<b>Keyport</b>

A trip today cleaned up on porgies, a good catch, with Gary Phillips and friends, with <b>Papa’s Angels Charters</b>, Capt. Joe said.. The anglers at first tried for striped bass, but nothing was doing. So the trip headed to the porgy grounds. The water was 62 degrees at the dock, cooler than before. Open-boat trips for porgies are available daily when no charter is booked, and telephone to jump aboard.

Striped bass started to bite livelined eels and bunker, and open-boat trips are eeling for the bass 5 to 11 p.m. every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, and charters are available for the angling, on the <b>Down Deep</b>, Capt. Mario said. But fishing was weathered out throughout the past week aboard. Special open trips will probably fish for ling at the Mudhole in the coming week. That angling wasn’t great, but ling were around, and so were porgies, triggerfish, blowfish and a million out-of-season sea bass. Book charters to fish for sea bass when sea bass season is opened starting October 18, and for blackfish starting November 16. That’s when the bag limit will be hiked to six of the tautog, from the current limit of one. Sign up for the <a href=" http://www.downdeepsportfishing.com/ddsf/76-2/" target="_blank">Short Notice List</a> on the Down Deep’s website to be kept informed about open trips.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

After miserable fishing conditions, current against wind, on Sunday’s trips, current still ran strong on this morning’s trip, but the anglers picked porgies on the party boat <b>Atlantic Star</b>, Capt. Tom said in a phone call at 9:45 a.m. aboard the outing. The current on both days was because of the full moon, and 10 ounces of weight had to be fished today. That was difficult, but all anglers at least bagged some of the fish. The fish were there, and Tom hopes the current eases for a better shot at them. On Sunday, the morning trip’s angling ended on a good note. On that afternoon’s trip, wind never diminished like forecast, and seas rocked and rolled, so the boat fished on Raritan Bay to escape the current. But the fish were smaller there. Lots of porgies bit that were too short to keep in the bay. Saturday’s trips were weathered out. Porgies on trips have been mixed sizes. A triggerfish was landed on Friday, and one small blackfish was on Sunday. A bunch of out-of-season sea bass were released on trips, and sea bass season will be opened starting October 18. The Atlantic Star is bottom-fishing for porgies and blackfish on two trips daily from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 6 p.m.

The party boat <b>Fishermen</b> will begin fishing Saturday for striped bass and blues from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily, Capt. Ron wrote in a report on the vessel’s website. The trips will look to jig the fish, but eels will also be carried aboard. The water was a little warm, but should cool in the next days. He doesn’t expect hot and heavy fishing, but will give it heck, as usual, he says. Hammered jigs, Krocodiles and Ava 47’s can all work this time of year. Trips are already eeling for stripers from 6:30 to 11:30 p.m. every Monday through Saturday with Capt. Dan. He can be telephoned for info at 908-930-2335. However, the night trips won’t fish this Friday and Saturday. 

<b>Neptune</b>

Bluefishing was the best of the year, when trips had the weather to sail, Capt. Ralph from <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b> wrote in an email. The angling chummed them east of Shark River Inlet. “All you can catch,” he said, on bait, or on jigs, if anglers preferred. Spots are available on individual-reservation trips for blues on Thursday and Sunday. Two spaces are open for an individual-reservation trip for cod next Monday. An individual-reservation blackfishing trip is available on Sunday, November 16, the day the bag limit is lifted to six of the tautog, from the current limit of one. Bait including white leggers and tackle will be provided, and more of the blackfish trips will be scheduled.

<b>Belmar</b>

Slow on the fishing front, Bob from <b>Fisherman’s Den</b> wrote in an email. Some striped bass in the surf, “but no blitz by any means,” he said. Small blues ran the surf and rivers, and blowfish hovered the rivers. A few winter flounder were heard about from the rivers. The inlets and Point Pleasant Canal gave up blackfish and sometimes small stripers. When party boats got the weather to sail, they hammered big bluefish, good catches. Fishing in general wasn’t the best, but that could change before you read this report, he said. “Keep the lines wet, and it will happen,” he said.

