<b>Keyport</b>

With the <b>Down Deep Fleet</b>, fluking, with bucktails on the ocean, was great, when conditions were good, Capt. Mario said. When conditions were less favorable, the angling was okay. Open-boat fluke trips are fishing daily, including an open Marathon Trip 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Wednesday. Open trips will begin bottom-fishing daily, too, and Down Deep runs two 40-foot boats. For bottom-fishing, lots of porgies moved in, triggerfish were around and lots of big sea bass remained. Join the <a href=" http://downdeepsportfishing.com/short-notice-list/" target="_blank">Short Notice List</a> on Down Deep’s website to be kept informed about special open trips like the marathons. Fall striped bass trips are beginning to be booked.

Great action with fluke to 7.8 pounds was plowed during the weekend on the <b>Vitamin Sea</b>, Capt. Frank wrote in an email. The fishing Saturday aboard was inundated with throwbacks, but Sunday’s fluke were much, much bigger. Sharper anglers are limiting out regularly, and bring heavier tackle, for when trips fish deep. Bait and Gulps caught equally this weekend, and peanut bunker have been netted to keep live on the boat, “and I must say the bigger fluke love them,” he said. Charters are fishing, and space is available for an open-boat trip Wednesday. Open trips next week will run Wednesday through Friday. Telephone to reserve as soon as possible, because trips are filled quickly. <b>***Update, Monday, 8/1:***</b> An open trip will also fluke Friday, because a charter just canceled.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

Fishing Raritan and Sandy Hook bays and Flynn’s Knoll, trips landed lots of fluke on the party boat <b>Atlantic Star</b>, Capt. Tom said. Most were throwbacks, and sometimes an angler would get lucky and reel in two or three keepers. Some caught one keeper around the boat, and others hooked no keepers, of course. All trips fished except Friday morning’s, because of pouring rain. That was the first trip not to sail since June 8. Some trips fished better than others, depending on conditions. When conditions failed to drift the boat, catches of throwbacks even slowed.  Sometimes action with throwbacks was darn good. Customers seemed to enjoy the fishing, and the boat’s mates did a great job at keeping up with action, including unhooking all the throwbacks to be released. A few sea robins, dogfish and skates were mixed in. Many throwback fluke were an inch to a half-inch shorter than the 18-inch size limit. The Atlantic Star is fluke fishing 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 6 p.m. daily.

Only a handful of customers braved weather and fished on Sunday’s daily fluke trip, and they were glad they did! a report said on the party boat <b>Fishermen</b>’s website. They picked away at some good-sized the whole time. One angler limited out by 10:30 a.m. and won the pool with a 7-pounder. A couple of other anglers also limited. Wind actually helped the outing, slowing the boat’s drift enough for fluking. A charter fished Saturday aboard, copping a couple of limits and plenty of action and keepers, good fluking. Current became somewhat strong, but the anglers toughed it out. The trip made it home before the rain. The Fishermen is sailing for fluke 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily, for striped bass 6:30 to 11 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays and for fluke, blues, porgies and whatever can be bagged 6:30 to 11 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays. However, charters are booked in the mornings this Friday through Sunday, so no open-boat trips will fish then.

<b>Highlands</b>

An open-boat fluke trip was tough Saturday on the ocean with <b>Lady M Charters</b>, Lady M’s Facebook page said. The boat failed to drift most of the trip, never good for fluking. Power-drifting helped a little. Throwbacks gave up good action, “but came up light in the keeper department,” it said. Some good-sized sea bass were bagged. That’s the way the bucktail bounces on some days, it said. A few spots remain for an open fluke trip this coming Saturday. Trips are also bottom-fishing at the Mudhole.

<b>Neptune</b>

<b>***Update, Tuesday, 8/2:***</b> Cod including the biggest one of the year were slapped aboard yesterday with <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b>, Capt. Ralph wrote in an email. The charter also caught pollock, ling and a 4-pound winter flounder. Forecasts for strong wind forced a cod trip to be canceled tomorrow. Limited space is available for individual-reservation trips for cod August 17 and 30, and another one of the trips was just added for September 14. The wind also forced today’s weekly individual-reservation trip for fluke, sailing every Tuesday, to be canceled. 

