<b>Staten Island</b>

With <b>Outcast Charters</b> sea bass catches during the past two weeks remained the same as before: an average of 50 keeper sea bass per trip, a pick of the fish, Capt. Joe said. But good-sized sea bass were claimed, and other fish were able to be mixed in to put a catch together. Ling, 30 or 40 per trip, were usually added each outing. Occasional cod and fluke were bagged. Blackfish, out of season in New York, were released. Many of the sea bass were 2 or 2 ½ pounds, and the big ones were 4 pounds. Sizeable.

Fluke fishing turned out great catches at the end of Ambrose Channel with <b>Angler Sportfishing Charters</b>, and the keeper ratio was better than before, Capt. Chuck said. So the trips fished deep, in depths like 70 feet, and anglers could hardly not catch fluke there, he said. Anglers on the outings fished mostly with spearing and squid strips on rigs, sometimes on jigs. Chuck wasn’t going to fluke in 20 feet, depths that held plenty of the fish, but small. Two of the boat’s twilight trips sailed in the past days, scoring fairly well. Quite a few small striped bass were jigged or chunked off the Highlands on the ocean. The four anglers on one of the trips bagged six keepers, for example.

Porgies, snapper blues and blueclaw crabs, lots of each, were mugged, said Patrick from <b>E-Z Catch Saltwater Traps & Tackle Co.</b>. Blues 4 to 8 pounds swiped popper plugs or tins at sunup. If big blues showed up at sundown, most were chunked on butterfish or bunker. Stripers could sometimes be mixed with blues, but not a lot of stripers were around at this time of year. Most striper catches were reported from the ocean at places like the Shrewsbury Rocks. But all the other catches mentioned were taken in the Arthur Kill, including along the St. George Fishing Pier, and along the terrace near the shop. But catches of porgies, snappers and crabs were especially good at the Midland Fishing Pier. Lots of fluke were around the different waters, and most were throwbacks, but gave up action. In freshwater, largemouth bass fishing was hopping at Sylvan Lake. Fish at sundown, in the dark or at sunup, because the summer sun puts the bass down at mid day. For saltwater, fresh clams, fresh and frozen bunker, sandworms and frozen squid, spearing, butterfish and herring are stocked. Nightcrawlers are carried for freshwater.  The shop is also a <b><i>premier manufacturer and supplier of saltwater traps</i></b> for wholesale and commercial. Custom building and servicing of fish, lobster and any traps is provided at the customer’s own specifications. See the online <a href="http://www.e-zcatch.com/catalog" target="_blank">catalog of traps</a>. The store is a PVC-coated and galvanized Riverdale wire distributor, and is also a train store.

<b>Keyport</b>

Fishing for fluke on Don Smaglio’s trip aboard clobbered 18 keepers to a 6.6-pound 25-incher Sunday in waters where Raritan Bay meets the ocean with <b>Papa’s Angels Charters</b>, Capt. Joe said. The anglers – including Don Long, who caught the 6.6-pounder, Abe, Bill, Sonny and Gene – fished with bucktails with strip baits. John Frankel’s trip aboard Friday plopped in the cooler nine keeper fluke to a 5-pound 24-incher at the same place, also fishing with bucktails with strip baits. Rob Quinn, who caught the 5-pounder, David and Sonny were also aboard. Throwbacks were tossed back on both trips. Open-boat trips are fishing for fluke 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. daily when no charter is booked. Call to reserve.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

Trips on the party boat <b>Atlantic Star</b> in the past days fluke fished at the channels when conditions were right, and otherwise fished on the bay, and for the most part, the angling was good, Capt. Tom said. Action with shorts was good, and some keepers were bagged. Tuesday was tougher, during miserable weather: thunderstorms and rains. None of the fish was big on the trips, and pool-winners were probably 4 to 5 pounds. This morning’s trip fished for fluke along the oceanfront, the first time this season for the boat, in the northwest breeze, Tom said in a phone call from the outing at 9 a.m. A few keepers were already boxed, and there was action with shorts, and the fishing seemed a good sign. 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.

