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Bob from Fisherman’s Den would rate fluke season a 7, at best, he said, on a scale of 1 to 10, he wrote in an email. The season was closed beginning today, and the fishing seemed good for charter boats and party boats on the ocean. Private boaters seemed to have a little more difficulty limiting out. Anglers on Shark River struggled to land large numbers of keepers, because of the size limit. Fluking was good on the ocean during this last week of the season. Many sizable were brought in, including Patty Mulligan’s 9-pound 8-ouncer, Skip Reese’s 8-pound 4-ouncer and Gilbert Episteen’s 7-pound 14-ouncer, all caught on a Belmar party boat. Another party boat from the port, on the final day of the season, scored good fluking, including some limits of the fish to 7 pounds. Boats like that will now fish for porgies, blackfish and ling, until fishing for sea bass beginning October 22, opening day of sea bass season.
Fluke season was excellent with Parker Pete’s Fishing Charters, Capt. Pete said. The season was closed beginning today, and Pete thanks anglers who fished aboard the trips. Many personal bests were landed. The boat last sailed for fluke Wednesday, covered in the previous report here. A couple of trips fished for porgies in past days, and that angling was great. Tons of out-of-season sea bass were released. Charters will now fish for porgies, blackfish and triggerfish. Charters will also sail for blues and false albacore, if those fish are around. Those will be the trips until sea bass or striped bass trips begin. Sea bass season will be opened beginning October 22. Striped bass charters are booking up for later this year. If anglers want stripers or blackfish, book the charters sooner than later. Blackfishing will begin after striper fishing.
Excellent bluefishing was plowed today on the Miss Belmar Princess once again, an email from the party boat said. Fishing the ocean north of Shark River Inlet near the beach, the fishing, on jigs, began slowly, picking away. The fish, 2 to 3 pounds, bit more as the day went on, and the angling became excellent. Plenty of blues swam the water surface, and birds worked the water. Most anglers caught all the blues they wanted, and sometimes eight to 10 blues were hooked at once. Trips are fishing 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily. Kids 14 and under are sailing free on morning trips through Thursday when accompanied by an adult paying full fare. The back-to-school special, a $40 value, is limited to one child per adult and cannot be combined with other discounts. No reservations are required.
Bluefishing was slow at first but decent once the fish were found Saturday on the Golden Eagle, a report said on the party boat’s website. Quite a few blues and some birds working the water were around then. The blues were on the small side, like on previous trips, but were plentiful. “There are some larger fish out there being caught, but the smaller ones are the majority of what we are catching until the monster blues settle in offshore for us,” it said. Not many false albacore were around, because of wind the previous day. They should show up like before, once things settle. Trips are fishing 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on most days. An overnight tuna trip was slated for Sunday afternoon until today. Tuna trips are fishing on certain days through October 24.
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