<b>Staten Island</b>

Fluke, very good catches, were netted with <b>Barbara Anne Fishing Charters</b>, Capt. Anthony said. On some days trips bounced bucktails for them, and on others dragged bait. Sometimes the trips fished along Ambrose Channel, and other times fluked on the ocean. Don’t have enough anglers for a charter? Call Anthony anyway, because he can usually fit individuals or small groups on a charter or open-boat trip.

<b>Keyport</b>

Anglers aboard walloped 12 keeper fluke to 23 inches, including multiple 5-pounders, Sunday on Raritan Bay with <b>Papa’s Angels Charters</b>, Capt. Joe said. The fluke catch was the best on the boat so far, and the anglers – Joe and Chris Spallina, Phil Deabaecke and friend Mike – were good, Capt. Joe said, and winds and the drift were perfect. All the fish, except one, were bucktailed, and throwbacks were let go, action all day, a great trip, Capt. Joe said. Ben Hammond’s trip, with friends Lee, Kyle, Matt and James, on Saturday iced seven keeper fluke to 20 inches, letting go shorts, good action, on the bay in the same area, on spearing and mackerel. Open-boat trips are fishing for fluke 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. daily when no charter is booked. Deep-water, open-boat fluke trips will now begin to sail 8 hours once a week with a minimum of six passengers, because the boat will sail farther to reach the 70- to 90-foot waters. Call to jump aboard all trips.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

A 9-pound 3-ounce fluke and a 6-pound 6-ouncer were crushed on Sunday morning’s trip on the <b>Atlantic Star</b>, and an 8-pound 10-ouncer and a 7-pound 7-ouncer were creamed on the afternoon’s trip, Capt. Tom said. John Pavelchak, Garfield, cracked the 9-pound 3-ouncer, and heaved in a 10-1/2-pounder aboard last Monday, covered in the report that day. John bagged five keepers on this week’s trip, fishing with a 3/8-ounce Spro jig with a Gulp on a teaser on a light rod, and constantly fishes, works the line all day, never just drifts. Howie Behre, Bernardsville, took the 6-pound 6-ouncer, and Jay Idabole, Wayne, claimed the 8-pound 10-ouncer. Lenny McGill, East Orange, winged the 7-pound 7-ouncer. Fluking on the boat lately was pretty good, and some better-sized fluke were around. Some days were better than others, and good conditions played a part, like always. Or when winds and tides created a good drift, the fishing was better. Sometimes anglers didn’t even catch shorts well, but on some trips, anglers scored plenty of action, including with some keepers. Not everyone landed keepers, and lots of throwbacks were around, as usual. Tire John landed three keepers on Sunday morning’s trip, and five on the afternoon’s trip, and he and a friend totaled 25 or 30 shorts. Big fluke came from both the deep and the shallows. Anglers just got lucky either place. An angler and his daughter combined for two keepers on rental rods. Everyone seemed to have a chance at keepers. On some days anglers fishing with Spros fared better. But sometimes fishing with bait, or the spearing provided on trips, worked better. Sometimes killies that anglers brought could make a difference. So if anglers like to fish with killies, Tom suggests they bring a small amount.   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>***Update, Tuesday, 7/12:***</b> Trips aboard Monday made up one of the better days of fluke fishing on the boat, Tom said. On the morning trip, lots of shorts bit at first along the channel, so the boat was moved to the flats, and more keepers than usual were decked, though action with shorts wasn’t as fast as usual, and the drift wasn’t fast. A couple of anglers bagged two or three. On the afternoon trip, more keepers than usual again bit, and a couple of anglers bagged four, some two or three and others one. Some bagged none, as usual, but the anglers picked away at the catches in long drifts. The weather was like summer, but a beautiful breeze blew in the morning, and blew onboard this morning, when Tom gave this report over the phone at 9 o’clock on the a.m. trip. Action on this morning’s trip by then was a little slower on shorts, and a few keepers were bagged so far.

