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New Jersey Inshore Saltwater Fishing Report 7-18-16


<b>Keyport</b>

Was a great week of ocean fluke fishing aboard, said Capt. Mario from the <b>Down Deep Fleet</b>. The fish weighed up to a 9-pounder and included a couple of 8-pounders, and high hooks landed nine keepers apiece, keeping no more than a limit of five. Open-boat trips are fluking daily and include marathons that will sail 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Tuesday and Thursday. On ocean bottom-fishing trips, good catches of ling, 15 to 20 per angler, were pasted, and a few winter flounder and cod were mixed in. Open trips are also running daily for that, and charters are available for any of this fishing. Reserve ahead for all trips, and Down Deep runs two 40-foot boats. 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 like the marathons. See available dates for trips on the site’s calendar. Book fall striped bass trips now, because dates are filling.

Fluke fishing began searching deeper water Saturday on the <b>Vitamin Sea</b>, and it paid off, Capt. Frank wrote in an email. The trip boated 23 keepers to 7.3 pounds, “all quality fish,” he said. A half-dozen weighed 5 pounds, and when conditions are favorable, trips will fluke the deep. That’s the best chance to catch sizable fluke, but fluking in the bay was productive aboard, too, throughout last week. Trips landed 10 to 14 keepers each there on the vessel. Still, if you want a shot at large fluke or “doormats,” now’s the time, because trips will work the deep when possible. Charters are fishing, and three spaces are available for an open-boat trip 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday. Charters or open-boat trips are available this Saturday and Sunday in mornings or afternoons. Telephone to reserve.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

All fluke trips sailed, and on some, catching was tough, and on some, it was good on the party boat <b>Atlantic Star</b>, Capt. Tom  said. All the outings fished on Raritan and Sandy Hook bays, including sometimes at Reach Channel, sometimes away from the channel. On Friday, the morning’s trip failed to catch much, and the afternoon’s locked into a steady pick including plenty of throwbacks and some keepers. On Saturday, the afternoon’s trip, fishing different areas, rounded up keepers toward the end of the outing. The catch took work. On Sunday, the morning’s trip met terrific conditions, and one of the season’s best catches of keepers came in. One angler limited out, and some landed no keepers, of course. On the afternoon’s trip, conditions were crummy, and plenty of throwbacks bit, but not a lot of keepers did. The trip fished Reach Channel and elsewhere in Raritan Bay and Sandy Hook Bay. Sometimes forecasts called for possible rough weather or storms, but all trips sailed, and if storms happened, they never lasted long. The Atlantic Star is fluke fishing 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 6 p.m. daily.

Keeper and short fluke served up good fishing the whole trip Saturday on the <b>Fishermen</b>, Capt. Ron wrote in a report on the party boat’s website. One angler limited out by 10 a.m., and few anglers bucktailed. But bucktails would’ve scored well, because the boat drifted slowly. Bait caught well, though, and fluke were hungry! The Fishermen is sailing for fluke 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily, for striped bass 6:30 to 11 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays and for fluke, blues, porgies and whatever can be bagged 6:30 to 11 p.m. Wednesday through Saturdays and 3:30 to 9 p.m. Sundays. Porgies began to show up, and fishing for them can only improve. However, charters are booked this week on Tuesday night and Wednesday, Friday and Saturday mornings. No open-boat trips will fish then.

<b>Highlands</b>

Action with fluke, keepers and throwbacks, was plowed the whole trip Saturday with <b>Lady M Charters</b> on the ocean, Capt. Steve said. Seventeen keepers to 6 pounds were bagged, and the anglers limited out on jumbo sea bass. On Sunday, a Mudhole Marathon sailed 5 a.m. to 5 p.m., also catching well. A slew of ling, the boat’s limit of sea bass, seven big winter flounder and a few cod were iced. Catches turned out action from the first wreck fished to the last. Telephone for open-boat trips for fluke or the Mudhole fishing. Charters are available.

<b>Neptune</b>

Now’s the time to fluke fish, Capt. Ralph from <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b> wrote in an email. The fishing was on for a charter on the ocean yesterday aboard. No spaces remain for this week’s individual-reservation trip for fluke. The trips, sailing every Tuesday, are filling quickly, so reserve a date now. Kids 12 and under sail free on those outings, limited to one per adult host. An individual-reservation trip Sunday will fish inshore wrecks for cod, ling, sea bass, winter flounder, blackfish and pollock. Individual-reservation trips for cod filled this month, and three spaces apiece remain for the trips August 3 and 31, and two spaces remain for another August 7. An individual-reservation trip for sea bass will sail October 25. That’s after the bag limit is increased to 15 beginning October 22. “We catch the big ones till Dec 31,” he wrote. “You that go on these trips know I’ll go the distance to catch em.” An individual-reservation trip will blackfish November 16. Six blackfish becomes the bag limit that day, from the current limit of one.

