<b>Keyport</b>

<b>Papa’s Angels Charters</b> was going to fish next today, for fluke, Capt. Joe said. A trip barreled up keepers to 25 inches and quite a few shorts on the ocean on Sunday aboard, covered in the last report. The water was 74 degrees then, and space is available Friday to Sunday for open-boat trips or charters departing in the mornings. Open trips are available twice daily when no charter is booked, and telephone to jump aboard. Those trips are fishing for fluke 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. and for bluefish 4 to 9 p.m.

Angling will sail Friday for fluke on the <b>Vitamin Sea</b>, Capt. Frank said, and trips, for the flatfish, last sailed on Sunday aboard, reported here on Monday. One space is available for Friday, and weather looks good, so Frank expects the fluking to be good, like before. Actually, it was awesome on the last trip, the report said. The Vitamin Sea will stick with fluke all summer long, “so come on down, and get your dose of Vitamin Sea,” Frank wrote! Charters and open-boat trips are fishing. Like the <a href=" https://www.facebook.com/vitaminseafishing" target="_blank">Vitamin Sea’s Facebook page</a> for real-time reports and open-trip dates. 

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

On the party boat <b>Atlantic Star</b>, fluke fishing, on Raritan Bay, was definitely not as good as Capt. Tom would like, he said. But some were bagged, and some were sizeable. Every trip was different, and Tuesday morning’s trip’s fluking was pretty poor. On the afternoon’s trip, more keepers showed up, and throwbacks gave up more action, than in the morning. The shorts actually gave up quite a bit of action, but the trip was still tough. So was the angling on the next day’s, Wednesday morning’s, trip. The afternoon’s was a little better. One bait fished about as well as another on trips. Gulps seemed an advantage sometimes. But sometimes spearing, provided aboard, on a rental rod caught as well as other bait. One kid nailed a 6-pound fluke on that on Wednesday aboard. Sometimes a rig with a Spro or bucktail on bottom, with a Gulp on the hook, and a trailer above, with a killie, was a little advantage. Weather was no issue on the bay. The bay held no rough seas or riptides or anything like that, unlike the ocean sometimes did. No thunderstorms happened that forecasts predicted were possible sometimes. If anglers were concerned about heat advisories in past days, heat wasn’t an issue on the bay. Weather was actually pretty nice, Tom said. The Atlantic Star is fishing for fluke on two trips daily from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 6 p.m.

Boaters sacked fluke, pretty good catches, on Raritan Bay at places including Terminal Channel, along the Navy Pier and the Triangle, said Jimmy from <b>Julian’s Bait & Tackle</b>. They probably grabbed the fish along Chapel Hill and Reach channels on the bay. They clutched fluke down the ocean beach a little, but not too far south. But the ocean in 50 to 60 feet gave up the summer flounder all the way to Sea Bright. A few blues swam the ocean, but blues were chunked in the bay near Old Orchard Lighthouse. Blues bit off the steeple on Staten Island, like 9 to 11 a.m. Party boats from farther south along the coast made the long trip there for bluefishing. By the time they reached the water, like 10 a.m., the angling was almost finished. Not many croakers and porgies showed up yet, and were late. Some did chew along the Navy Pier. Striped bass were around that could be hooked at night. But some were trolled during daytime. Ling fishing was excellent on the ocean. All baits are stocked.

Fluke fishing still seemed in search mode on the party boat <b>Fishermen</b>, looking for the perfect line of fish, Capt. Ron wrote in a report on the vessel’s website on Tuesday. At most places, customers reeled in a few – some throwbacks and a nice keeper. But the results couldn’t be repeated on the next drift, so the boat was moved on. The keepers were sizeable, 3 to 7 pounds. Not many were just undersized, like a half-inch shorter than the 18-inch limit. “Where did they all go?” Ron asked. Trips tried fluking at Ambrose Channel a couple of times, but only sharks bit so far. Fluking along the flats didn’t produce many, and the angling was dead along the ocean beach. Ron planned to look at some new areas coming up. They might turn out right, or might not, but they’ve got to be tried. The Fisherman is fishing for fluke 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily and for croakers, porgies and bottom-fish 6:30 to 11:30 p.m. daily except Sunday. However, the boat is chartered in both the morning and afternoon on Saturday, and in the morning on Monday, so no open-boat trips will sail then.

