<b>Keyport</b>

The season’s first deep-water fluke trip sailed Sunday with <b>Papa’s Angels Charters</b>, Capt. Joe said. Seven keepers to 23 inches were bagged, among 40 fluke landed, including throwbacks, a good trip, Joe said. Phil Denbacke took the trip with friends Sean, Dan and Al. About half the fish were bucktailed, and the rest were clocked on bait. Phil worked a bucktail the whole time, is good at it. The day was hot, and for a period produced no winds, no drift. But the anglers stuck it out, and did well, Joe said. Open-boat, deep-water fluke trips will sail 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily through Sunday, when no charter is booked. Open trips that fish shallower waters for fluke will run 4 to 9 p.m. daily through Sunday, when no charter is booked. Call to jump aboard.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

The first drift on today’s fluke drift produced 9 keepers to 8 pounds, said Capt. Ron from the party boat <b>Fishermen</b> in a report on the vessel’s Web site. Then a ship sailed past, along the channel the trip was fishing, shutting down the bite a while. The trip moved to the flats, “and found life there also,” Ron said. Anchor Joe was the hot hand for the day, landing nine keepers, keeping no more than his limit of eight. He caught six of the keepers in the first hour. One of the anglers hauled in a 9-pound fluke. Another won the pool with an 8-pounder, his personal best, one of four big fluke he decked on the outing. “Fishing is hot, come on down!” Ron said. Anglers aboard Saturday creamed probably the best-ever catch of the fish on a charter on the boat. Conditions were horrible all day, with lack of drift and current. So the boat was power drifted, and the charter, aboard for the second time in two weeks, picked and plucked more keepers than shorts. The fish weighed up to 6 ½ pounds, and many were 3 to 4 pounds. Most of the anglers fished with rental rods, and not many worked bucktails, “which makes today even better from the production side,” Ron said. On Friday afternoon’s trip, fluking was good. “Very nice pick on keepers up to 7 pounds,” Ron said. The high hook bagged five. The fishing was wild as the sun went down, and when the sun disappeared, not another fish was caught. “Just that fast!” Ron said. “That’s how we came up with the phrase ‘Magic Hours’ years ago!” 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 morning trips are chartered this Friday and Saturday. <b>***Update, Wednesday, 7/27:***</b> Good fluking was claimed on both trips Tuesday aboard, Tom said. The fish were caught around the boat, and some sizeable ones were taken. Nothing exceptional-sized, but lots of solid 3- and 4-pounders. Seemed a good sign that back-to-back trips hooked up. Plenty of shorts, including plenty of 17- and 17-1/2-inchers, also bit. The drift was slow, not perfect, but the fluking produced, and the anglers seemed to enjoy it.

The fluke trip aboard Sunday afternoon was probably one of the best of the season on the party boat <b>Atlantic Star</b>, “keeper-wise,” Capt. Tom said. One angler limited out, though that’s rare, and some bagged 4 or 5, and others 2 or 3, or 1 or 2, and some landed no keepers. Action with shorts was good. Some anglers tugged in 12 or 15 shorts and no keepers. That could be frustrating for the angler, when someone else bags four or five keepers. But all in all, the trip was good, Tom said. Fluking on Sunday morning’s trip “was just nice fishing,” he said, and Donata Lombardi, Freehold, nailed a 9-pound fluke, among four keepers she bagged. On Saturday afternoon’s trip, fluking was very good, and on the morning’s trip was nice. This was a good stretch of days, and Tom hopes the fishing holds up. Action was steady, consistent, as good as an angler could want. “We’ll see what tomorrow brings,” he said. He’s been doing this more than 30 years, “and who knows what’s going to happen one day to the next,” he said. Lots of 17- and 17-1/2-inchers, just under the 18-inch size limit, were around. Despite the hot weather, trips got lucky, because of breezes. Only one period of time during Friday was hot, with no winds. If forecasts call for a breeze, the weather’s not too bad on the waters. 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>

Open-boat fishing for fluke started off well on a trip Sunday with <b>Raritan Bay Charters</b>, Capt. Dave said. When the tide started to turn, the bite slowed, and the anglers waited for currents to begin again. When the tide began, winds blew against currents, hampering the drift. So the boat was power-drifted, and a few more keeper fluke were socked. The fish on the trip weighed up to 3 ½ pounds, “not that big this time,” Dave said. Open trips are fishing for fluke when no charter is booked.