<b>Belmar</b>

Fluke were hungry, Bob from <b>Fisherman’s Den</b> wrote in an email. Melissa Freifelder nailed a 7-pound 3-ouncer from Shark River on one of the shop’s rental boats, and John Foster whaled a 9-pound 23-ouncer on the ocean off Long Branch. On the river on the rental boats, the number of keepers “has been up.” Many fluke 5-plus pounds have been in the mix. The number of keepers on party boats on the ocean also increased. Fluke there weighed up to 8 pounds. Party boats that bluefished decked good numbers of blues and mackerel. Anglers left with coolers of fish. Divers caught striped bass in Shark River Inlet, but warm water made striper fishing slow for hook and line. Kingfishing was great in the local surf. Good fishing, Bob said.

Ling and sea bass, a great catch, and a couple of keeper fluke were boxed Saturday from the ocean on the <b>Katie H</b>, Capt. Mike said. A bunch of ling and almost a boat limit of sea bass were already crushed this morning aboard, when he gave this report at 9:45 in a phone call on the trip. A 3-pound sea bass was swung in while he spoke. Fluke and sea bass trips are set for Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. The year’s first tuna trip is supposed to fish Friday inshore. Bluefin tuna are biting there, and lots of boats are working the water, so a bite takes off early in morning an hour or two. Sometimes the bluefin trips mix in shark fishing. The Coast Guard was climbing on boats to inspect them on the bluefin grounds. Farther from shore, canyon tuna fishing went well farther south. Mike hopes the fish scoot north to local waters soon, like they usually do. The 46-foot boat is an offshore specialist and features speed and all the amenities.

Fishing was exceptional, outstanding for blues and mackerel daily since Thursday on the <b>Golden Eagle</b>, reports said on the party boat’s website. All you wanted. Jigs, teasers and bait, or whatever anglers wanted to fish, caught. Two or three could be hooked at a time, the report said Sunday. Anglers could catch the small blues if they wanted, or the mackerel if they chose, the report said Thursday. The Golden Eagle is fishing 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily. Afternoon fishing and sunset cruise trips are sailing 4:30 to 8:30 Fridays through Saturdays, reservations required.

<b>***Update, Tuesday, 7/19:***</b> Super action was smashed with mackerel right away Saturday through Monday on the <b>Miss Belmar Princess</b>, an email from the boat said. Small blues were mixed in, and this was at the edge of the Mudhole. Some keeper pollock and occasional keeper cod were also winged.  The Miss Belmar Princess is fishing 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily.  Family fishing and sunset cruises are sailing 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. every Friday through Sunday.

<b>Brielle</b>

Good fluke fishing was pulled from Axel Carlson Reef, said Alex from <b>The Reel Seat</b>. Tons of mackerel, small bluefish and occasional bonito schooled the ocean. Boaters never knew which would swim the chum slick. Nothing was heard about ling, but Alex assumed bottom-fishing for ling was pretty good on the ocean. Other catches including sea bass could be plumbed on bottom-trips, so anglers could likely return with a good bag of fish from the angling. Boaters picked away at small bluefin tuna at grounds like the Triple Wrecks, mostly on trolled ballyhoos, RonZ soft baits, cedar plugs and spreader bars, sometimes on jigs or popper lures. Farther from shore, yellowfin tuna 30 to 60 pounds were trolled at southern canyons on ballys, RonZ’s and spreaders. On Manasquan River, fluke were reeled in, and a 6-pounder was heard about. Small striped bass were played on the river at night on Fin-S Fish and small plugs.

A decent drift of the boat is all that’s needed, and fluke bite their heads off, Capt. Ryan from the party boat <b>Jamaica II</b> wrote in an email. Fishing was pretty darn good this past week aboard, he said, and big sea bass were also clocked. All customers caught well when the boat drifted reasonably. On flat, calm days bucktailers scored best. Four- or 5-inch Gulp swim mullets in chartreuse or Nuclear Chicken caught well and are supplied with rental rods. They can be fished with a small strip of squid on a plain hook or a bucktail. Catches included Carter James from Philly’s 8-1/2-pound fluke and John Capizzi from Manchester’s 8-pounder. Ralph Molinari from North Haledon, Craig Masters from Bristol and Denny Crane from Brick limited out on fluke and sea bass. Their biggest fluke weighed 7, 6 and 5 pounds, respectively. The captain looks forward to a great week of the angling. The Jamaica II is sailing for fluke and sea bass 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 6:30 p.m. every Tuesday through Sunday and 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every Monday.

