<b>Keyport</b>

A trip tugged in five keeper fluke to 20 inches, releasing lots of throwbacks, Saturday with <b>Papa’s Angels Charters</b>, Capt. Joe said. The anglers, Gary and Morgan Heimberg and Jeff Chriswell, fished from the ocean off Sandy Hook to farther out, dunking squid, killies, spearing and live peanut bunker for bait. Open-boat trips for fluke are available 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 8 p.m. daily when no charter is booked and enough anglers want to go. Call to reserve.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

Fluke fishing was inconsistent aboard, mostly because of conditions, said Capt. Tom from the party boat <b>Atlantic Star</b>. Trips fished either Flynn’s Knoll or the channels, working around conditions like a fast drift preventing holding bottom or winds preventing holding at the channels, or winds against tide that hampered the boat’s drift. Saturday morning’s trip was probably one of the better ones, serving up decent angling. The past couple of afternoons were difficult, with south winds and outgoing tides creating either drifts that were too fast or rolling seas. Maybe currents will ease up as the moon wanes. Mostly throwbacks bit on trips, and sometimes keepers were bagged. The Atlantic Star is fishing for fluke twice daily 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 6 p.m.

A couple of limits of fluke were cracked, and a 7-1/2-pounder was the pool-winner, on today’s trip for the fish on the party boat <b>Fishermen</b>, Capt. Ron said in a report on the vessel’s Web site. “Nice, all-day catching,” he said. No report was posted for Sunday, and on Saturday’s trip, smaller fluke turned out more action than previously, and two anglers with three keepers apiece were high hooks. “Most still went home with dinner,” Ron said. Some good-sized keepers were hung, including the 6-1/2-pound pool-winner and a 5-1/2-pounder. After the tide changed, strong winds from the south forced the trip to leave the deep. Plenty of action with shorts and “some quality keepers,” Ron said, were angled on Friday’s trip “once again,” he said. The Fisherman is sailing for fluke 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily and 3:30 to 9 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

<b>Highlands</b>

With <b>Raritan Bay Charters</b> a trip Sunday fluked along the channels, barreling up 10 keepers to 6 ½ pounds, Capt. Dave said. Aboard last week a trip waxed 12 keeper fluke to 8 ½ pounds along the rough bottom. The trips fished with a variety of bait including killies, spearing, strip baits and, when available, livelined peanut bunker. Trips hadn’t fished much lately with livelined snapper blues, but sometimes that’s an option. When anglers were up for bucktailing, they bucktailed for the flatfish aboard. A charter Tuesday will probably also fluke, and bottom-fishing is also available for sea bass and whatever bites. Open-boat trips are available daily when no charter is booked.

<b>Neptune</b>

<b>***Update, Tuesday, 8/7:***</b> Big bluefish were chummed, large sea bass were yanked from the wrecks,  fluke action was good, and tuna fishing was finally great at the canyons and inshore, said Capt. Ralph from <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b> in an e-mail. Fishing was very good. Individual-reservation trips for fluke and sea bass are sailing 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Sunday and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Tuesday, and kids under 12 sail free, limited to two per adult, on the Last Lady II. On the Last Lady, individual-rez trips are fishing the inshore wrecks 6 a.m. every Sunday for sea bass, ling, blackfish and cod. An individual-reservation trip for cod offshore was just added for 2 a.m. Monday, August 27, after another booked up next week. Charters are available for all this fishing, including canyon and inshore tuna.

<b>Belmar</b>

An overnight trip steamed for tuna to Hudson Canyon from Friday to Saturday on the <b>Katie H</b>, Capt. Mike said. Trolling during daytime was slow, but the trip went 5 for 7 on yellowfin tuna at night. The fish, “a good 50 pounds (apiece),” Mike said, were picked steadily, until a big shark showed up in the chunking slick. That seemed to make the tuna depart. The fishing was a good time, Mike said, and waters were clean, 79 degrees and held lots of life, including whales and porpoises. Not many boats, only a few, were seen fishing offshore. Closer to shore, bluefin tuna fishing seemed to slow down compared with previously, though waters looked good. Anglers on a boat from the docks caught some, but the bluefins seemed scattered compared with before. An inshore trip is slated for Friday. Inshore fishing for fluke, sea bass, blues and whatever’s available is sailing on the vessel. A one-day trolling trip is set to fish for tuna offshore at the canyons Saturday. If canyon trolling still sounds slow, the trip will probably fish for bluefins closer to the coast instead.   

