Posted on August 1, 2021 Blues on poppers save the day Action is the name of the game when it comes to taking young anglers fishing as was the case today when my son Mike came in from Tennessee with his wife Allie and son Aiden (13) . Capt. Joe Massa invited us aboard his My Three Sons from Morgan Marina to run down the beach for triggerfish which he had loaded up with last week.Fortunately, we saw a few birds picking off Sandy Hook and caught some 3-4-pound blues before dropping to bottom. However, small sea bass ate up our shrimp so quickly that only Aiden managed to catch a triggerfish. Allie was impressive in catching variety as she caught the only porgy, fluke and sea robin. Before an early return, Massa suggested we switch to the blues which he figured were below picking birds coming toward us, and that turned out to be the right move as blues of 6 to 7 pounds exploded on every cast though there was no sign of them. We were all alone off Long Branch, and left them biting as Aiden got a good introduction to the most exciting form of fishing — casting poppers for surface blasts. The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported blues were fussy in the morning, though anglers who worked hard with their jigs did well. A move offshore later on produced large sea bass and some fluke. It was a bit choppy today, but should be fine in the morning with northwest winds at 10-15 knots.