With <b>Fisher Price Charters</b>, good catches of fluke, averaging 3 to 6 pounds, were bagged in deep waters along the rough bottom, mostly on bucktails, Capt. Derek said. The fishing was somewhat tougher in the past days, including on a trip competing in the Elks tournament Saturday. Sixteen keepers, half of them 4 to 6 pounds, were boxed. Bottom fishing was good aboard lately, producing ling, sometimes keeper cod to 10 or 12 pounds, lots of short cod, and blackfish. Big, out-of-season winter flounder bit and were released. Charters are fishing, and the next open-boat trips will probably be one for fluke on Wednesday and another that will bottom fish on Saturday. Call to confirm and jump aboard, or to be kept informed about future open dates. If bluefin tuna move close enough to shore, Fisher Price will go after them on the chunk, jig or troll. Mixed reports were heard about smaller bluefins landed inshore. Lots of mahi mahi gathered around the pots.

Dave Kubach’s party on the <b>Hyper Striper</b> boated two keeper striped bass, letting go 18 throwbacks, adding sizeable fluke to the box “to finish the day,” Capt. Pete said in an e-mail. The Chirachello trip ran for bluefin tuna Sunday aboard, landing four and some mahi mahi on the chunk. On the vessel this morning, Dennis Taormina’s gang whaled very good fluking, catching the fish to 5 pounds, including plenty of 3- to 4-pounders, and action on shorts, mostly on bucktails with Gulps.

<b>Neptune</b>

<b>***Update, Tuesday, 7/26:***</b> One of the summertime, individual-reservation trips for cod offshore sailed Monday with <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b>, Capt. Ralph said in an e-mail this morning. He didn’t say much about the trip’s results, but simply said the angling was great, and that the cod fishing and inshore fishing for sea bass on the wrecks could not be better for Last Lady. Sea bass, ling, blackfish and some keeper cod were pelted on Monday’s trip, he said. More individual-rez trips for cod offshore are set for 3 a.m. on the Mondays of August 8 and 29. The last individual-reservation trip to the inshore wrecks put the levy on many sea bass, ling, a couple of blackfish, and six keeper cod. More of the trips will run at 5 a.m. on the Sundays of August 14 and 28. On Last Lady’s fluke trips, some days were great, and some were slow. “That’s fishing,” Ralph said. Individual-reservation trips for fluke sail 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Wednesday, and kids under 12 are free, limited to two per adult host. Bluefishing was spotty, but a trip aboard Wednesday slammed them, and two striped bass, “as a bonus,” Ralph said. A trip onboard Saturday also scored well on blues. Canyon tuna fishing was up and down, and Ralph “will make up a canyon trip,” he said, “have two people standing by.” Call or e-mail him “to get o the canyon list,” he said. Charters are also available every day and night.

<b>Belmar</b>

An inshore charter swung aboard fluke, sea bass and ling Saturday, an enjoyable day, said Capt. Jared from <b>Fin-Ominal Sportfishing</b>. A charter farther from shore ran 35 miles to the Glory Hole on Thursday, boating a 150-pound mako shark. Trips are on the books for this Wednesday through Saturday.

A 9-pound fluke was hauled aboard a dive trip Friday with <b>Fish Stix Sportfishing</b>, Capt. Kris said in an e-mail. The Professional Divers in Neptune were on an anchor recovery mission, and also bagged 2- to 4-pound fluke, a 5-1/2-pound sea bass and a 3- to 4-pound lobster. On Saturday three angles were on deck to compete in the Point Pleasant Elks Fluke Tournament. The trip’s catch included two 7-pound fluke and two 4-pounders. Three other anglers were aboard Sunday for fluke, and the fishing was tough. Shorts put up lots of great action early in the day, and the anglers managed to pick three keeper fluke to 5 pounds and two sea bass. “The guys were definitely here to have fun, and they did,” Kris said. “They enjoyed themselves like I've never seen, especially for a slow day.” Kris joined a friend for bluefin tuna fishing Wednesday. A 44-incher was kept, and a 46-incher was released, and both were jigged. When the trip arrived at the grounds at 5:45 a.m., life swam everywhere. Not many tuna were read, so the trip poked around. Another captain called, saying bluefins were near him. The trip took a look, and bait was busting everywhere. That’s when the tuna began to be caught. When the 46-incher was hooked, bluefins ripped through the waters everywhere, an all-out blitz! Loads of tuna ended up being read that day, and a couple were big monsters. The fish are loaded out there, Kris said.  Fish Stix is sailing for fluke and all species of available bottom fish on charters and open-boat trips. Call, e-mail or text-message.