Monster blues were smoked the entire trip Friday “off the reef” on the party boat <b>Miss Belmar Princess</b>, an email from the vessel said. That was the most recent report at press time, and the 8- to 18-pounders were jigged the first 40 minutes. Afterward, they bit both jigs and bait, and the angling slowed at the end of the trip, but by then, the anglers had their fill. Joe “Stewy” Stewart from Pennsylvania won the pool with an 18.6-pound blue. If anglers want jumbo blues, now’s the time, the email said. The Miss Belmar Princess is fishing for striped bass and blues 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily and 7:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. every Friday and Saturday.

Fishing resumed Friday on the party boat <b>Golden Eagle</b>, after trips were docked because of weather a few days, a report on the vessel’s website said. Bluefishing was super that day, and the ocean was beautiful, almost flat calm. Blues 8 to 16 pounds attacked as fast as jigs hit the water, during the first 1 ½ hours, “and then it went to both bait and jigs,” it said. Nothing was posted about Saturday’s daytime trip, maybe because weather cancelled the angling. But fishing for big blues was good on Friday and Saturday nights’ trips, on bait. Big blues 8 to 16 pounds were also crushed on Sunday’s trip, on jigs early in the day, and on jigs and bait the rest of the trip.  An overnight tuna trip left for the canyons afterward that day aboard. The Golden Eagle 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.  See the <a href=" http://goldeneaglefishing.com/tuna-reservation.html" target="_blank">Golden Eagle’s tuna schedule</a> online.

No trips fished with <b>Parker Pete’s Fishing Charters</b>, Capt. Pete said. Weather was rough, and many trips are slated to sail for fishing that will either pick up a little later this season or will be open then. Striped bass fishing aboard will kick in before long, when the migration arrives, and certain boats currently trolled a few stripers. Sea bass trips will begin when sea bass season is opened starting October 18, and blackfish trips will start on November 16, when the bag limit is jacked up to six of the tautog, from the current limit of one. Bluefishing was currently phenomenal, and the fish were big, if anglers want them. Don’t have enough anglers for a charter? Jump on <a href=" http://www.parkerpetefishing.com/" target="_blank">Parker Pete’s website</a> to subscribe to the emailed newsletter to be kept informed about last-minute, individual spaces available to fill in charters. Look for the place to sign up on the right side of the page.

<b>Brielle</b>

<b>***Update, Tuesday, 10/7:***</b> Wind and strong current made fishing difficult during the weekend on the party boat <b>Jamaica II</b>, and 16 ounces of weight needed to be fished on some drops, Capt. Joe wrote in an email. But a few cod, ling and large winter flounder were managed. “Not very good fishing,” he said, “but not too bad, considering the conditions.” Most of the anglers “went home with meat,” he said. Ron Jenkins bagged two cod 8 and 10 pounds, a few ling and a limit of two flounder, including a 4-1/2-pounder. Herbert Dinger boxed a 12-pound cod and a dozen ling. Wes Short iced a cod, 10 ling and a limit of flounder, including a 5-pounder. Ten-year-old Damian Fullop boated his first-ever cod. The Jamaica II will fish the Mudhole 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and next week on Wednesday for ling, cod and flounder. Trips will fish for bluefin tuna, bonito and false albacore this Wednesday and on Monday, and telephone to jump aboard those outings. 

