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New Jersey Inshore Saltwater Fishing Report 8-11-16


<b>Sewaren</b>

Fluke were still boated on Raritan Bay, but many were throwbacks, said Rich from <b>Dockside Bait & Tackle</b>. But some were better-sized and keepers, and places fluke were hooked included Old Orchard and Chapel Hill Channel on the bay. Thirty or forty might be licked in a trip. Most of the bigger fluke were located at Ambrose Channel or off Coney Island on the ocean. They sought cooler water, usual for the time of year, and the bay was warm. Small striped bass and cocktail blues were played on the back of the bay near Carteret on fresh adult bunker or peanut bunker. All baits are stocked, including fresh bunker, fresh clams and killies. Dockside, located on Smith Creek, a tributary of the Arthur Kill, north of Outerbridge Crossing, is accessible from land and from the water at the fuel dock.

<b>Keyport</b>

Sizable fluke, good catches, were tied into Monday and Wednesday, up to 6 pounds each day, on the <b>Vitamin Sea</b>, Capt. Frank wrote in an email. Fluking was on the upswing, no doubt. Sharp anglers are limiting out or nearly limiting, and trips are fishing deep water. Tackle that can handle the strong current is a must. Charters are fishing, and the next open-trips with space available are on: Wednesday, three spots; next Thursday, six spots; and the following Sunday, August 21, four spots. 

After a tough weekend of fluking, the fishing bounced back Monday aboard, said Capt. Mario from the <b>Down Deep Fleet</b>. The high hook landed eight, keeping no more than a limit of five, and good-sized sea bass were mixed in. The fishing is ramping back up, apparently, and open-boat trips are sailing for fluke daily on the Down Deep Bull, one of the company’s two boats, both 40 feet. On the other vessel, the Down Deep, bottom-fishing sacked lots of porgies and some sea bass and triggerfish mixed in. Open trips are bottom-fishing daily on that boat, and charters are available for 1 to 15 passengers on the vessels. 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. Book fall fishing for striped bass, sea bass and blackfish.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

Fishing for fluke wasn’t as good as Capt. Tom would like on the party boat <b>Atlantic Star</b> the past few days, he said. Trips fished practically everywhere in local waters, from the flats to Ambrose Channel. No place was missed, and trips worked hard for too few keepers, and conditions often failed to drift the boat. A good drift matters in fluking, and sometimes throwbacks gave up good action, fortunately. All trips fished, and that will continue, no matter if forecasts call for rain. A little rain fell yesterday afternoon, and not a drop did afterward. Sunday’s fluking was okay. Monday’s wasn’t so great. The next two days were tough, including yesterday. On the morning trip, a fair number of throwbacks were hooked, but only a few keepers were. Anglers landed as many as 10 or 12 throwbacks apiece, some landed one or two and one angler caught two keepers. The boat hardly drifted. The afternoon’s trip was one of the toughest in past days. The main thing is that all trips are fishing, and if people want an enjoyable day, customers seemed to be enjoying. The Atlantic Star is fluke fishing 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 6 p.m. daily.

The ocean still held a roll, but good fluke fishing was plowed today on the <b>Fishermen</b>, Capt. Ron wrote in a report on the party boat’s website. Banged away all day, he said, and his dad, Ron. Sr., was hot hand, landing two fluke less than a triple limit, keeping no more than his quota. An 8-pounder was the trip’s largest, and several big were taken, once again, he wrote. They included a 7-pound 4-ouncer, a 7-pounder, a couple of 5- and 6-pounders and a few others. On yesterday’s trip, the ocean was nasty, but good-sized fluke and a couple of limits were bagged. A 7-pounder won the pool, and cownosed rays were wild a while, taking off with everybody’s rigs. Seas just kept getting bigger in southerly wind and strong southerly current. On the previous day, Tuesday, conditions failed to drift the boat a long time. Finally, plenty of action with smaller fluke was found, and the anglers banged away at some sizable keepers, but the angling took work. A 6-pounder won the pool. On yesterday’s nighttime trip, excellent porgy fishing was waxed. A 2-hour drift produced loads of jumbos for all customers, and bluefish were mixed in. The Fishermen is sailing for fluke 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily, for striped bass 6:30 to 11:30 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays and for porgies and whatever can be bagged 6:30 to 11 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays.