“Total B.S.,” said Capt. Ron from the party boat <b>Fishermen</b> in a report on the vessel’s Web site today. “How about this one guys,” he said. “Heard on the radio today that the C.G. helicopter was patrolling the 3-mile zone, hovered over the Dauntless, and asked if he had his federal fishery permits! At $5,000 an hour to run this operation at the tax payers’ expense, are you kidding me?! It's not like we’re dealing with freakin’ Samoli pirates here! We’re just fishermen trying to survive. What if he said no – are they gonna repel officers down onto the boat and take him into custody?! Fine him huge money for throwing everything back anyway! What the hell is going on? Americans putting Americans out of business? Are we on the most wanted list now for trying to catch the few fish that we are gracefully allowed? Total B.S. I'd lay 60 to 40 odds come September the fluke season will be closed early because of all the fish we are catching. Once again, SAD, VERY SAD.” Fluke fishing was good on the boat’s afternoon trips through the weekend. Ron had to do “a couple of doubles,” he said, running both the morning and afternoon trips, because the afternoon captain was away. “Wish I had a huge margarita to end the weekend, as the sun went down!” he said. “Doesn’t get any better than that.”   The Fishermen is sailing for fluke 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily and 3:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. However, the boat is chartered this Tuesday through Friday. This Saturday’s morning trip had previously been chartered, but the charter cancelled, so the open trip will run.

<b>Highlands</b>

Twenty-three keeper fluke were plowed on an open-boat trip Saturday with <b>Raritan Bay Charters</b>, Capt. Dave said. The fish weighed up to 6 pounds, and a couple were 4 pounds, and one of the anglers bagged seven keepers, one short of a limit. Roughly 70 throwbacks were tossed back, so the trip landed about 93 fluke. A charter aboard Sunday whacked 14 keeper fluke, including an 8-pounder and a 6-1/2-pounder, and a total of probably 40 or 50 of the flatfish, including throwbacks. Both trips fished along a channel edge, but not where most fished. The anglers aboard dragged spearing and squid for bait. If anglers want fluke, now’s the time to go. Dave hadn’t seen fluking this good in years, and the keeper ratio on the boat was 1 in 4 or 5. Open-boat trips are sailing when no charter is booked.

Fluke fishing was very good on the boat’s trips this weekend, said Capt. Derek from <b>Fisher Price Charters</b>. A six-angler limit of the fish to 5 ½ pounds was drilled on a trip Saturday. Fishing was slower on a trip Sunday, but 20 keepers to 5 pounds were waxed. All the angling was deep-water fluking along the rough bottom with bucktails and big strips of bait. Fisher Price is also bottom fishing, and ling catches are good, and a few keeper cod, and lots of shorts, are biting, and out-of-season blackfish and winter flounder are being let go, and sea bass fishing is slow “up here,” Derek said. Dates are also available for bluefish charters. The next open-boat trip for fluke might sail Friday. Anglers can call to confirm or to be kept informed about future open dates.

<b>Neptune</b>

Fluke fishing was the best all year so far on a trip Saturday with <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b>, and the summer flounder to 8 pounds were boxed, Capt. Ralph said. Then the fishing fell apart on a trip Sunday, like the flip of a switch, and not one keeper was landed, and only shorts came up. But the last four trips “found the blues again,” Ralph said, and the anglers were able to load the cooler with blues, including on the slow fluke trip. An individual-reservation trip was sailing offshore today for cod, pollock and hake. Individual-rez trips for fluke are fishing every Wednesday, and kids under 12 sail free, limited to two per adult host. Individual-reservation trips will also include ones for: sea bass this Saturday and on Sunday, July 31; bluefin tuna Tuesday, July 19; and canyon tuna at 12 midnight Friday, July 29. 

