<b>Staten Island</b>

Lots of keeper sea bass and a mess of keeper porgies were lifted aboard the <b>Kayla Rose</b> yesterday, Capt. Darrin said. Six big, out-of-season fluke were also caught and had to be released, and big flatties have been coming up on trips. About 15 out-of-season tog were also let go, but the good news is that New York’s tog season opens Monday. Wreck fishing is a specialty of charters on the Kayla Rose, and wreck fishing will really kick in when tog season opens. Darrin’s boat was bought from a commercial bottom fisher, and the machine has lots of pieces marked that produce fish. Darrin even has species-specific pieces marked, and for example the charter yesterday wanted sea bass, and Darrin sailed to a spot that produced sea bass, and the charter wanted porgies, and the boat ran to a spot with porgies, and so on. A 28-inch striped bass was a by-catch on a bottom trip Friday that produced sea bass, porgies and blackfish. Nighttime trips for stripers and weakfish are now being offered, and weakfishing was spotty. If anglers got on top of a school of weaks, they caught a load of them. But anglers had to spend lots of time scouting out the fish. Kayla Rose is also tuna fishing offshore, including on open-boat trips, and the crew ran offshore Friday night and did alright, boating a couple of yellowfin tuna and some mahi mahi.

<b>Frenzy Fishing Charters</b> was wrapping up a trip last night with a couple from Manhattan when Capt. Tommy Verderosa gave this report, he said. The anglers scored very well on false albacore and lots of blues while fishing all around Sandy Hook and at the Sandy Hook Rips. No striped bass were found, although the anglers looked around for stripers, and Tommy promised more details when he could speak later.

Fishing for sea bass and porgies was going okay for <b>Barbara Anne Charters</b>, Capt.  Anthony said. This fishing will be the focus on trips for now, and blackfishing will become the main target Monday, when New York’s blackfishing season opens. But sea bass and porgy fishing will remain available for those who request a trip.

The crew from <b>Outcast Charters</b> took a busman’s holiday and fished offshore Thursday night at the 100 Square at Hudson Canyon, Capt. Joe said. But the trip got off to a bad start when a commercial longliner came along, lifted up the longline, caught the Outcast’s anchor line in it, and then cut the anchor line, leaving the boat with no way to anchor. The guys from Outcast went up to the longliner and asked what they were supposed to do, because nobody just carries around an extra 2,500 feet of line, but the longliner said he tried to avoid cutting the line. The crew from Outcast pointed out that all the longliner had to do was tie a bottle or a float onto the line. Joe and crew prefer to anchor at night for tuna, but they had to drift instead. Being without an anchor line is not a situation boaters would want to be in if something happened and the boat was dead in the water, because then the vessel would have to drift. So not much was happening on the drift while the anglers chunked at night. Six fish were missed, including two swordfish, and one of the swords spit the hook after a 1-1/2-hour fight.  But the crew hoped to get out again in the coming days and give offshore fishing another shot if the weather allowed. Charters on the boat these days are fishing for sea bass, and blackfishing will begin to be mixed in when blackfish season opens Monday. If blackfishing is strong enough, charters will concentrate on the tog, and otherwise the trips will be combo sea bass/blackfish charters. Blackfishing is a specialty for Outcast, and the crew is looking forward to the season.

<b>Bayonne</b>

Two charters tried to catch weakfish Saturday and Sunday mornings with Capt. Akira from <b>True World Tackle</b> and <b>True World Tackle Charters</b>, he said. On Saturday 14 keepers to 5 pounds were grabbed and on Sunday 16 keepers were nailed. The fish were taken at the Verrazano Bridge, and weakfishing was good right now, Akira said. Lots of boaters put pressure on weakfish along Reach Channel. Sandworms and Berkley Gulp worms fooled the fish equally on his trips. This weekend charters will fish for weaks and will also sail to the Mud Buoy to try for false albacore and bluefish.

