The most asked about fish is still the Striped Bass. Yes, they are still around and it is still worth it to be pursuing this fish. We are in the middle of a Bass season where the fishing isn't actually at it's peak. I feel that the peak of fishing in Little Egg Inlet with live eels already occurred during the second to third week of October. This was the most predictable period of fish catching activity and most anglers who put in a few hours were able to produce a few opportunities to land Stripers. Many anglers landed their all time first Striper during that October period. The most common complaints heard from anglers this week include too much grass and Bluefish chopping up the eels. The second peak is yet to come, when the water cools down further. Anglers will switch to jigging metal lures along the beach on the ocean. By searching out birds or working from a log book with years of collected numbers of lumps and snags that hold Stripers, anglers will catch more Bass in a couple of hours than most anglers caught this whole Fall season. How long will this ocean jigging action last? It depends on just how much of a Winter we actually get and how early it comes. Best story of the past was 106 Stripers by two anglers on January 6th, 1996. They are the best of the best, so their story is easily believable. Who? It was Norm Wagenheim and George Gilbert. The hottest jigging lure is a 6 ounce Hopkins with a single white bucktail hook. A few anglers have tried fishing the ocean already. Some have trolled up and down the beach without any reported success. Others have drifted eels in the area of the Little Egg Bell Buoy and caught a single Bass while fighting off Dog Sharks and Bluefish until they ran out of eels.

     Anglers that want to catch Bluefish are doing just fine with lures and plugs. The best activity has been in and around Little Egg Inlet, mostly on the incoming tide. It's necessary to look for working birds before casting and retrieving the lures, because the Blues are traveling in small pods. Other good Bluefishing has occurred along Little Beach in about 18 feet of water by anglers who were both casting/retrieving and trolling. Early morning activity between Absecon Inlet and Little Egg Inlet has definitely been more productive. The birds and the blues disperse around 9:00 in the morning and then it becomes a hit and miss game in the Inlet for the rest of the day. Activity on Long Beach Island sounds like it has picked up for the Bluefish surf anglers, according to Bruce & Pat's Bait & Tackle (Thanks, Pat!) and locals who headed out that way. A lot of good fish stories with fish in the 8 to 12 pound bracket have been bragged about all week. It's fun to hear the construction workers who work on Long Beach Island tell tales of watching the birds and the anglers run up and down the beach all morning, then sneak out on a lunch break and throw a few lures to calm the nerves.

     It's time to put the crab traps in the garage for the Winter and those minnow traps and minnow buckets that aren't going to be used anymore this season too. The crabbing dropped right off after our first frost. I wouldn't doubt that you could catch a few crabs, I just don't believe that you could accumulate enough for setting up the steamer pot.

     Tautog and Sea Bass really caught a break so far this Fall. Most anglers that are working out on the ocean haven't spent too much time chasing Blackfish, yet.

     Fluke are still the main attraction of ocean bottom fishing anglers. Some anglers continue to locate good numbers of Fluke and good size ones, too. Largest Fluke weighed in this week was by Jack Sover with his 6 pound 12 ounce Fluke that he caught in 30 feet of water in front of the red water tank on Long Beach Island. Other anglers are having super luck tangling their lines up in Dog Sharks and Bluefish. Action has slowed a bit, but that can mostly be due to hard North Westerly winds creating poor drifting conditions.