Local waters hold plenty of stripers and bluefish

The Raritan Bay is alive and blue. Swarms of hungry bluefish were caught on bunker fromRaritanBay to Barnegat Light.

Anglers are trying to get past the relentless blues in search of a few keeper bass for the dinner table. Bass reports are coming in on NJSaltwaterfisherman.com despite tough weather this week. Anxious anglers fought big blues up to 15 pounds and they were hitting just about anything you can dish out. It seems like flounder fishing took a back seat overnight.

The striper run has begun in the Raritan with fish up to 20 pounds taken on clams and bunker heads, but it's still a bit early. The bay warmed up to 58 degrees, and that's what we needed. For now, most will drift live bunker until they locate those trophy-size fish before anchoring up on the chunk.

Great Kills harbor was loaded with huge schools of bunker and below them were blues bass, and even a few weakfish were taken up to 12 pounds over the weekend. I know by now you can't wait to dip a line in the water. If time is against you, don't worry - after-work charters from 5-9 p.m. are just starting, and in most cases those are the magic hours for some big twilight bass. Find a captain and a night off and get out there.

Big blues were also being caught from the suds from Staten Island all along the Jersey coast. Look for crashing birds and you can't miss. The bite for blues is a bit early but a great sign for what's to come.

In Barnegat Bay, Capt. Steve Purul from Reel Fantasea Charters saw top water action with big blues in the 5-8 pound stripers and blurange on poppers. In and around most of the bay's shallow flats, the bite was best described as a steady pickwith exciting visible strikes.

All in all, it was a ton of action for Capt. Steve with reels screaming and rods bendingwith consistency. The bay'swater quality is crystal clear,making for some astounding visual excitement, and with the blues just arriving, the action promises to only get better from here, so give him a shout at Reel Fantasea Charters (609) 290-1217.

Fish on.