A banner day, excellent fluke fishing on the ocean, action from start to finish, on Friday on the party boat <b>Fishermen</b>, Capt. Ron said in a report on the vessel’s Web site. John Froelich bagged seven keepers, including a 7-pounder, to win the pool, and a 5-1/2-pounder that tied for second place. The other angler with a 5-1/2-pounder bagged six, and Capt. Ron Sr. limited out on eight. Ron himself got to fish, landing five. Action with shorts was non-stop. “Again,” Ron said, “it’s too bad we have to call the fish shorts! Just missing the mark is BS!” Only a handful of regular customers joined the trip. “Too many people listened to the weather and stayed home once again,” Ron said. “Such a shame to miss some of the best fishing of the year.” Fluking was no good on Sunday’s trip in poor conditions. “A five gallon bucket of racks with a boat load of customers is nothing to be proud of,” Ron said, “but hey, we did all we could possibly do with the conditions we were dealt.” Ships passed early in the trip, “(and we) rolled our crueller off for over an hour,” Ron said. Later, incoming tide began, but winds also came on, and the drift made 2 knots in no time. “Then it was Pan B, then Plan C and so on … get my drift!” Ron said. A first-timer won the pool with four good-sized keepers, including a 4-pounder, “with borrowed equipment and not a clue about fluke fishing!” Ron said. 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. However, the boat is chartered this Saturday morning.

<b>Highlands</b>

Dennis Taormina’s and Joe Gasperino’s trips both whammed good fishing for fluke aboard the <b>Hyper Striper</b>, Capt. Pete said in an e-mail. On some trips in the mornings before fluking, jigging for small blues was productive at the channels and rough bottom. The Kennseal party aboard reeled in small striped bass in the morning, before they racked up good fishing for fluke to 5 pounds at Ambrose Channel. Hyper Striper is also sailing for tuna.

<b>Neptune</b>

Both boats from <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b> were busy with trips through the weekend, Capt. Ralph said. Fluke, sea bass, blackfish and a few keeper cod were decked inshore. The fishing’s been very good, and overall, so was the weekend’s angling on the trips. One of the boats was on a trip Sunday evening, when Ralph gave this report over the phone from land, and the captain on the outing told Ralph on the phone that the catches were going well, despite stormy weather. An individual-reservation inshore-trolling and bottom-fishing trip aboard Wednesday nailed mahi mahi to 20 pounds and cod. The trip had to sail farther from shore than Ralph wanted, but found the blue waters. On the weekly, individual-reservation trip for fluke Wednesday, the angling was good. A 7-pound 1-ouncer was the pool-winner, and a 6-1/2-pounder was whacked. Individual-reservation trips for fluke are sailing every Wednesdays through September 21, and kids under 12 are free with an adult, limited to two per adult. Another one of the fluke trips will sail Sunday, September 18, and two more, one on each boat, will run Sunday, September 25, the last day of fluke season. Individual-reservation trips for sea bass are on the books for the Saturdays of September 17 and 24. Individual-reservation trips for cod will fish the Mondays of September 12 and 26. Fish for cod in shorts – “might be the last chance of (the) year for the big ones,” Ralph said. Call about special one- and two-day canyon trips offering a reduced price. An overnight canyon trip was set to leave port today. Be sure to follow <a href="http://www.facebook.com/FishingInNewJersey" target="_blank">Last Lady’s Facebook page</a>.

<b>Belmar</b>

Bluefishing aboard “has shown some improvement,” a report on the party boat <b>Golden Eagle</b>’s Web site said. Blues 2 to 4 pounds were jigged during daytime trips aboard on the ocean. Fishing for blues was slow on the boat’s nighttime trips, and a few better nights were scored, “but not what it should be,” the report said. The fishing should continue to improve in the next weeks. The Golden Eagle will be docked for repair until running again Thursday night. Anglers can call the vessel for recommendations for other boats. 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. Mondays are double-coupon days: Bring a competitor’s coupon for up to $5 off, and the value will be doubled on the Golden Eagle, up to $10 off.

<b>Brielle</b>

On the party boat <b>Jamaica II</b> on the ocean good fishing for fluke was pounded most of the past week, so long as conditions were right, Capt. Ryan said in an e-mail. Not a lot were big, but lots were caught. On Saturday night’s bluefish trip, excellent catches were shellacked, at the Monster Ledge, 20 miles offshore. Customers and their fluke (and sea bass) catches included: Dave Tootchen, Philadelphia, limit of eight fluke to 5 pounds and seven sea bass to 4 pounds; Ritchie Wisemann, Pennsauken, seven fluke to 7 pounds; and Denny Symons, Trenton, seven fluke to 6 pounds. Customers and their bluefish catches on Saturday night included Fred Gambolis, Philadelphia, 12 blues to 13 pounds. 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. An all-night bluefishing trip is running 7:30 p.m. to 4 a.m. every Saturday.