Not a lot of smaller boats fished in the winds and weather, but party boats fished for tuna to the north, like in the Fish Tails area, said Eric from <b>The Reel Seat</b>. That’s at Block Canyon, and the trips chunked a mix of yellowfin tuna and longfin tuna, kind of good catches, at night. Jigs definitely caught well at night, too. When smaller boats could reach the area, the trips scored similar catches. Weeds made trolling for tuna difficult offshore, but when trips on the smaller boats could find spots to troll without weeds, they decked longfins. Not much was heard about mid-shore fishing. A bluefin tuna was boated here and there on the mid-shore grounds. Mahi mahi pushed a little farther offshore than before, like to the Glory Hole and Chicken Canyon areas. Not many trips bottom- or wreck-fished, but ling were reeled up, when they did. Winter flounder were mixed in, and tons of out-of-season sea bass bit during the angling. Lots of bluefish, good-sized, including huge, to 19 or 20 pounds, schooled from the Mudhole to inshore at the Mud Buoy. Sometimes striped bass were trolled at Shrewsbury Rocks and on the ocean off Raritan Bay, mostly on umbrella rigs with rubber shads or on plugs like Stretch 25’s. A few stripers were clocked on bunker snagged and livelined for bait on the ocean off Long Branch, before the last nor’easter, last week. In the surf, a few stripers were spread from Sandy Hook to Island Beach State Park. The angling was kind of picky, but some good catches were reported from Sandy Hook, especially from evenings and early mornings or at night. Tackle like bucktails, metal-lipped swimmers and lures like Bombers and Daiwa SP Minnows caught. The bass were popper-plugged at Spring Lake’s surf nearly every morning. Two-pound blues and a pile of blowfish swam Manasquan River. Blackfish, a fair number, were cranked from the river and Point Pleasant Canal.

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

Beautiful autumn day to be out, Capt. Matt from the party boat <b>Norma-K III</b> wrote about Sunday aboard, in a report on the vessel’s website. A few ling and winter flounder were picked, and the angling was nothing great, a little slow, maybe because of strong current. Quite a few out-of-season sea bass, and a handful of out-of-season fluke, were hooked and released. Bluefishing was excellent on Friday and Saturday nights’ trips. Plenty of 8- to 12-pounders were fought aboard, and all anglers left with plenty of fillets. The Norma-K III is fishing for ling and cod 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily and for bluefish 7:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. every Friday and Saturday. The boat will fish for sea bass daily when sea bass season is opened on October 18.

<b>Barnegat Light</b>

Big blues to 18 pounds were smashed Sunday on the party boat <b>Miss Barnegat Light</b>, a report on the vessel’s website said. Very good fishing, it said, and jigs caught most at first. Bait worked just as well later on the trip. Things look good for future trips, it said. The Miss Barnegat Light is fishing for blues, bonito and false albacore 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

Fishing for striped bass was fairly good on Mullica River, a report on <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>’s website said. Most were throwbacks, but anglers had fun with them, trolling the fish or popper-plugging them. A few of the bass were keepers 28 to 32 inches. Eels also hooked the fish well and are stocked. White perch nipped in the river on small pieces of bloodworms, and the worms are carried. Blackfishing was good along the sod banks and at Barnegat Light, and green crabs are carried for them. Crabbing slowed a lot, because of cool water and freshwater from rain. But crabbing wasn’t finished for the season.

<b>Brigantine</b>

Wind blew stronger than forecast, from west, on Sunday, but surf anglers made some good catches, a report on <b>Riptide Bait & Tackle</b>’s website said. One of the anglers “had fun” with blackfish and triggerfish along the Absecon Inlet jetty. Another bagged five kingfish on bloodworms. On Saturday, a boater eeled a 33-inch striped bass on the back bay near Brigantine’s north end. The annual Riptide Striper Derby is under way until December 23. Entry allows beach-buggy access to Brigantine’s entire length, when accompanied by a Brigantine beach-buggy permit. Otherwise, not all the beach can be driven. The annual Riptide Striper Bounty, for the season’s first striped bass 43 inches or larger checked-in from Brigantine’s surf, is also under way. Entry in the bounty, sponsored by Hess Plumbing, is $5 and is required before catching the fish, and the winner takes all the cash.

<b>Longport</b>

Croakers, blues and weakfish, lots of fish, were piled up on the <b>Stray Cat</b> on the ocean Sunday, Capt. Mike said. Out-of-season sea bass were released, and seas were stiff, and wind blew strongly. At first, the trip trolled to about 10 miles from shore, trying for blues, bonito or false albacore. Only one blue bit, so the trip pushed back inshore, loading up on the croakers, blues and weaks in 40 to 50 feet of water. No triggerfish showed up, and no out-of-season summer flounder did. Both seemed to disappear. The ocean cooled considerably to 65 degrees. The boat will be painted this week, keeping fishing in port. Sign up for open-boat trips for sea bass from October 20 through 25. Or take a charter for the fish, and sea bass season will be opened starting October 18. Charters are available for striped bass or blackfish in November and December.