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

When conditions were right, fluke fishing was decent Thursday through Sunday on the <b>Norma-K III</b>, a report said on the party boat’s website. Gulps in green and Nuclear Chicken seemed key, and a few anglers limited out on them. Most of the flatfish bit along open bottom, but a few were hung at rocks and rubble. On nighttime trips, bluefishing improved. On Friday night’s trip, mackerel invaded, and only a few blues 1 to 3 pounds were pitched aboard. But on Saturday and Sunday nights, mostly blues 1 to 2 pounds were sacked, and some anglers limited out. Bluefishing seemed to be improving every night and was fun on light tackle. Matt looks forward to the trips this week, and hopes bigger blues show up after the full moon. Trips are fishing for fluke 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 2 to 6:30 p.m. daily and for blues 7:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. daily.

<b>Barnegat Light</b>

Double-digits of keeper fluke were pounded Saturday on the <b>Miss Barnegat Light</b>, a report said on the party boat’s website. The high hook bagged four, and throwbacks also bit. There was lots of action, and on Sunday, the boat drifted slowly, so the fishing slowed. The same happened on Friday, and a few keepers and some throwbacks were hooked on the trip. Fluke are there, but conditions matter. The Miss Barnegat Light is fishing for fluke and sea bass at 8 a.m. daily.

The <b>Super Chic</b> did a little fluking on the ocean, Capt. Ted said. Catching keepers was a little tough, but keepers were bagged, and a fair number of fluke swam the water for the time of year, good to see. A trip Saturday night chummed and jigged 1- to 3-pound blues, a pretty good catch, on the ocean. The next offshore trip for tuna is slated to run in a couple of weeks. One of the trips sailed earlier this year. Nothing was heard about the catches except from farther south recently. That could change any time.

<b>Barnegat</b>

<b>***Update, Tuesday, 7/19:***</b> From an edited email from Capt. Dave DeGennaro from the <b>Hi Flier</b>: “Finally, weakfish! We caught three weakfish yesterday morning chumming with live grass shrimp on the east side of Barnegat Bay. We also added three fluke that were ‘close, but no cigar.’ Two sand sharks. All on the 6-pound ultralites. I know, not the greatest catch, but a catch, nonetheless. More than I've been doing. And there was something about it. I don't think it was an accident. I think they're here. The bigger one was 17 inches, the other two were just over and just under the 13-inch mark. I'm going to start hitting it hard with the shrimp. I have a charter tomorrow afternoon with the same plan, so I’ll post the results. Available for charter 12 noon to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Saturday, open-boat or charter, morning and afternoon. Depending on the weather and seas, we could jump out to Barnegat Ridge or stay in the bay and chum with shrimp.”

<b>Beach Haven</b>

Lots of trips fished on the <b>June Bug</b> this past week, Capt. Lindsay said. The mix of full-day and half-day trips fished inshore, and most trolled 10 or 12 small bluefish, bagged a fluke and released throwback fluke and throwback sea bass. A trip is supposed to fish midshore for tuna or other pelagics later this week. 

<b>Mystic Island</b>

If anglers fish the bay for summer flounder locally, the Intracoastal Waterway from the 131 to 135 or at the 132 were places to try, a report said on <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>’s website. The fishing was okay, not great, and some anglers failed to score well, and some bagged a couple, and every once in a while somebody limited out. The fishing was better farther south toward Absecon, or the population of the fish was larger there. Ocean flounder fishing was slowly improving. Garden State Reef South in the ocean didn’t hold better quantities of flounder, but better-quality. Sea bass bit well in the ocean, so if you make the trip for flounder there, fish for sea bass, too.

<b>Longport</b>

Ocean fishing for summer flounder and sea bass was on again, off again, on the <b>Stray Cat</b>, Capt. Mike said. Some days fished well, and some didn’t. Charters are fishing, and the next open-boat trip will sail Wednesday for the angling. Spanish mackerel were mixed with small blues trolled on the ocean aboard. Those are the first Spanish reported on this site this year. Tuna trips on boats beat mostly bluefins and a few yellowfins at Massey’s Canyon. A hundred-fifty boats must’ve fished there this weekend during the day, and a deckhand from Stray Cat was headed there yesterday. Stray Cat is up for the fishing and will also fish for tuna and other pelagics at grounds like the Cigar. <b>***Update, Monday, 7/18:***</b> The next open-boat trips will sail this Friday and the following Wednesday, July 27, not this week on Wednesday, Mike said. Those will be the month’s final open trips, and spaces are filling quickly, so telephone for a spot.