Fluke fishing on the ocean was good, but wasn’t the sort of angling where someone could decide to fish a certain place, like Sea Girt Reef, and catch, said Dave from <b>The Reel Seat</b>. The stretch from Allenhurst to Sandy Hook gave up the most consistent fluking that Dave knew about, and over the course of a day, a trip could grind out a catch, and some area there would hold the flatfish. Manasquan River flukers worked through lots of shorts to catch keepers. Though the federal government recently voted on recommendations for the 2012 fluke quota, deciding the bag limit has a long ways to go. A federal meeting in December will determine whether the quota will be increased or decreased. Then the state will come up with different options for the bag limit to meet the quota, and the feds will approve it or not. Snapper blues and hickory shad swam the river. Striped bass began to become more active in the river. When Dave pulled out of Hoffman’s Marina for a trip last week, a bunch of stripers busted the water surface to the south. River anglers throw small lures or soft plastics to hook them. Sea bass fishing wasn’t so great for customers on the ocean. On some days they boated sea bass, and on others they didn’t. A dive captain said the wrecks were loaded with sea bass and cod, and the bottom was 55 degrees. Sea bassing seemed a matter of when the fish felt like biting. Anglers kept landing cod, and ling fishing wasn’t bad. Ling fishing involves a technique, anglers should realize. Bluefin tuna fishing was somewhat more miss than hit. A few bit, but yellowfin tuna, good-sized ones 50 or 60 pounds, swam a  bit farther offshore, like at the Texas Tower, or a couple of miles north or east of there. Bluefin fishing didn’t seem so much a matter of water quality as whether scallop boats were around. Lots of bluefins had been pounded earlier this season where scallop boats worked. Scalloping closed for a moment, and bluefins disappeared. Some of the scallop boats began fishing again, apparently because they were yet to fill their quota, and bluefins reappeared. Lots of mahi mahi swam mid-range waters. Anglers should realize they can’t fish the same pots for mahi repeatedly. They should move around, because mahi will get fished out from a pot, until more return. Boaters at the canyon this weekend trolled tuna but also chunked them.

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

Anglers aboard with <b>Reel Class Charters</b> set sail for mahi mahi and bluefin tuna Saturday, Capt. Allen said in a report on the boat’s Web site. Fifty mahi were landed, and 40 were kept. “A memorable day, and lots of meat for the guys to take home!” Allen said. The anglers fished around places like the lobster pot buoys, creaming the catches. Some pots held loads of the fish, giving up all-out blitzes, with four and five mahi on at a time. At other pots, one or two mahi were picked, and at others, no mahi were around, and so on. Some of the fish weighed 2 to 5 pounds, and others were 10 to 15 pounds, and so on. One caught was 20 pounds. The trip reached 30 miles offshore by 6:15 a.m., and began working the waters. The outing never continued to the Chicken Canyon or the Atlantic Princess wreck, because reports about bluefin tuna were dismal. “Overall, an excellent day,” Allen said. On Friday one of the open-boat Fluke Till You Puke Trips sailed aboard the ocean. Conditions were horrible, and waters were dirty, but nine fluke and one sea bass were coolered, among shorts tossed back. Not bad, considering, Allen said. On Thursday a charter sailed on deck, picking good-sized, keeper sea bass, tailor blues and 50 throwback fluke. “I’d like to say the southwest, then west, then south wind had something to do with the lack of keepers,” Allen said, “but whatever it was, the bite with the better-sized fluke seems to be off right now,” he said then. Charters are fishing, and check out <a href=" http://www.reelclassfishing.com/rates/open-boat-info" target="_blank">Reel Class’s open-boat page</a> online.

