Canyon tuna: Good water has moved into the canyons, and tuna are hitting both day and night on bait and jigs. Swordfish and dolphin are also a possibility.

Mud Hole bluefins: This is a gamble, as Tuesday’s reports weren’t good despite clear 63 degree waters. Bluefins can be chunked and trolled if they’re there. Little tunny should be thick at Monster Ledge, but they haven’t been there, or anywhere else, in quantity.

Striped bass: Anglers along the Shore are hoping for a repeat of the Tuesday big bass blitz under bunker schools off Ortley Beach. The storm may have changed everything, but Capt. Dave DeGennaro is taking individual reservations to look for stripers Sunday with his Hi-Flier from Barnegat. Call 732 330-5674.

Clammers should score with stripers on Romer Shoal and on clam beds off Sandy Hook, Shrewsbury Rocks is a mikely hot spot for trollers. Frank Criscola of Bedminster trolled 10 bass up to a 25-pounder Monday on his Crisdel from Brielle Yacht Club.

Jigs may also work there, and between the channels — or east of Rockaway Inlet. Dave Lilly of Hazlet had been doing well worming in the Shrewsbury, but only had some shorts Tuesday. That was also a tough day for eelers in Ambrose Channel, but there was a bite in Sandy Hook Channel — though the bass were mostly shorts.

Look for birds anywhere along the Shore. It might be bass under them — or it could be blues.  Try jigging with metal.

Bluefish: Check out the Mud Buoy, the Farms, and Shrewsbury Rocks for blues jigging or in a chum slick. 

Porgies: Scup remain abundant on reefs, inshore wrecks, and rough bottoms. Anglers can also keep one blackfish of 14 inches or more at this time, but sea bass are closed.

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Bluefin tuna trolling in the Monster Ledge area was poor again today even though the weather was a huge improvement over yesterday’s northwest blow. Capt. Arthur Stokes was happy to pick a few little tunny on the troll with his Fintastic from Clarks Landing in Point Pleasant since there was nothing being reported on the VHF. Then he decided to stop on a bait reading to throw some scallop shells and guts that had been given to him the previous day by divers. It seemed like a long shot to try imitating a scallop boat with so little material and no sign of tuna. Yet, I was only free-spooling guts for 15 minutes before the hit came from a 32-inch bluefin. After I had worked my next drop far out, I started reeling the guts in and was shocked to get hit. That turned out to be a 29 3/4-incher that was tagged and released as we had our boat limit of small bluefins. Unfortunately, those were the only hits we had  before switching to wreck fishing that produced three keeper cod and a couple of ling among spiny dogfish and out-of-season “keeper” sea bass and winter flounder plus a just short blackfish.   Mates Eugene Marshall and Jim Sakers were kept busy with all the action. Al and Nick Sutton of Yardley, Pa. were in on the action along with Richard, Tony and Marco Lopez from Pennsauken, and Lee Pena from Montgomery, Alabama.

Inshore reports south of Manasquan Inlet were dismal yesterday, and Capt. Bud McArthur of Splinter from Brick said it was no different today. There were some marks, but jigging and trolling didn’t produce a thing.

The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant was able to get offshore in the fine weather, and had a good catch of blues.

The Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands had no luck clamming early for bass, but got into big blues and a couple of large bass on jigs.

At Brielle, Capt. Howard Bogan Jr. reported a slow start to Friday night’s canyon trip on his Jamaica, but yellowfins and albacore were picked during the night. Some swordfish provided action Saturday night, and yellowfins turned on from 4 to 6 a.m. as many anglers limited. The Jamaica has room on Tuesday’s 7 a.m. trip.

Capt. Ryan Bogan reported about 200 cod on today’s special trip of the Jamaica II, but they were mostly schoolies. Bob Blasket of Philadelphiawas high hook with 18. Surprisingly, the middle of the boat did best, rather than the stern and bow. The next special will be at 2 a.m. next Sunday.

Capt. Jack Shea of Rambunctious from Waretown got into some stripers in the bay as Bill and Ann Staples from Pa. caught three up to a 38-incher.