<b>Keyport</b>

<b>Lucky Carm Charters</b> is finished with weakfishing, Capt. Carmine said. The Gomez Trucking Company charter from Woodbridge was aboard Thursday and tried to catch weaks in the bay. “All I got was aggravation,” Carmine said, and no weakfish bit. So the anglers switched to bottom fishing at the Scotland Grounds, and a ton of small sea bass, a couple of keepers, and a few keeper porgies were boated. Barbara Murray’s charter, a bachelor party trip for Barbara’s brother, on Saturday also bottom fished, first stopping at Old Orchard. But boat traffic was too heavy, so anchoring was impossible, and they moved to between the channels. Loads of short sea bass, a few keepers and a few keeper porgies bit until sea robins and dogfish took over. Then they fished at Sandy Hook Bay where a few birds were diving and fought 1-1/2- to 2-pound blues. On Sunday Mike DeLuca, Mike Jr. and Vince took a short, 4-hour bottom-fishing trip and reeled in small porgies and tiny sea bass. So even bottom fishing wasn’t easy, and Carmine said he’ll run no more short, 4-hour trips for bottom fishing, because 8 hours are needed to fish right and go to the right spots. The problem is that normally charters would be fluke fishing now, and that’s what they were doing last year, but fluke season closed early. But Carmine will now run 8-hour bottom trips and work hard to find the fish, and he’s never been one to sit still when fishing’s slow, and he’ll keep running to find the bite. Striped bass fishing hadn’t turned on yet, and Carmine and crew kept hearing reports about stripers, so they tried searching for the linesiders, but only sea bass and dogfish bit, and there were no stripers.  Some prime dates are available for charters the rest of this month and in October, so if you want to take an 8-hour trip for bottom fishing from between the channels to the Shrewsbury Rocks, book now before the schedule fills.

Weakfish in the bay were scarcer than before, but a few were still around, said Capt. Joe from <b>Papa’s Angels Charters</b>. Loads of bait including peanut bunker filled the harbor and inlet, and that should be a good sign for the upcoming migration of stripers and blues, and 8- to 10-pound blues were currently chasing bait in the bay. Open-boat trips are sailing 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily when no charter is booked, and call to reserve and for prices and info.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

On the <b>CRT II</b> lots of good-sized, 5- to 12-pound blues bit Saturday at the Mud Dump, and the water was so clear that the slammers could be seen hammering the peanut bunker that were used for chum, Capt. Mick said. A short, 2-hour trip on Sunday battled 18 or 20 blues and then bottom fished at the reef, boating a few keeper sea bass and porgies. Capt. Mick pretty much gave up on weakfishing, and a handful of weakfish were around, but that’s all. Striped bass charters will begin in two weekends or the first weekend of October, and charters will continue bluefishing and bottom fishing. Discounts are always available on weekday charters for considerable savings.

The <b>Atlantic Star</b> is now bottom fishing after switching from weakfishing, and the bottom trips began Friday afternoon, and the fishing on that trip was good, and mostly porgies were boated, Capt. Tom said. A few keeper sea bass were also bagged, but a load of tiny sea bass bit. That trip was probably the best of the days that followed, but catches on those days were also decent. Saturday morning’ catch was about the same but not quite as good, and fewer people were aboard, maybe because of forecasts for rougher weather. Even fewer people took Saturday afternoon’s trip, and not as many porgies were hooked, but a few more keeper sea bass were picked up, though tons of small ones were still abundant. Currents were difficult to fish Sunday, and they were less of a problem in the morning. But fewer fish were around in the morning than in the afternoon, and the number of keeper sea bass was better in the afternoon than on the other trips, though loads of small ones were still prevalent. Porgy fishing wasn’t as good this day as on previous days. The boat was fishing the channels, so the trips to the fishing grounds was short. There was plenty of action, and patrons were going home with fish. Keeper porgies outnumbered short porgies, and the porgies were generally very good sized, and short sea bass outnumbered keeper sea bass. The boat’s trips stopped weakfishing after catches dwindled and only a couple of the trout were landed Friday morning, so Tom made the switch. The Atlantic Star is bottomfishing on two trips daily from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.  