A canyon charter started looking for fish first at the bluefin tuna haunts, the chunking grounds, inshore with <b>Andrea’s Toy Charters</b>, a report on the boat’s Web site said Saturday. But the trip had no luck in dirty, green waters found farther north than expected. Still, the trip set up behind a scallop boat with crew shucking, “but water was so dirty could barely see in water,” the report said. The trip motored to Hudson Canyon, arriving “with only 2 hours of dark to chunk,” the report said. No luck was scored, and the boat was put on the troll at first light. A 40-pound yellowfin tuna was quickly axed. Massive amounts of bait and life filled the area, “(so) we decided to stay close,” the report said. No tuna bit, and the anglers tried tilefishing at new grounds. No tiles chomped in a bad drift with thunderstorms moving through the area. The trip worked a lobster pot for mahi mahi, and two of the anglers landed their first-ever. The trip ran inshore to mahi grounds, but the area was picked clean. “Long day for a great crew, but we tried our best,” the report said.

<b>Seaside Park</b>

The season was wrapped up for <b>Fishguts Inshore Charters</b>, Capt. Rob “Birch” Birchmeier said. Fishguts specializes in catching good numbers of quality-sized sea bass close to shore in summer. Birch this summer was pleased to offer what Fishguts advertises, he said: “putting charters on large numbers of quality sea bass all summer long.” Rumors were heard throughout the season about spawning sea bass that refused to feed. “I am not sure if they are the same ones we have been stacking up on our fillet table after just about every trip(!)” he said. But he’ll look into it, he smiled! Some days are much harder than others, and lots of work goes into many of the boat’s catches. “But there are a few things that we do know … (including that) it is possible to catch large numbers of quality sea bass close to shore during the summer months,” Birch said. He thanks all who fished aboard, and hopes they all enjoyed  the fillets!  On the season’s final trips aboard, the great fishing rolled on, Birch said. As usual this season, good conditions equaled limits of good-sized sea bass. On a combo trip, trips that fish the ocean and bay in one day, on Thursday, forecasts called for strong south winds and a tight chop. So the plan was to “grab a couple dozen keeper sea bass and head back into the bay,” Birch said, for fluke fishing. The three anglers boxed 45 keeper sea bass and a squirrel hake, then ran for the bay. On the bay, they bagged a 19-inch fluke, and enjoyed great action with shorts. The ocean fishing for sea bass is about putting fish in the cooler. The bay fishing is about the experience and fun, and if a keeper is clocked, that’s a bonus. On a trip Sunday aboard the plan was not only to look for a limit of sea bass for the boat, but big sea bass. Conditions were nearly perfect, and the fish were hungry. Plenty of quality sea bass to 2 pounds bit, though none of the big ones hoped for came up. Still, the anglers put the hammer on the fish, bailing lots. Birch asked them if they wanted to make a short stop for cod at a spot he thought would hold them, and the anglers did. The cod were there, and the anglers landed 17 of the fish, including seven keepers. One of the anglers pulled in a 25-inch cod, some ling and a keeper blackfish. The number of cod larger than the 21-inch size limit was a surprise. Then the anglers went back after sea bass, looking for bigger ones. They reeled in sea bass, including a half-dozen larger than 2 pounds, including a 3-pounder, a 2.5-pounder and a 2.3-pounder, “but not that 4-pound-plus knucklehead we had hoped for,” Birch said. The anglers limited out on sea bass, and, along with the other fish, the 150-quart cooler was nearly full “of some of the best eating fish that swim in the ocean,” Birch said. “Another wonderful day with great people,” he said. Trips will launch again next summer, and, as always, Fishguts posts photos to back up reports. Check out shots of the trips on the photo pages on the Fishguts Web site.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

Kingfish and blowfish angling went well at the clam stakes in the bay, and a mix of other fish, like snappers and porgies, bit among them, a report on <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>’s Web site said. Snapper fishing in the lagoons was happening. Kingfish held in Little Egg Bay behind the red tower. Spots began to appear in the local area. No much was heard about summer flounder today and Sunday. Threatening weather kept anglers docked Sunday, but one report rolled in that day about a trip that ran across good flounder fishing on the ocean between the Rutgers research buoys and Little Egg Reef. The drift was right, and the trip left the fluke biting, when winds came up, making seas a bit sporty. Flounder fishing was productive Saturday at Little Egg Reef and Garden State Reef South. Solid catches, including good-sized flounder, were also reported from both places Friday. Flounder could still be found at Little Egg Inlet in deeper waters.

