<b>Staten Island</b>

Blackfishing was super with <b>Outcast Charters</b> on Friday and Sunday, and a charter Saturday was weathered out, Capt. Joe said. But Friday and Sunday’s charters both limited out and returned early. The trips had to hit quite a few pieces, but each spot held fish, and the tog to 8 pounds were bailed Friday, and ones to 7 pounds were hammered Sunday. A good number of the fish were 5 pounds each day, so catches were solid. The trips fished in 40 to 55 feet in 53-degree water, good water for togging each time. Sometimes Outcast’s blackfish trips will stop and target striped bass under working birds along the beach front on the way home at this time of year, depending on the time of day and whether the anglers want to keep fishing. Plenty of birds were seen on the way home Sunday, but the charter had enough fish and was happy to return to port without stopping. The blackfishing was superb on these days, and Capt. Joe hoped it would hold up, and blackfishing is a specialty on the boat, but striper charters are available.

Blackfishing’s been pretty good with <b>Barbara Anne Charters</b>, and the water temp was starting to reach where it needed to be, and a trip was fishing for the tog today, Capt. Anthony said. Open-boat trips are targeting blacks every Tuesday, guaranteed to leave the dock with a minimum of two anglers.

Fishing for tog was great yesterday on the <b>Kayla Rose</b>, and the anglers limited out, Capt. Darrin said. His trips were boating the fish at pieces along Ambrose Channel, and the blacks were starting to move deeper. Both charters and open trips are fishing for the slipperies, and charters are also sailing for stripers, and open striper trips are running every Wednesday and Friday evenings. A trip last Friday caught and released 15 stripers in a half-hour that were swimming on top. If interested in open trips, contact Darrin with your dates, and he’ll call other anglers on his list to try to put a trip together.

<b>Bayonne</b>

A charter wanted to fish for blackfish yesterday, and because New York’s blackfish bag limit was 10 fish compared with Jersey’s current limit of one, Capt. Akira from <b>True World Tackle</b> and <b>True World Tackle Charters</b> picked up the charter in Manhattan. They stayed in New York waters and sailed to Long Island Sound to fish off Mamaroneck, where a friend said the fish were biting. The weather was a little windy, and lots of small blacks bit, and many were an inch or so short, and only three keepers to 5 pounds came up. Another friend who’s a captain fished for stripers in the East River yesterday and said the fishing was quiet. Striper fishing generally sounded quiet yesterday, but previously Akira’s charters were bagging stripers in the river on eels. No big, migrating ones appeared, but keepers did, and Akira was expecting migrators any day.

<b>Laurence Harbor</b>

Six striped bass from 30 to 36 inches were trolled with <b>Evening Tide Charters</b> in the back of the bay yesterday on shad rigs, Capt. Kyle said. They were stocky, colorful, healthy looking fish and looked like resident stripers from the Hudson River and not lean and light-colored like bass migrating from the ocean. Kyle found more stripers in the middle of the bay that refused to eat, apparently because of slack tide. The water was 53 degrees, and Evening Tide was sailing on another striper trip today.

<b>Keyport</b>

Joe Tomak and three friends hopped aboard with <b>Papa’s Angels Charters</b> for a striped bass trip yesterday, but the fishing was very slow, Capt. Joe said. They fished all over creation from the bay to the ocean, Joe said, and tried eels, clams and bunker. The weather was cold but completely fishable. Three spaces are available for an open-boat trip Wednesday for stripers, and the boat is available for either a charter or an open-boat trip 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day to enjoy a morning on the water but be home for turkey. Open-boat trips are also sailing every day when no charter is booked, and call to reserve.

On the <b>Lucky Carm</b> the Greenlee charter sailed for striped bass yesterday in the bay and ocean, but the fishing was no good, and nobody was catching anything, and it was one of those days, Capt. Carmine said. Conditions were good with clean, 51-degree water and a normal, beautiful, fall day, but the fishing wasn’t happening, and nobody from the marina was coming back with any stripers. The anglers onboard trolled, clammed, bunker chunked and tried everything, fishing from just outside of port to Round Shoal to the ocean and back to Keansburg, covering lots of miles. Charters on the Lucky Carm don’t usually troll, but if trolling won’t catch them, nothing will. Fish were marked, but there wasn’t even a bite, and Carmine couldn’t believe it, he said. A group of Catholic sisters from New York sailed for stripers Thursday, and fish started to bite, but then one sister had a serious health emergency from a pre-existing condition, and the trip had to be cut short. Carmine called the Coast Guard, and the Coast Guard offered to fly out a medevac, but Carmine determined he was close enough to port to return before the Coast Guard could get there. But Carmine praised the Coast Guard and said they were right on top of the situation as always. Afterward the charter assured Carmine that the sister was all right. They even booked another trip, and Carmine said they’re avid anglers.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

