<b>Perth Amboy</b>

Striped bass fishing wasn’t as good during the weekend on the <b>Vitamin Sea</b> as it was previously, Capt. Frank wrote in an e-mail. A trip Thursday limited out on the boat, covered in the previous report. The next trip, on Saturday, nearly limited, and the next, on Sunday, managed only four keepers. That was because of westerly winds blowing strongly against the tide.  Still, a 17-pounder was Sunday’s largest, and the striper season was shaping up well. Trips are fishing with clams “until the bunker arrive,” Frank said. The outings apparently fished on Raritan Bay. Charters and open-boat trips are sailing, and telephone about the open trips. Vitamin Sea also fishes from Staten Island. “Get your dose of Vitamin Sea!”

<b>Keyport</b>

Five striped bass to 27 ½ inches were caught and released on Raritan Bay on Sunday with <b>Papa’s Angels Charters</b>, Capt. Joe said. Winds blew terribly, and the trip, with Joe Niedzwiecki from Staten Island, Joe Jr., Dino, Thomas, Arnie and Bobby, fished with clams. Open-boat trips are available for stripers 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, and call to climb aboard.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

The party boat <b>Atlantic Star</b> fished Saturday, for striped bass, for the first time since Tuesday, Capt. Tom said. He began to hear about stripers caught Wednesday or Thursday. On Saturday the boat sailed after Friday’s rough weather, and Saturday’s fishing was no good. On Sunday morning’s trip, a few striped bass, keepers and throwbacks, a few shots of the fish, were scored, for the first time this season aboard. The afternoon’s trip returned to the same place and anchored. One throwback was hooked, before Tom could leave the wheel house, and that was the only striper that bit on the outing. The reason couldn’t be known, like maybe the tide or something. Sunday’s catch seemed a good sign at least, and fishing could change at any time. Tom tells anglers, “if you’re waiting for reports …” he said. The trips fished on Raritan Bay with clams, and the vessel hadn’t sailed the ocean since Tuesday. The fishing on the ocean was no good aboard that day, and Tom heard about no striper catches down the beach yet this season. The bay was 50 or 52 degrees. Some anglers were concerned about whether the marina was open since the hurricane. The marina faces lots of rebuilding, but the party boat fleet is sailing. The Atlantic Star is fishing for striped bass on two trips daily 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 6 p.m.

Waters reached 50.4 degrees and became much cleaner on Sunday than before, and this early season’s best catch of striped bass so far was swung in, Capt. Ron from the party boat <b>Fishermen</b> wrote in a report on the vessel’s Web site. The first caught was the 16-pound pool-winner. Several other keepers were axed, and a bunch of shorts bit “for action,” Ron said, almost the whole morning. High hooks landed four or five stripers apiece, and some customers reeled in none. Weather looks good for this week, “and things are shaping up on schedule,” Ron said. The Fishermen is sailing for striped bass 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily. Starting Friday, striper trips will also run 6:30 to 11:30 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 3:30 to 9:30 p.m. Sundays.

<b>Highlands</b>

Striped bass fishing was good the last few days on the <b>Hyper Striper</b>, Capt. Pete wrote in an e-mail. His striper trips began Saturday, and the Tom Colouris party that day eased in more than 20 stripers, including six keepers. Bob Centamore’s crew on a trip Sunday morning bagged the year’s first limit of stripers on the boat. In the afternoon, John Fessock’s party iced nine keepers and had “good action,” Pete said. On a trip this morning, when Pete sent the e-mail aboard, striper fishing was very good for Josh Stoveken’s party. They had already limited out and were releasing more. Anglers should telephone now for remaining dates for striper charters.

Ten keeper striped bass to 20 pounds and 20 throwbacks were whaled Saturday with <b>Fisher Price Charters</b>, Capt. Derek said. The fishing was pretty good,  he said, and was slower, but still good, on a trip Sunday. Four keepers and 22 throwbacks were angled, and fishing conditions were bad the whole trip. Wind blew against the tide in the morning, then wind picked up afterward. The trips clammed the bass on the back of Raritan Bay. On Sunday’s trip, the bay was 48.5 degrees in the morning and 50 degrees when the boat left. Charters are fishing, and Derek will try to run the next open-boat trip for stripers Friday. One space is available on a trip Sunday, and call to climb aboard the open trips or to be kept informed about future open dates. Open trips will fish when no charter is booked, and dates are still available for charters.

