The NW gale that developed today spoiled a surprisingly fishable early morning. That was especially the case with northern fluking, where skippers reported good first drifts before struggling once the wind really kicked in. Capt. Stan Zagleski said the trip still ended up well for Fred La Grace of Hopewell who boated the 8 11/16-pound pool winner on Elaine B II from Bahrs in Highlands. Capt. Rob Semkewyc called off his afternoon trip on the Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands as the howling wind would result in poor fishing. That wind is predicted to continue tomorrow, and he recommended customers to pick another day. Actually, the forecast for Tuesday to Thursday is for light winds. Mike Koblan of Wall fished aboard the Capt. John from Keyport along with friends as they had a good first drift in Raritan Reach before the wind kicked in. Rich Dziuban of Matawan won the pool with a 5-pounder. Koblan said there were nine keepers on the boat along with 25 to 30 shorts, some sea robins, and a couple of very small smooth dogfish. Tank Matraxia of Lyndhurst fished aboard the Capt. John in better conditions on Friday before the wind came up against the tide as he boated his first barely legal fluke along with three shorts and a couple of small dogfish. He noted that there was one limit on the boat. Capt. John Kolias reported good fluking on Saturday when he avoided the 200-boat fleet on the bay fluke to fish his own spots with Melissa Cook and her all-female charter on Reel Fun from Twin Lights Marina in Highlands. He said the fluke hit everything that day. Bob Matthews at Fisherman's Den in Belmar Marina reported the Murphy party on Limited Out caught stripers of 50, 49,45, and the high 30-pound class.  Rental boats are doing better with fluke up to 5 pounds. Though Mako Mania was postponed to next weekend,  Mushin Charters ran 50 miles to the east of Manasquan Inlet on Saturday to boat a 293-pound mako shark. Bruce Vitale of Piscataway fished aboard Barb-Gail IV from Brielle on Friday as Capt. Chris Los Santos limited the boat on 19-to-20-inch winter flounder (two per man) along with ling and sea bass plus three cod. At Seaside Park, Grumpy's Tackle wondered about the previous day's stormy evening forecast which kept anglers away though nothing happened.  Betty & Nick's reported improved bluefishing, with Gator Spoons producing well. Rich Carrione has a a truly incredible fish story to share.  During a recent annual fishing trip to the Keys with three friends there was decent fishing as they landed tarpon, bonefish, snook, redfish, seatrout, shark, snapper and some other fish as they fished Flamingo and the northern Keys up to Key Biscayne. "But here's what made the trip one for the ages. On our first day of fishing, I landed a 70 lb tarpon and jumped a larger tarpon that snapped the line at the spool. The following day, we were anchored up in the same spot, but this time our other boat was in the same vicinity. When the other boat was about to pull anchor, the guide noticed yellow line wrapped around his anchor line. As he began to clear the line, he felt a fish on the other end. Having little choice because the fish was moving, he took the large knot that had been created in the line and stuck it around the hook of another rod. Our buddy, Greg Ransom, fought the fish this way for about 10-15 minutes, until the guide was able to run up on the fish and pick up enough slack so that he could tie the line that the fish was hooked on directly onto the line connected to the rod and reel. Another 20 minutes later and Greg had landed the 100 lb tarpon that I had hooked the day before. If I hadn't been there to witness it, I don't think I would have believed it."