<b>Staten Island</b>

Two trips on Saturday and one on Sunday fished for striped bass on Raritan Bay with <b>Outcast Charters</b>, and were like a “three-peat,” Capt. Joe said. Each clobbered very good catches, limiting out early on 15- to 22-pounders. Additional stripers were caught and released afterward, and bluefish to 9 and 10 pounds were also fought aboard. The bluefish weren’t crazy, and a few popped up here and there, but adding them to the catch was nice. Outcast will keep after stripers, and trips for sea bass and ling became available today from Sewaren, N.J. The state’s sea bass season was opened today, and Outcast always runs charters from either the New Jersey port or Staten Island, N.Y.

<b>Keyport</b>

Awesome striped bass fishing the whole past week on Raritan Bay, Capt. Frank from the <b>Vitamin Sea</b> wrote in an email. A 38-pounder was the biggest aboard, and the fishing couldn’t be better. Charters are fishing, and telephone for the open-boat schedule. “Get your dose of Vitamin Sea!”

Seven striped bass to 30 pounds and a 25-pound drum were bagged Saturday on Raritan Bay with <b>Papa’s Angels Charters</b>, Capt. Joe said. The drum was a surprise, and a trip Sunday returned to the same place, bagging three stripers 22, 21 and 19 pounds. Though only three were iced, they were quality-sized. Two bluefish 1 or 2 pounds, the first blues this year on the boat, were also hooked. Both trips fished with clams, and one space is available for an open-boat trip Tuesday, departing in the morning. Open trips are available twice daily when no charter is booked, and telephone to climb aboard.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

Striped bass fishing on Raritan Bay decked the fish on both trips Sunday on the party boat <b>Atlantic Star</b>, Capt. Tom said. The angling was no great shakes, but if catches hold up as well through Thursday, he’ll be happy. Some of the bass were sizeable, and the trips will switch to fluke fishing on Friday, opening day of fluke season. Sunday’s striper catches aboard were a little better on the morning’s trip than on the afternoon’s. Anglers just couldn’t know whether one trip would fish better than another. On Saturday, the morning’s trip was tough, and the afternoon’s trip landed some stripers, sort of the opposite. Bluefish seemed to take over waters somewhat, but stripers still came in. The Atlantic Star is fishing for stripers on two trips daily from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 6 p.m. through Thursday. The trips will fish for fluke starting Friday.

<b>Highlands</b>

Good striped bass fishing overall in the past week aboard, Capt. Pete from the <b>Hyper Striper<b/> wrote in an email. On the boat last Monday, Todd Feldman’s crew in the morning whaled a super catch of the bass to 24 pounds, and in the afternoon, Steve Gorring’s party pasted a good catch of the fish to 22 pounds. On Tuesday, Ralph Rucco’s party beat “another limit,” Pete said. So did Herb Hottenstein’s group on Wednesday morning. That afternoon, Jim MacLeary’s gang easily limited out, and released many additional stripers. On Thursday, Russ Schofield’s party scored very good striper fishing in the morning, and Fanny Marian’s crew picked away well at the bass in the afternoon. On Saturday, Ron Koch’s charter “also picked at the bass,” Pete said, to 23 pounds.

<b>Belmar</b>

With <b>Parker Pete’s Fishing Charters</b>, bigger striped bass to 30 pounds were trolled from the ocean Sunday morning, Capt. Pete said. “We got ‘em,” he said, but on the boat in the afternoon, stripers were marked, but didn’t bite. Maybe they bit toward sunset, after the boat was docked.  Bluefish weren’t really around in the ocean near Belmar since Friday’s blow. Boats that bluefished sailed north to Flynn’s Knoll for them.  A new body of stripers seemed to move in, but seemed to need to settle down, seemed finicky, after Friday’s weather and the recent full moon. Another trip is supposed to sail for stripers today aboard. Sea bass fishing will be available on the boat starting today, opening day of sea bass season. Fluke season will be opened Friday, but whether the fish will bite in the ocean then will be seen. The season could be early. <b>***Update, Monday, 5/19:***</b> Stripers to 40 pounds, big fish, were trolled already on this morning’s trip, Pete said at 8 a.m. in a phone call on the outing. The angling wasn’t fast and furious, but large stripers were in the area.  

Mostly bluefish, a few striped bass mixed in, seemed to swim the coast recently, said Capt. Mike from the <b>Katie H</b>. Boats sailed north for them, and the striper fishing wasn’t the greatest yet. Charters on the Katie will begin this weekend for the year. Now that sea bass season was opened today, sometimes fishing for a combo of stripers and sea bass can be terrific on a trip, like if stripers are drilled in the morning. Then anglers can dunk for sea bass afterward, maybe even returning to striper fishing later in the day. The 46-foot Katie H features speed and all the amenities.

