<b>Staten Island</b>

Flooding from the hurricane kept Capt. Chuck from <b>Angler Sportfishing Charters</b> busy at home, he said. So he couldn’t run trips since the storm, but is slated to launch charters again Wednesday. Trips aboard will keep sailing for a combo of fluke, blues and sea bass in one outing. Plus night trips aboard started to knock out fairly decent angling for striped bass.  Trips are being booked for the fall run of striped bass and blues.

<b>Keyport</b>

Lots of miles were covered on a trip aboard Monday, fishing for fluke, and waters weren’t dirty, like they were for several days after the hurricane, but the angling seemed yet to be happening after the weather, said Capt. Joe from <b>Papa’s Angels Charters</b>. Maybe 10 fluke were landed, and one was a keeper. The trip, with Phil DeBaeke and friend John, first fished toward the West Bank, then moved to off Sandy Hook, then to Sandy Hook Channel in the ocean. The trip finished out the day at the 1 buoy on Raritan Bay. Winds blew at the West Bank, uncomfortable. Conditions weren’t as bad when the trip reached Sandy Hook. Lots of boats, including party boats, fished that day. The day was nice to be out, Joe said, and anglers will see what happens with the fishing. Open-boat trips are sailing for fluke either 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. or 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily when no charter is booked. Call to reserve. 

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

Fishing for fluke was slow since the storm, and a few keepers were managed every trip, said Capt. Tom from the party boat <b>Atlantic Star</b>. The angling won’t be like earlier this summer, but he hopes the fishing will rebound. More shorts, turning out action, bit on some days than others. Some places also gave up more of the throwbacks than others. So when one place gave up fewer fluke, the boat was moved until more were found. Trips fished the ocean and bay, and the ocean swell from the hurricane had finally calmed. No trips fished the deep channels like before, because fluking wasn’t good at the channels. Fluking was tough on Saturday afternoon’s trip, and a couple of fluke would come up, and the drift would be repeated, and none would bite that time. One angler bagged four keepers on Sunday afternoon’s trip. “So that was his day,” Tom said. Trips will stick with fluke fishing. 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, 9/6:***</b> None of the twice daily trips aboard will sail Wednesday on the Atlantic Star, but the trips will resume Thursday, Tom said.

<b>Highlands</b>

<b>Fisher Price Charters</b> fished for fluke Friday, but the angling was slow, and only a bunch of throwbacks, no keepers, bit, Capt. Derek said. The trip fished everywhere from the ocean along the deep and rough bottom to the bay. Waters were dirty everywhere since the hurricane, and the storm seemed to affect fishing. Bottom fishing was somewhat slower than before on a trip aboard Saturday. Lots of small sea bass chomped, but 20 keepers to 3 ½ pounds, some blackfish, a couple of porgies and a couple of ling were coolered. Derek gave striped bass fishing a shot at night Sunday, read the fish, but couldn’t get them to bite. So he switched to porgy fishing, and that put up a very good catch. Reservations are starting to be booked for fall trips for stripers and bottom fish. Forecasts look like the weather will be rough this week, and the storms will probably create a swell. Charters are running, and the next open-boat trips will probably be slated for the weekend, because of the weather, for fluke or bottom fish. Derek would like to sail for sea bass this weekend before the season for them ends.

With <b>Raritan Bay Charters</b> fluke fishing was slow, giving up only shorts, Friday at the channels with Rod Baddersby’s charter, Capt. Dave said. So the trip switched to bottom fishing, tugging aboard sea bass to 4 pounds, several triggerfish, a couple of blues and a lizardfish. Dave ahead of time told the anglers fluking was slow, letting them know they could bottom fish if the slow down continued on the trip, and that’s what they did. On Sunday a trip bottom fished, catching probably three dozen keeper sea bas to 3 pounds, lots of throwbacks, a load of porgies, and a few triggerfish. The triggerfish on the trips were good-sized: 3 or 4 pounds. Trips aboard will still fluke fish, and the season remained early for fluke. Freshwater from the hurricane probably lowered the salinity level on the fluke grounds, and the fish probably “buried themselves,” Dave said. The angling could very well pick back up. But in addition to fluke fishing, Raritan Bay Charters is up for porgy fishing, and lots of the scup seemed to swim the bay. Open-boat trips are sailing when no charter is booked.

