<b>Keyport</b>

Striped bass fishing was slow Saturday but good Sunday on the <b>Vitamin Sea</b>, Capt. Frank wrote in an email. Game on, he said, and the anglers limited out on the bass to 20 pounds and bagged a couple of extra with bonus tags. Wind blew, but the anglers fished harder, he said. Great day on the water, and the fall run is on. Charters are fishing, and the next open-boat trips will fish Wednesday and Thursday. Only a few spots remain.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

Stripers rolled along the water surface on today’s trip on the party boat <b>Fishermen</b>, Capt. Ron wrote in a report on the vessel’s website. Finally beginning to see some fish, though the bite didn’t last long, he said. Two anglers landed two sizable stripers, and a throwback was caught. A couple of stripers were missed, and then the bite was finished. Then the trip tried eeling for stripers, but that was no good. Water temperature was 59 degrees, and rubber shads and Tsunamis caught best. Bring shads, Tsunamis, jigs with and without tails and a heavier rod for the eeling. On Tuesday’s trip, “we should have an extra hour of the change (of tide),” Ron said. Weather looks good for trips this week. Let’s hope striper fishing heats up, he said. The Fishermen is sailing for stripers 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily and 6:30 to 11:30 p.m. every Monday through Saturday.

A few blackfish and a few porgies were bucketed, and a few out-of-season sea bass were released, on Sunday morning’s trip on the party boat <b>Atlantic Star</b>, Capt. Tom said. But the angling wasn’t good, and not enough time was available to fish more spots, but one three-quarter-day trip will fish daily starting today aboard, instead of the two half-day trips that fished daily previously. The longer trip allows the boat to be sailed farther to reach the fish migrating farther from port, and the schedule change is made every year. No trip fished Sunday afternoon. Beginning on Thursday, opening day of sea bass season, sea bass will be able to be bagged.  The Atlantic Star is fishing 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily.

<b>Neptune</b>

Fishing sailed Friday with <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b>, “but we had the ‘off’ day for stripers,” Capt. Ralph said. None of the fish was boated. Two bottom-fishing trips were weathered out, because of wind, during the weekend. A cod trip is being rescheduled for Wednesday from Tuesday, because of weather. A few spaces are available for an individual-reservation trip for sea bass October 27. Sea bass season will be opened starting Thursday. Not many spaces remain for an individual-reservation trip for blackfish November 16. The bag limit will be increased to six blackfish that day, from the current limit of one. Only a few dates are available for charters. Better reserve, if you want to fish. <b>***Update, Monday, 10/19:***</b> Two spaces became available on the cod trip Wednesday, and weather looks good, Ralph wrote in an email.

<b>Belmar</b>

Weather became windy this weekend, and striped bass fishing was hit and miss on the ocean, said Capt. Pete from <b>Parker Pete’s Fishing Charters</b>. Bluefishing was good. False albacore were around, and angling for them was hit and miss, too. Striped bass seemed around now, and fishing for them seemed a matter of getting on a pod when they wanted to feed. Plenty of stripers seemed to remain farther north off Long Island. Don’t have enough anglers for a charter? Contact Parker Pete’s anyway, about individual spaces available on charters. Visit <a href=" http://www.parkerpetefishing.com/" target="_blank">Parker Pete’s website</a> to subscribe to the email blast to be kept informed about the spaces. Look for the place to sign up on the right side of the page, where it says Join Our Newsletter. <b>***Update, Monday, 10/19:***</b> Charters who need individuals to fill their trips include those on October 27 and November 5 and 6, Pete wrote in an email. Telephone or email to jump aboard, and the trips fill quickly. Fish are divided evenly among the group.

Big bluefish 14 to 18 pounds began to be jigged right away on Sunday’s trip on the <b>Miss Belmar Princess</b>, an email from the party boat said. The trip’s fishing was good, and the boat was anchored at a mound just west of the Mudhole. Readings were excellent from bottom to 20 feet up, and Ava 47 jigs, with and without tails, caught great. Two anglers tied for the pool with 18-pounders. The Miss Belmar Princess is fishing for striped bass and blues 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily.

Blues 10 to 18 pounds, a good catch, were slugged today on the <b>Golden Eagle</b>, a report on the party boat’s website said. Sunday’s trip picked at big blues in seas that were somewhat rough. Saturday’s trip’s fishing for big blues was super, couldn’t be better, and Friday’s trip picked at large blues. Trips are fishing at 7:30 a.m. daily, and Tuesday’s trip is expected to be canceled, because of wind. A tuna trip is slated for Sunday to Monday, and the angling was good on the last one of the trips aboard, and contact the boat to reserve.