<b>Highlands</b>

From <b>Twin Lights Marina</b>, Joe Blewett whipped a 6-pound 25-inch summer flounder at Flynn’s Knoll on a combo of white Gulp and squid, Marion wrote in an email. Becky on the Second Home limited out on a 26-inch fluke and four 18-inchers near the Ammo Pier on killies. Thresher sharks, numerous big fish, were docked at the marina last week, covered in the last report. Marion mentioned none this week, probably because of seas in the weather. A scale with 3,000 pounds capacity was installed at the marina, and anglers started weighing-in the big game. Twin Lights, located conveniently on Shrewsbury River near Raritan Bay and the ocean, with no bridges before them, includes a marina with boat slips and dry storage, a fuel dock, and a combined bait and tackle shop and ship’s store. The full supply of bait is stocked, including for big game. The fuel dock is available 24 hours a day with a credit card. 

<b>Neptune</b>

Wind never stopped blowing from the south since the offshore hurricane on Friday, and fishing for fluke began slowly on the ocean Tuesday with <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b>, Capt. Ralph wrote in an email. The wind direction had cooled the water to 55 degrees at many places, and the trip searched all around. Pretty good fluking was finally found at 11 a.m. The wind direction was supposed to change today, and that should warm the water, causing more fluke to bite. A fluke charter with five anglers wants five more on July 23. Individual-reservation trips are fishing for fluke on the Tuesdays of July 22 and 29, Sunday, July 20, and every Tuesday in August and September, until fluke season is closed starting September 28. Kids under 12 sail free on those trips, limited to two per adult host.  Individual-reservation trips will sail for cod on August 7 and 28, and one of the trips is already full on July 17. Morning and afternoon charters are available daily.

<b>Belmar</b>

Fishing for fluke on the ocean slowed because south wind dropped the water temperature 15 degrees, according to anglers from the docks, said Capt. Mike from the <b>Katie H</b>. He took advantage of the rough weather lately, hauling the boat to dry dock to install upgrades. But anglers who fished said the water chilled as low as 56 degrees, and lots of undersized fluke bit. The Katie H is fluke fishing, and anglers wanted to sail for bluefin tuna on the mid-range ocean starting next week, but Mike heard about no bluefin caught locally yet. Some were reportedly boated farther south, on trips from Cape May. The tuna seemed yet to migrate north. Overnight trips for yellowfin tuna aboard, at the offshore canyons, usually begin in August. That’s when the fish begin to bite at night, not just during daytime. The 46-foot Katie H features speed and all the amenities.

Good bluefishing was clobbered today on the party boat <b>Golden Eagle</b>, a report on the vessel’s website said. The 5- to 8-pounders hit hammered jigs and Krocodiles until the action slowed late in the morning. Then black drum, big fish to 80 pounds, were run across, when the boat was moved to look for new fishing, to a place where birds, seen previously, had been working bait, and a few fish had been finning and splashing along the surface. A bunch of the drum were lost, spooling reels before they could be stopped. But 10 were landed, and it was great angling in the afternoon, the report said. On Wednesday, bluefishing aboard was very good. All the blues bit that customers could want, “and we even saw a striper,” the report said.  Hammered jigs and Krocs caught the blues again. Tuesday’s trip mostly fished for good catches of sea bass, ling and winter flounder. But blues were heard about later in the day, and the crew intended to check that out the next day, Wednesday, when bluefishing became very good aboard, just reported here above. Bluefishing was slow on the previous couple of days, but when that happens, trips jump after other fish, like the sea bass, ling and flounder, and fluke.  The Golden Eagle is fishing 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily and 7:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. Thursdays through Saturdays.