Porgy fishing was very good on Thursday, Friday and Sunday’s trips at Sandy Hook Reef on the <b>Atlantic Star</b>, and Saturday’s trip was weathered out, Capt. Tom said.  The bite was holding up well, and green crabs started being carried onboard for blackfish bait, so patrons could begin to practice for blackfishing when the boat’s trips begin to concentrate on blackfish Thursday, when the bag limit increases to eight of the tog from the current limit of one. Some blackfish were boated, and the outlook seemed promising. But clams will continue to be carried for those who also want to catch porgies, because both fish could be caught at some places. The Atlantic Star is bottom fishing from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily.

Fishing was typical for a weekend on Sunday with  birds working, fish busting and 500 boats racing through, said Capt. Ron from the <b>Fishermen</b> in the report on the boat’s web site. A 23-pound striped bass and a 21-pounder were bagged, and so were a half-dozen other keepers and some blues, but the fishing wasn’t what he hoped for, and the boat traffic was a problem. Patrons jigged in the morning and caught some short bass and small blues, and then they clammed for stripers while the boat was anchored. Some nicer stripers were taken, and then a boat ran through, and the bite stopped. Then patrons jigged again. On Friday a charter was aboard and ended up hooking a nice catch of bluefish and a dozen stripers, mostly shorts, and kids on the trip had a blast with all the action.  The Fishermen is fishing for striped bass 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily and 3:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Fridays through Sundays.

Striped bass fishing slowed down since last week, and a few keepers per trip were taken since then, and anglers were waiting for a new batch of linesiders to show up, Capt. Rich from the <b>Teal</b> said. Patrons were eeling for the fish when conditions created a good drift, dropping down the eels off Sandy Hook Point or between the channels. They were clamming for the fish during other times. The water was 52 degrees, a good temp for stripers. The Teal is fishing for stripers 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 3:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. every Friday through Sunday.
 
<b>Highlands</b>

<b>Jersey Devil Charters</b> scored a good day of striped bass trolling yesterday in Raritan Bay, landing eight keepers and releasing more than 30 shorts, Capt. Brian said. Reports sounded like lots of anglers struggled during the day, so he especially thought the trip went well. The stripers weighed up to 15 pounds, and many were small, and only one bluefish bit. The water was 52.5 degrees, and Jersey Devil will keep striper fishing, and Brian thought s the action should last at least until after Thanksgiving, and some openings are left for striper charters. Tog charters will begin Thursday, when the bag limit opens up to eight fish from the current limit of one. Brian had been scheduled to compete in the American Striper Association Tournament in Cape May the first weekend of this month, but the event was postponed till this past weekend. He couldn’t fish in the event then because charters were booked, but he said the crew on the Insufficient Funds won the contest with a 45-pound striper. Brian’s friend on the Cheap Shot competed in the tournament and nailed a 42.6-pounder.

Fishing for striped bass was picking up through last week as water temps dropped, said Capt. Bob from <b>Sandy Hook Fishing Adventures</b>. A couple of anglers on a trip early in the week found slow fishing in the ocean but then ran to the back of the bay and trolled and jigged stripers. Another trip with three anglers limited out on stripers to 36 inches, including a bonus-tag fish for each, during the week, and released more than 30 other stripers and some 8-pound blues. Charters were fishing both New Jersey and New York waters, depending on conditions. A few dates remain for charters this month, including Thanksgiving morning, and bookings will be accepted at least through December 15.

Jigging for stripers was phenomenal at Sandy Hook Bay yesterday for <b>Fisher Price Charters</b>, and most of the fish were shorts, but plenty of keepers were mixed in, Capt. Derek said. When the working birds broke up, the anglers went on the troll and hooked lots of keepers. Trips through the week pretty much limited out on the bass while clamming and eeling anywhere from Sandy Hook Bay to Rockaway. One trip tested the waters for blackfish in anticipation of blackfish charters that will begin Thursday, when the bag limit gets lifted to eight from the current limit of one, and blackfishing was very good.

A charter of five anglers on the <b>Benchmark</b> limited out on striped bass to 36 inches Friday on clams, the report on the boat’s web site said. Rough weather was causing half the boat’s trips to be cancelled lately, but the coming forecast looked better. Dates are available for striper and blackfish charters through December 16. 

