<b>Keyport</b>

Striped bass began to bite in Raritan Bay for the <b>Down Deep Fleet</b>, Capt. Mario said. Twenty-one keepers were landed Sunday aboard, and plenty of throwbacks also bit on trips, and bluefish also hit. That all gave up action “to keep anglers happy.” Keeper stripers measured up to 34 inches, and the trips mostly fished with Storm Shads. Open-boat trips are fishing for stripers daily, and open trips for sea bass will also fish daily beginning Saturday, opening day of sea bass season. Looks like sea bass season will be good, he said. Charters are available, and join the <a href=" http://downdeepsportfishing.com/short-notice-list/" target="_blank">Short Notice List</a> on Down Deep’s website to be kept informed about special open trips.

“I think the only way to be successful in business is to be honest, so here it is,” Capt. Frank from the <b>Vitamin Sea</b> wrote in an email. Striped bass fishing became tough and frustrating the last few days. Tons of bait schooled Raritan Bay, and pods of stripers were marked on the fish finder everywhere. But getting the bass to bite was the problem. Readings that usually produce catches produced none. Some throwbacks were landed on the past few trips, and one of the trips caught no stripers. “No charter boat captain wants to disappoint, but unfortunately it happens,” he said. There was no lack of stripers, just lack of bites. That will change, and good striper fishing will come, he wrote. Because of a cancelation, an open-boat trip will fish Sunday, unless a charter books the date. Next week is full, except for an open-boat trip next Thursday.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

“We’re getting there,” said Jay from <b>Julian’s Bait & Tackle</b>. Small striped bass were boated locally, including on eels at Flynn’s Knoll and off Sandy Hook Point. Bigger were trolled on the ocean off Monmouth Beach and at Shrewsbury Rocks on Mojos and spoons. Boating for stripers could be excellent at times. Surf casters beached tiny stripers at Sandy Hook. Fishing for porgies faded in and out. Those who targeted blackfish, despite the one-blackfish bag limit, scored well. All baits are stocked.

Daytime trips on the <b>Fishermen</b> had been going to begin striped bass fishing yesterday, Capt. Ron wrote in a report on the party boat’s website. But the trips are continuing to bottom-fish instead. “Tough to leave fish to look for fish when it’s not ready yet,” he said. Eighty-degree weather didn’t help. On yesterday’s trip, bottom-fishing slugged away at some good-sized porgies and some winter flounder, blackfish, out-of-season sea bass that were released, blowfish and mackerel. Local waters were “pretty much thinned out now,” so trips fished a little farther away each day. Ron hopes the sea bass stick around for the opening of sea bass season beginning Saturday. Yesterday’s trip fished in beautiful, T-shirt weather. Stronger, easterly wind was forecast for today, but wasn’t expected to be a problem in incoming tide most of the trip. The Fishermen is bottom-fishing 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily and is fishing for striped bass 6:30 to 11:30 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.

Pretty good porgy fishing was shuffled aboard the party boat <b>Atlantic Star</b>, Capt. Tom said. The angling was tough Monday, good Tuesday and okay Wednesday. Seas rolled the boat around a bit in wind this morning, when he gave this report in a phone call aboard, and getting porgies to bite was challenging. Whether that was because of the weather couldn’t be known, but good readings were marked, and the fishing should’ve been good in those readings. Anglers lost lots of bait. “I can say that,” he said. A few blackfish and occasionally triggerfish were hooked on trips. A few anglers targeted the blackfish. Out-of-season sea bass, keeper-sized and shorts, bit and were released, and sea bass season will be opened beginning Saturday.  The trips sailed every day, and weather currently looked rough for the sea bass opener. Wind to 40 m.p.h. from northwest was forecast to blow, so anglers can telephone the boat for an update on whether the trip will sail. The Atlantic Star is fishing for porgies and blackfish 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily through Friday. Beginning Saturday, the trips will fish for sea bass, porgies and blackfish.