<b>Brielle</b>

Great fishing on the last several trips, an email from the party boat <b>Jamaica II</b> said Saturday. Ling fishing was excellent on the most recent trip to the Mudhole, giving up 30 to 40 apiece for some anglers. A charter Friday whaled blues to 20 pounds. A cod trip Saturday was “interesting,” it said. Weather was somewhat windy, but the trip was great. Quite a few good-sized cod were bagged. Bushels of jumbo porgies were pasted. A good smattering of huge winter flounder were taken. “Regulars Wes and Mark managed eight keeper cod,” it said. A number of anglers totaled three or four, and a cooler of other fish, apiece. Large bluefish were a nuisance. Anglers needed to reel up other fish quickly so the blues wouldn’t bite the catch in half.  Lots of giant sea bass were released, and won’t be, starting Thursday, it said. That’s opening day of sea bass season. Ten-hour sea bass trips will sail at 7:30 a.m. Thursday, Friday and October 28 and November 3, 5 and 9.  Twelve-hour sea bass trips will sail at 5 a.m. Sunday and November 1, 8, 11 and 15. Fourteen-hour sea bass trips will run at 3 a.m. every Saturday, and telephone to reserve those trips. Three-quarter-day sea bass trips will sail next Monday and October 27, 29 and 30 and November 2, 4, 6 and 10.

Good numbers of longfin tuna and yellowfin tuna remained at Hudson Canyon between the Notch and the 100 Square, said Eric from <b>The Reel Seat</b>. The fish, 30- to 50 pound longfins and 50- to 70-pound yellowfins, were chunked during nighttime and daylight. On some days, the angling was great. On others, the tuna were picked but caught. Limiting out on yellowfins wasn’t so difficult. Catches of bigeye tuna seemed to taper off. Swordfish were landed on the trips, and weren’t huge, but some weighed 150 or 200 pounds. Closer to shore, fishing for ling and cod was fair during the week. Winter flounder were still mixed in, yet to migrate inshore. Nothing was heard about flounder in Manasquan River, and seemed nobody tried for them. More will probably be heard about flounder from the river in a week or two. Porgies were boated to the north, at Shrewsbury Rocks and Sandy Hook Reef. A pile of sea bass were mixed in, so sea bassing should be good when sea bass season is opened starting Thursday. Striped bass fishing was pretty good, not incredible, but holding its own, on the ocean from Shark River Inlet to Shrewsbury Rocks. The bass included up to 40- and 50-pounders, and were hooked on bunker snagged then livelined for bait and trolled bunker spoons, Mojos and umbrella rigs. Boats sailing for bluefish scored pretty well on big ones, weighing up to the upper teens, on the ocean toward Shark River Reef. Quite a few false albacore were boated from about Shrewsbury Rocks to Sandy Hook. Blackfishing was good at Point Pleasant Canal, and green crabs for bait became more available, after being scarcer. Sandworms and clams were also fished for them. Anglers picked away at stripers in the canal, landing just over keeper-sized on eels, and small stripers and blues on jigs. Manasquan River was loaded with bait. A pod of stripers will only need to arrive in the river this fall, and fishing for the bass will explode, because of the bait. In the surf, striper fishing was best or most consistent farther north at Sandy Hook, Monmouth Beach, Long Branch and Elberon. Some of the fish were picked farther south toward Sea Girt, Manasquan and Point Pleasant Beach. Blues 5 and 6 pounds were fought from the surf.   

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

Awesome tuna catch again on the party boat <b>Gambler</b>, a report on the vessel’s website said Friday. A 36-hour trip fished Hudson Canyon from Wednesday to Thursday with 22 anglers. The boat was first drifted for mahi mahi, and the fish gave up exciting fishing for the dolphin to 12 pounds for 3 hours. Then the boat was settled on anchor. Tuna fishing was slow to start, but good flurries of the catches began, with lulls between. Yellowfin tuna 30 to 100 pounds, longfin tuna 30 to 50 pounds and a 150-pound bigeye tuna were cracked. The angling slowed by 6 a.m., but the anglers had enough tuna. So the trip hit a deep wreck 10 miles west of the canyon. More than 20 pollock and three jumbo white hake were caught. Great trip, terrific numbers and lots of diversity, the report said.  See the <a href=" http://www.gamblerfishing.net/offshoretrips.php" target="_blank">tuna schedule</a> online. More of the trips will be added for November.