Striped bass fishing was great on the <b>Fishermen</b> last Wednesday, as was reported here Thursday, but then the fishing dropped off, Capt. Ron said in the report on the boat’s web site. Three keepers and a short were reeled in Thursday, and the anglers finished up the day by jigging a few big blues, bonito and false albacore. “Hero yesterday—today a bum,” Ron said. On Friday there was a bit of a pick of keepers and shorts, no hot bite, but action until the tide was lost. High hook scored five fish on a rental rod, and one angler bagged his limit and released a  short, and many caught none, and the bright sun and clear water probably didn’t help. Saturday was foggy, overcast and sometimes rainy but wasn’t good for striper fishing, and the boat was going to fish the Mud Buoy for blues until 300 boats were found there, but sea-bass fishing kind of bailed out the trip at the Shrewsbury Rocks, and no blues or striper hit there. On Sunday patrons jigged lots of blues and a few short stripers until 11 a.m. and then fished for sea bass. Lots of small sea bass showed up, but there was also a good showing of keepers. At this time of season, the trips are doing whatever they have to do to put a catch together: clamming for stripers, jigging for blues, bottom fishing, whatever works. Trips are also bluefishing in the evenings on Fridays to Sundays, and Saturday night’s bluefishing was good, and anglers picked away all night at 5- to 12-pounders. The Fishermen is fishing for striped bass and blues 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily. Afternoon bluefishing trips are running 3:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Fridays through Sundays.

<b>Highlands</b>

Weakfishing had kicked off and was on fire last week on Sunday and Monday, and limits of the weaks to 23 inches were boated, but then the bite slowed down at a steady pace until none of the fish were hitting by the weekend, said Capt. Bob from <b>Sandy Hook Fishing Adventures</b> in an e-mail. He hit all the hot spots and his never-fail ones, and plenty of fish were read, but none bit. Weakfishing was strange this season, and it started a month late and lasted about a week but now had shut down. The Applied Air Group charter was aboard Saturday and left early to beat the crowd, and no weakfish were hooked, but two nice, out-of-season fluke were landed, so the anglers switched to sea bassing, running to the rocks and Sandy Hook Reef, and they boated a bunch of the fish to 3 pounds. Bluefishing trips went well, and striped bass trips were fair, but good striper fishing hadn’t started yet. Weakfishing trips will leave the dock if the trout turn back on, and charters for sea bass, blues and stripers are sailing, and trips will concentrate on tog when the bag limit increases to eight on November 15 from the current limit of one.

<b>Fisher Price Charters</b> gave up on weakfishing, and catches were plentiful at first but then dropped off, Capt. Derek said. A mess of the fish were boated Monday, but by Wednesday only one was reeled in. So his trips instead started catching striped bass early in the mornings and just after dark at the Sandy Hook Rips and at lumps and rough bottom between the channels. Most of the stripers were shorts, but the fishing should continue to pick up, and worms were the bait. The waters off Sandy Hook Point were 69 degrees or still warm the other night. Fisher Price will continue to striper fish, and bottom fishing trips are available, and lots of blues can be jigged. Blackfishing will become a focus starting November 15, when the bag limit jumps to eight from the current limit of one. Dates for striped bass charters are already being booked, and the schedule fills, because stripers are big part of Fisher Price’s fishing, so reserve your dates now if you want to go.

<b>Sea Bright</b>

South winds were terrible Saturday and shut down fishing, but <b>Two Rivers Charters</b> caught weakfish to 7 pounds and all the blues anglers could want on Sunday, Capt. Fletcher Chayes said. The weaks bit at Reach Channel on sandworms, and the blues were 6- to 12-pounders that slammed jigs at Sandy Hook Bay under working birds.

<b>Nepune</b>

Capt. Ralph and <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b> were fishing the canyons last night when Mary Ann gave this report, she said, but she heard from one of Last Lady’s other captains who said bluefishing and sea bassing was very good on his trips this weekend. That action was good all week, she said, and look for an update on Ralph’s success at the canyons in the next report.

Fishing at Lindenkohl Canyon from Thursday to Friday was one of the best and worst trips that Capt. Jake from <b>Jersey Shore Fishing Charters</b> ever experienced, he said. The problem was that 22 tuna bit, but only three were landed. The anglers kept getting the lines caught in the prop and rudders and breaking them off, although the crew kept instructing them how to avoid doing that. Twelve or 13 of the fish probably should’ve been landed, and six broke off without hitting any such obstructions. The tuna that were bagged were an 80-pound-plus yellowfin and two 60-pound and 48-pound longfins. All the fish were hooked on live squid, and trolling was done before sunset, but nothing hit. Tons of bait filled the 69.9-degree water. Jake’s friend fished the East Elbow of Hudson Canyon and went 8 for 9 on yellowfins on squid. Jersey Shore offers offshore charters on the angler’s own boat, and that’s what was done on this trip, and another one of these trips is slated to run either this Tuesday to Wednesday or Wednesday to Thursday.