<b>Ocean City</b>

The party boat <b>Miss Ocean City</b> was docked for maintenance but expected to be splashed today or tomorrow, Capt. Victor said. Trips were expected to resume afterward, targeting summer flounder on the back bay every morning and flounder and sea bass on the ocean every afternoon.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Nine striped bass were popper-plugged from the back bay, and several other bites were scored, Sunday evening on a trip that Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b> took with his wife and a son, he said. High tides coincided with evening, perfect conditions, and he was surprised the fishing was so good. He’d been concerned that the heat could’ve made the angling slower, but catches included double-headers, even. The trips, a specialty aboard throughout summer, mostly hook throwback stripers. The bass were 20 to 26 inches on the outing. The poppers, Joe fishes Rapala Skitter Pops, draw explosive, visual attacks along the water surface, good sport. The trips also fish popper flies, a Crease Fly that Joe ties with a larger cup to throw more water, when anglers want. The trips sight-cast to the fish while Joe poles a flats boat in the shallows, like in a tropical destination. The day, Sunday, was a family day for Joe, and in the morning, he also fished with his dad on the bay. They cranked in a bunch of summer flounder. The bay’s flounder fishing sort of stabilized, giving up a good pick with keepers mixed in. That was sort of the new normal, and the trip had steady action. On Friday, Peter Himmelreich and two family members released six sharks, three duskies and three spinners, on one of the inshore shark trips aboard. The fish weighed up to 120 pounds, and the sharking, usually within 10 miles from shore, has been good. Some shark species, including browns, must be released. The trips are a chance to fight big fish without the long haul offshore.  Tuna were caught inshore at Massey’s Canyon, and the fishing was sketchy, or one boat might catch, and the boat next to that might get blanked. Or some catch, some don’t, and lots of boats filled the water. Lots of mahi mahi swam inshore, so that was nice. Keep up with Joe’s fishing on <a href="http://captainjoehughes.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s Blog</a>.

<b>Avalon</b>

<b>Fins and Feathers Outfitters</b> fished Delaware Day toward East Point, the number 1 buoy and Miah Maul on a trip, Capt. Jim said. Two keepers were boated, and throwbacks were released. The anglers also fished for sharks for fun on the outing, releasing 4- to 5-foot brown sharks. Browns are required to be released, and Jim had brought frozen bunker he had caught on the ocean previously so the anglers could shark if they wanted. They fished fillets of the baitfish on steel leaders. So the fishing was fun, and one weakfish was also landed, and no other fish were hooked, like sea robins or croakers. The weak bit a bloodworm on a top-and-bottom rig with a blood on top and a Gulp on bottom. The bay was 79 degrees, and Jim is supposed to pick up anglers at Lewes later this week to fish the Delaware side of the bay. Trips aboard are also fishing for flounder on the ocean and on the back bay near Avalon. Jim might also scope out the inshore ocean for pelagics like mahi mahi soon.

<b>Wildwood</b>

Summertime, mixed-bag fishing, said Capt. Jim from <b>Fins & Grins Sport Fishing</b>. Kingfish and weakfish bit on the ocean close to shore and off Cape May Point. Triggerfish and blowfish were grabbed at ocean wrecks. Blues were trolled at 5-Fathom Bank. Trips mixed it up with different catches like this. Or they cranked summer flounder from ocean reefs or fought and released big sharks on Delaware Bay. Crabbing was good on the back bay, and Fins offers crabbing aboard, too. Let the captain find the blueclaws. Trips fish every day, and reservations aren’t required but suggested. Telephone for availability.

<b>Cape May</b>

On the <b>Heavy Hitter</b>, a good-sized bluefin tuna and a yellowfin tuna were bagged from the inshore ocean Saturday with Nick Sosnowky’s charter, Capt. George said. Eight or nine other tuna were also hooked and got off on the trip, and all the trip’s tuna were jigged. When jigging, anglers never know where the fish will be hooked. Boats seemed to score well on the tuna the next day, Sunday, too, and a couple of more tuna trips are supposed to fish this week aboard. If anglers want to get in on the fishing, they better go now. Nobody knows how long the fish will stick around. On Sunday aboard, Ed Fabrice’s charter on the ocean trolled a load of bluefish and limited out on sea bass, good-sized or 15 and 16 inches, tossing back throwback sea bass.

Five yellowfin tuna were landed Friday at Massey’s Canyon with <b>Caveman Sportfishing</b>, Capt. John said. On Saturday at the canyon aboard, a couple of tuna were broken off, because of light, 30-pound leaders, and those were the trip’s only bites. Probably 200 boats fished the area, and crowds of boats were affecting the fishing now. No trip fished Sunday aboard for them, and John was going to let the water quiet down a couple of days, then see how the angling is. Bluefin tuna and yellowfin tuna had been giving up great fishing, the best John saw in years, in the area the last two weeks. All catches were on chunks and jigs lately. The boat’s mate jumped on a trip Thursday, joining the outing as a teacher, that bailed 17 tuna, including some bluefins and mostly yellowfins. Caveman will fish for tuna farther offshore at the canyons, as soon as the inshore fishing slows or the offshore angling produces consistently. Some bigeye tuna caught at sundown were heard about from a local canyon, and a catch of six yellowfin tuna that were trolled were heard about from the waters.

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