<b>Brooklyn</b>

Drifts on a bottom-fishing trip Friday on the <b>Big M Express</b> found life on almost every piece, and keeper sea bass and shorts were hooked all day, the report on the boat’s web site said. A few jumbo porgies and some fluke were also landed, and out-of-season blackfish were released. A charter Thursday also got into non-stop sea bassing, and although a ton of the fish were shorts, enough keepers were boated to keep it interesting. The trip was a combo sea bass and fluke charter, and the anglers had started fluke fishing, but the drift was slow, and a few shorts bit. By the end of the day two keeper fluke were bagged. Open-boat trips will sail for weaks and stripers in the evenings, and open trips will run for sea bass during the day. The Big M Express sails from Tamaqua Marina in Gerritsen Beach, Brooklyn.

<b>Staten Island</b>

<b>Barbara Anne Charters</b> caught the tail end of New York’s fluke season, which closed today, and did okay on the flatties on a charter, Capt. Anthony said. Many of the fish were shorts, and the trip fished at Reach Channel, because the charter requested to fish there. Some weakfish were also landed, and some of the head boats were now targeting weaks, but the population didn’t seem large enough at the moment to focus on weaks on charters. A charter will sail for sea bass tomorrow, and sea bassing was holding up, and charters will do a lot of sea bass fishing, now that fluke season ended. Blackfishing trips will begin October 1, when New York’s blackfishing season opens, and striper fishing will start when the fall migration turns on. Open-boat trips take place every Tuesday when no charter is booked.

Three trips left the dock with <b>Kayla Rose Charters</b> in the past couple of days, Capt. Darrin said. One trip on Saturday bagged eight keeper fluke to 7 pounds 2 ounces and released 30 or 40 shorts in the bay. Another on Sunday morning fished Rockaway Reef and bailed a mess of sea bass, porgies and fluke. The other trip was only an effort to scout striped bass on bunker bait, but striper fishing wasn’t happening yet. Kayle Rose is also fishing for tuna offshore, including on open-boat trips, and contact Darrin to be added to the list. Blackfishing charters will begin October 1, when New York’s blackfishing season opens, and book now, because blackfishing season is a busy one.

A tuna trip with <b>Outcast Charters</b> was weathered out this weekend, Capt. Joe said. But another tuna trip is slated for Thursday, and a sea bass charter is on the books for Wednesday. New York’s blackfishing season opens October 1, and Outcast will start running sea bass/blackfish combos then, unless blackfishing is good enough to target the tog exclusively at that time. Blackfishing is a specialty for Outcast, and striped bass charters will begin when the fall run of stripers kicks off.

<b>Laurence Harbor</b>

Weakfish finally started biting for <b>Evening Tide Charters</b> at Reach Channel, pretty much up and down the channel, Capt. Kyle said. Quite a few 14- to 22-inchers were landed, and usually Kyle prefers to liveline peanut bunker on light tackle for the trout, a very effective and fun way to catch them, but the peanuts that were netted recently were too big for the weaks, so his anglers instead fished with Berkeley Power Worms on jigheads. But when smaller peanuts are found, they’ll be livelined for the fish, and sandworms will also be used, and so will squid strips soaked in shedder crab oil, another good method. Blues from 2 to 5 pounds were also picked along with the weaks. Charters will concentrate on weakfishing as long as the bite holds, and bluefish will also be a target, and openings are definitely available for trips. Kyle was disappointed that fluke season closed early, because his son nailed a 27-incher that was released, so the flatties, and big ones, were still around.

<b>Keyport</b>

John Johnson’s party of four fished the back of the bay with <b>Papa’s Angels Charters</b> and put together a pick of blues and weakfish on Friday, Capt. Joe said. The blues bit bunker, and the weakfish hit worms, and there were now some weaks out there. Papa’s Angels is accepting bookings for the fall striped bass season, and if the weather stays cool like recently, it’ll drop water temps and should help start the striper run. Papa’s Angels is available for open-boat trips that run 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily when no charter is booked. Call to reserve and for prices and info.

