<b>Staten Island</b>

Sea bass, awesome catches, limits, were pounded through the weekend with <b>Outcast Charters</b>, Capt. Joe said. The fish weighed up to 3 pounds, and out-of-season blackfish to 9 pounds were mixed in and released. New York’s sea bass season opened Friday. But Outcast previously was sea bass fishing, bailing the catches, on trips that picked up anglers from Perth Amboy. Jersey’s sea bass season was already open, and pick ups from Jersey like that are an option. Outcast pays bridge tolls with a receipt. 

<b>Keyport</b>

Seven keeper fluke to 23 inches were iced on Nick Clemente’s trip with four other anglers near Sandy Hook on Sunday with <b>Papa’s Angels Charters</b>, Capt. Joe said. Four keeper fluke to 20 ½ inches were boxed Saturday on Raritan Bay with Charles Tallman’s trip with three other anglers. Throwbacks were released on both trips. A whopping 25 keeper fluke were walloped on a trip Wednesday aboard, covered in the last report. Open-boat trips for fluke are available 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. daily when no charter is booked. Call to reserve.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

An engine blew on the party boat <b>Fishermen</b> on Saturday, Capt. Ron said in a report on the vessel’s Web site. “Troubled times,” he said, and no trips will fish aboard until further notice. The boat had been sailing for fluke, and trips now might be out for several weeks. “Will keep you posted on the progress,” he said. “Sorry guys.”

Fluke fishing was slow aboard in past days, said Capt. Tom from the party boat <b>Atlantic Star</b>. Trips fished different parts of Raritan Bay and, when conditions were right, Flynn’s Knoll. Catches were better, including a limit of five for one angler and, for some, three or four keepers, on Wednesday aboard the bay, covered in the last report. Tom hoped the fishing would keep picking up, but instead it became “a pick here and there,” he said. Sometimes a few fluke would bite at a certain spot, and the drift would be repeated, until no more of the fish chomped. Sometimes a trip would produce somewhat better than another. But the fluking remained inconsistent, difficult to predict. Tire John caught three keepers on one of Sunday’s trips. Another angler, Nina, won the pool on Saturday afternoon’s trip, an anniversary for when she caught a 14-pound fluke aboard the previous year. But none of the fluke was sizeable in past days. Larger fluke like several 7-pounders and a 10-pounder came up on trips at times throughout this season, though, covered in previous reports. So, the fishing was slower in recent days, but the trips got out. The Atlantic Star is fishing for fluke twice daily 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 6 p.m. <b>***Update, Tuesday, 6//19:***</b> On this morning’s trip, John Mayer, Cranford, belted a 7-pound 9-ounce fluke, and Ben Santo, Keansburg, clubbed a 7-pound-even one, Tom said. A couple of 4-pounders were caught, and a few more keepers than usual came in. Short action was a bit improved. The trip kept working a spot, and a few fluke were caught on each drift there. The fishing’s been like that, with trips jumping around to catch some here, there. But every trip’s different. <b>***Another Update, Tuesday, 6//19:***</b> Fishing wasn’t as good on the afternoon’s trip as on the morning’s, but Tom McCall, Lincroft, drilled a 6-pound 4-ounce fluke on the afternoon’s outing. So, three good-sized fluke were taken today. The morning “was better, not great, but better than the afternoon,” Tom said.

<b>Highlands</b>

A fine week of striped bass fishing on the <b>Hyper Striper</b> once again, and limits were the rule, Capt. Pete said in an e-mail. The bass caught weighed up to 37 pounds, and livelining bunker was “the ticket,” he said. Looking ahead, bucktailing trips for jumbo fluke, inshore bluefin tuna charters and offshore canyon trips for yellowfin tuna are being booked for July and August. Anglers should call now for prime dates.