<b>Belmar</b>

Trips for fluke, on the ocean, were canceled because of rain and wind Friday and Sunday, and the angling was tough Saturday aboard because of conditions, said Capt. Pete from <b>Parker Pete’s Fishing Charters</b>.  But the fluking remains good, when conditions are. Plenty of the fish are swimming the water. Trips include On the Water Seminars that teach bucktailing for big fluke in a non-threatening environment. A few spaces remain for one of those Wednesday, and more of the seminars are slated for this coming Monday and August 15, and more will be added. Don’t have enough anglers for a charter? Contact Parker Pete’s anyway about individual spaces available on charters. Sign up for the email blast on <a href=" http://www.parkerpetefishing.com/" target="_blank">Parker Pete’s website</a> to be kept informed about the spaces. The spaces and available dates for other trips are also posted on a calendar on the site.

Shark River and the ocean tossed up good fluke fishing, including a better ratio of keepers than before, Bob from <b>Fisherman’s Den</b> wrote in an email. On Belmar’s party boats, the fluking and sea bass fishing were great on the ocean. The river’s porgy fishing was good on worms and clams. Snapper blues and peanut bunker were quite abundant in most of the river. In the surf, kingfish “made some (anglers) happy,” he said. So did small striped bass and snapper blues. Big bluefish were “the one missing part of the puzzle,” he said. Party boats that usually bluefish for big slammers on the ocean this season targeted small blues and mackerel there. 

Fishing whaled chub mackerel, as many as anglers could catch, Saturday and Sunday on the ocean off Shark River Inlet on the <b>Miss Belmar Princess</b>, an email said from the party boat. Jigs, teasers and bait hooked them, and <a href=" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS5c7WdCKRU&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank"> watch a video of the fishing</a>. The Miss Belmar Princess is fishing 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily.  Family fishing and sunset cruises are sailing 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. daily.

After a slow start to the fishing on Saturday’s trip, chub mackerel and 2-pound blues were nailed two and three at a time beginning in late morning, a report said on the party boat <b>Golden Eagle</b>’s website. The angling was super from then on, during the outing. On Sunday’s trip, blues 1 to 2 pounds were tackled the first hour. Then lots of mackerel were hammered. Both trips caught on jigs, teasers and bait. The Golden Eagle is fishing 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily. Afternoon fishing and sunset cruise trips are sailing 4:30 to 8:30 daily, reservations required. On Saturday afternoon’s cruise, several good-sized, keeper fluke to 5 pounds were iced, among lots of throwbacks let go. Some sizable sea bass were bagged.

<b>Brielle</b>

Stormy weather was somewhat of a factor this weekend, said John from <b>The Reel Seat</b>. But fluke fishing on the ocean has been relatively consistent or pretty good anywhere from Axel Carlson Reef to the Shrewsbury Rocks. Sea bass and ling were reeled from the ocean, and porgy fishing was good, farther north, he thought, from Shrewsbury Rocks to farther offshore to 17 fathoms. In Manasquan River, fluke including some keepers still bit. Snapper blues schooled the river. Fluke hit in Manasquan Inlet if anglers could keep a line from getting fouled by weeds long enough. Bluefin tuna were sometimes boated inshore on the troll, jigs or top-water lures. East of the Bacardi wreck gave up some, he thought. Farther offshore, yellowfin tuna and bigeye tuna were mostly found at southern canyons or from Toms Canyon to farther south. Fishing for white marlin and blue marlin seemed pretty good in the area.

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

Fluke fishing was mostly tough throughout the weekend on the <b>Norma-K III</b>, a report said on the party boat’s website. Only a keeper here and there was bagged. Shorts gave up action at times. “We should get another push of fluke in there soon,” it said. The angling’s usually good in August. On nighttime bluefishing trips, fishing was great for 1- to 2-pounders. Many customers limited out on them during the weekend. The Norma-K III is  fishing for fluke 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 2 to 6:30 p.m. daily and is bluefishing 7:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. daily.

