<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

Good fishing for porgies was pasted on the party boat <b>Atlantic Star</b> in past days, Capt. Tom said. Mixed sizes of the fish, including big, were boxed, and a few triggerfish and weakfish were winged. Trips stuck with porgy fishing, instead of honing in on sea bass, because catches were good. The productive angling continued on this morning’s trip, when Tom gave this report at 9 o’clock in a phone call on the outing. The Atlantic Star is bottom fishing on two trips daily 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 6 p.m.

Plenty of sea bass and porgies were tugged from the ocean, said Jimmy from <b>Julian’s Bait & Tackle</b>. Blackfish swam plentiful in the ocean, though one was the bag limit. Great fishing for ling and small cod was clobbered at the Mudhole. Bluefish could be bombed on the ocean. Striped bass were boated at the channels and cool waters. A few boats managed to run for them Wednesday in fog, but no results were heard. But the bass were boated Wednesday, and one trip with six anglers that day landed 18 stripers to 25 pounds, keeping a limit of two apiece, releasing six keeper-sized ones. Surf anglers did bank stripers, but getting through bluefish was difficult. In Raritan Bay, panfish including spots, kingfish and weakfish were yet to depart for the season. Sixty-degree weather forecast for next week might make them leave. Friday is supposed to reach 79. Baits are fully stocked.

<b>Highlands</b>

Before fluke season closed Saturday, two boats sailed for them from <b>Twin Lights Marina</b>, an e-mail from the marina said. Ed and Tony on the Hammerhead rustled up good-sized fluke to 21 inches off Sandy Hook’s nude beach, and Tracy and Jay Amarosa and Johnny Beer on the Par Tee landed all throwback fluke Friday, the season’s final day. Anthony Pennimede fished the Mudhole, catching several large blues. Fresh clams and live eels began to be stocked. All the frozen baits for inshore are carried, including frozen pints and quarts of clam bellies. All the offshore baits are on hand, including flats of herring, sardines and butterfish. The full-service marina features boat slips and rack storage, ship-store supplies, a full line of bait for inshore and offshore, tackle and a fuel dock, and is located on Shrewsbury River. No bridges before the bay. Convenient, fast access to fishing.

<b>Belmar</b>

Sea bass and porgies, very good catches, were slung aboard the party boat <b>Big Mohawk</b> from the ocean, Capt. Chris said. “No issues at all,” he said, and triggerfish were also caught. Clams were fished for bait. The Big Mohawk is bottom-fishing 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.

Jumbo blues to 17 pounds, lots, were tackled on the party boat <b>Miss Belmar Princess</b> on the ocean, Karin said. They weighed 8 to 17, and anglers who wanted false albacore fought all they wanted on the trips. The number of false albacore this year was something. Striped bass were yet to show up, but the boat will go after stripers when the migration tumbles south. The Miss Belmar Princess is sailing 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily and 7:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. The party boat <b>Tropical Adventure</b>, the company’s other vessel, will begin bottom-fishing soon.

Fishing for sea bass was good, said Capt. Pete from <b>Parker Pete’s Fishing Charters</b>. Porgies could be bagged, if the right areas were fished, and triggerfish chomped. Bluefishing was phenomenal, and false albacore swam among them. Parker Pete’s sails for all species available, and charters and open-boat trips are running. For availability on open trips, see <a href="http://parkerpetefishing.com/belmar-fishing-trips/open-boat-trips" target="_blank">Parker Pete’s open-boat page</a> online, and sign up for the e-mailed newsletter on the site. Dates are announced in both places.

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

On some days more porgies than sea bass were shoveled up, and on other days more sea bass than porgies were, on the party boat <b>Dauntless</b>, and the fishing was decent, Capt. Butch said. Porgy catches were good on Wednesday’s trip, and some anglers limited out. A few blackfish, mostly throwbacks, were mixed in on trips. A mix of a bunch of different fish, including blowfish and lots of triggerfish, were hooked. Trips fished shallow in 30 to 80 feet, and waters were 68 or 69 degrees, not cooling. “Fishing is good,” Butch smiled. “You should get a pole and come on down.” The Dauntless is bottom-fishing 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily.

