<b>Keyport</b>

The fall striped bass run was in full swing, Capt. Frank from the <b>Vitamin Sea</b> wrote in an email. Just fantastic, he said, and every trip aboard limited out on the fish and played catch and release with many more recently. Anglers with bonus tags also filled their tags on each trip. The bigger stripers on trips weighed 25 pounds. “The jig bite is really good,” he said, and rubber shads “are the ticket.” Charters are fishing, and one spot apiece is available on open-boat trips Thursday and Sunday. Weather looks windy for Wednesday and Friday, but if forecasts change, open trips will also fish then. “If you wait, it may be too late,” he said. Get your dose of Vitamin Sea!

Striped bass fishing was great now, said Capt. Mario from the <b>Down Deep Fleet</b>. Bottom-fishing was okay for sea bass to 4 pounds. Some days fished better than others for them. Big porgies to 3 pounds bit on the bottom trips. Blackfishing was super on the outings. Charters and open-boat trips are sailing for either stripers or bottom-fishing on Down Deep’s two boats. Join the <a href=" http://www.downdeepsportfishing.com/ddsf/76-2/" target="_blank">Short Notice List</a> on Down Deep’s website to be kept informed about special open trips. Also see the site’s open-trips page for available dates.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

The season’s first bottom-fishing trip sailed Saturday on the party boat <b>Fishermen</b>, Capt. Ron wrote in a report on the vessel’s website. The ocean was “nasty,” but porgies, sea bass and blackfish were pasted. The porgies were good-sized, and the blackfish bit once current began to run, late in the trip. Previously, the daytime trips fished for striped bass daily, and those trips will resume, once striper fishing improves during daytime. Nighttime trips nailed some good striper fishing the past couple of nights, Ron wrote in the report Saturday, the most recent posted at press time. A 29-pounder won the pool Thursday night.  The Fisherman is fishing for porgies, sea bass and blackfish 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily. Trips are sailing for stripers 6:30 to 11:30 p.m. every Monday through Saturday. <b>***Update, Tuesday, 10/27:***</b> It’s striper time! Ron wrote in a report on the boat’s website. Daytime trips will fish for stripers 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily starting Friday. The angling picked up. Last night’s trip bagged more than 30 stripers, and this was a solid week for the nighttime trips.

Trips fished different areas, made lots of drops aboard, since sea bass season was opened Thursday, said Capt. Tom from the party boat <b>Atlantic Star</b>. Porgies, sea bass and a few blackfish were swung in, and some spots gave up the fish longer than others. Most of the porgies were especially big, and few were throwbacks. The sea bass were mixed sizes, and some places held more than others. The blackfish were also a mix of sizes, and anglers who brought crabs for bait hooked them. Clams are supplied aboard. The Atlantic Star is fishing for sea bass, porgies and blackfish 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily. Forecasts looked like Wednesday and Thursday will be windy. Tom expects to give an update on whether trips will sail those days. 

<b>Neptune</b>

Big sea bass, big porgies and big triggerfish were whipped on trips that sailed daily for them with <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b> since sea bass season opened Thursday, Capt. Ralph wrote in an email. Most of the trips returned early, and striped bass fishing broke wide open the last few days. Ralph hadn’t emailed in some time, because fishing aboard was so busy. “Since October 21, we have had a great offshore cod trip,” he wrote. An individual-reservation trip will fish mid-range wrecks, 25 to 55 miles from shore, on November 18 for big sea bass, big porgies, cod and pollock, limited to 12 passengers. Individual-reservation trips for blackfish will sail November 16 and 20, and more of the trips will be scheduled. The blackfish bag limit will be increased to six beginning November 16, from the current limit of one. “Get your Thanksgiving charters together,” Ralph said. Thanksgiving will be the only day no charter fishes that weekend.

<b>Belmar</b>

“Some bass in the surf,” Bob from <b>Fisherman’s Den</b> wrote in an email. Vinny D’Antone and Frank Conover dragged seven striped bass to 10 pounds from the surf. The bass fed on sand eels, and the anglers hooked the fish on Tsunami sand eels. Bill Massey fly-rodded stripers from the surf. “Go get them,” Bob said.

For <b>Parker Pete’s Fishing Charters</b>, striped bass fishing on the ocean was decent Thursday, Capt. Pete said. The angling slowed Friday and Saturday for trips on the boat, and no trip fished for stripers Sunday aboard. But other boaters ran into stripers chasing bunker Sunday afternoon. Parker Pete’s is snagging bunker then livelining the bait for the bass when possible. When bunker are “up,” the fishing seems best.  The trips aboard are also trolling stripers. Pete hopes striper fishing especially picks up after the current full moon. Sea bass fishing was decent for boaters who could sail farther from shore. Parker Pete’s couldn’t sail that far in wind in past days. 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.