<b>Belmar</b>

<b>Fin-Ominal Sportfishing</b> bagged a 168-pound mako shark while competing in the Brett T. Bailey Mako Rodeo from Friday to Saturday, Capt. Jared said. Fin-Ominal didn’t win, but won the event last year and another year. The sharking was very good aboard this year. About 20 sharks, a good variety, were landed during the two days, including six smaller makos and some blues, browns and duskies. “Ton of fun,” Jared said. Waters were 68 or 69 degrees, and seas were 8 to 10 feet. A bottom-fishing trip Sunday with the Marino group cleaned up on about 40 keeper sea bass, 10 keeper fluke and a few ling. “A great day,” Jared said. The ocean held a 3- or 4-foot swell in the morning, beating up trips on smaller boats, but calmed later. Fin-Ominal this year is running a new, larger, 50-foot vessel that can accommodate large to small groups. Up to 23 can sail on pleasure cruises, and up to 15 can fish on trips. Bluefish, a good catch, were bombed on a charter Tuesday. Seas were rough, and bluefishing’s been steady on board. Cruises available include trips to watch fireworks on the ocean off Asbury Park every Wednesday and Point Pleasant Beach every Thursday in July and August.

Striped bass fishing was somewhat picky on the ocean in winds and swells, and waters that warmed a little, said Capt. Pete from <b>Parker Pete’s Fishing Charters</b>. Right place, right time, he said, but good shots of the fish, sizeable ones to 40 pounds, were still nailed on the boat. Lots of sharks were around, and Parker Pete’s is fishing for them. On a bottom-fishing trip Saturday, sharks began swimming around, so the anglers went after them. Blue sharks to 9 feet were battled and released, only a few miles from shore. Waters were in the mid to high 60s, clear, blue and beautiful. Parker Pete’s is also fishing for sharks farther from the coast, and is slated to compete in this weekend’s Mako Mania and Mako Fever tournaments. Bluefin tuna fishing is also an option aboard, and bluefins were around in the midshore ocean. Closer to the coast, bluefishing was spectacular, and fluke fishing had been picking up. But in winds and swells, fluking became good on some days, slow on others. Pete hopes forecasted settling weather will settle the fluking.  Parker Pete’s sails for all species available. Charters and open-boat trips are running. For availability on the open trips, see <a href="http://parkerpetefishing.com/belmar-fishing-trips/open-boat-trips" target="_blank">Parker Pete’s open-boat page</a> online, and sign up for the e-mailed newsletter on the site. Dates are announced in both places.

Northeast winds were difficult for anglers boating the ocean during the weekend, but the fish didn’t mind the weather, said Bob from <b>Fisherman’s Den</b> in an e-mail. Anglers fishing on larger boats found big striped bass on bunker schools a mile off Shark River Inlet. Fishing for blues and fluke was good on the ocean for boaters who could deal with the weather. Fluking was great on Shark River, though throwbacks dominated. Small blues swam the river. Lots of customers filled the shop for Fathers’ Day weekend.

<b>Brielle</b>

Sometimes ocean boaters decked striped bass, sometimes ran into a mix of bluefish and stripers, and sometimes found no stripers, said Eric from <b>The Reel Seat</b>. The striper fishing was up and down, and was good on Saturday morning toward Bradley Beach and Spring Lake or south of Asbury Park. Stripers to 50 pounds were clobbered, and livelined bunker was preferred bait. Fluke fishing was picking up in the ocean at places like Sea Girt Reef on bucktails. Manasquan River’s fluking was also picking up and was good. The keeper ratio was probably 40 to 1, but keepers were had, and decent-sized fluke like 2 and 3 pounds were bagged. Bottom-fishing was holding up well for sea bass and ling, especially sea bass, nearly everywhere. Shark fishing produced plenty of catches, including in the weekend’s Brett Bailey Mako Rodeo. The fish were often axed toward the Resor Wreck and the Fingers. Yellowfin tuna were trolled during the weekend toward the south or from Carteret Canyon to the south. A few trips fought bluefin tuna around the Atlantic Princess wreck, the Glory Hole and the Chicken Canyon.  The Reel Seat’s hours will be expanded next week to 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays, 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. Fridays, 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays. Wahoo Baitfish Bucktails and Stingo jigs are on sale at 30 percent off to celebrate the shop’s 30 years in business. The shop’s fluke tournament for Manasquan and Shark rivers is running to Labor Day. Entry is $10, and half the money goes to Save the Summer Flounder Fishery Fund, and the other half goes to Shark River Surf Anglers Kids Trout Tournament. The store makes no money on the event, and prizes will be awarded for the first and second heaviest fluke from each river, the heaviest fluke from a lady entrant, and the heaviest from a kid age 16 or younger.