Bluefishing was good from the get-go Wednesday on the party boat <b>Miss Belmar Princess</b>, an email from the vessel said. Six- to 12-pounders smacked Ava 27 and 47 jigs, and a couple of 15- to 20-pound striped bass were even caught. The fishing on some drifts lasted 30 minutes, “and we had it the whole time,” the email said. All anglers caught, from novices to regular customers, and left happy, it said. “It was a great day!” On today’s trip, good shots of blues 5 to 12 pounds were slammed at first, an excellent beginning. In the afternoon, a call came in about black drum swimming close to the beach. The trip ended up hauling up some big drum to top off the day. The Miss Belmar Princess is fishing 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily and 7:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

On Belmar’s party boats, fluke fishing was good on the ocean Tuesday, Bob from <b>Fisherman’s Den</b> wrote in an email Wednesday. Several anglers limited out, and some of the fish were sizeable, up to 8 pounds. Ray Egloff from Belmar decked an 8-pounder. On Shark River, the shop’s rental boaters reeled in good numbers of fluke, “but the size wasn’t there,” Bob said. One rental-boater landed a 30-inch striper on a jig with a strip of sea robin on the river. That trip also pitched aboard two keeper fluke. Bluefish were scarce in the ocean, but one of the party boats managed a fair catch of blues off Highlands on the ocean. “We hope this is the start of something much bigger,” Bob said. The surf was choked with an extraordinary amount of grass, making fishing difficult there. So there was some good news about fishing, and some bad, and better days are coming, Bob said.

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

The morning trip had just returned from fluke fishing today when Capt. Bob gave this report from the party boat <b>Gambler</b>, he said. Fluking aboard, on the ocean, was slow the last couple of days aboard, because the southerly wind cooled the water. But the wind blew from east/northeast today, though lightly, and the ocean to the north started to become warmer. The trip traveled a good way north, catching a few keepers, a few shorts and some sea bass and ling, not good fishing, but something, he said. Bob thinks the warmer water will keep moving down the coast in the next day or so. Pool-winning fluke mostly weighed 4 to 5 pounds recently. The weekly, nighttime wreck-fishing trip was weathered out last Thursday. That was the day before the offshore hurricane, and the trips recently docked ling, sizeable, some of the big winter flounder in the ocean currently, and a few cod. On nighttime bluefishing trips, the angling remained tough, but that could change overnight. Maybe something like a change in wind direction or water temperature could pull them in. The Gambler is fishing for fluke twice daily from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 2 to 6:30 p.m. Wreck-fishing trips are sailing 7:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. every Thursday for cod, pollock, ling, winter flounder and squid. Bluefishing trips are running 7:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Bottom-fishing was okay, not great, but anglers probably averaged 10 to 25 fish apiece, on the party boat <b>Dauntless</b>, Capt. Butch said. On good days of fishing, a few anglers might’ve caught more. The trips bagged ling and sea bass, and a few anglers were able to limit out on three sea bass. Catches of winter flounder were good on some days, and sometimes anglers limited out on two. A few cod were boxed, and a couple of haddock, smaller than the 21-inch keeper size, were released. Sometimes good-sized, out-of-season blackfish were let go, and Butch hopes they stick around for when one blackfish per angler can be kept starting next Thursday. He’d like to see the bottom-fishing better, but was happy with catches, because the angling was better than fluke fishing and bluefishing. Ocean temperatures fluctuated recently, were sometimes “nice,” Butch said, and sometimes frigid. The water turned frigid because of southerly wind. The ocean was 51 degrees close to shore, and as warm as 61 farther out, on Wednesday. Fishing aboard wasn’t so good on Tuesday and was better on Wednesday, apparently because the fish became used to the cold. They were very cold to the touch when landed. Trips fished in 60 to 130 feet, and anglers fished mostly Gulps and clams. Clams are usually provided aboard, and sometimes anglers brought squid to fish. The Gulps caught well, and hooked every species. On nighttime trips on Fridays and Saturdays, bluefishing wasn’t good. If bluefishing doesn’t improve, the trips might switch to bottom-fishing, and already bottom-fished, once the trips, on the water, found that bluefishing was slow. Nighttime trips are already bottom-fishing every Wednesday, like every summer. The Dauntless is bottom-fishing 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily and 7:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. Wednesdays, and is bluefishing 7:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