A couple of customers trolled striped bass, a couple of sizable including a 40-incher, probably 20 pounds, near Sandy Hook last evening, said Chris from <b>Fisherman’s Den North</b>. Another trolled a 30-pounder on the ocean off Sea Bright in past days. Big were reportedly boated off Asbury Park on the ocean, too. Some big bunker were around lately, probably attracting the stripers. Boaters trolled the fish on bunker spoons and Mojos. Stripers were also trolled in the back of Raritan Bay. Stripers were eeled at places like Flynn’s Knoll and off Sandy Hook Lighthouse. Lots of schoolie stripers had swum the surf. Bigger began to be beached at spots including Sandy Hook and Sea Bright at times. False albacore popped into the surf everywhere. Small stripers swam Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers, and a few bigger began to arrive there. Lots of baitfish schooled the rivers. He’s been fishing for stripers on the rivers with rubber shads. At one spot, stripers gathered but fed on tiny peanut bunker. That made attracting them to lures difficult, but small lures like the shads hooked them. Although one is the blackfish bag limit, they gave up good angling,  not in deep water but 25, 30 or 35 feet or so. He fished for them on trips Saturday and Sunday that hooked plenty including a couple of 10-pounders and a couple of 9-pounders. Good-sized were in. When offshore boaters got the weather to sail, they found good yellowfin tuna fishing. A customer chunked the fish to 70 pounds. Chris didn’t know where, but the customer sailed from the marina at the shop, so the fish must’ve come from local waters like at Hudson Canyon. Crabbing remained good on Shrewsbury River, and had been really good two weeks ago, trapping crazy numbers of big. But crabbing was still good there. The store, new this year, the sister shop to Fisherman’s Den in Belmar, is located at Atlantic Highlands Municipal Marina, down the dock from party, charter and private boats.

<b>Highlands</b>

<b>Lady M Charters</b>, fishing for blackfish from Brooklyn, headed out Monday, Lady M’s Facebook page said. The seven anglers limited out by 12:30 p.m., deciding to call it a day afterward. The tautog were good-sized this day, the keepers ranging 3 to 7 pounds. The fishing was one-stop shopping. The slipperies bit right away, then hit in shots. Don’t want to wait for New Jersey’s blackfish bag limit to be increased later this year? New York’s season for the fish recently opened, and Lady M is jumping on them. Charters and open-boat trips are fishing, and dates are filling.

Making the trip from <b>Twin Lights Marina</b>, Paul and Becky on the Second Home trolled 28- and 40-inch striped bass at western Reach Channel, Marion wrote in an email. Angelo and Karen Kelly eeled two stripers 30 and 40 inches near Sandy Hook. Twin Lights, located on Shrewsbury River near Raritan Bay and the ocean, with no bridges before them, includes a marina with boat slips, dry storage, a fuel dock, and a combined bait and tackle shop and ship’s store. The fuel dock is available 24 hours a day with a credit card.

<b>Belmar</b>

Striped bass to 35 pounds, great numbers, were landed the last few days, Bob from <b>Fisherman’s Den</b> wrote in an email Tuesday. Most were trolled on bunker spoons with Mojos or diving plugs like Stretches and Bombers. Most charters from Shark River that sailed for them limited out on the fish in the 43-inch class and larger on the ocean. Greg Bottomly, Little Egg Harbor Township, reeled in a 28-pounder “off Monmouth Beach,” Bob wrote. The river gave up good winter flounder fishing. Most anglers fishing for them limited out in an hour or two, and the fishing will improve as the water cools. Blackfish provided plenty of action at Shark River Inlet and Point Pleasant Canal.

More fish were able be bagged than before, and <b>XTC Sportfishing</b> resumed fishing, Capt. Scott said. Striped bass began to show up, and sea bass season will be opened beginning Saturday.  A trip aboard went 2 for 4 on stripers on the ocean toward Lavallette on trolled spoons. Then the trip bottom-fished, limiting out on blackfish, releasing others and also releasing sea bass. Was a decent day, and the anglers were happy, he said, and left with fish. Dates are still available in November for striper and blackfish charters. More trips are booked for Saturday and Sunday, and fishing was docked aboard for a moment previously, waiting for angling to pick up. Before then, the last trip fished a couple of weeks ago, boating a swordfish and no tuna offshore. Tuna fishing now began to improve. Some were caught.