Fluke fishing was good, said Jay from <b>Julian’s Bait & Tackle</b>. Lots of throwbacks bit, and fluke were boated at places including at the stakes or towers “or whatever you call out there,” he said. Porgies, lots, were crushed at the Keansburg and Port Monmouth piers, and kingfish were mixed in. Lots of worms were sold for porgy bait. Striped bass were eeled at Flynn’s Knoll at night. The shop had anglers buy 10 pounds of eels at once, so they must’ve caught. Crabbing was good in the river. Snapper blues were in, at back waters like that. Not much was heard about other fish from the river. All baits are stocked.

Many small fluke bit, but fluking was decent, and some big came in, said Tom from <b>Fisherman’s Den North</b>.  Boaters fluked including at Reach Channel on Raritan Bay, and some made the trip to Ambrose Channel in the ocean. Some of the flatfish were rounded up from the bay right off the shop, too, including on the store’s rental boats. Rental boaters decked keepers sometimes. Boats from the marina docked porgies. The store, new this year, the sister shop to Fisherman’s Den in Belmar, is located at Atlantic Highlands Municipal Marina. It’s down the dock from party boats, charter boats and private boats. The full supply of bait is stocked, including killies, fresh peanut bunker and now sometimes fresh mullet. The mullet aren’t available every day. All offshore baits are carried like flats of sardines and butterfish. For customers from the Belmar store, fluke fishing was decent on Shark River. Again, lots were throwbacks, but some big were beaten. Sometimes kingfish and small blues were hooked from the river. That shop’s rental boats are available to fish the river. Also for customers at the Belmar store, located at Belmar Marina on the river, fluking was good on the ocean on the party boats from the docks. Surf-fishing in the area managed kingfish, small blues and small striped bass at moments. Surf fishing slows in summer’s warm water. Still, Tom knew one surf angler who dragged in three stripers: two shorts and a keeper, 29 inches, he thought, just legal-sized. The keeper and a short were clammed, and the other short was plugged. Baits stocked at that shop include killies and fresh peanut bunker, and fresh adult bunker are carried when available. All frozen baits for inshore are on hand, like the different squids and Peruvian smelts. All offshore baits are in supply.  

<b>Highlands</b>

The boat was steamed to a different area, 20 miles from port, for fluke fishing Monday with <b>Lady M Charters</b>, Lady M’s Facebook page said. A few keepers and good action with shorts was claimed on the first drift. The same happened on the second, and the distance looked like it was going to be worthwhile. But conditions hardly drifted the boat on the trip, and the angling shut down afterward. The anglers totaled a few keeper fluke and some keeper sea bass. Spots are available for an extended fluke trip 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday. Trips are also bottom-fishing at the Mudhole.

Making the trip from <b>Twin Lights Marina</b>, Paul and Becky on the Second Home boated five keeper fluke to 22 inches at Ambrose Channel on killies, Marion wrote in an email. Greg on the Hammerhead pitched aboard one keeper near the Ammo Pier on a killie. 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. Baits stocked include all for offshore.

<b>Neptune</b>

Good fishing for fluke was plundered from the ocean Wednesday aboard, until wind came up, and 12 ounces of weight needed to be fished, said Capt. Ralph from <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b>. That was the weekly individual-reservation trip for fluke, sailing on a Wednesday instead of the usual Tuesday. Tuesday this week was booked with a charter. Kids under 12 sail free on those outings, limited to one per adult host. Two last-minute openings became available for an individual-reservation trip for cod August 30. Space is available on another September 14, and the trips have been filling.

<b>Belmar</b>

On the party boat <b>Big Mohawk</b>, ocean fluke fishing was pretty good, pretty dependable, Capt. Chris said. Some good-sized were tackled, none topping 10 pounds this week, but some 8s and 9s. Mostly jigs caught, but bait caught on a couple of days. The Big Mohawk is fluke fishing 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.

Fluke and sea bass were cranked in, and the anglers also picked away at ling Wednesday on the <b>Miss Belmar Princess</b> on the ocean, an email from the party boat said. Trips will now bottom-fish for fluke, sea bass, ling, cod and pollock until bluefish can be caught. The boat bluefished previously on the ocean, but the angling was no good during the weekend through Tuesday aboard. Sometimes the trips switched to bottom-fishing to catch something. 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. daily.

Conditions were difficult, but fluke fishing still axed some good catches on the ocean yesterday with <b>Parker Pete’s Fishing Charters</b>, Capt. Pete said. The catches included limits, and anglers who knew how to bucktail scored well. The fish weighed up to 7 pounds, and fluking’s been like that aboard. The trip fished a new area, and the trips are fishing rubble and rocks. Trips include On the Water Seminars that teach bucktailing for big fluke in a non-threatening environment. The next was just added for Tuesday, so climb aboard.  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. The spaces and available dates for other trips are also posted on a calendar on the site.