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

Fishing for fluke was a little tough during the weekend, but bluefishing was excellent, a report on the party boat <b>Norma-K III</b>’s Web site said. Fluke catches were best on Saturday morning’s trip, producing some better-sized ones. A 7-pound 13-ouncer was the pool-winner. Seas were somewhat rough on Sunday morning, making fluking difficult. A handful of keepers and some shorts were tugged in. The catch of fluke was similar on the afternoon’s trip, but sea bass, a decent number, were bagged. Fluke fishing is expected to improve this week as the swell calms. Plenty of blues 8 to 15 pounds were whaled on the boat this weekend. “It took a little while to find them,” the report said, “but when we did, (it was) game on!”  The Norma-K III is fishing for fluke 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. daily and for blues 7:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. daily.

Probably more sea bass than fluke were scooped aboard the party boat <b>Gambler</b>, Capt. Bob said. But a good mix of both were reeled up on trips Saturday and Sunday. The trips fished a little deeper than before, in 60 feet, straight off Manasquan Inlet, at hills, valleys and rough bottom. Good catches were made on Saturday afternoon’s and Sunday morning’s trips. Seas were a bit rough Sunday morning but fishable. On the boat’s nighttime wreck-fishing trips, good catches of ling and squid were socked. The vessel’s nighttime bluefish trips were also good. A very good catch of big blues was punched on Saturday night’s trip 20 miles from shore. The Gambler is fishing for fluke 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. daily. The boat is sailing 7:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. for blues Fridays and Saturdays and for wreck fishing Thursdays and Sundays.

<b>Barnegat Light</b>

After being weathered out last week on some trips, the party boat <b>Miss Barnegat Light</b> put anglers on super bluefishing Saturday, a report on the vessel’s Web site said. The fish were smaller than before, but most customers limited out. The catch was a repeat on a trip that night. “Plenty of action with small blues,” the report said. The fishing was also excellent for small blues on Sunday’s daytime trip. “All the fish you want,” the report said. The Miss Barnegat Light is bluefishing 8 a.m. daily and 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Smaller bluefish bit than before on the ocean for anglers on the <b>Super Chic</b>, an e-mail from the crew said. But trips worked the blues, weighing a few pounds, with lots of success, catching them on jigs with teasers. Plus, a few bonito were mixed in on every trip. Previously large blues were crushed on trips aboard. But they seemed to move on, starting around Tuesday, when fishing for them became tough. Weather began to be rough that day. Groups who fished aboard included those with Tim Riley, Philadelphia, Al Hoolahan, Franklinville, Pa., and Dave Dry, Reading. Each trip scored “great catches of the tasty blues, with a few nice bonito … to keep things interesting,” the e-mail said. Trips are slated for every day this week. The 56-foot Super Chic can accommodate large groups to 25 passengers on charters.

