This past weekend the weather was great and so was the fishing, as boats were able to get outside and we had low humidity and cooler weather for most of the week. The fluke fishing was very satisfactory according to most anglers I ran into, and Herland Cornelius got outside and caught a bunch of keeper fluke in 35 to 40 ft. of water outside the inlet. The area up by the Ferris wheel, which is always a late season hot spot for bass fishing every year has been giving up some 5 to 7 lb. fluke, and 6 yr. old Dave Baron got one over the rail at a little over 6 lbs, a great fish for a youngster to put up on the scale. The sea bass are thick on the wrecks and some 5 lb. and even bigger fish are coming in on some of the head boats, with the occasional mega-tog and a triggerfish or two in the mix. The ocean is supposed to get a little angry as this storm passes off shore for a few days but there are plenty of th...

The past week of fishing out there was average for a mid-August week as the winds turned east again but were light enough that the wrecks outside gave up plenty of fat sea bass and some 6 to 8 lb. tog for a few lucky anglers on board. Nobody is belly-aching too much about the fluke fishing because most die-hards are putting fish in their freezers. As you sift through the shorts to get to that 18 inch fish you have to think, boy if all these little fish were big fish. The 60 to 70 ft. strip of water off Island Beach is where some keeper fish are coming from, and an occasional 6 to 8 lb. fish is winning pools on the head boats. This weekend begins the Forked River Tuna club’s one week fluke and bluefish tourney, ...

This past week was a great one out there on the water with some really nice fluke coming in to the marinas and off the docks and jetties, as the flatties begin to move towards open water. There were a good number of keeper fish taken in the hotspot of the week, the area from Meyer’s Hole out towards the front of the lighthouse. I fished the 6^th st. dock in Barnegat Light on Saturday and came home with three nice fluke from 19 to 22 inches, and I saw several boats drifting the inlet and netting some bruisers, and you can tell a fluke’s size by the amount of screaming and yelling on each boat. This area of the inlet has been on fire for three weeks now with Ray Frazier catching an 8 lb. fish off the dock weeks ago. I did notice, however that as I fished this weekend there were several more toss back fish than in recent weeks, with about 20 fish going back in. Again, I think this is due to the i...

The tog season opened up on Friday and much to my surprise there wasn’t a soul out on the jetty rocks trying to get their one keeper. I fished out there on Saturday and the togs were thick, but it seemed that they would only eat on the incoming tide. This is really out of the normal scheme of things as we always fish on the outgoing, and my guess is that the incredibly warm bay temps were shutting them down. As soon as the tide switched and cooler water started to roll in, the fishing was on, and I took a 17 inch white chin home. An...

The fourth of July weekend was a decent one out on the water with the head boats loading guys up and taking them out to capitalize on the giant blues. Most big boats were traveling out about 20 miles to chum up some 15 to 18 lb. yellow eyes at night, and this was the thing to do and will continue to be the popular fishing, as it is a bit cooler out there as opposed to hitting the beach or melting yourself in the bay. This week was one of the hottest in quite a few years, and there really wasn’t too much participation out on the sands. My old friends Frank Marascia and Bob Massa fished the beach mid-week and started out with plans to find a left over bass or some blue fish schools, but ended up tossing bucktails around the sail boat mast on 10^th st. The fluke are still littering the bottom of the surf, and there are very few keepers, but nobod...

This past week was hit or miss again for the fluke fishing outside and there was signs of more keeper fluke for those who hit it hard. The guys that are using small spots or other lively baits were getting the attention of the bigger flatties, and this is out in 65 to 70 ft. of water. The head boats are not only picking up some good sized pool winners, but more 18 to 20 inch fish are coming on board. This is not to say that the keeper rate in still a bit unacceptable in most folks eyes, but it is what it is, and we dealt with this very same scenario last season, but everyone worked through it. The bluefish are thick and huge outside with the bluefish guys just catching limits of fish up to and over 15 lbs. These are the yellow eyes that make blue fishing a blast, as long as you’re not fishing in bare feet. Most head boats are offering these half day gat...