On the <b>Lucky Carm</b> the Ty Giovatrs charter hammered the heck out of weakfish to 4 or 4 ½ pounds at Reach Channel, Capt. Carmine said. Lucy Patriarca caught one weak short of a limit, and so did Pete, who also scored the biggest. The fish only bit worms and refused peanut bunker, and Vic Biro and Florence Janson were also on the trip. So it looked like weakfish were around, and charters will now concentrate on them and also on striped bass and bottom fish. On Thursday James Gold and anglers from the Six-Pack Fishing Club from Rahway looked for stripers, sailing to the clam beds and the Shrewsbury Rocks in the ocean, but no stripers bit. So the group stopped at a wreck and pulled up lots of porgies to 2 pounds and some sea bass. Porgies definitely outnumbered sea bass, and the sea bass were about the same size as the porgies. Harry Cochran, Joseph Waterman, Anthony Anderson and Horace Jackson were aboard the trip, and James Gold was high hook and caught the biggest porgy.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

Weakfishing busted wide open at Reach Channel on Sunday morning on the <b>Atlantic Star</b>, Capt. Tom said. Other trips from Thursday morning through Sunday afternoon were slower, but weakfish were there, and sometimes anglers would get shots at them. That’s the way the fishing was Thursday and Friday, and some of the trout would be hooked at a spot, and then the boat would move to another place, and a few more would bite, and the boat would move, and so on. Tom wouldn’t call the fishing good, but it was improving. Saturday morning’s trip was about the same, and so was Saturday afternoon’s, despite strong winds. Sunday morning’s weakfishing was as good as you’d want, and some patrons limited out, and the fishing was nice the whole trip. But the boat fished the same place in the afternoon, and the bite was mostly no good, and there was no drift, and maybe that was a reason. A few weakfish were already landed during this morning’s trip when Tom gave this report early in the day. The fish that were being caught on these trips were mostly all keepers, and the anglers were sticking with New York’s 16-inch size limit, because the vessel was sometimes passing through New York waters. Most of the trout were 20 or 21 inches, and a few were bigger and 5 or 6 pounds. Tom hoped the weakfishing would continue and that more good action like Sunday morning’s would take place. The Atlantic Star is now fishing for weakfish, sailing on two trips daily from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.   

On the <b>CRT II</b> a few weakfish were picked in the bay Saturday, and they were nice-sized, but the numbers were fewer than in past years, Capt. Mick said. He hoped the fishing would continue to improve. Bluefishing was slow on a trip Friday, and seas were calm in the morning but built to 4 to 6 feet later in the day. Mick will probably try sea bass fishing this season, and he ran good sea bass charters earlier in the year, but lately the action wasn’t as good, but it could pick up. Striped bass charters will begin after October 1, and book now if you want to reserve your dates. Stripers were already biting at times, usually in the evenings, but a few showed up in the early mornings. As always, discounts are available for weekday charters.

Striped bass were targeted for the first time this season on the <b>Fishermen</b> on Friday, and a small group of customers onboard started clamming for the bass near the ocean beaches, Capt. Ron said on the fishing report on the boat’s web site. A keeper and a short were hooked right away, and Ron eventually didn’t like what he saw, so he pushed farther from shore after two drifts. Some fish were read there, and the boat anchored up, and four keepers and eight stripers an inch short were landed before the tide was lost. When outgoing tide started, only sharks bit, and the anglers ended the day by jigging bluefish. But the fishing was okay for this early in the season and could only get better.  The Fishermen is fishing for striped bass and blues 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily. Afternoon bluefishing trips are running 3:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Fridays through Sundays. PUBLIC MEETING FOR FISHERMEN: Capt. Ron noted that a public meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. today at Taylor Pavilion in Belmar on Ocean between 5th and 6th Avenues that will discuss the growing problem of increasingly tightened fishing regulations, especially for fluke and blackfish, and potential solutions. Members of the Bogan family, the Recreational Fishing Alliance, the Division of Fish and Wildlife and state legislators are scheduled to speak, and the media will be there, so the greater the turnout, the better. Bring friends and help the cause.

