Northeast Winds Slow Down Ocean Fluke Bite

Northeast winds slowed down the ocean fluke bite by Thursday, but keepers were still being boated across the region in a "slow pick" fashion. As the winds look to continue blowing in that direction for the weekend (as of this moment), the assumption is that most anglers will stick to the back bays this weekend.

Capt. Allen Gonzalez, skipper of the charter boatReel Class out of Point Pleasant, reported that he made the decision to stick to the Manasquan River on his Friday fluke trip. Allen had "a boat full of Red Sox fans" on board - two who came down from Beantown - and the group used trout rods and jig heads to entice the river flatties.

"We fished the end of the incoming, slack high and outgoing, and had some very good action at the end of the incoming and slack water," he said.

By the end of the trip, 75 flounder had come over the rail; two were keepers.

Some reports from Barnegat Bay this week indicated good fishing. The action moved from the BI and BB buoys closer to the inlet, with fishing picking up at The Dyke and some of the channels in and around the area of the Coast Guard station. It's anecdotal, for sure, but it seems the keepers are "staging" in this area near Barnegat Inlet, so this weekend into next week should be a great time for anglers who want to fish the bay. I will, for certain, be checking this out by myself. Perhaps we'll have a weekday update for everyone!

A few folks have asked me about triggerfish over the past week. I asked around, and can tell you that there have been a few caught (some at the rocks at Barnegat Inlet, some in the ocean at the wrecks), but nothing to the extent two summers ago, when you could've mistaken Barnegat Inlet for Lake Worth Inlet in Florida with the amount of triggers being hooked. The triggers are biting a bit south of our area, however. Capt. Matt List, a charter captain based in Avalon, told me this week that he's finding the fish on the flats in that area, so it could be worth a trip down the Parkway, for sure.

As for the ocean, sea bassing is still a bit on the slow side, but things are picking up. Surpringly, the party boats are still picking up catches of cod out there, so be ready to reel in just about anything when wreck fishing. A few ling and porgies have also been mixed in, reports from a number of party boats have indicated.

That's about it for now. Remember, stick to the bay this weekend if the northeast winds howl on, and put your time in if you want to catch the keepers. I'll go out on a limb and recommend Berkeley Gulp 4-inch swimmers as bait. Just sayin'.