<b>Brooklyn</b>

Anglers on an open-boat blackfishing trip bagged scores of keepers to 7 pounds at two drops yesterday on the <b>Big M Express</b> on white and green crabs, Capt. Steve said. An open trip for blacks Tuesday also produced plenty, and all the anglers limited out, and green crabs outfished calico crabs by far. The fish weighed up to 6 pounds, no huge ones but great action, and small sea bass and porgies were also boated. An open trip for the tog Monday was slow. Open blackfishing trips are sailing every morning when no charter is booked, and open striper trips are slated for the evenings every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, though the weather was forcing many of the evening trips to be cancelled lately.

<b>Staten Island</b>

An open-boat blackfishing trip Monday with three anglers limited out on blackfish to 7 ½ pounds, Capt. Anthony from <b>Barbara Anne Fishing Charters</b> said. He also posted a report on this site’s Visitors’ Reports that looked like blackfishing on the boat was sometimes tougher than other times in the past month, but the trips usually limited out. Anthony said a blackfishing trip today looked like it would be weathered out, but charters will sail for the tog every day next week. Open-boat trips leave the dock every Tuesday when no charter is booked, guaranteed to fish with a minimum of two anglers. Tog are the focus, but striper trips are available.

Blackfishing was once again super with <b>Outcast Charters</b> on a trip Monday, and the anglers once again limited out early and then played catch and release, Capt. Joe said. The boat fished in 40 to 55 feet at four or five drops that all held life, and maybe a half-dozen of the fish weighed 6 pounds, and maybe four weighed 4 to 5 pounds, and the rest were 3 pounds. Joe said he hopes the fishing holds up. Sometimes blackfishing charters with Outcast stop along the beaches and catch stripers as a bonus, but this trip didn’t stop, although Joe saw birds working, and boaters there seemed to catch lots of blues.

Plenty of big striped bass were around, and one day anglers would knock them dead, and another day would be slow, and trips just had to hunt the fish, said Capt. Tommy Verderosa from <b>Frenzy Fishing Charters</b>. One friend nailed a 40-pounder, and another friend took a 30-punder. Another friend eeled 16 stripers at the Sandy Hook Rips, and another tried clamming for the fish but found a slow bite. Frenzy often anchors and bunker chunks for the fish, but sometimes charters eel for them. Striper charters are available, including night trips.

<b>Bayonne</b>

A trip eeled for stripers in the East River a couple of hours Monday afternoon, but there were no bites, and the water was 54 degrees, warmer than before, said Capt. Akira from <b>True World Tackle</b> and <b>True World Tackle Charters</b>. Previously his charters were eeling keeper bass in the river, and none of the fish was a migrator, but Akira was expecting the large migrators to appear any day. Other boaters who were fishing there this day bagged maybe one striper. A friend fished Hells’ Gate in the morning on the same day on incoming tide and eeled a 32-pound striper.

<b>Laurence Harbor</b>

A trip with <b>Evening Tide Charters</b> jigged lots of striped bass in the bay Monday, and the fish were all small and 18 to 26 inches, but the anglers broke out the 10-pound rods and had a ball, Capt. Kyle said. A few were also trolled, but fighting the fish on the light tackle while jigging turned out to be more fun. The fish were hooked in the middle of the bay around Reach Channel and also along the Belford Flats. The number of small bass that swam the bay was incredible, and the day was beautiful with no winds, sweatshirt weather. Openings are still available for charters, and Evening Tide will also target tog, now that the bag limit is eight tog starting today, compared with the previous limit of one.

<b>Keyport</b>

Striped bass were out there, but anglers had to find them, and bluefish seemed to be noticeably absent, said Capt. Joe from <b>Papa’s Angels Charters</b>. His charters are clamming, bunker chunking and eeling for the stripers. Two spots are available for an open-boat striper trip Thanksgiving Day from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. that allows anglers to get out on the water but be back in time for turkey. Four spots are already full. Open trips are also sailing every day when no charter is booked, and call to reserve the open trips.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

On the <b>CRT II</b> a charter reeled in striped bass to 38 inches Monday on clams and eels, but the fishing was a slow pick, Capt. Mick said. Charters will run for stripers until after Thanksgiving before Mick calls it a season, and discounts are always available on weekday trips.