<b>Neptune</b>

A cod trip aboard Saturday fished mid range, instead of the usual offshore, barreling up a halfway decent catch of the fish to 10 or 11 pounds and lots of big ling, said Capt. Ralph from <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b>. A trip on Ralph’s other boat that day set out for bluefish, but not many blues were around, so the anglers switched to sea bass fishing, reeling up a fairly decent catch to save the day. On a fluke trip aboard Sunday, the drift was too fast, so the boat was anchored for sea bass, and the anglers pulled them in and some fluke to save the day. Ralph expected a trip Monday morning to be able to sail, but the weather looked rough from the afternoon through the next days. Individual-reservation trips for fluke are sailing every Wednesday through September 21, and kids under 12 are free with an adult, limited to two per adult. Fluke season closes September 26. Two trips were added to Last Lady’s schedule. An individual-reservation trip for sea bass was added for this Sunday, the final day of sea bass season, and green crab will also be aboard for blackfish. An individual-reservation trip for fluke was added for Sunday, September 18. Also, these spots remain for individual-reservation trips for cod and pollock offshore: four spaces this coming Monday, and two spaces Monday, September 26.

<b>Belmar</b>

The ocean closer to shore was a little dirty on a trip last Tuesday, soon after the hurricane, so the boat was motored out to Shark River Reef, 15 miles from shore, for  cleaner waters, said Capt. Jared from <b>Fin-Ominal Sportfishing</b>. The anglers loaded up on lots of ling, no cod. On the next day, Wednesday, a trip aboard bailed bluefish, big ones to 15 pounds and larger, plenty of them. At first, the trip had found smaller, cocktail blues 1 ½ or 2 pounds, and 12 or 15 were hooked, until the fish disappeared. Then fish were seen breaking the surface 2 miles away, turning out to be the big blues, chasing adult bunker. The fish moved fast, but the trip kept on them 2 or 3 hours, lots of fun. On Thursday a trip aboard found okay bluefishing, not that great, but action, 18 miles from shore. The fish were smaller blues, and were found at the Monster Ledge. At first, the trip looked close to shore, but no fish showed up. On Friday a trip on deck bottom fished, pounding lots of sea bass, probably seven to ten keepers per angler, and only a couple of fluke, at a wreck 12 miles to the southeast. On Saturday a bunch of kids 5 or 6 years old were aboard, so the trip fished close to shore, not farther out like would be ideal, and a couple of fluke were managed, not the best fishing. Currents were strong. Reports were heard about a bunch of anglers returning to offshore fishing Wednesday to Thursday after the hurricane. Not much was heard about results, but waters were supposedly not so clean after the weather. Takes a long time for waters everywhere to clear after a storm like that. Fin-Ominal fished offshore at the canyons two Saturdays ago, before the storm, locating an okay catch of 30- to 40-pound yellowfin tuna, about eight, if Capt. Jared remembered. Tons of mahi mahi were drilled, so many that the anglers had to stop catching them.

Bluefishing during daytime trips aboard was somewhat picky, but put the brakes on 8- to 12-pounders, a pick of the fish on most of the outings, said a report on the party boat <b>Golden Eagle</b>’s Web site. On the boat’s nighttime trip Sunday, blues attacked fairly steadily for several hours. The high hook clubbed 12 big blues, and the low hook tackled  two. Many blues were lost when broken off. “Not great fishing, but a <i>big</i> improvement from what it has been,” the report said. Stormy weather forecasted for the next days, “will not look good for fishing conditions,” the report said. “(But we) will be ready to sail weather permitting.” 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>

This report was posted as an update Saturday but is being re-posted now in case anyone didn’t see it: Fluke fishing became much better than before on Friday morning on the party boat <b>Jamaica II</b> on the ocean, an e-mail from the boat said. Tons of bites were creamed, and a good number of keepers were bagged, and sea bass, including some jumbos, shoveled up good action. The hills were loaded with small fluke – “minis,” the e-mail said – and “some bigger keepers,” it said, hovered along the rough bottom. Waters and action were slowly improving, after the ocean was stirred up from the hurricane, and fluking was expected to be good this past weekend. Trips will focus on fishing on rough bottom or at rocks and wrecks this coming week. Recent pool-winners were: Fernando Arrelano, Hopelawn, 5-pound 12-ounce fluke, one of six keepers he bagged; Art Boswell, Philadelphia, 5-1/4-pound fluke; and Brian Castalano, Lincroft, 5-pound 6-ounce sea bass, on Thursday afternoon’s trip. 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.