<b>Belmar</b>

A bluefishing trip on the <b>Bandit</b> yesterday was excellent, so good that the boat was heading back to port early, Capt. Scotty said. Bluefishing was great on the boat both day and night in the past days. An open-boat tuna trip was leaving the dock at 1 p.m. today, and the boat’s tuna trips are sold out in the next week, but space is available afterward, and more of the trips are being added to the schedule. The trips are limited to 15 passengers and sail roughly 24 hours.

The <b>Nan Sea J</b> ran offshore on an overnighter to Carteret Canyon from Thursday to Friday, and fishing was a little slow, Capt. Tom said. But two white marlins were landed, one on the troll and one on the chunk. Chunking also produced good-sized mahi mahi from 8 to 10 pounds and a yellowfin tuna. The yellowfin bit at sunset, so tuna fishing seemed like it was going to be good at night, but no other tuna materialized. The water was good-looking and 75 degrees, and not a lot of bait swam past, but a few squid and some flying fish were seen. Four canyon trips in a row are coming up in the next days if the weather allows. A bottom-fishing trip Saturday produced sea bass, but a bunch of small ones, and some porgies.

<b>Brielle</b>

Offshore fishing seemed kind of good for a lot of boaters during the week and kind of slow for others, said Dave from <b>The Reel Seat</b>. Trolling had turned on for a moment, but trolling slowed down during the past couple of days, and the fishing depended on who fished and where they went. Trolling produced mostly longfin tuna but a few bigeyes, and one customer trolled a 105-pound yellowfin. Many anglers trolled spreader bars, and a bunch trolled ballyhoos, and lots of good action came from the tip of Hudson Canyon to the canyon’s east wall. Barry Emelia Sr. and Jr. on the Hard 8 fished Lindenkohl Canyon from Thursday to Friday and trolled longfin tuna during daylight and chunked nice-sized, 70- to 80-pound yellowfin tuna at night. Chunking was best on live squid and jigs instead of sardines and such. The Little Rascals ran a trip Thursday to Friday that only fished at night and limited out on big yellowfins, mostly on Shimano butterfly jigs, and a small mako shark was even jigged and released. Reports were heard about bigger bluefin tuna over 100 pounds sometimes trolled at the Chicken Canyon. Smaller bluefins, mahi mahi and wahoo were trolled from Little Italy to the Lillian wreck. Closer to shore, John Muly, wife Patricia and son Conner fished Axel Carlson Reef and bagged a bunch of sea bass and even caught bonito. Surf fishers reportedly beached bluefish, and nice-sized ones, mostly to the south, and Dave spoke with an angler Friday who was fishing the beach at Sea Girt and had already released six striped bass to 30 inches that smacked poppers. Small striped bass bit in Manasquan River, and small blues were all over the river. Weakfish had been caught sometimes in the area around the river, but Dave heard about none found this past week.

The <b>Reel-Ality</b> fished Sea Girt Reef on Saturday, and the one angler onboard pulled up 18 to 20 keeper sea bass and released a bunch of shorts, and pretty much only sea bass bit the clam baits, Capt. Larry said. Fog was somewhat thick inland but cleared up as soon as the boat reached the ocean, and seas were calm. On Sunday two anglers were on deck, and first they stopped at the Railroad Bridge on the Manasquan River and fought hickory shad for 20 minutes on white twister tails on ¼-ounce jigs and light tackle, having fun with the so-called Jersey Tarpon. Stripers can also be caught there sometimes, and so can blues and porgies. Then the anglers pushed off to the ocean off the Spring Lake Hotel and trolled a bunch of bonito, bagging seven that they kept for dinner. Ten more probably hit but got off on the small jet lures. Seas were a little nasty that day in north winds, and the water on these trips was about 70 degrees everyplace from the river to the ocean. Reel-Ality is also fishing for bluefin tuna in the inshore ocean at every opportunity, and Capt. Larry heard an unconfirmed report on the radio from an angler who said he battled bluefins at the Oil Wreck.