<b>Sea Bright</b>

A group of anglers from England landed lots of striped bass and a fair number of blues yesterday with <b>Two Rivers Charters</b>, Capt. Fletcher Chayes said. But fishing for most anglers was slow, and if he hadn’t found one particular school of stripers that all the bass came from, only blues would’ve been reeled in. Fletcher was fortunate to find a very small group of birds that kept working over a school of bass, and he kept following those birds carefully, and the anglers nailed 40 stripers. At first they fought blues in the ocean, and Fletcher kept trying to drift into schools of stripers coming up to the top under birds, but the fish would disappear every time he did. He moved into the bay, and that’s when the pod of stripers was found that made the trip late in the day. The fish were hooked on metal jigs, and some were taken on a fly rod, but soft plastic lures seemed best. One of the anglers tore up the most fish with an unusual retrieve, reeling in a soft plastic much slower than usual, like dragging a bait across the floor slowly enough to sneak it past someone. That technique nailed the fish that day, for whatever reasons, like the speed of the drift, and the fish that hit that way were all hooked deep in the throat, so they seemed to really inhale the lure. Overall striper fishing in the area’s been slower than usual, and Fletcher wondered if only small groups of the fish were around now, or maybe the weather broke up the bait. Striper fishing in rough weather Saturday was supposedly better toward the Rockaways, where trolling was best, but clamming also scored. Fletcher talked with some who found stripers yesterday at Reach Channel toward the back of the bay like at buoy 20.  Fletcher heard that herring were found schooling farther south in the ocean, 1 ½ miles off Manasquan Inlet, and anglers were reportedly connecting with lots of stripers and blues there.

<b>Neptune</b>

Striped bass fishing was pretty good in the ocean on an individual-reservation trip yesterday with <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b>, though the fish were of no size, Capt. Ralph said. A bunch of blues were also hooked, and most of the fish were taken on jigs. One more individual-reservation striper trip will sail Sunday, and openings are available. Openings are also available for an individual-reservation blackfish trip Thursday, when the bag limit jumps to eight of the tog from the current limit of one. More blackfish trips are on the books for November 21, 23 and 26, and space is available. A mid-range wreck-fishing trip was weathered out yesterday, but one spot is open for another slated for Sunday.

<b>Belmar</b>

The <b>Big Mohawk</b>’s been bottom fishing for species including sea bass, porgies and blackfish this season, and although Capt. Chris from the boat wasn’t reached for a report during this round, his wife confirmed that the boat will go right after blackfish on daily trips starting Thursday, when the bag limit is increased to eight of the tog from the current limit of one. The boat targets them every year, and better arrive early and claim a spot if you want to make it out on the opener.

<b>Brielle</b>

Fishing for striped bass and blues was pretty good along the ocean front except when rough weather prevented trips Saturday, said Dave from <b>The Reel Seat</b>. Big Al Wutkowski fished along the beach front Thursday and Friday from Manasquan Inlet to the Thunderbird and used Shimano Butterfly Jigs to hammer stripers to 28 pounds, blues to 15 pounds and weakfish to 5 pounds. Rob Jenkins on the Moby’s Mistress fished from the inlet to Mantoloking on Thursday and Friday with Shimano Flat-Sided Butterfly Jigs and drilled stripers to 21 pounds and blues to 14 pounds. Bob Lake on the Kimberly Anne trolled Tournament Grade Tackle bunker spoons and fought a dozen stripers to 45 inches. Harold Beebe from Brick dragged Montauk bunker spoons on Power Pro and not wire line and tackled a bunch of stripers to 46 inches. Surf fishing was good throughout the week at Bay Head, Manasquan, Spring Lake and Sea Girt, and stripers and blues seemed to pop up every morning and evening, and lots of sand eels filled the water, so anglers were throwing Ava jigs, needlefish lures and Yozuri Crystal Minnows. Fish were even lifted from the suds Saturday morning in the rough weather.  Ken Warchul on the Tike Tembo shot out to the Mudhole on Friday to look for bluefin tuna, and he found no tuna but did nail big bonito, and an 8.1-pounder was the biggest he weighed in at the shop.

Anglers on the <b>Reel-Ality</b> landed about 15 striped bass, mostly shorts but a couple of keepers, and a dozen blues that were probably 6 or 7 pounds in the ocean straight off Manasquan Inlet yesterday, Capt. Larry said. The fish hit trolled tube rigs and were hooked fairly high in the water column, and birds after birds worked the surface. Charters will keep chasing stripers and blues the rest of the season, and tog trips will be available starting Thursday, when the bag limit increases to eight of the tog from the current limit of one. Larry heard reports about sea bass boated at Sea Girt Reef yesterday. 