Bob Kamienski reports Chuck Many won the Hi-Mar Striper Tournament over the weekend, but complete results haven’t been posted yet.    

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The forecast of gale-force southwest winds kept most boaters ashore this morning, but there was actually little wind at first before it came on later in the morning. Capt. Rob Semkewyc took advantage of that with his Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands as his fares had fast clamming action even if it was 75 percent short stripers. Once the tide died and the wind came on it was all over.

The Jamaica from Brielle had good bluefish jigging in relatively protected waters. The Jamaica Star will run the Sunday morning trip while the Jamaica is in the canyons.

The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant went north for a shot of good bluefishing at anchor. After that slowed, many more were jigged on the drift.

Schools of adult bunker were located along the Shore. Bob Correll of Bay Head fished one just outside of Manasquan Inlet in his 23-foot Boston Whaler, but there were no fish among them.

There were lots of fish breaking about a mile offshore of Sea Girt while I was surfcasting there this morning, but they were still far out of reach when I left. Nothing was doing in the relatively shallow surf, though it was clear and very fishable. One angler said he caught a fluke, and another had released a hickory shad.

Allen Riley of South Plainfield was satisfied with the rough surf at Sandy Hook, but not a thing was caught while he was there this morning.  Riley still hasn’t even seen a little tunny yet, and he”s only caught two of them any later than Oct. 15 over the years.

Brielle Tackle reported several stripers from 29 to 34 inches were taken on clams and big poppers during the bad weather Thursday and Friday from the north jetty. School stripers are being caught at bridges on the river.  

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As noted in yesterday’s blog, the canyon with a hot yellowfin tuna bite is the Spencer. I was listening on the VHF during the day to boats coming back from there with big catches of yellowfins, though one boat had only a single 35-pounder. Capt. Chris De Stefano said the trick was to drift in deep water. He was running the Fintastic from Clarks Landing in Point Pleasant along with owner Capt. Arthur Stokes. After doing nothing trolling Saturday afternoon, they were chunking in Berkeley Canyon and only marking non-biting fish when they got a call about the Spencer. It was a long ride, and they didn’t start fishing until after 4 a.m., but the trip was worth it as jigs of all kinds were attacked by yellowfins in the 30-pound class. The Fintastic returned with 30 of them after also getting one trolling blast in the morning. De Stefano said that was an exception to a lack of trolling action in the fleet. He didn’t hear of a single albacore caught all day. One angler noted on the VHF that canyon fishing was dead from the Hudson south until getting to Spencer.  

I joined Bob Correll of Bay Head on Joe Reap’s Reaper from Manasquan for bluefin trolling at Monster Ledge. It was a beautiful moring as we headed out of Manasquan Inlet and saw the red moon dip below the western horizon. Unfortunately, we did nothing trolling at the Ledge before running out to the Glory Hole where three little tunny were released.  Capt. Russ Binns, of Mar-Lin from Toms River  reported that Capt. Mike Copeman had caught a few school bluefins on cedar jigs from his Renegade out of Point Pleasant — so we ran inshore. There was nothing doing by the time we got back to Monster Ledge, but we stuck it out for almost two hours before Correll got a hookup on the green squid spreader bar. That fish turned out to be a bluefin, but of marginable size. Reap lifted it aboard, but it turned out to be legal  at 28 inches curved fork length, The bar went in the water right away, and we had another hook-up. That turned out to be a little tunny, a species that used to be super-abundant in that area at this time of year, but which hasn’t been heard from his year. The Strike Force from Brielle Yacht Club did poorly at Shrewsbury Rocks, but Capt. Harry Wilder ran out to troll from the Arundo to Monster Ledge, and managed a couple of cluefins.  

Dave Lilly of Hazlet fished with Charlie Parker on his Triton along with two friends as they caught over 30 legal tautog at the Rocks, though only one may be kept at this time.  They had a good bite, topped by Parker who released lots of big tog — including one over 10 pounds, and another over 8 pounds.

The Capt. Dave from Atlantic Highlands ran to the Rocks in the afternoon with the PK Environmental party from Westwood, and got into big blues plus a 36-inch striper in 11/2 hours.  