<b>Toms River</b>

Crabbing was great, becoming better every day, on the Toms River at Island Heights, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b>. Snapper bluefish 3 or 4 inches bit pretty well there now. Fluke were plumbed from Barnegat Bay at the BI and BB markers, and plain killies caught best. Snot grass definitely cleaned up, wasn’t as bad, that had plagued the water before. Snappers schooled places around that southern end of the bay, too. Larger blues 1 to 2 pounds ran around the southern bay, and anglers trolled them or cast to them. Blowfishing was poor on the bay. The fish arrived in spring to spawn in the southern bay, and disappeared, like usual, but were yet to return. Sometimes they return earlier, but anglers now expect them in August, when blowfish often come back. Surf fishing only picked fluke, small blues or an oddball striped bass, and the cold water, in the 50 degrees, was the difficulty.

<b>Seaside Heights</b>

The surf was 47 degrees on Wednesday morning, said Kevin from <b>The Dock Outfitters</b>. “That’s never good,” he said, and not much was banked from the water. Snapper blues swam around the dock on Barnegat Bay. A few small flounder bit there. Crabbing was picking up from the dock and rental boats. 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>

Lots of fluke were rounded up, only from Barnegat Bay, because the ocean became like 56 degrees, said Josh from <b>Viking Outfitters</b>. That was cold, and seas were rough, and the surf was big, in wind that blew. The fluke seemed wide spread in the bay, at usual places like at Double Creek and Oyster Creek channels, and the markers in the bay behind there, like the BI. A few fluke actually bit in Barnegat Inlet. Blues swam the inlet but were small, just larger than snappers. One blackfish will be able to be bagged starting next Thursday, and Josh knew they swam along the inlet rocks. A couple of anglers were into them a little, he said. Weakfish were hooked at night, and Josh saw a 6-pounder caught at the dock. Minnows and all the frozen bait is stocked.  Anglers can telephone the shop, located in historic Viking Village, 24 hours a day, and if that’s afterhours, one of the crew can be at the store soon. Bait can be delivered to a boat, a home or the beach anywhere on the island. Besides all the bait and tackle, the shop features fishing clothing, beach clothing, embroidery, beach gifts and more.

One in 15 or 20 fluke was a keeper in Barnegat Bay, even for diehard anglers, said Tony from <b>Bobbie’s Boat Rentals</b>. Weather, including a rainstorm this morning until noon, and wind previously, kept fishing to a minimum. No customers managed to fluke on the ocean in the weather. Tony heard about no bluefish in weeks. Crabbing was slow locally, and the shop is located on the island near the cooler waters of Barnegat Inlet. Crabbing locally picks up when the water warms later in the season, but already seemed to be picking up in lagoons, warmer water in the mainland.  No customers clammed in the past days, but clamming is usually good in the bay on the rental boats. Bobbie’s features a complete bait and tackle shop, a fuel dock and boat and kayak rentals. The boats are used for fishing, crabbing, clamming and pleasure. The store is known for bait supply, including live baits. Baits stocked currently include live spots and minnows.