<b>Barnegat</b>

<b>***Update, Tuesday, 6/19:***</b> From an edited e-mail from Capt. Dave DeGennaro from the <b>Hi Flier</b>: “There is a huge weather window coming this Thursday to Sunday, with mild west, southwest and north winds, at low velocity. All of this heavy east that we had should have been an accelerator for all kinds of fishing. This opens the door to jumping back into the bunker/striper run along the beach or trolling offshore for bonita, albacore and bluefin tuna. We can even do both in the same trip. I would be inclined to start with offshore, because if there is any storm activity, it is typically in the afternoon, when I would rather be tight along the beach. As things have been the last few years, and even some of this season, there is still a late morning and afternoon bass bite on bunker, if you get on the right pods. Of course, we can just pick one species or the other, as well. We can even wait until the night before, or the morning of, to make a decision, based on ‘up-to-the-minute’ fishing info and sea conditions. This time of year, I would probably load the boat with all the gear and tackle to accomplish both, so we can even decide during our trip to go to Plan B. I leave it up to you guys, and majority rules.  I am going to run open boat Thursday through Sunday for stripers, bonita/albacore/tuna, or both. The boat leaves at 5 AM, and we can do a 6-hour trip (bass only), an 8-hour trip (bass or tuna), or an extended trip, 10 hours plus, for a combo. The range on the boat is enormous. We can literally run, troll and fish for two days with the fuel and range. If we had to, we could leave the offshore grounds and run as far north as we had to get into bunker and stripers. If we want to just target bass, we will make the left out of Barnegat Inlet and keep going until we find the life we are looking for. Before the blow, that run was usually only 7 to 12 miles, between the Bathing Beach and Seaside Heights. If there's no bunker there, we keep progressing to Manasquan Inlet, Shark River, Asbury Park, Shrewsbury Rocks … we will find them!  If the bunker/bass bite is on and close to home, I will run two 6-hour trips each day: 5 AM to 11 AM and Noon to 6 PM. All fish are shared. Three person maximum. Reservations are required. Please call me, do not e-mail me, as I am rarely logged on to the computer on fishing days. I do, however, always have the cell phone on board. Hope to see you on board. It's going to be an interesting four days of fishing. The heavy easterly winds kept us inside Barnegat Bay over the weekend. The fluke and bluefishing was good. On Saturday Nate Stein and his friend Mike had 20-plus fluke, including three keepers from 18 to 19 ½ inches. Our best action was in Double Creek Channel, in 4 to 6 feet of water out of the channel. Jigging chartreuse 4-inch Gulp mullet on 3/8-ounce jigheads. From there we moved onto the flats east of the BI Buoy, where they did constant battle with 2- to 3-pound blues on poppers and light tackle. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFS-jAFTx9s
" target="_blank">Here’s the video.</a>”

<b>Tuckerton</b>

No trips sailed in the weather – strong winds and big seas, Capt. T.J. from <b>Legal Limit Charters</b> said. But trips are scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday through Saturday. An open-boat trip for sea bass is set for Thursday, and see <a href=" http://www.legallimitcharters.com/open-boat.php" target="_blank">Legal Limit’s open-boat page</a>. Legal Limit is also fishing for summer flounder, sharks and tuna.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

A good flurry of summer flounder catches turned on for bay anglers on Sunday morning’s falling tide, a report on <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>’s Web site said. “Action was good,” the report said. “Keepers were missing.” The fish were landed at the clam stakes on the Mystic Island side of the Fish Factory.  On Saturday flounder anglers reported catches from six sizeable ones in the box to no keepers. “Today was either really good, or really bad, depending on who you talked to,” the report said about Saturday. Some were weighed in that ranged from 6 pounds to just-keepers that day. A bite came on during morning “right before Grassy Channel,” the report said. That was if boaters could bear winds and white caps. A weakfish was checked in from Cape Horn on Saturday. Lots of bunker schooled Mullica River upstream from the Parkway Bridge, one angler said. If bunker were there, stripers or blues could probably be found chasing them. Nothing was heard from the ocean because of winds. So no sea bass reports came in. Neither did reports about sharks and tuna offshore.

<b>Brigantine</b>

The surf was rough the past couple of days, and holding bottom was almost impossible, a report said Sunday on <b>Riptide Bait & Tackle</b>’s Web site. One customer saw someone bank two throwback striped bass, and that was all that was heard about catches from the beach. Anglers waited to see whether kingfish and blues would move into the surf “after this blow settles down,” the report said. Anglers checked in summer flounder from boats. No location was mentioned for the catches, but the back bay seemed likely.

