<b>Staten Island</b>

With <b>Angler Sportfishing Charters</b> an evening trip on Saturday began by trolling on Raritan Bay, Capt. Chuck said. Lots of bluefish pounded the trolling spread. When night fell, the anglers began fishing with bunker chunks, creaming a bunch more blues at a couple of spots on the bay. The anglers had a good time, Chuck said. Was lots of action with the 4- to 6-pounders. No striped bass showed up, but Chuck thinks stripers should put up great angling in a week to 10 days. Water temps dropped a little. Angler Sportfishing is also bottom fishing for sea bass and other species.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

After a better day of fluking on Saturday on the party boat <b>Atlantic Star</b>, the fishing somewhat fell apart on Sunday, and waters became dirty in the ongoing swell from the hurricane, Capt. Tom said. Trips fished on the ocean, and there was a ground swell, and if anglers looked at the surf, they’d think seas were terrible. But seas beyond the surf were only a swell. On Saturday some better-sized fluke were bagged, including a 7-pound pool winner on the morning trip, a 6-pound pool winner on the afternoon trip, and some 4-pounders on that outing. The fishing turned decent then. Part of Sunday morning’s trip fished the bay, after no drift developed on the ocean, and some shorts and a couple of keepers were reeled up from the bay. Fluking lately was day to day, hit or miss, with no set pattern. Currently anglers waited to see what happened with the fishing, now that the hurricane passed.  The boat received a Fluke Research Set Aside Permit that’s allowing trips to fish for the summer flounder during the currently closed season for the fish. The Atlantic Star is fishing for fluke on two trips daily 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

<b>Highlands</b>

The boat was kept docked this weekend, through forecasts turned out wrong, said Capt. Derek from <b>Fisher Price Charters</b>. Seas weren’t so bad, were supposed to be lots worse. The couple of boaters he talked with said bottom fishing churned out good fishing for sea bass and porgies. Bluefish were belted at the Shrewsbury Rocks and the Mudhole. Charters are sailing for bottom fish and blues with Fisher Price, and open-boat trips will run for bottom fish Friday and Sunday. An open trip on Saturday evening will fish for striped bass, probably drifting worms. Derek heard about a few stripers taken at night. Fisher Price goes all out for stripers once the fall migration begins, sailing on most trips for them until the run departs, fishing with jigs, on the troll, clams or whatever it takes. But trips will also fish for tog starting November 16, when the bag limit increases to six of the blackfish from the current limit of one. Fisher Price is currently fishing for bluefin tuna on charters and open-boat trips, but nobody apparently sailed for them in the seas.

<b>Neptune</b>

Fishing was a wash with <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b> because of forecasts through the weekend, though seas turned out fishable, Capt. Ralph said. But an individual-reservation trip to the offshore wrecks for cod, pollock and ling was postponed today because of forecasts, and that was probably a good idea. The trip will instead sail this coming Monday, and two spots became available. Space is open on the next two individual-reservations trips that are bottom fishing inshore every Wednesday for sea bass, ling, porgies and blackfish. Clams and green crabs will be supplied for bait, and kids under 12 sail free, limited to two per adult. Blues, false albacore, bonito and striped bass bit, and fall fishing was under way. Canyon fishing remained good, and a 260-pound bigeye tuna was boated on a trip to Hudson Canyon last week with Last Lady, covered in the last report. Bluefin tuna could be jigged, trolled or baited 50 miles from shore.