<b>Highlands</b>

Weakfishing finally turned on in the bay, and the bite was like fluke fishing, because the fish were hooked best when the right winds and currents created good drifts, said Capt. Derek from <b>Fisher Price Charters</b>. The weaks were good-sized or 18 to 22 inches and were landed at Reach Channel on worms. But sometimes Fisher Price will swim live bunker for them, and sometimes the trout will grab jigs when they’re under bluefish. Fisher Price was also finding lots of blues with a few striped bass mixed in from Sandy Hook Point to the ocean off the Highlands Bridge, and the fish were pouncing on jigs. Anglers onboard also got into decent striper fishing in the early mornings and in the evenings around the Sandy Hook Rips and some lumps in the area, and many of the stripers were shorts, but a few were keepers. Stripers will become more and more of a focus through fall, and blackfishing will begin full swing November 15, when the blackfish bag limit increases to eight from the current limit of one.

Charters with <b>Sandy Hook Fishing Adventures</b> fished for bluefish and sea bass this past week after fluke season ended, Capt. Bob said in an e-mail. The Mendez family limited our on blues to 12 pounds that slammed jigs and plugs. Blues had lockjaw on a trip with the John Lapenta party, refusing to bite jigs, plugs and bunker chunks, so the anglers switched to sea bassing, and they landed more than 40 to more than 5 pounds. Weakfish were starting to come alive in Raritan Bay, and charters will now target them, and tons of small weaks from 6 to 9 inches filled the Shrewsbury River. Primes dates are still available in October and November for striped bass or bottom fishing charters.

<b>Sea Bright</b>

<b>Two Rivers Charters</b> was jigging lots of blues and some small striped bass in the ocean, Capt. Fletcher Chayes said. A bunch of out-of-season fluke were still biting in the ocean that had to be released.

<b>Neptune</b>

A canyon trip was super with <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b> from Thursday to Friday, Capt. Ralph said. A 500-pound blue marlin was released and was fought to the boat on only a 30-class rod, and a bunch of yellowfin tuna to 90 pounds were landed, and some longfin tuna were bagged. Both chunking and trolling produced, and the weather was beautiful. Space is full on all of Last Lady’s open-boat canyon trips, but a few dates remain for charters. Bluefishing trips were limiting out every day, and sea bassing was very good, and six spots are available on an individual-reservation sea bass trip this Wednesday. No regular schedule of individual-reservation trips are sailing at the moment, but Ralph will add various individual-reservation trips to the schedule and will announce them.

<b>Belmar</b>

The <b>Bandit</b> was underway to the canyons yesterday afternoon on an open-boat tuna trip when Capt. Scotty called to give this report, he said. He planned to fish someplace between Baltimore and Wilmington canyons, more than 120 miles from Shark River Inlet. Openings are available this coming week and afterward for open tuna trips that are limited to 15 passengers and sail roughly 24 hours. Bluefishing on the boat was excellent 14 miles north/northeast of the inlet in the past days, and bottom fishing was pretty good yesterday in 55 to 80 feet, mostly for sea bass. Every drop produced some nice keepers and lots of shorts. <b>***UPDATE:***</b> Capt. Scotty today returned from the overnight tuna trip and gave an update, saying fishing was excellent. The boat steamed to the south end of Wilmington Canyon, and patrons nailed yellowfin tuna to 104 pounds, mostly 80- to 90-pounders, and only a couple less than 80. Five anglers onboard bagged 17 of the fish, and there were 11 passengers, but seas were bumpy, and six became seasick and didn’t fish. More than 35 fish were broken off during the fight, and an additional 18 popped off at the boat, all because of broken leaders. The anglers used 80- to 100-pound fluorocarbon leaders on 80-class standup rods. The next overnighter is next Monday to Tuesday, and openings are available, so reserve now.

