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Captain's Focus

There were a lot of disappointed surfcasters along Monmouth and northern Ocean County beaches today as there was no repeat of Saturday's striper action in schools of peanut bunkers. There were some adult bunkers within casting range in Bay Head at times, but I didn't see anyone snagging those bunkers hook up while I was there. Allen Riley of South Plainfield cast everything he had into the Sea Bright surf without a hit, but John Mazzeo of South Plainfield managed a snapper and a hickory shad on lures, and added a large skate on a shad chunk.  Riley didn't see anything else caught there or at Ship Ahoy and Monmouth Beach. Boaters also had problems in the morning as the change to a southwest wind seemed to put the bass off their feed. Miss Belmar Princess snagged bunkers, but in contrast to Saturday their fares caught nothing. The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant had a tough Sunday, and  will not sail Monday due to a rough forecast. Based on what I'd already seen of the morning fishery, I didn't have much confidence when Mike Heany of Allendale ran out of Manasquan Inlet with his Sea Vee at about 12:30, but we ended up doing well. Actually, Bob Correll of Bay Head did very well as he caught five stripers up to 39 1/2 inches on the snag & drift off Mantoloking, while Heany, Joe Farrell and I each caught just one. I did lose a bass in at least the 40's and maybe over 50 pounds after getting her up to the surface before the snag hook pulled on a last dive. We started catching those bass with the sun still high in the sky, and had to run back before dark due to storm warnings.  The boat traffic wasn't quite as bad in Raritan Bay as Saturday, but still a problem with surfacing stripers. At Atlantic Highlands, Capt. Rob Semkewyc reported an O.K. day on his Sea Hunter as small schools popped up and down once the outgoing current started running hard at 10 a.m. Shads worked best, with white, green and bunker colors favored.  Capt. Ron Santee found a few stripers from 16 to 23 pounds on his Fishermen, and ended up catching a few bass in the ocean at the end of the trip. Capt. John Kolias trolled Mo-Jo's again from his Reel Fun out of Twin Lights Marina in Highlands. Dave and Angie West from Pa. had to wait until 11 a.m. before the strong current turned on the bite for four keepers. Bob Matthews said the surf finally turned on Saturday. He landed an 11-pounder, and weighed many more at Fisherman's Den in Belmar Marina. Included were a 27-pounder for Scotty Puller; a 23-pounder by Danny Russo;a 30-pound bass by Felix Vega; a 25 1/2-pounder beached by Marty Westerfield;and a 21 1/2-pounder for Andrew Melli.  Asbury Park Fishing Club won the weekend tournament they hosted with 152 points, beating out the Spring Lake Live Liners with 96, and Shark River Anglers with 84. The top five stripers by each club are counted. At Brielle, the Jamaica reported some yellowfin tuna up to 75 pounds during Friday night's trip along with a couple of albacore and a swordfish. The next open dates are on Nov. 4 and 6. The Paramount had a fine Friday night bluefish trip as 10-to-15-pounders were hooked by anglers who caught eight to 10. Thanh Nguyen of Hainesport won the pool with a 17-pound jumbo. Matt Slobodjian reports from Jim's Tackle in Cape May that "The sea bass fishing was very good for the guys that got out to the wrecks on the 20 fathom line. A lot of limits caught and there are still some triggers out there as well. There were some fish caught at the Cape May Reef, but the swell kind of slowed up the bite a bit. The fish at the Reef are smaller and it's a pick to get your keepers. Tog are still on the inlet rock pile, the North Wildwood sea wall and the Townsend's Inlet sea wall. I'm sure they can be caught on the inshore wrecks also. The limit is still one fish at 15" until November 16th when it goes to 6 fish. The stripers haven't really shown up in numbers yet. The beach fishing was slow due to the high winds chopping up the Delaware Bay. The water on the beach front and the point was like mud early in the week, but cleaned up a little on the weekend and a few fish were caught on bait. We have gotten a few reports of fish off Great Egg Inlet, so the fish are moving south. We should start getting some action within the next two weeks or so.T

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