A 14-hour Wreck-a-Thon produced good fishing on the <b>Jamaica</b> on Tuesday, much better than a previous trip, and some passengers limited out on sea bass and boated a few blackfish, an e-mail from the boat said. Seas were quite choppy on the way out, but winds diminished and started blowing from the west when the vessel arrived on the grounds. Pool winners were Jerry Rosenberg with a 4-pound blackfish, Bob Eagle with a 2-1/2-pound sea bass and Rich Lawson with a 2-1/4-pound croaker. These trips have started running to the 50- to 80-mile wrecks for giant sea bass, cod, pollock and hake, and one that will sail 18 hours has been added to the schedule this coming Saturday, leaving the dock at 1:30 in the morning, and space is available.  A bunch of 14- and 18-hour trips are slated, and visit the boat’s web site or call for dates.  The boat was supposed to fish for tuna on a trip yesterday, and a trip sailed for tuna Thursday to Friday. The first fish, a longfin, was boated at 3 a.m., and the next, a 150-pound bluefin, was gaffed at 5:30 a.m. Another bluefin, a 200-pounder, was pinned down after sunrise, and a few other tuna were lost. Tilefish came up later in the morning. Canyon tuna trips are slated for 5 p.m. Wednesday and 8 p.m. Sunday. A $10 fuel surcharge will be added to any new tuna reservations, and check out the boat’s web site for the tuna schedule, or call for info. Both the Jamaica and the 110-foot Atlantis are available for tuna charters.

<b>Point Pleasant</b>

Surf casters were landing striped bass and blues up and down the beaches, and sand eels were schooling, so metals such as Ava jigs or Deadly Dicks and needlefish lures were connecting, said Rob from <b>Gates Bait & Tackle</b>. Anglers fishing along the inlet were pulling up blackfish on green crabs and clams, both stocked at the store. Gates is located within walking distance of the inlet and surf and also the party boat and charter boat fleet. A motel is also on the premises and is especially popular with anglers, who either stay overnight before or after boating trips to avoid early morning or late evening driving or simply take a fishing trip by overnighting at the motel.

On the <b>Dauntless</b> bottom fishing was good yesterday for sea bass and porgies, and Barber Gonzalez hauled up a 31-pound striped bass, Capt. Willie said. No other stripers were landed, but that was a nice one. Quite a few 5- to 8-pound blues were also boated, and so were some blackfish. On Thursday, when the blackfish bag limit gets hiked up to eight from the current limit of one, crabs will be carried for bait for the slipperies in addition to clams that are already onboard for the other bottom fish. The trips will then target all the species. The Dauntless is bottom fishing 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. every day.

A couple of trips with <b>Andrea’s Toy Charters</b> limited out on striped bass in the ocean, Capt. Fred said. Most of the fish were schooling between Manasquan and Shark River inlets, and the water was 56 to 57 degrees. Andrea’s Toy’s web site said a charter Friday jigged tons of blues and mostly short stripers in 65 feet off Manasquan Inlet. Only one striper was a keeper, so the boat went on the troll, and the anglers limited out quickly on shad rigs. Then they spent the rest of the day jigging double headers of short bass and jumbo blues, landing a total of two dozen stripers and three dozen blues. The web site also said a charter on Wednesday started jigging in 45 to 55 feet off Shark River Inlet and caught fish from the first stop until the last. More than 20 stripers to 36 inches and 20 blues to 8 pounds were hooked. The fish were gorged with sand eels, so Ava 27 and 47 jigs were thrown until the anglers limited out on stripers, and afterward they threw noisy chuggers to stripers rolling on the surface, releasing the fish. Andrea’s Toy these days is usually jigging the fish, but if jigging takes too long to bag a limit of stripers, the boat will troll until the anglers limit out, and then they’ll go back to jigging for fun. When the blackfish bag limit is increased to eight fish Thursday from the current limit of one, anglers onboard who target blackfish will often mix in jigging for stripers on the way to and from the blackfish grounds. Andrea’s Toy specializes in such mixed-bag trips for more fun, better chances of hooking up and variety for dinner. In other news, Capt. Fred said bluefin tuna were still swimming the Mudhole, but his anglers usually wanted to target stripers while the linesiders were there, and striper fishing was as easy as it gets. Previously the boat’s trips were landing the bluefins.

