<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

Access to Sea Bright was opened, said Jimmy from <b>Julian’s Bait & Tackle</b>. He thinks Sea Bright’s bathing beach might be open, and anglers can fish there, but isn’t sure. But he knows Monmouth Beach is open. Access to federal lands is closed. So is access to many beaches, after the hurricane. But there are places to surf fish. Boats today were out to chum for striped bass, but results were yet to be known. Blackfishing will be good when the bag limit is increased to six on Friday from the current limit of one. Boaters were already catching and releasing plenty of the tautog. Julian’s is open, and all bait is stocked. Stop in to find out about fishing and to pick up bait.

Awesome news: Atlantic Highlands harbor said there’s a good possibility the party boat <b>Atlantic Star</b> will be able to fish starting Saturday, Capt. Tom said. Anglers can call him Friday evening to find out. He’s waiting for word from the harbor. After the hurricane, whether the boat would sail again this season was doubtful. The harbor was destroyed. When trips resume, the Atlantic Star will sail for blackfish 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily. <b>***Update, Friday, 11/16:***</b> The fishing is a go: Starting Saturday, the Atlantic Star will sail for blackfish 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily, Tom said. The harbor gave the go-ahead, and the weather looks good to begin that day.  <b>***Update, Saturday, 11/17:***</b> Blackfish, a mix of sizes from throwbacks to keepers, were picked aboard so far on today’s trip, Tom said in a phone call at 11 a.m. on the outing. Winds and seas were a bit cranky, and a light crowd joined the trip. Tom was unsure about weather forecasts for Sunday’s trip, and anglers can call the boat to confirm whether that trip and the rest of the week’s trips will run. <b>***Another Update, Saturday, 11/17:***</b> Blackfishing turned out fair aboard today, Tom said. Anglers picked the tautog through the trip, with a few lulls. Some landed four or five keepers, and some landed no keepers, but most bagged fish. More throwbacks bit than keepers, certainly, but the trip fished at one drop the whole time, because customers were content with the action, catching throwbacks between keepers, missing other hits. The boat will fish on Thanksgiving during the usual hours, weather permitting. Anglers can call the boat Wednesday evening to confirm.

<b>Highlands</b>

The <b>Hyper Striper</b> was motored out to fish today for the first time since the storm, Capt. Pete said. Forty striped bass, including five keepers, were landed so far, when he gave this report this morning over the phone on the outing. “So, signs of life,” Pete said. Combo striper and blackfish trips will begin Friday, when the blackfish bag limit is increased to six from one. Anglers should call if they want a trip the rest of the month and in December.

<b>Fisher Price Charters</b> will begin fishing Friday, Capt. Derek said. That will be the first trip since the disaster. Trips will target blackfish during the next days. But if striped bass pop up, the anglers will go after them. Derek fished with friends the last couple of days, seeing no stripers. But the season was early for striper fishing to be finished. Blackfishing was very good. The next week is mostly booked with charters, but Derek might run an open-boat trip next week. Call if interested. A few dates remain for charters this month and in December.

<b>Neptune</b>

“What devastation,” Capt. Ralph from <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b> said in an e-mail. He saw towns to the south to Seaside Park on an individual-reservation striped bass trip Wednesday. The trip traveled that far south, and no stripers turned up there, but the fishing ended with a “bang,” he said, when the trip returned north. Plenty of stripers were found at two places there. “Everyone had a great time,” Ralph said. “(But) very somber day, looking at all the storm damage.”  All the fish were caught on bait. Striper fishing was very good on a trip Tuesday. “All on bait,” Ralph said. Forecasts for rough weather were wrong on both days.  Dates are filling on individual-reservation blackfish trips, and anglers better reserve soon. “Or they’ll have to go on another boat,” Ralph said. If stripers are around on blackfish trips, and a majority of anglers want to fish for them, the trips will. Bait and tackle will be provided on the trips. White leggers are difficult to obtain for blackfish bait on trips this Friday to Sunday. “(But that won’t) be an issue, as they are biting good right now,” Ralph said. Individual-reservation blackfish/striper trips are slated for November 21 (4 spots available), 27 (6 spots) and 30 (4 spots) and December 2 (2 spots), 9 (3 spots), 15 (4 spots), 22 (6 spots), 23 (5 spots), 29 (4 spots), 30 (5 spots) and 31 (6 spots). That will be the final day for a six-blackfish bag limit. The limit will become four afterward. Individual-rez blackfish trips are also slated for January 1 (6 spots) and every Saturday and Sunday in January. The year’s final individual-reservation trip for cod offshore – “fill the freezer,” Ralph said – will run at 2 a.m. November 26, and five spots are available.