Surf fishers were beaching stripers on rubber shads or clams during the day and on plugs during the night, and lots of sand eels were schooling the wash and ocean, said Jimmy from <b>Julian’s Bait & Tackle</b>. In the bay stripers were coming up to the surface to feed. The tog bag limit increased to eight today from the previous limit of one, and some anglers chased the blackfish this morning before the weather closed in, and they scored well. One customer said he fished an hour this morning and boated seven tog, one short of a limit, before the weather forced him to return. Porgies and sea bass could still be caught.

Jigging for striped bass was solid the first time this season the past couple of days on the <b>Fishermen</b>, and the fishing was very, very good, Capt. Ron said. Previously anglers on the boat were mostly clamming stripers, but now a large body of the fish were chasing baitfish under working birds throughout a big area of water from the bay to between the channels to the ocean front. Plenty of bluefish were also jigged, and lots of the stripers were small, but an average of 10 to 30 keepers were boated per trip. This was fishing like it ought to be at this time of year, the first steady jigging of the season. Forecasts were calling for rough weather in the next days, but Ron expected the bite to hold up despite stiff winds and seas. “Fish like it; people don’t,” he said. 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. Saturdays and Sundays. The daily trip will sail its usual hours on Thanksgiving Day.

Blackfishing will now become the focus on the <b>Atlantic Star</b>, Capt. Tom said, because the bag limit increased to eight today from the previous limit of one. The boat had been mainly porgy fishing, and porgies will still be able to be caught at times, because the scup are often found at the same places as blacks. Clams will be supplied on the boat for those who want to catch porgies, and green crabs will be supplied for the blacks. Blackfish were sometimes already boated on the vessel’s trips when customers decided to try for them. Porgy fishing on the boat was good Monday and Tuesday at Sandy Hook Reef, and no trip sailed yesterday because few people showed up. Weather was rolling in today and tomorrow, and the forecast looked like Saturday might be okay, but the weather might close in again Sunday. Anglers will see whether the weather affects the fishing. The Atlantic Star is bottom fishing for blackfish, porgies and sea bass from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily.

<b>Highlands</b>

Fishing was improving every day, and although the fish sometimes seemed to have lockjaw, the action overall was good, and striped bass were responding to eels, clams or jigs, depending on the location, said Capt. Bob from <b>Sandy Hook Fishing Adventures</b> in an e-mail. A trip with the Jim English party fished the back of Raritan Bay on a calm, foggy day, and fish were busting all around the boat, and everything but the kitchen sink was thrown to them, but none was a taker. But then stripers managed to be trolled on umbrella rigs, and the anglers finished up the day with jigging stripers and blues between the channels. Some prime dates remain for charters but are filling up fast as the bite heats up.

Jigging was producing lots of striped bass from Sandy Hook Bay to the Shrewsbury Rocks for <b>Fisher Price Charters</b> the past couple of days, and catches were good, Capt. Derek said. Keepers were mixed in, and ones to 20 pounds were bagged, and blues were also among the mix from the bay to the ocean. The bay was about 50 degrees and the ocean was 56 or 57 degrees. Derek worked on someone else’s boat today that fished between the channels and trolled six keeper stripers and lots of blues that were feeding on sand eels. Some dates remain for striper charters, and jigging was very good now. Fisher Price is also available for tog trips, because the bag limit became eight tog today from the previous limit of one. Derek took a scouting trip for the blackfish Monday and hooked lots of the fish to 7 pounds, and probably 30 or 40 would’ve been keepers but were released.

Trolling for stripers was good yesterday off Sandy Hook Point with <b>Jersey Devil Charters</b>, Capt. Brian said. Probably 16 to 18 fish were landed, and 6 or 8 were keepers, and big blues, not a lot and around 10, were also hooked. The day began foggy but later cleared, and the water was 52 degrees. Jersey Devil will target stripers as long as the linesiders are around, and trips will go after them the next two days. But the tog bag limit increases to eight today from the previous limit of one, and tog trips are also available.

<b>Long Branch</b>

Surf fishing for striped bass seemed to be picking up, and catches really turned on this morning, said John Allan from <b>Jim’s Bait & Tackle</b>. He beached about 11 stripers, including a 12-pound 4-ouncer that he kept, and another that was probably a keeper that he released, on metal, and was catching the fish the past two or three days. Carl VanNess checked in two stripers 21 pounds 8 ounces and 20 pounds that he pulled from the surf, and George Finnegan weighed in two bass 12 pounds 6 ounces and 12 pounds 4 ounces from the suds. Bluefish seemed to be thinning out in the wash, and striper numbers seemed to be increasing, and loads of sand eels filled the water from Long Branch to Monmouth Beach to Sea Bright, and peanut bunker were still around. Ninety percent of stripers in the surf were hooked on poppers, metal or swimmers, and not many were taken on clams. Anglers fishing the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers at night were eeling big stripers, and big blues still swam the rivers, and plenty of bait was still there.