Trips with <b>Reel Class Charters</b> fished the ocean front and fought striped bass and blues Thursday, Friday and Sunday, and a trip Saturday was weathered out, Capt. Allen said. The fish were on sand eels, more sand eels than Allen had seen in some years. Thursday’s trip started fishing at working birds off Manasquan Inlet and then got into a pretty good pick of jumbo blues and decent-sized stripers between Sea Girt and Point Pleasant Beach. The boat moved south a bit, and striped bass rolling on the surface were found and hooked, including a 34-incher that Allen landed on a surface plug. From noon to 2 p.m. the anglers nailed mostly keeper striped bass and some blues the whole time on Shimano Butterfly Jigs. So the fishing was good, and three dozen stripers including 20 keepers to about 20 pounds, including lots of 14- to 17-pounders, were reeled in, and the anglers limited out by 10 a.m., playing catch and release with stripers hooked afterward. The stripers were mostly large this day. On Friday four anglers were aboard and first found blues and stripers, smaller stripers or mostly shorts, near the mile marker off Manasquan Inlet. They moved south and eventually ended up off Ortley Beach and Lavallette and found more of the fish, but the blues were huge and weighed up to 18 pounds and swam right in on the beaches, slamming jigs. The boat then trolled, and more short bass and some blues bit, and afterward another bluefish blitz was found. Stripers were smaller and mostly rats this day, and keepers were tougher to find, but probably four or five keepers were scored. On Sunday another four anglers were on deck and started fishing straight off the inlet, and then Allen got a call about fish farther south. So they moved off Ocean Beach, Lavallette and Ortley Beach and found lots of birds working, including gannets dive bombing the water. The water was dirty, and there was a fair-sized swell early in the day, and a few stripers and blues were jigged. The boat went on the troll, and a few more stripers and blues hit. Allen got another call about life found 2 miles off the inlet, so the group headed there and caught bass and blues rolling on sand eels on the surface. Then another call said fish were blitzing from Sea Girt to Jenkinson’s Pier at Point Pleasant, and 4- to 7-pound cocktail blues and a couple of short striped bass were fought close to shore while the fish worked sand eels. More blues than stripers bit this day, and about a dozen stripers including two keepers were landed. So it was a good weekend, and Reel Class will keep running these trips the rest of the season.

Striped bass trips started running daily in the ocean on the <b>Gambler</b>, and the fishing was good, producing lots of shorts but some keepers, and some trips even used a bunch of bonus tags so anglers could bag three keepers apiece instead of the usual two, Capt. Bob said. Blues were also battled, and a number of weakfish were even hooked, and Bob was glad to see the weaks, because he hadn’t seen decent catches of them along the beach front in about 5 years. He also saw more sand eels than in some time, and peanut bunker and other bait also schooled. Sundays’ trip probably caught 70 percent blues and 30 percent stripers, including a couple of keepers, and there was lots of action. On Friday Dave Maybe from Brick scored one of the better catches, totaling 15 blues, including 5 that he kept, a keeper striper and about 10 throwbacks, and 10 keeper-sized weaks to 6 pounds, keeping only his limit. The boat also headed out on its final canyon tuna trip of the year last night, and the water was cooling fast, but the crew saw an area of warm water that should produce fish. But if tuna fishing was slow, the boat was going to drift for tilefish. If anglers still wanted to tuna fish on tilefish drifts, they could, because that fishing would also take place on the tuna grounds, and the only difference would be shorter drifts. A trip fished the canyons last Sunday to Monday, and a couple of longfins were boated at dawn, and that was all, so the fishing was slow. Previously the crew was considering running tuna trips every Sunday to Monday this month but now nixed those plans. At that time none of the striper trips was going to run Mondays, but now striper trips will run Mondays along with every day during the week. The striped bass trips should sail until January. In January the boat will head offshore on a number of sea bass trips.

<b>Bricktown</b>

Surf fishing finally picked up this past week, and striped bass were either clammed or plugged on various lures, said Tommy Kilgannon from <b>Pell’s Fish & Sport</b> in a fax. Ross Kane hit the suds at Mantoloking for a 14-pound striper that sucked down fresh clam. Brandon Capella and Vin Constiglione bailed bass all night Friday at Mantoloking. Joe Forrester fished Mantoloking and hauled up a 54-pound black drum on fresh clam. Joe Kolesar gave Bay Head’s wash a try and bagged a 15-pound striper.  Lures that anglers enjoyed throwing included Tsunami shads, diamond jigs, Bombers, poppers and Gator spoons, and teasers fished above the lures also did the trick. Peter Ordemann, the shop’s owner, got into the action with lures and bagged a nice bass from the surf Friday night on a pearl shad. Point Pleasant Canal also gave up stripers, and Brian Haggerty fished the north side and reeled in three. John Murphy also fished the north side and claimed a 10-1/2-pound 34-incher.