Overnight tuna trips fished Lindenkohl Canyon on the <b>Katie H</b> from Friday to Saturday and from Saturday to Sunday, Capt. Mike said. Friday’s fishing was very good, and a good number of yellowfin tuna to 75 pounds were chunked. Saturday’s fishing was slow, and some yellowfins managed to be chunked, and fish were marked, but the bite sounded slow for everyone. On that trip a swordfish was also lost on the anchor line. On both trips there was a temperature break from 72 degrees to 74.6 degrees on the way into the Lindy, and the 74.6-degree water was where the boat fished. Some squid, but not a ton, swam past, and sardines for bait worked just as well as squid. A little trolling was done but produced nothing, and the year’s been terrible for trolling. Seas were beautiful until becoming a little bumpy at the end of the trip Sunday morning. Back-to-back canyon trips will run again next Friday and Saturday nights.

After probably the best day of sea bass fishing in months on Thursday on the <b>Paramount</b>, catches were slow Friday, an e-mail from the boat said. But the action renewed Saturday, when the fishing was slow at first, but then patrons got into good sea bassing. Rubin Stuvall bagged 21, and Mike Francesca took 23 and three porgies. Dan Stanton boated 23, and Bill Salvage scored 16. Randy Veney won the pool with a 5-pound humpback. Clams were the bait of choice, and a one- or two-hook rigs with 6 to 8 ounces of weight was the way to go. On days when porgies bit in earnest, anglers were switching to a small porgy hooks. Porgies were starting to appear, and with sea bassing improving, the crew was looking forward to good mixed-bag catches of both species on trips that are sailing 6:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. every day except Wednesdays. Deep Water Mudhole Ling Specials are sailing 6:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. every Wednesday. Bluefishing trips are leaving the dock 7:30 p.m. every Saturday, returning at 2:30 a.m. For more info call the boat or visit wreckmasters.com.

<b>Point Pleasant</b>

Porgies were getting caught off the wall at Manasquan Inlet on sandworms, and blues were also being fought from the wall, said Rob Sr. at <b>Gates Bait & Tackle</b>. Metal could be tossed to catch the blues, and small stripers could be landed toward the back of the inlet. Small stripers could also be found in the surf, and the surf close to the inlet is always a good spot to look. Baits at the shop include live clams, salted clams in containers and frozen mullet, and fresh mullet might be stocked later this week. Gates also features a hotel on the premises that’s perfect for fishing trips. The hotel and tackle shop are within walking distance of the inlet, the surf and the charter-boat and party-boat fleet, and anglers often check in to stay overnight either to head out on the boats or to make a night of fishing along the surf and inlet.

On the <b>Dauntless</b> anglers are bagging mostly sea bass and porgies in the ocean, and the fishing was good yesterday, Capt. Willie said. Afterward the boat headed to the Mudhole, and patrons scored quite well on ling. The bottom fishing’s good, and late September and October are good times to come down and catch these fish, and trips are sailing 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily. Blackfishing will begin November 15, when the bag limit increases to eight of the fish from the current limit of one, and a few blackfish were already biting. Trips are also bluefishing 7:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. every Friday and Saturday, and anglers knocked the heck out of the blues, big slammers, this Saturday.

<b>Seaside</b>

Blues returned to the surf late in the day Sunday, producing some really good action at Seaside Park, said the fishing report on <b>Betty and Nick’s Bait & Tackle</b>’s web site. Big blues were rippling through peanut bunker, according to a couple of locals. Previously the suds seemed dead for a couple of days, but one customer beached a short striper on a Basswood lure. The surf was 1 to 2 feet, 66 degrees and clean. <a href=" http://www.bettyandnicks.com/fish.shtml" target="_blank"> Click here</a> for the latest.

Scattered reports were heard about bluefish action in the surf on and off all day Saturday, and the middle of Island Beach State Park gave up good action in the morning, but no area seemed hot all day, said the fishing report on <b>Grumpy’s Tackle</b>’s web site. A 13-year-old angler who had been coming into the shop and trying to learn what he could whacked a 19.8-pound striper in the surf the previous night on a black metal-lipped swimmer. “Put in your time, catch fish,” the report said. Another angler threw a popper to score a 9-1/2-pound striper in the wash on Saturday. Anglers also reported landing multiple keeper, out-of-season fluke in the suds that were hitting mullet and clams and had to be released, and the early close of fluke season was causing a lot of disappointment. On Sunday fewer blues showed up, but the ones that did were bigger, and a few sharpies fought slammers over 12 pounds. Stripers seemed to be getting interested in popper lures and swimmers, and most were shorts and were found in the early mornings and at dusk. The bay was supposedly full of bait, so watch for the next push to the ocean, and fishing will get hot real quick. Striper fishing will turn on soon enough, and get the blues while you can, and their good practice for stripers, and fighting the tackle busters sure beats sitting on the couch. <a href="http://www.grumpystackle.com/fishingreports/" target="_blank"> Click here</a> for updates.