<b>Sea Bright</b>

<b>Two Rivers Charters</b> fought lots of striped bass to 20 pounds along the Keansburg Flats on Monday morning on jigs and poppers, Capt. Fletcher Chayes said. On Monday evening anglers onboard threw soft plastics to land stripers to 25 pounds directly north of the Navy Pier. Anglers on the boat also hooked the fish Wednesday morning off Keansburg, in front of the Navy Pier and in Sandy Hook Bay, though the fishing was slower. The fish were eating peanut bunker and herring, and one of them had a 1-pound blackfish in its mouth, so Fletcher figured the fish came from the pier. No blues were hooked, and few blues seemed to swim the bay, but Two Rivers battled blues in the ocean Sunday evening. Fletcher saw birds working the water like crazy at the Shrewsbury Rocks Tuesday, so there were fish, but he couldn’t know whether they were only blues instead of stripers.

<b>Neptune</b>

The season’s first individual-reservation tog trip with <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b> was weathered out today, but more of the trips will sail November 21, 23 and 26, and space is available, Capt. Ralph said. Space is also available on an individual-reservation striper trip Sunday, and the last one of those trips sailed Sunday and caught about 50 stripers and 50 blues in the ocean, but few of the stripers were keepers. A mid-range wreck-fishing trip leaves port Sunday, and one spot is available.

<b>Belmar</b>

The <b>Big Mohawk</b> made it out on its first tog trip of the season today, when the tog bag limit increased to eight from the previous limit of one, and catches were very good, Capt. Chris said. The boat is sailing for the blackfish 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day.

Tog fishers on the Belmar party boats scored well today if they knew what they were doing, because the ocean was rough, said Johnny “O.” from <b>Fisherman’s Den</b>. Today was the first day that the boats specifically targeted the blackfish, because the bag limit was pushed up to eight from the previous limit of one. Surf fishers beached plenty of short stripers on clams today, and some customers today were buying eels, so he assumed they were going to eel for the fish tonight. Johnny wasn’t really hearing about sand eels in the wash.

Charters on the <b>Nan Sea J</b> were jigging striped bass and blues from the Shrewsbury Rocks to Sea Girt, good fishing with lots of action, and many of the stripers were small, Capt. Tom said. The ocean was 52 degrees, and a charter Sunday is supposed to tog fish, now that the bag limit became eight today from the previous limit of one. A charter Saturday is supposed to fish for stripers. But rough weather was rolling in, so Tom would see if the charters would be able to get out.

<b>Brielle</b>

On the <b>Katie H</b> a charter fished the ocean yesterday and jigged a bazillion blues on Ava’s right off Manasquan Inlet, Capt. Mike said. A keeper striper was also bagged, and stripers could be read underneath the blues, but the blues were just ferocious. The blues could stand to disappear and make striper fishing easier, but they seemed to be sticking around with all the bait in the water. The tog bag limit gets lifted up to eight fish today from the previous limit of one, and charters on the boat do target the tog, and a trip might sail for the slipperies Saturday if there’s a break in the rough weather that day like was being forecast. Friday and Sunday looked stiff. The Katie H had been tuna fishing until now, and the crew might still try to run charters for big bluefins that sometimes show up at Hudson Canyon at this time of year. Another charter is interested in tilefishing at the canyons, so the crew will try to squeeze in that trip.

<b>Point Pleasant</b>

Anglers with <b>Andrea’s Toy Charters</b> got out Monday and reeled in a mixed bag of striped bass, blues and sea bass in the ocean, Capt. Fred said. Lots of bass and blues were swimming around from Seaside to Long Branch, but few of the stripers were keepers, and no limit was bagged. The boat’s previous two charters limited out on the linesiders. Trips with Andrea’s Toy were now usually jigging for stripers and blues, going on the troll to try to limit out on stripers if no limit was jigged, and ending the day with bottom fishing. The blackfish bag limit hikes up to eight fish today from the previous limit of one, and charters on the boat will do lots of blackfishing. The next 10 days were booked with charters for the tog, although bad weather was likely to force cancellations in the next several days. Fishing for stripers, blues and bottom fish were all consistent now.