Fall weather was here, and the breeze and cold seemed to keep anglers from showing up for bottom-fishing this weekend on the <b>Norma-K III</b>, Capt. Matt wrote in an email. Too few anglers showed up for the trips to sail. But today’s bottom trip was expected to fish in better weather. Friday night’s trip picked away at 13- to 20-pound blues. The angling would’ve been better, but current made the fishing tough. Conditions were better for Saturday night’s trip, and bluefishing was great. The Norma-K III is fishing for ling and cod 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily through Wednesday. The trips will switch to sea bass starting Thursday, opening day of sea bass season. Sea bass will be targeted until the trips switch to blackfish beginning November 16. The bag limit is increased to six of the tautog starting that day, from the current limit of one. Trips are bluefishing 7:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. every Friday and Saturday.

<b>Seaside Heights</b>

Some striped bass were weighed from the surf the last few days, a report said Friday on <b>The Dock Outfitters</b>’ website. The fish swiped swimming plugs at first light and before first light. Lots of minnow-sized bait schooled, so thin-profiled swimming plugs and metal caught. Plenty of small bluefish were around in the surf. Green crabs are now stocked. The season to troll stripers is here, and a couple of big sales are under way on trolling gear. Tony Maja bunker spoons are 15 percent off, and Maja bunker-spoon rods, with Penn 113HSP reels, spooled with 50-pound mono backing and 300 feet of monel wire, are $349. The shop’s now carrying 9er umbrella rigs and replacement hooks and baits. 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>

A two-day tuna trip would return today that departed Saturday on the party boat <b>Miss Barnegat Light</b>, a report on the vessel’s website said. An overnight tuna trip Friday to Saturday smashed 52 yellowfin tuna and longfin tuna. Two hours passed before the first bit, but then a steady pick began, and sometimes multiple tuna were hooked at once. See the <a href="http://www.missbarnegatlight.com/TunaFishing.html" target="_blank">tuna schedule</a> online.

Anglers fished Hudson Canyon overnight Friday to Saturday on the <b>Super Chic</b>, Capt. Ted said. Twenty-four tuna – nine yellowfins averaging 40 to 80 pounds and 15 longfins averaging 30 to 60  – were chunked. Seas were rough on the ride home, but the fishing was good.  The first tuna, a longfin, bit within 15 minutes of the boat being anchored at 3:30 p.m. A handful of longfins were landed when a blast of the fish showed up just after sunset. Then yellowfins were picked throughout the night. Blue sharks were a bother for some time. Another shot of longfins was caught at first light. Only the Super Chic and the party boats Gambler, Miss Barnegat Light, Jamaica and Voyager fished the area during the trip, in rougher weather forecasts. Another one of the trips is supposed to fish Wednesday to Thursday on the Super Chic, and forecasts look good. Sea bass trips are supposed to sail Friday and Saturday, after sea bass season is opened starting Thursday. More tuna trips are set for Saturday to Sunday and next Monday to Tuesday.

<b>Beach Haven</b>

Offshore angling was weathered out during the weekend on the <b>June Bug</b>, Capt. Lindsay said. A trip probably could’ve fished for the tuna Saturday, but anglers couldn’t go then. More of the fishing is slated for two weekends from now, and Lindsay is trying to get anglers together to fish the blue water this weekend. Party boats got into some great catches of good-sized yellowfin tuna and longfin tuna. The fish didn’t only bite at Hudson Canyon, like before, but some slid south to Toms Canyon and maybe Carteret Canyon, though info was unconfirmed about the Carteret. If tuna fishing was a little slow to begin on trips, the outings fished for mahi mahi at lobster pot buoys, until tuna fishing.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

Reports rolled in steadily about striped bass angled from Mullica River, and some anglers caught them, and some didn’t, a report said on <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>’s website. Right place, right time. Early morning and dusk fished best, and throwbacks were more likely to bite during daytime, but they were fun to release. Eels caught best, and a few stripers, not many, were hooked from Little Egg Inlet. A keeper was taken the other morning. An angler posted a report on the site about a trip that searched for stripers from Sheepshead Creek to the inlet Thursday evening with fresh clams, eels and popper lures. A couple of stingrays and sharks, no stripers, were reeled in. Stripers just barely began to appear in the ocean. But if anglers wanted to dust off the trolling gear, they could give the fish a try. Bluefish could also be around, and don’t be surprised if one bites. Trolling gear stocked includes Mojos in chartreuse and white from 16 to 32 ounces. Tony Maja bunker spoons and 9ers could also be trolled. For blackfishing, the sod banks near the Rutgers research station, and miscellaneous holes in the bay, were good places to look. Fishing for both stripers and blackfish was better at Barnegat Inlet. Fish slack tides for blackfish.