<b>Surf City</b>

Anglers waited for waters to warm back up, said Sue from <b>Surf City Bait & Tackle</b>. The ocean temperature dove in the south wind, but the wind turned north today, and is supposed to turn northeast Friday, and anglers hope that will draw the temp back up, improving fishing. Fishing was slow in the chill, but some kingfish, fluke, sharks and skates were beached from the surf. None of the fishing was consistent, and angling was somewhat better in Barnegat Inlet and for boaters on the bay. Sue’s son jumped on a charter that fought a ton of 1- to 2-pound blues at the inlet, then drifted fluke and sea bass from the ocean. Baits stocked include minnows, fresh bunker and lots of frozen, including bunker, clams, sand eels, smelts and all the different types of squid. No fresh clams or eels are carried, because of demand this time of year. Green crabs will be carried starting next Thursday, when one blackfish will be able to be bagged. The store’s annual <b><i>Free Surf Fishing Seminars</i></b>, held 6 to 7 p.m. every Sunday in the parking lot in summer, are under way. Hosted by Bob Massa, the classes are now being called Sundays with Bob. Bring a lawn chair. Like <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Surf-City-Bait-and-Tackle/207533229268619" target="_blank">Surf City Bait & Tackle’s Facebook page</a>.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

Great Bay was pretty much kicked up and muddy from the weather, said Chris from <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>. Summer flounder, good catches, were hung from the bay toward Holgate, and from Little Egg Inlet, when weather was better, and the big ones came from deeper water, like 20 feet. Flounder fishing was good at the Brick Pile. Lots of croakers schooled the bay, and some blowfish did. Snapper bluefish were around. Some anglers tried for triggerfish along rocks and banks. The bay’s shark fishing was good, and customers caught them who never attempted before. Species including big sand sharks, and brown sharks, required to be released, haunt the bay this time of year. Be sure to know the sharks required to be let go. The sharks bite starting around 6 p.m., and the fishing really kicks in at dusk, but lasts until 10 or 11 p.m., when the fish stop chewing. No reports came from the ocean because of the weather. Crabbing was good, and that’s mostly what customers did during the weather, buying supplies and frozen bunker for bait. Baits stocked include minnows, fresh, shucked clams and bloodworms. No grass shrimp are on hand, and green crabs will probably be carried once one of the tautog can be kept starting next Thursday.

<b>Brigantine</b>

The surf dropped from 74 degrees to much lower, said Capt. Andy from <b>Riptide Bait & Tackle</b>. No kingfish and nothing else was reported hooked from the water in a dip like that. Even boaters on the back bay couldn’t find keeper summer flounder that bit, only landed throwbacks, apparently because of the water. The bay’s flounder fishing was the best in years before that. The Hooked on Fishing Tournament will be held July 26 at Brigantine, and the first 100 kids will receive a free rod-and-reel combo. Registration is at 8 a.m. that day at the 16th Street beach entrance, and see more info on Riptide’s Bait & Tackle’s Facebook page.

<b>Atlantic City</b>

Kingfish, numbers, were plucked from the ocean surf on bloodworms, said Noel from <b>One Stop Bait & Tackle</b>. Croakers were bloodwormed or clammed from the sea wall at Gardner’s Basin along the back bay. Good-sized summer flounder were winged from the sea wall and the Melrose Avenue jetty in Absecon Inlet. A combo of a minnow and filleted mackerel or a minnow with squid clubbed them. Customers fish all these areas, located near the shop, on foot. The inlet is lined with fish-attracting jetties. Catch the deals on minnows for $8.50 a pint, bloodworms for $10.75 per dozen and three fresh bunker for $5. Sign up for the Beach N Boat Tournament, set for August 22 to 24, for free, by using the number 5072. Without the number, entry is $20. The tournament reportedly will award $1 million if an entrant breaks the New Jersey record for largest summer flounder, and will award another $760,000 for other fish. DO/AC put up the money, and the fish must be caught from anywhere in Atlantic City during those days. In addition to the minnows, bloodworms and fresh bunker, baits stocked include fresh clams, all the frozen bait, like mackerel, mullet and all the different types of squid for flounder fishing, and more, a complete supply. A vending machine dispenses bait afterhours. One Stop, at 416 Atlantic Avenue, also owns a shop with the same name at Atlantic City’s Gardners’ Basin that stocks the same baits and also rents rods. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/One-stop-bait-tackle/362952943747080?rf=151870514855225" target="_blank">One Stop on Facebook</a>.

