Though the gale warnings kept almost all boaters tied to the docks, that NW blow knocked down the rough sea and provided ideal surfcasting conditions. There were flurries of stripers and blues in many areas, though in most cases the birds and breaks were outside casting range most of the time. Vinny D'Anton of Wall got into a northern Monmouth County bluefish blitz that produced seven jumbos for him on poppers -- though there were no stripers mixed in. There were some bass with the blues in northern Ocean County, but when I finally got into some in the evening, I could only get one splash on a pencil popper while other anglers were catching by snagging and dropping bunkers.  There were clouds of birds working off Seaside in the morning, though they mostly remained out of range. Grumpy's Tackle did have some bass and blue weigh-ins on both lures and bait. Most impressive was a 39-inch, 22.9-pound blue on snag & drop by Brandon Di Leonardo though it's not specified if that was in the surf. Gusty NW winds are predicted to continue into Tuesday. Be sure to check with skippers before coming down. Julian's Tackle in Atlantic Highlands weighed a live 13.10-pound blackfish this weekend for John Carlon of Piscataway who then released his trophy tog at the Highlands Bridge.