Anglers new to surfcasting often ask me for tips on the sport, and one I always give them is to work the lure right into the wash. Unless there are signs of working fish or birds further out, or bait schools, the likeliest spot to find stripers when there’s no structure is right along the drop-off where they can corner bait.

That’s saved many a day for me, and this morning was one of them as a 23-inch striper blasted my Chug Bug in the wash to provide the only fish I saw caught even though surf conditions were ideal.

The swell has gone down, but that may be changing as small craft warnings are going up at 6 a.m. for hazardous seas into Monday night. Yet. the forecast is for only 10-15-knot east winds.

The Jamaica from Brielle had a good Saturday night bluefish trip for 3-8-pounders on bait and jigs while chumming. A few bonito were added, and they’ll do that again Saturday night.

The Jamaica also a big dolphin catch on the canyon trip that returned Friday. Chuck Beerman also caught an 80-pound yellowfin at night, but only one other tuna was taken. Other 31-hour canyon trips are sailing at 7 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday. Call 732 528-5014 for reservations.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar had sluggish bluefishing this morning, but 4-7-pounders turned onto jigs in early afternoon.

Though it was calm at dawn, the south wind started blowing not long after I joined Bob Correll on his 32 Sea Vee from Crystal Point in Point Pleasant for a run to the north. We came across many schools of bunkers, but nothing was on them. The fleet north of Shark River Inlet wasn’t doing much, but Bob managed to catch four blues with a Deadly Dick. By 10 the wind was gusting to the 20 mph predicted for later in the day, and we headed back to find birds diving on rainfish. We got several shots that produced two Spanish mackerel and a little tunny for each of us while missing others before returning. Those flurries made the day. 

The Golden Eagle from Belmar  reported sluggish bluefishing for 3-8-pounders on jigs. Capt. Ron Santee said the south wind killed porgy fishing on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands as it got ugly fast with the wind against a strong outgoing tide. A drop in deeper water produced too many sea bass that had to go back.

Sunday’s forecast is for northeast at 10-15 knots — though I’ve often found such dry northeast forecasts to turn out to be 10 plus 15 knots.

Vinny D’Anton found some mullet schools along the beach at dawn and caught two school stripers among them with his Chug Bug.

Jerry Lasko reported very good blackfishing in Point Pleasant Canal, with keeper tog being common. Maren Toleno caught this 16-incher this morning.

Over 3,000 striper anglers will be converging on Cape Cod for Saturday’s Striperfest as Striper Cup awards will be passed out and an outboard rig will be drawn for. The location for the noon event is Marine Park,  180 Scranton Ave., Falmouth. Google striperfest 2019 for an  admission discount and driving directions plus attractions.

Capt. Vinny Vetere won the Striper Cup once again with his Katfish from Great Kills, though this time it was by a narrow margin. Vetere hasn’t been fishing this week, but will get back at it next week when he’s open for charters or individuals.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar saw blues splashing today, but they were very hard to jig.

I was happy to see the big swell down and the waters clear at local beaches this morning. My first cast with a Yo-Zuri Mag popper  was hit by a 2-pound bluefish almost in the wash. I knew I was in trouble after I released the blue as a fish on the first cast is almost invariably the kiss of death. Sure enough, I didn’t even raise another fish in good conditions.  The same thing happened recently to Joe Blaze when his first cast with a fly in  Shark River  produced a school striper — and there was never another touch.

The Jamaica from Brielle has added a Saturday night bluefish trip at 7:30 p.m.

The Paramount from Brielle is running daily at 6:30 for porgies and triggerfish except for a Tuesday ling trip. When the sea bass season opens on Oct. 8 they’ll switch to that fishing.

The weather forecast took a turn for the worse as south winds tomorrow are 10-15 knots but with gusts to 25.

The prizes are piling up for Nick Honachefsky’s Barrier Islands Beach Brawl that will be contested on Oct. 11 and 12. Nick has received so many prizes from manufacturers that he’ll be giving many away as door prizes. Following is his  current list:

A big swell from offshore storms has been making surfcasting both difficult and unproductive, but Vinny D’Anton was pleased to find the waves down and waters clean this morning as he made a casting tour of Monmouth County beaches. The only problem was that he didn’t raise any stripers.  We’re still working on local fish, and there don’t seem to be many of them. Chuck Many has been catching larger stripers on live baits from his Ty Man out of Gateway Marina in Highlands, but they’ve all appeared to be local bass. How do you tell fall migratory bass from the locals? One clue is the presence of sea lice on the ocean fish. In addition, large bass from the east usually have a purplish sheen in the fall.