<b>Belmar</b>

Shark River’s winter flounder fishing slowed Saturday, Bob from <b>Fisherman’s Den</b> wrote in an e-mail. He thought rain that cooled and dirtied waters was the cause. Previously good fishing for flounder, and also blackfish on the ocean, was reported. Better numbers of striped bass were dragged from both the surf and Raritan Bay than before. Throwback stripers were clammed from the surf at Monmouth County. Stripers weighing in the teens that were boated from the bay were heard about. Some of Belmar’s party-boat captains who sailed for stripers on the ocean said they read fish but couldn’t get them to hit. Catches should begin any day. <b>***Update, Tuesday, 4/16:***</b> Winter flounder fishing became much improved today on Shark River, and good reports rolled in about “stripers offshore … to 30 pounds,” Bob wrote in an e-mail. “Can only get better from here,” he said. The river’s flounder fishing had been slow after rains last week. Striper fishing had been slow in the ocean’s low temperatures. Party boats picked up fair fishing for blackfish, sometimes large, and ling on the ocean. Blackfish season will close after this month, so fish for them while possible.

<b>Brielle</b>

A few striped bass were actually beached from the surf at Manasquan and Spring Lake on clams, said Eric from <b>The Reel Seat</b>. Small stripers were played at Mantoloking Bridge on Barnegat Bay on small plugs and soft-plastic lures. A few were also plugged farther south on the bay toward Island Heights and Berkeley Island Park. Striper fishing was good farther north at Raritan Bay, mostly on clams. Bluefish were yet to arrive locally, but probably will show up by the end of the month or around the next full moon. Winter flounder fishing was pretty darn good, Eric said, on Barnegat Bay near the shop. Eric boated them on the bay near Point Pleasant Canal, and anglers fishing from the bulkhead reeled them in at Bay Avenue at the mouth of the canal. On the ocean, blackfishing was fair. Nobody was heard about who bailed them, but the tautog were caught. Nothing was heard about ling and cod on the ocean, but surely a few were boated. A handful of spaces remained for a tilefish trip for beginners that the store’s owner, Dave Arbeitman, booked on the party boat Voyager from Point Pleasant Beach. Set for Tuesday to Wednesday, June 4 to 5, the trip is limited to 21 passengers, and includes a free seminar at the store on the fishing on Sunday, June 2. Anglers can call or stop in the shop for details or to sign up. Dave is an avid tilefisher, and introduced probably the first-ever off-the-rack tilefish rod this past year. Stop at the store to sign up for the Garden State Surf Classic tournament from June 7 to 9. Prizes for the largest stripers will be a Van Staal reel for first place, a Century Sling Shot rod for second and a Reel Seat gift certificate and a subscription to On the Water magazine for third. For the largest bluefish, a Reel Seat Gift Certificate and an On the Water subscription will be awarded. Entry is $10 and includes a T-shirt and refreshments like sandwiches at the weigh-in on the final day.  Also visit the shop to see FiberStar Composite Rods that began to be stocked for surf fishing.

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

The party boat <b>Norma-K III</b> sailed for striped bass on Saturday for the first time this year, Capt. Matt wrote in a report on the vessel’s Web site.  None bit, though fish were marked that looked like stripers, where gannets and gulls, healthy numbers, worked bait on the waters. The trip covered ground to search, and the ocean was 47 degrees, “a big improvement,” Matt said, compared with last week. He hoped the temp would rise a few degrees, getting the bass to chew, in the next couple of days after the trip. The Norma-K III is sailing for striped bass 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

Shore anglers banked good numbers of mostly small striped bass from Graveling Point and Pebble Beach, Chris from <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b> wrote in a report on the shop’s Web site. That’s at the confluence of Great Bay and Mullica River. Keepers were sometimes taken, but maybe 1 in 30 stripers hooked was legal-sized. However, anglers said the stripers on the whole started to be bigger. One boater who fished off Graveling said “every bait he had got used,” Chris said, and the boater also said he caught a drum. That was surprising, because waters were cold, Chris said, but that was the season’s first drum reported from the shop. Drum are hooked among the stripers during some springs. White perch were sometimes mixed in with the stripers. The store’s annual $100 gift certificate remained up for grabs for the angler who weighs in the season’s first bluefish caught at Graveling from shore. At ocean wrecks, more blackfish than before were cranked in.

