<b>Staten Island</b>

Fluke fishing was a grind on a trip Friday but put up “enough action to make it worth it,” said the Captain Blog’s on <b>Barbara Anne Fishing Charters</b>’ Web site. Flatties to 2 3/4 pounds were decked, and the approaching new moon “had the fish a little skittish,” the blog said. Barbara Anne’s fluke trips usually fish along Ambrose Channel to the Verrazano Bridge. But weekly open-boat trips fish on the ocean at the rocky bottom and wrecks. Special, open-boat trips will begin to bottom-fish at the 30-mile wrecks once a week starting August 20. “Rest assured, there will be a host of different species …” an e-mail from the boat said. Cod, ling and sea bass will be targeted, and the fish begin to migrate to deeper waters at the time of year, and the wrecks “can really hold some quality fish,” the e-mail said. The resurgence of cod in the waters adds both exciting sport and great table fare. Running 3:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., the trips are slated for August 20 and 30 and September 6, 13, 20 and 27. Rods, tackle, bait, ice and soft drinks for the entire group are included. Are you bummed that fluke season is about to close? Don’t be! Barbara Anne successfully bid on a Research Set Aside Permit, allowing trips to fish for fluke when the season ends. New York’s season will close from September 7 to May 21, and the RSA bag limit is four fluke from 17 to 20 inches per person.

Catches of fluke, and a surprisingly good pick of sea bass, came up on four trips along Ambrose Channel in the past days, said Capt. Chuck from <b>Angler Sportfishing Charters</b>. He guessed the sea bass gathered along rocks along some of the shoulders of the channel. A total of probably 20 or 22 of the lumpheads to 5 ½ pounds were lifted aboard on the trips while the anglers fluke fished. The fluking, like everywhere, dished up unlimited action, and a few of the fish were keepers. Sand eels, squid and killies were fished, and the sand eels and squid out-fished the killies. Five striped bass 8 to 10 pounds grabbed the baits and were landed on two of the trips. Angler Sportfishing will keep running the trips, and nighttime trips for stripers are also available on the ocean from off the Highlands Bridge to the Shrewsbury Rocks. Bluefish were scarce in the local area, and that was unusual. Anglers usually have difficulty getting away from blues.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

The ocean turned out fluke, a decent catch of keepers and shorts, on a few drifts on Sunday morning during the change of tide on the party boat <b>Fishermen</b>, Capt. Ron said in the report on the boat’s Web site. Then currents began to run against a slight swell, making seas uncomfortable. Southerly winds also began to mess up conditions for fishing toward the ocean, even at Flynn’s Knoll, and the boat was moved to the bay. Another shot of the fish was found there to end the day. John Frolech was high hook on the trip with five keeper fluke. A couple bagged three, and some bagged two, and some landed no keepers. A striped bass, the fourth of the past week, was reeled in. June Benson, who limited out on a trip last week and made the paper, “took one for the team today!” Ron said. “Vintastic,” who turned 50 the previous day, celebrated too much “and left his game home also,” Ron said.  The Fishermen is sailing for fluke 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily and for bluefish 3:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

Action even on throwback fluke was somewhat slower than before from Thursday’s trips through Friday morning’s trip, said Capt. Tom from the party boat <b>Atlantic Star</b>. But catches picked up a bit on Friday afternoon’s trip and on both of Saturday’s trips, and Sunday’s two trips were a little better. But a fast drift hampered Sunday afternoon’s trip. The fishing became generally good through the days, lots of action, with a few keepers in the mix. Catches on one of Saturday’s trips are an example. On that trip one angler bagged five keepers, and a couple bagged three. Paul, who Tom said reads the boat’s reports on this site, bagged three on that outing. Some anglers on the trip bagged two, and some landed no keepers, but all at least caught and released shorts. That was about what the fishing was like on these days. The boat fished at places including Reach Channel, Chapel Hill Channel and the Navy Pier Channel. Four or five different areas gave up the fish, not a huge spread of fluke, but some options. Trips were protected from the swell that anglers sometimes had to deal with on the ocean. Different baits and tackle worked somewhat better at different times, and predicting was impossible. Sometimes a rig with a Spro and a teaser with a Berkeley Gulp New Penny Shrimp worked well. Sometimes bait worked better. Sometimes the spearing and squid supplied on the vessel did the job well. Sometimes killies anglers brought themselves held an edge for a moment. Chartreuse Gulps caught well. Anglers could bring two rods, one for a Spro set up and another for bait, keeping the one not in use up top on the boat. One of the rods could be a heavier one for when the boat fished the deeper channels.  The Atlantic Star is fishing for fluke on two trips daily 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