<b>Belmar</b>

Blackfishing trips will launch daily on Friday on the party boat <b>Big Mohawk</b>, Capt. Chris said. The bag limit will be hiked up to six from one that day, and blackfishing is the year’s main event on the Big Mo. The crew loves blackfishing, specializing in it. Green crabs will be provided for bait, and white leggers will be available for sale aboard when they can be obtained. Chris heard about none available yet. Blackfish were already reeled aboard trips, and the vessel began sailing Saturday, after the hurricane. Starting Friday, the Big Mohawk will sail for blackfish 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. <b>***Update, Saturday, 11/17:***</b> Anglers picked at blackfish throughout Friday’s trip, and some limited out,  a post on Big Mohawk’s Facebook page said. “Fishing was decent,” it said, and the tog averaged 7 pounds.

Fishing was slow for striped bass and blues on the ocean, said Capt. Alan from the party boat <b>Miss Belmar Princess</b>. Trips aboard resumed Saturday, after the hurricane, and none of the fleet caught many of those two fish. Forty or 50 blues and 10 or 12 stripers per day would be a good catch recently. Something changed with the fishing after the hurricane, and maybe the angling will change again, become better, after rough weather forecast for the next days. The boat will keep after the fish, and the Miss Belmar Princess is sailing for striped bass and blues 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.

Docks remained without power, so no fuel docks were available, but a fuel truck will be brought in Saturday for the <b>Katie H</b>, Capt. Mike said. He hopes to resume charters soon, checking out blackfishing, and seeing if any striped bass are around.

<b>***Update, Friday, 11/16:***</b> <b>Fisherman’s Den</b> was opened this morning, “as best we could,” Bob said in an e-mail. The building was gutted after the hurricane, and neither heat nor electric was on.  Wall peg boards were installed to hold blackfish and striped bass rigs, and jigs, sinkers and hooks were set out, and so on. Clams and crabs were stocked. The supply of stock is limited, and so are the store’s hours, for now. “We hope to get a trailer to work out of, until things get back to the new normal,” Bob said. Blackfishing essentially kicked off today, because the bag limit was raised to six from one. A good crowed headed out for the tautog, and they were expected to catch well, because the fishing was already good, on the inshore grounds. Surf fishing for stripers was good, on clams, and access was open to many beaches, after the storm, “but check with local authorities,” Bob said. One angler landed 14 stripers, mostly throwbacks, in the surf Thursday on clams. “Good luck,” Bob said. “ We all can use some.”

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

The party boat <b>Gambler</b> was scheduled to fish today, for the first time after the hurricane, Capt. Bob said. Striped bass trips will fish the ocean 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily, with jigs “or whatever it takes,” Bob said. “I don’t know what it’s like out there,” he said, “but we’ll find out (today).” <b>***Update, Saturday, 11/17:***</b> Striper fishing the past couple of days was slow aboard, but somewhat improved today, Bob said. The ocean was cloudy “again today,” he said, and angling began slowly. But fair readings of bait and stripers began to be marked at mid-day, then a few stripers were caught on each drift. More than half were throwbacks, but a few were keepers. A couple of 8-pound bluefish were decked. Ava 47’s or any jigs that looked like sand eels worked best. Bob had been fishing a Krocodile spoon, landing nothing. Then he switched to an Ava 47 with a green tail, and caught. “Hopefully, it’ll just keep improving,” Bob said.