<b>Belmar</b>

Lots of false albacore, including 8- to 10-pounders, were trolled around the Mudhole like at the Oil Wreck and the Monster Ledge on Wednesday with the Anthony Mills/John Frankel charter, said Capt. Eric from <b>On a Mission Fishing Adventures</b>. The fish smacked Japanese feathers, and blue and white worked best, Clark spoons and ballyhoos on Sea Witches. Waters were 70 to 72 degrees, and seas were a little dicey in the morning, then flattened out. Eric, who also guides surf fishing trips, hooked nothing from the surf on a trip Friday evening at Sea Girt. Striped bass were around, busting on small, unidentified bait, but refused to bite a hook. His partner from On a Mission put together a good catch of probably seven or eight stripers in the surf on Saturday morning on Bomber plugs.  Eric also guides on the Delaware River, and a trip he ran there Friday afternoon waxed 15 or 16 smallies, a solid catch, some of them healthy sized, 16 inches, at Bull’s Island and Frenchtown on popper lures and Yozuri Pins Minnows. The smallie fishing was best lately in the evenings and mornings. The river ran low, and no rains raised the level from summer yet, but the fishing produced. Eric is waiting for bluefin tuna to swim closer to shore like they sometimes do this season, and his charters fish for them in 20 fathoms. Seas were too rough to go after them in the past days, but forecasts looked like seas would calm by Wednesday.
 
<b>Brielle</b>

Sea bass fishing on the ocean wasn’t bad, and anglers who fished for them could put together a catch of them, porgies, a one-blackfish per angler bag limit, maybe a few ling and some triggerfish, said Dave from <b>The Reel Seat</b>. False albacore and bonito were trolled near the ocean beaches and farther from shore at the lumps. Sometimes the albies ran through the surf, and a few striped bass were landed in the surf on plugs and teasers. Sometimes bluefish blitzed the surf, but not consistently. Right place, right time. No stripers were really hooked from boats on the ocean. Stripers were pulled from the Point Pleasant Canal at night on soft-plastic lures or bucktails. Blackfish were angled from the canal. Sometimes albies or blues shot up Manasquan Inlet. A few who sailed for bluefin tuna caught the fish last week before forecasts for rough seas kept them docked. Canyon fishing farther offshore for yellowfin tuna began to improve a little before the boats probably stayed in port the last days.

Capt. Ken and crew from the <b>Big Kid</b> were lying low, watching the swells roll in, he said. No trips sailed in the conditions, and the next charters are slated to fish Thursday for blues on the ocean and to compete in the Tuna Stakes tournament Saturday and Sunday. The boat is also sea bass fishing, and reservations are being taken for blackfish trips that will launch on November 16, when the bag limit jumps to six of the tog from the current limit of one. Spaces are filling quickly, and the angling is one of the favorites on the boat.

<b>Point Pleasant</b>

Bluefishing was less “stellar” during the weekend than during the previous weekdays on the party boat <b>Cock Robin</b>, an e-mail from the boat said. But all the anglers caught, “and you knew you went fishing!” it said. False albacore raced through the chunk slick all weekend, and the crew on Sunday had to stop chunking, because albies ate every chunk. Another mahi mahi, one of a number gaffed on the trips this season, was decked. No trip sailed today because of winds, but the boat was expected to resume sailing Tuesday. A special, open-boat false albacore and bonito trip will fish 6 a.m. Wednesday. Fifteen anglers are needed to sail, and if fewer show up by 6 a.m., the trip will depart at 7:30 a.m. A reservations-required false albacore and bonito trip, limited to 20 anglers, will run next week on Wednesday. Otherwise the Cock Robin is bluefishing 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily.

A charter on the <b>Canyon Runner</b> fished on a canyon overnighter Saturday to Sunday, the report on the boat’s Web site said. The anglers departed early to fish for bluefin tuna closer to shore, just east of the Virginia wreck, on the way out. Arriving at the bluefin grounds at 6 a.m., they went 5 for 8 on the tuna in 3 hours. Then they motored to the tip of Hudson Canyon, putting out the trolling spread. Tuna fishing was uneventful on the troll, but nine sizeable mahi mahi to 30 pounds were trolled. “It was the night bite that has us very excited,” the report said. Reports from the party boats said some of the trips scored more than 20 bites on Friday night, and one totaled two dozen yellowfin tuna. The action continued on this trip. The fishing began slowly but steadily picked up, and 16 big yellowfins were hooked, and 10 were landed, and two longfin tuna were also bagged. Up on the troll in the morning, the charter nailed a blue marlin, brought to boat side and released after a 1-1/2-hour battle. That was Canyon Runner’s eighth blue this season. The anglers reeled in three tilefish to finish the trip. Charters and open-boat trips are fishing offshore.