Fishing was docked because of weather Friday on the party boat <b>Golden Eagle</b>, a report on the vessel’s website said. On Saturday’s trip, anglers picked at blues on most drifts in the morning. In the afternoon, the trip moved to a new location, and sometimes 10 to 15 blues were fought at once on some drifts. “All in all, it was a good day of bluefishing,” it said. The fish weighed 5 to 15 pounds and were fought on Run Off hammered jigs and Krocodiles. On Sunday’s trip, anglers picked at blues most of the outing. Boat traffic was heavy, probably keeping the fishing from amping up more. Sometimes the catches looked like they’d bust open, and then they tapered back to a pick. The fish were about the same size as on the previous trip, and were whacked on the Run Offs and Krocs again. The Golden Eagle is fishing for striped bass and blues at 7:30 a.m. daily.

A big population of fluke filled Shark River, Bob from <b>Fisherman’s Den</b> wrote in an email. Fluke season will be opened on Friday, and anglers will fish for them on the shop’s rental boats. People who tested the river for the flatfish caught and released double-digits, and many of the summer flounder topped keeper size. Anglers had been worried because of the fish kill in the river, covered in the last report. But all seemed well with fluke. On the ocean, boaters bombed big striped bass on Sunday to the north. The bass to 35 pounds were checked-in, and most anglers trolled Stretch lures and bunker spoons for the stripers. Big bluefish “also kept anglers happy,” Bob said, and customers hoped sea bass will bite well on today’s opening of sea bass season. In the John Geiser Memorial Striper Tournament, named for the late outdoor writer for the Asbury Park Press, the Asbury Park fishing club won with 182 points. Shark River Surf Anglers came in second with 140 points, and the Berkeley fishing club won third with 58 points. Ray Soyka from the Asbury club entered the largest striper, a 30-pound 5-ouncer. The rest of the results were the Spring Lake club with 43 points and the Bradley Beach club with 13 points.  

<b>Brielle</b>

Ocean striped bass fishing was fair, said Eric from <b>The Reel Seat</b>. Not excellent, he said, but boaters trolled the fish to the low 30 pounds off Seaside Park on Saturday on bunker spoons. Livelining bunker for the fish was hit or miss lately, and sometimes bunker were thick as leaves, and other times were scarce. Most bunker schooled north around Raritan Bay. Enough stripers were around to jig them in the ocean sometimes. The giant influx of bluefish 5 to 12 pounds made boaters wade through the blues to catch stripers. The bluefish were everywhere, from Manasquan River to the surf to the ocean near 3 miles from shore, where boaters fished for stripers, to Raritan Bay and the Shrewsbury and Navesink Rivers. A few stripers were picked in Manasquan River, and no weakfish were heard about from the area. But getting a hook past blues made finding out what fish swam the area difficult. Winter flounder fishing seemed dead in Manasquan River, and flounder usually migrate to the ocean once blues arrive. Not much was heard about flounder fishing at the Cedars in the ocean, off Sandy Hook. When boaters tried for flounder there and were heard from, conditions weren’t good for the angling. Plenty of fluke seemed to carpet Manasquan River, and fluke season will be opened on Friday. In the surf, stripers were picked on clams, and a few were plugged. Weeding through bluefish was an issue. Ling fishing picked up pretty well at the Scotland Grounds for boaters. Ling spawn this time of year, so they held a little shallower, in 50 to 70 feet.  A mix of cod, mostly throwbacks, but occasional keepers, held there. In freshwater, stocked trout still swam Spring Lake. Eric carp fished there, landing carp, but saw trout jumping. The store this season began stocking freshwater tackle and bait for trout and panfish. The shop’s next free seminar will at 7 p.m. Thursday with Greg Thumel from GT Lures. GT Lures provides lures for tuna and marlin, and Greg will talk about the lost art of trolling artificials at the canyons. Dave, The Reel Seat’s owner, a tilefisher, will give the next free seminar, on tilefishing, next week on Thursday at 7 p.m. Dave sometimes hosts party-boat tilefish trips, and his first two this season are sold out, and the next one with openings is in August. Check out the Reel Seat’s custom tilefish rod.  The store’s second annual striped bass surf-fishing tournament will be held June 6 to 8, and will be catch-and-release this year, unlike last year.  Prizes will be a Van Staal Reel for first place, a FiberStar surf rod for second and a Gear-Up surf-fishing bag for third. Entry is $10, required by June 5.