<b>***Update, Saturday, 11/17:***</b> “It felt really good to get out and go fishing,” Capt. Matt from the party boat <b>Norma-K III</b> said in a post on the vessel’s Facebook page on Friday. The boat resumed sailing for the first time after the hurricane. Blackfishing was slow aboard that day. The ocean “had an ugly green color,” Matt said, and currents ran strongly. The first two drops produced “no life at all,” he said. At all the rest of the spots fished, a few of the tautog – keepers and throwbacks – were pumped in. “We sat on these spots a while, trying to build the life, but it was not meant to be,” Matt said. A 6-pound blackfish was the pool-winner. The Norma-K III is fishing for blackfish 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays and 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Fridays, striped bass 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays and Saturdays, and ling and cod 3 to 9 p.m. Saturdays.  

<b>Toms River</b>

More home owners and business owners than before were allowed across Route 37 Bridge to Seaside Heights and other towns on the barrier island, said Jeff from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b>. But surf fishing was no option, and nothing was heard about saltwater fishing, except about striped bass reeled from Point Pleasant Canal. Most customers freshwater fished for now. But the store is open from mornings to afternoons, and call for hours that were changed since the hurricane.

<b>Forked River</b>

<b>Grizz’s Forked River Bait & Tackle</b> is open, Jana said. The store made out okay in the hurricane. Jana lost her car, and her house was flooded, and others fared much worse, so she felt fortunate. The striped bass migration was in, and everybody who fished for them seemed to catch. The population of fish seemed large. On the ocean stripers were trolled and jigged, and at Barnegat Inlet they were clammed, and along Barnegat Bay’s sod banks they were eeled. So the fish were caught at all usual places in all usual ways. One angler, Harry Combs, weighed in two bluefish 10.41 pounds and 7.3 pounds from a party boat trip on the ocean on the Golden Eagle from Belmar. Salted, frozen clams and all the frozen baits, including bunker and mullet, are stocked. Eels are carried.

<b>Barnegat Light</b>

<b>***Update, Saturday, 11/17:***</b> Charters on the <b>Super Chic</b> fished for striped bass at Barnegat Inlet on Thursday and Friday, a post on the boat’s Facebook page said. Fishing on the first day was “a bit slow,” the post said, but on the second, Friday, was very good.  On the first day, a couple of keepers and some throwbacks were managed. On the second, 19 keepers were boated, and 35 or 40 throwbacks came in. Trips would fish again today and Sunday.

The doors are open, bait and tackle are stocked, the fuel dock is working, and fish are biting, said Vince Sr. from <b>Bobbie’s Boat Rentals</b>. No rental boats will be available the rest of the season, but everything else is up and running. Plenty of striped bass were slugged from the ocean to Barnegat Inlet to Barnegat Bay. Most customers caught them on livelined spots at all those places. Blackfishing was good, and the bag limit will be lifted to six on Friday from one. Live spots and green crabs and frozen baits are stocked. Bobbie’s features a complete bait and tackle shop and fuel dock.

<b>Barnegat</b>

<b>***Update, Sunday, 11/18:***</b> From an edited e-mail from Capt. Dave DeGennaro from the <b>Hi Flier</b>: “It’s been a long few weeks, but the Hi Flier is being splashed back in the water on Tuesday. My marina, Sun Harbor Bay Club, was badly damaged from the storm, so we’ll be finishing up our season at Bob's Bay Marina, just one driveway west of Sun Harbor. Thankfully, our family, home and boat all came through unharmed. We’ll be fishing every day until Christmas. I’m available seven days a week for striper charters and open-boat trips. Typically, I offer Thursday through Sunday during the season, as I balance another job. That Point Pleasant office was demolished in the storm, and while a new location is sought, I’ll fish every day the weather allows. We’ll start with Wednesday, Thanksgiving eve, sailing 6 to 11 AM. This is a unique 5-hour trip, and we usually only offer 6- and 8-hour trips, but I’m committed to a … fishing trip!  At 1 PM on the Carolyn Ann out of Barnegat Light. It’s a private charter for the Barnegat High School Fishing Club that includes my son as a member. So, I can't be late! We’ll have time to liveline spots in the bay and inlet as well as poke around outside for birds and readings to cast. Three person max. Next up, Thanksgiving Day stripers, 6:30 AM to 12:30 PM. We’ll have you home in time to feast. This is another sharp return-time day.  Also, Saturday, 6:30 AM to 12:30 PM. These trips are available for charter or open-boat. Open-boat is three-person max, and all fish are shared. Besides stripers, there is another fishery I am excited about, the fall run of bluefin tuna. These are 50- to 150-pound fish, free jumping and crashing bait on the surface. Sounds exciting, right? It is, though the next one I catch will be my first. Casting top-water lures with heavy spinning tackle is how to catch them. I have the arsenal – now I have to hone my game. These fish are very boat shy, skittish when you approach them. Just watching them take to the air and crash bait is worth the price of admission. On my own time, I’ll be pursuing these fish, as I’ve been waiting all year. As far as taking customers out, I’m reluctant, as the odds of hooking up, never mind landing one, is not good. You’d have to convince me that you’re OK with not catching anything, before we jumped in the chase. This could be a good thing to combo with a striper trip. The good news is that this fishery is usually only 5 to 7 miles offshore, in sight of land.  We have at least five weeks of good fishing ahead. I look forward to getting busy. Too much down time, my garage has never been cleaner, and now I need to get back on the water. See you on board.”