<b>Highlands</b>

<b>Fisher Price Charters</b> won the Leonardo Fluke Masters tournament with a five-fish weight of 31 pounds during the weekend, Capt. Derek said. The trip fished the channel, because there was no drift at the ocean rough bottom. The angling was a little slow, but a dozen flatties to 6 pounds were boated. But Fisher Price is fishing the channels and the ocean rough bottom with bucktails and big strip baits on fluke charters and open-boat trips. The next open trips will probably sail Friday and Sunday, and anglers can call Derek to be kept informed about the open schedule. Charters are also bottom-fishing, and both charters and open trips are available for bluefin tuna fishing on the inshore ocean. Bluefin fishing sounded tougher in the past days because of green waters. But that can change, and Derek has caught bluefins in green waters, unlike yellowfin tuna that favor blue waters more exclusively.

<b>Neptune</b>

A mess of ling to 3 or 4 pounds and a fair catch of cod were plundered at wrecks on the inshore ocean Saturday and Sunday with <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b>, Capt. Ralph said. Space is available on a trip to the offshore wrecks Tuesday, and the last trip nailed big pollock, large cod and ling. A second trip to the offshore wrecks is full August 24. A fairly good catch of fluke was decked on a trip Saturday on the ocean. Individual-reservation fluke trips are running every Wednesday. Space is available on an individual-reservation tuna trip August 26.

<b>Belmar</b>

Lots of better-sized fluke, quite a number of 4- and 5-pounders, seemed around in the ocean now, and trips on the <b>Nan Sea J</b> cleaned up on good catches from mid week to almost the end of the week, Capt. Tom said. The fishing on the boat Saturday was somewhat slower, but a 9-pound fluke was nailed, and on Sunday was so-so. Sea bass, maybe 15 to 20 keepers per trip, including a big one, a 5-pounder, on Friday, were also landed. Tom knew nobody who sailed for bluefin tuna in the rough seas, but charters and open-boat trips are sailing for bluefins on the inshore ocean on the Nan Sea J. The open trips run whenever time is available, and anglers can call Tom to be kept informed about the schedule. But he heard about boats that sailed farther offshore to the canyons, tackling yellowfin tuna. Overnight tuna trips to the canyons begin in September on the Nan Sea J. 

<b>Brielle</b>

Ocean fluke fishing improved during the past week, or more of the flatties and bigger ones were around, said Dave from <b>The Reel Seat</b>. Catches became better at Sea Girt Reef. Bob and John Bafiadis each limited out on fluke to 5 ½ pounds. Bob Lake from the Kimberly Anne weighed in an 8.7-pound fluke and bagged other keepers. Big sea bass were also around. Dave sailed on a fluke trip on the Belmar party boat Big Mohawk on Thursday with the Shark River Surf Anglers. One of the anglers drilled a 5-1/2-pound sea bass, and quite a few of the lumpheads were toggled aboard on the trip. Lots of fluke bit on the outing, and culling a keeper was the challenge. Dave on the trip whaled an 8-pound fluke and a 4-pounder, fishing with Gulps, no bait, on a 1-1/2-ounce bucktail with a ½-ounce bucktail teaser. Manasquan River offered good fluking, and lots of small flatties held in the river, but anglers also reeled up keepers. Farther from shore, rough seas frequently kept boaters from bluefin tuna fishing. But some got out, and the ones who found the fish often scored outstanding catches. Lots of green waters that previously were blue filled the bluefin grounds like at the Atlantic Princess wreck and the Chicken Canyon. So anglers had to search for the blue waters to catch. Some trolled for the fish, but jigging worked great, whether with a Butterfly Jig, a Sting-O or a diamond jig. Few boats fished farther offshore like at Hudson Canyon in the seas. But the Jenny Lee reportedly ran all the way to the offshore canyons – Dave was unsure which one – during the weekend, dealt with stiff seas on the way, but crushed a bunch of yellowfin tuna, losing a white marlin. Dave was repairing spreader bars from the trip that got beat up.