All places fished Wednesday gave up keeper sea bass and shorts, a decent catch, with a light crowd, aboard the party boat <b>Norma-K III</b>, a report on the vessel’s Web site said. Anglers averaged 10 to 15 keeper sea bass apiece, and a couple grabbed somewhat more. A few triggerfish were mixed in. “Nice bags of meat walked off the boat today!” the report said. No trip sailed Monday, because of lack of anglers, and the report said nothing about Tuesday. The Norma-K III is fishing for sea bass 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily and for bluefish 7:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Blackfish, striped bass and blues were cranked from Point Pleasant Canal every night, said Chuck from <b>Gates Bait & Tackle</b>. The blackfish began biting better, though one was the bag limit. Blues and stripers were hung from Manasquan Inlet. Stripers began to be eeled, and Tsunami shads socked them. Second-hand, unconfirmed talk said stripers were beached from the surf each night from someplace between Manasquan and Seaside. On the ocean, sea bass fishing was on, and the captain from the party boat Dauntless reportedly talked about big, hub-cap porgies pounded aboard Wednesday. Giant triggerfish also supposedly chewed. Fishing seems to be picking up all around, and if anglers want to get out, go now. Crabbing was great. The grounds include the Gates Motel, popular with anglers. The store and motel are within walking distance of the charter and party boat fleet, Manasquan Inlet and the surf. <b>***THIS TACKLE SHOP IS FOR SALE! CALL: 732-899-5760.***</b>

<b>Toms River</b>

From the surf, mostly blues 2 or 3 pounds, token larger, were pulled, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b>. Mostly bait caught them, and mullet was best. But sometimes they were plugged on small poppers or pencil poppers. The mullet migration began to drop off in the surf, and this weekend will probably be the final to run into them. Cooler weather predicted for the beginning of the week should help push them away. Striped bass fishing was slow in the surf, and waters were warm for them. Most stripers, mostly throwbacks, were clammed that were caught from the surf. The only keepers came from along Barnegat Inlet’s north jetty. Most there were plugged at night. Blackfish gathered along the jetty rocks. Triggerfish remained along the rocks. Blues from snappers to 6-pounders shot through the inlet. In Barnegat Bay blowfishing was good at the BI and BB markers. Spots, small sea bass, weakfish, snapper blues and a variety of fish littered the bay. The Toms River held snappers, spots, small croakers and a few small stripers. The stripers moved from farther upstream at fresh water, following bait migrating down. Eels began to move through the bay toward the ocean. Big females showed up in crab pots. Crabs were trapped in the river and in the bay at the Route 37 Bridge. Many fish are around, and fishing this weekend looks promising. The Governor’s Surf Fishing Tournament will be held Sunday at Island Beach State Park, and the shop will be open 4 a.m. that day with all the fresh bait including clams, mullet and peanut bunker.

<b>Seaside Heights</b>

The surf doled out mostly blues 1 to 3 pounds that were usually fought on mullet or metal, said John from <b>The Dock Outfitters</b>. But some were popper-plugged at the jetties. Striped bass, few and far between, but catches, came from the surf. Some anglers managed a few on plugs at night or in low light, and one was checked in that was clammed. Barnegat Bay was loaded with blowfish, and big. John took a couple of trips that whaled them. Small blowfish nibbled along the shop’s docks. A rental boater today ran into snapper blues on the bay. Snappers were still around. Lots of bait including peanut bunker remained in the bay. A few mullet still schooled the surf. Fishing was sort of in an in-between period, before cooler waters draw in other fish for the season. No crabs skittered around the store’s docks. But John trapped 20 of the blueclaws, the most in two weeks, in an overnight pot. The store rents different types of boats for fishing, crabbing and cruising, and features the full supply of bait and tackle, a free pier for fishing and crabbing, and more.

<b>Forked River</b>

Small, 16-inch striped bass were occasionally plucked at the mouth of Oyster Creek or the confluence of the creek and Barnegat Bay, said Kyle from <b>Grizz’s Forked River Bait & Tackle</b>. Small lures and small soft-plastic baits were fished for them, and one angler popper-plugged them. Fresh clams and live eels were just stocked for striper fishing, though the season was early for catches of bigger bass from the bay to the ocean. Rumors flew around about an occasional striper bunker-spooned on the ocean among bunker schooling. But no confirmed catches were reported. Lots of bunker schooled the waters. Blowfish hovered in Barnegat Bay. The bay’s population of weakfish tapered, but the trout still swam the waters.