<b>Parker Pete’s Fishing Charters</b> crushed fluke, phenomenal catches, on the ocean on the last few trips, Capt. Pete said. The fish were aggressive, and one of the trips competed in the Jersey Coast Shark Anglers’ fluke tournament. The six anglers limited out and threw back additional keepers, awesome fluking. Only four of the fluke kept were smaller than 20 inches, and none of the fish, 3- to 6-pounders, was big enough to win. But the trip was one of the best this year for the quality or size of the fluke. Fluke trips will continue, and sea bass can be socked, if anglers want them. Bluefin tuna are biting, and Parker Pete’s sails for any species available. 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. Cruises are available to watch fireworks on the ocean off Asbury Park every Wednesday, and see the boat’s Web site for times.

Lots of trips broke the inlet with <b>Fin-Ominal Sportfishing</b>, on every day but Tuesday in the past week, sometimes twice a day, like trips during daytime and nighttime on both Friday and Saturday, Capt. Jared said. The trips bottom fished, bluefished, tuna fished and sharked. The bottom fishing rustled up fair numbers of keeper fluke, letting go four times as many throwbacks. Sea bass were also swung in on the bottom trips, charters that fish for both at the same time. Bluefish trips limited out almost every time. Blues 1 pound were beaten in certain areas, and blues 8 pounds were subdued in others. One trip tried for bluefin tuna on the mid-shore ocean, but nothing was doing with the tuna, though bonito, false albacore, skipjacks and a bluefish were trolled. So the trip began shark fishing, and a great hammerhead, Jared believed, was landed. He’s caught plenty of hammerheads but never a great hammerhead before. The fish was 6 feet, not huge, and blue sharks and a small mako were also pumped in and released. Waters were very clear during the tuna and shark fishing. The next tuna trip slated to fish all the way offshore at the canyons is on the books for two weeks from now. In other news, someone from Belmar docked a cobia, an usual catch for the port.  Fin-Ominal’s 50-foot boat accommodates large to small groups, up to 23 passengers on cruises, up to 15 on fishing trips. Cruises available include trips to watch fireworks on the ocean off Asbury Park every Wednesday and Point Pleasant Beach every Thursday through August. Cruises can also include cocktail trips or any trips imaginable, from the rivers and ocean to the Manhattan skyline. 

Fluke fishing was good, though throwbacks had to be waded through, said Bob from <b>Fisherman’s Den</b> in an e-mail. For Shark River’s fluke, 6-inch Gulps or livelined snapper blues worked well to catch larger ones. Bluefishing was good on the party boats on the ocean, and lots of kingfish swam the surf. Fishing was about the same as before and was good. But think fall! Bob said.

<b>Brielle</b>

Considering conditions, Capt. Ryan from the party boat <b>Jamaica II</b> said in an e-mail, fishing wasn’t so bad aboard Sunday. “Needed a little weight, and did a little rockin’, but some still caught,” he wrote. The fishing picked away at fluke and sea bass all day. On the afternoon trip, Pete Talevi limited out on fluke to 5 pounds. Another angler won the pool with a 5-pounder. So far, during these first days of August, a fluke under 6 pounds led the monthly pool. The all-day trip for fluke today was expected to head out, “rain, shine or wind,” Ryan said. The Jamaica II is fluke fishing on two half-day trips 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays and on a full-day trip 8 a.m. Mondays. <b>***Update, Tuesday, 8/7:***</b> Fluke fishing was excellent, some of the best of the season, Monday on the boat, Ryan said in an e-mail. Good action, and sizeable fluke, were found in five different areas. “<i>This</i> appears to be the fishing we have been waiting for,” he said. Lots of fluke bit, and many were throwbacks, but many were 3- to 6-pounders. Anglers who limited out were too numerous to list, but these were some: Ray Bryant, South Orange, limit to 7 pounds 8 ounces; William Coran, Bordentown, limit to 7 pounds 3 ounces; and Pete Talevi, Trenton, limit to 6 pounds. These anglers each limited out on fluke to 5 pounds: Dave Nelson, Piscataway; E. “Smitty” Smith, Manchester; Frank Pogue; and Cotter Maxim, Philadelphia. Ritchie, Ritchie Jr. and “Grampa George” each limited out, and combined for 12 sea bass.