<b>Point Pleasant</b>

Small bluefish after small bluefish were piled up through the weekend on the party boat <b>Cock Robin</b>, an e-mail from the boat said. The small fish had everyone longing for big blues. Reports from the boat in the past explained that big blues were spawning. They were apparently spawning for some time now, and the wait was on for them to begin feeding again any moment. The crew asks that anglers joining a trip bring a cooler with ice. With the heat, though temps were 10 degrees cooler on the ocean on trips, and with “the size of the fish,” the e-mail said, “we are finding it difficult to keep the fish caught fresh. Getting the fish on ice will help us send you home with tasty fillets.” The Cock Robin is bluefishing 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily and 7:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

With <b>Reel Class Charters</b> trips ran for fluke almost every day, and the fishing was slow Wednesday and Thursday, but picked up on Friday, Capt. Allen said. Thirteen keeper fluke and 10 keeper sea bass to more than 5 pounds, a good catch, were waxed on the ocean to the north on the trip that day. On a trip Saturday the fishing was slower on the ocean to the north again, and seven keeper fluke and eight or nine keeper sea bass were bagged. Lots of shorts bit on both days, and this week Allen will probably look around elsewhere “to change up a little,” he said. The trips Wednesday and Thursday fished locally at the reef, landing a few keepers apiece. A trip with a family fluke fished on Manasquan River on Sunday during outgoing tide, and the angling was slow. But plenty of fluke remained in the river. Both charters and annual, open-boat Fluke Till You Puke Trips are sailing, and check the online <a href="http://www.reelclassfishing.com/rates/open-boat-info" target="_blank">schedule</a> for available dates for the open trips. Charters and open trips will sail for bonito and false albacore in August and September. Also check the schedule for the first couple of open trips for them that are already slated.

<b>Seaside Park</b>

Summer is flying by, and good fishing continues, said Capt. Rob “Birch” Birchmeier from <b>Fishguts Inshore Charters</b> in the report on the boat’s Web site. On Friday a trip motored out to fish the ocean wrecks for sea bass with three anglers. Some searching was needed to find the bigger ones. The trips are about what goes into the cooler, and not about drop-and-reel fishing for smaller fish. On some days trips find great numbers of large sea bass, and on some days trips do not. But the trips try the whole time to put the best possible catch together, Birch said. Keeper sea bass to a 3-pound knucklehead were bucketed, and so was a tog and a porgy. On Saturday another three anglers sailed to the wrecks for sea bass, checking out a new area. Great quality sea bass to a 5-pound 12-ouncer, the biggest on the boat so far this season, were sometimes clocked, but not in the numbers Birch hoped for. Strong currents and a ground swell didn’t help. But the anglers pulled in keepers, somewhat fewer than on the previous trip. Five of the fish weighed more than 3 pounds. The group also limited out on blackfish to 4 pounds and bagged two ling and a 13-inch porgy “for a nice cooler full of fish,” Birch said. With the sizes of some of the sea bass, Birch is looking forward to hitting the area again in better conditions. On Sunday, because of a last-minute cancellation, Birch took his 8-year-old son and his son’s friends fluke fishing on Barnegat Bay. Three keepers about 20 inches apiece were bagged, and a bunch of throwbacks and four jumbo sea robins were hooked in 2 ½ hours. Great action. Jump on a trip before the fishing season ends in early September for Fishguts. Trips will fish for sea bass, blackfish and porgies on the ocean and fluke, blues and weakfish on the bay.

<b>Tuckerton</b>

Anglers on board fished for summer flounder all weekend with <b>Legal Limit Charters</b>, Capt. T.J. said. Fair catches of the flatties to 5 and 6 pounds, a good, 1-in-10 keeper ratio, a better ratio than average these days, were beaten when the boat drifted right. The drift wasn’t good on Saturday and Sunday but was better previously. Trips fished in 60 to 65 feet on the ocean. More of the fluke trips are coming up all week, but a tuna trip will sail Tuesday. T.J. heard yellowfin tuna were boated here and there this weekend. He was yet to hear locations, but would find out. Open-boat trips or shared charters for flounder are fishing Tuesdays and Thursdays when no charter is booked and enough anglers want to go. Those days are booked with charters this week, but see the online <a href=" http://www.legallimitcharters.com/c-11-open-boat.aspx" target="_blank">Open Boat/Shared Charter Schedule</a> for future dates.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

Most summer flounder were boated at Little Egg Inlet, and anglers worked hard for keepers there, said the report on <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>’s Web site. But occasional flounder were taken from the bay off Foxboro Point and from the 114 buoy to the 114A. Lack of drift, despite a swell, hampered the flattie fishing on the ocean during the weekend. Chatter was heard about small bluefish, but no details were heard, including about location. Weakfish 23 inches gave up a shot of catches at the mouth of the Mullica River, but if anglers weren’t there for the right 15 minutes, they found none. Crabbing was good, and not everyplace produced the best catches of the blueclaws, but customers time and again talked about nabbing plenty, and big ones.