<b>Barnegat Light</b>

Trips on the <b>Super Chic</b> bluefished on the ocean Friday night through the weekend, Capt. Ted said. Very good catches of 6- to 12-pounders were axed, mostly on bait, a few on jigs. A few false albacore were in the mix during daytime. Coming up, a trip will fish for sea bass Friday during the day, and an overnight trip will run for tuna offshore that evening. The 50-foot boat can accommodate up to 25 passengers on inshore trips and 10 on offshore, overnight trips. The vessel sleeps 10 passengers.

Barnegat Bay’s weakfishing remained about the same, and the trout were taken, and the ones caught were a little bigger than before, said Vince Sr. from <b>Bobbie’s Boat Rentals</b>. Blowfish were bailed from the bay, and so were other fish like porgies. Blackfishing was good at the Barnegat Inlet jetty and the ocean wrecks. Lots of sea bass were bagged from the ocean. Surf anglers beached kingfish, redfish and sharks. One rental boater clammed on the bay, limiting out. Plenty of clams could be harvested. Nobody crabbed, so how crabbing was couldn’t be known. Live spots are stocked. So are live grass shrimp, but shrimp should be ordered ahead. Bobbie’s rents boats and kayaks, including for fishing, crabbing and clamming, is known for bait selection, and features a tackle shop and a fuel dock.

<b>Barnegat</b>

From an edited e-mail from Capt. Dave DeGennaro from the <b>Hi Flier</b>: “October is enough to make your head spin with opportunities. Bluefin tuna of any size in the Mud Hole, and striped bass on the move. In order to capitalize on the best of these fisheries, I moved the Hi Flier to a marina in Neptune, using Shark River Inlet for easy access to both the Mud Hole (23 miles) and the Shrewsbury Rocks (8 miles). When the weather looks perfect, we’ll set our sights on the tuna fishing offshore, and if it blows hard from the west, we’ll stay along the beach, fishing for stripers. It’s also possible to do both in the same day. These grounds are not new to me. In fact, it is where it all started for me. My dad kept our boat in Shark River from 1970 to 1980. I’ll be running charter and open-boat trips for both striped bass and tuna. This is not a permanent move. We’ll return to Barnegat on November 1 or sooner, if fishing lights up there earlier. I’m available this Saturday and Sunday for charter or open boat. On Monday night I set out for the canyon on the party boat Gambler, Point Pleasant Beach, with my two boys, Nicholas, 14, and Maxwell, 11. They couldn’t have made me more proud. They both stood up to the rail and boated an 80-pound yellowfin tuna each. We weighed the fish back at the dock, and along with the one I added, they came in at 78, 80 and 82 pounds, one of which was the pool fish. We still don't know who caught which, as we just had them tag our fish collectively as ‘DeGennaro,’ but if you ask any one of us, it was ours that won the pool. Calm seas, cooperative fish and a coming of age for two future offshore fishermen. I could not have asked for anything better. The crew on the Gambler were awesome with the kids, coaching and inspiring, all the way. Special thanks to crew Todd and James. Looking forward to a great October. See you on board.”

<b>Surf City</b>

Blues, blues, blues, said Sue from <b>Surf City Bait & Tackle</b>. Blues were banked from the surf, “(and) larger ones are coming in,” she said. Mullet was most popular bait for them, but a few anglers used bunker. The mullet were chunked and fished on mullet rigs. Kingfish sometimes reappeared in the surf, after becoming scarcer. Throwback striped bass and keepers were landed at Barnegat Inlet. Lots of short stripers swam the bay. Weakfish held along the bridge. Blowfish schooled the bay. The shop’s surf striper tournament is under way until December 2. Entry is $10, and all proceeds are awarded for the entrants with the top three fish. Fifty percent will be awarded for first, and 30 for second, and 20 for third. The Long Beach Island Surf Fishing Classic will launch Saturday, also running to December 2. The shop will hold a free barbecue December 2 to thank customers for the season. Keep up with the news in <a href="http://www.surfcitybaitandtackle.com/" target="_blank">Surf City Bait & Tackle’s fishing reports</a> on the shop’s Web site. Or keep in touch on <a href=" http://www.facebook.com/pages/Surf-City-Bait-and-Tackle/207533229268619
" target="_blank">Surf City Bait & Tackle’s Facebook page</a>.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

