New Jersey Fishing Reports

Fluking on the bay kept anglers on good fishing on Wednesday morning’s trip on the Dorothy B, Didi said. The catch probably averaged 1 ½ keepers per person, and a couple of patrons bagged two or three. Some landed no keepers, only shorts, but everyone seemed to have an enjoyable day. Luis Amaya claimed a 4-pound 5-ouncer. Most anglers fished with spearing and squid supplied on the boat, and the weekend’s trips heaped on similar action. The Dorothy B is a new party boat this season at Atlantic Highlands, and the captain ran head boats many years from Sheepshead Bay, the third generation of party boat skippers from the port, and the family with the longest history there, Didi said. He fished many of the same waters from Sheepshead that the Dorothy B is now fishing, and developed a following for family trips. The Dorothy B is fluke fishing 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. daily, including on the Fourth of July. When fluke season ends, the boat will begin sailing for striped bass on ¾-day trips.

One of the season’s better fluke catches on the Atlantic Star was creamed on Monday afternoon’s trip, Capt. Tom said. Conditions created the right drift at Reach Channel, and lots of shorts were angled aboard, but so was a healthy batch of keepers, including a 7-3/4-pounder that Steve McPeak from Middlesex knocked down. Tuesday was no great shakes, and many small flatties chomped, but Bob Centamore from Gillette clobbered an 8-3/4-pounder on the afternoon trip. On Wednesday morning’s trip, loads and loads of shorts were stuck, probably one of the tougher ratios of the season. But the afternoon’s trip was again one of the better ones of the year, and the ratio was improved, more keepers taken. They were no huge fish, and the pool winner’s flattie weighed 4 pounds, but the trip was one of the better ones. All the trips fished the bay. The Atlantic Star is fluke fishing on two trips daily 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Tough conditions for fluke fishing Tuesday and Wednesday on the Fishermen, Capt. Ron said in the report on the boat’s Web site. Conditions on Tuesday couldn’t have been worse, and the trip tried to fish the channels, but bottom couldn’t be held with 20 ounces, with outgoing waters running on top, incoming on bottom, and the wrong wind direction, northwest. The boat moved to shallower waters, and a few shorts and a couple of keepers were tugged in. The boat moved down the ocean beaches, and the drift was perfect, but few fluke bit. The trip returned to the channels at the end of the day. An 8-1/2-pounder won the pool, and another angler sacked a 4-1/2-pounder. Another rapped a 3-1/2-pounder. The high hook bucketed four. “Still, the fishing was like dying a slow death,” Ron said. On Wednesday there was no drift, then too much drift, then no drift again, and currents ran like crazy. Patrons picked at shorts and scored a couple of shots at keepers, but shorts way out-numbered keepers. Seven keepers were socked on the drift of the day. The boat tried repeating the drift, but no good. Bob Schlink won the pool with a 6-pounder, and he and Jim Bahr combined for five keepers. Another couple of anglers combined for five. Monday’s trip, covered in the last report, was much better, after a patient wait for the right conditions. A 10.8-pounder, the biggest of the year on the boat so far, and reportedly the biggest in the harbor at the time, was slammed, and one angler limited out, and a couple bagged three to five keepers. On another note, Ron reminded anglers that if they bring their own rods, they need to fish heavy enough rods. Any rod that bends in half with 8- to 12-ounce sinkers won’t do in the deep waters, fast currents or tough conditions. Trips must target big fish in the year’s size limit, and there’s a time and place for light tackle, but this isn’t it. If anglers listen to the crew and do the right thing, they will catch fish, he said. The Fishermen is sailing for fluke 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily and for bluefish 7:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sundays. However, fireworks cruises will sail Friday and Saturday, so no afternoon trips will fish then, and the boat is chartered Monday morning, so no open trip will run then.

Not a lot was heard about striped bass fishing on bunker down the ocean beaches, but Jimmy from Julian’s Bait & Tackle clammed a limit at the clam beds in no time, and stripers are always around, straight through summer, he said. Anglers just have to know how to catch them. If they really want to load up, they should worm for the fish at places like the Sandy Hook Rips and off the Rockaways. But a couple of spots will also give up stripers on clams. Still, Joe Veingra from Rumson checked in two stripers 27 and 22 pounds that he boated in the ocean off Sea Bright. Chris Saverwein from Manville jigged a 15.8-pound cobia. Jimmy on his trip also socked a bunch of sea bass, and bottom angling was good for sea bass, porgies and, in deeper waters, ling. Fluke fishing produced plenty in the rivers, more than in the bay, but the bay also turned up the flatties. Some days were active, some weren’t, and that’s fluking. Cocktail blues schooled the rivers, and lots of blues tore up the bay. The whole surf was alive with blues Wednesday when Jimmy hit the wash to catch bait.

