It was a sad day on the water with our last fluke trip of the season. All we can do is hope that next year we will not be cut back too much. I would rather see a longer season with a smaller bag limit. We have much better fishing in the fall with better quality fish.

Anyway…we left the dock at 6:11 am and were at our first stop by 7 am. We initially tried to run outside to the reef but it was a little to sporty for me (I just did not feel like getting beat up). We began in the inlet area and had a constant pick of fish from 6″ to 16.5″. We moved up river a little and had the same results…more shorts.

We decided to try and run outside as the wind was laying down. It had changed over from a steep chop to more of a swell so we ran out the East side of the Axel Carlson Reef. Soon after we were catching bigger fish. The first two keepers were about three pounds. We were all by ourselves for the first forty five minutes and were then joined by several smaller boats and Capt. Ron and the Miss Norma K. Then we boated a 5 lb. 6 oz. fish soon followed by a 4 lb. 10 oz. fish. We continued to make short drifts over that productive bottom and ended the day since we had to be somewhere later in the day with six solid keepers and a couple of cocktail blues.

All in all it turned out to be a great day on the water boating the largest fluke of the season…well at least when the season is open. Earlier in the year you may remember Jimmy Bananas boated a fish almost 6 lbs. I guess now we will turn to weak fishing till they leave and wreck fishing until the stripers show.

We had our last two trips of the season. It was a tough call but I decided to pull the boat next week. With all the warm weather and lack of threat from freezing temps it was a tough call. After getting some house work done if it is still warm I will put her back in early (end of January) if there are good reports of fish hanging around similar to earlier this year.

Saturday we fished from the bathing beach up to Lavalette. The entire ride down from Manasquan to the bathing beach there was absolutely no bird action. We marked a lot of bait and some fish. Trolled south from Lavalette to the bathing beach, picking up and running to our usual spots along the way. Our total for the day was 13 fish to just about or just over 28″. Since they were so close and our recent visit from a conservation officer we decided not keep any. Most fish were caught trolling from North to South or West to East and all fish were on blue and white shads. We tried chartreuse as well as pearl and neither got touched except by a few blues.

We headed out late due to other committments…Broke the inlet about 11:30 and arrived at the Casino Pier a bit before noon. As we were slowing down and getting ready to setup the troll we passed over a couple of enormous bait clouds, repositioned the boat and trolled over the edge of them, nothing. We continued to troll out to deeper water (50-55′) and continued to mark huge clouds of bait but no marks under or around them. We trolled south down to IBSP where there were a few birds circling and one diving here and there, same thing no good marks and no knockdowns at all. At about 4 PM we picked up and headed back North. We thought the sight of dozens of birds working just outside the inlet would save the day but once we got there there were no marks not even bait on the scope and no one out of the 10 boats or so with bent rods. We jigged for 10 minutes to be sure there was nothing there and headed in. It was a gorgeous day on the water and I felt bad for those guys out in center consoles freezing their asses off while we were inside the cabin, warm and dry.

I originally was setting out in search of some weaks. After cruising the bay, the Mantoloking Bridge and the Matedeconk I decided to head towards the inlet and maybe outside for some croaker/weakfish action along the beach. Got near the end of the inlet and the 33 foot express in front of me disappeared in the trough so I decided to stay inside. First drift produced a keeper. Next few drifts produce shorts and then another keeper. All fish were caught on homemade chartreuse bucktails with white Gulp! shrimp. Watched a few other boats try the same drift as me to not catch or even get a tap. The action was fairly consistent over the same piece. All in all not a bad way to end the fluke season.

Fished from Manasquan Inlet to several miles North of Monmouth Beach. We were greeted by about a four foot swell coming out of the south. Despite the southern swell we decided to head North and fight it on the way back. This was due in part to several head boats heading North as well as no good reports coming over the radio from the South. The swells were moving quite fast which allowed us to head North at 25 knots with ease and a somewhat smooth ride. We found tons for short stripers from about 10″ to 22″. It was business as usuall, find the working birds find the stripers under them. Although there were a few sports we marked fish and no birds but that was rare. There were large schools of herring everywhere but no larger stripers on them. Some of the herring were actually larger than some of the stripers we caught. The ride back against the swell was not too bad, we were able to maintain about 20 knots. We poked around the Inlet a little and the winds started kicking up and putting a nice chop on top of the swell, as well as reducing the swell period. Since the fish were not exactly jumping in the boat we decided to head in while the weather was still good. By the time we got to the dock the wind was howling and we were glad we headed in when we did.

It seems that by the reports coming out of Hatteras and Oregon Inlet that the larger cows are south for the winter. But to the contrary I have heard a few reports out of Long Island that there are still bass in the 30 pound range being taken off the South Shore. Since the boat is being pulled next week it will become a beach and jetty affair for me until Winter Flounder season and the launch of the boat in early spring.

Despite the snow, wind, rain, and small craft advisory we headed out and braved the elements! Had a fellow member from Barnegat Fishing Hole (www.bhweb.com) and my regular fishing buddy Ron out today. We were all set to run South towards Seaside with a stop in Bay Head where Ron had fished on Saturday but it was a little snotty and would be very difficult if not impossible to troll. We spotted the Queen Mary and the Prowler jugging near the bell buoy with a couple of smaller boats around them as well. When we got a little closer we were greeted with large groups of birds working the area. We started jigging and immediately hooked up. We had about 15 bass in less than two hours. The largest going 26.5″ at 6.75lbs. We fished not far outside the Manasquan Inlet in about 50′ of water. Followed the birds back and forth and bite stayed steady until the tide went slack. It was a little snotty out but a good day despite the conditions.

Unfortunately I did not get out this weekend even though it was one of the nicest weekends all season. Due to a lack of crew I was forced to stay tied up and listen to all the fun on the radio. Several boats returned to the marina with multiple fish in their boxes. Double and triple headers were the norm instead of rare. Most of the fish ranged from 24-28 inches. No one came back with anything larger than 28″. Almost everyone reported catches of from thirty to over one hunderd fish caught for the day. There were also a few tog caught for those who anchored up in the afternoon. The white chins were all only just legal fish, nothing of notable size. I have also received word of some inshore cod and ling catches….come on cod make an inshore comeback! It would be nice to be able to catch ling in the surf again in December through March. I think the last time I had ling in the surf was over 10 years ago.

We headed out to the Sea Girt Reef late morning. It was not a bad ride out and the first 10 minutes were OK before the South wind really started to kick up. Tried jigging where we saw some birds and marks on the FF. Made a few stops on the way back in, had a couple of short blackfish and several blues. Wish I would have gotten up earlier, would have been able to fish longer and probably would have found some larger blackfish. Oh well, next weeks forecast looks great right now….lets see if it holds up.

Well I got out again on Sunday…Once again NOAA was completely off with the forecast. I wish I would have listened to myself and my interpretation of the weather from local weather stations. The inlet was flat and seas were 2′ and somewhat tightly packed. It was very fishable though and we were able to cruise at 20kts. Nothing like the 3′ to 5′ seas predicted. We went for a ride to the north and then out to about 3 miles and then decided to head south of the inlet. I marked a lot of bait/fish on the fish finder all along the Mantoloking pipe so we setup there. It was hundreds of bluefish. The general chatter on the radio was that no bass were being caught and only bluefish. No word of great catches of sea bass either, just a few keepers.

Hopefully the storms will stay away and fishing as well as conditions will improve. The water temps are starting to drop, I was reading 53 degrees on Sunday so the striper run should start any day now!