Fish On
Fishing action slows with arrival of bad weather
Ron Nuzzolo

With the bad weather on the horizon this weekend, some anglers did manage to get some time in the calm before the storm in both bass and fluke categories with some of the biggest results yet.

Aboard the Capt. Dave out of Atlantic Highlands, first mate Brett Chamberlain told me Capt. Kevin took the Jim Smith party from Allentown, Pa., to the Reach Channel for a try for stripers, though none were found. They tried for fluke close to the beach, but poor drift conditions and tons of skates made for slow fishing. But ever vigilant, Capt. Kevin found an area of working birds, and pulled the day out with good action on school blues. Jim Smith took the pool honors with a nice racer bluefish. They ventured out again the next day with the Mike Baeza party from Matawan with a try for stripers. Hearing that striper fishing had slowed and good fluking was around, they opted for a split charter. Their first stop was the 11a buoy for good action on blues and the largest weakfish of the year - a real tide runner.

Next stop: the Staten Island side of the Reach, but only one short bass was caught. Later, a change over to fluking was in order, so they took a ride to the south end of the Hook, where they found a good pick of fluke to 22-inches. This party experienced a grand slam of blues, fluke, stripers and a nice weakfish. Pool winners on this charter were Pat Murfly from Long Island and Tom Gilbride from Matawan. They were definitely a good group of serious fishermen.

Down South my friends at NJsaltwaterfisherman.com reported an all out blitz on bass. This past week brought lots of excitement with slip customer Tom Lutzi's 54-pound Striper caught out in the ocean along with four others in the 32 - to 36-pound range. The Hinchman brothers also brought in four nice stripers last Sunday between 28-32 pounds. If you want to target these fish, most guys are looking for the bunker schools and live lining them. Others are using bunker spoons. The fish have been seen from Island Beach Park right down towards Beach Haven.

Ocean temps remain chilly. Ocean fishing has been producing some sea bass and a few fluke at the Garden State and Little Egg Reef, but the bay fishing seems to be the ticket. Joe Porkorny weighed in his first keeper on Saturday at 6.5 pounds. John and Ed Hunt brought in three nice keepers caught along Graveling Point and Hank Wylopek, and Bill also had a nice catch over by the clam stakes and out in front of Capt. Mike's this week. Bluefish still around so catch them while you can. Crabbing is beginning to slowly pick up, but you have to put your time in.