Highlands

Striped bass to 35 pounds were bunker chunked in the ocean with Fisher Price Charters, and the fishing began to dwindle, some days producing, others not, but when hook-ups were slow, bucktailing for fluke in deep waters was done, Capt. Derek said. Bunker kept schooling the ocean, and they disappeared on Sunday, maybe got broken up by the weather, but appeared again in acres and acres on Monday, and were around every other day, too. The bucktailing served up fairly good fluking for both shorts and keepers, lots of action, some flatties to 4 and 5 pounds. Was difficult to put a catch together in only an hour or two when a break was taken from striper fishing. But once stripers depart, more of the fluking will get under way on the vessel.

Capt. Brian from Jersey Devil Charters joined a tuna trip to the canyons Tuesday on Frank Crescitelli’s Fin Chaser, Brian said. They trolled yellowfin tuna, including one keeper, skipjacks and a 150- to 200-pound blue marlin on the 100-fathom line north of Carteret Canyon. Jersey Devil is striped bass fishing, but will start turning attention offshore. Tuna charters will roll, and so will shark trips. Brian will compete in the shark tournament at Bahrs Landing in two weekends. He and the crew on Tuesday saw a thresher shark while on their way offshore.

Belmar

Fluke anglers banged away at catches, including better-sized fish, often starting to limit out, on most days on the Big Mohawk, pretty good fishing on the ocean, Capt. Chris said. Saturday was the only day that was “real suspect,” he said, and Wednesday was slower than usual, because of a slow drift. But some patrons limited out on Wednesday, and some of the flatties were sizable. An 11-1/2-pounder took the pool Sunday, and 7- to 10-pounders were usually the pool winners. So the fishing was good overall. The Big Mohawk is fluke fishing 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.

Trips for bluefish, both day and night, whaled catches, excellent fishing, 16 or 17 miles offshore of port on the Golden Eagle, Capt. Greg said. The 7- to 10-pounders and 12- or 13-pound pool winners were mostly jigged during the day and, as always, were taken on bait at night. The Golden Eagle is fishing for stripers and blues 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily and for blues 7:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. daily. A cruise was almost full on the Fourth of July to watch the Macy’s fireworks on the Hudson River, but space was available Friday to see Red Bank’s Ka-Boom Fireworks.

Between dodging thunderstorms that also kept messing up the drift, making the boat float in different directions, a 5-foot mako shark and a blue shark were pumped in during the weekly, open-boat shark trip Wednesday on the Nan Sea J, Capt. Tom said. Run-offs were also scored, and the mako was released, and he wasn’t asked whether the blue was. Waters were 67 degrees and gorgeous, and no other life was seen in the area. Next week’s open shark trip is sold out, and one spot is left for the following week’s on July 15. During the week after, a charter is booked for the Wednesday, so the open shark trip will fish that Tuesday, July 21, and space is available. Openings are also available on the last Wednesday of the month, July 29. The trips, running every year through July, are a rare opportunity to fight sharks without chartering the whole boat. A shark charter is slated for this Friday, and sharking is Tom’s favorite fishing. A trip Monday plundered bluefish, a bunch, to 12 pounds at the Shrewsbury Rocks. They refused to bite bunker chunks but smacked jigs. A charter this coming Monday will sail for sea bass. The boat is also fluke fishing, and plenty of the fish had been chewing in the ocean, though reports sounded like things slowed in the past few days. Sea bass were spicing up the catch on the boat’s fluke trips.

Occasional striped bass, not many, were taken, mostly from boats in the ocean, and catches of the fish from the surf dwindled down, said John from Fisherman’s Den. A few large ones, like 38-pounders, were weighed in during the weekend. Fluke fishing produced well from Shark River to the ocean. Shorts were numerous, but the number of keepers was increasing. Snapper blues sometimes began to appear in the river, and small porgies, in season since Wednesday, were nabbed at Shark River Inlet at times. Ocean bluefishing was slow today but great on other days lately.