<b>Atlantic City</b>

Anglers on foot pumped in summer flounder, blues and triggerfish at Absecon Inlet, said Noel from <b>One Stop Bait & Tackle</b>. Off Flagship Resort held the fish, and a few kingfish were landed off Pacific Avenue at the inlet. Weakfish were banked at the inlet at night. The flounder grabbed minnows and squid, and the blues jumped on spoons, mackerel, mullet and minnows. The triggers bit clams or other shellfish along the jetty rocks, and the weaks swiped bloodworms or lures like pink Fin-S Fish. All the baits mentioned and more, the full supply, are stocked.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

With rains and winds last week, and winds through the weekend, not a lot was available to report, said Mike from <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. The weather was difficult for summer flounder fishing on the back bay, but those who dealt with the conditions, putting in the time, caught the fish. Minnows and Gulps were preferred baits. Striped bass fishing was okay on the bay, and high tides in evenings and mornings were ideal for fishing for them with popper lures. A few kingfish and an occasional weakfish nipped in the surf on bloodworms. Fishing for sand sharks was excellent in the surf. On the ocean, sea bass fishing was good, and many anglers fished for a combo of sea bass and sharks at once. They put out a couple of rods with shark baits while sea bassing, and all the sudden a shark would wallop it. Baits like mackerel or bluefish fillets worked. Livelined ling worked very well. Triggerfish began to litter the wrecks and reefs. Shark fishing itself was phenomenal at usual places like the wrecks Misty Blue and Beranger or the Triple Wrecks. Makos, blue sharks, threshers and hammerheads, a variety, were heard about that were caught. Yellowfin tuna fishing had been good, including at Spencer Canyon, when boaters had the weather to sail.

Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b>, affiliated with <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>, was relocating a boat from Florida to New Jersey, he said. So he did no fishing in Jersey during the weekend, but heard about good catches of striped bass and blues on the back bay. His trips are fishing for them with popper lures and flies. Exciting, visual attacks, along the water surface. Summer flounder fishing’s been good on the bay on the boat. Weakfish could be found on the bay. Take an after-work trip from 4:30 p.m. to dark, a convenient, productive time to sail the bay for these different fish. Nothing was heard about tuna fishing in rough weather. But two trips trolled a bunch of yellowfin tuna at Spencer Canyon aboard two weekends ago, covered in a previous report. Catch-and-release shark fishing for browns and duskies, with both spinning and fly rods, close to shore usually kicks in during July and August with Jersey Cape. The sharks, 20 to 100 pounds, are fought 7 to 12 miles from the coast. That’s a chance to land a big fish without the long trek offshore.

<b>Cape May</b>

Only one trip fished through the past week, because of weather, on the <b>Down Deep</b>, Capt. Bob said. The Pat Malay charter from Lancaster caught bluefish Sunday. Seas were rough, so the trip didn’t travel far. Bob heard about no other boats sailing from Cape May in the rough weather through the week. Charters are being booked for summer.

Seas were sloppy, but Capt. George from the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> mated on a trip on another boat Sunday, he said. The anglers wanted to go, and they slugged a good catch of sea bass from the ocean. A charter had been scheduled to fish on the Heavy Hitter that day, but cancelled for a personal reason, and George would’ve scrubbed the trip anyway, because of forecasts. He knew about nobody who sailed from Cape May recently because of weather. The Heavy Hitter is sailing for sea bass, summer flounder, tuna and sharks, and call if interested. Flounder catches were sometimes heard about from the Old Grounds on the ocean. Sometimes only a few flounder caught were heard about from there on a trip. Fishing there can be very dependant on conditions or the right drift. Anglers often just have to go and see how conditions turn out. Flounder fishing usually begins to pick up around the Fourth of July from Cape May.

Winds kept <b>Relentless Sport Fishing</b> “laid up,” Capt. Dave said, all week. But forecasts look better toward the end of this week, and a couple of trips are scheduled then. Relentless is steaming for sea bass, fluke, sharks and tuna.

Strong winds and big seas, said Capt. T.J. from <b>Legal Limit Charters</b>. No trips got out in the weather, but Legal Limit is slated to sail Tuesday and Thursday through Saturday. Trips are fishing for sea bass, summer flounder, sharks and tuna. Charters are running, and the next open-boat trip is set to fish for sea bass on Thursday from Tuckerton, on Legal Limit’s other boat, docked there. Open trips get posted on <a href=" http://www.legallimitcharters.com/open-boat.php" target="_blank">Legal Limit’s open-boat page</a> online.

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