The northwest gale that kept the fleet in port today is supposed to die out tonight, and there's a forecast for Veteran's Day of sunshine and lighter winds -- with warmer weather again on Sunday. Hopefully, the stripers will be on the feed again in Raritan Bay after taking a day off on Thursday. It wasn't a surprise when bass didn't bite on the incoming tide, as that had been the case, but those who stuck it out for the outgoing only picked. After a lot of running around and staying late, Capt. Ron Sesterday's blog about the great Wednesday afternoon bite, I had more than that myself as did many other anglers.  The fleet was due for a tougher day, and there's a good chance the fishing will break open again as it often does after a northwester. The Fishermen is chartered Saturday. Capt. Rob Semkewyc of the Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands even ran out to reports of bunker schools in the ocean in hopes of finding very big bass, but only a few bass were caught before he returned for the ebb. The northwester should further diminish the big ocean swell, and surfcasting may well turn on. Except for the low waters, conditions looked good early this morning at Sea Girt, but I had no action. Even Point Pleasant Canal was strangely quiet as I often retrieved a large sandworm without a hit, but eventually released a 14 1/2-inch blackfish and one other plus two small sea bass on the morning slack. Yet, it was back to near normal on the afternoon slack as I released 14 tog up to 14 inches in an hour or so despite the brutal wind.