Good fishing for big blues 10 to 18 pounds was smoked Sunday on the <b>Golden Eagle</b>, a report on the party boat’s website said. The angling was decent for 10- o 18-pounders on Saturday’s trip, and good for the same-sized blues on Friday’s trip. The fishing wasn’t as good on Thursday’s trip, but blues were picked, and lots of sea bass were slung in. The Golden Eagle is fishing at 7:30 a.m. daily.

Near bottom was paved with bluefish readings, and fishing for the 12- to 17-pounders was good overall on Friday’s trip on the <b>Miss Belmar Princess</b>, an email from the party boat said. The catches “would come and go,” it said, and bluefishing was great for up to 18-pounders on Saturday’s trip. The fish were hooked immediately, and were hooked until time for the trip to return to port. Sizable sea bass were mixed in, and the Miss Belmar Princess is fishing for striped bass and blues 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily.

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

Tuna trips will be added for November aboard, because the fishing’s still good, the party boat <b>Gambler</b>’s Facebook page said. The trips will sail at 8 p.m. Mondays to 8 p.m. Tuesdays, and striped bass trips will sail every other day of the week. The first tuna trip is already sold out on November 2 to 3. To book the tuna trips, telephone 732-295-7569 or <a href="https://www.zerve.com/TheGambler " target="_blank">click here</a> to book online. The striper trips will begin Sunday, running 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. every Wednesday through Monday.

<b>Brielle</b>

Boat traffic was a madhouse on opening day of sea bass season Thursday, Capt. Ryan from the party boat <b>Jamaica II</b> wrote in an email. Anglers picked away at sea bass, big porgies, winter flounder and cod aboard that day, “but not that great,” he said. The fishing was much better Friday, and boat traffic backed off. A number of anglers limited out on big sea bass and shoveled aboard a good number of jumbo porgies on that day’s trip. The patrons included Dave Nelson from Trenton, who limited out on sea bass and bagged 41 large porgies, and “Big” John Ferguson from South Plainfield, who limited out on sea bass and bagged 32 porgies. The Jamaica II is fishing for sea bass daily.

Quite a few longfin tuna and a few yellowfin tuna seemed boated on the east side of Hudson Canyon toward the 100 Square, said Eric from <b>The Reel Seat</b>. Mostly yellowfins seemed to swim the west corner, and all the tuna were chunked, overnight and during daytime. Some were jigged on the chunk, and a handful of swordfish were landed on the overnight chunk. Closer to shore, sea bass fishing was kind of up and down. Sea bass season was opened starting Thursday, and the fish seemed to migrate farther from shore, biting well in 80 to 100 feet. Mixed results were heard from shallower. Porgies bit in the shallower water, at Shrewsbury Rocks and Sandy Hook Reef. Blackfishing was good, and the tautog still swam close to shore, in 30 to 50 feet. Striped bass were found everywhere from Raritan Bay to down the ocean coast. Along the ocean coast, some days fished better for them than others, and the angling was kind of picky, or not a ton of the fish schooled. But stripers to 40 pounds were boated. They were trolled on bunker spoons or hooked on bunker snagged for bait then livelined. Trolling umbrella rigs and Mojos could attract lots of smaller stripers from throwbacks to 17 or 18 pounds. From the surf, stripers were beached up and down the coast at night on small Bomber Long Shots, the new, small Daiwa SP Minnows and teasers, because small baitfish schooled. Sometimes bunker barreled into the surf toward Monmouth Beach and Sea Bright, then bigger stripers 20 and 30 pounds were hooked. Hickory shad swam the surf, especially around Shark River and Manasquan inlets. So they were often fought at Bradley Beach to Belmar and at Manasquan and Point Pleasant Beach. Hickory shad swam Manasquan River, and stripers held in the river at the Railroad Bridge and the Route 35 Bridge and in Point Pleasant Canal. Most were throwbacks, but stripers 20 and 30 pounds were sometimes eeled in the canal, and also the river. Blackfishing was good at the canal, on green crabs, if the scarce crabs could be obtained, and otherwise on clams or sandworms.