<b>Margate</b>

Trips on the party boat <b>Keeper</b> still hooked summer flounder, lots of throwbacks, not as many legal-sized as before, but some, on the back bay, Capt. John said. The fishing was okay, good, not bad, still catching. Some quality flounder were still around, and the bay was loaded with bait. John waited for some of the bait, juvenile, to grow bigger, maybe in a couple of weeks, and start schooling down off the flats. He thinks some of the sizeable flounder are up on the flats foraging on the bait, too shallow for the boat to sail. No other fish, like blues, really bit, and just a few sharks and sea robins did. A few of the baby sea bass, three or four per trip, began to be caught that school the bay each summer. The population will probably become larger in a couple of weeks. Minnows and mackerel are provided for bait. Gulps that anglers brought also worked well, and anglers should bring them. The ocean cooled to 59 degrees, but that doesn’t affect the bay’s fishing much.  The Keeper is fishing for summer flounder twice daily from 8 a.m. to 12 noon and 1 to 5 p.m. The trips are only $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and $15 for kids, because the fishing is near port, and the pontoon boat is economical on fuel.

<b>Longport</b>

Southerly wind cooled the ocean close to shore, inverting it, said Capt. Mike from the <b>Stray Cat</b>. The wind direction causes the cooler bottom to rise to the top, near the shore, and that can slow fishing there. But the ocean farther from shore, where the Stray Cat is fishing, for summer flounder in 70 feet, wasn’t affected, and the angling’s been fantastic. Water there, at rock piles, was 70 degrees, like at Ocean City and Great Egg reef. The water was also clear and beautiful. An open-boat trip for flounder was sailing there today, and the open trips for the flatfish are running daily, even with one angler, when no charter is booked. Space remains on an open-boat trip for tuna on July 19, and a couple of others are already sold out around that date. Charters aboard are supposed to fish for tuna and sharks next week.

<b>Ocean City</b>

Half-day trips on the party boat <b>Captain Robbins</b> swung in sea bass, started to throw aboard a few more summer flounder than before and recently caught ling on the ocean, Capt. Victor said. Lots more shorts bit than keepers on those trips closer to shore, but some keepers were mixed in. Full-day trips are fishing farther from shore on certain days. The Captain Robbins is fishing for summer flounder and sea bass on two half-day trips daily from 8 a.m. to 12 noon and 1 to 5 p.m., and will fish for them on full-day trips 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday. The party boat <b>Miss Ocean City</b>, the company’s new vessel, will probably begin fishing on July 16 for summer flounder on the back bay daily. That boat will sail for striped bass on the bay daily in fall.

Boaters couldn’t fish much in the weather, but summer flounder fishing was good on the back bay for them, when they could, said Bill from <b>Fin-Atics</b>. Just a lot of the fish were little, but a few were keepers, and the flounder held in 12 to 15 feet of water, a little shallower than before, because the bay cooled some. Many anglers fished for them with minnows, because of all the small flounder, but the bigger flounder punched bucktails or Gulps. Nothing was heard about flounder fishing on the ocean because of seas, but a few began to be boated there previously. Flounder skittered the surf, pouncing on bucktails with Gulps. Occasional kingfish nibbled in the surf on bloodworms or Fishbites artificial bloods. Nothing was reported about tuna from offshore because of seas.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Weather was lousy, and that was the biggest news, said Mike from <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. Summer flounder were sometimes boated from the bay, not many keepers, but some shorts. Nobody mentioned flounder fishing on the ocean, because of the weather, but flounder started to come from the ocean previously. Quite a few striped bass were popper-plugged from the bay during ideal tides this week, high tides at dusk or dawn. A few weakfish and stripers were hooked at night under the lights. Kingfish began to appear in the surf. A good population of brown and dusky sharks, and a few hammerheads, stalked the ocean 3 to 6 miles from shore. No offshore news was available about tuna and other big game, because of the weather. Crabbing was decent.  