<b>Brigantine</b>

Two anglers weighed in four striped bass and a drum from Brigantine’s surf on Saturday, a report on <b>Riptide Bait & Tackle</b>’s Web site said. Earlier that morning, another angler reported bagging a 29-inch striper from the shore. On Sunday an angler weighed in a 35-inch striper from the island’s surf, and released five throwbacks on the trip, clamming all the fish. Another photo, one among several shots of the fish from the weekend on the store’s site, on Sunday showed another angler with a keeper on the beach. Anglers had reported a few throwbacks cracked from the surf last week, the first stripers that the shop reported from the surf since the season’s first keeper was weighed in from Brigantine’s beach at the store on March 29.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Seven striped bass, three or four weakfish to 7 pounds, and six or eight out-of-season summer flounder were reeled from the back bay Saturday aboard, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. The anglers, Reeves and Chris, jigged for the fish, and the bay’s fishing throughout this weekend on the boat wasn’t fast and furious. But the angling was starting, and the catches, including the weakfish, were great to see. The fish were released, and a trip Sunday on deck, with Tom, John and Bill, jigged three weakfish to 6 pounds and probably eight flounder. Most of the weakfish on the trips were large, except one that was 2 ½ or 3 pounds, still not small. This time last year, Joe’s trips landed one or two weakfish per trip, and this year’s trips didn’t catch a large number more, but a few more. The fishing might’ve been improving, good to see after scarce weakfish in recent years. The flounder were also a sign that the season’s fish were arriving, also great to see. Flounder fishing’s usually best in the early season in the shallow, relatively warm bay. Some of the best catches are bagged soon after flounder season opens in May. The bay ranged from 49 to 60 degrees, depending on location. Bluefish were yet to arrive, but could storm the bay any day. Joe wouldn’t be surprised if that happened this week. His trips go after the tough fighters, and fishing is usually excellent aboard in this second half of April and in May for this variety of fish. Keep up with his fishing on <a href="http://captainjoehughes.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s blog</a>.

<b>Avalon</b>

<b>Fins and Feathers Outfitters</b> started striped bass fishing Sunday on Delaware Bay, Capt. Jim said. But waters were cold, only 48 to 50 degrees, so the season seemed early for the fishing, and only one throwback was hooked, on clam. The bay reached 51 degrees on outgoing tide, but the trip couldn’t fish outgoing long, because winds picked up, too rough to keep trying. Fish were marked, but what they were, striped bass or blues, Jim said, couldn’t be known. The trip also fished the Intracoastal Waterway on the back bay between Wildwood and Avalon on the way back to port, because Jim figured the waters would be warmer. But the back bay was also cold, and no stripers bit. Fin-S Fish were fished on jigs along the banks, and Jim also fly-rodded there a little. So, Jim hopes waters just need to warm a little, and thinks the temps might be “on the edge,” he said. With currently warmer days than before, he thinks water temps could rise quickly. He stopped at Avalon Hodge Podge that day, and the shop’s first keeper striper of the year had just been weighed in, caught along the Townsend’s Inlet Bridge. Drum charters are being booked that will fish Delaware Bay soon. Fins and Feathers fishes Delaware Bay in spring and fall and the ocean from Avalon in summer. To fish Delaware Bay, the boat is either motored from Avalon or trailered to the bay, depending on distance, or where fishing’s best. Fins and Feathers offers a variety of outdoor adventures, including duck and goose hunting. Customers can even enjoy a combo of duck hunting and striper fishing, when duck season is open, over a series of days, on Delaware Bay. The company also offers salmon and steelhead fishing on upstate New York’s Salmon River from Jim’s lodge and trout fishing on Pennsylvania’s streams.

<b>Cape May</b>

Fishing for striped bass remained the same on Delaware Bay, Capt. Mario from the <b>Down Deep</b> said. Wasn’t much happening, he said, and trips fished clams for them. The boat “will be out,” he said, a couple of days, and will resume fishing Wednesday. Mario hopes to report better striper fishing then. Drum charters are being booked that will fish the bay soon. Blackfishing is currently an option. To sail for the tautog, sign up for the <a href=" http://www.downdeepsportfishing.com/ddsf/76-2/" target="_blank">Short Notice List</a> for special open-boat, wreck-fishing trips.

Two charters limited out on blackfish Saturday and Sunday on the ocean on the <b>Heavy Hitter</b>, Capt. George said. The trips – with Kevin Driscoll’s charter on Saturday and Jason Craig, Amy, Burt, Mike and Jen on Sunday – fished 7 or 8 miles from shore, both catching the fish to 7 or 8 pounds. Delaware Bay’s striped bass fishing “was on the slow side,” George said. Maybe that’ll change. A couple were caught here and there, he said. George did hear about a drum boated from the bay for the first time this season. His trips have landed them in April, and will probably begin drum fishing at the beginning of May on the bay. Dates are available for charters, including for blackfishing. Telephone if interested in any of this fishing.

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