Fish On
Locals having trouble getting any bites
RON NUZZOLO
It's the time of the year when the weather and the bass bite never seem to fall into place. Anglers find it hard to pick a day when the weather will cooperate. The bass will hit green one day and yellow the next. Clams, eels, jigs, troll - what do you use, or do you just try everything? Did the big breeder bass show up yet, or is it just schoolies mixed with an occasional bluefish? Should I pull the boat out for the season? Are the ocean temps too cold or too warm for bass?

Well, these are all good questions, and the same questions keep the true New Jersey diehard fisherman in pursuit of a trophy bass or two.

Anglers threw everything they had under the working birds up and down the coastline, despite weather conditions. Anglers had their fair share of bass and blues - mostly catch-and-release, with small bass working the coastline.

Senior member from NJSaltwaterfisherman. com Skolmann and buddies Jason, Mike Stiffler and Craig were aboard the Gambler for an incredible day of jigging. The day started off as a slow pick with mostly bluefish with a mix of schoolie bass off Long Branch. As the day progressed, so did the action. The four combined fought over 80 bluefish and close to 30 bass; however, Jason caught the only keeper (32 inches) among them. Most bass were in the 20- to 27-inch class. Bluefish ranged from 4 to 12-plus pounds. The Gambler did have over 20 keeper bass for the boat. Hot jigs were 3- and 5- ounce butterfly, 5-ounce Krocodile spoons and AVA027s when the boat was tight to the beach. Fish from Shark River south had only sand eels in the belly, while fish north of there had sand eels, peanuts and rain fish and assorted other fish, including small porgies and weakfish. Pool winner was a 15.5-pound bass

Capt. Allen aboard Reel Class Charters from Point Pleasant has been having some exceptionally good days. Capt Allen had Steve Magyari, his brother RJ, and buddy Dale aboard for a jig trip. The broke the inlet at 7:30 and found birds for miles to the north and south. They started out just south of the inlet, off Jenkinson's, and had fish on immediately: cocktail blues, coupled with many short bass.

Capt. Allen moved a bit north off Spring Lake, where the action was a little more spread out, but bigger fish. RJ landed an alligator-size bluefish that weighed 19 pounds, one of the biggest ever taken on Reel Class, followed by a couple of keeper bass, all on jigs. Well, that wasn't enough for Capt. Allen. He likes to keep trying different techniques and locations. Big bass are out there, and he knows it's a matter of time before he runs into them. A quick stop off Deal put some more bluefish and bass in the boat, and then he headed north to Long Branch and found the mother lode. As Capt. Allen puts it, "Alfred Hitchcock-type bird stuff" - birds, fish everywhere, top and bottom. They stayed with this school the rest of the day. At times, they had fish trolling right on the side of the boat. Poppers, jigs, storm shads - everybody caught fish. It was pure insanity, from the moment they broke the inlet until they got back inside after 3 p.m. The fish count was also insane, with two to four fish on at a time throughout the day. They estimated over 100 bass, with at least that many bluefish. Bass ranged from 20 to 29 inches, with some nice keepers in the box at the day's end. Bluefish ranged from 3 to 19 pounds. That's one day for the books.

If you feel a fight in you, call Capt. Allen and he will put you right in some of the best action New Jersey has to offer. Reel Class Charters, Point Pleasant, www.reelclassfishing.com (201) 248-5281.

The action was the same this week for most anglers. It's that time of the year that raises plenty of questions, but also raises plenty of fish. Fish on.