A dozen sharks, three of them larger than 100 pounds, were caught and released on one of the inshore trips for them Wednesday aboard, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b>, affiliated with <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. Most of the sharks were duskies, and one was a hammerhead, small, but cool to see. The anglers, Scott McKay and two sons, fished with mackerel fillets on conventional rods. Fly-fishing could’ve had plenty of opportunities at the sharks, and that angling is also available aboard. The trips catch and release sharks like browns, duskies, spinners and blacktips, some of them required to be let go, close to shore, usually within 10 miles, this time of year. The outings are a chance to fight big fish without the long trek offshore, and the fishing was currently great. A trip Tuesday with Tim Smith, his wife and two 5-year-old daughters fished the back bay. The girls wanted to fish for summer flounder, and the trip tugged in a bunch. The flounder fishing currently “is a family gig,” Joe said. This was a good time for anglers who wanted action with plenty of fish to take the trips. High tides on the bay this week coincided with dusk, ideal for striped bass fishing with popper lures and flies that’s a specialty aboard. Wind killed the opportunity to fish for them for Joe this week. He should’ve gone last night, he said, but was headed offshore to fish for tuna and big game today. No news was heard about tuna, because of wind and weather that prevented trips recently. But weather was now straightening out. Keep up with Joe’s fishing on <a href="http://captainjoehughes.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s blog</a>.

<b>Avalon</b>

Wind blew 20 m.p.h., but a trip landed probably 10 summer flounder on Delaware Bay on Monday with <b>Fins and Feathers Outfitters</b>, Capt. Jim said. Mostly 20-Foot Slough was fished, and seas were too rough, because of the wind, to fish much farther from shore and farther south. The weather limited where the trip could fish, in other words, and the outing fished a little at 60-Foot Slough, along the inshore edge, and came back and fished near the concrete ship close to shore, too. Squid, minnows and Nuclear Chicken Gulps were fished. Lots of sharks bit the minnows fished with squid. But when Gulp was fished, sharks stopped biting, and the flounder seemed to prefer the artificial bait. Jim buys trolling squid to cut in 7- or 8-inch strips, preferring that over the shorter, pre-cut squid available. A trip aboard also fished at Paddy’s Hole along the Intracoastal Waterway in the back bay a short time on Sunday, pumping in two or three flounder. Small bluefish were seen pinning bait against the inlet on slack tide, and a couple were hooked on the bait fished. Other anglers were seen tossing spoons, hooking the blues on every cast. The blues probably schooled there every day. Trips aboard will probably fish the near-shore ocean soon for bluefin tuna, mahi mahi and wahoos.  The water had been entirely clear, when Jim last fished there, and if it stays that way, that’s great for the angling. Fins and Feathers offers a variety of outdoor adventures, including duck and goose hunting during the waterfowl seasons. Anglers can even enjoy a combo of duck hunting and striped bass fishing in fall on Delaware Bay over a series of days.

<b>Wildwood</b>

Fishing for the back bay’s summer flounder was decent, said Mike from <b>Canal Side Boat Rentals</b>. Croakers also schooled the bay, and one customer picked up shrimp in containers the store didn’t usually carry, bailing croakers on them. No snapper bluefish were seen around, and baby sea bass were yet to appear that show up in the bay later this season. Recreational crabbers trapped a few of the blueclaws, up to a dozen or two dozen keepers a trip, but commercial crabbers didn’t fare well. Crabs for eating were yet to be sold at the store this season, because of that. A few people sold crabs, like on the side of the road, but they couldn’t have profited much, because of the price, because of availability. Plenty of minnows are stocked, and baits carried also include frozen herring in three per pack, sand eels, peeler crabs, mackerel fillets, whole mackerel, mullet fillets, whole bunker, bunker fillets, salted clams in quarts and pints, bags of fresh-frozen clams, all the different types of squid, like tube squid, trolling squid, strips of unscented and scented squid, green strips, pink strips and more.  Canal Side rents boats for fishing and crabbing and kayaks. <b>***<i>Get a $5 discount</i>***</b> on a rental boat if you mention Fishing Reports Now. Crabs, both live and cooked, are sold for eating when they become available.