<b>Tuckerton</b>

Marinas and tackle shops were mostly out of business for the season, but not completely, around Tuckerton, after the hurricane, but <b>Legal Limit Charters</b> will resume fishing this weekend, Capt. T.J. said. Charters will sail, and open-boat trips will run for blackfish every Saturday and Sunday. T.J. helped with his marina’s clean up, and the marina made a space for him to dock, and he brought in an electrician to turn on power at the slip. The boat was being splashed today. The hurricane destroyed Tuckerton and Long Beach Island. A new channel of water divided Holgate, at the southern end of the island. Holgate was blown and washed over, and roads were upturned, and sands covered everything. The island was pounded at least up to Ship Bottom. Water 4 or 5 feet deep washed across. A friend’s house, built 4 feet above ground, had 18 inches of water flood inside. It’s located a few houses back from the ocean. But Legal Limit will begin fishing now on charters and open-boat trips, including open trips for blackfish every Saturday and Sunday, starting this weekend. See <a href=" http://www.legallimitcharters.com/open-boat.php
" target="_blank">Legal Limit’s open-boat page</a> online.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

One customer dropped off striped bass fillets and fried striper with tartar sauce and lemon, said Scott from <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b> in a phone call. Another showed photos of stripers bagged among a school in the ocean. Not a lot of news could be heard after the hurricane, and the local area was devastated in the storm. But stripers were definitely around.  The store was flooded severely in the hurricane and must be rebuilt, covered here previously. But the shop will be open 6 a.m. Saturday “for the few anglers that are looking to get away,” Scott said in a report on the shop’s Web site. “Everyone has been working every daylight hour (and more) for the past two weeks, and needs some away time.” He couldn’t be sure how many fresh clams to order, and if anyone wants a bushel of fresh shucked, e-mail him at mail@scottsbt.com. He must order by 7 a.m. Friday. The store might be open one day a week like this for now. A trailer is being set up in front of the shop for a “blow-out flood sale,” Scott said on the site. Much tackle was lost in the flood, but some was salvaged, and customers can pick through and save. For example, a complete wall of rigs was put in rubber tubs prior to the storm, but ended up in the water. The rigs will need to be rinsed and repackaged, but surely ones can be found that are in new condition, and they will be sold at 10 percent less than they cost the shop to buy. Tools, lures and knives will be on hand that got wet but look new and will be sold at considerable savings like 50 percent off original retail price. Rod and reel combos, too. They were rinsed but will need maintenance to make sure they won’t deteriorate sooner than usual. <a href="http://www.pennparts.com" target="_blank">PennParts.com</a>, the store’s online business featuring every Penn part available on the market, and many that are no longer available, is up and running.

<b>Absecon</b>

Striped bass were cracked from the back waters on every charter with Capt. Dave from <b>Absecon Bay Sportsman Center</b>, he said. “No blitzes,” he said, but the fish were there, and customers weighed in some. Seemed that when waters clear, the fishing will take off. Dave had to be brief, because the store was busy, when he gave this report over the phone. But fishing was pretty good, he said.

