Posted on October 5, 2019 Saturday afternoon looks best Though small craft warnings are up into the morning with north gusts to 30 knots, it should actually improve during the day. After starting with northeast at 15-20 with gusts to 25, the afternoon forecast decreases to a mere 5-10 knots. Though the wind shifts to the south on Sunday, it is expected to blow at 15-20 with gusts to 25. The west wind didn’t blow hard enough last night to smooth out the surf, but it was fishable this morning as I worked a southern Monmouth beach  that was very shallow. All I could do was to cast into white water, where I was surprised when a fat 24-inch striper hit my Chug Bug. I hoped that was an indication of where the bass were feeding, but I never raised another fish. Vinny D’Anton and Frank Manzi fished further north later in the morning and found schools of mullet. There were no bass, but they did get into some bluefish. There were no reports from boats, but there should be lots of porgies available over rough bottoms to the north along with small blues — and sea bass that aren’t legal until Oct. 8. Capt. Chris De Stefano fished aboard Frank Criscola’s Crisdel from Brielle Yacht Club  on Wednesday as they trolled the Shrewsbury Rocks area, but only found small blues. There weren’t even any striper marks, but the current windy weather could start migrating bass heading to the west. Boaters have been catching school stripers on eels in Point Pleasant Canal, and Castaways Tackle in Point Pleasant now has that bait in stock.