<b>Waretown</b>

Capt. John from <b>Perfect Drift Sport Fishing</b> was sitting out from fishing this weekend, kind of taking a break before striper season, but he heard a couple of anglers say weakfishing was good in Barnegat Bay, he said. Sea bass fishing’s been slow locally, and lots of small ones and few keepers were on the wrecks and structure. Striped bass fishing is probably three or four weeks away, but you never know, and it depends on the weather and how long it stays warm. The Barnegat area’s striper fishing used to peak around Election Day, but with the mild seasons in recent years, the action’s seemed to heat up later and later. The bite will take off when the water drops to the low 50s. Perfect Drift usually clams for stripers in Barnegat Bay at first and then moves to the ocean and trolls and jigs the fish.

<b>Barnegat Light</b>

Fishing started off slowly last week, maybe because of stiff northeast winds, but as winds calmed the fishing was on fire, said Capt. Steve from <b>Reel Fantasea Charters</b> in an e-mail. Nicholas Stoumtos Jr., who’s a superior court judge, and a friend were aboard during the beginning of the week, when the fishing was toughest. They landed a few blues, but the action was anything but stellar. The next morning Steve Vavrick took a trip and got into non-stop action with good-sized blues at Barnegat Inlet. He had a blast catching them on popper lures with visual strikes from clear water blown in from the northeast winds. Another charter took a trip to the inlet that evening for the same type of non-stop action with blues and also landed a few short stripers. Steve Ezzel climbed aboard during the week for non-stop action with blues, bonito and false albacore, missing an ocean grand slam by a striper or a weakfish. He also fished with Reel Fantasea the previous week and scored a Barnegat Bay grand slam of stripers, fluke, weakfish and blues. Steve was also the last charter to fish aboard Reel Fantasy’s old boat before a new, 26-foot Jones Brothers Cape Fisherman arrives. The boat was being prepped and should be ready to fish this week. Bait was stacked up behind the inlet, temps were dropping, and October was a week away. Days were growing shorter, and so was the list of dates available for fall charters, some of the best action of the year. 

<b>Atlantic City</b>

Boaters were reeling up croakers and weakfish about a half-mile from shore, and kingfish were closer to land, including in the surf, said Noel from <b>One Stop Bait & Tackle</b>. Bloodworms got the kingfish bites, and blues also hit in the surf on mullet, and spots were also filling the surf like crazy and grabbing bloodworms. The mullet run slowed down in the surf, but a few mullet were still around, and there was a heck of a mullet run up until last week. Striped bass had started to be plugged in the surf during the cooler weather last week, but that action dropped off with the warmer weather in recent days.  Tog, lots of them, were chomping down on green crabs along the rocks. Out-of-season flounder, and big ones, were still hugging the surf and ocean bottom. The back bay was putting out porgies and blues, and dunk bloodworms for the porgies. A mix of all these fish were pulled from Absecon Inlet, and all the baits mentioned are stocked at the shop.

<b>Tuckerton</b>

Anglers with <b>Legal Limit Charters</b> boated a good catch of yellowfin tuna from 60 to 95 pounds at Wilmington Canyon on Friday night, mostly on chunks of butterfish, Capt. T.J. said. Fishing was slower Saturday night at the Wilmington, and a charter chunked two swordfish and trolled a wahoo. The water temp dropped a couple of degrees from 76.2 on Friday to 74.5 on Saturday.  