<b>Seaside Heights</b>

Catches of fluke seemed to increase daily from the surf, a report said on <b>The Dock Outfitters</b>’ website. Catches of small blues seemed to increase from the beach, too. “Not too shabby for this time of year,” it said. Most of the fluke were hung on bucktails with Gulps. The blues were hooked on cut mullet on rods in sand spikes, picking off the passing fish. Crabbing remained steady from the dock and from the shop’s rental boats. The number of snapper blues increased in waters like along the dock, and the snapper were growing bigger. The Dock Outfitters, located on Barnegat Bay, blocks from the ocean surf, features a bait and tackle shop, a café, a dock for fishing and crabbing, boat rentals and jet-ski rentals.

<b>Barnegat Light</b>

Trips fished for sea bass and fluke on the ocean on the <b>Super Chic</b>, Capt. Ted said. Sea bass were around, and so were a few ling. If anglers worked at fluke fishing, that angling wasn’t bad. A trip Sunday wreck-fished a little, then trolled small blues and a few bonito. A trip Friday night chummed and reeled in small blues on bait and jigs. A fair number of 1- to 3-pound blues seemed around lately. Not much was heard about fishing for tuna and other big game locally, not even about bluefin tuna inshore. A handful of bigeye tuna were boated offshore.  A 63-pound yellowfin tuna reportedly won the Beach Haven Marlin & Tuna Club’s White Marlin Invitational during the weekend. No whites were reportedly entered, and one was reportedly caught and released.

The <b>Miss Barnegat Light</b> failed to drift much Saturday morning, so the trip’s fluke fishing began slowly, a report said on the party boat’s website. Then a few keepers were bagged, and throwbacks and other fish gave up action. No report was posted for Sunday at press time, and the Miss Barnegat Light is fishing for fluke and sea bass at 8 a.m. daily.

<b>Barnegat</b>

<b>***Update, Tuesday, 8/2:***</b> From an edited email from Capt. Dave DeGennaro from the <b>Hi Flier</b>: “Fishing is starting to heat up in the bay. We’ve had some good action with weakfish the last few trips. Most are just under or just over the legal mark, but we’ve also had some 17- and 18-inch fish.  Also in the mix are fluke, sand sharks, burrfish, hickory shad and snapper blues. We’re chumming with live grass shrimp and using 6-pound ultralite spinning outfits. It looks like the wind is going to blow pretty good from the east, so we’ll run 12 noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday in the bay, chumming with live grass shrimp. If you never tried it, this technique has a lot of history in this area, a lot of fun on light tackle.”

<b>Mystic Island</b>

Blackfish and triggerfish began to bite along sod banks like near Great Bay Boulevard, Fish Island and any place with a drop-off, a report said on <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>’s website. Sheepshead were sometimes pumped in, including “fun-sized” from Little Sheepshead Creek. Huge sheepshead were landed some time ago along Brigantine Bridge, and photos had been posted on another store’s Facebook page. Crabs will catch all three species, and green crabs are stocked. Better reports about summer flounder fishing sometimes rolled in from ocean wrecks than before. In back waters, flounder fishing was sporadic at Main Marsh Thorofare along the Intracoastal Waterway toward Absecon. A few weakfish were mixed in. 

<b>Brigantine</b>

Fishing was great in Brigantine’s surf, a report said on <b>Riptide Bait & Tackle</b>’s website. Kingfish and sharks including browns were the focus. A 4-foot tiger shark was banked on a kingfish head, and browns and tiger sharks must be released by law. A few striped bass were even dragged from the surf recently, covered in the previous report here. Summer flounder fishing was good in the back bay, but throwbacks had to be sorted through to bag a keeper.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