The bay held porgies, kingfish and blowfish, said Scott from <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>. He was busy packing clams today, because anglers were buying them for bait for the fish. Spots scurried the bay, and anglers caught them to keep in cages and livewells for striped bass bait. One angler fishing for spots at the end of Radio Road banked three out-of-season, 18-inch summer flounder, letting them go. More and more talk was heard about striper catches. Small stripers 18 to 24 inches were commonly beaned from the bay. One boater played throwback stripers and blues to 4 pounds at the mouth of Mullica River between Oyster Bed Point and Goose Cove Point. Keeper stripers 32 inches were heard about that were boated from the ocean on occasion. A surf angler at Surf City watched a boater nail a very large striper while snagging bunker for bait. Chris from the shop landed a striper off the Coast Guard Station at night. Nothing was heard about weakfish in two weeks. Many customers were interested in fishing the ocean for sea bass and blackfish when seas settled. They should catch. Blackfish began to be snatched from along the banks of the bay and creeks. A couple of customers kept returning for green crabs for bait for them. White perch pushed farther up Mullica River, toward tributaries like Nacote Creek and up Bass River. Fresh, shucked clams, bloodworms and green crabs are stocked. Eels began to be carried for the season for striper fishing. Minnows will be on hand straight through winter.

<b>Absecon</b>

Lots of small fish, including weakfish, kingfish and large spots, schooled the bay, inlets and surf, said Curt from <b>Absecon Bay Sportsman Center</b>. If boaters fished the bay, anchoring and chumming for fish like that was the best bet for catching. But sizeable weakfish remained in the bay. Anglers had to look for them, but drifting the channels with live peanut bunker or small spots definitely hooked the weaks. Gulps were the next best bait. A few striped bass, not many, came from the bay. Night was the time to target them, but maybe early mornings would produce. Live bait was the way, and anglers had to know the places or sloughs to find them. But one kid was fishing a back creek with Tsunami paddle tails, clocking a couple of keeper stripers. Blackfish were around at places like bridges. Fishing jetties for blackfish was popular. In brackish waters, white perch fishing wasn’t so great. “Lackluster,” Curt, a perch angler, said. Perch were in transition, feeling weather becoming cooler, he figured. One day perch would appear in 2-foot depths, and another in 13. But no big numbers gathered. He had a spot where perch could be nabbed on the bay. But trips couldn’t keep returning. If a trip returned, the fish stopped biting, seemed to know an angler was there. But if the place was left alone a time, the fish were hooked. Customers still crabbed. They caught, Curt guessed. One crabber nailed a ton of the blueclaws, including large. He had crab pots in the bay, and two of the pots per person are allowed by law. Live spots, peanut bunker and mullet are stocked. Green crabs are on hand, and no shedder crabs are in. The shop carries one of the largest supplies of bait.

<b>Brigantine</b>

The surf churned out “the same summer fish,” said Capt. Andy from <b>Riptide Bait & Tackle</b>. Kingfish, blues and spots were beached. Andy kept banking big spots 7 to 9 inches. No striped bass were weighed in, and none was entered yet in the Riptide Striper Derby. But a few stripers began to be around. One angler, Linda Davoli, plugged two from the surf. Boaters caught stripers at night at the Brigantine Bridge. Riptide’s annual Striped Bass Derby is under way, awarding cash prizes for the biggest stripers beached from Brigantine’s surf, until December 23. Weekly and monthly prizes are also awarded, and entry is only $20. What’s more, with a Brigantine beach buggy permit, entry allows anglers to drive the entire Brigantine beach, unlike the permit alone.

<b>Atlantic City</b>

At Absecon Inlet anglers fishing on foot toggled in kingfish, lots of spots, occasional weakfish, lots of blowfish, plenty of blackfish and straggler striped bass, said Noel from <b>One Stop Bait & Tackle</b>. The stripers, small, were hooked at night or in early mornings. The migration of big ones was yet to begin, and water temps “weren’t right,” Noel said. Plenty of blues held in the bay. Tons of bait schooled, including mullet, bunker, spearing and herring. Lots of fish were around. “If you don’t do it now,” Noel said, “you’re never going to do it.” One Stop opened a second store at Gardner’s Basin at 800 North New Hampshire Avenue. The original, remaining open, is at 416 Atlantic Avenue.