<b>Brigantine</b>

The <b>Fishin’ Fever</b> ran several trips from Thursday to Sunday, Capt. Tom said. An overnight, offshore trip Thursday went 2 for 3 on 60- and 80-pound yellowfin tuna and 2 for 4 on swordfish, all on the chunk. One of the swords that was landed was barely legal-sized and was released, and the other was a 100-pounder that was kept. The trip also trolled and went 2 for 2 on longfin tuna. This trip fished at Lindenkohl Canyon at very good-looking water at a temperature break that ranged 70 to 75 degrees within a mile, and some boaters scored very well at the canyon that night, and a friend bailed 21 tuna, and an unconfirmed report was heard about one boater nailing a whopping 60 tuna. On Saturday the boat fished on an 8-hour, inshore troll at the Cigar, and five false albacore were reeled in, and more than 40 bites must’ve been missed, and the fish were short striking like crazy on Clark spoons, Zukers, feathers and such. On Sunday the boat took a day trip to Wilmington Canyon, and the anglers went 4 for 6 on yellowfin tuna from 80 to 90 pounds in very good-looking, clear water with a 4-1/2-degree temp break up to 74.7 degrees within three-quarters of a mile. On that day Tom heard about a lot of zeros scored at the surrounding canyons, and others caught two fish here, and five fish there, but nobody seemed to really mug them. He heard no news about how the fishing went at canyons farther north like the Hudson that day.

<b>Margate</b>

<b>Fine Line Fishing Charters</b> was going to troll the inshore ocean for false albacore and such fish Sunday but was met with stiff seas in the morning that hadn’t been forecast, so the anglers instead bottom fished in 40 to 50 feet in the ocean, Capt. Dave said. The two anglers landed at least 20 croakers and fought small blues. Throwback-sized, out-of-season flounder were also hooked and released, and Dave figured bigger ones were farther from shore. Squid was the bait, and a few birds were working the inlet when the boat was headed out, and a couple of blues were landed among them, but the birds broke up and disappeared quickly. Seas calmed down later in the day. If Fine Line had been able to sail farther offshore to troll in the morning, bottom fishing at the reef probably would’ve also been done that day, and Dave heard that sea bass were biting fairly well. Trolling for speedsters like albies and bonito is on tap, and so is sea bassing, and so is fishing for croakers and other fish such as blues that show up closer to shore. Striped bass charters will probably begin in mid October, and it won’t be long now!

About 50 keeper sea bass were lifted aboard Saturday and Sunday on the <b>Jessie O’</b> in the ocean, and maybe four times as many shorts bit, and it wasn’t “banner, banner” fishing, but it was an improvement, Capt. Jay said. The boat’s trips, mostly daily, open-boat ones and sometimes charters, were also producing blues, porgies and other fish along the bottom for good mixed bags. The trip Sunday was with the Canada Dry charter and was excellent. Jay is anticipating more and more keeper sea bass to appear as water temps drop. These bottom-fishing trips will continue, and come on down, and there’s plenty of rail space, “and we’re excited,” Jay said. Tog trips will kick off November 15, when the bag limit increases to eight fish from the current limit of one. Striped bass fishing will begin on Jay’s back-bay boat, the <b>Fish N’ Fun</b>, in several weeks, and stay tuned for details.

<b>Longport</b>

Bottom fishing was pretty good on the <b>Stray Cat</b> on Saturday and Sunday, and anglers hauled up a nice catch of sea bass 12 to 15 miles from shore, and bigger weakfish were bagged 6 miles off, Capt. Mike said. Some croakers were mixed with the weaks, and croakers were also on some of the wrecks and were nearly everywhere. At the wrecks porgies also came up, and two triggerfish were taken there Sunday. A big mahi mahi circled the boat Saturday but refused to bite. Only a couple of dates remain available for tuna charters, and tuna fishing was very good from the Wilmington to the Carteret canyons on the chunk. Open-boat sea bass trips will begin October 10, and call to reserve. Open blackfishing trips kick off November 15, when the bag limit increases to eight fish from the current limit of one.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Dan Russ took a trip in the bay Thursday and nailed five striped bass to 26 inches on a Skitter Pop and fought small blues on a Gurgler fly, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Gibson’s Tackle</b>. Striper fishing had slowed a little because of warmer weather, but obviously it was okay. The action was hot or non-stop for big bass on a trip during the last cold front, and the fishing will only get better and better as the weather cools. The stripers were still hitting popper lures for explosive top-water action, and they’ll continue to jump on such surface lures while the water is warm enough. On Friday Pete Lee was aboard and fly rodded herring and bluefish at Townsend’s Inlet on Clouser flies on sinking lines. On Saturday Dave and Nathan Miller joined Joe for fishing at Cape May Inlet, where they swam live mullet on 4/0 circle hooks, fighting five stripers to 26 inches to the boat. The anglers were flipping the bait fish to the rocks at first light. Afterward they headed to the Cape May Rips and landed 30 blues about 2 pounds each on jigs with Electric Chickens. Mike Roth on Sunday also fished the Cape May Rips, fly rodding 20 blues to 2 pounds on Clousers and Sar-Mul-Mac flies on sinking lines, good action, a good time.