Feeling hot? Bob from <b>Fisherman’s Den</b> asked in an email. Go fish on a boat, and cool off! Fluking was great on the ocean and in the rivers. Trips on the store’s rental boats today landed as many as 75 fluke on Shark River. Just a few were keepers, but all had fun. Belmar’s party boats scored well on fluke on the ocean, and a 7-1/2-pounder was weighed-in from one. Beatrice Soto limited out on another and won the pool. “Snappers are keeping the young anglers busy as have porgies and kingfish,” Bob wrote. Striped bass fishing “is strictly a nighttime thing,” he said. Be careful, because he had a couple of stripers die when released, because of warm water, apparently. Get them back in the water quickly. Come down and have a good time, he said. Summer is waning. See more about Belmar fishing in the report above from Fisherman’s Den North, the sister shop.

<b>Brielle</b>

<b>***Update, Saturday, 8/13:***</b> Fluking, on the ocean, was good most of the week on the party boat <b>Jamaica II</b>, Capt. Ryan wrote in an email. Catches were off a couple of days in strong wind, from south. On one morning’s trip, Bruce Casagrande jacked-in a 6/14-pound fluke, and on the afternoon’s, Gerry Giordano cracked a 7.6-pounder. On the next afternoon’s, Bob Bullock crushed a 7.8-pounder. Southwest wind was persistent currently, but the good angling was expected to continue. Big sea bass to a 4.12-pounder were also smashed, and many anglers limited out on two. 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.

Hudson Canyon seemed to begin giving up bigeye tuna two days ago, said Eric from <b>The Reel Seat</b>. The fish to 225 pounds were trolled in evening and in the dark, mostly on Bomber Certified Depth 30 Lures and Joe Shutes. Yellowfin tuna, not a large number, were trolled at the canyon during daytime on Joe Shutes and green machine and rainbow machine spreaders. White marlin, many, upward of 25 a trip, were trolled from canyons, the farther south, the more, but also at the Hudson and Toms Canyon locally. They were hooked on ballyhoos, Ilanders and a variety of small lures, including Same Ole Roll Lures. Lots of mahi mahi 12 to 20 pounds were boated at the canyons. Mahi were also boated at lobster pot buoys along the east side of the Chicken Canyon and at the Bacardi wreck. Closer to shore, ling fishing seemed up and down, and if a trip anchored on a pile, it caught well. The Mudhole in 120 feet to 200 was fished for them. Closer yet, fluke fishing was good for some anglers and not for others. The fish seemed to be heading offshore, so places like the Rattlesnake and the Klondike wreck produced, especially bigger fluke. But fluke were found closer to shore, like at Axel Carlson Reef, too. Along the beachfront, tailor blues 1 ½ to 3 pounds schooled. They also swam Manasquan River, and the river’s fluke fishing held up the same as in past weeks. It churned out mostly throwbacks and a few keepers. Fishing for snapper blues seemed turning on in the river at the Route 70 Bridge and off the old hospital. 

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

Porgy fishing shoveled up great catches since last week on the party boat <b>Dauntless</b> on the ocean, Capt. Butch said. Anglers could catch 25 to a limit of 50 and add a couple of sea bass and a blackfish or something like that. So anglers probably averaged 25 to 60 fish bagged apiece. A few fluke and summer flounder were bagged a couple of days. One trip pushed farther from shore, because so many porgies had already been landed, and a handful of ling and a couple of cod were cracked. Anglers could belt a nice mess of fish, and Butch was happy with the angling. On Friday and Saturday nights’ trips, angling wasn’t as good but alright. The trips bottom-fished, and might’ve reeled in more bluefish than boats targeting blues, Butch thought. Friday night’s trip totaled about 10 sea bass, before dark, 50 to 60 ling, 18 blues and two or three cod. Saturday night’s caught about the same, including about a dozen blues. The Dauntless is bottom-fishing 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily and 7:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. every Friday and Saturday.