Brielle

A charter with Justin, no last name given, and friends headed out for striped bass Sunday afternoon on the ocean with Fish Monger Charters, Capt. Jerry said in an e-mail. But the trip was a clunker, the first slow afternoon for the fishing in two weeks, slow for everyone Jerry talked with. One striper was bagged out of four bites off Deal. Justin with one of the same friends and a couple of new ones was back aboard Monday afternoon for redemption: The crew beat seven stripers out of 13 that bit, and the linesiders weighed up to a 46-pound monster that Justin whacked! The huge bass, his personal best, exploded on his bunker bait as soon as it hit the waters. That happened after he had already landed a bass more than 30 pounds that had just shattered his personal-best record. A 26-pounder was the smallest for the gang, and they also pelted a 35-pounder and a 33-pounder. Jerry, the crew and friends, an “all star cast,” he said, competed in a Mako Mania during the weekend. They ran south to a water-temp break Jerry had spotted, and found great waters that ranged 63 to 67 degrees. A 180- to 220-pound mako entered the chum slick within 20 minutes, swimming along the surface. It short-bit a bluefish bait twice, but never committed, and it swam away. Then a blue shark came through along the surface, gobbled up the first bait it came to, got reeled in, and a photo was taken, and the fish was released. Next a small mako, probably a keeper, barreled into the slick, swimming up to the boat. A bait was pitched, and the shark was hooked, landed and released, after a photo. Then a shark grabbed a bait fished 30 feet down, peeled off a ton of line, put up a fight, almost got cranked close to the boat, and pulled the hook. “We got our chance,” Jerry said about the trip, “but luck wasn’t on our side.” But they had action and lots of fun, he said. Waters were loaded with life including sunfish, a sea turtle, dolphins, a whale, a few patches of bluefish and some small bluefin tuna.

On the Jamaica patrons started busting up bluefish again Wednesday, after slower fishing for the speedsters Tuesday, an e-mail said. The boat fished at a different area Wednesday, and all the anglers got on good catches to 14 pounds. On Tuesday the boat fished 16 miles to the south, and plenty of blues were read, and they schooled under the boat, feeding on giant balls of sand eels. A quick shot of catches would happen, and then the boat would have to be moved to find the fish again. By the end of the day customers put together a decent catch. The outlook for the rest of the week was good. The Jamaica is fishing for stripers and blues 7:30 a.m. daily and for blues 7:30 p.m. daily. Check the boat’s Web site for a Fourth of July Special. Also check the site for the boat’s complete schedule, including special trips, and to be added to the e-mail list for special trips. Reservations are being booked for canyon tuna fishing that will begin in late August.

Point Pleasant

With Reel Class Charters anglers put the brakes on striped bass to the 30-pound range in the ocean last Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, Capt. Allen said. On Thursday’s trip the anglers threw popper plugs to the fish a while just outside Manasquan Inlet, and Tom Breeland plugged a 35-pounder on a pencil popper. Then the boat motored north to Asbury Park, but the bite ended, and south winds killed it. During the weekend trips fluke fished on Manasquan River to avoid the crowds on the ocean. But the river’s fluking slowed down, for some reason, and 30 of the flatties were landed each day, but only one keeper was bagged, on Sunday. Ocean fluking was a different story, put out keepers, though farther north. The season’s first open-boat Fluke Till You Puke Marathon, trips that run every year, hit the ocean Monday, fishing from Long Branch to Monmouth Beach, drilling 21 keepers to 4 ½ pounds, releasing five times as many, and boxing six keeper sea bass. All the anglers limited out on fluke, and the trip was awesome, Capt. Allen said. He sounded satisfied with the ocean fluking, but hoped the catches would improve near port. On Wednesday a fluke trip stayed on the river, because winds heaved the ocean, and one keeper was angled in among 60 shorts released, so the fishing was tough. Charters and open-boat trips are sailing for fluke, often with sea bass mixed in, and check Reel Class’s Web site for open-boat availability. Allen didn’t say whether he’d continue striped bass fishing, so check with him.

Fishing for fluke was picking up on the ocean on the Norma K, and a few more keepers were decked each day, Capt. Matt said. Plenty of shorts bit, and a 7-1/2-pounder won the pool Tuesday. Good catches of 5- to 12-pound bluefish were mugged 15 miles offshore on the boat’s night trips. Trips are fishing for fluke twice daily 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and for blues 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. daily.

Patrons on the Dauntless reeled up sea bass and ling from the ocean, and the sea bass keeper ratio started to go down, but the ling population gave up decent catches, Capt. Butch said. Trips fished in 65 to 120 feet, and the boat tried fishing deeper, but dog sharks were too abundant, and ling swam shallower anyway. Fluke sometimes came up when the boat fished shallower, and loads of out-of-season winter flounder covered the bottom. An occasional cod, just keeper-sized like 21 inches or a little larger, was clocked, and a few pollock, again just keeper-sized, were picked up. A couple of blues sometimes made the catch, and other times didn’t, and trips didn’t fish the deeper waters where blues hung anyway. But the boat’s nighttime bluefishing trips blasted good catches. The Dauntless is bottom fishing 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily and is bluefishing 7:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. daily.