<b>Ocean City</b>

Small blues 2 or 3 pounds ran the surf and back bay, said Bill from <b>Fin-Atics</b>. More weakfish and speckled sea trout than before showed up at inlets and the bay. Blackfish, though one was the bag limit, were common at jetties. Striped bass, none big, mostly throwbacks, were landed at night at jetties and, under lights, at bridges. Sea bass hugged wrecks and reefs in the ocean. Offshore boaters ran north for tuna, like to Carteret and Toms canyons. Catches of yellowfin tuna, sizeable, 80 or 90 pounds, were heard about, from both at night on the chunk and during day on the troll. Nothing was heard about longfin tuna or bigeye tuna.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Inlets harbored abundant blues to 5 pounds, said Mike from <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. Mullet hooked them, and tons of spots crammed the surf and back bay, mostly caught on Fishbites. Weakfish and striped bass were reeled in at night under bridge lights. A few boaters motored for sea bass on the ocean during the weekend, scoring okay. They clubbed sea bass, ling and a cod here and there, nobody Mohawking catches. Quite a few false albacore were trolled maybe 5 to 10 miles from shore. Little was heard about tuna or billfish from offshore. Crabbing was good.

Fishing with fly rods, Nick Culio and son bailed blues, amberjacks, sea bass and even a blue runner aboard the ocean Wednesday evening, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b>, affiliated with <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. Yes, even the sea bass were fly-rodded, and none of the fish was big, but action was fast and furious. Croakers and small weakfish schooled the ocean. A few weakfish hung along bridges. Striped bass could be socked in the back bay, and high tides in evenings will be ideal for the fishing next week. In offshore waters, yellowfin tuna were boated at night at a couple of different places. White marlin were still around. Joe will run annual traveling charters to Montauk, New York, once again this weekend, fishing the migration of stripers, blues and false albacore. He began this year’s trips to the legendary port last weekend, plastering many false albacore, some striped bass to 19 pounds and a few blues, covered in the last report. The Montauk trips will sail the next two or three weekends. Then Joe will concentrate on the migration of big stripers and large blues from Sea Isle on the ocean through November or longer. Reserve dates now. Book dates for annual weekend trips to Florida in winter. The trips can fish for a large variety of catches including redfish, speckled sea trout and tarpon in the back country to king mackerel, blackfin tuna and sailfish out front. See info about Montauk and Florida on Jersey Cape’s <a href="http://www.captainjoehughes.com/page4.html" target="_blank">Traveling Fisherman Charters</a> Web page. Keep up with Joe’s fishing on <a href="http://captainjoehughes.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s blog</a>.

<b>Cape May</b>

A few keeper sea bass, not a lot, bit on the party boat <b>Porgy IV</b>, Capt. Paul said. Anglers seemed to catch dinner at least, working through throwbacks for keepers. Lots of action, but no limits, on the inshore grounds fished. Wednesday’s trip served up a good catch. Some anglers might’ve bucketed 12 or 14 keepers. But not every day was that good. Porgies were probably around. Small porgies were sometimes hooked on the boat, and only one keeper porgy came in. Seemed keeper porgies were probably around at other spots. If anglers want a chance at dinner and action, the boat is fishing for sea bass through October 14. The season for them will close the next day, reopening November 1 through December 31. After October 14, if striped bass are around, trips could go after them. But Paul will play by ear what to fish for next. The Porgy IV is fishing for sea bass 8 a.m. daily.

Mullet migrated, and blues 4 to 5 pounds jumped on them at the inlets and 1 to 2 pounds in the surf, said Nick from <b>Hands Too Bait & Tackle</b>. A few striped bass were dragged from the surf, including a 29-incher and a 32-incher today. Small kingfish were flung in from the surf. Sometimes a few small croakers were mixed in. More croakers gathered at the Concrete Ship and at the Higbee’s Beach jetty. Blackfishing was very good at the surf jetties. Redfish to 25 inches, the southern species, grabbed bait in the surf at times. They usually inhaled cut bait close to shore. In the back bay stripers were smacked, and good fishing for weakfish was whacked along the Intracoastal Waterway. Anglers Sabiki-jigged spots, peanut bunker and mullet on trips then livelined them to catch the weaks. But the weaks also engulfed cut clams. Weakfish roamed Delaware Bay. For offshore boaters, tuna fishing was slow locally, and white marlin fishing dropped off. But wahoos were beaten closer to shore. Green crabs should be stocked in the next day or so. Fresh clams and fresh mullet are on hand.

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