Anglers aboard Monday limited out on “over” striped bass to 40 pounds on the ocean with <b>Parker Pete’s Fishing Charters</b>, Capt. Pete said. Parker Pete’s has been trolling the fish, but nailed a few on bunker snagged and then livelined, when bunker popped up in the water. Stripers were definitely here, and angling was good for them around the weekend’s full moon. The fishing became more sporadic in the following days, maybe because of the 85-degree spell. Pete’s thinking the fishing might kick back in when the weather cools, and forecasts are calling for a cold front. The fishing currently was best late in the day. Mornings fished hit and miss currently. In mornings now, when the fish weren’t biting, they just weren’t biting. Don’t have enough anglers for a charter? Contact Parker Pete’s anyway about individual spaces available on charters. Sign up for the email blast on <a href=" http://www.parkerpetefishing.com/" target="_blank">Parker Pete’s website</a> to be kept informed about the spaces.

After a slow start, fishing for monster blues lit up today on the <b>Golden Eagle</b>, a report said on the party boat’s website. Single blues were hooked, then shots of more turned on. Once the angling took hold, catches were non-stop. Mostly bait caught, but some of the blues smacked Runoff hammered jigs. Sometimes false albacore were battled aboard. All anglers were happy and left with lots of smiles, the report said. Fishing was similar in past days aboard, with lulls at times, but good catches were made at some point on the outings. Jumbo blues are biting, so join a trip for a fun day on the ocean, the report said. The trips are sailing 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and a <a href=" https://www.goldeneaglefishing.com/tunafish" target="_blank">tuna trip</a>, the season’s final, is slated to sail Sunday for 24 hours.

Another great day of fishing for blues was hammered yesterday on the <b>Miss Belmar Princess</b>, an email said from the party boat. The ocean held a little swell from south from wind the previous day and night, but blues bit upon arrival at the fishing grounds. At first, the blues weighed 5 to 8 pounds. As the day went on, the fishing improved, giving up good shots of the fish and a few false albacore and big porgies. Some blues 12 to 14 pounds were managed toward the end of the outing. Come and get fall Jersey jumbo blues! the email said. Now’s the time, and trips are bluefishing 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily.

<b>Brielle</b>

Looking forward to sea bass season opening Saturday, Capt. Joe from the party boat <b>Jamaica II</b> wrote in an email. He expects super fishing for them, and trips for sea bass include a 12-hour, extended one at 5 a.m. Saturday, a 10-hour outing at 7:30 a.m. Sunday and a trip for the fish 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday. Ten-hour trips will also sea bass at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and longer trips will run for the fish that Friday through Sunday. See a <a href=" http://www.jamaicaii.com/component/option,com_eventcal/Itemid,33/" target="_blank">schedule</a> on the boat’s website.

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

Fishing picked away at porgies Tuesday on the ocean on the <b>Norma-K III</b>, a report said on the party boat’s website. The angling was a little better than during the weekend, and some of the anglers on Tuesday’s trip only fished for blackfish, dunking crabs carried aboard. A few of the tautog were tied into. Trips are bottom-fishing 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily. Beginning Saturday, opening day of sea bass season, the trips will target sea bass. Bluefish trips are sailing 7:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

<b>Toms River</b>

Surf anglers began to pick striped bass on fresh clams, sometimes on swimming plugs, said Virginia from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b>. The plugs especially included 6-inch Daiwa SP Minnows and Shimano Coltsniper Jerkbaits. Some were taken on them this past week, and stripers from the surf included a few keepers. Bluefish 14 inches to maybe 3 pounds were around in the surf, biting mullet on mullet rigs. Big blues schooled Shark River Reef. Anglers waited for the migration of big stripers, and water needed to cool, but cooler, rough weather is forecast. Some big stripers were boated on the ocean farther north, like toward Asbury Park and Bradley Beach, on bunker spoons and Mojos, including Rockfish Candy Mojos. Many schoolie stripers 14 inches to a couple of 22-inchers swam Barnegat Bay, and popper plugs hooked them best, usually in the dark. Kayakers sometimes trolled eels for them. Blowfishing was okay on the bay at the BB and BI markers, if boaters chummed for them. Blackfishing could be good at Barnegat Inlet’s rocks and in Point Pleasant Canal, although one was the bag limit. Green crabs are stocked for bait for them. Porgy fishing caught well, including limits, on the ocean. Sea bass season will open beginning Saturday, and many trips will home in on them, instead of porgies, on the ocean. Murphy’s, located on Route 37, also owns <b>Go Fish Bait & Tackle</b> on Fischer Boulevard in Toms River.