A decent number of sea bass to 3 pounds, some porgies and some triggerfish were lifted aboard the <b>Nan Sea J</b> in 30 to 50 feet off Long Branch and Elberon on Saturday, Capt. Tom said. Bluefishing was decent on a trip Sunday at the Mud Buoy. The ocean was 69 degrees, and a tuna trip slated for tonight was weathered out, and another is on the books for Thursday, and the boat’s canyon tuna season is in full swing. Tom knew about bigger boats that headed offshore last night.

<b>Brielle</b>

Windy weather kept reports to a minimum, but offshore fishing was good around mid week when conditions allowed boats to sail, said Dave from <b>The Reel Seat</b>. Customers headed to Hudson Canyon, where nighttime gave up very good catches of yellowfin tuna, and anglers were limiting out on the fish to 80 pounds, and Shimano butterfly jigs got 80 percent of the hits, and glow colors were hot. Trolling put out longfin tuna at the 100 Square, and fishing for both white and blue marlin was also good at the canyon. Capts. Dave and Steve Matthews on the Pepper went 9 for 17 on whites that were released. Customers were mostly fishing the Hudson and not going to other canyons. Reports rolled in about at least six wahoo battled at the Glory Hole, and nobody talked about catching bluefin tuna at such inshore spots, but boaters returning from the Hudson said they saw bluefins. Closer to shore sea bass fishing seemed kind of slow in terms of both the fishing and participation. Surf anglers plugged striped bass at times at Lavallette, Sea Girt and Spring Lake. Weakfish from 1 ½ to 3 pounds showed up in the Manasquan River, and one angler hooked a dozen one night, and the next night he only nabbed two. Small striped bass in the river grabbed rubber lures like Tsunami shads or jigs with such rubber.

Bluefish 5 to 11 pounds were jigged on the <b>Jamaica</b> on Saturday morning, and the scope read loads of fish at times, and action was sometimes wild, but the blues moved quickly, and they kept having to be searched for, an e-mail from the boat said. The high hook bagged 10, and bluefishing was excellent on the boat Friday night, when patrons easily limited out on 6- to 14-pounders. The Jamaica is sailing for blues 7:30 a.m. every Saturday and Sunday and 7:30 p.m. every Saturday. However, when the boat fishes for tuna on Saturday nights, the Paramount will run bluefishing trips then instead. Canyon tuna fishing on the Jamaica was pretty good last week except Thursday night, when fish were read, and some shot through the slick, but the action never turned on. But there was good daytime fishing for mahi mahi to 15 pounds.  A 39-hour trip during the week produced a good catch of yellowfin tuna to 100 pounds and a few longfins, and patrons sometimes landed golden tilefish to 25 pounds, gray tilefish, barrelfish and wreckfish. More tiles would’ve been boated, but a breeze picked up in the afternoon and pushed the drift too fast. A good number of mahi mahi were then nailed at the lobster pot buoys. A Wednesday night trip also came back with good numbers of yellowfins, a few longfins and some mahi mahi. Visit canyontuna.com for the canyon schedule, or call the boat for info.  The 110-foot <b>Atlantis</b> is available for day and night charters for groups from 18 to 120 for any species available inshore or offshore. <b>Bogan’s Boating School</b> is offering the boating safety course required in New Jersey, and private classes at your own location with a minimum of eight students and also the test-out option are also available. Visit njboatchool.com for schedules and info.

<b>Point Pleasant</b>

Four anglers took an ocean jigging trip with <b>Reel Class Charters</b> on Friday, now that fluke season was closed, Capt. Allen said. Big bluefish slammed the jigs tight to the beach off Avon in the morning, and the anglers kept fighting them, following them south to just past Shark River Inlet. Then they found more big gators off Deal and Asbury. At one point during the trip acres and acres of blues churned up the water under working birds, and the anglers hammered the fish on top-water poppers and diamond jigs. The blues this day were all 10 to 14 pounds and were fought on relatively light, 8- to 10-pound spinning rods, and peanut bunker were the only bait that Allen saw, and the action stopped by 11:30 a.m. Afterward the anglers tried plugging for striped bass along the jetties toward the beach, but nothing was doing. Allen heard about a few striped bass jigged, but not many, and no false albacore seemed to show up near the shore. Reel Class will run jigging trips for stripers and blues the rest of the year, and false albacore will be an option whenever they pop up, and Allen hopes weakfish will stack up near the coast and will be able to be jigged like they can some years. If none of this action is happening, anglers onboard will fish the wrecks for sea bass.

