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New Jersey Inshore Saltwater Fishing Report 8-22-16


<b>Keyport</b>

With the <b>Down Deep Fleet</b>, fishing for fluke became excellent at the end of the week, Capt. Mario said. High hooks landed 10 keepers, keeping no more than a limit of five. A double-header of two good-sized keepers was landed. Catches included a 10.2-pound fluke, an 8.4-pounder and a 7-pounder Thursday and a 9.4-pounder Saturday. All trips fished the ocean at rough bottom, and open-boat trips are fishing for fluke daily. Down Deep is also bottom-fishing on open trips daily for ling, cod and winter flounder. On the bottom trips, high hooks smashed 25 to 30 ling apiece. A few sea bass bit, and flounder didn’t really hit during the bottom-angling recently. Charters are available, and 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. Book charters now for fall striped bass, sea bass and blackfishing.

Fluke fishing was a little frustrating during the weekend on the <b>Vitamin Sea</b>, Capt. Frank wrote in an email. On Saturday, the anglers copped some good action, but most of the fluke were throwbacks. They’ll score better the next time aboard, now that they know better how it’s done, Frank said. Weather was excellent on the trip, but on Sunday’s trip, the ocean held a tough swell. Forecasts called for 2 to 3 feet, but seas were closer to 6. The swell hampered fluking, but keepers averaged 2 to 4 pounds, and Cathy Spence boated her personal-best fluke, just under 8 pounds. No trips will fish now through the weekend, because Frank will take the grandkids to Disney. Fluking will resume Wednesday, August 31, aboard. Charters or open-boat trips are available Friday, September 2, through Monday, September 5, Labor Day. Telephone to reserve. Reservations for fall striped bass charters are being accepted. Each angler on the charters receives a bonus tag to bag an extra striper while the supply lasts, so book the trips. 

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

The daily trip for fluke was a beat down Sunday on the <b>Fishermen</b>, a report said on the party boat’s website. “Gotcha,” it said, because customers were the only thing beaten down. Strong southerly wind Saturday night blew up a huge swell on the ocean for Sunday’s trip. A handful of fluke were caught, and a 7-pounder won the pool. Far too many anglers became seasick. Back at it Monday! the report said before today’s trip. Northwest wind forecast to blow today against incoming tide in morning was expected to keep seas rough on the trip, until the tide changed in early afternoon. The Fishermen is sailing for fluke 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily, for striped bass 6:30 to 11:30 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays and for porgies and whatever can be bagged 6:30 to 11 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays.

On the party boat <b>Atlantic Star</b>, fluke fishing was the same as before, Capt. Tom said. Throwbacks were picked, more on some trips than others, and anglers worked for keepers. It wasn’t easy, and the boat fished many places, including at Ambrose Channel and Flynn’s Knoll, depending on conditions. Ambrose’s fishing became “flat,” disappointing or kind of fell apart. Edges and the deep were tried. Saturday morning’s trip found a few fluke at Flynn’s. A rough ocean prevented Sunday morning’s trip from fishing at Flynn’s. On the afternoon’s trip, the boat drifted fast, but a mate from the vessel joined the trip to fish, not to work, catching a 5-pounder. If the ocean was rough, trips fished the bay, and a few fluke remained in the bay. The Atlantic Star is fluke fishing 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 6 p.m. daily.

<b>Highlands</b>

A good mess of porgies, some triggerfish, beautiful sea bass and even two or three blowfish were plowed on a bottom-fishing charter Friday on the ocean with <b>Lady M Charters</b>, Capt. Steve said. Cocktail blues were also caught on the trip, and an open-boat trip for fluke Saturday on the ocean took a few hours to get dialed in. But once it did, good fluking was pounded. The high hook landed six keepers, keeping no more than a limit of five, and the rest of the anglers bagged a few keepers apiece. Lots of throwback fluke a half-inch to an inch short turned out action. Space is available on a fluke trip Saturday and a bottom-fishing trip Sunday.

<b>Belmar</b>

Seas became somewhat sloppy Saturday afternoon and Sunday, so fluke fishing wasn’t good that day on the ocean aboard, said Capt. Pete from <b>Parker Pete’s Fishing Charters</b>. But the angling was excellent until then on the boat.  A 10-pounder, the biggest this year aboard, was creamed on Friday’s trip, and multiple good-sized, including 6- to 8-pounders, were tackled recently on the trips. On some days when conditions were right, anglers who bucktailed limited out. Bait also caught, but not as well. Trips are booked this week, but plenty of space is available in September, and Pete expects the good fluking to continue, so long as no severe weather like a tropical storm barrels through. 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.