<b>Ocean City</b>

Fishing was docked on the party boat <b>Miss Ocean City</b>, because of weather and lack of anglers, Capt. Victor said. But trips are slated to fish for croakers, blues and triggerfish 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily on the ocean. Sea bass trips will begin once sea bass season is opened on October 18.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Tim Adtkins and crew joined some of the traveling charters to Montauk this weekend aboard, despite rough seas and weather, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. The annual trips fish the migration of false albacore, striped bass and blues, and the three anglers on Sunday reeled in 15 albies, and a bunch of blues to 10 pounds, mostly on fly rods, some on spinning.  On Sunday’s trip they beat seven albies and one blue, almost all on flies. The albies, not the blues, were targeted, and if blues had been targeted, a bazillion probably could’ve been jigged. The flies fished were bay anchovy imitations or Surf Candies and Clouser Minnows. On the spinning rods, mostly soft-plastic lures were fished on lead jigheads. Some of the albies were also cracked on Deadly Dicks. The water was 63 to 65 degrees or warm. Ever want to fish the run from the legendary port? Joe is going, and see <a href="http://www.captainjoehughes.com/page3.html" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s traveling charters Web page</a>. Annual traveling charters also fish the Florida Keys in winter. Joe is also fishing from Sea Isle City, and high tides at dusk are ideal for striper fishing on the back bay with popper lures and flies this week. That angling’s been good, and bluefish swarmed around Sea Isle, and small weakfish schooled the ocean near the town. Keep up with Joe’s fishing on <a href="http://captainjoehughes.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s blog</a>.

<b>Avalon</b>

With <b>Fins and Feathers Outfitters</b>, the season’s first combo striped bass and duck hunting trips are slated to begin on November 10 on Delaware Bay, Capt. Jim said. Anglers can enjoy the combos over a series of days on the bay, or can simply take a striper charter, or a duck hunt, on the bay. Fins offers a variety of outdoor adventures, including saltwater fishing on the bay and ocean, hunting for ducks and geese on the bay and surrounding states, salmon and steelhead fishing on upstate New York’s Salmon River from Jim’s lodge, and fly fishing for trout on Pennsylvania’s streams like the Yellow Breeches. Jim visited the lodge this weekend, and the salmon migration was slow to begin on the river, but was impending. Small pods shot up the river, and the fish lay in deep holes in low water. The river ran at 325 to 375 CFS, and someone said there was as dry spell for 10 or 12 days. The reservoir was also low. Jim landed a steelhead on a size-12, yellow egg fly, and fished for brown trout on stoneflies, on the river, but none of the trout bit. Fins can connect the lodge’s guests with guides to fish the river, or anglers can fish the river on their own. Or the lodge’s staff can show guests how to fish the run, and the anglers can fish on their own afterward. On the way to the lodge, Jim saw geese as far north as Albany, but none farther north. A stiff north wind and cold seemed needed to draw the migration south.

<b>Cape May</b>

Just windy, said Capt. George from the <b>Heavy Hitter</b>.  He did things like change the oil in the boat during the weekend, but didn’t know about any charter boats that fished in the weather. Some of the party boats might’ve fished. The season’s first striped bass charter is slated for November 1 on the Heavy Hitter. That’ll be the first of the trips, unless stripers arrive earlier. The first trips are likely to chunk bunker for the bass on Delaware Bay. But if the angling turns on at the Cape May Rips, the charters will fish there. Eels, spots and bucktails are fished at the rips. Sometimes trips aboard find stripers biting in the ocean toward Hereford Inlet in fall. Sea bass season will be opened starting October 18, and trips can fish for them then. The blackfish bag limit will be raised to six starting on November 16, from the current limit of one, and the boat will fish for the tautog beginning then.

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