<b>Atlantic City</b>

At Absecon Inlet, shore anglers yanked in striped bass, redfish, blackfish and ling, said Noel from <b>One Stop Bait & Tackle</b>. Lots of stripers were beginning to appear, getting hooked on plugs, bloodworms, fresh bunker or eels. The blackfish inhaled green crabs or clams, and six will be able to be kept per angler starting Friday, compared with the current bag limit of one. Baits stocked include fresh bunker, fresh clams, bloodworms, eels and green crabs.

<b>Brigantine</b>

Afternoons served up striped bass from the surf since Friday, on days when the angling turned on, said Capt. Andy from <b>Riptide Bait & Tackle</b>. Stripers were banked Friday and Saturday afternoons. The fishing was slow Sunday and Monday. The catches exploded Tuesday at 2 p.m., and the bass swarmed everywhere. Nothing was doing Wednesday, until four or five stripers were suddenly weighed in, starting at 4 p.m. Fresh bunker should be stocked for the weekend. Nothing was heard from the clam supplier yet “to say no,” Andy said. Sometimes fresh clams in the shell are stocked, and sometimes fresh, shucked clams are.  The bounty is up to $380 for the season’s first striper 43 inches or larger checked in from the Brigantine surf. Entry is $5, and the angler who checks in the fish wins all the cash. Anglers must enter 12 hours before catching. Riptide’s annual Striped Bass Derby is under way, awarding cash prizes for the biggest stripers beached from Brigantine’s surf, until December 23. Weekly and monthly prizes are also awarded, and entry is only $20. What’s more, with a Brigantine beach buggy permit, entry allows anglers to drive the entire Brigantine beach, unlike the permit alone. The first couple of fish were entered in the derby. The store is fully open after the storm, and so is Brigantine.

<b>Ocean City</b>

Waters were often rough, dirty or both, said Ed from <b>Fin-Atics</b>. But when conditions were good, striped bass were around to be caught. Small stripers were played on the back bay on artificials, until waters became dirty the last three or four days. When the bay was dirty, a few of the bass were baited on clam or bunker. Boaters pulled in stripers at Great Egg Harbor Inlet, mostly on chunks of bunker, a few on live spots or eels. Big blues were occasionally mixed in. A few stripers were trolled on the ocean on Stretch plugs and umbrella rigs, but the fishing didn’t sound great. A few stripers were beached from the surf, but not a lot. Not much was heard about blackfish catches, though a few tried for them. When the waters “straighten out,” Ed said, maybe more stripers and blackfish will be cranked in. The blackfish bag limit will be increased to six on Friday from the current limit of one. Fresh bunker and fresh clams are stocked when boats can sail for them. The supply was returning to normal after the hurricane. Eels are carried.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Lots of wind and rain kept news scarce during the week, but striped bass fishing seemed best on the ocean during the weekend, said Mike from <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. The fish were trolled, and umbrella rigs usually work best on the troll locally. But trolled Stretch plugs worked best during the weekend. Bright colors like chartreuse and Tequila Sunrise caught. Jigging didn’t score many. Boaters bailed stripers on Delaware Bay farther south. Back to the local area, stripers were sometimes beached from the surf, on clams or bunker, and quite a few redfish were yanked from the beach. Not a lot of the reds were keepers, and North Wildwood seemed to give up more keepers than elsewhere. The reds often grabbed mullet when anglers fished for blues, and they did catch blues at times. Few anglers fished for blackfish, because they concentrated on stripers, and one was the blackfish bag limit. But the limit will be increased to six on Friday, and those who did blackfish found them within 5 miles from shore. The inshore wrecks gave them up, and the catches tapered beyond there. Fresh clams and bunker and live eels, green crabs and spots are stocked. All frozen baits are carried. 