Excellent bluefishing was crushed today at Shrewsbury Rocks on the <b>Miss Belmar Princess</b>, a report said on the party boat’s website. The fish were mostly beaten during morning on a few drifts and in the afternoon, when the angling lit up again and was great. Sea bass were sometimes mixed in. 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. Take advantage: kids 14 and under sail free on the morning trips Mondays through Thursdays now through September when accompanied by an adult paying full fare. That’s a back-to-school special and a $40 value. No reservations are required. The offer is limited to one kid per adult and cannot be combined with any other discounts.

Was another good day of bluefishing Saturday on the <b>Golden Eagle</b>, a report said on the party boat’s website. One- to 3-pounders were axed on Run Off hammered jigs and teasers on the ocean in gorgeous weather. Sunday’s trip picked away at the blues, ending up with a decent catch. 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.

<b>Brielle</b>

Water seemed clearing at Hudson to Toms canyons, and the east side of the Hudson held a few bigeye tuna, said Eric from <b>The Reel Seat</b>. The fishing was nothing spectacular, but a few were trolled each evening on Bomber Certified Depth Lures and skirted ballyhoos, some on spreader bars. A smattering of yellowfin tuna, not many, were trolled, but some were there. A decent population of white marlin held in the area. Those who targeted them could raise a dozen. Those who targeted tuna sometimes raised a few of the marlin. Fishing for mahi mahi to 20 pounds was pretty darn good in the area at lobster-pot buoys. Closer to shore, good catches of ling were scooped from the Mudhole in 150 to 200 feet of water. In the same waters, fishing was phenomenal for big winter flounder to 4 and 5 pounds. Fluke fishing was pretty solid in the past week off the Red Church and at Shrewsbury Rocks, the hot spots. Many boats limited out, and bucktails with Gulps caught, like typical. But some were taken on bait like long squid strips. Surf-fishing for fluke could be good. Small blues 1 to 1 ½ pounds popped into the surf. Rain bait and small peanut bunker schooled the surf. Manasquan River’s fluke fishing improved somewhat. Livelined snappers hooked some bigger. But Gulps also caught the flatfish in the river. Striped bass, sometimes keepers, were fought from the river at night. Eels grabbed the bigger but fewer stripers. Soft-plastic lures clocked mostly throwbacks but more stripers.

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

Action was less than during the week, but fluke fishing picked at keepers and shorts throughout the weekend on the <b>Norma-K III</b>, a report said on the party boat’s website. Gulps hooked the bigger, but squid and spearing caught fluke sometimes. Saturday night’s trip picked at 1-pound bluefish. Cooler nights are forecast for the coming week, so bigger blues are hoped to begin showing up. Bluefish trips had been running every night and now will run every Friday and Saturday nights. 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. Fridays and Saturdays.

<b>Seaside Heights</b>

Cocktail blues and short- to keeper-sized fluke moved in and out of the surf, a report said on <b>The Dock Outfitters</b>’ website. At night, large rays and sharks bit in the surf. In Barnegat Bay, plenty of good-sized snapper blues hit “everything shiny,” the report said, and, for the moment, lots of throwback crabs, a few keepers, were trapped. 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>Forked River</b>

Tuna fishing was slow – horrible, actually – on a trip yesterday aboard, said Capt. Mike from <b>Tuna-Tic Sportfishing</b>. A trip for tuna today was weathered out, and he might postpone another that’s supposed to fish Wednesday, because the fishing seemed no good currently. He had just returned last night from a tuna trip on the boat, when he gave this report. A 150-pound blue marlin was landed on the outing, and a couple of white marlin but no tuna were around. So the trip switched to tilefishing, landing a couple of dozen. Some mahi mahi were also caught on the trip.