<b>Atlantic City</b>

Lots of kingfish were cranked from the surf, including at Vermont Avenue, Massachusetts Avenue and the T-jetty, said Noel from <b>One Stop Bait & Tackle</b>. Fish with bloodworms. Good-sized croakers hovered along the T, and dunk bloods or clam for a chew. Summer flounder littered the waters along sea wall, and the old timers creamed them. But not many were keepers. Minnows and squid, “peanut butter and jelly,” Noel said, were the baits. Tons of action came from the waters from all these fish. Triggerfish and tog hugged the jetties, and snapper blues schooled off Harrah’s. Large herring, not a lot, but some, also hung off Harrah’s. All the bait mentioned and more, a large supply, is stocked.

<b>Margate</b>

<b>O-Beth Sportfishing</b> ran a couple of good summer flounder trips at the ocean reefs and humps, Capt. Eric said. The flatties to 5 ½ and 6 pounds were hung, and the angling improved. Trips are also trolling for blues and other species mixed in like false albacore and bonito on the inshore ocean, and two tuna trips are scheduled to fish offshore during the weekend.

<b>Longport</b>

Green waters settled close to shore, so sea bass trips fished in the deep in 90 feet to reach clearer waters, said Capt. Mike from the <b>Stray Cat</b>. But plenty of sea bass were belted, and mostly smaller fluke bit in the same waters. Tons of blues were trolled on trips 10 miles from shore, but pelagics like false albacore, bonito and Spanish mackerel avoided the green waters. They were previously mixed in at times. Two spaces are available on one of the season’s open-boat, overnight tuna trips that will leave at 2 p.m. Saturday, August 28. The two others are sold out on August 21 and 29. All the trips will also stop for sea bass in the mornings. These will be the only of these trips this year, unless the weather is clear in September. Then one more might be added. Rods will be available at no charge, and bait will be provided, and ice will be supplied for the tuna. Catch a special, low, discounted rate for charters for croakers and sea bass September 13 through 30 only.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Jim Judd and family caught and released 20 brown and dusky sharks to 50 pounds on a trip Friday, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Gibson’s Tackle</b>.  Jim and Ethan Barbera tackled and released 15 brown and duskies to 45 pounds on a trip Saturday afternoon. Mike Spaeder, son Mike, George Spaeder and son John wrestled and released nine browns and duskies to about the same size on a trip Saturday morning. But most on the trip were duskies, a bigger species. These were some of the special trips for sharks, mostly browns and duskies, catch-and-release angling by regulation, that Jersey Cape runs on the ocean 5 to 10 miles from shore in summer. The trips are an opportunity to try blue-water angling for big, strong fish without traveling far like usually necessary for sharking. The trips fished with spinning rods and baits like mackerel and bluefish, but Jersey Cape also fly-rods for the sharks. On Sunday Mike Roth jumped aboard an offshore trip that was going to fly fish for mahi mahi, but an easterly swell from the tropical storm forced the plan to be nixed, despite perfect weather. Joe was disappointed, because he was sure the angling should be awesome.  When he runs a trip like this, the boat will also mix in trolling for tuna and marlin. No point in traveling that far without taking advantage. Tuna in the past days were trolled at Toms and Lindenkohl canyons, and good numbers of white marlin were around, and mahi were everywhere. Though fly fishing for mahi was cancelled, Mike got to fly rod a bunch of 1- to 2-pound blues and some amberjacks. Plenty of the fish swam close to the beaches. On Thursday John and Sue Biggum released 35 throwback summer flounder on the back bay. Flounder now bit both on the bay and in the ocean, after they mostly only bit in the bay. The flatties remained in the bay longer than usual this summer, and lots still swam the waters. Many were throwbacks, but throwbacks in the regulations these days included big flounder, and the number of flounder in the population was tremendous. Sometimes Joe was constantly busy unhooking fish and hooking new baits, and anglers had a ball. Some trips are supposed to fish for striped bass on the bay at night this week. Anglers aboard fish for them with soft-plastic lures or Clouser flies at places like under the bridge or dock lights. Keep up with Joe’s fishing and photos on <a href=" http://captainjoehughes.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s blog</a>.