Bluefish trips started catching on the East Bank of the Mudhole beginning Monday on the Sea Devil, after the trips had been fishing for them 15 miles offshore of Manasquan Inlet, Cindy said in an e-mail. In the area off the inlet, bluefishing was great on the boat Sunday for 8- to 14-pounders. But on Monday’s trip, after no blues appeared where expected at the first stop, the boat traveled to the East Bank, and the anglers started slowly but steadily picking blues. Most of the fish attacked jigs in the beginning, until a lull. Some of the anglers began fishing bait, and eventually bait and jigs hooked the fish equally. Two more moves were made, and the final spot produced the best angling, this time on jigs. On Tuesday’s trip at the East Bank, lots of 10-pound blues, very good fishing, were belted on jigs. Ed Roward from Dover, Pa., won the pool with a 15-pounder. The Sea Devil is fishing 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily and 7:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. Saturdays. Groups of four anglers or more should call ahead.

After slow bluefishing on Tuesday’s trip, catches were back in action Wednesday, an e-mail from the Cock Robin said. Blues of all sizes were bailed at the same place that failed to produce the previous day. Then the captain got a call about even better action, farther north, and the boat moved, and patrons whaled away at more. The fishing looked promising for the weekend. The Cock Robin is fishing for stripers and blues 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily and for blues 7:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. However, no night trip will sail on the Fourth of July. Wednesday Marathon Trips, leaving earlier at 6 a.m. at no extra charge, are running. On Thursday’s trips, customers can help donate fish to Joan Valentine House, providing meals to people. Captain Jim’s Camp Cock Robin for kids, limited to 12 anglers, is under way for summer, featuring a dedicated mate for the youngsters.

A couple of 50-pound striped bass got boated on the ocean, and one got ploughed right off Manasquan Inlet, said Chuck from Gates Bait & Tackle. Striper fishing might’ve been slowing down, but the fish were still located, maybe more up north, but local waters also held them. Surf fishing for the linesiders seemed to drop off compared with before. Fluke fishing was getting better, like the somewhat improved catches Chuck heard were made on the ocean on the Norma K. Striped bass and blues were moving through Manasquan Inlet every day, and fluke catches increased for inlet anglers. Fishing was generally picking up.

Toms River

Boaters trolled striped bass and a few blues in 60 to 70 feet in the ocean, but surf anglers had difficulty locating the linesiders, said Jeff from Murphy’s Hook House. Still, the surf casters sometimes beached a bass or picked up a blue, and they banked fluke. Most customers plucked fluke from the ocean at the Tires or Barnegat Ridge. But many also boxed fluke in Barnegat Bay at Oyster Creek and Double Creek channels and between the BI and BB markers. Jeff heard about no kingfish nor blowfish lifted from the bay, but fishing for them should be happening any time. Weakfish were sometimes reported caught off Berkeley Island Park and near the Mantoloking Bridge. In the Toms River a handful of white perch were picked, and no snapper blues showed in the river yet. Crabbing was good in the back waters. Ocean reef anglers swung aboard sea bass. Killies, spearing, sand eels, smelts, fresh clams, fresh bunker when available and all kinds of other baits are stocked.

Seaside

The surf showed signs of life today, said the report on Grumpy’s Tackle’s Web site. Blues 1 to 2 pounds gave up action this morning south of Area 23 at Island Beach State Park. Short striped bass were clammed this morning at Seaside Park. Short fluke were beached lately, and otherwise surf participation was down in the summer weather. <a href="http://www.grumpystackle.com/fishingreports/" target="_blank"> Click here</a> for updates.

Forked River

Barnegat Bay fluke were pulled up from places like Double Creek Channel and near the 40 can, and Barnegat Inlet also dished out the fish, said Dave from Grizz’s Forked River Bait & Tackle. Killies, spearing, squid and Gulps worked. Bluefish swam the bay, could be laid out on popper lures or trolled Pony Tails and such. Nothing was heard about striped bass in a while. Crabbing put customers on decent catches of the blueclaws, and lots of bunker was sold for bait. Killies are stocked, and all the different varieties of squid are carried, and so are local spearing, Canadian spearing, 2-1/2-pound blocks of Canadian spearing, sand eels, smelts, 5-pound, 2-pound and 10-ounce quantities of frozen clams, salted clams, clam chum, bunker chum, bunker, mackerel, mullet, sandworms, nightcrawlers, trout worms and meal worms. Flats of mackerel and bunker can be ordered 2 ½ days in advance.

Barnegat Light

Better-sized fluke clung to the ocean bottom, and maybe 1 in 6 or 8 was a keeper, but if anglers kept at the fishing, didn’t give up, maybe swimming a live spot for better chances at a bigger flattie, they should end up with a keeper, said the report on Barnegat Light Bait & Tackle’s Web site. Catches were heard about from the Tires, and one or two larger fluke came from Barnegat Ridge. The deeper waters of Barnegat Inlet were another place to liveline a spot. Shorts were common in Barnegat Bay, but if anglers pounded the right places, they’d get some keepers. The flatties also littered the surf, and try buckailing the suds or fishing a fresh spearing or a killie. Triggerfish gathered along the inlet jetty, and they had to be located, but once found, a few could be swung in. Chum with clams, and fish with clams on strong hooks, and the fillets are delicious. Boaters chasing bunker in the ocean to snag for striped bass bait became scarcer, but a 54-pound bass was bombed off Seaside during the weekend. Live spots, fresh clams, fresh bunker and other baits are stocked.