High tides at dusk are ideal for popper fishing for striped bass on the back bay with lures and flies currently, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Sea Isle City</b>. He and his wife locked into good fishing for the schoolies last evening on a trip. They also popper-plugged 3-pound bluefish on the outing. The tides will be ideal the next couple of days, and coincide with dusk every other week. The angling’s been good and is a specialty aboard in summer. The poppers draw explosive, visual strikes along the water surface. An amazing amount of bait filled the water on the trip, and fish blitzed on them. The bait included peanut bunker. A few mullet were also seen in the grass, he said when asked. The season’s first mullet seemed to be appearing in the state. A family on Saturday jumped on one of the inshore shark trips aboard, releasing 10 sharks to 60 pounds: spinners, browns and duskies. The angling was pretty good, and the trips, usually within 10 miles from shore, are a chance to fight big fish without the long sail offshore.  The trips are catch-and-release with bait or flies, and some sharks, including browns and duskies, are required to be released. This trip fished with bait. A few summer flounder trips fished the back bay in past days aboard, including today. That trip, with a family, landed more than 30, including one keeper, 19 inches, in 4 hours. Two more of the trips fished Thursday and Friday. Many, many flounder have been biting on the outings, even like the old days. The large majority aren’t keepers in the size limit these days, but Joe’s glad the fish aren’t being bagged like in the past. Action’s been fast and furious. In other news, a buddy’s trip landed a white marlin and some mahi mahi to 20 pounds offshore. Joe was unsure about location. Keep up with fishing aboard on <a href="http://captainjoehughes.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s Blog</a>.

<b>Avalon</b>

 A few keeper summer flounder 18 to 24 inches were claimed from Ocean City Reef and Wildwood Reef in the ocean with <b>Fins and Feathers Outfitters</b>, Capt. Jim said. Few flounder there seemed throwbacks, or most seemed keepers. Lots were throwbacks in the back bay. About 60 throwbacks were released in three days aboard. Three charters fished on the boat in past days, and Jim fished on another trip with his wife during that time. One of the trips also picked up a couple of kingfish close to shore, and the kings are schooling there. The ocean was 77 degrees at the reefs, and about the same close to shore.  The back bay was 79 or 80 degrees. A trip was supposed to fish Delaware Bay on the Delaware side, picking up anglers from Lewes. But the trip was weathered out. Fins bagged flounder from Delaware Bay in recent trips from the New Jersey side, covered in previous reports here. A trip was also weathered out that was going to fish for mahi mahi on the ocean Thursday.

<b>Wildwood</b>

Had a great day on kingfish Sunday, said Capt. Jim from <b>Fins & Grins Sport Fishing</b>. Kings schooled Delaware Bay, and a couple of keeper flounder were also boated on the trip. They were a surprise, and the trip also fought-and-released sharks on the bay. Mixed-bag, summertime fishing was underway aboard. Weakfish also schooled the bay and off Cape May Point. If anglers anchor the boat and fish the bay with shedder crabs, they’ll nab keeper weaks. On Saturday, a trip aboard limited out on sea bass on the ocean. The sea bass were sizable, too, and not many that bit were throwbacks. Other fish that could be targeted currently included small blues that schooled the Cape May Rips and off Hereford Inlet. Flounder fishing off South Jersey was inconsistent, but flounder were around. Crabbing was good on the back bay, and this was one of the better years for the crabbing in some time. Fins also offers crabbing. Let the captain find the blueclaws. Fins fishes every day, and reservations aren’t required but suggested. Telephone for availability.

<b>Cape May</b>

Capt. George from the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> fished Sunday on a trip on a friend’s boat that pulled in a bunch of kingfish and some small weakfish off Cape May Point, he said. On Saturday, a trip on the Heavy Hitter was going to troll for blues and Spanish mackerel on the ocean, but a starter went bad aboard. So the anglers were sent on another boat for the angling, catching both fish. On Thursday, George jumped on a friend’s center console that fished for tuna inshore. One was caught and another was lost. Some surrounding boats landed many of the tuna that day.  Many boats sailed around, looking for a boat catching, then anchored nearby and fished.  On Saturday, the angling seemed slow, according to anglers George knew who fished for the tuna then.

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