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

A group from Gallin Contracting fished for striped bass on Saturday with <b>Mushin Sportfishing</b>, but the angling was tough, Capt. Alan wrote in an email. Fishing to the north, bluefish were trolled, “until their arms were tired,” he said. Deep-diving plugs caught the fish, but the blues would’ve hit anything, they were so aggressive.

The ocean held a swell on Saturday, when the party boat <b>Norma-K III</b> resumed fishing, after Friday’s blow, Capt. Matt wrote in a report on the vessel’s website. Seas and weather were nice otherwise, but striped bass fishing was tough aboard the outing. Only a few anglers jumped aboard, and the boat fished close to port, to the south. Bunker were seen quite a few times, and the schools looked like stripers zipped through them. But no stripers bit. Sunday’s trip aboard picked away at 5- to 8-pound bluefish on jigs. The year’s first nighttime bluefish trip sailed Saturday on the boat. A few blues were picked, and a decent number were seen in the chum slick. The angling is expected to improve as waters warm, and the bluefish trips will begin to fish daily starting Friday, from 7:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. Sea bass trips will begin today, opening day of sea bass season, sailing twice daily, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 2 to 6:30 p.m. The trips will switch to fluke on Friday, opening day of fluke season.

<b>Seaside Heights</b>

Surf fishing was great, John from <b>The Dock Outfitters</b> wrote in a report on the store’s website. The Governor’s Surf Fishing Tournament was held Sunday at Island Beach State Park for the first time in May. It used to be held in October, but the new date ended up good for fishing. Striped bass, blues and a few drum mixed in were checked in daily from the beach. The stripers, including keepers, were mostly clammed. Large blues plowed into the surf Friday, and one customer’s smallest weighed 12 pounds 7 ounces. He caught on cut bunker. “Fresh cut bunker and clams are still the way to go, but poppers, swimmers and metal are good choices for the angler who will not fish bait,” John wrote. The Dock Outfitters, located on Barnegat Bay, blocks from the ocean surf, features a bait and tackle shop, boat and jet ski rentals, a café and a dock for fishing and crabbing.

<b>Barnegat Light</b>

An open-boat tilefish trip, fishing overnight Saturday to Sunday, cranked in a good catch offshore on the <b>Super Chic</b>, Capt. Ted said. The fish weren’t big, probably averaging 5 to 8 pounds, but the anglers bagged about a dozen apiece, a mix of goldens and bluelines. Probably a 15-pounder was largest. Weather was good, and the ocean was about the same temperature, 55 to 58 degrees, from Barnegat Inlet to offshore. More of the trips will probably be scheduled for late in June, and more will definitely be slated for July. All open trips for tiles caught well last year on the Super Chic, and this was the first of the trips this year on the vessel. Reports this weekend sounded like a few striped bass began to be trolled on the ocean north of the inlet, and striper trips will be available on the boat. Bluefish swam near the inlet, and Ted hopes blues stick around, because the year’s first bluefishing on the boat are scheduled for this weekend, the usual time the angling begins aboard. Fishing for sea bass will be available aboard starting today, opening day of sea bass season. 

<b>Barnegat</b>

From an edited email from Capt. Dave DeGennaro from the <b>Hi Flier</b> on Sunday: “It's on! That's the report.  If you're reading this, you need to react. We all caught them today. This morning we hooked four and boated none. All on bunker spoons. Sounds awful, I know. It was, but I was able to convince – okay, beg – my afternoon trip to go out and try, instead of our planned bay trip. We bagged a 25-pounder , a 30-pounder and 35-pounder in just 2 hours of trolling, and all was right with the world again. We decked the biggest one, and ran back to the bay to crush 3- to 4-pound blues on top-waters and 10-pound spinning gear. Outside, all the action was 5 to 7 miles north of the inlet, in 60 feet of water, pulling white and chartreuse Maja spoons. I (had) one spot left on (today’s) open-boat, 6 a.m. to 12 noon, and now with the wide-open afternoon bite for two days in a row, I’m adding an afternoon trip 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. (today), Wednesday and Thursday. Three people max. Wind and seas look good for the whole stretch. If you want to catch 25- to 40-plus-pound stripers, go now!”

<b>Mystic Island</b>

Lots of bluefish 1 to 10 pounds raced around Graveling Point, and also swam scattered all over Great Bay, a report on <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>’s website said. Drum chomped at Graveling and, for boaters, in Grassy Channel. Graveling is a shore-fishing spot at the confluence of the bay and Mullica River. Fishing for striped bass slowed but gave up a few at Graveling and nearby Pebble Beach, also a shore-angling place. They were mostly throwbacks, sometimes keepers. Blowfish hovered all around, and one customer saw them in a lagoon. Weakfish, not many, were picked up here and there, but all were bigger than 5 pounds.

