<b>Keyport</b>

Tremendous striped bass fishing was underway, said Capt. Greg from <b>Manicsportfishing</b>. Or striper season was tremendous so far. Practically every trip limited out on the fish in the past week aboard. Up to 34- or 35-pounders were creamed, and the fish were eeled, on very specific tides,  mostly in Hudson River. Once the fish migrate into Raritan Bay, that will be bedlam, and that’s coming soon. Book dates while they’re available. A bottom-fishing trip also sailed, landing blackfish, porgies and triggerfish on Sunday. A trip for sea bass is full on Oct. 8, opening day of sea bass season. Charters and open-boat trips will be fishing for sea bass or stripers. Morning and afternoon trips are sailing for stripers.

Striped bass to 25 pounds with bluefish mixed in were pasted on the <b>Vitamin Sea</b>, Capt. Frank wrote in an email. Conditions played a part, or on days when the tide ran too weakly, the fish never bit, and when the tide screamed, fishing was impossible, even with heavy weight. The angling was often a waiting game. The bass chomped when the tide was right. Charters are fishing, and spaces are available for open-boat trips at 6 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Telephone to reserve. When the stripers move “closer,” p.m. trips will also sail open-boat.

Stripers to 36 pounds, good catches, were eeled with the <b>Down Deep Fleet</b>, Capt. Mario said. Open-boat trips are fishing for them daily. Porgy fishing remained good on trips sailing for them daily on Down Deep’s other boat. Those trips will run for sea bass and porgies beginning Oct. 8, opening day of sea bass season. A few spaces are available for that day’s open trip. Charters are available for up to 15 passengers.

<b>Leonardo</b>

Bottom-fishing scooped up porgies, blackfish and triggerfish with <b>Sour Kraut Sportfishing</b> down the beach at snags that Capt. Joe fishes, he said. He was mostly scoping out blackfish for when the blackfish bag limit increases later this fall. Lots of small blackfish hovered at the snags. Porgy fishing was good off Breezy Point, he heard. Striped bass are biting in New York Harbor off the Statue of Liberty. But that angling, in heavy boat traffic, is not his thing. Nobody he knew tuna fished recently. They seemed to wait for news about the fishing. He’d like to tuna fish soon.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

Another great day of porgy fishing was pounded Sunday on the <b>Fishermen</b>, a report said on the party boat’s website. Each angler left with plenty of meat, and weather was great, too. Some of the trips were weathered out before last weekend. Loads of porgies were smashed on Saturday’s trip in great weather, too. Some of the scup were jumbos, and most of the outing fished one drop, until a move had to be made when the tide changed. Trips are fishing for porgies 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily.

On the party boat <b>Atlantic Star</b>, porgy fishing was different trip to trip, Capt. Tom said. On one trip, a mix of keepers and shorts bit. On a couple of outings, all porgies were keepers that were landed. One trip stayed at one spot and picked away. Another made some moves. Sometimes porgy fishing was good aboard. Sometimes it was a little tougher. The current or tide and the area fished seemed to make the difference. But the trips were catching the fish. Not all trips sailed late last week, because of weather. Weather improved since. Trips are fishing for porgies 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 6 p.m. daily.

<b>Neptune</b>

The boat just passed a Coast Guard inspection with flying colors, Capt. Ralph from <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b> wrote in an email. It’ll be splashed back into the water at mid-week to be ready for sea bass fishing. Four spaces are available for an individual-reservation trip for sea bass on Oct. 8, opening day of sea bass season. Another one of the trips was just added for Oct. 21. Bluefishing is available aboard. Striped bass are almost here, and blackfishing will begin on Nov. 16, when the bag limit will be increased to five from the current limit of one. Limited dates are available for charters. More individual-reservation trips will be announced soon.

<b>Belmar</b>

New engines were installed, and the boat will be splashed today, said Capt. Mike from <b>Celtic Stoirm Charters</b>. Sea bass trips will begin when sea bass season opens starting Oct. 8. Dates are booking for that and for striped bass fishing that will begin later this fall.

Fishing was weathered out Wednesday and Friday with <b>Parker Pete’s Fishing Charters</b>, Capt. Pete said. The trips would’ve fished for blues, porgies, triggerfish or whatever could be angled. He mostly prepared the boat for striped bass fishing later this fall. Dates are available for the first couple of weeks of sea bass season that opens Oct. 8. He hopes striper fishing kicks in locally soon afterward. Dates are available for stripers. Lock them in, while they are. Don’t have enough anglers for a charter? Book an individual space with a charter who wants more anglers.