<b>Seaside</b>

Lots of small striped bass were hitting in the surf at Seaside Park this morning on clams, and small bass were both clammed and plugged in the morning in the suds from Ortley Beach to Mantoloking, said the fishing report on <b>Betty and Nick’s Bait & Tackle</b>’s web site. A 13-pound 12-ounce bass was weighed in that bit in the Seaside Park surf on clam, and another keeper was also checked in. The wash today was calm and clean, after rough seas yesterday that were too big and produced no fish.  The surf today was 57 degrees. <a href=" http://www.bettyandnicks.com/fish.shtml" target="_blank"> Click here</a> for the latest.

The surf was surprisingly rough yesterday, but by this morning southwest winds were expected to calm it down, said the fishing report on <b>Grumpy’s Tackle</b>’s web site. So fishing with plugs or artificials was difficult but sometimes produced short striped bass, and seven stripers were checked in, and all swallowed Grumpy clams. The fish weighed 8.2 pounds, 9.1 pounds. 9.9 pounds, 14.5 pounds, 14.8 pounds, 17.6 pounds and 17.9 pounds. On Saturday winds kicked up the suds, and stripers loved it. Sharpies who toughed out the pounding were rewarded, and the shop listed 17 stripers checked in that weighed 7.8 to 17.4 pounds. All ate Grumpy clams except one that hit an Ava jig and another that mouthed a white Gulp, and plenty of shorts were also reported caught, and no blues were weighed in. Friday’s weigh-in list was even better, and included 23 fish, mostly stripers with a handful of blues. Surf fishing was happening! <a href="http://www.grumpystackle.com/fishingreports/" target="_blank"> Click here</a> for updates. 

<b>Waretown</b>

A striped bass charter was weathered out Saturday with <b>Perfect Drift Sport Fishing</b>, but a trip Sunday trolled eight short stripers to 26 inches in the ocean off the bathing beach at Island Beach State Park, Capt. John said. All the fish measured 22 to 26 inches and were hooked on umbrella rigs and bunker spoons.

<b>Atlantic City</b>

Striped bass were getting beached in the surf, and tog were being pulled from along the jetties, and the fishing wasn’t “good-good,” but the fish were there, said Noel from <b>One Stop Bait & Tackle</b>. Clams, eels and bloodworms drew the stripers, and clams or green crabs took the tog, and all these baits are stocked. No bluefish were around, and bunker and herring schooled the water, but no sand eels did.

The weather was too rough for the <b>AC Lady</b> to run for bottom fish over the weekend, but previously patrons were pulling in sea bass, Capt. Rich said. Sea bass should still be able to be caught, but the boat will probably start targeting blackfish this weekend, because the bag limit increases to eight of the fish later this week from the current limit of one. A bottom-fishing charter recently scored good action on blacks. The AC Lady is fishing 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday.

<b>Margate</b>

Back-bay striped bass fishing seemed to take somewhat of a hit after the storm early last week, and shorts were being landed on the <b>Fish N’ Fun</b>, and the crew was looking forward to a rebound soon, Capt. Jay said. More and more patrons were showing up for the trips, running twice daily from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Bunker, clams, eels and a variety of baits were being used to catch the stripers, and the trips were also targeting tog in the bay on green crabs when striper fishing was slower. The increase in the bag limit to eight tog Thursday from the current limit of one will be great, and the tog could then become more of a target when that’s a good option on a trip. Jay’s bigger vessel, the <b>Jessie O’</b>, will also start targeting tog in the ocean on daily, open-boat trips at that time, especially because sea bassing seemed slow and might’ve been finished for the year. But other types of fishing can also be available on its daily trips, and currently the trips are mixing up the fishing with bottom fishing and jigging for striped bass and such. Both vessels are also available for charters. The bay boat and ocean boat make the fleet available for all types of trips for small groups and large from the bay to the ocean. Openings are available for a trip that will compete in Captain Andy’s Marina’s Annual Striper Tournament on Saturday. The fare includes the tournament entry fee, a T-shirt, a buffet at Maynard’s Café, and of course a chance to win the prizes for the three heaviest linesiders. Reservations are being accepted for a special Thanksgiving Day open-boat striped bass trip that will take place 6 a.m. to 12 noon, getting anglers home in time for turkey and football.

