After all the west winds we've had, the surf was still rough today -- but small stripers continued to bite in the breaking waves. I started in the Sea Girt surf about 3 p.m. to take advantage of the the rare opportunity to fish without gloves as air temperatures were in the 40's just as the wind shifted from southwest to northwest with the cold front starting to move in. I hooked a small bass on my third cast to the white waters at high tide with a Tsunami 6-inch Sand Eel, and picked away after that -- ending up with 10 releases up to 20 inches by dusk along with as many bumps. Vinny D'Anton of Wall was also picking after switching to the eel as his MirrOLure wasn't working today. No fast fishing, but I was happy with it in mid-December. The northwest wind is predicted to howl on Wednesday, and should finally knock the swell down -- but temperatures will also be much lower. As a result of that wind forecast, the Ocean Explorer from Belmar won't be fishing.