NEW YORK HARBOR TO RARITAN BAY Warming waters are taking their toll on striped bass fishing. There are still a few in the back of Raritan Bay, but the best bet has been at the mouth of the bay — where there’s still hope for a late chunking bite such as we had two years ago. There’s been a big buildup of large smooth dogfish across the mouth of the bay, and Capt. Sal Cursi says some have even pushed well into the bay. Chunking through them to get to some bass takes patience. Big bluefish had virtually disappeared from the bay for offshore spawning, but Scott Leadbeater of Haddon Heights was surprised to catch choppers in the 6-to-10-pound class while trolling bunker spoons in the back on Sunday. He said they were either spawned-out or males. Though the volume of fluke in the bay hasn’t been good, some quality flatfish are being taken from the channels when the drift is right. Coney Island has been producing some large fluke along with many chorts. Joe Julian, at Julian’s Tackle in Atlantic Highlands, warns that cownose rays are moving in. He says fluking has been good in Navesink River, and those with passes to fish the Navy Pier are catching croakers. Phil Sciortino Jr., at the Tackle Box in Hazlet, says some croakers are being caught at Port Monmouth, but it’s nothing like last year’s "all you want" run of spot and croakers so far. Crabbing is improving at Keyport and in the rivers. SANDY HOOK TO MANASQUAN INLET Thresher sharks not too far from shore are featured this week, with many being brought into marinas with scales capable of weighing them. There’s probably a better chance of catching a large thresher at areas such as 17 Fathoms and the Mud Hole now than far offshore — where makos are more likely to be found. The migratory striped bass run seems to have moved by us to cooler New England waters as even Magic Hours evening trips aren’t producing as they had. Bluefish jigging remains very tough in the ocean, though the Golden Eagle from Belmar reported some on Tuesday — and better jigging for 5-to-10-pounders Wednesday. The bluefish boats had been resorting to fluking or working rough bottom for sea bass and ling in order to put something in the bags. Phil Sciortino, Jr. says his best ocean fluking reports have been coming from off Deal. He also notes that some surf pros are still catching schoolies at night on Sandy Hook. Allen Riley of South Plainfield fished there to no avail one morning this week, and found the Park Service had closed off a large area to protect piping plovers. Bob Matthews, at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina, has seen some large fluke coming in on the party boats there, while his rental boat customers are catching lots of shorts in Shark River when weed isn’t a problem — along with a good shot at keepers up to 5 pounds. A bucktail jig tipped with 4-inch Gulp or a live killi is best. Surfcasters to the north have seen school stripers chasing rainfish — and some will hit small poppers. Some yellowfin tuna were trolled last weekend in Hudson Canyon, and the smaller canyons south of there along with dolphin. POINT PLEASANT TO BARNEGAT INLET Capt. Butch Egerter isn’t having any trouble limiting out fares on his Dauntless from Point Pleasant with sea bass as the limit now is only three. He also almost limited the boat on winter flounder from 2 to 4 pounds last weekend as two a man are now allowed all year. Ling are still available in the cold bottom waters even well inshore, but porgies haven’t shown as yet. Keep in mind the fact that ocean pout are still protected. A couple of people have been written up for keeping them. Capt. Bobby Bogan, of the Gambler at Point Pleasant, says fluking has been variable with conditions — and the afternoon south winds haven’t helped. It was 66 degrees on the surface where he was drifting Wednesday afternoon, but only 59 degrees inshore. There have been three fluke in the 8-pound class boated recently, and several 4-and-5-pounders plus a few large sea bass and some ling. The Thursday 7 p.m. trip produces ling, flounder and an occasional cod, but there haven’t been many squid so far. Surfcasters have had to fight seaweed more often than not this week. It was much better Wednesday morning when I fished at Point Pleasant, but the afternoon south winds have lowered the water temperature and there was no sign of fish even though I could work a popper. The weed has also made it difficult to work the bottom with Gulp for fluke, though Grumpy’s Tackle and Betty & Nick’s in Seaside Park both report a few being caught along with an occasional blue. One day there was cabbage at Gillikin’s, but it was clear at the south end of Island Beach State Park. Joe Mellilo, at Castaways Tackle in Point Pleasant, weighed two surf stripers taken on plugs this week, and heard of a couple of shorts that hit clams. He said it’s been mostly short fluke in Manasquan River, with the best fishing being on the outside. Tony Arcabascio of Bayville hasn’t heard of any striper activity off Island Beach for some time. He fished fluke in Barnegat Bay on Tuesday to catch lots of shorts from the BI to BB buoys and at Oyster Creek Channel — but there were no keepers. SOUTH JERSEY Jim Hutchinson Sr. reports for the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association that there are some keepers among the short fluke in the inlet plus small blues in the same area. Sea bass fishing on local wrecks has been good. Capt. John Lewis trolled the 30 Fathom line Sunday with his Insatiable and found short bluefin tuna hitting three to four at a time. He ended up with one keeper bluefin, a bull dolphin and a yellowfin tuna. Capt. Al Crudele, of Bayhound Charters at Sea Isle City, says he’s still catching some sea bass, and adding red hake (ling) that have been the biggest and most abundant in 14 years at wrecks in 20-to-25 fathoms where dolphin have also moved in. Some school bluefins are being trolled there and at the Cigar. His last canyon trip to south of the Wilmington produced yellowfins in the 60-pound class plus dolphin. Fin-Atics in Ocean City reports better fluking volume in the back bays, though shorts dominate. Chartreuse and pink Gulp are working in 15-foot depths. Pink soft baits work best at night for stripers and weakfish in the back bays. The surf has been slow, with few kingfish showing up so far. Some sea bass are biting at the reefs, and big bluefish are at the 28-Mile Wreck. Matt Slbodjian, at Jim’s Tackle in Cape May, said the wind was a factor last week as it kept a lot of boats at the dock. The guys who did go found the fluke fishing to be pretty good at the Old Grounds and Delaware Reef Site #11. "The drift was pretty fast and heavy lead was a must (making it a little tougher to fish), but there are some really nice fish coming in." The Cape May reef is giving up a few fluke as well, and there are also some triggerfish hanging around the wrecks. He notes that smaller hooks and baits will work much better to put some triggers in the boat. Some fluke are coming in from Delaware Bay in the area around Miah Maul light and the stakes in the same area. There is still some good fluke fishing going on in the Intercoastal Waterway and Cape May Harbor. Jim’s weighed fish to 7 pounds from the back this week. There are some croakers in the rips off of Cape May Point with a few fluke mixed in. There are also good numbers of decent-sized croakers in the Canal. The inshore tuna bite was pretty good, with a mix of yellowfins and bluefins by trolling in the Teacup area and on the lumps inside the Elephant Trunk. Big bluefish showed up in some of these areas as well. He reports the canyons are showing a lot of white marlin activity, but the tuna bite was spotty. Some big blue marlin were being hooked up this week — many of which were hanging around the schools of skipjacks. The best tuna bites were around the 1000 fathom line of the Wilmington — and an early morning bigeye bite in the Washington In the surf, croakers have shown up in good numbers — and it’s hard to keep a bait away from them at Higbee’s Beach. Surf shark fisherman are doing pretty well on brown sharks and Jim’s has seen the first sand tiger pictures from the beach of sharks around 150 pounds.