An overnight trip left for Hudson Canyon with <b>Andrea’s Toy Charters</b> on Thursday, the report on the boat’s web site said. The trip would’ve left during late morning but instead took off later because of forecasts for rough weather, so there was only 1-1/2 hours of daylight left for trolling when the boat arrived at the fishing grounds. But a 40-pound longfin tuna was trolled, and there were other knockdowns. As the sun set the anglers set up for chunking in 700 feet along the continental edge. Mahi mahi bit through the night, and a dozen to 10 pounds were landed. At first the lines were running toward the bow, so no tuna bit. But by 2 a.m. life started to build around the boat, and bait and tuna were read. There was a run-off, and the anglers started jigging glow-colored Shimano butterfly flat-sided jigs to try to get the bite started. The night’s first yellowfin tuna was nailed, and fish that had been 150 feet started to rise. Then more than 20 tuna hit in the next two hours, and seven yellowfins to 85 pounds and two longfins to 45 pounds were boated, mostly on the jigs, but they also ate sardines, squid and butterfish. The great thing about the trip was that two of the anglers caught their first-ever tuna. Andrea’s Toy sails offshore on both open-boat trips and charters, and mixed-bag fishing is a specialty, for greater fun, better chances of hooking up and more options on the dinner menu. The trips often mix up the fishing with action including trolling for tuna, chunking for tuna, drifting for swordfish and sharks, deep-dropping for tilefish and casting for mahi with light tackle at the lobster pots.

On the <b>Benchmark</b> Greg Moran’s charter ran offshore Wednesday to Thursday, and trolling before nighttime produced two longfin tuna, the report on the boat’s web site said. The anglers set up to chunk, and it was a long wait, but the tuna started biting at 3 a.m., and then 20 of the fish to 85 pounds were nailed, and the anglers left them biting. From Thursday to Friday Ron Antonelli and crew also had to wait a long time for tuna to start feeding, and the first bites came at 5:30 a.m. They boated 2 of 5 longfin that hit, and a nice yellowfin was landed at 8 a.m. before the crew sailed home.

<b>Seaside</b>

John Bushell Jr. from <b>Betty and Nick’s Bait & Tackle</b> fished again at Barnegat Inlet at Island Beach State Park yesterday, and nailed a bluefish on his first cast, he said in the report on the shop’s web site. The fishing was spotty for an hour, but then they really started to hit, and they busted the surface a few times. A customer that day checked out a few spots along the park’s north end and found blitzing blues at Area 10 and left them biting into dark. Another got into loads of bigger blues at Area 15 Friday night. Another angler weighed in a 12-1/2-pound striped bass, and another walloped a 33-3/4-pounder from the surf 100 yards from the inlet jetty on a popper lure that regular customer Russ Knauss made. That was good news that it hit a plug this early in the season, and the bass was good-sized for any time of year. Other anglers landed lots of short bass along the jetties. The surf was 1 to 2 feet, 66 degrees and clean. <a href=" http://www.bettyandnicks.com/fish.shtml" target="_blank"> Click here</a> for the latest.

<b>Waretown</b>

Barnegat Bay grass shrimping was producing lots more than just weakfish lately, said Capt. Dave DeGennaro from the <b>Hi Flier</b> in an e-mail. Howard White and Larry Cotton were aboard for a busy day of ultra-light fishing in the bay Thursday, tangling with at least 10 different species, including weakies, blues, stripers, fluke, sea bass, hickory shad, kingfish, porgies and sea robins. The weaks ranged 14 inches to more than 20, and the blues were snappers to 1-pound “table” fish. The stripers were 16- to 18-inch shorts but burned off line on the light tackle. Blues and weaks were found either under birds or while anglers were blind casting to readings, and the fish put wall-to-wall peanut bunker under siege, mostly in the early mornings. Open-boat trips these days are also sailing to Barnegat Ridge for false albacore, and call Dave to be added to the list or “to book a (charter) while the fishing is hot,” he said.