Fair fluke fishing as scooped up the past few days on the <b>Gambler</b> from the ocean, an email from the party boat said. Some good fluking was toggled aboard during the weekend, slowing somewhat since, but picking away. Sea bass were sometimes bagged. Some trips fished better than others, depending on conditions. Donna and Bud Brown totaled seven keepers to 6 pounds early in the week. Fluke 5 to 7 pounds usually won pools. Thursday night’s wreck-fishing trip rounded up a steady pick of ling and some sea bass and small blues. Nighttime trips are bluefishing on Fridays and Saturdays, but bluefishing was slow last weekend. So Saturday night’s trip wreck-fished, catching ling and sea bass. Fluke trips are fishing 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 2 to 6:30 p.m. daily. Trips from 7:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. are fishing wrecks every Thursday and are bluefishing every Friday and Saturday. Some of the <a href=" http://www.gamblerfishing.net/offshoretrips.php" target="_blank">late fall to summer tuna trips</a> already filled. Don’t wait long to reserve, because the trips will fill.

The past few trips picked at fluke on the <b>Norma-K III</b> on the ocean, a report said Wednesday on the party boat’s website. The fishing was better on a trip Sunday, but the angling afterward was decent. Trips fished rough bottom, and sea bass were also caught, helping anglers bag something. Gulps caught best, and Nuclear Chicken and chartreuse were best colors. Nighttime trips picked away at 1- to 2-pound blues the past two nights, the report said that day. Water cleaned on the bluefish grounds, and big blues usually move in then. The crew had high hopes for the upcoming week. The Norma-K III is fishing for fluke 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 2 to 6:30 p.m. daily and is bluefishing 7:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. daily.

<b>Toms River</b>

Snapper bluefishing picked up this week, said Virginia from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b>. The fish, probably averaging 6 to 10 inches, a few as heavy as a pound, swiped spearing on Snapper Popper rigs in back waters. Good blowfishing was boated at the BI and BB markers or anywhere behind Island Beach State Park on Barnegat Bay on bits of clams while boaters dunked chum logs. Fluke hit in the area, too, and ocean fluke fishing improved on party boats and private boats. Also on the ocean, fishing for porgies was excellent, sea bass was good and ling was slow. In the surf, fluking was good on bucktails 3 ounces or lighter with Gulps or squid. A few kingfish were banked from the surf on small pieces of squid, and blues 2 to 3 pounds began to pop up more than before in the surf. No rhyme or reason, she said. Lots of skates and rays grabbed hooks in the surf.  Crabbing was good, slowing somewhat during the new moon, but picking back up again. Murphy’s, located on Route 37, also owns <b>Go Fish Bait & Tackle</b> on Fischer Boulevard in Toms River.

<b>Seaside Heights</b>

Strong snapper bluefishing was bombed from the dock, said Ray from <b>The Dock Outfitters</b>. So was fishing for small fluke, and boating for fluke picked up at inlets and the ocean pretty well. Crabbing was consistent from the dock and the shop’s rental boats. No fishing was reported from the surf. 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, boat rentals and jet-ski rentals.

<b>Forked River</b>

<b>Tuna-Tic Sportfishing</b> was supposed to begin tuna fishing two weeks ago, Capt. Mike said. But the trips were pushed off to later dates, because the angling was slow locally. A few shots of the fish showed up locally this season. A boat would catch seven or eight or something, then the fish would depart. Some anglers pumped-up excitement about tuna fishing early in the season in recent years. But the fishing traditionally begins later, including good catches in September and October. Mike will run inshore trips for the moment, like a fluke and sea bass trip just booked. He’d been accepting no inshore bookings, expecting to offshore fish.  

Meyer’s Hole produced fluke on Barnegat Bay, said Brian at <b>Grizz’s Forked River Bait & Tackle</b>. So did other usual places on the bay, and little changed with the angling there. The first hour or two of incoming tides fished best. Two fluke were weighed from the research buoy on the bay. A few seemed picked off there. But boaters headed to the ocean for fluke more than before. A few reports from the ocean talked about catches from Garden State Reef North and off the Seaside Pipe. Not much commotion from fluke seemed to come from off the bathing beach at Island Beach State Park. Blowfish were boated from the bay at the 40, the BI and the research buoy. Occasional weakfish were caught off Oyster Creek, the Forked River power plant outflow, in the middle of the bay in 12 to 14 feet. One angler reported catching them early in morning. But Grizz from the store dead-sticked two in the middle of the day on live peanut bunker scooped for bait before the trip. Nothing was heard about Barnegat Ridge on the ocean. Crabbing was good, trapping good-sized but also small. Fresh, local spearing were stocked Monday, and those were now frozen and available at the store. More of the fresh might be stocked Friday. Baits stocked also include killies and frozen Canadian spearing, sand eels, smelts, chum for blowfish and offshore baits.   