<b>Brielle</b>

A mixed-bag trip Thursday reeled in fluke, including a 10-pounder, and sea bass from the ocean on the <b>Big Kid</b>, Capt. Ken said. Another one of the trips Saturday belted 10 keeper fluke to 8 pounds and some ling, cod and sea bass. On Sunday, two trips ran: one on the center console Little Kid, and the other on the Big Kid, a 44-foot Topaz. On the Little Kid the anglers pumped in 18 keeper fluke and a handful of sea bass from the ocean. On the Big Kid the charter bagged four yellowfin tuna to 45 pounds and released three white marlin. Trips will keep sailing for these fish, and bluefin tuna charters are also available. “Absolutely,” Ken said.  

Fluke fishing served up good catches on some trips, picky catches on others, because of the usual too much drift or too little drift, on the party boat <b>Jamaica II</b>, Capt. Joe said in an e-mail. Notable catches included: Ed Nolan’s 8-1/4-pound pool-winner, among six fluke he bagged on last Monday’s full-day trip; Donnito Patrick’s 7-1/2-pound pool-winning fluke on Tuesday morning’s trip; and Charlie Scire Manchester’s 6-pound pool-winning fluke on Tuesday afternoon’s trip.  Oh Nam caught an 8-1/2-pound fluke. The Aliseo family combined for 13 fluke to 5 pounds and nine sea bass to 4 pounds. Chris Molinari remained in the lead in July’s monthly pool with a 9-pound 3-ounce fluke. The Jamaica II is sailing for fluke and sea bass on two half-day trips daily 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays  A full-day trip is fishing for fluke 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every Monday. A bluefishing trip is running 7:30 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. every Saturday. 

Fluke, good catches, were boated along most of the lumps and high ground in the ocean, said Chuck from <b>The Reel Seat</b>. The fishing wasn’t so good “on the bottom,” he said. But most trips fishing the structure like that scored their share of keepers. Was a question of right time, right place, because the fish were there.  Chuck was on a trip Wednesday that bagged seven keepers from the ocean. A few big fluke were around. Dave, the shop’s owner, nabbed an 8.8-pounder from the ocean during the weekend while competing in a tournament. Fluke swam Manasquan River, getting hooked when anglers fished the right tides. For bottom fishers on the ocean, sea bass catches were mostly spotty, and occasionally good. The bottom anglers reeled in ling, and, at the mid-range wrecks, cod.  The cod were a little smaller than usual, and not a lot were keepers, but the fish were plentiful. Bluefin tuna fishing wasn’t so good Saturday, but was happening on a couple of days this past week at the scallop boats. On a few days when the scallop boats were gone, the fishing was dead. So the angling was hit and miss, at places like the Chicken Canyon and the Atlantic Princess wreck, and when the bluefins were caught, early mornings and late in the days seemed the times. In between, “nothing,” Chuck said. Bluefins were beaten at Barnegat Ridge a couple of days early last week, then the fishing shut down. Fishing at the canyons farther from shore dropped off entirely in the past days.

<b>Seaside Park</b>

Great numbers of sea bass, and some big ones, were showing up, said Capt. Rob “Birch” Birchmeier from <b>Fishguts Inshore Charters</b>, in a report on the vessel’s Web site. Strong winds caused some trips to be cancelled, so forecasts for calm seas were now great to see. Anglers climbed aboard a wreck-fishing trip Saturday, and sea bass got on a great bite, and a healthy variety of different fish chomped. When the rods were doubled over, anglers couldn’t be sure about the tasty bottom dweller on the line. Though two of the three anglers became seasick, forcing the trip to return early, they bagged 50 sea bass to 4.2 pounds. Four seemed the magic number, Birch said, because a 4.1-pound fluke and a 4-pound blackfish were also boxed. A few ling and a keeper cod were waxed, among other fish tossed back. On a wreck trip aboard Sunday, three anglers, two of them regulars, one a first-timer, limited out on sea bass to 2.4 pounds, also bagging 15 good-sized ling, a cod and a 19-inch fluke. As the day wore on, some better-sized sea bass were found, “but not the big boys I was hoping for,” Birch said.  “It’s funny when you have a box loaded with sea bass, ling, cod and fluke in the middle of July,” and he was almost disappointed that no really huge ones were drilled, he said. Still, that was a great catch. “It’s going,” Birch said about the fishing in a phone call later. “Some big stuff, and a mix of fish.” Fishguts specializes in catching good numbers of quality sea bass close to shore in summer, on both charters and open-boat trips. Loading the cooler is the goal.