<b>Barnegat Light</b>

Ocean fluke fishing was fair, said Capt. Ted from the <b>Super Chic</b>. Trips targeted them lately aboard, and the summer flounder bit well on some days. Conditions failed to drift the boat on a trip Sunday, and that’s never good for fluking. On a trip Saturday, probably eight or 10 keepers were bagged among 45 or 50 throwbacks, and a couple of sea bass were also bagged. Junk fish like sea robins bit. Bluefish might’ve popped back up farther from shore because of the southerly wind recently. A boat from the dock got into them at Olley’s Lump on Sunday. A trip on the Super Chic tried for blues Wednesday night, but only chub mackerel and two blues were hooked. Tuna fishing sounded slow, so a trip was postponed that was supposed to fish for tuna overnight this week from Wednesday to Thursday aboard.

A handful of keeper fluke were pitched aboard some drifts of the <b>Miss Barnegat Light</b> today, a report said on the party boat’s website. The angling picked away at a bunch of throwbacks, a few sea bass and a Spanish mackerel. The boat failed to drift much on Saturday’s and Sunday’s trips, so the angling was slow. A few keeper fluke and some throwbacks were cranked in. The fish were there, and just better conditions were needed. The Miss Barnegat Light is fishing for fluke and sea bass at 8 a.m. daily.

<b>Barnegat</b>

From an edited email from Capt. Dave DeGennaro from the <b>Hi Flier</b>: “I had two afternoon trips Thursday and Friday that produced some weakfish, Friday better than Thursday, and then Saturday morning it lit up really good on another trip. While most of the fish we’re catching are 12 to 15 inches, we had fish up to 19 inches on these trips. We’re using 6-pound spinning gear with live grass shrimp for bait on the east side of Barnegat Bay. The fish are hitting on both tides as long as the water is moving. Sometimes using a bobber is the hot rod, and an hour later it's the shad dart or just a free-line hook with shrimp. I try to keep a few different techniques going all the time, until we key in on what's working best at the moment. We’re also catching quite a few fluke in the chum slick, not keepers, but 12 to 17.9999999-inch fish, and they’re a blast on light tackle. Too many snapper blues, some blowfish, sand sharks and juvenile sea bass are also in the mix. The marine forecast is not going to allow me to run to the Ridge for a stretch here, so we’ll hit it hard in the bay. Today is wide open for morning or afternoon trips, and on Tuesday through Friday, I’ll be running 12 noon departures for the live grass shrimp weakies as well as some other combo opportunities. Charter or open boat.”

<b>Beach Haven</b>

The <b>June Bug</b> sailed for tuna at Wilmington Canyon on Saturday, but life just wasn’t there, Capt. Lindsay said. Leaving at midnight, the boat arrived at 4 a.m. on the fishing grounds. A tiny yellowfin tuna was hooked at 8 a.m., and nothing else bit on the trip. Probably 50 boats fished the canyon that day, and one white marlin raised but not hooked was all that was heard about from the area. Lots of bait was marked on the machine in the blue-green, 79-degree water. Not much bait was seen along the water surface. No good tuna fishing was reported from the different canyons in past days. Bluefin tuna were heard about from 20 miles inshore of Hudson Canyon, and those were the only tuna heard about. Maybe rougher weather last night would stir up the canyons and change the fishing. June Bug also ran inshore trips early last week, but not much was doing. A previous trip trolled bonito inshore on the boat, covered in a previous report here.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

Some ocean trips for summer flounder boated none of the fish Saturday, and others had banner catches that day, a report said on <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>’s website. Garden State Reef South was like a parking lot, and the angling seemed slow there. “(Maybe) the calm water had something to do with it,” the report said. But an angler posted a report on the shop’s site about the angler’s trip to the reef that morning that boated three keeper flounder, probably 40 throwbacks and a big sea bass in the dark before sunrise. Action was non-stop until slack tide, and wind blew less than 10 knots in seas less than 2 feet.  The trip fished bucktails with “artificials,” the report said, and also fished Little Egg Reef on the way back to port. Two short flounder and a puffer were pulled in. Little Egg Reef produced some flounder that day, “all on Gulp grubs,” the store’s report said. Beautiful flounder 5 to 9 pounds were entered in a flounder tournament that day, and the better catches came from Little Egg Reef. Anglers scored well on rattle-tailed jigs the shop ties, and the trailer hooked most of the flounder. “Some sea bass were out there today …” the report said. Another angler posted a report on the site about a trip that caught white perch, catfish and eels on Maurice River on Friday at every place stopped.