Charters were weathered out Wednesday and Saturday with <b>Perfect Drift Sportfishing</b> because of strong winds that kicked up seas, Capt. John said. The trips were going to fish for weakfish in Barnegat Bay, and that action should last through this month. Weaks normally start schooling along the ocean beach front at this time of year, where the fish can be hooked on metal that’s jigged along the bottom, and they can also be caught on bucktails or on squid. But nothing was being heard yet about weakies found there. Croakers were probably holding along the beach front, but nobody seemed to give them a try lately. John heard from a couple of anglers who fished wrecks but only boated short sea bass. Fall striped bass fishing with Perfect Drift usually starts mid October, and stripers are usually clammed in the bay at first, and afterward they’re jigged and trolled in the ocean. John thought that the bay’s striper clamming last year started the second or third week of October.

<b>Barnegat Light</b>

Frank Hettler’s party headed out for “southern speedsters” such as false albacore at Barnegat Ridge with <b>Reel Fantasea Charters</b>, and although the weather was spectacular, the bite was anything but, Capt. Steve said in an e-mail. So they switched to Plan B and wreck fished, picking up non-stop action with sea bass, blackfish and even an out-of-season, 4-1/2-pound fluke that had to be released. “Ouch, that hurts,” Steve said. The anglers were happy with all the action, he said, and went home with delicious bags of fillets. Joe Holl and Dom DiNapoli were aboard on another trip and hoped for early season striped bass along Barnegat Inlet’s north jetty but slammed 1- to 4-pound blues instead in the early morning.  Afterward they ran to the wrecks for more non-stop fishing for sea bass, blackfish, porgies and a even a double header of throwback fluke. A sizable shark roamed along the surface not far from the boat but ignored anything thrown to it. Steve Ezzel, father-in-law Sonny Owns and uncle Wane Otts were onboard for good fishing, including a grand slam of stripers, weakfish, blues and fluke that Steve scored. They saw non-stop action with 1- to 6-ounds blues that attacked everything an anything and also reeled in stripers and fluke. Next they targeted weakfish on the mainland side of the bay and landed the trout to 3 pounds. Capt. Steve was excited to announce that a new boat is arriving: a 26-foot Jones Brothers with twin 150-horsepower Yamahas. “This boat is a beast, and I can’t wait till it gets here,” he said. The vessel will offer a drier, more comfortable and more stable ride than his current Parker. “Who wants to be the first to fish her?!” Steve asked.

<b>Tuckerton</b>

An offshore trip with <b>Legal Limit Charters</b> put together a good catch Thursday night at Lindenkohl Canyon, Capt. T.J. said. Yellowfin tuna to 70 pounds were chunked, and several nice-sized swordfish bit, and a 130-pound sword was landed and kept. Not a whole lot was happening on the daytime troll. Another offshore trip was pushing for the canyons today, and another will head out toward the end of the week. Inshore charters are running for sea bass.

<b>Atlantic City</b>

Lots of kingfish were biting in the surf and along the inlet, and striped bass including keepers were reeled in, said Noel from <b>One Stop Bait & Tackle</b>. Bloodworms tricked the kings, and fresh mullet or clams fooled the bass, and tons of mullet were schooling and finally moved to the ocean from the bay. Tog also hit green crabs along the jetties, and bluefish were everywhere. Hot spots for all of this fishing included off the Flagship, Melrose Avenue, the T-jetty and Vermont Avenue, and all the baits mentioned are stocked.