<b>Barnegat Light</b>

Bluefishing was super on Friday’s daytime trip, great on Friday night’s trip and very good on Saturday’s daytime trip on the ocean on the party boat <b>Miss Barnegat Light</b>, a report on the vessel’s Web site said. But on Saturday night’s trip, what a difference, the report said. The fishing was tough, dishing up a handful of big blues and some 2- and 3-pounders. Catches were also difficult on today’s trip. “Hopefully the fish are there again (Tuesday),” the report said. “Nice and cool out on the ocean!”  The Miss Barnegat Light is bluefishing at 8 a.m. daily and 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

<b>Barnegat</b>

<b>***Update, Tuesday, 7/26:***</b> From an edited e-mail from Capt. Dave DeGennaro from the <b>Hi Flier</b>: “We fished Friday, Sunday and Monday on the Hi Flier, with mixed results. On Friday I ran to Barnegat Ridge with two people who signed up for one of our open-boat trips. We trolled a handful of bonita, mostly too small to keep, and one nice, chunky 6-pounder for the cooler, by no means a good day.  On Sunday the weather was perfect, so I decided to run offshore to the Atlantic Princess, 52 miles east out of our Barnegat Inlet.  Pretty good life out there, chick birds, fair readings, but we couldn’t jig a fish. There was not a good bite, though a few boats did catch one or two, and one guy, Gene Quigley from Shore Catch, went 9 for 10! He is very much dialed-in to the action out there, and has the confidence to go find the fish away from the fleet. By the time we found the new spot, the party was over. We trolled a 25-inch bluefin on those same grounds, and headed back with an empty cooler. Just because we make the run, doesn’t mean we’re going to catch them, but hopefully, we return to the dock a little wiser for the next trip. On Monday I had two trips booked, one angler who booked the boat for himself to go jig Barnegat Ridge, and then an afternoon inshore trip. The ride out to the ridge was a little sporty in a 2- to 3-foot, tight chop from the east. We anchored up on the North Ridge, and started chumming over some very good readings. The next three hours were constant hookups on small to big bonita, with thirteen 3- to 5-pounders being boated on spinning tackle. There were a lot of frigate mackerel in the slick, and they were also hitting the smaller jigs. They average a pound, so just to see, I rigged up a heavier conventional and livelined one out in the slick, and about twenty minutes later, I was doing battle with a 50-pound spinner shark that somehow didn’t bite me off, so we cut the leader boatside. The highlight of that trip was something that ate the angler’s jig, and completely spooled his Shimano Stella, before I could relieve the tension. I got off the ball, and had my hands on the throttle for reverse, when the line popped. I am assuming (hoping) it was one of those 10- to 30-pound-class bluefin tuna we were recently catching on these same grounds. We also added a nice-sized Spanish mackerel before throttling up for home.  I picked up Rich Follmer and his two sons, Rick and Don, for the afternoon trip, and the good karma kept coming. We fished the north jetty of Barnegat Inlet with some special bait, and bailed stripers and blackfish for 2 ½ hours. We kept our three chunky tog we were allowed, and caught and released 22- to 27-inch (of course) stripers, all on 10-pound spinning tackle with no sinkers. Almost always , two out of three guys were hooked up, and at times, all three. It was on fire.  We finished up in the back bay with shedder crabs, but no takers by the BI or the 42 buoys yet. We will be running open-boat trips as follows: 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday for the stripers and blackfish at the inlet, with a three-person max; and 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday for bonito at Barnegat Ridge. These trips have also been producing bluefin tuna and mahi mahi, but not on every trip. I like to tell people to expect bonita, and if we catch tuna or dolphin, it’s a bonus. All fish are shared. Reservations are required. We have started chumming these fish, so there is a good chance we will be trolling and chumming, depending on what conditions dictate.”

<b>Tuckerton</b>

<b>Legal Limit Charters</b> sailed for summer flounder on the ocean a couple of days toward the end of the week, Capt. T.J. said. Some sizeable ones to 5 pounds were racked up, and the fluke bit lately, so long as the drift was good. Catches of sea bass, not a lot but some, began to pick up a bit on the trips. Offshore charters sailed aboard Friday and Saturday, gaffing yellowfin tuna and mahi mahi both days, releasing white marlin around 50 pounds one of the days. Open-boat combo trips for fluke and sea bass are beginning this week. See Legal Limit’s <a href=" http://www.legallimitcharters.com/open-boat.php" target="_blank">open-boat page</a> online.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