I tried Point Pleasant Canal this morning, and thought I’d made the right move when an angler hooked up on light tackle and shouted that he had a big fish on. What he brought in was a complete surprise — the smallest cownose ray I’ve ever seen. It was also the first I’ve seen in the canal. The ray was snagged on a jig, but probably weighed 5 pounds and had the incoming tide behind him during the fight. There was little doing after that as Jim Gates caught a small blue, and one large blue broke off on a jump next to the wall. I got just one hit on a Z Man paddletail before switching to blackfishing that produced a 14 1/2-incher on light spinning with crab right away, but  nothing else in the short time I fished.  It appears that the green crab shortage I mentioned recently is over, and Castaways Tackle in Point Pleasant has them in stock again.

Capt. Dave De Gennaro reports Sunday’s trip about 20 miles offshore put little tunny and bonito in his Hi Flier from Barnegat by anchoring and chumming so they could be caught on light tackle with spearing. He’s also been catching weakfish up to 16 inches on 6-pound spinning tackle with grass shrimp in the bay. The only problem has been an abundance of silver perch and snappers that also appreciate that expensive chum. Dave will try to get offshore for bonito on Saturday while trying for weaks in the bay on Sunday. Call him at 732 330-5674.

Capt. Chris De Stefano got a surprising report of small bluefin tuna being trolled yesterday on the reefs out of Manasquan Inlet. Supposedly, one was even taken at the mile buoy. Whenever something like that occurs, it rarely continues — but keep an eye out!

The small craft advisory for this afternoon’s south winds goes down by 11 p.m., and tomorrow starts with north winds at just 5-10 knots before going southeast in the afternoon. That’s Capt. Joe Massa in the photo below with one of the big sea ass caught at Southwest Ledge off Block Island Saturday, as noted in last night’s. Word Press dropped it in the wrong spot.

Capt. Ron Santee saw six straight days of hot porgy fishing come to a temporary end today. His first few drops were unproductive, and then he got on one that was full of out-of season short and keeper sea bass. Some porgies and a couple of big triggerfish were finally boated, but the boat’s first cobia was too short — and the south wind came up against the tide to make it ugly in short order.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar found 4-7-pound blues on top, with an 8-pound pool winner. Everyone caught some, but it wasn’t easy jigging.

Despite the big swell. bluefish continue to hit jigs consistently in the ocean. The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported a decent catch of 3-8-pounders today plus one Spanish mackerel. Anglers had to work for the blues, and catches ranged up to a near limit.

The Jamaica from Brielle had a good catch Tuesday on their limited trip further offshore where bonito, little tunny, Spanish mackerel and king mackerel joined some bluefish. Epoxy jigs with white or pink on them have been working best.  More of those trips which require reservations by calling 732 528-5014 have been added.

Though the big swells continue, the wind forecast is southwest 10-15 knots tomorrow with gusts to 20.

Capt. Joe Bassa of My Three Sons at Morgan Marina joined his friend A.J. on the latter’s boat out of Shinnecock  on Saturday for a run to Montauk. They went to Butterfish Hole for tuna, but nothing was doing there. A move inshore for fluke didn’t even produce a short, and the striper bite was off. However, a move to Southwest Ledge off Block Island produced limits of big sea bass and porgies. Fred Golofaro of The Fisherman’s Long Island edition said the big swell killed fluking which continues there through Monday. He noted that the waves were some of the biggest he’s seen at the Point.

Capt. Ron Santee says he’s had five straight days of awesome porgy fishing since switching over with his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands after the fluke season closed. Actually his first two drops this morning weren’t good, but he moved a half-mile and was back into the steady bite.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar had another good day of bluefishing, but anglers had to work for them with jigs. Some had close to limits and others just a few.

The surf had been looking better each morning, and should have been very fishable this morning. Instead, we were greeted with booming as Jerry was pushing in big swells that were no good for fishing.. Vinny D’Anton moved to Shark River and managed to raise one fish with his Chug Bug – a 24-inch striper. I went to Point Pleasant Canal and was happy to get a hit on my Z Man paddletail — a 17-inch bluefish.

Mimi VI is sailing open for bottom fishing Wednesday at 7 a.m. from Point Pleasant. Call 732 370-8019 for a $75 reservation.

Allen Riley, John Mazzeo, Duke Matero and Tony Martino found good conditions in the Monmouth Beach surf except for the big swell. Small bait was along the shore, but only John even got a hit.

Frank Huza made the trek to the tip of Sandy Hook and cast there from 7-9 a.m. There were snappers and hickory shad, but the bait stayed out of range.

Paul Haertel spotted an error in my end of the fluke season blog when I noted that the N.Y. season ended on Sept. 21 along with N.J. I picked up that date from The Fisherman magazine’s list of regs, but Haertel said the N.Y. season actually runs to Sept. 30.

