Blues, fluke, and then some on full display this week
RON NUZZOLO . Fish On
With current weather fluctuations, fishing remains solid throughout the shoreline. Aboard the Captain Dave from Atlantic Highlands is the Wade Ray Construction Co. from Monmouth. Another group wanting to squeeze in the last of the fluke season resulted in a trip down the Reach Channel, which provided only a slow pick of fish. Hoping that the ocean calmed down from several days of major swells, they took a ride to the tip of the hook. Finding the rip fishable, this party was able to boat some nice fluke.

Top fish honors went to Tom Connor of Hazlet with a nice flattie.

Capt. Kevin took the Louis Scribelli party of Whitehouse Station for a try for blues. Chumming heavily, some blues were boated and some big sand sharks were on hand to spice things up.

My good buddy Ron McClelland from the Hi-Mar Fishing Club went down to Myrtle Beach to pick up and bring back his motherin law's car and managed a couple of days' fishing while he was there, so before he left he called Capt. Mike McDonald of Gul-R-Boy guide service out of Georgetown South Carolina and booked two days of fishing.

Since there was fishing involved, his buddy, Greg, decided to go along. Day one involved meeting Capt. Mike at the ramp at 6:30 a.m., and a run across the bay to net up some bunker (peanuts and adults), mullet and shrimp. After filling both live wells, Capt. Mike dropped anchor in one of his honey holes, and we proceeded to cast live baits toward the edges of the weeds for speckled trout and reds. Capt. Mike baited a larger outfit with a bunker head and put it out toward the channel.

After a few trout, the bait was picked up by something larger, Greg picked up the other end, Mike picked up the anchor, and the battle was on. After a little grunting and groaning, Greg managed to bring a ray of about 50 pounds to the boat. Back to another location, but this time when the bigger outfit started running off it was Ron's turn. He grabbed the rod and mostly just stood there, watching the spool of line get smaller and smaller while an effort was made to get the boat moving. Well, he did get to see a tarpon jump in the distance. It appeared to be a nice size fish, over 100 pounds. The fish landed on the line, snap, and the battle was over.

Day two was pretty much nonstop catching for the day. With a total of 65 trout, 15 flounder and nine ladyfish caught, with most released to fight another day. Just 10 trout short of breaking Capt. Mike's catch record. Oh, by the way, the water temperature was in the mid-80s.

The Frank Hettler party was aboard for a Southern Speedster trip to the Barnegat Ridge; although the weather was spectacular, the bite was anything but. It was time to go to plan "B" with Frank, Gina and Tom agreeing to try some wreck fishing; well, it wasn't long before they were rewarded with bent rods and nonstop action with sea bass, blackfish and even a nice throw back 4.5- pound fluke scored by Tom.

The Dynamic Duo of Joe Holl and Dom DiNapoli were out to slam some blues (1- 4 pounds) at the inlets north jetty in the early morning in hopes of some preseason stripers. The blues attacked at almost every cast but no bass were found. From there, it was off to some wrecks for some more nonstop action with a mix of sea bass, blackfish, porgies and even a doubleheader throwback fluke caught by Dom. They also witnessed a sizable shark roaming the surface not too far from the boat but ignored anything thrown at him.

For more information, call Capt. Steve of Reel Fantasea Charters (609) 290 - 1217. Please send your reports to ron@signbrothers. comfishon.

Tournament information

There is a Fishermen's Conservation Association $100,000 Bluefish Bonanza with a Triton boat raffle and bluefish tournament Oct. 5 and 6.

For additional information, log on to www.bluefishbonanza.com.

Tournament grand prize - $50,000 for the largest bluefish over 20 pounds

Raffle grand prize - 2008 Triton 195CC boat with a Mercury 150 XL OPTIMAX engine and Triton Traile.

Surf Division first prize is $3,500; second prize is $1,000; and third prize is $500.

Boat/Party Boat Division first prize is $3,500; second prize is $1,000; and third prize is $500.

Port prizes are at every weigh station. Each weigh station winner receives tickets to the Awards Barbecue on Oct. 7. Entry fee is $100 per angler (not boat). Deadline is 4 p.m. on Oct 5.

Weigh-in stations: Michael's Bait & Tackle Staten Island Bernie's Sheepshead Bay Biggies Staten Island.

Julian's Atlantic Highlands Twin Lights Marina Atlantic Highlands Fishermen's Supply Point Pleasant Jingles - LBI Tony's Bait 'n' Tackle LBI.