Air temperatures reached 104 degrees Friday, said Scott from <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b> in a report on the shop’s Web site. Anglers who fished produced some good catches, he said, including summer flounder toward the Fish Factory and at Little Egg Inlet. Snapper blues to 2-poundes were trolled around Great Bay, and sometimes on the ocean. But ocean anglers enjoyed mid-seventy-degree temps. By Saturday, with the heat wave continuing, most reports came from the ocean. Occasional fluke were boated in 50 feet off the Red Tower, and at the research buoys and Little Egg Reef. Small blues could be found hovering off the tip of Holgate on fast, incoming tides lately. Troll small metal. Mediocre fishing was copped for sea bass and tog at the ocean wrecks in 80 feet. That was a long haul to catch a few fish, “but sure (made) nice fishing with the cooler air temperatures offshore,” Scott said. The heat was mean again Sunday, and though temps only reached 98, it didn’t feel much different from 104. A couple of fluke anglers agreed 50 feet was the successful depth on the ocean. One caught just inshore of Garden State Reef South, and another connected off Wreck Inlet. Both liked big, silver spinners on top-and-bottom rigs. Good news was heard from ocean flounder anglers today. “I wish I had better specifics than 50 feet,” Scott said. Top-and-bottom rigs should be fished with 8-ounce sinkers, minimum, in the depths. “The trick here is to fish them very short,” Scott said, “so that the sinker barely tickles the bottom. This method of fishing creates the desired high-low effect, rather than having a lot of line out, and consequently dragging two hooks on the bottom.” Schoolie blues doled out entertainment today, and Scott didn’t say where, so probably at the same locations mentioned above: Great Bay and the ocean. “Drag anything silver,” he said, because the blues weren’t picky.  No word was yet heard about the kingfish, blowfish, porgies, spots and small sea bass that traditionally begin to bite in the bay around the second week of August.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Nathan Burgess and friends went 4 for 5 on dusky sharks released on one of the inshore sharking trips aboard Saturday, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. Then the anglers tried for summer flounder at an ocean reef, plucking a 19- or 20-inch keeper, a half-dozen throwbacks and some ling, a good afternoon, Joe said. On Friday Dave Miller and family angled a bunch of flounder on the back bay. Mike Roth aboard fly fished for striped bass at night on the bay Thursday, tackling a dozen to 26 or 27 inches and 18 small blues, on Clouser Minnows on a sinking line. He lost a bruiser, easily a keeper, 28 or 30 inches, that wasn’t seen, but was definitely bigger than the rest. The nighttime fishing for stripers was happening, and two anglers, Greg and Harry, fished for them Wednesday night aboard, pulling in six on Clouser flies and soft plastic lures. Ideal tides, high tides in the evenings, are returning this week for popper fishing for stripers on the bay with lures and flies, a specialty for Jersey Cape. The tides come around every two weeks, and the angling was super, last time they did. Jersey Cape is also fishing offshore, and sporadic tuna catches and mahi mahi swam the grounds. But a little bite was going on, Joe said. Keep up on his fishing on <a href="http://captainjoehughes.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s blog</a>.

<b>Cape May</b>

Fishing for summer flounder was so-so, not great, at the Old Grounds on a charter Sunday on the <b>Heavy Hitter</b>, Capt. George said. The anglers, the Troy family, had keepers to 4 ½ or 5 pounds. One short sea bass was landed, and lots of ling were hooked, and might’ve been big enough to keep, but the anglers decided to release them. Nobody was setting the world on fire at the Old Grounds, George said. The day seemed average for founder fishing there. But George mated on a flounder trip that was dynamite at the Old Grounds Saturday. Inshore trolling was good for plenty of small blues, bonito mixed in and occasional mahi mahi. Inshore sharking for browns, catch and release fishing, was also good. A buddy walloped 18. Tuna fishing seemed somewhat to slow down, but a friend reported a great catch Sunday along the edge of 30 fathoms, where the Heavy Hitter’s last tuna charter drilled them. Trips aboard are sailing for all these species, and call if interested.

Inshore trolling trips, family trips, piled up lots of small bluefish, sometimes bonito and occasionally mahi mahi on the ocean on the <b>Down Deep</b>, Capt. Bob said. The fishing served up plenty of action, keeping the anglers busy. The Fijelkowski charter sailed offshore, coming back with yellowfin tuna and big, gaffer mahi mahi. Summer flounder fishing seemed good on a few days, bad on a few others, at the Old Grounds. On the good days, some sizeable ones were angled. The number of flounder was increasing there, and a few sea bass were mixed in. The Down Deep is sailing for all these fish, and plenty of dates are available.

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