Capt. Tommy Joseph has been enjoying great porgy fishing this month, and today was no exception to that on his Rightaway III from Shark River. Joseph had taken a couple of days off for family business, and had reports from private boats that they were marking porgies that weren't hitting. Yet, as soon as Joseph dropped the anchor on a reading north of Shark River Inlet there were instant bites for the first lines down -- and it never changed very much. It was really lock & load fishing as a lift of the rod after hitting bottom in only 26 feet almost invariably produced a hook-up without even feeling a hit. By the time Joseph pulled the anchor at 8:45 my personal count was up to 77 porgies, 13 small sea bass and the only gray triggerfish caught. The minimum size for scup is only 9 inches with a bag limit of 50, but there were very few smaller than the minimum caught -- and I only kept filleting size porgies. Though there were still hits on every drop, everyone aboard had full coolers before Joseph tried drifting for fluke and sea bass on rough bottoms. Surprisingly, there wasn't a single fluke (not even a short) -- but we fell just one sea bass short of a boat limit at the current two per man to conclude a great day of fishing. Rightaway III is a charter boat, but sails most days with a crew of anglers making individual reservations. Call Joseph at 732 840-5993 to get in on this remarkable fishing. Raritan Bay fluking was generally good today. Capt. Stan Zagleski said the Spro/Gulp combo was best for bigger fluke. Tom Hollywood Jr. of Staten Island won the pool with a 5-pounder, and Anne Lavelle of Jersey City was surprised by a legal striped bass. Capt. Ron Santee had a similar report of good fluking on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands, but he said bait worked best for his anglers who caught fluke up to 6.5 pounds. Santee urged patrons to bring heavy enough rods that can handle sinkers up to 12 ounces. The Jamaica from Brielle reported the first stop today was no good, but the next produced lots of chub mackerel plus a couple of blues and some sea bass and ling as a 3.5-pound sea bass took the pool. The Golden Eagle from Belmar saw some bluefish, but they weren't hitting today. They ended up with some sea bass, fluke and ling. Bob Matthews, at Fisherman's Den in Belmar Marina, reported Noah Gomez of Jackson boated a 6 5/8-pound fluke on a rental boat in Shark River. Beatrice Soto had a fluke limit up to 6 3/8-pounds on Rock Bottom Charters. A 73-pound black drum was weighed in by Hunter Llewellyn of Lehigh Valley, Pa. The Point Pleasant Elks haven't submitted any results of Saturday's fluke tournament, but Dave Lilly of Hazlet said Charlie Parker won it on his Sienna Lee with a 10.6-pound doormat.