<b>Longport</b>

Bluefish to 10 pounds were jigged on the <b>Stray Cat</b> close to shore Sunday, and a trip Saturday was cancelled because of forecasts for rough weather, but the forecasts turned out somewhat wrong, and the boat probably could have sailed early in the day until conditions deteriorated, Capt. Mike said. No striped bass showed up on Sunday’s trip, and the 56-degree water inshore was very cloudy, so few fish were biting at the inlets and such. Mike knew that previously stripers were showing up at 2-Fathom Bank and beyond the 3 mile limit where they could be caught, and lots of them and blues were at the lumps outside Wildwood Reef, beyond the legal distance. But Mike thought that if the water cleared, some shots of stripers should show up close to shore. Open-boat, bottom-fishing trips will sail daily this week, and bottom fishing was pretty good for 3- to 5-pound sea bass Friday 15 miles from shore. Open tog trips begin to leave the dock daily Thursday, when the bag limit is jacked up to eight from the current limit of one. Stray Cat had a great tog season last year at South Jersey’s wrecks that get less pressure than up north, and Mike hoped for more of the same.   

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

On the <b>Captain Robbins</b> Tom Stetler limited out on sea bass yesterday, and Larry McGuire won the pool that day with an 8-1/2-pound bluefish, Capt. John said. More than 20 dogfish also bit, and that wasn’t good news. A trip Thursday produced good sea bassing and some blues, and Paul Danek took the pool with a 12-1/4-pound slammer. Last Monday a load of sea bass was bagged, and Jim McPlumb won the pool with a 20-pound striped bass. Stripers were seen on the way in that day, and the crew wasn’t about to pass them up. The boat will continue to target bottom fish, and more effort will be put into tog fishing starting Thursday, when the tog bag limit jumps to eight from the current limit of one. But tog won’t be the only focus, and fish like sea bass will continue to be pursued. The Captain Robbins is bottom fishing 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.  

Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Gibson’s Tackle</b> was fishing on the island of Culebra in Puerto Rico this week with friend and guide Chris Goldmark, who charters in Cape May during summer and Puerto Rico during the cooler months, Joe said. Tarpon to 30 pounds and bonefish to 9 pounds were landed, and Joe also fished the surf and fly rodded a variety of fish. He even reeled in unusual catches including parrotfish, which normally eat corral but for some reason grabbed a fly, and big ballyhoos, which normally eat vegetation but also charged a fly. This was Joe’s first trip to the island, and he said it was off the beaten path and was very cool, and he’ll definitely go back. The fishing is good all winter long, and tarpon might’ve been running a little late this year. Besides tarpon and bonefish, a variety of other fish including jacks and barracuda swim the waters. The fishing in general was a little off, but maybe it was delayed in getting started. Back at home, anglers around Sea Isle were waiting for the big body of migrating stripers and blues to come south. But resident stripers were still hitting in the back bay on popper lures in the mean time. When the migration arrives trips will start jigging the ocean under bird plays.

<b>Cape May</b>

The <b>Heavy Hitter</b> finally made it out on its first striped bass charter of the year Friday, a couple of weeks later than usual, because bad weather kept forcing trips to be cancelled, Capt. George said. The charter—with Larry Moon’s group of four anglers—bunker chunked five striped bass to 35 pounds in Delaware Bay. Most anglers had been scoring in Delaware Bay, so George suggested that the charter try for big stripers there, and fishing for the linesiders had been slow at the Cape May Rips, though a good bite seemed to happen at the rips yesterday, so George was planning to fish there today. A charter Saturday was weathered out, and Roger Beaher’s charter on Sunday bunker chunked a 38-inch striper and a 35-incher, and the fishing was slow, but at least those two were bagged. Local striper fishing wasn’t as heavy as usual this year so far, but some were being hooked. Lots of the fish were schooling at the ocean lumps beyond 3 miles from shore, where striper fishing is closed.

Striper action wasn’t hot and heavy but seemed a little better every day, and that was encouraging, said Capt. Bob from the <b>Down Deep</b>. Charters on the boat were fishing both the Cape May Rips and Delaware Bay, and each place was producing a few of the linesiders. Roger Fulmer’s party yesterday bagged stripers to 18 pounds. On other days Carmen Valerio’s group pulled on stripers to 25 pounds, and on Bob Horn’s charter, Bob himself walloped a 40-pounder, his biggest to date. On Martin Booth’s trip Gregory Tate took a 30-pounder that was the biggest striper of the day.