<b>Margate</b>

The <b>Jessie O’</b>s daily open-boat trips were wreck fishing for mixed bags of sea bass, porgies, triggerfish, croakers and such fish in the ocean, Capt. Jay said. Lots of the fish were small, but there was lots of action. Out-of-season flounder were also biting, and Jay was sad to see the season close early, and it was affecting business for the boats and marinas. Petitions are available onboard and at Captain Andy’s Marina to sign and lobby Congress to change the laws to extend the season. Jay’s back-bay boat, the <b>Fish N’ Fun</b>, discontinued its daily open-boat trips since flounder season ended. But fishing charters and party cruises are available on both boats.

<b>Fine Line Fishing Charters</b> got out Sunday between the windy weather, Capt. Dave said. Inshore trolling for speedsters like false albacore was the original plan, but the morning turned out windy, although the weather calmed later in the day. So the anglers on deck nixed the plans for trolling, and instead they started fighting 2- to 3-pound blues at the inlet on metal in the morning, chasing the blues to the ocean off Longport. They left that action after growing tired of waters crowded with 20 boats, and they headed to the ocean off Lucy the Elephant and started pulling up croakers in 30 to 45 feet on squid. Out-of-season flounder including keeper-sized ones were mixed in and were released. If Fine Line had been able to do the inshore trolling, Capt. Dave would have also lain up on a wreck for sea bass and bottom fishing, and all of this type of fishing will be the plan until the fall migration of striped bass begins. The ocean had cooled and was 67 degrees on this trip.

<b>Longport</b>

Bottom-fishing trips with <b>Stray Cat Charters</b> on Saturday and Sunday caught sea bass, triggerfish and porgies in 60 to 90 feet, and lots bit, and there was at least a decent catch of keepers, Capt. Mike said. A mess of out-of-season flounder also had to be released. An open-boat Columbus Day trip that was originally slated to fish for tuna will now bottom fish instead, and call to reserve. Open-boat sea bass trips will begin to run regularly October 10, and open-boat blackfishing trips will begin November 15, when the bag limit increases to eight from the current limit of one. Striped bass fishing will start soon. Croakers and kingfish were holding in pretty good numbers along the beach front, and small weakfish and snapper blues could be jigged around the same area.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Striped bass fishing was on, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Gibson’s Tackle</b>. The cold front arrived, and bait was moving around, and a full blitz was on during a striper trip in the back bay yesterday, and this was it, and it was epic and world-class. Jay Vonczoernig and 5-year-old son Luc were aboard for a mad dog striper bite in the bay yesterday, landing striper after striper. They began the trip when Joe pulled up to one of his usual spots in the bay, and egrets were seen feeding along the water, and an exploratory cast was thrown, and a striper slammed the popper lure. Stripers then tore up popper lures and flies the next three hours along a 45-foot stretch of shoreline, and there were double and triple headers, and the fish were good-sized and up to 12 pounds or 33 or 34 inches, and most were 26 to 28 inches. “Boy, Joe,” young Luc said. “There sure are a lot of fish here!” Luc must’ve said that three times, Joe said, and the 5-year-old was casting poppers himself and landing stripers to 10 pounds. The stripers had mullet pinned up against the bank, and the anglers left the fish biting when Joe had to depart because the tide was becoming too low for the boat to make it back to port. But Joe returned a while later with his wife Marie, and the stripers were still going bonkers. Marie landed her first-ever stripers on a fly rod, and the fishing was so good that she didn’t even need instruction, and just flipped the popper flies out and hooked up. Joe guessed the day must’ve produced at least 45 of the fish. Popper fishing for stripers gets no better in the back bay, and great tides for the fishing or high tides in the evenings and mornings take place this week. A few bluefish were mixed in with the catch, and small blues lately were also swimming around the inlets. The anglers were casting Skit-R-Pop lures on spinning rods and chartreuse Gurgler flies on fly rods with floating lines. Some fish were also blitzing along the surf, and fall fishing was getting started.  Spike weakfish were schooling in 20 to 30 feet along the ocean beach front, and clam or squid on small hooks or jigs would catch them, and Joe hadn’t heard much about croakers in that area recently, but he was fishing the bay. Reports about offshore fishing were scarce because of windy weather, but tuna and big game should still be out there.