<b>Belmar</b>

Fishing for fluke was very good, said Capt. Anthony from <b>Barbara Anne Fishing Charters</b>. Trips aboard fished for them on the ocean along the rocks and hard bottom, drifting bait on rigs. A few sea bass were probably around, but trips stuck with fluking, because catches were so good. Even if anglers don’t have enough people for a full charter, they can call Anthony to fish, because he can usually fit individuals or small groups on a charter or open-boat trip.

After a few days of trips catching small blues, Friday’s trip ran into 12- to 16-pounders, a report on the party boat <b>Golden Eagle</b>’s Web site said. Anglers picked away at the choppers on jigs and bait. Nighttime trips knocked down fair to good bluefishing when the trips were “able to get out,” the report said. Some of the blues lately were probably spawning, and the fishing can be picky then. The full moon is coming later this week, “and fishing should go from picky to outstanding!” the report said. The Golden Eagle is bluefishing daily 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.

 <b>Brielle</b>

Ocean fluke fishing was sort of hot and cold, depending on conditions, said Dave from the <b>The Reel Seat</b>. In other words, depending on whether winds and tides created the right drift of the boat. Dave knew customers who scored well on the fish Saturday, and others who did not. But lots of sizeable fluke, lots of 4- to 6-pounders, were boated. A 14-3/4-pounder was reportedly crushed on the party boat Gambler Saturday. Sea Girt Reef and the Shrewsbury Rocks seemed the most popular spots for the fluking. Fluke fishing was good on Manasquan River. Most were shorts, but some were keepers. One of the shop’s employees bagged a couple of keepers on the river Saturday. Snapper blues schooled the river, and Dave heard nothing lately about hickory shad that he reported swimming the river previously. Bluefishing sounded kind of tough on the ocean, and the season was early for them to spawn, and Dave wasn’t saying they were spawning. But some of the party boats came across difficult fishing for blues. Anglers who fluke fished on the ocean landed a few small blues. Striped bass were sometimes found on the ocean. Boaters who trolled for them picked a few at the Shrewsbury Rocks. Or boaters lucked into a school of bunker that held stripers on the ocean. Bottom fishing wasn’t bad on the ocean, giving up fairly good ling catches. The bottom dunkers found that sea bass fishing began to pick up, and they still picked away at cod. Bluefin tuna fishing became more difficult on the inshore ocean than before, because scallop boats stopped fishing. Previously anglers nailed lots of bluefins that the scallop boats attracted. Bluefin fishing was by no means finished, and the fish typically stick around a long time yet. But the catches will take more work now. Not many boaters sailed farther offshore to Hudson Canyon, but those who did, caught. Yellowfin tuna, bigeye tuna, sizeable mahi mahi, and good catches of white marlin were trolled at the Hudson.

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

A day trip had planned to troll Hudson Canyon Sunday with <b>Andrea’s Toy Charters</b>, a report on the boat’s Web site said. But too much life popped up short of the canyon, so the trip started chunking and jigging. The anglers locked up. Two bluefin tuna began to be battled, and the anglers took turns fighting them. After 1 ½ hours, a 58-incher was bagged, and a 57-incher was released. The anglers “finished the day (landing mahi mahi) with sore arms,” the report said.

Anglers jumped on one of the open-boat Fluke Till You Puke Marathons Friday on the ocean with <b>Reel Class Charters</b>, Capt. Allen said in a report on the vessel’s Web site. Short fluke, short sea bass and a healthy mix of keepers of both species plus ling were pumped in. Rock piles and edges of wrecks to the south close to port were fished, because of forecasts for impending rough weather. On Friday a charter rounded up a mixed bag of fish from the ocean: four keeper fluke, 25 chunky, 2- 3-pound ling, a few sea bass and a dozen small bluefish. The fluke, including shorts tossed back, were reeled in from two drops at deep rocks and two close to the beach. The bottom fish were hooked south of the inlet, and the blues were jigged just off the inlet at the beginning of the trip.  Check out info and dates for the Fluke Till You Puke Marathons on <a href=" http://www.reelclassfishing.com/rates/open-boat-info" target="_blank">Reel Class’s open-boat page</a> online. Looking ahead, trips will chase blue-water fish like bluefin tuna, bonito, false albacore and skipjacks later this summer.