Fluke, good catches, were boated Saturday at Sea Girt Reef, said Dave from <b>The Reel Seat</b>. On Manasquan River fluke could be picked, and many of the fish were small, as usual. Shark River gave up better numbers of keepers. Hickory shad ran the Manasquan. For bottom fishers on the ocean, sea bass could be slugged if a spot was fished that wasn’t already worked over, and ling fishing held up, though ling were fished for all year. Nothing was heard about porgies or blackfish on bottom trips. Nothing was really heard about cod from the outings. Big, out-of-season winter flounder bit and were released on bottom-fishing trips. A bunch of small bluefish and some bonito, Spanish mackerel and frigate mackerel were  trolled a mile or two from shore. Bigger blues probably swam the Mudhole. Bluefin tuna fishing was kind of hit or miss. Some anglers scored well 50 miles from shore, not telling where, but there was a location that wasn’t the usual, most popular one. Some other areas didn’t turn up such good bluefinning. Yellowfin tuna sometimes pushed inshore to the bluefin grounds. Dave heard from two trips that each trolled no bluefins when trying for them but caught decent-sized yellowfins. Farther from shore, some trips nailed very good catches of yellowfins at Hudson Canyon on the troll. Many customers dragged The Reel Seat’s green machine spreader bars to connect. Some caught at night on the chunk at the Hudson, and others did not. A few swordfish were landed there at night. A fair number of bigeye tuna were caught, and a few shots at blue marlin were had, at the canyon.  Catch the shop’s pre-season sale on surf-fishing plugs.  Wahoo Baitfish Bucktails and Stingo jigs are on sale at 30 percent off to celebrate the store’s 30 years in business. The shop’s fluke tournament for Manasquan and Shark rivers is running to Labor Day. Entry is $10, and half the money is donated to Save the Summer Flounder Fishery Fund, and the other half to Shark River Surf Anglers Kids Trout Tournament. The store makes no money on the event, and prizes will be awarded for the first and second heaviest fluke from each river, the heaviest fluke from a lady entrant, and the heaviest from a kid age 16 or younger.

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

Despite strong winds, fluke fishing improved aboard the ocean Sunday afternoon on the party boat <b>Norma-K III</b>, after the angling was slow overall through the weekend, a report on the vessel’s Web site said. On Sunday afternoon, some anglers totaled three keepers, some grabbed one or two, and some landed no keepers. The drift was too fast to bucktail, so only bait was dragged. Gulps, squid and spearing caught well. On nighttime trips on the ocean, bluefishing was awesome through the weekend. Blues 8 to 12 pounds, lots of limits, were shellacked. “Once again, sore arms, big smiles …” the report said. The Norma-K III is fishing for fluke 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 2 to 6:30 p.m. daily and for blues 7:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. daily.

One of the open-boat, mixed-bag trips for big game pointed the bow to the offshore canyons with <b>Andrea’s Toy Charters</b>, a report on Andrea’s Toy’s Web site said Saturday. The trip arrived at the fishing grounds at night, and a coin was flipped to decide the side of the canyon to fish. The choice was good, and three sizeable yellowfin tuna to 60 pounds were chunked, and so was a nice-sized hammerhead shark “to keep us on our toes,” the report said. Up on the troll in the morning, no tuna bit in a few hours. The anglers decided to throw in the towel, and drift for tilefish. “Good call,” the report said. More than 20 tiles, both bluelines and goldens, were cranked in, including double-headers. Then the trip tried for mahi mahi at the lobster pot buoys. Mahi were seen at every buoy, but had “lockjaw,” the report said, and the trip headed back to port. “Fun day,” it said. Andrea’s Toy specializes in the unique trips this time of year.  See <a href="http://www.andreastoycharters.com" target="_blank">Andrea’s Toy’s home page</a> for a write-up about them, or call for info.