<b>Tuckerton</b>

Summer flounder, fairly decent catches, were angled aboard from 60 feet on the ocean with <b>Legal Limit Charters</b>, so long as there was a drift, Capt. T.J. said. Trips were “picking some nice fish,” he said, and sea bass to 3 pounds were starting to be in the mix. Tuna trips are on the books aboard this week. No open-boat flounder/sea bass trips are available this week, because charters are booked. But open trips will resume as soon as possible. The trips are posted on Legal Limit’s <a href=" http://www.legallimitcharters.com/open-boat.php" target="_blank">open-boat page</a> when dates are decided.

<b>Margate</b>

Fishing aboard scored well on summer flounder to 5 and 6 pounds and sea bass to 3 pounds on the ocean at 40- to 70-foot depths and the reefs, said Capt. Eric from <b>O-Beth Sportfishing Charters</b>. Flounder season is open only through September 25, and the month is one of the best for the fishing. Sea bass season will also be winding down. Get them while you can.  

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Mahi mahi, seven of the fish to 18 pounds, were trolled on a trip offshore aboard Saturday,  said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. Fishing was weathered out Friday, and Rich Duffy and family aboard Thursday knuckled in summer flounder and sea bass from the back bay. Rich’s 6-year-old daughter was on the trip, her first-ever, and caught her first fish, a sea bass. Ideal tides, high tides at night, are happening this week on the bay for striped bass fishing with popper lures and flies, a specialty on the boat. Inshore sharking, catch-and-release angling, kept giving up catches, mostly duskies and browns. A friend caught them in the past days, and a trip with Jersey Cape beat a bunch last week, covered in a previous report. Joe this week is competing in the Mid Atlantic $500,000 big game tournament from Cape May. Limited space remains for Jersey Cape’s annual trips to Montauk for the fall migration of striped bass, blues and false albacore. The trips fish the legendary run the last two weekends of September and first two of October.  See the <a href=" http://www.captainjoehughes.com/page4.html" target="_blank">traveling charters page</a> on Jersey Cape’s Web site. Keep up on Joe’s fishing on <a href="http://captainjoehughes.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s blog</a>.

<b>Cape May</b>

Tuna fishing was slow during John Grinnie’s charter Saturday on the <b>Heavy Hitter</b>, Capt. George said. A wahoo bit off the line, and after the tuna bite seemed slow for everyone, the anglers aboard deep-dropped for tilefish. A golden tilefish was bagged, and so were a bunch of rosefish, with incredibly snowy, white meat. More tiles probably could’ve been hooked, but pumping in the fish from 650 feet was hard on the anglers, and they had enough. Took a good minute for the 4-pound sash weights to reach bottom, and the fish hit immediately when the bait hit bottom, then had to be reeled in. The anglers also fished a wreck close to shore on the way home, and big bergals 2 to 3 pounds bit. The trip began fishing at the Elephant Trunk, trolling to Baltimore Canyon without a touch from tuna, but a bite-off from the wahoo. A couple of white marlin and a couple of blue marlin were raised among the fleet, but not landed. A few mahi mahi were bagged among the boats. Tuna were supposedly caught there previously, and the best reports that George heard had been from the Baltimore. Boaters had also been putting the brakes on 200-pound bigeye tuna at Baltimore and Wilmington canyons last week. Then a mess of boats flocked there Saturday. The bigeyes took know how to land in 600-foot depths. They were unlike big bluefin tuna caught in 100-foot depths that run but don’t plunge to the bottom like bigeyes. Fifty-class reels were challenging to use on the bigeyes, and even 80s required care to land the fish. One angler used 130s and said the bigeyes were subdued with no problem. A trip on the Heavy Hitter with Dave Croston’s group in the past days knocked around blues and sharks. Inshore trolling for blues remained good lately, and bonito, Spanish mackerel and mahi mahi could be mixed in. Mahi mahi hovered along the pots close to shore. Sharking lately caught and released browns close to shore for good fights. Summer flounder fishing seemed to pick up on the ocean, anywhere from Cape May Reef to Reef 11 to the Old Grounds. Some good catches like 21 keepers a trip were heard about. So were slow trips, like when conditions, or winds and currents, failed to create a good drift. The Heavy Hitter is fishing for all these species. Plenty of dates are available, and call if interested.

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