A charter headed out on the <b>Angela Rose</b> on Sunday to fish for striped bass and bluefish in the ocean on a half-day trip, an e-mail from the boat said. The anglers got an early start and began cruising south along the ocean beaches, looking for working birds. Marks lit up the fish finder off Bay Head, and the anglers stopped and picked at blues until the bite stopped. Then there was a long lull, and time was up, so the boat started running back to port. But birds and a group of boats were seen due offshore of Manasquan Inlet, so the vessel ran out to the fray. The anglers nailed a great mix of stripers and blues the next 2 ½ hours. Back at the dock, they were glad the crew spent the extra time to put fish in the boat, the e-mail said. On Monday a group of return customers left the dock to hunt a mixed bag of stripers, blues and tog. The trip got underway at 6:30 a.m. and cruised south along the ocean beaches again. Scattered marks were found, and the gang started to troll. The first fish bit within 10 minutes, and some more were landed, until birds were seen working to the north. So the lines were picked up, and the boat moved to the mile marker off the inlet, and bass and blues bent the rods the next few hours. Then the group decided to leave the fish biting and try bottomfishing. But that turned out to be a bad idea, and only one keeper tog was boated. So the charter returned to where they had left the stripers and blues hitting, spending the rest of the time filling up the fish box. Quite a few fish were reeled in by the end of the day.

<b>Bricktown</b>

Ocean jigging was excellent for stripers and blues on big, Ava 67’s, and the fish were on sand eels, but the blues moved in a couple of days ago and followed adult and peanut bunker that showed up, and it was good to see the bunker, said Jason from <b>Pell’s Fish & Sport</b>. Customers were gobbling up a knockoff version of a Krocodile that are pearl, because the pearl ones were hammering the fish and were also a replacement for white Krocs that are no longer made. The fish were hitting right off Manasquan Inlet to the mile buoy, and boaters were also running and gunning north and south, looking for working birds. Surf fishing was also excellent, and a lot of small stripers were beached, but anglers who put in the time always came home with a keeper. Blues also swam the surf, and many surf anglers were connecting in the mornings, when a bunch of blues often showed up. Blues also appeared in the afternoons, but then stripers would start biting toward evenings and into the night, sucking down clams. The weather was rough, but it looked like westerly winds would blow by the weekend, so conditions should be good. Lots of anglers were going blackfishing, because the bag limit got picked up to eight today from the previous limit of one, and nothing was heard back from the tog anglers yet, but green crabs and clams are stocked for them. The inshore pieces should give up the blacks, and the Point Pleasant Canal was giving them up. Good-sized stripers 10 or 12 pounds were eeled in the canal while boaters drifted. Plenty of schoolie bass 18 inches smacked Bomber lures and such at the Railroad Bridge on the Manasquan River.

<b>Toms River</b>

Lots of striped bass were checked in from the surf Monday, but catches seemed to taper off afterward, although keepers and a bunch of shorts were still beached, said Jeff from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b>. Boaters trolled a few stripers, mostly shorts and a few keepers, in 40 to 60 feet in the ocean. Bluefish were running up and down the beaches, and both boaters and surf casters were fighting them. A few anglers were targeting stripers in Barnegat Bay, either eeling the fish along the sod banks near Barnegat Inlet or anchoring and clamming for the fish around the inlet. The Toms River was giving up undersized black drum on clams.

<b>Seaside</b>

The surf had cleaned up by Monday, and anglers were plugging short bass, although Grumpy clams were still putting dinner on the table, but pluggers were expected to have a fair shot by this point in the season, said the fishing report on <b>Grumpy’s Tackle</b>’s web site. Small blues were common catches. On Tuesday the wash at Lavallette and Ortley beach was lit up with assorted sizes of blues, and the speedsters were also in and out all day at scattered locations. Striped bass were pushing peanut bunker up to the beaches, so pluggers were scoring, and stripers to 15.1 pounds were weighed in, mostly hooked on Grumpy clam, but some on metal, a plug, a needlefish and a peanut bunker. On Wednesday two black drum 58.3 pounds and 52 pounds were weighed in from the surf by two different anglers who tossed Grumpy clam. Blues and short bass were beached, and bait was everywhere. <a href="http://www.grumpystackle.com/fishingreports/" target="_blank"> Click here</a> for updates. 