Capt. Jim O’Grady, of the Cock Robin from Point Peasant, reported Sunday’s bluefishing was in a bit of a slowdown for his Cock Robin from Point Pleasant after a good week.

Gene Gaman of Middletown ran to Ambrose Channel with his That’s It from Twin Lights Marina in Highlands during mid-morning — and caught two stripers.on eels.

Capt. Jack Shea, of Rambunctious from Waretown fished Barnegat Bay one day last week for over 150 puffers in 90 minutes.

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Following is the balance of Friday’s column that didn’t make the cut in print:

There’s been lots of bait in the Sandy Hook surf, and a few small blues have been caught. Tony Martino of Long Branch stayed later yesterday morning, and his plug was attacked at 8:40 by a 35-inch jumbo bluefish. Lou Vargas of Fanwood, who had released a 25-inch striper earlier, also stayed late and hooked another big blue that got off. Allen Riley noted that those were the first very large blues he’s seen this season, but there is still no sign of the little tunny which are the big attraction for Sandy Hook surfcasters at this time of year.

Capt. Hans Kaspersetz ran Sheri Berri from Baker’s Marina on the Bay in Highlands up the Shrewsbury River yesterday morning to worm a half-dozen bass, including a couple of keepers, with his friend Nico. Kaspersetz fished aboard Joe Zona’s Lil’ Brother from Brielle Yacht Club in Hudson Canyon last Friday night when the front came through with 50 mile per hour winds. However, they still managed a catch of tuna and a 100-pound class swordfish.

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Following is the portion of Friday’s column that didn’t make print:

Capt. Pete Wagner has been doing well this week clamming stripers from his Hyper Striper out of Twin Lights Marina in Highlands. He had a striper limit Wednesday and more released, plus some blues – and then added big porgies for the Russ Schofield party.

Joe Melillo, at Castaway’s Tackle in Point Pleasant, has been weighing a few stripers taken on plugs in the surf, primarily north of Manasquan Inlet. He also notes that blackfishing has been hot on green crabs in Point Pleasant Canal, and crabbing remains excellent.   Roy Hartley of Point Pleasant caught two stripers up to 31 inches plugging at Sea Girt, and Stew Gartner of Ortley had a 14 3/8-pound bass on a needlefish at Bay Head. Joe Milko of Brick used metal at Sea Girt for a 34-incher, and John Lorton from Belmar plugged a 12 3/16-pound striper at Spring Lake. Terry Martescelli of Brick plugged a 15 ¾-pounder at Spring Lake. Lori Cantrall of Howell fished Point Pleasant Beach at night for a 14 1/8-pound bass.

Capt. Jim O’Grady of the Cock Robin from Point Pleasant couldn’t find the little tunny he was seeking on Wednesday, but did catch blues, cod and both sea bass and fluke that had to go back.

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Bluefish appear to be solid once again. Big choppers are being caught in the Mud Hole, and much closer to shore at the Mud Buoy and Shrewsbury Rocks. Little tunny are found with them on some occasions, and can be fooled with Tsunami soft plastics or other small lures retrieved quickly through the slick — or with spearing drifted out in the slick with no leader — or a light fluorocarbon leader.

Stripers are getting more active in the surf. Most are small, but big enough to chase mullet. Small lures are indicated. I’ve been casting north of Manasquan Inlet, and caught two small bass in the wash Tuesday evening, plus one at first light this morning on a Bagley’s Mullet plug. Bob Correll of Bay Head sawa few swirls this evening at his local beach, and couldn’t get a hit on a small plug. He switched to a small metal and fooled one. There’s still no reports of little tunny in the surf. Cocktail blues dominate in Island Beach State Park.  

Fluke fishing has been very poor, and the season closes after Sunday. Sea bass are closed until Nov. 1, but porgies are abundant - and one blackfish can be retained per person.

Clamming for stripers at Romer Shoal had been very good, but fell apart this week — though a fresh charge of bass could change that at any time.    

Canyon fishing exploded again, with lots of albacore for trolling in the Hudson — where yellowfin tuna are also being jigged and baited.

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