Ocean temperatures that leaped up to the 70s pushed striped bass north, and heavy rains that lasted through last week seemed to drop Barnegat Bay’s salinity, affecting fishing there, though that angling started to turn back around by the beginning of this week, with fewer rains, said Capt. Steve from Reel Fantasea Charters in an e-mail. So he finished his ocean striper fishing for the season, after traveling as far north as Spring Lake, finding bunker but no stripers chasing them, the bunker “swimming carefree, with only slight signs of agitation,” but no hook-ups, he said. The good news was that by Monday, 2- to 5-pound blues swam all over Barnegat Inlet, and a few schoolie striped bass were mixed in. Reel Fantasea will target schoolie stripers, blues, fluke and weakfish in the bay through summer, loading up. But the season’s trips will also head offshore for bonito, false albacore and mahi mahi at the wrecks, reefs and ridges. Wreck fishing was already pounding out “reel nice” sea bass, he said, ling and released, out-of-season blackfish for “drop and reel” action, he added. One blackfish can be kept starting July 16. The wreck trips are a flat-out blast, he said. What’s more, they provide bags of snowy white fillets.

Barnegat

Lots of fluke got reeled up from Barnegat Bay the last three days on the Hi Flier, Capt. Dave DeGennaro said. Most were throwbacks, but respectable-sized 14- to 17-inchers, and a couple of keepers seemed the average each day, enough to keep things interesting. Nineteen-, 20- and 21-inchers were among the keepers, and the anglers fished with 3/8-ounce jigheads tipped with 3-inch Gulp minnows. The trips mixed in popper-lure fishing for 1- to 3-pound blues for explosive, visual surface attacks. Both the blues and the fluke collected in shallow, 3- to 5-foot waters, feeding on sand shrimp. The blues were usual suspects on the flats, but the body of fluke was out of the norm there. But Dave was taking advantage. Charters are sailing for the fluke and the blues, and so are open-boat trips, including 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. this Friday through Monday. Call to hop aboard, and only one angler is needed for the trips to sail. In other news, Dave was already looking for weakfish that could arrive in the bay any day. Weakfishing, angling for them with live grass shrimp, is one of his specialties in summer. Live shrimp were already available for bait, and the bay was 77 degrees, the right conditions. He plans to look for weaks again after the weekend. Bonito fishing, another specialty on the boat, could kick in any day at Barnegat Ridge in the ocean. The waters were clean, warm and loaded with sand eels, the favorite forage. The fish, a member of the tuna family, pack a ton of fight, and are good-eating.

Beach Haven

A few keeper fluke and lots of shorts made up catches on bay trips on the Miss Beach Haven, Capt. Frank said. On one of the boat’s ocean trips Wednesday a few sea bass and some short fluke were tied into. The Miss Beach Haven is fishing the bay for fluke 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. The boat is fishing the ocean for sea bass and fluke 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays

Twenty-five yellowfin tuna, including three keepers, were dusted on the troll at Lindenkohl Canyon on the June Bug on Saturday, Capt. Lindsay said. So were a half-dozen skipjacks that were kept for strip baits. Waters were 69 degrees, the same temp the whole way out, and seas were beautiful. Canyon fishing is under way, and bluefin tuna are also on tap on the inshore grounds. The boat’s mate joined a trip with friends that smoked a 170-pound bluefin at the Hambone 1 ½ weeks ago. On Sunday on the June Bug the Catanese family bottom-fished at Garden State Reef South and North, rustling up mostly short sea bass and short fluke. To target big fluke, anglers aboard often fish with a largemouth bass spinner bait tipped with a minnow and a strip of squid. The crew buys generic, inexpensive spinners from a department store like Walmart. The charter also looked for bluefish at Barnegat Ridge South at first, but no blues showed up. Interestingly, tons of squid were found. Something kept being marked on the fish finder, and the mate dropped down a squid jig, and two squid were hooked. The same marks were seen all the way from the inlet. The June Bug is fishing offshore and inshore for tuna and for all available small game on the inshore grounds such as sea bass and fluke.

Tuckerton

A small mako shark and four blue sharks to 7 or 8 feet were wrenched in Monday at 28-Mile Wreck with Legal Limit Charters, Capt. T.J. said. Waters were 68 degrees, getting warm, and bluefin tuna were seen breaking the surface, and some boaters caught the tuna. Another shark trip will sail Friday, and a combo shark/bluefin trip will run Saturday. Sea bass and flounder charters are fishing, and shared charters are bottom-dunking for them every Tuesday and Thursday when no full charter is booked. Two spaces are available this coming Tuesday, and this coming Thursday’s trip is full.