Two charters on the <b>Fishin’ Fever</b> fished the Cape May Rips yesterday and bagged seven striped bass in the morning and four stripers in the afternoon, and sea lice were on all the fish, so the linesiders had migrated from the ocean, Capt. Tom said. So that was good news, and the fishing seemed to be perking up, and other bites were also missed. A 30-pounder was the biggest boated, and live spots were the bait. Fishin’ Fever will also bunker chunk for stripers in Delaware Bay, but fishing seemed best at the rips for now, so trips would probably keep fishing there at least at the moment.

Striped bass fishing started to turn on at the Cape May Rips yesterday, and nice ones to 38 inches, not a ton, but sometimes a half-dozen a trip, were boated, and short stripers were mixed in, said Capt. T.J. from <b>Legal Limit Charters</b>. He had started to fish there this morning when he gave this report. Bunker chunking for stripers in Delaware Bay pretty much shut down in the past days, though it was good at the beginning of last week. A charter with Legal Limit bunker chunked stripers to 35 pounds in the bay Thursday night.

<b>Fine Line Fishing Charters</b> bagged two striped bass at 60-Foot Slough on bunker chunks yesterday, and a couple of other fish bit, Capt. Dave said. Seas were somewhat snotty in the morning, so the boat fished the bay, but charters will also hit the Cape May Rips for stripers when conditions allow. The water was cold and 51 degrees, and tons of boats fished the area, and lots of anglers on the radio said they were hooking nothing. So Dave was especially glad about the two that were hauled in with Fine Line.

Anglers with <b>O-Beth Sportfishing Charters</b> nailed a few stripers to 34 inches in lower Delaware Bay on bunker chunks yesterday, Capt. Eric said. The water was probably in the mid to low 50s, and the tide was outgoing. Another trip was heading to the bay today. O-Beth had been offering fall sharking trips in addition to striper charters, but with the colder weather, sharking’s probably finished, and striper charters should be the focus the rest of the season.

Striper fishing seemed to pick up pretty well in the past week, said Capt. Mike from <b>Copacetic Sportfishing</b>. Charters on the boat tackled stripers to a 36-pound, 48-incher, and lots of quality stripers in the 20-pound class were around. His trips fished the Cape May Rips with spots and eels and lower Delaware Bay with bunker chunks, and outgoing tides seemed best in the bay. The water was 57 or 58 degrees, and Copacetic will target stripers as long as the weather holds.

Fishing for striped bass seemed to really start turning on hard in both the Cape May Rips and Delaware Bay for <b>Jaftica Sportfishing</b>, Capt. Ray said. A charter Friday afternoon with Fred Whitman’s four anglers chunked some nice stripers to 41 pounds in the bay. In the afternoon Darryl Dawkins and four friends fished the rips 1 ½ hours and nailed two good-sized stripers 19 or 20 pounds and then chunked the bay and caught a bigger one that Ray thought was 29 pounds, if he remembered correctly. On Sunday a charter fished the rips in the morning till the top of the tide, and a great bite was going on, and three or four stripers were boated in 1 ½ hours. Then the anglers chunked the bay to look for a big one and scored, landing a linesider about 22 pounds. Seas were a little sloppy at first yesterday until the tide changed, and Ray heard that the bay was rough in the morning. Charters on the boat will probably concentrate on striper fishing at the rips, because that fishing can be more exciting and involve more action while drifting around with live bait instead of anchoring in the bay on the chunk.

Striped bass fishing was in full swing, and the fish were coming from both the Cape May Rips and Delaware Bay, and stripers along with slammer blues were also jigged along Townsend’s Inlet, said Matt from <b>Jim’s Bait & Tackle</b> in a fax. Some of the better areas in the bay included the Horseshoe, Tussy’s Slough and 60-Foot Slough, and the best depth was 20 to 24 feet. Andy Shoal slammed his first-ever 50-pound striper in the bay Friday. Pat Kalius, 16, weighed in a 35-1/4-pound striper that he tackled on the Jaftica in the bay. Even in the bad weather last week, the Stalker scored 15 stripers to 42 inches on Wednesday, and the Noreaster II found 10 stripers at the rips Thursday. The rips started producing fish Wednesday around the top of the tides. Surf fishing started to pick up, and a couple of blitzes of stripers and big blues took place at Wildwood Crest during the week. Pete Hauser nailed a 32-pound striper at the Crest on Thursday on a yellow popper lure. The Avalon surf gave up a good run of bass and blues. The blackfish bag limit hops up to eight fish Thursday from the current limit of one, and the inshore wrecks and rock piles were loaded with the fish.

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