<b>Barnegat Light</b>

Big bluefish 8 to 12 pounds were plowed on daytime trips Thursday through Sunday on the ocean on the party boat <b>Miss Barnegat Light</b>, a report on the vessel’s Web site said. Large blues seemed to be “back,” the report said. On Saturday night’s trip, fishing was good for 1- to 3-pound blues that the boat had been “fishing on the last month or so,” the report said. Both daytime and nighttime trips had usually run into plenty of the small blues. Bluefishing then slowed two or three days at the beginning of last week. Then the big ones started to be clobbered Thursday. The Miss Barnegat Light is bluefishing 8 a.m. daily and 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

On the <b>Super Chic</b> fishing for bluefish pummeled a very good catch of large ones on a charter Friday on the ocean, Capt. Ted said. The 8- to 12-pounders were chummed and caught on bait 25 miles from port. A bottom-fishing charter Saturday wasn’t too bad, rounding up a few fluke and sea bass. Seas were snotty Sunday, so a trip ended up fishing Barnegat Inlet instead of the ocean, wrangling up a bunch of throwback fluke and a couple of keepers. Heads up (literally!): A charter is available to watch the Atlantic City Air Show from the ocean Friday, August 17, for up to 25 people. The year’s first overnight tuna trip is booked for Labor Day weekend, though tuna could already be caught. The 56-foot Super Chic can accommodate up to 25 passengers on inshore trips and 10 on overnight, offshore charters. The boat sleeps 10 passengers.  

<b>Barnegat</b>

<b>***Update, Wednesday, 8/8:***</b> From an edited e-mail from Capt. Dave DeGennaro from the <b>Hi Flier</b>: “All weakfish, all the time! I am taking a break from the offshore fishing this week, as the weather seems too erratic for my small craft. Besides, I did two zeros last week, one at the Monster Ledge on Friday, and a short effort at Barnegat Ridge on Saturday. No life, no birds, no readings. So we came back inside, and, in the middle of the day, with boats and jet skis running through my slick, we caught weakfish. I will be running two trips a day for weakfish and all the other species that gather in our live-grass-shrimp chum slick. That fishing has been excellent, still with 15- to 20-inch fish being the norm, and no sign of slowing down. As the tides are this week, the afternoon trips also have a chance to try for stripers and blackfish, using the same technique, (but) out on the ocean side of the inlet jetty. Availability is as follows: 5 to 10 AM and 10:30 AM to 3:30 PM Thursday; 5 to 10 AM and 10:30 AM to 3:30 PM Friday; and 11:30 AM to 4:30 PM Saturday and Sunday. The mornings are booked those two days. Maximum of four anglers. If we fish both the jetty and the bay, the trip is 6 hours instead of 5, and we use a whole second batch of live grass shrimp, (so the cost is a little more). Call, don't e-mail, if you would like a spot. Thank you.”

<b>Mystic Island</b>

Atlantic City Reef shoveled up good catches of summer flounder and sea bass, Chris from <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b> said in a report on the shop’s Web site. Little was heard about flounder caught from Little Egg Reef, because the area was “picked pretty clean,” he said in the report Friday. But on Saturday an impressive catch of flounder was checked in from Little Egg Reef from a trip that was “amazing,” the report said, and sea bass and triggerfish caught were reported from another trip there. One angler posted a report on the shop’s site that talked about 10 keeper flounder 20 to 22 inches, 30 throwbacks, a few sea bass and a triggerfish boated on a trip at one of the reefs Thursday, and 14 keeper flounder to 5 ¼ pounds, all sizeable, 50 throwbacks, a few sea bass and some blues from the same reef Saturday. The angler didn’t say the reef fished, but said four anglers sailed on each of the trips, and the 14 keepers was the season high on the boat, beating 13 decked earlier in the season. “It was definitely a good fishing day,” he said. Small bluefish swarmed Little Egg Inlet. Flounder were occasionally bagged in the back waters in deep areas, including off the Coast Guard Station, Foxboro Point and behind Holgate. A cobia was supposedly reeled in behind Holgate on a clam. Kingfish, blowfish and weakfish, good numbers of the trout, bit in the bay at the stakes. But the best weakfishing happened toward the mouth of Little Sheepshead Creek early in mornings on bloodworms. Spots, white perch and snapper blues swam the creeks.