<b>Wildwood</b>

The fall fishing smorgasbord was underway! said Cathy from <b>Sterling Harbor Bait & Tackle</b> in an e-mail. Many anglers reported putting together good catches of yellowfin tuna at the canyons on the chunk, and some also boated swordfish. They also tangled with mahi mahi along the weedlines and at the edges of drop-offs at the canyons. Closer to shore, plenty of croakers were boated in the ocean off the Ferris wheel in Wildwood, and weakfish and blues were mixed in. A mess of blues were swarming around the beaches surrounding Hereford Inlet, feasting on migrating mullet. A few stripers were dragged from the surf, and a few small stripers were hooked in the back bay along the sod banks.

<b>Cape May</b>

A charter on the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> went 4 for 6 on good-sized, 70- to 75-pound yellowfin tuna Saturday night at Wilmington Canyon, Capt. George said. A couple of mahi mahi and a big blue shark were also caught, and everything bit on the chunk. Chunking seemed to be the only thing that worked for all boaters, and trolling picked up a tuna or a white marlin only once in a while. Boaters either seemed to catch fish or land none, and George knew a lot of people who scored none. The water was 75 degrees, and John Stonick, Mike Lindsner, Bobby Schlagel, Mike, Paul and Steve were the anglers. The Heavy Hitter will probably run these overnight charters another two weeks. Bottom fishing charters are also available, and croakers, weakfish and small blues were hitting around Hereford Inlet, and George didn’t hear much about sea bass. The boat’s first striped bass charter of the season is slated for the last weekend of October. Many people start striper fishing before then, but George has usually found only lots of blues at the Cape May Rips at that time. The charters will target stripers at the rips and in Delaware Bay.

<b>Jaftica Sportfishing</b> took an inshore trolling trip once the weather finally broke last week, and a nice catch of bonito and 8- to 10-pound blues was put together at 5-Fathom Bank on Clark spoons and feathers, Capt. Ray said. On Friday an overnight tuna charter limited out on yellowfins at Wilmington Canyon and was finished by 5 a.m. Fifteen gaffer mahi mahi were also drilled, and fish bit all night, and the tuna were hefty ones, mostly 70 to 90 pounds, and two were also boated on the troll during the evening. Squid showed up now and then but not thick, but there was lots of other bait, and the tuna grabbed live squid, sardines and butterfish. The water was good-looking and 77 degrees where the boat fished, and there was a nice temp break. Jafica will run overnighters through the beginning of October, weather permitting, and striped bass charters will begin the third week of October. Only a week is left for a raffle that Jaftica is holding for a striped bass charter to benefit the recovery of one of the boat’s mates who was injured in an accident. Raffle tickets are $5 apiece or $20 for five, and the drawing takes place this coming Monday, and see the boat’s web site for info.

Croaker fishing was good in the ocean at the Wildwood Lump off the Ferris wheel, and that was the main inshore fishing that was going on, said Matt from <b>Jim’s Bait & Tackle</b> in a fax. The hardheads also swam along the buoy off Hereford Inlet, and kingfish and weakfish were also sometimes found there. Small bluefish hit the surf at Cape May, and anglers hooked them on chunks of mullet or nearly any cut bait. A few small striped bass and an occasional kingfish also showed up in the surf, but the water was still in the 70s, and temps needed to drop before striper fishing came on. Decent sea bassing could be had at Reef Site 11, but loads of small ones also held there. The bigger sea bass were on the wrecks in deeper water from 100 to 120 feet. Lots of false albacore swam between the East Lump and the Misty Blue wreck and could be trolled, or they could be chummed and fought on spearing that was drifted back or on spoons that were cast. Canyon tuna fishing was on fire last week until Thursday, and double-digits of good-sized yellowfin tuna were fairly common on the overnight chunk. But the bite moved south during the weekend, and the flats on the east and west sides of Wilmington Canyon produced the most consistently. Wayne Reichle and Dan and Kevin Olsen fished the Wilmington on Friday night and bagged five nice yellowfins and lost four, and most of the fish bit jigs. The crew on the Jenny O’ fished the Wilmington on Saturday night and chunked five tuna and a white marlin.

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