<b>Brigantine</b>

What a day, Capt. Andy from <b>Riptide Bait & Tackle</b> wrote about today in a report on the shop’s website. Weather might’ve been the best all year. There was practically no humidity, wind blew north 5 to 10  knots and weather was a perfect 10. Kingfish swam the surf, and an angler and grandson banked 51 during a morning this weekend. “I guess they were lucky enough to find where they schooled up,” Andy wrote. Other kingfish anglers were less fortunate, but most found a couple. Snapper blues schooled all over the water, and surf-fishing for rays and sharks slowed during the weekend compared with before. Surf fishing’s been great from the town in past months, so if the fish take a couple of days off, Andy can live with that, he said. The ocean was 76 degrees currently. For boaters, some good catches of flounder were made at ocean reefs and wrecks. The shop is loaded with great bait for whatever anglers want to target, even for fish like mahi mahi and little tunny, like ballyhoos rigged or not.

<b>Longport</b>

A couple of limits were bagged, and summer flounder fishing was just good on the ocean on the <b>Stray Cat</b>, Capt. Mike said. Limits of sea bass were also bagged, and mahi mahi followed hooked sea bass to the surface. Squid heads were drifted out on a hook, catching the mahi. Bonito and false albacore were trolled aboard, showing up inshore. Beginning September 11, open-boat trips will fish every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday through blackfishing season.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

A husband and wife targeted mahi mahi Friday aboard, nailing two on fly rods and one on bait, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. The fish weighed 14 to 20 pounds, and the couple also fly-rodded a 5-pound black jack apiece. Joe and wife sight-casted to mahi Saturday, landing a 14-pounder on a fly and a 13-pounder on bait. On Sunday, Kevin McCarthy’s crew trolled four mahi to 14 pounds with Jersey Cape. That was awesome, good, Joe said. A family on Thursday released two dusky sharks on one of the inshore sharking trips aboard. Duskies are required to be released, and the shark trips are catch-and-release anyway, a chance to pull on big fish without the long sail offshore.   Keep up with Joe’s fishing on <a href="http://captainjoehughes.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s Blog</a>.

<b>Avalon</b>

At ocean reefs, summer flounder fishing seemed to improve somewhat, said Capt. Jim from <b>Fins and Feathers Outfitters</b>. A better number of bigger seemed to hold there than before. Fins offers a variety of outdoor adventures, and waterfowling is beginning to book up aboard. That includes goose hunting during the September season and in November to January and duck hunting from about Thanksgiving until the second week of January. Sea duck hunting is especially booking, because the season is only 60 days in December and January instead of 180 like before. Anglers can even enjoy a combo of waterfowling and striped bass fishing on Delaware Bay over a series of days aboard. Fins also offers salmon and steelhead fishing on upstate New York’s Salmon River from Jim’s lodge, and fly-fishing for trout on Pennsylvania’s streams like the Yellow Breeches.

<b>Wildwood</b>

On the ocean, summer flounder could be boated, and many were throwbacks that bit, said Capt. Jim from <b>Fins & Grins Sport Fishing</b>. But some were keepers, and a mahi mahi was decked during flounder fishing aboard Saturday at an ocean reef. The mahi had a whole bonito in the stomach, and pelagics like these were around. Spanish mackerel could be mixed in during trolling for bluefish on the ocean. Shorter trips could fish for kingfish and blues off Cape May Point. Crabbing’s been good all season, and Fins even offers crabbing on the back bay. Fins fishes every day, and reservations aren’t required but suggested. Telephone for availability.

<b>Cape May</b>

Tuna fishing slowed, so trips shark fished inshore with <b>Caveman Sportfishing</b>, Capt. John said. No tuna were caught on a trip aboard, so upcoming trips for tuna were postponed until the angling picks back up.

A charter fished on two boats including the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> Saturday, Capt. George said. The trips began summer flounder fishing at an ocean reef, but the vessels failed to drift. So the fishing anchored at a piece, reeling up triggerfish, good-sized, instead. Flounder fishing recently seemed to depend much on location. Some anglers scored okay on the ocean off Delaware, and others struggled at Cape May Reef. Tuna fishing had been good until about Thursday, dropping off since. The fish were chunked on two trips last Monday and Wednesday on the Heavy Hitter inshore, covered in previous reports here. Wednesday’s trip also trolled a wahoo. Plenty of bluefish schooled 5-Fathom Bank that could be trolled. Telephone if interested in any of this fishing.  

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