One customer bailed 12 striped bass, including a 17-pounder and a 15-pounder, and 14 blues in the surf today, said the fishing report on <b>Betty and Nick’s Bait & Tackle</b>’s web site. A couple of locals were loading up on blues today in the Mantoloking wash, and reportedly legendary fly tyer Bob Popovics was fly rodding blues today in the surf a little south of the bathing beach at Island Beach State Park, and seas were stiff for fly fishing, but spin fishers would’ve had no problem. The weather was rough, and winds were from the south, but Friday to Sunday was looking good with cool weather and northwest winds. Big blues over 10 pounds were steadily fought  yesterday in the suds at Lavallette, Seaside Heights, Seaside Park and northern Island Beach State Park, and lots of small blues hit the beach from Ortley to Brick. Big bunker were also there, but no stripers were. <a href=" http://www.bettyandnicks.com/fish.shtml" target="_blank"> Click here</a> for the latest.

<b>Waretown</b>

Ocean fishing for striped bass and blues was very good from the bathing beach at Island Beach State Park to Barnegat Inlet, and yesterday was hot, and the only problems was that the stripers were small, said Dale from <b>L&H Woods & Water</b>. Boaters were landing maybe one or two keeper bass per trip, and some were nailing a mess of stripers but no keepers. He thought maybe the day before or Tuesday was also good. Dale himself boated the ocean farther north out of Manasquan Inlet yesterday, and blues were everywhere, and stripers were around, but most were small. He bagged one keeper, and the bluefishing was very good, if anyone likes to do that. The blues were packed with sand eels and almost looked deformed. Boaters only needed to watch the depth recorder to find the fish, because they were so abundant, and jigging Ava’s did the trick, and trolling was unnecessary. Little news was heard about Barnegat Bay’s striper fishing, because most were fishing the ocean the past few days. But stripers in the bay did seem larger than in the ocean and weighed up to 15 or 18 pounds, nothing too big. Anchoring and clamming worked, and eeling at night also seemed productive. Live spots would also work, but lots of anglers were holding off on using spots because of bluefish. Surf fishing seemed pretty productive on Long Beach Island, and surf casters were picking stripers here and there, though no blitzes were heard about this week.

<b>Perfect Drift Sport Fishing</b> fished the ocean Sunday for lots of blues and about a dozen short striped bass, mostly 22- to 26-inchers, from the bathing beach at Island Beach State Park to Seaside, where everyone was fishing lately, Capt. John said. The fish bit trolled umbrella rigs and shad rigs and also jigs. The water was in the low 50s, and a trip was going to try to fish for stripers yesterday morning, but fog was too thick. Most anglers were now fishing the ocean, but Barnegat Bay was still producing stripers on clams and spots during the day and eels at night, though the keeper ratio seemed to be way down. John noted that everybody clams for the fish in different ways, and some prefer to toss lots of chunks of clam in the water for chum. But he only ladles out clam juice into the water and tosses no chunks in the slick. Sometimes he might drop down a chum pot with clams, but then he puts the clams in a nylon stocking, so no pieces of the clam escape. Perfect Drift was supposed to fish for tog today, when the bag limit increased to eight from the previous limit of one, but the trip was weathered out. Still, the boat is mostly striper fishing the rest of the season. More trips were supposed to chase stripers tomorrow and Sunday, but the weather forecast was looking bad on those days. But when anglers can get out to the ocean, the fish are there.

<b>Barnegat Light</b>

Barnegat Bay anglers lifted up lots of striped bass, about 12- to 15-pound fish, at the inlet or along the bulkhead while anchored and clamming or while drifting live spots, said Josh from <b>Barnegat Light Bait & Tackle</b>. A bunch of herring were swimming around, and some anglers were snagging herring and fishing them for the stripers, and others were livelining eels at night for the fish. Surf fishing was pretty sold for stripers, including keepers, and 5- to 10-pound blues. Heave out bunker or clam for the bass.

Fishing “reely” started to heat up with dropping water temps this week, said Capt. Steve from <b>Reel Fantasea Charters</b> in an e-mail. Kevin Rusty and Joe Franke sailed on an open-boat striper trip in the ocean, and they got into non-sot action on artificial and live baits, keeping their limits and releasing over 20 more. Jay Simmons and two friends were aboard for a slam fest on stripers in the ocean, landing more than 30 and keeping their limits, and they also battled big, gator blues. Joe and Tom Kilin took a trip that fished in Barnegat Bay because they didn’t want to venture into a sloppy ocean, and the fishing was slow. But a trip today was another slam fest in the ocean, despite winds and rain. The stripers and blues didn’t seem to care, and the fish finder was lit up all morning with fish and bait.

