Fish On Local reports of great fishing are no flukes Ron Nuzzolo   Aboard the Capt. Dave out of Atlantic Highlands, first mate Brett tells me fluke fishing is the best in years, with a good number of keepers, even with the tightening of the size regulations to 17 inches. Bass fishing has slowed to about one fish per hour, though we are anticipating the arrival of another body of bass soon. The Pfizer party from Manhattan, headed by David Fisher, gave it a shot for stripers. A stop on the Knoll resulted in a slow pick of fish, so a change to fluke was in order. The fluking was very good, with a lot of action for this gang, with Fisher and Karen Fosdick tied for pool fish, and Fisher and Erin Currow for most fish. They had a great time on this trip, and as we always say, "The girls outfished the guys." The Miller and Chitty gang from Kenilworth were on board Capt. Dave for the day. First stop at the Knoll resulted in a slow pick of fish, so they changed over to fluke for more action. The flattie fishing was very good, with Dave Jackson taking the pool via a 20-inch fluke. Next, it was the Tom Ostrander group from Wanaque. An early-morning try for stripers brought a pick of blues and bass to 29 inches. When this action slowed, they changed over to fluking, which resulted in a good number of keeper fluke to 20 inches being taken. This party had two pools: Brandon Ostrander took the fluke pool, and Pat Giovannder took the contest for bass with a 29-inch striper. The Chris Miyahara group from Morristown gave it a try. They were hoping to do some bass fishing, but Capt. Kevin put them on to some good fluke fishing in the Raritan Bay, and they stayed with that. Lisa Miyahara took the pool with a respectable 21-inch fluke. Happy Father's Day - Capt. Dave is holding a special Father's Day open boat trip on Sunday, June 17 - five hours of fishing for fluke starting at 8 a.m., so get the kids for some great bonding on the water. The price will be $50 per person. Please contact Capt. Dave at (732) 613-8307 to reserve a spot. Down south, Tommy Kilgannon from NJSaltwaterfisherman.com called in with solid reports that John Batista landed a 23-pound striper off Brick Beach on sandworms. Beach fishermen have been picking away at the stripers, but mainly have been battling nice size blues, which is always fun. Aboard the Catchalot they had great success trolling bunker spoons. Jack and Bill Hahn along with "Smitty" caught three 20-pound stripers to end the day. Fluke fishermen have found great success a little north of the Manasquan Inlet in shallow water of 18-35 feet. There are many short but some nice keepers mixed in. The best bait has been squid, killies and Berkeley Gulp. The Manasquan River has also produced many fluke. Pell's own Jim Whitaker took first place at the Manasquan River Port of the 13th annual JCAA Fluke Tournament. He landed a 7.85-pound money fish and another 6-pounder. Crabbing is also picking up in the Barnegat Bay. The action continues with Capt. Steve Purell aboard Reel Fantasea out of Barnegat Light. The inlet was less than hospitable for regular Jared Okerson with friend Dave Green Jr. and newcomer Dave Green Sr. The guys had a blast catching bass and a very large weakfish up to 12 pounds. At first it took a little moving around the bay to find some fish, but within a three-hour evening trip, Dave Jr., aka "The Bass Assassin," had eight bass. Up until the last trip out, Dave never caught a fish and now he is unstoppable. Dave Sr. had four bass and the 12-pound weakfish, and Jared had five bass. That's a total of 17 bass and a 12-pound weakfish in three hours. All action was on clams in the bay. During the week, the fluke fishing started gelling pretty nicely, with fish from throwbacks to 8 pounds with a nice mix of 2- to 4-pound fluke falling for buck tails tipped with Gulp bait. The fluke were found in a variety of places, but channel edges seemed most productive. To charter Capt. Steve, call (609) 290-1217. Great news for the coast and ocean The U.S. Congress declared its commitment to protecting America's pristine beaches and coastlines from dirty oil and gas drilling. Members of the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee voted 39-25 to overwhelmingly defeat an amendment introduced by U.S. Rep. John Peterson (R-Pa.) that would have opened coastlines to natural gas exploration - a move that would have opened the floodgates for both gas and oil drilling up and down our coasts. Natural gas exploration and drilling have most of the same destructive and polluting impacts as offshore oil activities. We need to leave polluting, risky offshore drilling behind and focus on readily available and cleaner alternatives. The real solution to addressing our nation's energy problems is energy conservation and efficiency. The New York and New Jersey coast has been protected from offshore oil and gas activities since 1982. Citizens and local, state and federal officials have vehemently opposed drilling and worked to maintain these protections to protect the environmental and coastal economies.