<b>Seaside Heights</b>

Striped bass that were throwbacks and bluefish were played from the dock, said Ray from <b>The Dock Outfitters</b>. Small stripers began to be hooked along Route 37 Bridge on small, chartreuse Gulp minnows, and nighttime fished better. Stripers were eeled at Point Pleasant Canal, and blackfish were green-crabbed well at the canal. Boaters walloped blowfish, lots, in Barnegat Bay at the BB marker. Almost nothing was heard about the ocean, including the surf. Throwback stripers were beached from the surf, but details including where and what caught them weren’t heard. Eels, fresh clams and green crabs are stocked. The Dock Outfitters, located on Barnegat Bay, blocks from the ocean surf, features a bait and tackle shop, a café, a dock for fishing and crabbing and, in season, boat rentals and jet-ski rentals.

<b>Forked River</b>

On Barnegat Bay, striped bass were eeled at night toward the sod banks on outgoing tides, said Brian from <b>Grizz’s Forked River Bait & Tackle</b>. Stripers were trolled on the ocean from Seaside to Lavallette on Mojos and bunker spoons. A few were hooked on bunker snagged and then livelined for bait on the ocean, when boaters found bunker schooling. Back in the bay, blowfish were plucked near the BI marker if boaters chummed heavily on outgoing tides. A 4-1/2-pound weakfish was weighed-in Monday from the bay east of the BB marker. One customer was catching blackfish along Barnegat Inlet’s rocks and said the tautog snapped at ocean wrecks, too. Baits stocked include eels, green crabs, killies and offshore baits like flats of butterfish, sardines and ballyhoos. All Gulps are 50 percent off.

<b>Barnegat Light</b>

The 15 anglers on a two-day tuna trip Sunday to Tuesday bagged 30 yellowfin and longfin tuna, two swordfish to 135 pounds and some mahi mahi on the <b>Miss Barnegat Light</b>, the party boat’s Facebook page said. Most catches bit before sunrise “and sporadically throughout the daylight hours,” it said. “… Conditions were never good with the boat swinging or the lines going up to the bow.” Boats scored well on tuna Tuesday night, and a tuna trip was supposed to sail today to tomorrow aboard before the gale arrives tomorrow night. The Miss Barnegat Light is fishing exclusively on <a href="http://www.missbarnegatlight.com/TunaFishing.html" target="_blank">tuna trips</a> throughout the month. Trips will jig for striped bass in November.

Boaters began to deck striped bass from Barnegat Bay and the ocean, mostly on livelined spots, said Vince Sr. from <b>Bobbie’s Boat Rentals</b>. Fish like blowfish surely swam the bay, but few customers fished for them. Good blackfishing was cracked along Barnegat Inlet’s rocks and at ocean wrecks. Sea bass season will be opened Saturday. Live spots, fresh clams and green crabs are stocked. Bobbie’s features a complete bait and tackle shop, a fuel dock and, in season, boat and kayak rentals. The boats are used for fishing, crabbing, clamming and pleasure.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

Mullica River harbored stripers that swiped eels or were trolled, said Brandon from <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>. Small fish including blowfish, sometimes kingfish, were still boated on the bay on squid or clams in a chum slick. Many green crabs were sold, so anglers did much blackfishing at places like along the bay’s sod banks, at the Brick Pile and at Barnegat Inlet’s rocks. Small stripers and small blues were plugged along sod banks and creeks, nothing “substantive,” he said, but fun. Not a lot happened with fishing yet this season, and 85-degree weather didn’t help. The weather warmed water back up to previous temperatures. Clams in the shell and bloodworms are stocked. A thousand eels arrived yesterday, and a hundred pounds of fresh bunker just arrived.