<b>Barnegat Light</b>

Wind blew strongly, and fishing was slower Wednesday on the ocean on the <b>Miss Barnegat Light</b>, the party boat’s Facebook page said. Heavy sinkers needed to be fished, making feeling bites difficult. A deck hand who had the day off landed two keeper fluke and 15 throwbacks on a heavy bucktail. Fishing was also slow on Tuesday’s trip, and a few fluke, sea bass and porgies were bagged, and a blackfish won the pool. But Monday’s trip was “another nice day with good action and some nice keepers going on ice,” the page said. Fishing was improving through then aboard. The Miss Barnegat Light is fishing for fluke and sea bass at 8 a.m. daily.

Barnegat Bay’s fluke fishing was pretty good, giving up lots of shorts, but some decent-sized keepers, said Ashley from <b>Bobbie’s Boat Rentals</b>. The fish were hooked off the Gulf dock, around the Dike and at High Bar Harbor. No other catches, like weakfish or blowfish, were heard about from the bay. Fluke were also boated on the ocean, maybe a mile inshore of the Tires. Crabbing was mostly slow, and those who trapped crabs said all were pregnant. Clamming was great. Bobbie’s features a complete bait and tackle shop, a fuel dock and boat and kayak rentals. The boats are used for fishing, crabbing, clamming and pleasure. The store is known for bait supply, including live bait in season. Baits currently include minnows, and live grass shrimp are available to order.

<b>Beach Haven</b>

The <b>June Bug</b> was supposed to fish offshore today to tomorrow, Capt. Lindsay said before the trip. A friend competing in this week’s White Marlin Open said yesterday that the eddy holding white marlin should reach Poorman’s Canyon by today or so and that another was headed to Spencer and Lindenkohl canyons. The water movement seemed on schedule through this morning, Lindsay said before the trip. Wind 10 to 15 knots was forecast for today for the fishing grounds. Seas were supposed to be a little bumpier tomorrow, and wind was supposed to increase to 15 to 20 late tomorrow. But the trip should be on the way home or home when that wind happens.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

On the ocean, decent fluke fishing, including limits for a number of customers, was boated at reefs so far this week, said Chris from <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>. Garden State Reef South and Atlantic City Reef were places to fish. Find deep water, he said. Bring clams and crabs to fish for sea bass, blackfish and occasional triggerfish that could be mixed in. Steady flounder catches were found on the bay sometimes, nothing crazy. A couple of customers dialed them up between the 139 and 150 on the Intracoastal Waterway on outgoing tides. Small fish began to show up that give up a fishery in the bay in summer, like spots, porgies and croakers off Graveling Point and Seven Bridges Road. A few customers found blowfish in crab pots, so the puffers might be mixed in. Plenty of snapper blues schooled lagoons. Small weakfish appeared in back waters like that sometimes. Friends tugged in 60 snappers and a couple of 10-inch weaks from a lagoon on a trip. Back on the ocean, one customer reported marking more than 12 white marlin at Spencer Canyon, raising some but hooking none. Not much was heard about tuna, but weather was often rough to reach offshore waters. If trips head offshore, they might as well mix in mahi mahi fishing, like chumming minnows at lobster-pot buoys. Crabbing was excellent, and no customer complained about crabbing, Chris thought. Sometimes crabbing slows now in the season’s heat, but that failed to happen yet. Minnows are stocked, and fresh, shucked clams were ordered that are supposed to arrive tomorrow. Call ahead to confirm.   

