<b>Perth Amboy</b>

A few striped bass were socked from Raritan Bay during the weekend, and bluefish dominated the waters, Capt. Frank from the <b>Vitamin Sea</b> wrote in an e-mail. If anglers like bluefish, now is the time to fish for them. They’re big, mean tackle busters, putting up a great fight, he said. Fluke fishing was tried aboard the ocean Saturday, and action was good, but most of the fish were throwbacks that were hooked. About 1 in 10 was a keeper. Telephone if interested in fluke or sea bass charters. Open-boat trips also sail, and call to climb aboard. The Vitamin Sea also fishes from Staten Island. “Get your dose of Vitamin Sea!” 

<b>Keyport</b>

A trip 5 to 9 p.m. Friday bagged bluefish and one fluke on the back of Raritan Bay with <b>Papa’s Angels Charters</b>, Capt. Joe said. The anglers, Michael DiMaggio with friends Rudeak, Ahmar and Leo, fished with bunker. A trip Saturday, starting in the morning, pasted nine keeper fluke to 5 pounds and lots of throwbacks on the back of the bay, with Jeff Chriswell, wife Lynn, daughter Molly, and Abe. They bucktailed the fish, and on Sunday on the back of the bay, one keeper fluke, lots and lots of throwbacks and a 12-pound blue were landed. Fluke rigs were fished, and the blue also grabbed one of the rigs. That was with Vinny and Lisa Papa, daughter Stephanie, Chris, Amanda and Frank. Open-boat trips are available when no charter is booked 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 to 9 p.m. Wednesday through next Monday. Telephone to jump aboard.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

Striped bass fishing was tough the past few days, Capt. Ron from the party boat <b>Fishermen</b> wrote in a report on the vessel’s Web site. A few were cracked aboard each trip, but the fishing wasn’t good. Still, trips will hang in there with striper angling, and Ron hopes the change of wind direction to west will get the fishing going soon. Several people said the ocean was 51 degrees or cold on Sunday. So livelining bunker for stripers was no good there. But fishing chunks of bunker also dropped off in the bay for stripers. The Fishermen is sailing for striped bass 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily, 6:30 to 11:30 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 3:30 to 9:30 p.m. Sundays.

For anglers on the party boat <b>Atlantic Star</b>, fluke fishing was slow on both of Friday’s trips, Capt. Tom said. But catches improved a bit on Saturday morning’s trip. On Saturday afternoon’s trip, fluking became slow again, turning up not many keepers and some shorts. On Sunday morning’s trip, the fishing wasn’t as good as on Saturday morning’s, but some anglers bagged three keepers, and some one, and others none. The fishing was similar on Sunday afternoon’s trip, with only a few anglers, apparently because weather forecasts kept more anglers from showing up. Fluke fishing was off to a slow start on this morning’s trip, Tom said in a phone call at 9:30 aboard, when he gave this report. Rains fell, and just a few anglers joined the trip, picking shorts and a couple of keepers. All trips fished the bay, so they were protected from weather, or weather wasn’t a concern. Fluke on trips were hooked on spearing provided aboard, and also on Gulps and killies anglers brought. Whether any of the bait caught better than another was difficult to say, because maybe the angler made a difference. Maybe those who brought killies and Gulps concentrated more, for example. But if anglers want to fish killies or Gulps, Tom suggests buying them at a tackle shop on the way to a trip. The tackle shop at the marina is closed. Killies are reportedly scarce at some stores, so allow time to stop at several. The Atlantic Star is fishing for fluke 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 6 p.m. daily.

<b>Highlands</b>

Angling for striped bass was up and down in past days, said Capt. Derek from <b>Fisher Price Charters</b>. Trips fished down the ocean beach two or three days with him, picking some bass, but the fishing was hit or miss, and the ocean during the weekend was very cold, from 57 degrees all the way down to 48. South winds that cool the ocean weren’t helping the waters warm. Trips with Derek also picked stripers on Raritan Bay, according to conditions. When tides and other conditions were right, the fishing was good, and otherwise was okay. Some boaters would run into a blitz of stripers for 40 minutes lately, and that’s all that was needed to make the trip. Trips ran into lots of bluefish with Fisher Price. Charters are fishing, and open-boat trips are running when possible. No open trips are available in the next days, but anglers can telephone Derek to be kept informed about future open trips.