The <b>Golden Eagle</b>’s trip Sunday picked at bluefish and a few false albacore and porgies, a report said on the party boat’s website. The fishing was slower than recently, but the boat’s trip Saturday walloped blues, albies and porgies, super fishing. Trips are fishing 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily, except when tuna trips are running, and 7:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. Saturdays.  See the <a href=" https://www.goldeneaglefishing.com/tunafish" target="_blank">tuna schedule</a> online. A tuna trip was supposed to sail today.

An excellent catch of 3- to 6-pound bluefish and some bonito and false albacore was bombed today on the <b>Miss Belmar Princess</b> east of Shark River Inlet, an email said from the party boat. Most of the anglers limited out on blues, and the trips are running 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily. The trips will sail for striped bass when stripers arrive.

<b>Brielle</b>

For anglers on the <b>Jamaica II</b>, fishing was picky during the weekend, the party boat’s Facebook page said. But Wes Shourt from Manahawkin bagged 32 porgies on Sunday afternoon’s trip. The boat will bottom-fish 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday through Saturday, and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Sea bass trips will begin on Oct. 8, opening day of sea bass season.

False albacore were probably the biggest thing, said Eric from <b>The Reel Seat</b>. Lots swam in tight schools off Sandy Hook in 30 or 40 feet of water. But shots popped up from there to farther south, off Manasquan Inlet. Boaters mostly cast lures like Deadly Dicks to them. Plenty of small striped bass schooled the surf locally and Manasquan River. In the surf, they were often hooked on plugs like the smallest size of Daiwa SP Minnows, small poppers like from Super Strike and small soft-plastics. Mullet schooled the surf, and if a pod of mullet could be found, stripers usually chased them. Lots of small bluefish schooled from the surf to the Mudhole. In the surf, the blues swiped the striper plugs or mullet fished along bottom. At the Mudhole, boaters often hooked the blues on small jigs. Barnegat Bay gave up pretty decent blowfishing on small pieces of clam in a clam-chum slick. Tuna fishing was slow at offshore canyons. Many mahi mahi swam there, so bring mahi gear on the tuna trips. At mid-range, many small, undersized bluefin tuna swam the Triple Wrecks and the Texas Tower. Few fished for them, because the tuna had to be released. 

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

An open-boat trip Saturday bagged one yellowfin tuna and released half a dozen small with <b>Mushin Sportfishing</b>, a report said on  Mushin’s Facebook page. The trip crushed mahi mahi 6 to 25 pounds on poppers and jigs on light spinning tackle. Tilefishing was slow on the outing because of strong current. A trip Tuesday tried for mako sharks. No mako was caught, but other sharks were, including a 400-pound hammerhead. The anglers had a great time fighting sharks, it said. On the way home, the trip stopped at two wrecks to try for cod and ling. A couple of bonito and some triggerfish, porgies and chub mackerel were hooked. Out-of-season sea bass and fluke bombarded the bait and were released. Dates are available for sea bass fishing that will be launched Oct. 8, opening day of sea bass season. 

One yellowfin tuna and plenty of mahi mahi were decked on a trip Friday to Saturday on the <b>Gambler</b>, a report said on the party boat’s website. Some small bluefin tuna were released. See the <a href=" http://www.gamblerfishing.net/offshoretrips.php" target="_blank">tuna schedule</a> online. Striped bass trips will begin on Nov. 1.

After rough weather kept trips docked for days, the <b>Norma-K III</b> resumed fishing Saturday, a report said on the party boat’s website. Good catches of porgies were clocked throughout the trip, and a few good-sized blackfish were mixed in. Weather looks good this week, and trips are sailing for porgies and blackfish 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily and bluefish 7:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

<b>Seaside Heights</b>

Plenty of small blues swam the surf, a report said on <b>The Dock Outfitters</b>’ website. Baitfish schooled the water, and the migrations of “bigger fish” should arrive soon in the surf. Those will be striped bass and possibly blues. Diligence and perseverance are the keys to surf fishing. “… just ask any top notch surf angler,” it said. Keeper crabs were still trapped from the dock. Anglers on the dock reeled in snapper blues and small blowfish. The Dock Outfitters, located on Barnegat Bay, blocks from the ocean surf, features a bait and tackle shop, a café, a dock for fishing and crabbing, and, in season, boat and jet-ski rentals. A few boats were still available last weekend.