Mystic Island

Flounder were piled up in the bay, and the funny things was that keepers could be culled, because usually all the keepers are caught in the first two weeks of the season, said Scott from Scott’s Bait & Tackle. For some reason keepers kept showing up among many shorts now, while in the beginning of the season shorts were abundant but keepers could hardly be located. The bay at the clam stakes on the Mystic Island side of the Fish Factory was a favorite place, and boaters drifted the deeper waters along the troth there. Any kind of Gulps like 3-inch New Penny Shrimp or 3- and 4-inch pink Gulp Minnows on Spro jigs were popular. Ocean anglers reported flounder catches from Garden State Reef South and Little Egg Reef, but nothing great, like three or four keepers. So unless boaters wanted to get away from crowds by fishing the reefs, they may as well have fished the bay. The closest blues were at Barnegat Ridge in the ocean, and none roamed the bay. Weakfish were among the missing, and so were striped bass, and white perch fishing suffered from lack of participation. Nobody mentioned going after the brown and sandbar sharks that make a terrific fishery at Grassy Channel on Great Bay in summer, but some will probably target them this weekend. The beginning of the night until 10 p.m. is usually the time to do battle, and the shop carries a rig and a chum ball meant specifically for the sharking, and can give advice about the fishing. Crabbing was reliable but mostly in the pots in the lagoons. Nothing was heard about catches like the blueclaws getting scooped up instead of potted. On the inshore ocean sea bass could be caught like no tomorrow, but most were throwbacks. The bigger ones seemed to hold deeper, farther away from fishing pressure. Offshore shark fishing was so-so, offering plenty of blue sharks but scarce makos. The minnow supply was touch and go, and live grass shrimp, fresh shucked clams and eels are carried.

Port Republic

Flounder, probably 1 in 10 a keeper, were knuckled in from the Intracoastal Waterway and from the bay around the Fish Factory, said Mary Ann from Chestnut Neck Boat Yard. Weakfish were sometimes picked from the mouth of the Mullica River and from the bay near Brigantine. White perch could always be found on the river, and nobody mentioned seeing bluefish or striped bass. Shedder crabs, the favorite weakfish bait, are stocked but are beginning to run low. Minnows, bloodworms, salmon belly, a great bait for nearly any fish, eels and Gulps are carried.

Absecon

Everybody was catching flounder from the bay, mostly shorts, but three or four keepers per boat seemed average, said Ray from Absecon Bay Sportsman Center. Sean McGinley tackled a 10.26-pound flounder from Absecon Bay around Cross Tides today. Three anglers from a boat Wednesday showed off 11 keepers, none huge, weighing up to 4 pounds. A charter of three people with Capt. Dave, the shop’s owner, put seven sizeable flatties in the box Wednesday. Youngster John Hoey pulled in a 4-pound flounder, his first-ever fish, from the bulkhead near the boat ramp. Ocean anglers found small flounder and might as well have stayed in the bay. Not much was heard about sea bass catches in the ocean. Bluefish popped up at some spots in the bay. Anglers toward Harrah’s in the evenings played with blues, flounder and small stripers. Ray fought two 4-pound blues there the other night, and one shook its head and broke off the jig, and the jig flew away. Striped bass can always be fought at the bridges at night on live bait like spots. The fish aren’t big, but it’s action. Surf anglers could locate an occasional kingfish, like two, three or four a trip. Triggerfish supposedly got thick around Atlantic City’s T-jetty, and if they were there, they should be elsewhere. White perch were caught in the rivers, and crabbers found success on the back waters. Live spots, shedder crabs, minnows and nearly all baits are stocked. Fresh clams and fresh bunker were about the only baits that were no longer carried in strong supply, with demand dropping off at this time of year.

Brigantine

Surf casters waited for bluefish and kingfish to arrive, but they beached flounder at the cove and on Brigantine’s north end, said Capt. Andy from Riptide Bait & Tackle. However, Bob Hart lambasted a 40-pound striped bass from the suds at 6th Street on clam. Flounder angling in the bay was really the big story, and some big ones, all caught on live spots, carried at the shop, were nailed in the bay and at Absecon Inlet. Harry Elliot waffled an 11-pound 13-ouncer, and John Murray smacked a 9-pound 4-ouncer, and both inhaled spots. Gulps caught the numbers of flounder, but smaller ones. Spike weakfish, shorts from 9- to 11-inchers, schooled the bay. In addition to all the inshore baits including live spots, the shop is carrying the full supply of offshore baits, including butterfish, rigged and un-rigged ballyhoos and chum. Bluefin tuna reportedly moved closer to shore, and more participation in that fishery should be seen this weekend.