<b>Seaside Heights</b>

Not much was doing with striped bass fishing during daylight in the surf, a report on <b>The Dock Outfitters</b>’ website said. But first light and low light were “a different matter,” it said. Small to keeper-sized stripers were winged then on bait and swimming lures like Daiwa SP Minnows. “This bite is no blitz, by any means, but a good indication that the fish are moving into the area,” it said. Easterly wind seemed to cause a few keepers to be weighed-in Saturday and Sunday from the beach, and most were taken on cut bunker. Air and water temperatures were cooling, and plenty of baitfish swam the surf. That should cause more stripers to move in. 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>

Tuna fishing was pretty good, Capt. Ted said, on an overnight trip Wednesday to Thursday at Hudson Canyon on the <b>Super Chic</b>. Yellowfin tuna to 70 pounds and a 90-pound swordfish were heaved in. Eighteen mahi mahi to 15 or 16 pounds, including some sizable, were bagged, when the trip arrived at the canyon and first fished for them at lobster buoys. All the tuna were chunked, mostly at night. Tuna fishing was tough on an overnighter Saturday to Sunday in screaming current at the Hudson. Seas weren’t rough, but the current was too strong. A handful of yellowfins were landed. Sea bass fishing was good on trips Friday and Saturday at ocean wrecks in 80 to 90 feet. Friday’s eight anglers limited out on the fish to 3 pounds. Saturday’s nine anglers nearly limited. A trip this coming Friday is supposed to sail for bluefish. A trip Saturday is supposed to bottom-fish, but Ted will see. Sea bass catches might fade quickly, he thinks.

Current ripped on a tuna trip Saturday night on the <b>Miss Barnegat Light</b>, a report on the party boat’s website said. That was tough to fish, and a few yellowfin tuna and longfin tuna were picked early in the night. A good blast of big yellowfins showed up at first light, and some were caught, and some were lost. On the previous trip, tuna fishing was decent throughout Friday night. Current ran strong, but flatlined sardines hooked the tuna. The fish began biting in the first hour of fishing and were picked steadily throughout the night, until a couple of blue sharks and a sizable mako shark were a nuisance a couple of hours. Three anglers limited out on yellowfins and bagged some longfins and mahi mahi. Two swordfish were boated, and a white marlin was released. Trips are exclusively fishing for tuna throughout October aboard, and this is the final week of the month. See the <a href="http://www.missbarnegatlight.com/TunaFishing.html" target="_blank">tuna schedule</a> online.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

Little Egg Reef, Garden State Reef South and Atlantic City Reef gave up good numbers of sea bass and porgies, including some good-sized, on opening day of sea bass season Thursday, a report said that day on <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>’s website. That was the most recent report at press time, and both fish were sometimes 14 to 18 inches. A few stripers were around. The mouth of Mullica River and different holes in Nacote Creek and Bass River were some better places to try for them. Striper fishing seemed to slow a bit in Mullica River, for unknown reasons. The shop expects to keep reporting about that, in case that changes. Fishing eels was the “preferred method” to fish for the stripers. The main body of big, migrating stripers in the ocean reached as far south as Barnegat Inlet. “They are sooo close that we can almost taste them,” the report said. The bunker netter said bunker schooled as close to shore as 18-foot depths off the Red Tower. That’s wonderful, because the baitfish could hold migrating stripers close to shore, when they arrive, the report said. An angler posted a report about trying for stripers on the ocean off Long Beach Island on Friday. The trip began trolling in 30 feet off Little Egg Inlet, fishing as far north as the dredge, covering depths 15 to 50 feet, and nothing bit. The angler spoke with other boaters fishing the area, and none scored bites either. “It just seems the bass aren’t here yet,” the angler wrote. Or maybe they weren’t biting, he said. Maybe the 62-degree ocean was too warm, he said. Lots of bait was marked in 30-foot depths. The angler expected to try again this week. “Hopefully, some will show,” he said. His trip trolled spoons, Stretch 25 and 30 lures and umbrella rigs. Seas were “very sporty,” he said, during morning in a northeast swell, and became calmer as the day continued. Catch the owner of Tony Maja Products at 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the shop. He’ll give a seminar and answer questions, and the complete line of Maja striper trolling spoons and tackle will be available for that day only.