<b>Absecon</b>

From <b>Absecon Bay Sportsman Center</b>, Capt. Dave’s been getting out on striped bass charters on back waters that he’s running, he said. The fishing scored okay, and today’s trip was a “blip,” but the back bay rose to almost 70 degrees because of the recent warmth, and the anglers didn’t prefer to “get up in the dark.” Otherwise, the trips have been catching all week, not big numbers, and no huge stripers, but the fish were there, including a couple of keepers. The trips hooked the fish mostly on Gulp Nemesis. A couple came on live bait, but the fish mostly held in somewhat shallow water, so casting the Gulps worked best. Stripers still swam Mullica River, and Dave sometimes ran up there. Otherwise he caught pretty far back in bays. White perch were turned on in the river, if anglers found them. Blackfishing was reasonably steady along jetties and bridges, and the water was clean, like blackfish prefer. Fresh clams will be stocked for the weekend, even if the weather will be a blowout. The clams have been difficult to obtain from suppliers. Plenty of live spots are stocked, and a couple of more batches are coming, so the supply should be in good shape for the season. Plenty of live mullet are stocked, at least until weather becomes too cold. Then they’ll become frozen mullet stocked! Live peanut bunker are stocked, and lots of peanuts schooled back waters but were tiny. The ones stocked are better-sized. The supply of live shedder crabs is finished for the year. Crabs stop shedding in the cooler seasons. Frozen shedders and, for eating, frozen soft-shell crabs are carried.

<b>Brigantine</b>

Capt. Andy from <b>Riptide Bait & Tackle</b> and a friend boated striped bass on the back bay on live bait Friday on a trip, Andy said. They tugged in three, including one keeper. On Saturday night, the friend angled two, including one keeper. The friend this morning fished for them a moment, taking the boat to be fueled, and whacked a 22-1/2-pound 38-incher. The fishing’s been consistent on live bait. In the surf, a bunch of snapper blues were around, and anglers waited for the striper migration. The Brigantine Elks Fall Classic Tournament will take place November 11 to 13, and all profits will reportedly benefit veterans. Applications are available at Riptide and at the Elks. The annual Riptide Fall Striper Derby is underway until December 23. Prizes are $500, $300 and $150 for the first, second and third heaviest stripers, respectively, and $300, $200 and $100 for the first through third heaviest bluefish, from Brigantine’s surf. A 1-pound blue is currently in first place, and second and third are currently smaller. The fish are worth some money, and the size can still be beaten, so enter. The $25 entry includes a permit that when accompanied by a Brigantine beach-buggy permit allows the angler to drive the entire front beach in the town. Not all the beach can be driven otherwise. The Sal’s Pizza Works Riptide Striper Bounty is up to $210 for the season’s first striper weighed-in from the town’s surf. Entry is $5, and anglers must enter 24 hours before entering a catch. The bounty will grow, because all the money is awarded.

<b>Atlantic City</b>

Good-sized blackfish were clobbered at Absecon Inlet, said Noel from <b>One Stop Bait & Tackle</b>. Green crabs were fished for them, and customers fish the nearby, jetty-lined inlet on foot.  Plenty of snapper blues but sometimes big gator blues bit in the inlet. Spearing and mullet hooked the snappers, and the gators were hooked by chance while anglers targeted other fish. Triggerfish, porgies and kingfish were sometimes winged toward the back of the inlet. Noel wasn’t asked what the triggers bit, but the porgies and kings nibbled bloods. Good-sized kings swam hot and heavy a couple of days in the inlet, and a customer stopped in with some. Small striped bass, but catches, were angled from the inlet on plugs, bait and eels. Plenty of spearing, lots of bunker and sometimes mullet swam the inlet. Lot of life, Noel said. All the baits mentioned and more, the full supply, are stocked.  ***Big Heads Up:*** Noel began a <a href="http://acprimetime.com/atlantic-city-fishing-petition-jetty-access/" target="_blank"><b>petition</b></a> for anglers <b>to protest the government’s planned closing of fishing the jetties along the inlet</b>. Click the link to read and sign it. The government recently said access will be granted, after Noel began to spearhead the protest. But until the government makes that official, the protest needs to continue.