<b>Brighton Beach</b>

Lots more striped bass were taken from the surf recently, and a bunch of blues—and bigger ones around 30 inches—also showed up along the beaches, said Kevin from <b>Oceanside Bait & Tackle</b>. Bunker seemed to claim the bigger stripers, and clams seemed to draw the smaller ones, but sometimes large ones pounced on clam. A 37-pound striper was the biggest striper checked in this week, and a 40-pounder was leading the Long Beach Island Surf Derby and was entered toward the beginning of the tournament. Bunker was also scoring the blues, and blues that were checked in weighed 8 to 14 pounds.

<b>Beach Haven</b>

The <b>Miss Beach Haven</b> was poised to sail for blackfish today, when the bag limit increases to eight from the previous limit of one, and the weather forecast was looking dubious, but the trip was going to run if possible, Capt. Frank said. The boat had been bottom fishing for sea bass and such but will now target blacks. The boat usually runs on Saturdays and Sundays, though today’s trip was a special one because of the bag limit increase. But normally the boat will now run for blackfish 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday, leaving an hour earlier than before but returning at the same time, and green crabs will be carried for bait. On Sunday lots of blacks were hooked on a bottom-fishing trip, even though the anglers could only keep one apiece. That trip also came across working birds, so the boat stopped, and patrons jigged striped bass.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

Striped bass fishing was okay, and small schools seemed to push through, and most of the fish were shorts, although last week bigger, 40-inch stripers were hammered, said Scott from <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>. Most of the fish were clammed at Little Egg Inlet while boaters anchored, but drifted eels and spots would work and are stocked. The key was to put in the time, and you would catch fish. Few bluefish were around, but anglers weren’t complaining, because blues weren’t stealing their striper baits. No so many stripers seemed to be hitting in the bay anymore, but previously they were hooked at places including Pebble Beach and Graveling Point. However, low tides coincided with evenings lately, and high tides are preferred and coincided with evenings last week, and many anglers fish after work, so maybe that was the reason. Jigging and trolling for stripers in the ocean was yet to produce much but is usually good by Thanksgiving. Fishing was generally running late this year, so Scott wasn’t depending on the fish to arrive then. The tog bag limit jumped to eight today from the previous limit of one, but the rough weather probably kept anyone from togging. But they’ll head out to the ocean when seas calm down. Nobody reported landing tog along the banks of the bay like they did before, and once the water dropped to 52 degrees, those fish seemed to hightail it. It wasn’t that they didn’t like the temperature, but they don’t like drastic changes in temps. Weakfishing was finished. The main thing now was that customers were waiting for striper fishing to really turn on.

<b>Absecon</b>

<b>Absecon Bay Sportsman Center</b>’s annual Do It All Night Striper Tournament took place last weekend and went well, Lou said, and click here for the winners. A 33-pounder was the biggest in the competition and was beached in the surf at Brigantine, and that was the first time a surf-caught fish was the biggest. Anglers were landing stripers at the jetty at the south end of Brigantine this morning on bunker and clam. Small blues showed up in the back bay again, and some stripers were in the bay, and many were small, but bigger ones seemed to be moving in. Jerk shads, live spots or clams will fool them during the day, and eels will get the strikes at night.

<b>Atlantic City</b>

Striped bass fishing was good from the ocean to the surf to the back bay, said Jack from <b>Offshore Enterprises Bait & Tackle</b>. A 44-pound striper and a 33-pounder were reported reeled in from the surf at Brigantine. Surf casters mostly threw clam or fresh bunker. Not a lot of blues but some were around. The back bay’s striper fishing was decent on spots, eels or clams. The shop now offers a rental boat, a 17-foot Angler with a 50 h.p. engine, for fishing the bay and inlet. The tog bag limit was raised up to eight today from the previous limit of one, and customers were buying green crabs for bait, but nobody reported results, and the weather was rough. The <b>Carly A</b>, the shop’s charter boat, might still head offshore for big bluefin tuna that show up at this time of year, if the weather allows trips to sail, and the vessel might also run striper charters. The shop is fully stocked with baits including fresh bunker, live clams, eels, spots and green crabs; all the frozen baits including mackerel, bunker, herring and clam bellies; bunker and mackerel chum; and even a full array offshore baits such as butterfish and ballyhoos.

