Since the ASMFC has voted N.J. out of compliance with their Summer Flounder Management Plan, it's now up to Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross as to whether we'll be able to complete the season with three fluke at 18 inches.  DEP Commissioner Bob Martin knew we'd be at this point sometime when he proposed to stay with last year's regulations until a new stock assessment. Eventually, there was a compromise plan worked out with the ASMFC in which we gave up some season to stay at 18 inches, but the Technical Committee didn't approve -- and the ASMFC notified Ross that we are out of compliance. If this was still the Obama administration, we'd be out of luck for sure as environmental groups called the shots then. Even when Democratic congressmen wrote to NJMFS requesting status quo regulations for summer flounder, they didn't even get a reply.  On the other hand, there is hope with the Trump administration's emphasis on jobs and the economy -- as the economic argument put forth by the DEP is compelling. Furthermore, Ross is a native of Weehawken and should understand the importance of his decision relating to the rest of our season. The law indicates that he should shut down both our recreational and commercial fluke fisheries, but I believe he's not under any obligation to do so. Just by taking a long time to consider the issue, he could allow the season to continue until the day after Labor Day. Today's report from the Golden Eagle out of Belmar noted that the weatherman got it wrong, as there was some nasty morning weather with wind and rain instead of just a 50 percent chance of some showers. They did get into some morning and afternoon shots of mixed-size blues, but not enough. I joined Bob Correll of Bay Head and Joe Farrell on Joe Reap's Reaper II from Manasquan as we never saw a bunker on the surface all morning and had no hits trolling. Correll did snag a couple of bunkers from readings on Shrewsbury Rocks, and he also brought along some old salted clams. Despite the wind and rain, Reap was able to drift the rough spots that provided instant  action whenever we touched bottom -- but with small sea bass. The closest I came to a keeper were a couple of 12-inchers, but Correll boated one humpback in deeper waters before we ran inshore into the party boat fleet chasing any bird that looked like it was going to dive. With all that traffic, Correll did manage to catch a blue of about 7 pounds on a big popper and lost another.  Farrell released another on a bunker chunk, and  I missed one strike on a popper before we headed in. The Ocean Explorer from Belmar couldn't drift in those conditions, but ended up with some limits for those who worked hard at it from anchor. Jerry Lasko of Point Pleasant got into some flurries of blues at the Island Beach State Park surf, where Maren Toleno from Mantoloking outfished him again with eight choppers.