<b>Egg Harbor Township</b>

A few striped bass, schoolies, roamed the bay, including along 9th Street Bridge, said Austin from <b>24-7 Bait & Tackle</b>. A couple of customers clammed them, and some tangled with bluefish along the bridge. None mentioned size. Not much happened in the surf. Occasionally schoolie stripers to a couple of inches shorter than keeper-sized were beached. <b>The company also owns 24-7 Bait & Tackle in Marmora</b>.

<b>Longport</b>

Capt. Mike from the <b>Stray Cat</b> will try to run sea bass trips slated for Saturday and Sunday, he said. Sea bass season will be opened beginning Saturday, and if wind blows too hard that’s forecast, he’ll try to fish inshore at least, unless the wind completely cancels the trips. Trips recently hooked a few of the fish inshore, letting them go. He’ll sail sea bass trips to the deep as soon as possible. Several spaces are available for an open-boat sea bass trip Monday. A few spots are left for more of the trips Wednesday and Friday. A charter or an open-boat trip for sea bass is available Saturday, Oct. 29. Open trips will fish for sea bass three or four times a week, on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays, occasionally Sundays. Trips will run for blackfish and striped bass later this season.

<b>Ocean City</b>

An almost 9-pound striped bass was brought to the store this morning that was banked at 7 p.m. yesterday at Corson’s Inlet on mullet, said John from <b>Fin-Atics</b>. A couple of small stripers ran the surf. A bunch of small blues 1 to 3 pounds schooled the surf at Corson’s and Great Egg Harbor inlets and along the Route 152 and Longport bridges. Blackfish held along bridges, and anglers worked for keepers. In the back bay, a few schoolie stripers hit, but the water temperature rose to 67 degrees, high for stripers to be active. Air temperature was 78 when John left the store late yesterday. Sizable stripers were reportedly trolled on the ocean far north in the state. Nothing was heard about tuna fishing, and John saw nobody at the store who boated the ocean in one or two weeks.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Cocktail blues 1 to 3 pounds, tons, surrounded the island, said Mike from <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. Catches of them were fun, especially for kids, and were probably most consistent at Townsend’s Inlet. But the fish were also fought in the ocean surf and in the back bay. Anglers could fish for them with lures or bait, whatever they’d like. If bait was fished, mullet worked best. But mackerel caught, and so did any “meat” like that. Fishing for schoolie striped bass 16 to 25 inches was fabulous in the back bay. It’s always good this time of year, but currently some customers pulled in four, five or six per trip on several trips in a row. The catches were even heard about in the middle of the day, like at 11 a.m. on the tide. Mornings and evenings usually fish best for them. Schoolie stripers also bit at night under lights at docks and bridges in the bay. The only keeper stripers heard about, not many, came from the surf. Anglers hooked the keepers, like 30- or 32-inchers, while fishing for the blues with bait like mullet. Plenty of blackfish chewed, and lots of green crabs were sold for bait for them. An angler might catch 10 or 15 including a keeper. But they were fun, and not many strike outs were heard about. The coming blow will push more of the tautog to bridges and jetties to be caught, Mike thinks. For offshore anglers, tuna were out there, and good catches were reported from Wilmington Canyon, but weather was challenging. Getting a 24-hour window was difficult, but both commercial longliners and sport anglers reported great catches.