<b>Neptune</b>

If strong southerly winds would stop blowing, fishing would be much better, Capt. Ralph from <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b> wrote in an e-mail. The ocean was rough on a trip Friday night, and no striped bass, only bluefish, bit. On Saturday, Jack Sigmund’s charter scored good bottom-fishing for sea bass and ling on the ocean, before winds increased at 11 a.m. On that afternoon, the ocean became too rough on another trip for stripers. The trip returned early, and fishing was a bust. Two trips slated for Sunday were cancelled because of strong southerly winds. Catches will pick up as soon as weather becomes good for fishing the ocean, Ralph said. Charters are available for cod, mako sharks, wreck-fishing, fluke, stripers, and bluefish both daytime and nighttime. Fireworks cruises are also available for summertime. Space is available for an individual-reservation trip for cod, pollock and hake June 19. Room is available for one of the trips that will sail for stripers or wreck-fishing, whichever is best, and Ralph included no date, apparently by mistake, but if he gives a date, it’ll be posted here as an update. Or contact him for the date. Book now to ensure a spot for individual-reservation trips for fluke and sea bass that will sail every Tuesday starting June 25. Kids 12 and under will sail free on the fluke and sea bass trips, limited to two per adult host.  <b>***Update, Monday, 6/3:***</b> The individual-reservation striper- or wreck-fishing trip will sail June 11.

<b>Belmar</b>

Part of the following report was posted as an update this weekend and is being reposted in case anyone missed it: Stripers “hit the beach” at Deal Friday evening, Bob from <b>Fishermen’s Den</b> wrote in an e-mail. “Usual mob scene,” he said, and Rick Bell from Pennsylvania checked in a 32-pounder from the fishing. Bob went to fish the jetties “in (northern) Monmouth County” on Saturday evening, “(and) was a little too late,” he wrote in another e-mail. He saw many 30-pound stripers that had been caught. “Many anglers were in flip flops or sneakers,” he said. Both experienced and inexperienced anglers caught. “Bunkers do funny things to these fish,” he said. <b>***Update, Wednesday, 6/5:***</b> South winds took a toll, cooling waters, and fluke fishing was tough, Bob wrote in an e-mail. The fish weren’t aggressive, because of water temperature, and anglers with patience could catch them. Small blues, and kingfish, swam rivers in good numbers, and bit, despite the cold. John Stacy, Philadelphia, weighed in a 46-pound 8-ounce striped bass boated on the ocean off Long Branch. “Strange year, so far,” Bob said.

About three bluefish and a couple of sea bass were decked from the ocean on two trips Saturday and Sunday aboard, and fishing was terrible, for some reason, Capt. Jared from <b>Fin-Ominal Sportfishing</b> said. Seas were sometimes rough in strong southerly winds, and Sunday’s trip was returned early, because passengers became seasick in 6- to 8-foot seas. Striped bass were seen along the surface on one of the trips, but wouldn’t bite. The 50-foot boat can host small to large groups, up to 23 passengers on cruises and 12 or 13 anglers on fishing trips, for comfort. Pleasure cruises also sail, and can include trips along Shark and Manasquan rivers, the ocean coast, the Manhattan skyline or whatever customers can imagine. In summer, cruises can enjoy weekly fireworks from the ocean.

<b>Parker Pete’s Fishing Charters</b> mostly bottom-fished for sea bass and ling on the ocean, Capt. Pete said. Catches were better on some days than others, but were good, for the most part. Fluke fishing was tried a little on the ocean on a trip, but the angling was no good, because water temperatures kept fluctuating lately. Fifty feet was the deepest fished. Then the trip moved shallower, fishing in around 30 feet. Winds were blowing pretty strongly, not the best conditions. Striped bass fishing on the ocean was “very finicky,” Pete said. Bluefish were around in the ocean. One of the crew shark fished from Cape May during the weekend, tackling a 200-pound mako. A shark tournament was taking place from the port, and entrants reportedly hooked lots of blue sharks and a few makos. Charters are fishing, and <a href=" http://www.parkerpetefishing.com/fishing-reports" target="_blank">subscribe to Parker Pete’s e-mailed newsletter</a> to be kept informed about individual-spaces available on charters and for the latest fishing reports. Click on that link to Parker Pete’s fishing reports online, and newsletter sign up can be found on the right side of the page. Or go to the site’s Contact page, and e-mail, asking to subscribe.

Though fishing began slowly, picking away at blues, Saturday on the party boat <b>Miss Belmar Princess</b>, catches picked up, an e-mail from the boat said. Blues 2 to 3 pounds, and a few 8- to 10-pounders, were jigged, and the day ended up great for angling. Ava 27 and 47 jigs and Krocodile spoons caught best, and Alan Gyuriczaf, Washington, N.J., won the pool with a 10-pound blue. A great catch of blues, including several limits, was also jigged on Sunday’s trip. The Miss Belmar Princess is sailing for striped bass 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 .m. daily and for blues 7:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. daily. The <b>Royal Miss Belmar</b> is fishing for fluke and sea bass 7:30 a.m. to 12 noon and 1:30 to 6 p.m. daily.