A trip for bluefish and false albacore landed 20 albies, if not a few more, lost just as many and battled a bunch of blues on the ocean on Saturday with <b>Reel Class Charters</b>, Capt. Allen said in the report on the boat’s Web site. At one point one or two albies were hooked the rest of the trip, and a good flurry of action kicked in toward the end, and the anglers were practically “hand feeding” the fish with hooked spearing and Tsunami soft-plastic lures on the light spinning rods. Seas were sloppy when the trip arrived on the ocean, with a swell with a 4-foot chop on top. But the trip was able to anchor and chum with spearing. A first stop brought up big, gator bluefish that the anglers picked away at. But one fish was hooked that seemed bigger than an albie or a skipjack, circling the angler around the boat, nearly spooling the reel twice, before throwing the hook. Color was seen, and Allen’s only guess was that the fish was a small bluefin tuna. A second stop produced the action with albies that was just described. A trip Sunday also sailed for bluefish and “speedsters” like albies to the same place. Only a long-period swell was met on this trip, and the anglers mostly fought a load of big, gator blues. Some wild periods went down, when every rod was hooked up. No signs of albies showed up, but one albie was wrestled and almost reeled to the boat before it spit the hook. “Overall, it was another terrific day,” Allen said. One of the anglers fished with a trout rod for a blast with the voracious blues. Another landed 30 blues on a noodle rod. The other three anglers “put their share in the boat,” Allen said. A dozen blues were kept, and the rest were let go. Charters are sailing, and check <a href="http://www.reelclassfishing.com/rates/open-boat-info" target="_blank">Reel Class’s open-boat schedule</a> online. Bottom-fishing trips are also on tap, and fall striped bass and blackfish trips are being booked.

<b>Bricktown</b>

Blackfish gave up plenty of action at the Point Pleasant Canal, said Capt. Rich from <b>Jersey Hooker Outfitters Bait & Tackle</b>, located in Bricktown, and <b>Jersey Hooker Charters</b>, sailing from Point Pleasant’s Canyon River Club. Green crabs and high tides were dominant producers, and many customers bagged keepers. Keeper striped bass began to be eeled at the canal at night. Kingfish were plucked from nearby Dale’s Point on Barnegat Bay, and kings were also hung around the canal. Blowfish were mixed in with the kings at Dale’s. Surf fishers picked away at striped bass before the swell in the past days from Hurricane Igor offshore. Soft-plastic lures usually connected before first light. The fish were smaller, juvenile bass yet to migrate, and the migration of larger bass will probably take time to begin. Bluefish sometimes hit the surf, but not too often, another indication that the fall migration of fish was probably a ways off. Bottom fishers lit up sea bass, porgies and blackfish fairly well. Crabbing remained good, probably before crabbing drops off for the season soon.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

Rough seas limited options for boaters, but ones who fished the bay rounded up spots to keep in pens for bait for fall striped bass fishing, said the report on <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>’s Web site. Blowfish and small blues were collected on the bay. Aggressive anglers anchored right off the banks to have a ball catching tog. But they had to be exactly over the ledges, and the fish mostly bit during slow waters around slack tides. White perch anglers fared decent on catches up the creeks around the mouth of the Mullica River. Look for the holes, usually along the bends, at Ballanger and Nacote creeks. Boodworms worked best, and Fishbites worked well when the perch fed aggressively. But when they were picky, bloods saved the day. Keeping the baits away from baby sea bass was the most difficult part of the fishing, besides finding the perch. Crabbing was on up the Mullica, and some crabbers nabbed up to 7-inchers. “Sweet!” the report said.