<b>Margate</b>

On the <b>Jessie O’</b> a small crowd nailed several keeper and throwback striped bass and hammered slammer blues to 10 or 12 pounds along the ocean front yesterday, Capt. Jay said. So it was a good trip, and the fish attacked eels and jigs, and birds crashed the water. Open-boat trips are sailing daily when no charter is booked, and both fishing for bass and blues and bottom fishing are available. The tog bag limit gets jacked up to eight today from the previous limit of one, and the crew is looking forward to putting more effort into blackfishing now. Jay’s back-bay boat, the <b>Fish N’ Fun</b>, is running open trips for stripers twice daily from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., and sometimes tog are also targeted on those outings. Charters are also available on the bay boat. 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>

Despite rough weather forecasts, <b>Stray Cat Charters</b> was going to try to sail today on the season’s first open-boat tog trip, because the bag limit jumps to eight from the current limit of one, Capt. Mike said. Open tog trips will now sail daily the rest of the year, and the next openings are on Tuesday and Wednesday, and afterward the next openings are the following Wednesday through Friday. Many of the open trips are full, and charters are also filling up, so act fast if you want to reserve dates. Only two Saturdays are left for charters in December, and some Sundays remain. Stray Cat fished for sea bass, blues and stripers in the ocean this week, but the fishing was slow, for some reason. A few sea bass and blues were landed, and so were lots of dogfish. Striped bass have been schooling at 2-Fathom Bank and Wildwood Reef, beyond the legal limit of 3 miles from shore where the fish can be legally caught. Boaters who were jigging blues and throwing surface poppers for blues at those locations were hooking the stripers by mistake. A few small stripers were holding at Sea Isle Lump, and that’s within the legal distance from land. Stripers could sometimes be eeled at Great Egg Inlet, and Mike knew about a 44-pounder that was tackled. Stray Cat will run open-boat striper trips on Tuesdays and Sundays.

<b>Oceanside</b>

Only surf reports were available because winds blew too strongly for boating, but surf fishing was hot, said Dan from <b>Fin-Atics</b>. Plugging along the jetties was red hot for striped bass, and many of the fish were 26 to 32 inches, but some were 40 inches or 20 pounds. Bunker and herring swam the water, and there were no sand eels like up north. But when boaters could sail, they should be able to catch very well if they cast to the jetties. Big blues schooled Corson’s Inlet, chasing lots of bunker. Townsend’s Inlet was better for striper fishing, and drifting eels or tossing clams along the sand bars will hook up.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Trips with Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Gibson’s Tackle</b> were jigging lots of blues at 5-Fathom Bank on diamond jigs and soft plastics, and a few stripers sometimes hit, but only blues attacked on the most recent trip this week, he said. That area is beyond 3 miles from shore, where striper fishing is closed, so any stripers that are hooked must be released. Fishing in the Sea Isle area was about to bust loose, and birds were sometimes working the ocean, and more and more birds, stripers and blues will show up. A buddy tackled 30 blues to 12 or 15 pounds and a couple of short stripers in the ocean while jigging the other day. Joe was currently splitting his time 50/50 between ocean fishing and bay fishing, and striper fishing in the back bay actually seemed to improve this week and was good. The linesiders were still smacking popper lures on the surface, and that’s nice for this late in the season. Eventually Joe will do most fishing in the ocean as the season progresses. He was hearing about a few speckled sea trout hooked in the bay, and anglers are tight-lipped about those southern fish that arrive each fall, because it’s a sensitive fishery that will fall apart if too many anglers show up. So reports about a “few” of the specks is about all that will be heard. Local surf fishing was good, and surf casters were connecting with stripers, mostly small ones but definitely some keepers. Poppers worked along the jetties in the mornings and evenings will work, and swimming plugs will score in the middle of the day and at night. Joe recently returned from a fishing trip to the island of Culebra in Puerto Rico, and the fishing was described in the last report, but the name of the outfit that he fished with wasn’t included. So the name of the outfit is simply Culebra Fly Fishing, and Joe’s friend Capt. Chris Goldmark, who runs trips from Cape May during the summer, runs the business during the colder months. Joe said Chris is a heck of a fisherman and couldn’t say enough good things about him and the trip. Tarpon, bonefish and lots of other fish like jacks swim around this off-the-beaten-path island, and Chris is probably the only outfitter there.