<b>Seaside Park</b>

Fish kept snapping on wreck-fishing trips on the ocean with <b>Fishguts Inshore Charters</b>, Capt. Rob “Birch” Birchmeier said in a report on the boat’s Web site. Two anglers jumped aboard one of the trips Thursday, scoring plenty of action with sea bass. They had to work for keepers, but bagged 41 sea bass and two ling. The anglers had only sailed the ocean once before, but handled “less than ideal seas great,” Birch said. On Friday three anglers climbed aboard a wreck trip. Conditions were great this time, with calm seas and light currents. The anglers enjoyed a steady pick, “(including) some great quality stuff,” Birch said, totaling 55 keeper sea bass to 3 ¾ pounds and two ling, before they called it a short day, because they had all the fish they wanted. One of the anglers alone landed three sea bass that topped 3 pounds. A wreck trip was cancelled Saturday because of weather forecasts. But the weather turned out calm, so Birch took his family to Barnegat Bay for light-tackle fluke fishing. They copped fast action, releasing more than 30 shorts, bagging two keepers 19 and 21 inches, for a couple of fun hours. On Sunday two regular customers and one new one set sail onboard for a wreck trip. The anglers “enjoyed a real nice pick of fish today,” Birch said, “and finished with a very good number (of keeper sea bass and two ling). The fishing is setting up nice, and has been very consistent,” he said. Good conditions produced great catches, and poor conditions turned up good catches. Both open-boat trips and charters are sailing. Fishguts specializes in catching good numbers of quality sea bass close to shore in summer. Trips also fish with light tackle for fluke on the bay. Or combo trips do both in one day.

<b>Barnegat Light</b>

Though bluefishing was tough aboard Thursday, with plenty of the fish found but reluctant to bite, the catches took off on Friday’s trip, a report from the party boat <b>Miss Barnegat Light</b> said on the vessel’s Web site. Limits of 6- to 12-pounders were looted around the boat, and a 14-pounder was the pool-winner. Jigs, bait – “or whatever else you want to throw at them!” the report said – caught them. Rains, winds and lightening made bluefishing difficult on Friday night’s trip. But Saturday’s daytime trip smacked great bluefishing again. Then bluefishing was difficult on Saturday night’s trip and Sunday’s daytime trip, though the fish were marked on the electronics.   The Miss Barnegat Light is bluefishing at 8 a.m. daily and 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

<b>Tuckerton<b>

Trips ran for summer flounder on the ocean with <b>Legal Limit Charters</b>, and lots of shorts, not a lot of keepers, bit, and a few sea bass were socked, Capt. T.J. said. A shark trip Saturday released one mako. A charter Friday tried for bluefin tuna on the inshore ocean, with no luck. So, fishing was slow all around on the trips, T.J. said. He heard about yellowfin tuna caught offshore, but the fish-holding waters “pushed off now,” he said. The next open-boat trip might sail Tuesday for flounder, and that will be posted on Legal Limit’s Web site. Keep an eye on the <a href=" http://www.legallimitcharters.com/open-boat.php" target="_blank">open-boat page</a> online for dates and info on that trip and future ones.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

“Today there was some good fluke fishing involved,” a report on <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>’s Web site said. The catches were usually reported made around Little Egg Inlet, and keepers came from along the Brick Pile. Good reports about the summer flounder fishing also rolled in Saturday from the inlet and the ocean. One angler bagged four keepers, checking in two, after tackling the fish on the ocean, probably at the Rutgers research buoys or Little Egg Reef. A few sea bass were reported boated Saturday, and one customer boxed six keepers at Garden State Reef South that day. Bluefish were hooked here and there, “just not too many right now,” the report said. Blues could probably be located in the inlet right before sunset. Blues could probably also be fought near the bell buoy. Snapper blues began to appear in the lagoons. 