Margate

The reefs shoveled up flounder, including good-sized ones to 20 and 21 inches, on a trip Monday on the ocean with O-Beth Sportfishing, Capt. Eric said. Lots of throwbacks were mixed in, but pretty fair action was had. Squid on single-hooked rigs were fished. An offshore trip during the weekend pounded two mako sharks, a thresher shark and a bluefin tuna, covered in the last report. Tuna fishing should get better and better.

Some legal-sized flatties and plenty of shorts were angled aboard flounder trips on the bay on the Keeper, not bad, Capt. John said. All patrons reeled in the fluke, and five keepers were bagged on a trip Wednesday among a slew of shorts that gave up action. The action on trips and enough keepers to keep interest seemed to keep customers happy. Gazillions of the flatfish carpeted the bay, spread out everywhere. John saw a few blues break the waters at times, and a handful were boated on trips, but the vessel concentrated on flounder. Cut mackerel was supplied for bait and caught the fish, and no minnows, scarce this year because of the rainy weather, were aboard, though the boat usually carries minnows at this time of year. Gulps also did a great job on the fish. Peanut bunker an inch long schooled all over, and when they grow enough, probably in a week, they’ll be netted and kept aboard in a dedicated livewell. Flounder love peanuts. The Keeper is fishing for flounder on two trips daily 8 a.m. to 12 noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Longport

Flounder fishing amped up on the O.C. Reef on the Stray Cat, Capt. Mike said in a phone call from the waters at the reef this morning. The current screamed today, so the anglers only fished for porgies and sea bass, but sizeable flounder were in the mix otherwise, better fishing than a couple of weeks ago. “Fluking has commenced,” he said. Plus some of the porgies were “gorgeous,” he said, up to 4 pounds, and porgy season opened Wednesday. Tog were angled in and released, and tog season opens July 16. None was little, weighing 2 and 3 pounds, good, medium-sized. Charters are running, and open-boat trips are finished until September 10. Some tuna charters are coming up, and both yellowfins at the canyons and bluefins at the inshore grounds were going nuts. “Tuna, tuna, tuna!” he said. He’s finished with sharking for the season.

Ocean City

The back bay was crammed with flounder, but not too many keepers, said Phil from Fin Atics. Bigger ones hugged the bottom at the O.C. Reef and the A.C. Ridge, and sea bass hovered there too. Snapper blues could be found in the bay, and the bay’s striper fishing got spotty because of warm waters, but they could be drummed up on plugs or soft-plastic lures at the bridges at night. In the surf kingfishing was getting better, and striped bass fishing was on the decline, again because of warm waters. But stripers still got landed from the suds on clam or bunker. Soak bloodworms for the kings. Sharks, big threshers, plenty of blues and sometimes makos, haunted places like 28-Mile Wreck and the 750 Square. Bluefin tuna were shacked-up at the Elephant Trunk, and small yellowfin tuna loitered around the canyons like the Spencer and the Lindenkohl.

Sea Isle City

Both bay and ocean anglers racked up flounder, and the ocean gave up a bunch of keepers, and the bay turned out lots of throwbacks and some keepers, said Wes from Gibson’s Tackle. Minnows were a popular bait, but strips of squid or mackerel caught, and Gulps worked fantastic, if anglers wanted to toss artificials. A few small blues were hooked in the bay, more of a chance catch. Striped bass could be angled in during the middle of the night on the bay, like along the bridges, on soft-plastic lures. Or they could be chunked with clams on the bay. Chunking is when anglers anchor, chum with clam bellies, cutting up the pieces of the gooey main part of surf clams, feeding them out steadily to create a slick that the fish sniff out, and fishing with the whole belly on the hook. Crabbing was heating up well. Although surf fishing for striped bass came off the spring peak some time ago, Wes still heard about catches daily, like a small one he heard was banked at Sea Isle today, or others that came from places including Ocean City and Avalon lately. Dunk fresh clam for a strike. Offshore anglers fought yellowfin tuna at the canyons and bluefin tuna closer to shore. Brown and dusky sharks could be battled 5 to 10 miles from shore. Minnows, fresh clams, fresh bunker and all the frozen baits are stocked. A full supply of offshore baits and tackle is also carried.