One 15-pound striped bass was trolled on the ocean Monday on a Stretch plug on a quick, one-hour trip with Patty Gaudet, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b>, affiliated with <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. A trip Sunday found no stripers on the ocean, but another Saturday bagged six stripers 34 to 38 inches there, covered in the last report. Those fish were also trolled on Stretches. Two bluefish, caught on another boat during the weekend, were the only blues heard about from vessels on the ocean. The ocean was 52 to 55 degrees, and the back bay was 48 or 49 degrees, considerably colder. Surf anglers beached quite a few redfish and a few stripers. Reserve dates for annual weekend trips to Florida in winter. The trips can fish for a large variety of catches including redfish, speckled sea trout and tarpon in the back country to king mackerel, blackfin tuna and sailfish out front. See info on Jersey Cape’s <a href="http://www.captainjoehughes.com/page4.html" target="_blank">Traveling Fisherman Charters</a> Web page. Keep up with Joe’s fishing on <a href="http://captainjoehughes.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s blog</a>.

<b>Cape May</b>

Fishing for striped bass was very good on Delaware Bay and at Cape May Rips on livelined spots, Capt. Mario from the <b>Down Deep</b> said. Charters will keep fishing for them, and the Down Deep will begin blackfishing once the striper run ends or on December 21, through winter. Book the trips now, and see the <a href=" http://www.downdeepsportfishing.com/ddsf/special-trips/" target="_blank">Down Deep’s winter blackfishing schedule</a> online.

Striped bass began to be boated at Cape May Rips on Wednesday for the first time this season, and a bunch were already getting bagged on Delaware Bay, said Capt. T.J. from <b>Legal Limit Charters</b>. A dozen of the fish to 35 inches were socked at the rips aboard that day. T.J.’s other boat, sailing from Tuckerton, will begin to fish for blackfish, including on open-boat trips every weekend, this weekend. See the report above.

Capt. Dave from <b>Relentless Sport Fishing</b>, who lives in Fortescue, but sails from Cape May, is finished chartering for the year, he said. Homes and buildings, including Dave’s house, were crushed at Fortescue along the shore of Delaware Bay. Dave’s house is able to be repaired, and he he’s fortunate, because many others aren’t repairable. So he’s busy repairing the house, and will stop chartering this year. The bay front was destroyed at Fortescue, but the town farther from the water was not. Higbee’s Marina was fine, but the fuel dock, on Fortescue Creek closer to the bay, needed to be replaced, apparently. Sportsman’s Cove Marina, at the end of the creek near the bay, was destroyed. The docks and boat ramp there were gone. “Was a good one,” Dave said about the storm. He’ll begin fishing again next season.

Winds and seas might be rough Friday, according to forecasts, but the party boat <b>Porgy IV</b> is supposed to begin blackfishing daily that day, Capt. Paul said. Weather might end up unpleasant, but he expects to sail. The bag limit will be increased to six that day from one. A trip aboard fished for striped bass on Delaware Bay on Saturday, but waters were filthy, and no stripers bit. But stripers were bunker-chunked on the bay on other days, and striper fishing turned on at Cape May Rips on Wednesday. Weather kept the Porgy IV from fishing after Saturday. Beginning Friday, the boat will fish for blackfish at 8 a.m. daily.

Nick from <b>Hands Too Bait & Tackle</b> heaved in a 36-pound 43-inch striped bass from the surf Sunday night on a bunker head, he said. A customer banked a 30-pound striper at Cape May Point. Surf fishing wasn’t hot and heavy, but some catches were beached from Stone Harbor to Cape May Point. Big blues and some stripers tumbled into the surf at North Wildwood a couple of days. Fresh clams or fresh bunker were baits to dunk for stripers from shore. The main body of migrating stripers seemed yet to arrive this far south, but some did arrive. Little was heard about the biggest-sized stripers, like 50-pounders. But more is usually heard about them when the migration is fully in. Still, striper fishing was good on Delaware Bay for boaters fishing with bunker chunks. Stripers boated at Cape May Rips were just heard about for the first time this season. At the rips most anglers fish with eels. The blackfish bag limit will be raised to six Friday from one, and the tautog swam along the jetties. Fresh bunker is stocked, and reserving the bait is recommended. Fresh clams, green crabs, eels and all the frozen baits are carried.

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