<b>Brigantine</b>

A photo of a striped bass bagged from Brigantine’s surf Saturday night was posted in a report on <b>Riptide Bait & Tackle</b>’s website. “I’m thinking that maybe these fish are afraid of the sunlight?” Capt. Andy from the shop wrote in the report. A photo of a 31-incher weighed from the island’s surf was posted Friday on the store’s Facebook page. The angler had been catching them pretty well, “as she is up early and putting her time in,” the page said. Good-sized stripers were sometimes beached from the surf farther north in the state. “The anticipation of the fall run is making me crazy,” Andy wrote. A 47-inch 33-1/2-pound striper was checked-in from Brigantine’s surf at Riptide some weeks ago. The fish had a tag, and the angler now heard back about the tag. The bass was tagged in January 2008 off North Carolina, was 40 ½ inches then, and was now estimated to be 19 years old. Boaters from Brigantine scored well on small stripers, some of them keepers, in the back bay at night on live bait or the 6-1/2-inch Gulp Nemesis. An angler reported to the shop that blackfishing was good along Absecon Inlet’s jetties on both the Brigantine and Atlantic City sides. The Cooke Plumbing Riptide Striper Bounty was up to $560 on Thursday, when the shop last reported the amount for a report here. The bounty is awarded for the season’s first striper 43 inches or larger weighed-in from Brigantine’s surf. Entry is $5, and all the cash is awarded, so the bounty will grow. The angler with the 47-incher hadn’t entered the bounty. The <a href=" https://www.facebook.com/events/101452876877022/" target="_blank">Elks Fall Fishing Classic</a> will take place November 13 to 15 at Brigantine. Click the link for more info.

<b>Longport</b>

Trips fished hard for sea bass inshore on the <b>Stray Cat</b>, Capt. Mike said. The angling was a slow pick, and a few sizable sea bass were cranked in. Triggerfish were boxed, and a good-sized striped bass was bagged when a trip fished within 3 miles from shore. The striper bit a pigfish a foot off bottom at a piece. Trips aboard will now fish farther from shore for sea bass, at wrecks 30 miles from the coast, because the angling sounded good there. These past trips fished out to 20 miles, but sea bassing was better 6 miles from shore than 20. The fish were apparently migrating offshore. The ocean was 62 degrees during the angling. Mike expected trips to be weathered out in wind today through Wednesday. Open-boat trips will fish the 30-mile wrecks 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. The fare was increased somewhat for open trips. Charters are also fishing. Trips will switch to striped bass fishing around November 18. Blackfishing will also begin aboard on November 16, when the blackfish bag limit is increased to six, from the current limit of one. Combo striper/blackfish trips will sail.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b> wrapped up annual traveling charters to Montauk, and will now fish the migration of striped bass and blues from Sea Isle City, he said. The migration usually picks up in November, and the angling was surprisingly good last year. Peter Rotelli and buddy fished aboard at Montauk this weekend. They totaled nine false albacore, some on flies, some on Deadly Dicks, and a striped bass on Saturday. On Sunday they fished a different spot off Montauk aboard, because conditions were different. Plenty of albies swam that day, but were finicky, difficult to catch. The hooks were pulled on three albies on that trip. Just a tough day, Joe said. The Montauk trips fish the migration of stripers, blues and false albacore each fall. Annual traveling charters will fish the Florida Keys from Christmas to Easter. See <a href=" http://www.captainjoehughes.com/page3.html" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s traveling charters Web page</a>. Joe will also fish for sea bass from Sea Isle now. Buddies on this opening weekend of sea bass season scored well on sea bass, not big, but good catches, 20 or 30 miles from shore. Keep up with Joe’s fishing on <a href="http://captainjoehughes.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s Blog</a>.

<b>Wildwood</b>

Catches of sea bass were okay, said Capt. Jim from <b>Fins & Grins Sport Fishing</b>. Blackfish were mixed in, and bluefish and croakers still schooled. Mixed-bag fishing, he said, and trips will sail for whatever anglers would like. Anglers waited for the migration of big striped bass to arrive locally in the ocean. The fish still schooled north, and Jim knew about someone in Connecticut still catching them. At Wildwood, throwback stripers about 24 inches bit in the back bay. Fins & Grins fishes every day, and reservations aren’t required but suggested. Telephone for availability.

<b>Cape May</b>

Sea bass fishing was alright, pretty good, Saturday on the <b>Heavy Hitter</b>, 30 miles from shore, Capt. George said. The anglers, Tom Ebbecke from Newfield’s Accresce Nursery’s crew, hooked lots of small, but keepers mixed in. Lots of 3-pound blues and many small porgies, as big as a hand, were also landed. Another sea bass trip was cancelled Sunday aboard, because of forecasts for winds and seas. Saturday’s trip met an ocean swell, a rough, rolling one, though no white caps. That was rougher than forecast, and seas calmed as the day continued. A couple of boaters who fished Sunday said the ocean was very rough. That seemed to calm in the afternoon, and wind calmed in the afternoon, when George was at the dock. Trips will fish for striped bass and blackfish soon. Striper fishing’s been best in November locally in recent years. Blackfishing will begin once the bag limit is increased to six of the tautog starting November 16, from the current limit of one.

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