Andy said. The entry fee for the tournament is $20, and entry must be accompanied by a Brigantine beach buggy permit. That way all entrants get to drive the beach to fish.

<b>Longport</b>

A few sea bass and blackfish were reeled aboard the <b>Stray Cat</b> on Sunday, and the bottom fishing was slow in a big ground swell, Capt. Mike said. A trip was cancelled on Saturday because forecasts called for better weather on Sunday, but forecasts turned out wrong. One of the annual Cast and Blast Trips, ocean outings that hunt ducks and fish in the same day, was weathered out today, and Mike will try to reschedule for Tuesday, if the weather allows. Contact him if interested in the trips on either a charter or open-boat basis. The weather is supposed to settle at least by Thursday, and an open trip will fish the offshore wrecks for sea bass and cod that day if so. Open trips might also fish for them on Saturday and Sunday. No migrating striped bass arrived off the local coast so far, and Mike looked for them.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

A trip with Dave White went 18 for 30 on striped bass, an awesome catch, on the back bay on Friday, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Gibson’s Tackle</b>. Skitter Pop popper lures were tossed at first, but the fish failed to attack them wholeheartedly. After probably 10 of the bass short-struck and were missed on the poppers, Electric Chicken Bass Assassins, soft-plastic lures, were tied on. Then the 24- to 27-inchers, all released, were whaled. Four or five were caught in a row a couple of times, and the fish were hooked every other cast for an hour. On Saturday Mike Roth on a trip fly-rodded and released three stripers on the back bay on chartreuse and white Clouser Minnows on a sinking line. On Sunday Harry Franks and friends had planned to target bigger stripers on Delaware Bay with fresh bunker chunks, shooting for quality instead of quantity. But unexpected winds prevented the boat from sailing to Delaware Bay. They fished on the back bay instead with the bunker, but the fishing failed to pan out, and no stripers showed up. The tides were the same as on the previous trips, but the stripers just weren’t there. Not a lot was happening with stripers on the ocean so far, as far as Joe knew. But the migration of stripers and blues should barrel down the coast any time. Keep up with Joe’s fishing, photos and videos on <a href=" http://captainjoehughes.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s blog</a>.

<b>Cape May</b>

Four striped bass to 20 pounds were bagged, and a few were missed, on a trip Saturday on the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> with Joe Schwartz and his crew of Philadelphia painters, Capt. George said. They mostly bunker chunked on Delaware Bay. Another striper trip was weathered out on Sunday because of winds, and boats that attempted to fish that day mostly turned back around, except some larger vessels. The weather was also rough in the morning on Saturday’s trip, until calming when the tide changed. A few stripers, not many, began to bite in the Cape May Rips. Fishing for stripers along the ocean front usually begins in the third week of the month, lasting into December, if the fish swim close enough to shore on the migration south. The weather was forecast to be tough today through at least Tuesday. Anglers might be able to sail on Wednesday.

More and more striped bass began biting at the Cape May Rips, though the fishing was nothing hot and heavy, said Capt. Bob from the <b>Down Deep</b>. Anglers aboard livelined eels and spots to connect. Trips on the boat also dunked chunks of bunker for stripers on Delaware Bay. Those catches included a 48-pound 50-incher, one of four sizeable bass clobbered on Stan Konski’s charter on Tuesday. Kurt Rosenweig’s charter waxed stripers to 28 pounds on Friday. A striper trip was skunked on Saturday, and more of the outings were weathered out on Sunday and today. Bob expects the weather to allow striper trips to sail every day this week starting on Tuesday. A few openings remain for striper charters.

The Cape May Rips began to put up a few striped bass for <b>Legal Limit Charters</b>, and none was big, and anglers had to fish hard to catch them, but the bass were there, Capt. T.J. said. His trips also bagged stripers, larger fish to 30 pounds, on Delaware Bay. So both places held the fish. None of the Cape May fleet sailed in winds on Sunday, and often winds blew and seas became rough lately. T.J.’s other boat, sailing from Tuckerton, ran a trip that clammed six keeper stripers to 38 inches on the bay near Little Egg Inlet on Sunday. Shared charters/open-boat trips are fishing from Tuckerton but are booked from Cape May in the near future.

Winds kept blowing, forcing striped bass trips to be cancelled this season, including Saturday, Sunday and today, said Capt. Craig from <b>Fish Tale Charters</b>. More of the trips are booked for this coming weekend. The trips mostly fish at the Cape May Rips with eels, bucktails or spots. Eels and bucktails are provided, and the anglers provide the spots, though Craig can pick them up. Sailing with the variety of baits can be a good idea. Stripers were sometimes boated at the rips when winds weren’t terrible during a couple of days last week. The fishing wasn’t red hot, but some were landed. Tons of stripers still seemed to hold up north. Sometimes when stripers swim the ocean front, trips with Fish Tale will also chase them there, usually jigging with bucktails or metal, but sometimes fishing with eels or spots.

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