<b>Avalon</b>

Anglers on a 22-hour, overnight trip offshore departed on Thursday at 9 p.m., a different hour than usual, in an attempt to try fishing for tuna at night, an audio report on <b>Over Under Adventures</b>’s Web site said. The trip arrived toward Wilmington Canyon at 2 a.m., landed a couple of mahi mahi at the lobster pot buoys then set up to chunk for tuna at the east notch. Three yellowfin tuna were decked, and two were lost, when one pulled off and another broke off, while tuna swarmed under the boat from 4 to 5 a.m. Two that were caught were jigged, and the other that was caught grabbed a livelined mackerel, and the two that got off hit jigs. Big mackerel schooled the waters the whole night and were easily caught for bait to liveline, and the tuna liked them. Up on the troll in the morning, fishing was mostly slow for everyone. Most boats landed a mahi or two, and some got lucky, coming across a shot of tuna. A double-header of tuna attacked the trolling spread for Over Under, but one pulled the hook, and the other missed. Nothing was really going on for anyone, except that somewhat of a bite might’ve happened toward Lindenkohl and Carteret canyons, and the crew from Over Under planned to fish there the next day. Two trips on two of Over Under’s boats fished at the Carteret the next day, Saturday, at blue waters that northeast winds had pushed far inshore to 40 or 45 fathoms. One of the trips, a 16-hour trolling trip, left at 2:45 a.m. Saturday, arriving toward the northern side of the canyon at the blue waters in 45 fathoms. Scattered life including porpoises and chick birds was seen in the good-looking, 81-degree waters, and tuna covered up the boat at 8:45 a.m. Eight yellowfin tuna, good-sized fish, mostly weighing in the low 60s, one weighing in the low 70s, were bagged out of 12 bites. One would bite, then another would bite and so on. At one point a 700-pound, beautiful blue marlin entered the trolling spread while anglers fought tuna, and the blue couldn’t be hooked while the anglers dealt with the tuna, but the blue was a sight to see. After enough tuna were in the box, the anglers tried for marlin, but none showed up, while the trip worked inshore to end the day. The other trip that day left at 2:30 a.m., and began fishing in 45 fathoms in the blue waters at the south side of the Carteret. A couple of single tuna bites swung and missed, and the crew decided to move to where tuna had just covered up Over Under’s other boat on the north side of the canyon. Then this trip motored all the way to Lindenkohl Canyon, and a single tuna bite attacked toward the tip but never came tight. Fishing was slow on the trip, but two mahi were bagged at the lobster pots, and other boats seemed to get into somewhat of a tuna bite farther inshore from the Lindy. Somewhat of a catch seemed to be made at Toms Canyon, and that seemed the place to be, but the waters were too far for this day trip. More trips are scheduled to fish offshore straight through the week. Charters and   <a href=" http://overundercharters.com/index.php?page=opendates" target="_blank">open-boat trips</a> are fishing offshore.

<b>Cape May</b>

Trips mostly clobbered loads of bluefish on the troll on the ocean on the <b>Heavy Hitter</b>, Capt. George said. The bluefishing, done 8 to 10 miles from shore, was the best game in gown, if anglers wanted action and fish to take home, and sometimes false albacore and bonito could be mixed in. A trip on a friend’s boat picked up a 20-pound mahi mahi among the blues in the past days, and sometimes the dolphin were around. On the Heavy Hitter, one of the trolling trips was made up of Chris, daughter Marian, friend Brittany and Jessie. On another the anglers were Brian, Stephanie, C.J. and Courtney, and they landed the blues and also a couple of albies. A 4-hour trip on Thursday fished for summer flounder off Cape May Point. One 19-1/2-inch keeper was bagged, and another that was 20 or 22 inches jumped off when the angler lifted the fish up to swing over the rail, before the crew could net the fish. Thirty or 40 shorts were released. Keepers these days are around, but anglers have to wade through the throwbacks. George knew nobody who fished offshore for tuna because of rough seas. He knew boats slated to sail offshore Saturday, but all the trips were cancelled because of seas. A couple of boats fished at 5-Fathom Bank on Saturday, and seas were flat as a lake. But offshore could be a whole different story. The Heavy Hitter is chartering for the blues and assorted other fish, flounder and tuna offshore, and call if interested.

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