<b>Wildwood</b>

<b>Canal Side Boat Rentals</b> is open on certain days, Mike said. The season is winding down at the shop, and he’ll go on break through winter at the store before long. The doors won’t be open Friday, but will be during the weekend, if weather isn’t too rough for him to work. The shop was open today. It was open yesterday, and customers bought bait. The store was open last weekend, and one rental-boat trip crabbed that weekend, catching two or three dozen. Mike will probably crab Friday. The tide will be dead low in morning, and he hopes to trap a few dozen. At night, anglers on the bay could hook herring, filleting them up for bait like Mike does, lots of snappers and lots of small striped bass. Low tides weren’t right for Mike to fish for them this week in the evening, but he bailed the fish last week from a dock with a light at night, and will probably fish for them again next week, when the tides will be high then. The stripers are 18- to 22-inch throwbacks but fun, and he caught three on the last trip. The fishing was on light, 12-pound tackle, a blast. He fishes a rig with a bucktail on bottom with no bait, a small jigging spoon on a leader 12 inches above, and another one of the spoons 12 inches above. The stripers grab the bucktail, and the herring and blues hit the spoons. He’s predominantly fishing for the herring. An 11-inch summer flounder showed up in Mike’s crab pot in the canal, surprising to see the fish in back waters this late in the year. Flounder usually migrate to the ocean by now.  Canal Side in-season rents boats for fishing, crabbing and pleasure and kayaks. A $5 discount is available on a rental boat if you mention Fishing Reports Now, when the boats are available in-season. A large supply of bait and tackle is carried in-season. Crabs for eating are sold in-season, but the shop is no longer selling food for the year. Customers enjoy the crabs and other food, including shrimp, clams and oysters, in-season, at picnic tables with tents on the water at the store. Or they take out the food and enjoy.

<b>Cape May</b>

The party boat <b>Porgy IV</b> will resume fishing Saturday, for sea bass daily, Capt. Paul said. Fishing had been on break aboard since daily summer flounder trips ended when flounder season was closed. The trips depart at 8 a.m.

Charters for sea bass will be weathered out that were booked for Saturday and Sunday on the <b>Heavy Hitter</b>, Capt. George said. Sea bass season opens beginning Saturday. George kept hearing about tuna catches, and friends asked him to sail for them, but he’s finished sailing for tuna for the year. Charters for blackfish and striped bass will sail later this season aboard.

A few small yellowfin tuna were boated between Baltimore and Wilmington canyons Sunday with <b>Caveman Sportfishing</b>, Capt. John said. The barely legal-sized fish, trolled during a short, half-hour blitz, made the trip, but John’s disappointed in fall tuna fishing at waters within range of Cape May and will stop sailing for the fish now for the year. A few mahi mahi were also trolled on the trip, at lobster-pot buoys. Striped bass trips will be the next charters aboard,  probably beginning at Thanksgiving, when the striper migration arrived locally in recent years. He heard about better catches of tuna sometimes made farther north at Hudson Canyon, out of range from Cape May, recently. But quite a few boats from Cape May caught no tuna this weekend that fished for them. Fall tuna fishing used to be great from Cape May. Good numbers of good-sized tuna, yellowfins and longfins, used to show up. Canyon tuna fishing the past few years was best in June from Cape May. Most anglers are used to fishing for them in fall, so getting anglers to jump on the June trips has been difficult. But that was when to go lately. John was also grateful for inshore tuna fishing at places like Massey’s Canyon early this fishing season, “(or) it would have been one horrible season at least on quality tuna fishing,” he wrote on Caveman’s Facebook page.

Schoolie striped bass and small blues turned out catches, a good number, from the surf, said Joe from <b>Hands Too Bait & Tackle</b>. But a few large striped bass seemed to lurk the water, and a 42-pound 50-1/2-incher was beached from the town’s surf during the weekend that was the season’s first striper weighed at the shop. Plus, the store’s owner hooked and lost a large striper from the surf that was the biggest he’d ever hooked. Blackfish were bailed along jetties like at Cape May Inlet and Townsend’s Inlet at Avalon. Many were small, but some were 18 or 20 inches, and green crabs nabbed them.  Nobody seemed to boat stripers from the ocean locally yet this season. A few boaters tried bunker-chunking for stripers on Delaware Bay, but none was known to catch any. The season was early for stripers locally in the ocean and in the bay. The migration arrived later in recent years. Some of the boaters on Delaware Bay reported hooking 4- to 6-pound catfish on the chunks meant for stripers at spots like around Maurice River’s mouth and the mouth of Fortescue Creek. Sharpies played schoolie stripers on the back bay, like at bridges. An average angler might not hook them, but some might hook a few. Weakfish, small but a few 22 or 24 inches, bit in Delaware Bay.  A few boaters trolled the ocean at inshore lumps, fighting a few false albacore. No bluefish catches were heard about from the trolling that can sometimes run into them now or in summer. Nothing was heard about offshore fishing for tuna and other big game.

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