Bluefish 2 to 5 pounds, and a few 8- to 9-pounders, were tied into Sunday on the party boat <b>Golden Eagle</b>, a report on the vessel’s Web site said. Several customers limited out, and the trip’s catch was decent, after good fishing for blues Saturday, and very good fishing for them Friday, aboard. Strong south winds that cooled waters 6 degrees by Sunday seemed a reason the angling backed off a little. But north and northwest winds forecast after today’s weather front should help with that. On a night trip Saturday, bluefishing was tough, like for all the fleet, and the boat had to be anchored, because of winds, but drifting is usually better this time of year. On anchor in early June, once chumming begins on anchor, dog sharks usually become a real nuisance. Blues were picked aboard at night the previous weekend. The Golden Eagle is sailing for striped bass and bluefish 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily. Starting Wednesday, trips will also fish for blues 7:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. daily. The night trips were slated for Fridays and Saturdays previously. 

<b>Brielle</b>

Fishing was tough this past week, mostly because of strong south winds, Capt. Ryan from the party boat <b>Jamaica II</b> wrote in an e-mail. When conditions were right to drift the boat well, “some nice fluke” were reeled in, he said. The boat had to be anchored on days with rougher seas, but then large sea bass and ling were pumped in. On one of the days with calm winds, Ed Bennett, Bordentown, bagged three fluke to 4 pounds. On one of the windy days, Chris Molinari, Englewood, North Haledon, bagged eight sea bass, four ling and a 3-pound fluke. Ralph Molinari, Englewood, came up with a 28-pound striper while fishing for fluke with a ½-ounce bucktail. The Jamaica II is fishing for fluke and sea bass on two half-day trips at 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. every Tuesday through Sunday and on an all-day trip at 7:30 a.m. every Monday. 

For boaters on the ocean, striped bass fishing was on an off, producing catches one day, and none on another, said Dave from <b>The Reel Seat</b>.  But surf casters banked stripers, and north of Asbury Park seemed best, in afternoons on pencil poppers. Surf anglers landed blues lots more consistently than before. Blues were also boated on the ocean, including on party boats “along the beach,” Dave said. Fluke fishing for ocean boaters seemed best to the north, and shallow waters, like out to 30 feet, produced best, apparently because waters were warmer. Fluking was pretty good on Manasquan and Shark rivers. Manasquan River gave up stripers, and no weakfish were heard about from the river in a week or so, though fishing for them was good previously. Nothing was heard about blues from the Manasquan. Nobody reported fishing for sharks or tuna offshore, but plenty of tilefish were cranked from offshore. Dave caught tiles to 32 pounds on an overnight trip Monday to Tuesday on a party boat. A 51-1/2-pounder was the trip’s biggest, and no space remains for a tile trip for beginners Dave chartered on a party boat this week. The trip had been open to anglers, and included a seminar on the fishing at the store.  Dave is an avid tilefisher, and introduced probably the first-ever off-the-rack tilefish rod this past year. Anglers can stop at the store until Thursday to sign up for the Garden State Surf Classic tournament from Friday to Sunday, and 50 anglers already signed up. Prizes for the largest stripers will be a Van Staal reel for first place, a Century Sling Shot rod for second and a Reel Seat gift certificate and a subscription to On the Water magazine for third. For the largest bluefish, a Reel Seat Gift Certificate and an On the Water subscription will be awarded. Entry is $10 and includes a T-shirt and refreshments outside the store the final day, when prizes will be awarded.

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

A charter sailed for sea bass Saturday on the ocean with <b>Mushin Sportfishing</b>, Alan, the boat’s owner, wrote in an e-mail. The anglers, Kyle B.’s charter, were treated to veteran bottom-fishing Capt. Jay Andrews at the helm, Alan said. The captain ran the trip to his “special” spot farther from shore, bypassing inshore pieces that are usually fished. The anglers caught “some quality sea bass,” Alan said, all day, until quitting time. They were treated to bags of tasty fillets, and sea bass fishing is very strong, he said. Mushin means a relaxed state of readiness. The crew pride themselves on sharing the concept on outdoor adventures.