<b>Margate</b>

With <b>O-Beth Sportfishing</b> summer flounder to 23 or 24 inches were beaten on one trip, and the fluke to 27-inches were nailed on another, Capt. Eric said. The trips fished at the ocean reefs, and the fish bit fairly well, and the angling should keep getting better. Blues 2 pounds, as many as anglers wanted, were also trolled on the inshore ocean on the boat. O-Beth is also tuna fishing, and the catches were going strong. Eric knew a couple of boats that did a job on them.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Dusky sharks, 25 of the fish to 60 or 70 pounds, were whaled and released Saturday on one of the inshore sharking trips aboard, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. The fishing, with Peter Rotelli’s family, was epic, including double-headers, and Peter fly-rodded 15 of the fish. His stepsons Tim and Drew spin-rodded the other 10. Forty of the sharks probably could’ve been landed, but the action was too much, so one rod was fished most of the trip. Good problem to have. The fly-rodded fish grabbed a chum fly that Joe ties, and seemed to prefer an orange one. The spin-rodded fish swiped mackerel. Drew Smith and crew on one of the trips Wednesday hammered and released 19 sharks to 100 pounds, covered in the previous report. The fishing is a rare opportunity to pull on big fish, bigger than most anglers ever landed, close to shore, within 10 miles. Fish that size usually only swim far offshore. Everyone who tries the angling, world-class fishing, onboard thinks it’s unbelievable, Joe said. Check out <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=904_D-bOWsg&feature=youtube_gdata_player" target="_blank">videos of the inshore sharking</a> from last year. Ideal tides, high tides in the evenings, are coming around this week, starting today, for popper fishing for striped bass on the back bay, with both spinning rods and fly rods, a specialty for Jersey Cape. The fishing was good the last time the tides were right, the week before last. Joe push-poles his flats boat in the shallows for the catches – bombastic, visual strikes on the surface – while the anglers shoot casts to the bass. Good sport. Plenty of summer flounder filled the bay, and keepers were hard to come by in the large size limit, but the fishing was great, and trips aboard are sailing for them. Marlin, tuna and mahi mahi were caught offshore, and Joe is also running trips for them. Keep up on Joe’s fishing on <a href="http://captainjoehughes.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s blog</a>.

<b>Cape May</b>

Inshore trolling was great on the <b>Down Deep</b>, Capt. Bob said. That’s what Cape May boaters call trolling close to shore for blues and other fish that can be mixed in, fishing that turns on every year around now. Lots of families climbed aboard, plowing the catches, on the trips. Blues were trolled on the outings, and so were lots of bonito, tough fighters that are also tasty, a member of the tuna family, that were mixed in. A couple of firsts were made on the boat. Jim Gillespie on a charter landed a 45-pound cobia, the first-ever cobia on the Down Deep, on an inshore trolling trip. Tom Johannsen on a charter aboard landed a 45-pound sailfish, also the first-ever on the boat, at Wilmington Canyon, on a tuna trip. Summer flounder were around, and lots were shorts. But if charters want to sail for flounder aboard, they can. But the Down Deep is mostly concentrating on inshore trolling while the fishing’s on.

The Pat Leedy family wrestled a bunch of brown sharks, fish that were released, and some bluefish on an inshore sharking trip, said Capt. George from the <b>Heavy Hitter</b>. Inshore trolling put the hammer on good fishing for 2- to 3-pound blues with occasional Spanish mackerel and bonito mixed in on the ocean. One of the trips is set to sail Tuesday aboard. Anglers on a charter slated for Wednesday will decide what they want to fish for. Offshore trips are trolling tuna and mahi mahi, and one of the charters is supposed to steam Saturday on deck. Dates are available for charters for inshore trolling, inshore sharking, bottom fishing, flounder fishing and offshore angling.

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