Weather playing havoc with fall fishing action

It was another tough week. Rain and stiff winds kept most anglers at the dock. Those who toughed it out were able to get a few keepers.

• RON NUZZOLO This week in Barnegat Light, stripers continued to dominate when the fish and the weather cooperated. Capt. Steve Purul from Reel Fantasea Charters, Barnegat, was greeted by stiff northeast winds keeping them in the bay/inlet area. They worked up eight stripers up to 35 inches, landing four stripers and releasing all on a combination of live bait and artificials. Capt. Steve had a few good days, weather permitting.

Seaside remains red hot from the surf. Anglers have been weighing bass from 8 to 10 pounds all week, with one tipping the scales at 35 pounds caught on bunker. Clams were choice bait for most anglers, but metal worked just as well. An 87.4-pound drum was also battled from the surf and checked in last Wednesday at Grumpy's Bait & Tackle.

Capt. Bob from Sandy Hook Fishing Adventures had the Mike Smart Charter on board Sunday. With a continuous stiff wind, Capt. Bob managed to keep the crew busy fighting a few bass up to 20 pounds and a fair amount of bluefish both jigging and trolling. All in all, a good day with Capt. Bob getting two of his patrons their first bass ever on the books, along with a nice amount of fillets for the dinner table.

Leave it up to Capt. Ron Fisherman to fight through another tough week of weather in the Atlantic Highlands. Capt. Ron has been switching it up between clamming and jigging, picking keepers up to 20 pounds along with plenty of shorts to keep it interesting. Capt. Ron is determined to find those November trophies, and the next few weeks should prove positive.

Bluefish are still patrolling the Raritan Bay and the surf all the way down to Barnegat. Bait remains heavy with sand eels keeping both bass and blues close to shore. As far as any offshore canyon reports, the weather and few fishing reports have canceled out most canyon trips this year. Canyon reports for 2009 are few and far between. Early in the week the Sea Devil from Point Pleasant arrived at the Hudson Canyon and anglers made a decent mix of mostly yellowfin tuna, a few 60- pound long-fin tuna and a 150-pound swordfish.

Fish on!