<b>Absecon</b>

Sounded like the water that warmed turned on summer flounder fishing at ocean reefs, said Capt. Dave from <b>Absecon Bay Sportsman Center</b>. If the strong southerly wind currently gave boaters a break, they’d head to the angling. One of the crew from the shop fished on two trips that copped a two-angler limit of flounder one day and eight keepers the next on the ocean. The trips bounced around at Great Egg Reef one day and Atlantic City Reef the other. Dave heard lots of other stories about the ocean fishing. Flounder remained in the back bay, and the bay also warmed. The warmth at both places came from easterly winds. A diver who dove at a buoy in 60 feet in the ocean said the water surface was almost 80 degrees and the bottom was 75. The bay’s flounder were all sizes and, Dave thought, were scattered. Many had seemed to move into the bay on the new moon and gather at peanut bunker. The peanuts since scattered, so the flounder did, apparently, and many of the bay’s flounder shoved into shallower water than some boaters preferred. But the bait was there, so the fish were. Bluefish were also on the bait. Anglers probably needed to cull lots of throwback flounder on the bay. Some anglers like the action with throwbacks, and some don’t. Weakfish remained in the bay, biting best in early mornings on shedder crabs as usual. Panfish were around, including kingfish in the surf that sometimes swam into the bay. Spots began to show up and might’ve been able to be caught to liveline for bait. The peanuts in the bay were small, but Dave will probably try to net some to stock live for the weekend, whatever size they are. They grow quickly so maybe will be better-sized soon. Plenty of minnows are stocked. Crabs began to shed, so shedder crabs are carried for bait, and a fairly good supply of soft-shell crabs for eating are in. The store raises the crabs, and Like <a href=" https://www.facebook.com/SoftshellCrabs" target="_blank">the store’s soft-shell crabs Facebook page</a> to keep up on the supply. Crabbing was constantly picking up, and the shed was adding bigger males to the population that crabbers like.

<b>Brigantine</b>

Sharks swarmed all over the surf, said Capt. Andy from <b>Riptide Bait & Tackle</b>. Anybody who fished for them today caught. For those who kingfished in the surf, some beached 15 to 20, and some caught none. Snapper blues moved into the surf, and a few spots began to show up in the water. So surf fishing was pretty good. Small sea bass nibbled for anglers fishing along the Absecon Inlet jetty. Summer flounder anglers had to work through throwbacks for a keeper, catching plenty at Eagle Bay and picking off the flatfish off Harrah’s.

<b>Atlantic City</b>

Absecon Inlet, from the T-jetty on the ocean end to the sea wall on the bay end, doled out kingfish, triggerfish, blowfish, summer flounder, bluefish and blackfish, a variety, said Noel from <b>One Stop Bait & Tackle</b>. Anglers fish the jetty-lined inlet on foot, and might not catch the species they want, but catch something in a trip. Fishing bloodworms, minnows and green crabs covered all bases for those species. Lots of baitfish including peanut bunker and mullet schooled the back. A 7.1-pound flounder was in the lead in the month-long flounder tournament through Monday from One Stop and Ducktown Tavern. All proceeds will be donated to the Valerie Fund, and first place will be a large flatscreen TV and a $150 Fluke Candy Tackle Box. Second will be a rod-and-reel combo. All baits mentioned and more, a complete, large supply, are stocked.

<b>Egg Harbor Township</b>

Summer flounder came from ocean reefs, not the bay, really, said Austin from <b>24-7 Bait & Tackle</b>. The bay was too warm, and the flounder from the ocean were boated in early mornings. Wind kept boaters from fishing offshore for tuna in past days. In the surf, lots of sharks and some kingfish were eased in. Crabbing was good in Patcong Creek, running past the shop. The store’s rental boats are available for crabbing and fishing on the creek and nearby, including on Great Egg Harbor River and the bay. The creek is one of the best places for crabbing. Minnows are half-price throughout the fishing season: $3 for a half-pint, $6 for a pint and $12 for a quart. Baits stocked also include fresh bunker, shedder crabs and all for offshore. The store is trying to stock spots, and spots began to show up in South Jersey waters. <b>The company also owns 24-7 Bait & Tackle in Marmora</b>.

<b>Margate</b>

The back bay warmed in the eastern wind earlier this week and late last week, and lots of throwback flounder bit in the water, but not a lot of keepers did, on the party boat <b>Keeper</b>, Capt. John said. Wind switched to south since, and that cools water because of upwelling on the ocean near the coast. So he hopes that will kick the angling back in. At least fish kept being caught in the warmth, and the angling wasn’t completely shut down. Lots of baby sea bass and sea robins also hit. Minnows, provided aboard, caught the flounder. Mackerel is also provided, but the sea bass jump all over the mackerel. If customers had kids, catching the sea bass could keep the kids happy. John castnetted peanut bunker and kept some in the livewell daily to liveline for flounder now. The peanuts grew large enough, and can be good bait for flounder, including larger. Not all anglers are adept at the livelining. But minnows always catch the flatfish. The Keeper is fishing for summer flounder 8 a.m. to 12 noon and 1 to 5 p.m. daily. The trips are only $30 for adults, $25 for seniors and $20 for kids, because fishing is near port, and the pontoon boat is economical on fuel. Rental rods are free.