<b>Longport</b>

Trips fished Thursday and Friday on the <b>Stray Cat</b> on the ocean, Capt. Mike said. Lots of bluefish and weakfish were hooked. Good-sized sea bass were released, even biting at Ocean City Reef, closer to shore than expected. Sea bass trips are sold out Thursday, opening day of sea bass season, and Saturday. Space is available on open-boat trips for sea bass Friday and Monday. All those trips could also fish for blackfish and blues hovering along ocean wrecks. Mike trapped some crabs for blackfish bait that Thursday’s trip will probably fish. “Got a few crabs in the (crab) hotel,” he said. Telephone for dates for other open trips. The ocean was 64 degrees. The bluefish spit up spearing, and the sea bass spit up sand eels. Bunker seemed to school farther from shore. Seas were too rough for Thursday’s and Friday’s trips to head that far off. But Mike saw bunker farther out, the last time he sailed there. Striper trips are available for when stripers arrive this season. Combo striper and blackfish trips will run, once six becomes the blackfish bag limit starting November 16, from the current limit of one.

<b>Avalon</b>

For <b>Fins and Feathers Outfitters</b>, striped bass fishing usually begins in November, Capt. Jim said. Trips fish for the bass on Delaware Bay or the ocean, wherever’s best. Trips that do a combo of striper fishing a day and duck hunting a day also sail the bay in November. Fins offers a variety of outdoor adventures, including duck and goose hunting on Delaware Bay and in nearby states, following the migrations, during the waterfowl seasons. Salmon fishing on upstate New York’s Salmon River began for the season from Jim’s nearby lodge on Wednesday through the weekend. A fantastic run of the fish migrated the river then. The salmon were difficult to land, because of crowds of anglers. One of the salmon was inches from being netted, when another angler crossed his line with the hooked fish’s line, and the salmon got off. The river ran fairly low at 325 or 350 cubic feet per second. Maybe water would be released from the reservoir, and that usually sparks more salmon to migrate into the river, from Lake Ontario. The reservoir was low, but water is usually still released from the dam to cause more salmon to migrate up. Few dead salmon were seen, so the run was probably still early and should last. Jim would recommend heading to the lodge in the next weekend or two.  The fishing looked good, and he was excited. Salmon migrate to the river to spawn, and die there after spawning. Friday was probably in the 50 degrees along the river. Saturday turned cloudy, and rain and sleet fell, and wind blew 15 m.p.h., and the day was 31 or 32 degrees. The fishing seemed to shut down that day, because of the weather. The lodge’s anglers fished with artificial eggs. The salmon seemed to bite early and late in the day, turning off from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. A fair number of steelheads swam the river, and they migrate to the river in fall, mostly after salmon do. The steelheading then becomes world-class, like the salmon fishing is. A few brown trout caught were heard about from the river. Fins also fly-fishes for trout on Pennsylvania’s streams like the Yellow Breeches.

<b>Wildwood</b>

Capt. Jim from <b>Fins & Grins Sport Fishing</b> was waiting for sea bass season to open starting this Thursday, and for striped bass to show up this fall, he said. A bottom-fishing trip Saturday picked up weakfish, blues and a couple of croakers. He was away previously that week. Otherwise, Fins & Grins fishes every day, and reservations aren’t required but suggested. Telephone for availability.

<b>Cape May</b>

Daily sea bass trips will fish wrecks starting Thursday on the party boat <b>Porgy IV</b>, Capt. Paul said. That’s opening day of sea bass season, and he doesn’t know whether trips will fish for striped bass, if stripers show up this season, he said. The boat sails at 8 a.m. 

None of Cape May’s boats seemed to fish in the wind this weekend, said Capt. George from the <b>Heavy Hitter</b>. He’s waiting for sea bass season to open beginning Thursday, and for the striped bass migration to arrive. That usually happens in November at Cape May. Tuna trips will sail, if tuna show up within range of the port. Blackfish trips will begin once the bag limit is hiked to six of the tautog starting November 16, from the current limit of one.

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