Rough weather sidelines many over the weekend
RON NUZZOLO Fish On
With small craft advisories for most of the week, many anglers stayed inside the hook for shelter. Capt. Bob from Sandy Hook Fishing Adventures managed to salvage the days by staying under the Highlands Bridge, greeted by a blitz of hungry blues. Choppers up to 10 pounds were hitting anything you threw at them. Capt. Bob did try to get past the blues for some striper action, but the blues were too aggressive to find out.

With water temperatures finally taking a dip, we hope striper reports will start coming in. On NJSaltwaterfisherman. com most anglers are in a wait-andsee mode. Most anglers this time of the year are taking their boats out of the water and getting them winterized. The big problem is they always have the thought of the big fall bass blitz in their minds. Take the boat out of the water and miss the blitz or take your chances with Mother Nature.

Not to worry, as there are plenty of hardcore charter boats available. Capt. Greg on the Golden Eagle at captgreg@ goldeneaglefishing.com will be sailing for bluefish and stripers daily at 7:30 a.m., and night trips are now Friday nights and Saturday nights at 7:30 p.m. For the hardcore anglers, Capt. Greg still has spots open for off-shore tuna in the canyon. Reports show there is plenty of tuna waiting to be caught. To reserve a spot, call (732) 681-6144.

Capt. Bob on the Gambler from Point Pleasant will also be sailing to the canyon in search of the mighty tuna schools. Get online and reserve a spot with these hardcore captains and pick a fight with a tuna. I guarantee you will be hooked. If you have a fishing story to tell, please e-mail me at ron@signbrothers.com. Fish on.

Tournament update

It was all business for local anglers in search of stripers at the annual fall Hi- Mar Striped Bass Fishing Tournament. Despite difficult wind and rain conditions, the winner was Chuck Many, the defending champ, on Tyman, from Annandale. On Friday night, fish were caught in the Shrewsbury River and at the Outerbridge Crossing. For the remainder of the tournament, fish were caught in all directions. Due to the bad forecast, 33 boats entered the 40-hour tournament. As an added attraction, a film crew videotaped the tournament on Jerry Beaver's Teacher's Pet on Sunday for Treasure-HD cable TV, as well as the weigh-ins.

The Lady Angler honors went to Pat Kamienski, Belford, on Kingfisher III, 19.6 pounds.

The Junior Angler was Marc James Hecht Jr., Howell, on Nauti Boy, 18.9 pounds.

The largest fish of the tournament was 27.9 pounds, caught by Mike Merola on Run Off III.