September is here with Fall-like weather. Cool days were welcomed by turning off the air conditioners and airing out the house. Gnats and green flys refuse to give up yet though, so be prepared.

The chilly weather conditions have given many an angler an itch to catch Stripers. Well, a few of the hardcore Bass guys have been catching fish all year long. Eel sales are picking up, yet reports are scarce as to how the anglers are really doing. Some reports indicate anglers catching smaller Stripers by casting and retrieving white bucktails with chartreuse grubs at high tide along the banks between 120 marker buoy and Little Sheepshead Creek. A couple of Stripers in the 18" bracket were also caught off Pebble Beach by a surf fishing angler in the past week as well. It's recommended to wait awhile for the Bass action to pick up; the best is yet to come.

Bay fishing has been difficult with most of the Fluke migrating out into the ocean. A few Fluke are still being caught in the area of the fish factory, and in the deeper waters near the inlet and on the bay side of Tuckers Island. Top and Bottom rigs have taken over as a preference for fishing for the Fluke in the deeper water. Crabbing just hasn't been great lately. I am still blaming it on the rain or maybe we just finally caught them all. Crabbing is still worth the effort, because what the crabs are lacking in quantity they are making up in quality.

Last week I mentioned that there were a few Tautog or Blackfish caught along the banks opposite the burned out bulkhead at the fish factory. I was hoping to get some more specific reports from anglers this past week, but that didn't happen.. Just in case that fishery takes off, I added some extra green crabs in stock. Anglers haven't tried to fish for Tautog on the ocean bottom structures because the bottom fishing for Fluke was doing so well, and that's what they targeted.

The newest hot tip of the week is some Weakfish showing up on the ocean in about eighteen feet of water in front of the water towers on the southern end of Long Beach Island. Look for some bird play action or travel the beach front with the fish finder doing it's job. Drift along until you catch a good batch of fish. Sometimes you can anchor the boat in a concentration of Weakfish and start hauling on them two at a time. Use Top & Bottom rigs baited with long slender strips of squid. Worms and shedders just aren't as effective on ocean Weakfish as the squid strips. It may be that the Weakies are more aggressive and demand a larger bait when they migrate to the ocean.

Fluke fishing still is the best fishing action around. Too many anglers were not aggressive enough this past weekend and just didn't put too many fish in the box. Anglers that moved around or short drifted some lumps and valleys on the ocean floor caught plenty of fish or were close to limiting out. We didn't see as many six pounders as the previous weekend but definitly had our share of weigh-ins.