An offshore trip trolled 10 yellowfin tuna, mostly small, and three gaffer dolphin 10 to 15 pounds in 100 fathoms at South Toms Canyon with John Stevens, Dusty Laricks and Chuck Gehman aboard on Wednesday, said Capt. Joe Hughes from Jersey Cape Guide Service, affiliated with Gibson’s Tackle. One 20-pound yellowfin was kept, and during one period a bait couldn’t be dropped in the waters without a tuna crashing it. All the fish, including the mahi mahi, hit ballyhoos on Ilanders on spreader bars. Joe was glad to see the mahi, and they were just starting to filter in, not in large concentrations to reliably cast to them at the lobster pots, but they started to become abundant. When the population becomes larger, Joe will start his combo trips that fish for tuna in the mornings and cast to mahi with conventional or fly tackle later in the day. On this trip waters were 69.3 to 71 degrees, and porpoises, turtles and a whale were seen. On the way home the crew briefly stopped at the inshore grounds to try trolling for bluefin tuna. No bluefins showed up, but the anglers didn’t stay long. A 15-pound, gator bluefish attacked the spread and was landed. But bluefins did begin to hold in 20 to 30 fathoms, and 100-plus-pounders are expected to start consistently biting. Joe will fish for them soon. Open-boat tuna trips are sailing, including Wednesday if the weather allows. The trips will usually fish Wednesdays but sometimes on other days, depending on the weather and when anglers want to go. Call for info. The trips, sailing on a 26-foot Regulator, will fish either inshore for bluefin tuna or offshore at the canyons for yellowfins. Joe won’t limit the options, and he just wants to catch, he said. If that means pushing out to the canyons, he’ll do it. The trips are a learning experience. Joe took his first shot at one of the unique trips he offers--inshore shark fishing for duskies and browns, both protected species that must be released--scoring his first dusky of the season, a 40-pounder, on a mackerel fillet, letting the shark go, only 3 or 4 miles from shore. The trips are unique because they do battle with sharks close to shore on light-spinning or fly rods, maxing out the fun, shortening the ride. A chum slick is set up, and baits are free-lined out to hook up, or chum flies are cast into the drink. In inshore waters, lots of flounder, good fishing for them, paved the back bay. Catching a keeper was challenging, but the action was fast. That fishery is also great for kids to keep them active or even to land them their first fish. Ocean flounder fishing was decent at Cape May Reef, Reef 11 and the Old Grounds, and trips are available, an easy run on a fair-weather day. Tides were unfavorable for striped bass fishing on the back bay on Joe’s charters, but high tides in the evenings, perfect conditions, were coming around, and Joe expects the fishing to kick in during the next days. He thought he might give the stripers a go today. His trips hooked them on popper lures or flies, soft-plastic lures, Clouser flies or clams. The popper fishing is one of Jersey Cape’s specialties, explosive, visual attacks in the shallows, while Joe poles a flats boat like in Florida or the tropics. A handful of blues swam the bay. Jersey Cape is offering after-work special trips on the back bay from 4 p.m. to dark, a great time to fish, when nobody else is on the waters, and action can be best. Convenient, too. Joe will offer mixed-bag offshore charters this summer, trolling for tuna in the mornings, then casting lures, bait or flies to mahi mahi in the afternoons. Offshore trips fish on either the Regulator or a 42-foot Liberty, depending on the number of anglers and type of fishing, like angling with conventional tackle or fly gear.

Wildwood

More flounder than sea bass started coming up from the ocean reefs, and some larger flatties began biting, great fishing for them on the Adventurer on Wednesday, Capt. Gary said. A 9.1-pound 28-inch flounder, a beautiful one, was hammered on the boat that day, winning the pool for the angler. Winds sometimes hampered fishing, but the flounder season began to look like it could be respectable, and the fish were spread out from the ocean to Delaware Bay. The boat can fish the bay when winds make the ocean rough, one of the advantages of the port. But the vessel was able to fish the ocean through the past week. The fluke were hooked along the edges of the wrecks, usually on cut bait like mackerel, anything the crew could get their hands on, or squid. The Adventurer is fishing on open-boat trips 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, but call to confirm, making sure no charter is running instead. Charters are available.

Cape May

Some said flounder fishing took off near Fortescue on Delaware Bay, and anglers sometimes limited out, said Nick from Hands Too Bait & Tackle. Croakers arrived in the southern bay like near the ferry and around Higbees Beach. Flounder were also pelted fairly well in the ocean at Cape May Reef, Wildwood Reef, Reef 11 and the Old Grounds. The flatties were also picked up near the ocean beaches off the Wildwood Ferris wheel and along the Intracoastal Waterway in the back bay. A few blues started milling around the Intracoastal. Weakfish were occasionally wrangled in from the Cape May Canal between the two bridges on baits like pink Zooms. In offshore waters yellowfin tuna to 30 and 40 pounds were nailed at places like Poorman’s and Lindenkohl canyons, often on trolled ballyhoos on blue and white Ilanders. Bluefin tuna were battled closer to shore. Minnows, shedder crabs, fresh clams, bloodworms and all the frozen baits such as mackerel, squid and clams are stocked.