<b>Brigantine</b>

One angler and a buddy landed 15 weakfish, keeping a limit of one apiece, releasing the rest, on the back bay on a trip, a report on <b>Riptide Bait & Tackle</b>’s Web site said. The angler said the weaks swarmed all over, and numerous anglers said weaks were “back.” Weaks were scarce in recent years. Some of the trout currently were hefty, weighing 4 to 6 pounds, reportedly. In the surf, spots crammed waters, making kingfishing difficult. The kings hardly had a chance to grab a bait before a spot did. Spots could be chunked up for bait to catch small blues in the surf. Brown sharks, required to be released, bit in the surf at dusk and night. The bigger summer flounder seemed to move to the ocean reefs and wrecks, and the last several trips that Karl Stock ran slammed 20 keepers apiece, throwing back 4- and 5-pounders, 6 to 9 miles from shore. He searched the waters two weeks, finally finding the fish. A few flounder could be bagged at Absecon Inlet. Surf casters banked their fair share of keepers.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Inshore shark fishing was back on, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. The fishing, catch and release for sharks including browns, duskies and blacktips, within 15 miles from shore, usually closer, had been somewhat slower a moment. But on Thursday morning, Bob Hall’s family aboard fought a half-dozen sharks, including two 100-pounders. In the afternoon, Darryl Cooper’s trip waffled 17 sharks to 90 pounds. On Friday, Tom Durling’s charter wrestled 13 or 14 brown sharks to 80 pounds, and on Saturday, George Hand’s family released 9 or 10 duskies. All the trips fished with mackerel fillets on spinning rods, but on two of the trips, Joe could see that the sharks could’ve been fly-rodded very well. When anglers aboard fly fish for the sharks, chum flies are cast. The shark trips are a chance to tug on big fish without the long trip offshore. On Sunday Mike Spaeder’s trip walloped 10 summer flounder, including two keepers, a weakfish and other assorted fish on the back bay. Joe’s been hearing about weakfish in the bay more than before, so plans to scope them out. High tides at night this week are ideal for striped bass fishing on the bay. High tides at dusk will be perfect next week for striper fishing with popper lures and flies on the bay. Jersey Cape scored well on the last trips for both types of fishing. Trips aboard fishing the Deep Water Reef were currently bailing a variety of flounder, sea bass, triggerfish, blues and other catches. Yellowfin tuna were caught here and there at the Hot Dog, 19-Fathom Lump and 40-Fathom Fingers on the chunk during daytime. White marlin fishing was great but far from port, about 100 miles. Jersey Cape is sailing for the tuna and marlin. Looking ahead, annual charters to Florida will fish this winter with Jersey Cape, and book now. The trips fish for a large variety of catches like redfish, speckled sea trout and tarpon in the back country to king mackerel, blackfin tuna and sailfish out front. Arrive on a Friday, spend all day Saturday and part of Sunday fishing, return that evening, and be back to work Monday morning. The trips can be a fish-filled, mini vacation. See info 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>

Fishing for summer flounder was good one day, slow another, said Capt. T.J. from <b>Legal Limit Charters</b>. Trips fished for the fluke, average-sized, at the ocean reefs “and all,” he said. Trolling for cocktail blues aboard was okay on the ocean, and Spanish mackerel were mixed in. Yellowfin tuna fishing was on and off, chunking for the fish in 30 fathoms, far to the south. Good catches were pasted a few days ago.  Charters and <a href=" http://www.legallimitcharters.com/open-boat.php" target="_blank">open-boat trips</a> are fishing.

A tuna charter was weathered out Sunday on the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> because of forecasts for winds, Capt. George said. Winds blew a steady 25 knots, and most tuna catches seemed to come from 20 to 30 fathoms. Yellowfins were chunked during daytime. Winds were forecast for today, but a charter wanted to sail for sea bass anyway, so the trip aboard was expected to run. Sea bass fishing was good. Lots of small sea bass had to be sorted through, but good catches of keepers were made. Summer flounder fishing sounded like it was picking up on the ocean at places like the Old Grounds and Cape May Reef, when conditions, or winds and currents, drifted the boat right. The fish seemed to move deeper, maybe because of warm waters. Bluefish were around that could be trolled. Inshore shark fishing, catch and release, was an option. Charters are available for all this fishing, and call if interested. 

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