With <b>Andrea’s Toy Charters</b>, bunker were caught for bait at first on a charter on the ocean, a report on Andrea’s Toy’s Web site said Saturday.  Then the trip steamed north, and good marks were read, but no stripers bit the livelined baitfish. So the boat was set up to fish chunks of the bunker, and bluefish to 12 pounds were wrestled on the menhaden. Next the trip bottom-fished, and one sea bass and some ling were managed. The trip tried fishing for stripers again, “but no love,” the report said. “Tough day with some good guys.” Andrea’s Toy is fishing for a mixed bag of stripers, blues and bottom fish on charters, all in one outing. The crew specializes in mixed-bag fishing for greater fun, better chances of hooking up, and more variety for dinner. Soon, trips, both charters and open-boat, will push farther from the coast, to the mid-shore ocean, for a mixed bag that can include tuna, sharks, cod, pollock and more. Later, the trips will sail all the way offshore for a mix that can include tuna, sharks, swordfish, mahi mahi, tilefish and more. Telephone if interested in finding out about the trips.

On the party boat <b>Norma-K III</b>, fluke fishing was decent on Thursday morning’s trip, picking away at a few keepers and some throwbacks on every drift, Capt. Matt wrote in a report on the vessel’s Web site. A 4-pounder was the pool-winner, and bucktails with Gulps seemed to catch best. Fluking became much slower on the afternoon’s trip, and waters seemed to chill somewhat, turning off the bite. “It was a little slow side,” Matt said, on both of Friday’s fluke trips. Once winds come around to north today or Tuesday, fluke fishing should improve, he said. Bluefishing was a little better on Thursday night’s trip than on Wednesday night’s, when bluefishing was very slow. News only through Friday was posted on the boat’s site at press time. 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 bluefish 7:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. daily.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

Fishing for summer flounder went well around Great Bay, Chris from <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b> wrote in a report on the shop’s Web site. The fish were boated at usual places like at the clam stakes and along the Intracoastal Waterway. One customer stopped back by noontime Friday with ten of the fluke to 5 pounds in the cooler. Lots of blues schooled the bay, and blowfish remained in the bay, but the population was dropping off. Sea bass fishing was good on the ocean.

<b>Brigantine</b>

Winds howled, so no striped bass were weighed in from the surf, but the fish were still around, a report on <b>Riptide Bait & Tackle</b>’s Web site said. Kingfish and spots showed up in the surf, hitting well on bits of bloodworms or tiny pieces of clams. Fishbites artificial bloodworms were yet to work on them this season, and begin to catch when waters warm.  The shop’s summer fishing tournament was launched, and will last until September 27. The contest’s first fish, a 15.8-ounce kingfish, was already checked in. Entry is $5 per species, and the angler with the largest fish in the species will win all the money in the category. Brigantine’s north end beach was reopened Friday, after being closed for sand replenishment a moment.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Summer flounder kept biting in the back bay, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. A good number of bluefish roamed the bay, and weakfish swam the waters, though no weaks were hooked aboard the past couple of days, because trips didn’t really target them. The bay was 70 degrees on Sunday, and striped bass are smacking popper plugs and flies on the bay on high tides. The fishing is a specialty for Joe, and high tides will coincide with dusk, ideal conditions for the fishing, in the next week or two. Winds in past days churned the bay’s shallow flats, where the bass are poppered. The fishing’s never been good for Joe when that happens. But that can change in a day, when winds calm. The popper trips throw Rapala Skitter Pop lures and crease flies that Joe ties with a larger cup than usual to throw more water. Inshore shark trips should begin later this month on the ocean. The angling is a chance to fight big fish, as large as 100 pounds or more, without the long trek offshore.  Joe’s new boat that he’s adding to his fleet, a 24-foot custom center console that Eastern Boat Works is building, should arrive this weekend.  The vessel will feature everything he wants for his fishing, and nothing he doesn’t, and will be used on the ocean. He also runs a flats boat on the bay and two larger boats for fishing the ocean farther offshore for big game.  Keep up with Joe’s fishing on <a href="http://captainjoehughes.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s blog</a>.

<b>Cape May</b>

Drum fishing was pretty good on Delaware Bay, Capt. George from the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> said. Eleven drum, including some big, to 75 or 80 pounds, were boated Saturday on Jay Allen from the pipe insulator’s union’s charter. The rest of the drum weighed 30 to 50 pounds. On a trip Sunday, the fishing was a little slow, but four drum were iced, and all were large, about 70 pounds apiece. Austin, Shane, Candy, Debra and Danny were on the trip. Both trips fished the New Jersey side of the bay, and George heard nothing about sea bass and summer flounder. But his most recent trip for sea bass, covered in a previous report, limited out on the ocean. A friend competed in the weekend’s shark tournament at Jim’s Bait & Tackle in Cape May, landing a blue shark. About five makos were entered, and a 260-pounder won, the friend said. Telephone if interested in sailing for any of these fish. 

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