<b>Longport</b>

A few mahi mahi were getting boated during sea bass fishing inshore on the <b>Stray Cat</b>, Capt. Mike said.  The mahi were good-sized to 15 and 20 pounds, and seemed to feed on the sea bass. They had sea bass in stomachs, and on yesterday’s trip, mahi followed hooked sea bass up to the boat. One mahi aboard recently had a sea bass and an 18-inch sailfish in the stomach. A few charter dates are available for mahi fishing within 20 miles of shore this month. Offshore fishing was good for white marlin. Mahi fishing could be good offshore, too. Open-boat trips will fish offshore for tuna and other big game beginning in September until October 22, when the sea bass bag limit is increased to 15, from the current limit of two. If anybody wants tuna, they can sign up. Beginning October 22, trips will fish for sea bass offshore in the deep, not inshore. Fishing for striped bass and blackfish will also sail in fall to winter. Mike brought the boat to the Florida Keys and fished last winter, but plans to remain in New Jersey this winter.

<b>Ocean City</b>

A 7-pound fluke that a kid caught was known about from the bay locally, said Justin from <b>Fin-Atics</b>. The fish would’ve won the weekend’s Jersey Coast Anglers Association’s prize for Ocean City if entered. But flounder fishing was slow, both in the bay and ocean. That was the only flounder of size heard about from the bay in some time. A few flounder were reported from the bay but were small. A local party boat totaled 13, none keepers, from the bay yesterday. The numbers just didn’t seem there. Nothing good was heard about ocean flounder fishing. Some talked about trips like 8 hours catching one fish, like a bluefish, not even a flounder. Snapper blues schooled the bay. The bay was loaded with baby sea bass. A few small striped bass, occasional weakfish mixed in, were played at bridges at night on soft-plastic lures. Tons of kingfish, not big, schooled the surf. Spots began to show up in the surf. Lots of brown sharks, required to be released, were fought in the surf both day and night, but night fished better. Other shark species were sometimes reported from the surf. Sometimes anglers beached bonnethead sharks, thinking they were hammerheads. No substantial news rolled in about tuna fishing.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Fishing was about the same as previously, said Mike from <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. Kingfish were nabbed from the surf pretty regularly. Spots, not many, one here or there, began to be hooked from the surf. “But at least it’s something,” he said. Shark fishing was great in the surf at night for browns and duskies, both required to be released. More bluefish than before, ½ pound to 2 ½ pounds – so some of them better-sized – were yanked from the inlet. A few cruised the Intracoastal Waterway on the back bay on occasion. Summer flounder fishing served up a couple of keepers and a fair number of throwbacks both on the bay and ocean. Lots of small sea bass schooled both places. A healthy number of cobia swam the ocean. So did quite a few mahi mahi. Nothing exciting happened with tuna fishing.

Trolling for mahi mahi went three for five with Ryan Roth and friends Tuesday aboard, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b>, affiliated with <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. The mahi boated weighed up to 12 pounds, and the previous trip for mahi spin-rodded the fish, covered in the previous report here. A trip Wednesday with a family landed a bunch of summer flounder, throwbacks, from the back bay. On Monday an inshore shark trip was slow. The sharking, usually within 10 miles from shore, a chance to fight big fish without a long sail, has been sporadic, good on some days, slow on others. High tides at dusk will begin Saturday and Sunday that are ideal for popper-plug and popper-fly-fishing for striped bass on the bay. Joe expects to fish for them next week, and the angling, a specialty aboard this season, has been surprisingly good. The tides happen every other week. Keep up with Joe’s fishing on <a href="http://captainjoehughes.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s Blog</a>.

<b>Wildwood</b>

With <b>Fins & Grins Sport Fishing</b>, kingfish and blues were reeled in off Cape May Point, Capt. Jim said. Four-hour trips targeted them, and 6-hour trips could sail a little farther. The trips farther could home in on sea bass and triggerfish that gathered at some of the hangs, and a few flounder, some, that loitered at Cape May and Wildwood reefs. Catch-and-release shark fishing was good on Delaware Bay, another option. In the back bay, crabbing was good, and Fins offers crabbing, too. Let the captain find the blueclaws. Fins fishes every day, and reservations aren’t required but suggested. Telephone for availability.