<b>Avalon</b>

Tuna fishing continued to be outstanding at Carteret, Spencer and Lindenkohl canyons, or the “mid canyons,” for <b>Over Under Adventures</b>, an e-mail from Over Under said. Because the fishing there was good, Over Under will bring a second boat to Jersey, a vessel from their fleet that had been fishing from Ocean City, Md. This boat, That’s Right, can accommodate more than six passengers and will join the Low Profile, Over Under’s vessel that was already fishing from Avalon. Availability on the Low Profile was tight, so the second vessel will help open up the schedule, and call to book a trip, because the crew will almost certainly be able to accommodate you. The boats will continue targeting the good tuna fishing that’s been taking place the past five weeks, and the season was shaping up to be one of the best in recent memory. The trips will keep sailing into November as long as the weather and the fish cooperate. Striped bass charters will begin in late October from Cape May. At the end of November That’s Right will move to the Florida Keys for winter, and the Low Profile will start fishing for giant bluefin tuna from Morehead City, N.C., in December and January. Afterward Low Profile will return to the Bahamas, its winter and spring home, to fish for six months. Over Under’s boats Pretty Work and Justified will also keep fishing for big game from Ocean City, Md., through late October. Check out Over Under’s schedule of <a href="http://overundercharters.com/?page=opendates" target="_blank"> open-boat trips</a>, and more dates will be added as groups call and ask about splitting costs with other anglers.  

<b>Cape May</b>

Tuna fishing was still good whenever boats could get out, and the weather was windy a lot, said Capt. Ray from <b>Jaftica Sportfishing</b>. Overnight chunking was best, but daytime trolling also produced some catches. A bunch of overnight charters are booked, and Ray hopes they’ll be able to fish between the weather. Inshore trolling was pretty decent for blues, false albacore and bonito 10 to 15 miles from shore. Little was heard about wreck fishing for sea bass, probably because of the weather. Croakers could be landed along the ocean beach front and the mouth of Delaware Bay. Striped bass charters will begin the third week of October, fishing for the linesiders at the Cape May Rips on bucktails or live bait and in Delaware Bay on bunker chunks. Time is winding down for a raffle that Jaftica is holding for a striped bass charter to benefit the recovery of one of the boat’s mates who was injured in an accident. Raffle tickets are $5 apiece or $20 for five, and the drawing takes place October 1, and see the boat’s web site for info.

Weakfish were sometimes biting in Delaware Bay, and croakers and blues could be boated off Cape May Point, said Capt. Gary from the <b>Sea Fox</b>. Tuna and wahoo could be battled offshore when the weather was calm enough for boats to sail.

The mullet run kicked into high gear, and schools of the baitfish were stacked up in the corners of the jetties, and blues, small stripers and weakfish were moving in and attacking them, said Matt from <b>Jim’s Bait & Tackle</b> in a fax. The blues and stripers could be hooked on lures or chunks of mullet, and of course they’d smack live bait, but live bait wasn’t necessary. The weaks seemed to hit livelined mullet more than lures or dead bait. The east end jetty of Cold Spring Inlet seemed best, and some nice stripers were plugged there. Jim Cantare fished the Cold Spring jetty and fought 22 blues that he released and eight stripers to 18 pounds, and the report didn’t say whether he kept any stripers. Jim Langhorn fished Cape May Point at the jetty at Stites Avenue and landed six weakfish to 5 ¾ pounds. Charles Meads was fishing the jetty at Alexander Avenue when he pulled in a 7.53-pound sheepshead. The inshore lumps were loaded with false albacore that could be hooked on trolled spoons or feathers or could be landed in a chum slick while anglers drifted back spearing or cast a fly or a spoon. Offshore fishing was hot at Wilmington Canyon at night on Friday and Saturday along the edge or on the flat along the west wall. The fishing was also great at the tip of Lindenkohl Canyon. At both canyons yellowfin tuna from 70 to 100 pounds were pretty common, and a few swordfish were taken, and white marlin were sometimes trolled at the Lindy.  

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