Quite a few customers fished since the hurricane, said John from <b>The Reel Seat</b>. Lots of fluke swam the ocean, but were small. How was fluking in Manasquan River? John was asked. John knew that fluke were pulled from Manasquan Inlet, said, and incoming tides produced better than outgoing, because lots of waters tumbled out from the river during outgoing, because of runoff from the storm. Snapper blues schooled the river, and not much was heard about hickory shad from the river. Back on the ocean, for bottom fishers, sea bassing seemed somewhat more consistent than before, and ling, cod and porgies bit. Ocean bluefishing became a little better since the storm. Blues, healthy catches, were wrestled at the Shrewsbury Rocks Saturday. Striped bass to 28 or 29 inches, not big, but some keepers, were mixed in at the rocks. Nothing was heard about fish like false albacore and bonito, though fishing for them is usually good by now. The Manasquan Marlin and Tuna Club was holding an offshore fishing tournament in the past days, and lots of fish were entered in the event toward the end of the week. Yellowfin tuna were brought in, and reportedly a 287-pound bigeye tuna was nailed on the Pepper, and a 700-pound blue marlin was axed on the Jenny Lee. Lots of white marlin were landed during the event, and even wahoos gave up good catches. Lots of life filled the waters, and the catches came from Hudson Canyon, John believed. Trips caught during nighttime and daytime. John saw a report posted online, including photos, about a trip that whaled a tremendous catch at night. The report said tuna were chunked, jigged and even popper-plugged on the trip at night. Offshore waters cooled since the storm, and temperature breaks sometimes formed, and some warm eddies moved in.

<b>Barnegat Light</b>

Lots of blues, five to ten per angler, big ones, were crushed Sunday on the party boat <b>Miss Barnegat Light</b>, “a great day fishing,” a report on the vessel’s Web site said. A similar catch – five to ten “big, big blues,” the report said, per angler – was clobbered during Saturday’s daytime trip aboard. Large blues dished up action on the vessel’s trip Saturday night, though the angling wasn’t as great as during the daytime. Bluefishing was a slow pick on Wednesday’s and Friday’s trips, but was good for large fish on Thursday’s trip. About three to five 12- to 16-pound blues were beaten per angler on the trip.  The Miss Barnegat Light is bluefishing at 8 a.m. daily and 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. However, none of the morning trips will sail this Saturday and September 10 and 30.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

Blowfish, sea bass, kingfish, porgies and “other miscellaneous fish” chewed in the bay,  a report on <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>’s Web site said. Mostly a mix of sea bass and blowfish made up the catches, but sometimes the other fish were seen, like five kingfish that one angler nabbed that were big enough to keep. Summer flounder anglers ran around a lot on the ocean to look for the fish, but “came back with disappointing stories,” the report said. Sea bass were socked at nearly any wreck or reef Saturday, and the best reports came from the wrecks 20 miles from shore. Anglers there loaded up on sea bass and also cod. Another month will pass before striped bass fishing perks up.

<b>Tuckerton</b>

Anglers aboard sailed for sea bass, piling up fairly good catches, a healthy pick of the fish to 4 pounds, in 60 feet on the ocean the past couple of days, with <b>Legal Limit Charters</b>, Capt. T.J. said.  T.J. knew about no numbers of summer flounder caught recently. One flounder was picked up on a trip aboard Sunday. Charters are fishing, and the next open-boat trips had been slated for this week, but will probably be weathered out.  Keep an eye on Legal Limit’s <a href=" http://www.legallimitcharters.com/open-boat.php" target="_blank">open-boat page</a> online for the next dates. The dates are posted when decided. T.J. heard about a few yellowfin tuna boated Friday to Saturday, but didn’t know details like location or whether the fish were trolled during the day or chunked at night.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Chase Kneeland and daughter Katie winged tons of sea bass and sand sharks aboard the back bay Sunday, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. Make Spaeder and son Mike scored the same aboard the bay earlier that day: lots of action with sea bass and sand sharks. Dustin Laricks, Patty Baugete and Dan Rath fished the inshore wrecks aboard Friday, angling up huge triggerfish to 7 pounds, a bunch of keeper sea bass and some croakers. A few summer flounder bit along the ocean reefs lately, but not much since the storm, and waters were stirred up. Ideal tides, high tides at dusk, are happening this week for striped bass fishing on the bay with popper plugs and flies, a specialty for Jersey Cape. That fishing’s been good all season. On the offshore grounds, good catches of tuna, mahi mahi and white marlin were nailed since the storm, and Jersey Cape will keep running trips for all these fish. 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>

Only a few trips fished aboard since the hurricane, because of the weather, but inshore trolling, fishing 20 miles off, latched into good catches on the boat, said Capt. Bob from the <b>Down Deep</b>. False albacore showed up for the first time this season on the outings, and large bonito and some mahi mahi were hung on the trips. Small blues disappeared that had been abundant at the shoals on the trips, but Bob hopes they’ll show back up. Croakers showed up at the reefs, and sea bass were mixed in. A few summer flounder were around, and angling for them was better lately than earlier in summer. But catching large numbers of keepers wasn’t happening. Good catches of tuna were heard about toward the end of the week from along the 40-fathom line between Poorman’s and Spencer canyons. Whether good numbers were taken was unknown. Looking ahead, striped bass fishing usually kicks in on trips from Cape May around the third week of October.

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