The back bay’s summer flounder were “back” or began biting again, said Mike from <b>Canal Side Boat Rentals</b>. But most were throwbacks 12 to 14 inches. One angler landed 15 or 16, none a keeper, on a trip. But the angling seemed no different on the ocean. Another angler caught a 19-inch keeper and a 19-1/2-incher among throwbacks on the bay on a trip. On the ocean, the fishing had been best at Wildwood Reef, then at Cape May Reef and now at Wildwood Reef again. Striped bass were lifted from the bay on soft-plastic lures on lead jigheads. A couple of kids nailed them at night under a light. The bay’s crabbing was good, but crabbers needed to search for the blueclaws that seemed to scatter into the estuary and creeks. The hardshells weren’t found at usual locations in the bay for the moment. A buddy trapped a great, great catch at the mouth of a creek. High salinity in deeper water seemed to chase crabs to places like that. Canal Side rents boats for fishing, crabbing and pleasure and kayaks. <b>***<i>Get a $5 discount</i>***</b> on a rental boat if you mention Fishing Reports Now. A large supply of bait and tackle is carried. Crabs for eating are sold, and the price depends on the market. No. 1s were currently $32 per dozen live, $34 for cooked and chilled and $36 for cooked to order. No. 2s were $20 per dozen live and were also on special for $35 for two dozen live or cooked and chilled. Clams, shrimp and occasionally oysters are also sold for eating. Those were the main four foods sold, and customers enjoy the food at picnic tables with tents on the water at the store. Or they take out the food and enjoy.

<b>Cape May</b>

<b>Caveman Sportfishing</b> fished for yellowfin tuna in the general Massey’s Canyon area Monday, but the angling was no good aboard, Capt. John said. However, the angling lit up on one day afterward: Tuesday or Wednesday. John said which day, but this writer forgot. But there was a bite, he said, and a trip today for the fish was canceled aboard, because of wind. Monday’s trip had “no boat traffic to contend with,” Caveman’s Facebook page said. But few of the tuna showed up in the area, except “a few isolated catches,” the page said. No more than “a few boats (seemed to have) more than a couple of bites.” The tuna were hooked on livelined spots. Friends scored well on the tuna Sunday, and the water was 78 degrees. On Monday, the water jumped to 83 degrees, and John thought that killed the angling. Wind had been easterly when the water warmed, and easterly does warm the water. Wind now was becoming southerly, and that cools the water. 

A bunch of bluefish were trolled Monday on the <b>Heavy Hitter</b>, Capt. George said. Anglers booked for today aboard wanted to fish for sharks inshore. Anglers slated for tomorrow want to sail for whatever can be caught, and they might run for blues. George heard tuna anglers who fished inshore talking on the radio Monday. Some caught and some didn’t. Good tuna fishing was had there Sunday in rough seas. Tuna remain there, and trips need to get them behind the boat on the chunk and keep them there. 

Summer flounder fishing was hit and miss on the party boat <b>Porgy IV</b>, Capt. Paul said. A bunch of sizable were laid up Tuesday around the boat. No customers bagged more than four that day, but quality were spread around. That was at the Old Grounds, and Paul had thought the fishing had dried up there. On the next day, Wednesday, strong wind blew, and not many keepers were hung on the trip in the tough conditions. Some sea bass were mixed in. The flounder fishing was like that lately. On a couple of days, some good-sized were caught. On a few days, only a few were. Customers and their catches included Al Pavlichko from Seaville who bagged three flounder to a 5-1/2-pounder Sunday. Carl Keehfus from Villas bagged only one Tuesday, but won the pool with the 6-pounder. On Wednesday, an angler fishing a rental rod won the pool with a 4- or 4-1/2-pounder. The Porgy IV is fishing for summer flounder at 8 a.m. daily.

Some good catches of summer flounder were pumped from Wildwood Reef, Cape May Reef, Reef 11 and the Old Grounds, said Nick from <b>Hands Too Bait & Tackle</b>. The ocean fishing seemed to pick up, and flounder catches did pick up in the back bay – lots of action with throwbacks and a couple of keepers – along the Intracoastal Waterway. Boaters who fished the harbor also caught. Not much was reported from Delaware Bay about flounder. Fishing for croakers was good at Brandywine in the bay. Weakfish also schooled there, and croakers and kingfish schooled Cape May Channel off Cape May Point. In the surf, fishing for cocktail blues could be good. Kingfish were beaned from the ocean surf. Large sharks were fought from the surf in evenings. Inshore tuna fishing seemed to turn back on, a little west of Massey’s Canyon on the chunk. White marlin gave up good fishing at the canyons offshore. Crabbing was excellent, a great year for crabbing. Baits stocked include bloodworms, shedder crabs and fresh clams  

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