Unreal weather today. Heavy fog to strong sun,15mph east wind to glass calm and no drift and everything in between. Today I ran an open boat ocean trip with boat regulars Wilson, Lou and 1st timer Chris. With the forcasted winds I was pretty sure we would not be able to get an all day wreck trip in. Ran out of Manasquan and got right on some nervous bunker. Had a nice pod all to ourselves when they turned on. Chris got 3 personal best with each fish he landed. Wilson and Lou each got in on the action. The guys also missed a few but finshed with 5 to 32lbs for a nice start. Made a decision to make a long run north and try to get in on the hot fluke bite that the Mongers have been having.Had to put the radar on as the fog set in but the seas were nice an calm. Capt Jerry called me in and got set up in the area. Now it was game on......except for the building 15mph east winds. We caught some shorts and a keeper but conditions fell apart fast. Had the choice of tossing all our tackle to the rocks and put all my change in the butt kicking machine or tuck tail and head the long ride back to the river. About 4 miles to the south the wind starts to fall out and seas lay down. A call back to Capt Jerry confirms wind still blowing 15 mph east only a few miles away. By the time we hit SR it is glassed. Checked the bunker again but no action. Decide to hit some hills for fluke only to have no drift. Picked a few weenies but nothing good. Then we moved on to some inshore structure and finally put the guys on a nice pick of quality seabass. We burnt some fuel and covered a good bit of ground but ended with a nice box at the end of the day. Final total for the fillet table was 5 stripers to 32 lbs ,20 seabass , 1 fluke, and 1 cod. One strange weather day for sure