<b>Cape May</b>

The <b>Heavy Hitter</b> is supposed to fish today, after angling aboard was docked in rough weather, Capt. George said. The trip is supposed to sail 4 hours, so will probably bluefish. That’s not long enough to reach summer flounder fishing. But schools of blues could be found in Delaware Bay, and probably at the Cape May Rips. George joined a trip on another boat recently that fought blues on the bay. To reach the best flounder fishing, trips had to sail to the ocean at places like the Old Grounds, off Delaware. Delaware Bay’s flounder fishing was even a 17-mile sail, one way. A couple of tuna trips are booked aboard this weekend. News was scarce about yellowfin tuna fishing at the offshore canyons, because of weather. But weather is supposed to be calmer in the next days. Sometimes bluefin tuna were run into closer to shore on the ocean so far this season. A boater would find them here or there, and nothing consistent was heard about. But that could change quickly, and nobody really sailed for the fish in the last days in the weather. One boater landed bluefins three trips in a row, including nine on one trip, at a particular location. George will probably find out more about tuna this weekend.

Weather cancelled some trips with <b>Melanie Anne Sport Fishing Charters</b>, Capt. Frank said. But a busy slate of fishing aboard is coming up, including trips on Friday, Sunday, Monday and Wednesday, including fishing for tuna offshore. Boats last fished for tuna on Sunday. The angling was slow in rough seas, and in the next days was weathered out. Two trips aboard sailed for summer flounder during the weekend, covered in the last report. The best catches were found at the wrecks, not the reefs. Flounder at the wrecks were big, and plenty of sea bass also bit there. Flounder at the reefs were small, just under keeper size, during the fishing.  

Seas were rough on most days, but some summer flounder were eased aboard the party boat <b>Porgy IV</b>, Capt. Paul said. The fishing wasn’t good on Wednesday in an ocean swell, but that’s supposed to calm in the next days, and maybe the angling would bounce back after a day or two. That trip, with a small crowd, fished closer to port than usual, at Cape May Reef, instead of running farther south. Trips put in “some rough days,” he said, and from Sunday to Tuesday, heavy weights had to be fished, and the boat drifted fast. But some flounder were bagged on those days, and a few of the anglers limited out then. On Sunday, Sam Citron from Wildwood Crest limited out. He returned on Tuesday and bagged one flounder short of a limit, or four flounder. On Monday, John Riccardi from Williamstown limited. On Tuesday, he brought his buddy aboard, Jim Vrabel from Coplay, Pa., who limited. But Riccardi only landed throwback after throwback that day. Pool-winning fluke usually weighed 6 pounds. Pete Martine from Vineland on Sunday bagged two flounder to 6 pounds.  The Porgy IV is fishing for summer flounder at 8 a.m. daily.

Anglers on the back bay were into lots of croakers and a few throwback striped bass, summer flounder and weakfish, said Nick from <b>Hands Too Bait & Tackle</b>. Small sea bass also swam the water. In the surf, kingfishing began to come along fairly well, and fish bloodworms on small hooks for them. Brown sharks, required to be released, still bit in the surf. They occasionally did during daytime, but mostly did in evenings or at night. On Delaware Bay, flounder fishing sounded good at Flounder Alley and the stakes toward there. At Bug Light on the bay, croakers and weakfish held. Cape May Channel should give up a mix of kings, croakers, spike weakfish and flounder this time of year. Seas were too rough to hear about flounder fishing on the ocean, but were forecast to become calmer now. Offshore was too rough for tuna and big-game news. Or the news heard wasn’t good in the seas. Minnows, bloodworms and fresh clams are stocked.

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