<b>Forked River</b>

Tuna fishing bagged two yellowfins and released a small bluefin on a trip Saturday to Sunday with <b>Tuna-Tic Sportfishing</b>, Capt. Mike said. So tuna fishing wasn’t very good, and the trip fished from Hudson Canyon to South Toms Canyon. But mahi mahi fishing was great. The anglers loaded up on a bunch of them. A good number of the mahi were big, too. The mahi weighed 5 to 20 pounds. Tuna fishing also wasn’t good inshore. The trip fished inshore at eight humpback whales feeding on sand eels. But no tuna bit. Another trip was slated to fish for tuna this week on Wednesday, but Mike postponed that fishing to wait for a better bite. The tuna were chunked, and the mahi were chunked and trolled. Only two other boats seemed to be fishing: one of them a famous offshore charter boat, and another boat that could barely be heard talking with that vessel on the radio.  

<b>Barnegat  Light</b>

An overnight trip Saturday to Sunday limited out on mahi mahi “but the tuna eluded us” on the <b>Miss Barnegat Light</b>, the party boat’s Facebook page said. Squid swam, and the water looked beautiful. We just need tuna to find that water, it said. <a href=" http://missbarnegatlight.com/offshore-tuna-trips/
" target="_blank">Tuna trips</a>, sailing 30 hours, are running once every weekend, and striped bass trips will begin on Nov. 2.

<b>Longport</b>

Fishing whacked bluefish, weakfish and false albacore 8 to 10 miles from shore along bottom on bait on the <b>Stray Cat</b>, Capt. Mike said. Lots of blues, 3-pound “eaters.” All of these species held along bottom. None of the blues or albies could be trolled along the water surface. Trips drifted a little away from wrecks, avoiding out-of-season sea bass on the wrecks, to catch. The water surface was 72 degrees. The weaks were offshore of Ocean City Reef in 70 feet of water. Charters and open-boat trips are fishing. Sea bass fishing is sold out on Oct. 8, opening day of sea bass season. Then open trips will run for sea bass every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Charters will be available the rest of the week. Fishing will concentrate on striped bass beginning Nov. 20 aboard. Black Friday is available for a charter. Spaces are available on Thanksgiving morning for a 4-hour, open-boat trip for blackfish. A couple of tuna charters were weathered out recently aboard. Mahi mahi still bit in the Cigar area. Triggerfish were around.   

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Traveling trips to Montauk fished this weekend aboard, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. The fishing was great, and the trip Saturday wrestled-in 45 false albacore and some blues, sea bass and a striped bass with two anglers. The trip Sunday tackled 40 or more albies and some sea bass with the same two anglers and another angler. They caught on Albie Snax, metal and flies. See the <a href="http://www.captainjoehughes.com/page3.html" target="_blank">traveling charters webpage</a> on Jersey Cape’s website. The trips from Montauk fish through mid-October for the migrations of stripers, blues and albies each year. Afterward, Jersey Cape will fish from Sea Isle for albies and sea bass, until homing in on the migrations of large stripers and blues beginning in mid-November from that home port. Currently, trips can also fish for smaller, resident stripers on the back bay from Sea Isle. Keep up with Joe’s fishing on <a href="http://captainjoehughes.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s Blog</a>.

<b>Avalon</b>

The season’s first couple of trips for striped bass are slated for mid-November with <b>Fins and Feathers Outfitters</b>, Capt. Jim said. That’ll be fishing for the migration on the ocean. Jim last weekend visited his <a href="http://www.sjlodge.com/" target="_blank">lodge</a> in upstate New York, where guests fish the migration of salmon on the Salmon River this time of year. He fished for the salmon himself Friday and Saturday, banking two on Friday. On Saturday, he lit into none in 3 hours of fishing. But a ton of salmon are filling the river from the ball park to downstream. The migration will probably continue until mid-October. The river ran at 375 cubic feet per second in dry weather. That was interesting, because rain’s been hammering Pennsylvania. The next two weekends are booked, and dates are booked on-and-off afterward for the lodge. Room is available, and a discount is available, but only on Airbnb. Jim is also currently guiding dove hunting in Pennsylvania. He’ll guide duck hunting beginning in late November from Pennsylvania and starting around Thanksgiving from New Jersey.

<b>Cape May</b>

Sea bass fishing will begin on Oct. 8, opening day of sea bass season, on the <b>Heavy Hitter</b>, Capt. George said. When striped bass fishing begins later this fall aboard, the boat will sail from a slip in Atlantic City. That’s been close to good fishing for them in recent years. Currently, trips could fish for bluefish or catches like triggerfish on the ocean. Lots of mahi mahi swam offshore canyons. Not many tuna did.

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