<b>Cape May</b>

Loads of striped bass suddenly turned on at the Cape May Rips on Tuesday, and linesiders to 38 inches were landed, said Capt. T.J. from <b>Legal Limit Charters</b>. A dozen of the fish were boated with Legal Limit there, and a half-dozen were taken there on another trip on the vessel Monday. Delaware Bay bunker chunkers also seemed to score a bunch of bass, and the boat’s mate fished the bay Tuesday and nailed six stripers that were each over 40 inches, releasing four and keeping his two-fish limit.

<b>O-Beth Sportfishing Charters</b> bunker chunked for striped bass in lower Delaware Bay on Monday and Tuesday, and on Monday a few of the fish to 23 pounds were boated, and on Tuesday eight of the linesiders to 35 pounds were hauled in, Capt. Eric said. Most of the fish Tuesday weighed 28 or 29 pounds, so the fishing seemed to improve over the course of the two days. On Wednesday a trip fished the Cape May Rips, but only bluefish to 10 pounds bit. The water was around 53 degrees during the week, and the weather and seas were mostly calm, except a front that pushed a rainstorm through on Tuesday. But the fishing picked up after the rain.

Anglers on the <b>Fishin’ Fever</b> fished for striped bass at the Cape May Rips on two trips Monday and one trip Wednesday, and catches were pretty good, and up to 20 fish to 25 pounds were hooked per outing, Capt. Tom said. Monday’s fish were much bigger than Wednesday’s, and on Wednesday there was a big spread of fish, but many of the stripers were small, but bigger ones were mixed in. Live spots, live eels and bucktails were cast, and spots were best, but the other two also worked. Tom was hearing plenty of reports about stripers moving south along the coast toward Cape May, so he expects the action to really bust open. The water at the rips was 53 degrees and clear, and bunker chunking for stripers in Delaware Bay was also good, and chunking is available on charters upon request.

A charter on the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> reeled in seven striped bass, including four keepers to 38 inches and three throwbacks, at the Cape May Rips yesterday, and a mess of 5- or 6-pound blues also bombarded the baits, Capt. George said. The blues were so thick that they were tearing up the eels and spots used for bait, and everybody on the radio was looking for more eels, and George himself had to get more eels on the water because the blues ate all of them. Talk on the radio sounded like bunker chunking for stripers in Delaware Bay was okay yesterday or Wednesday. Anglers were saying the bite at the rips was dynamite on Tuesday, and another charter on the boat fished the rips on Monday and drilled nine stripers including six keepers. No blues were landed on that trip, and maybe one bait was bitten off by a blue. A charter was slated to striper fish tomorrow, but the forecast was calling for strong northwest winds, especially early in the day, so the charter might end up taking shelter and chunking in the bay in the afternoon.

Striped bass fishing now seemed pretty steady, including at the Cape May Rips, and blues moved into the rips and made getting to stripers tough yesterday, said Capt. Ray from <b>Jaftica Sportfishing</b>. The boat did no fishing in the past couple of days but would resume shortly. Jaftica’s charters were swimming live spots and live eels for the stripers at the rips, and Ray thought bucktailing should turn on soon, because water temps were dropping, and the fish were beginning to feed hard. Bunker chunking continued to produce stripers in Delaware Bay, and lots of 30- and 40-pounders were available, and the action should continue a while, because the water was relatively warm.

Fishing for striped bass was going pretty well at the Cape May Rips and Delaware Bay, and the rips started to come alive, said Nick from <b>Hands Too Bait & Tackle</b>.  One customer said he had one of his best fishing trips at the rips, reeling in seven linesiders that each weighed more than 25 pounds. Eels and spots are often used at the rips, but this customer used bunker chunks, and sometimes anglers do chunk there. Bunker chunking is the usual way to go in the bay. Surf fishing was a little slow, and stripers in the ocean were still farther north, but they’ll come down, and the local wash might turn on by Thanksgiving or the week after, and fishing was generally running late this year. Boating for stripers along the ocean front was also slow, and again, the fish will arrive from up north eventually. The waters off the Wildwood Ferris Wheel are usually a popular spot to fish when the action turns on. The store’s manager fished the back bay and landed a couple of slot-sized stripers on surface lures, and Nick heard about few keepers taken in the back, but small ones could be hooked. The tog bag limit jumped to eight today from the previous limit of one, and tog anglers seemed to be slamming the slipperies at the Avalon Bridge, and one lady said she’d been catching lots of tog at the stakes off the Coast Guard Station. Green crabs are stocked for tog bait, and the store is carrying fresh bunker, eels, spots and a full variety of other baits.
 

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