<b>Longport</b>

On the <b>Stray Cat</b> an open-boat trip on Friday and a charter on Saturday crushed big croakers and sizeable sea bass at wrecks 17 miles from shore, Capt. Mike said. The fishing’s been gangbusters ever since the season’s storms turned over the waters, making them clear. Double-headers of the croakers came up, and the sea bassing was terrific. The sea bass included 2- and 3-pounders, and the anglers probably averaged 8 to 12 keepers apiece. Some wrecks held no sea bass, but others were covered with them. Seas were fine in a swell, and the ocean was 68 to 69 degrees on the fishing grounds. Seas were hairy at the inlet, and a trip was cancelled Sunday because of the inlet. That outing was supposed to fish offshore for big game, and that was the final offshore trip of the year on the Stray Cat. Speaking of big game, the mate hooked a couple of small mahi mahi on Friday’s trip. Open-boat trips are running Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, fishing for sea bass and croakers, and space is available this Wednesday and Sunday and the following Wednesday and Sunday. Annual Cast and Blast Trips, charters that fish for striped bass, blues and blackfish and gun for ducks in the same outing, will begin in three weeks. Get four or five friends together, and come on down, Mike said.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Ren Capisano Sr. and Jr. cast popper lures and soft-plastic lures on the back bay to hang five blues and a throwback striped bass on a trip Sunday, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Gibson’s Tackle</b>. The fish hit an even mix of the poppers and plastics. Tons of bait filled the bay, and the waters were warm, were usually cooler now. The fishing should bust wide open as soon as waters cool. Jersey Cape specializes in popper fishing with lures and flies for stripers on the bay this time of year, and September is usually a stand-out month. The fish are hooked along the shallows while Joe poles his flats boat, and high tides at dusk are ideal. Special, after-work trips from 4 to 9 p.m. are ideal. Joe took a trip on the ocean Sunday with his wife, and they landed blues and amberjacks on soft-plastic lures and Clouser flies on sinking lines. Seas were a big swell, and ocean temperatures hadn’t changed much from the offshore hurricane that caused the swell. Lots of bait from big bunker to small spearing filled the ocean, and the waters were alive. Marie Soto on a trip on the ocean Saturday fought blues and amberjacks to 5 pounds on soft plastics. The angling was better that day than on Sunday, and the duration of the swell seemed to affect the fish. The fishing lately was consistent but was up and down for no apparent reason. On some days the number of fish that bit was average, and on others great. Joe’s charters usually begin to fish for the migration of stripers and blues on the ocean around the last two weeks of October. Joe was unsure whether he’ll fish offshore for big game anymore this season, not a matter of whether the fish like mahi mahi and a few tuna were there, because they were, but a matter of scheduling. Joe around the last week of September and first week of October will run annual charters to Montauk to fish for stripers, blues and false albacore, usually epic fishing. In winter he’ll offer annual weekend trips to the Florida Keys. See <a href="http://www.gibsonstackle.com/page6.html" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s Traveling Fisherman Web Page</a>. 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>

Weather forecasts kept most trips docked in the past week, though the weather often turned out better than predicted, said Capt. Bob from  the <b>Down Deep</b>. But Mark Hargeta’s charter trolled blues to 5 pounds, fish that were growing bigger, at 5-Fathom Bank. Andrew Russell’s party also trolled the blues at the bank. Steve McMann’s trip shark fished, releasing a brown shark along the 20-fathom line. The Down Deep is also fishing for sea bass at the ocean reefs and wrecks and is running offshore for yellowfin and longfin tuna that are holding at the canyons. Fall striped bass charters are being booked, and Bob does have dates left for October and November.

A trip Sunday with mother and daughter Cathy and Marian Nardone and Brittany, Jessie and Tom had planned to troll for blues at 5-Fathom Bank, said Capt. George from the <b>Heavy Hitter</b>. But a huge swell, including 10-footers, sometimes with breakers on top, was seen at the bank, because of the offshore hurricane, canceling those plans. Seas surrounding the bank held only a 2- to 3-foot swell that was fine for fishing. So the anglers fished at a couple of wrecks instead, angling up mostly triggerfish and bar jacks, and some sea bass and a few blues. The first wreck held mostly small sea bass. But the second wreck, known for attracting triggerfish, turned out a load of triggers and bar jacks, some sea bass and the blues. The trip also looked for croakers that on the previous day swam thick at Wildwood Reef. But croaker catches ended up scarce there Sunday, surprisingly. The Heavy Hitter is fishing for all these species, and is also running offshore for tuna and big game, and call if interested. Fall striped bass trips are being booked, and weekends are going. One or two Saturdays are left, and more Sundays remain.

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