Small craft advisories are up through Wednesday afternoon due to the big swells, but the wind forecast for Wednesday is only 5-10 knots northwest before switching to southwest in the afternoon.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported another good day of jigging blues after a slow start. Bigger blues moved in later, with choppers up to 8 pounds being caught along with some porgies.

The forecast inshore for Tuesday is good with west winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20.

Southwest winds aren’t favorable for surf fishing, but Joe Melillo at Castaways Tackle in Point Pleasant says some school bass and blues are being caught on small lures in the Ocean County surf. There are also bass and blues in Point Pleasant Canal at times, along with blowfish and blackfish. I fished the Monmouth County surf, but only caught a 2-pound blue on my Tactical Anglers Bomb Jr. popper though the big swell has moderated and conditions weren’t bad for a low tide. Vinny D’Anton managed a couple of school stripers on his Chug Bug in Shark River before trying the surf with no action.

The Seaside Park tackle shops report loads of small bluefish in the surf for those using mullet baits.

Below is Hans Kaspersetz with a yellowfin tuna in the 90-pound class, as noted in last night’s blog, during an overnighter aboard Blue Runner. They trolled five yellowfins and an albacore in Hudson Canyon, and added a swordfish.

Below is a shot of

Capt. Hans Kaspersetz fished aboard the Blue Runner in Hudson Canyon over the weekend and reported they trolled a few yellowfin and albacore tuna and also hooked three swordfish. They boated one sword of about 120 pounds, and one of those they lost he figured had to be in the 500-pound class.

There were no other reports, but I’ll get caught up tomorrow.

The fluke season is closed in N.Y. and N.J., so anglers who had been chasing the elusive (at least in keeper size) flatfish will have to seek another species.

At Atlantic Highlands, the Fishermen is switching to daily porgy fishing, while the Sea Hunter is taking a break until the fall striper run in mid-October.

Though it’s not really worthwhile to go boat fishing for blackfish with the summer one-fish limit, in N.J., there’a scarcity of green crabs. Joe Melillo, at Castaways Tackle in Point Pleasant, says he’s been unable to get any for anglers fishing in the canal — and that’s been a problem for some time,

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported another good bluefish trip with choppers from 3 to 10 pounds on jigs.  Though the inshore forecast is fine, they have cancelled their Sept. 22 canyon trip due to a rough offshore forecast. It will be moved to Oct. 6.

The inshore forecast for Sunday is west winds at 5-10 knots before increasing to 10-15 in the afternoon.

It’s all over but the shouting for fluke anglers in both N.J. and N.Y. Saturday as that’s the last day fluke may be retained, though surfcasters will be catching some while fishing for other species probably into November.

The Big Mohawk from Belmar will be going out with a blast as there will be a $50 pool tomorrow for those wishing to participate. They sail at 6 a.m.

Also at Belmar, the Golden Eagle reported a good day of bluefish jigging with choppers up to 10 pounds.

Grumpy’s Tackle in Seaside Park reports lots of small blues in the surf on mullet. Polish Al had a surf fluke limit up to a 2.5-pounder yesterday.

T worked the Monmouth County surf early in hope of fishing a calmer surf with the switch to west winds. Unfortunately, a larger swell from the hurricane far offshore made it hard to find fishable water around low tide. I still got one shot in the white water, and it was a beauty as a striper charged my Tactical Anglers Bomb Jr, and threw water as he hit the 2-oz. popper. That explosion looked like a big bass, but it didn’t take any drag and didn’t feel heavy before coming unhooked.  Yet, it was one of those surface strikes that will always be remembered — especially being so unexpected. That didn’t get anything started as I never raised another fish.

There are still small craft warnings for hazardous seas posted into Saturday afternoon, but light winds are forecasted with just 5-10 knots west in the morning before switching to southwest in the afternoon. Seas up to five feet, mostly from an east swell, will drop to 2-3 feet in the afternoon.

The Jersey Shore Boat Sale & Expo will be open at First Energy Park in Lakewood from 10-6 Saturday and 10-5 Sunday. Admission is $5, except free for kids 12 and under. For details visit jerseyboatexpo.com

There was a fine turnout this morning for Eddie “Hammer” Zimny’s funeral in Sacred Heart Church, Bay Head. His many fishing friends didn’t know that Eddie had escaped death back in 1960. Though his Navy service from 1953-1957 was no problem, he was working as a civilian aboard the aircraft carrier Constellation in Brooklyn Navy Yard when a massive fire started. Eddie escaped through a hatch and had to jump in the icy East River to escape from the fire that killed 46. He suffered from smoke poisoning, exposure and rib fractures before being plucked from the water. He had only been married three months at that time, but lived to raise a family and enjoy many years chasing stripers and bluefish in the surf and Point Pleasant Canal. — which is where Maren Toleno caught this 30-inch striper recently at dusk on a popper.