<b>Brigantine</b>

The Riptide Striper Bounty was won, a report on <b>Riptide Bait & Tackle</b>’s website said. That’s the cash prize for the season’s first striper 43 inches or larger weighed-in from Brigantine’s surf. Joe Worthington checked-in a 45-incher this morning, copping the $2,120, the total money from the $5 entry fee. Joe beached the 33-pound 13-ouncer on Sunday on clam from the store, and waited outside the shop with the fish from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., until the doors were opened. He was asleep on a beach chair outside. Several people witnessed the catch. Fish were weighed-in from the surf all morning today, and the middle of the island seemed to produce the best the past two days. Photos of stripers and drum from the surf were posted on the site. 

<b>Longport</b>

Open-boat sea bass trips were sold out today through Wednesday on the <b>Stray Cat</b>, Capt. Mike said. Today was opening day of sea bass season, and he expects to bail the fish. His trips have been catching and releasing sea bass while targeting other species. Sea bass, lots, were stacked up on the trips, but anglers needed to fish at least 15 miles from shore. That’s where the sizeable sea bass swam. Plenty of space is available for open sea bass trips on Friday and Sunday, and telephone to reserve. Open trips sail with even one angler on the Stray Cat. Charters are also on tap.

<b>Ocean City</b>

Sea bass fishing was supposed to begin today, opening day of sea bass season, on the party boat <b>Captain Robbins</b>, Capt. Victor said. A trip aboard fished for ling 27 miles from shore on Saturday, rounding up a good catch of the fish to 5 pounds. Lots of sea bass to 19 inches were hooked and released, and the anglers probably would’ve limited out on sea bass, if the season had been open. A pollock, a couple of conger eels and some sea robins and sharks, a good mixed bag, also snapped. Starting today, the Captain Robbins is fishing for sea bass 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. The <b>Miss Ocean City</b>, the company’s other party boat, will fish for summer flounder daily starting in late May or June on the back bay.  Keep up with the news: Like the <a href=" https://www.facebook.com/captrobbinsfishing" target="_blank">Captain Robbins on Facebook</a>.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Bluefish were late to arrive this season, but now schooled thick in the back bay, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. Darrel Cooper and his kids fought blues to 6 pounds and released summer flounder to 4 pounds on the bay aboard Sunday on soft-plastic lures on jigheads. Joe didn’t stop unhooking fish for 5 hours. The angling was great, and flounder season will be opened on Friday. Flounder fishing is often best in the early season in South Jersey’s shallow, relatively warm back bays. Trips are booked to fish for them, but some space is available, this Memorial Day weekend aboard. The times will surely become booked. On Saturday,  Joe and Capts. Chris Goldmark and Mike Corblies fly-rodded a mess of blues on the bay on a busman’s holiday. Joe and son on Sunday afternoon also fought fish on the bay. His son jigged a dozen blues and flounder, and Joe fly-rodded some. Take an After Work Special Trip on a weekday, a great time to fish. Keep up with Joe’s fishing on <a href="http://captainjoehughes.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s blog</a>.

<b>Cape May</b>

Six big drum to 75 pounds were heaved aboard Sunday from Delaware Bay on Anthony Mergliano’s charter on the <b>Heavy Hitter</b>, Capt. George said. Four of the fish broke off, and the angling was slow on Saturday with Charles Schulz’s charter. One drum was hauled in, and a couple of bites might’ve been missed. Both trips fished on the New Jersey side of the bay, and boaters on the Delaware side might’ve caught better on Saturday. Drum fishing usually peaks in May on the Heavy Hitter, and might not last much longer than that. This was the time to sail for them, but sea bass season opened today, and trips can fish for them on the ocean. Summer flounder season will be opened on Friday, but the Heavy Hitter fishes for the fluke on the ocean starting in July, when the angling there starts to be good. Shark charters could begin any moment on the ocean.

Some good-sized drum, mostly 60-pounders, were plowed aboard Delaware Bay on Sunday with <b>Melanie Anne Sport Fishing</b>, Capt. Frank said. Not one was a puppy, and one that got off seemed especially big. A couple of drum broke off or pulled the hook on the trip, and a 93-pounder was muscled aboard another boat the other day. Drum were in, on both the New Jersey and Delaware sides of the bay. The drum on the trip gathered in 7- to 14-foot shallows, and seas were nasty in strong winds in the evening. Most charters want drum while the fish are here, but sea bass trips became available aboard today, opening day of sea bass season. Summer flounder season will be opened on Friday, and the year’s first flounder trip is booked for this weekend on the boat.

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