While there have been plenty of average size bass around, with good catches being reported well up into the Susquehanna River, some anglers believe that most bass in the bay are resident fish and that the bay is seeing declining spawning and migratory populations. Look for the fishing in the bay to continue to be dominated by average-size stripers, with larger fish being tough to come by.

BLUEFISH
There's surely no lack of blues in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey waters. The 2006 season saw the slammers on the move earlier than normal -- again, more than likely the result of the mild winter.

Last season, the bluefish began moving into Chesapeake Bay in April. By the end of the month, they were off the Delaware coast, moving into Delaware Bay. The front-runners were being caught along the Jersey coast and in Raritan Bay. There's no reason to believe that the slammers won't follow the same pattern -- and timetable -- this spring.

For the last several years, the spring bluefish migration has led to good numbers of these game fish holding along the inshore waters off the Jersey and Delaware coasts. Here again, the reason why numbers of slammers are making inshore Jersey waters their summer home is the large schools of bunker that also vacation there.

Charter and party boats that target big blues in Jersey and Delaware have reported excellent fishing in both day and evening. To win the day's party-boat pool, often you'll need to catch a bluefish in the upper teens.

When it comes to fishing for the blues, an angler has plenty of choices. If you're a shore-bound fisherman, most beaches in Jersey and Delaware will produce some action throughout the summer. Both states also have sizable party and charter boat fleets that target the slammers both day and evening. The fishing really explodes in the fall, when baitfish start their annual migration out of the bays and tidal rivers and down the coast.

In recent years, huge slammers, some around 20 pounds, have been taken well into December! Look for this trend to continue in 2007.

SUMMER FLOUNDER
The 2006 fluke season produced some good fishing in the bays, tidal rivers and all along inshore waters.

In the Garden State, some of the best fishing is in Raritan Bay, with the bigger fluke being taken from the deeper waters of the channels such as Ambrose, Sandy Hook and Reach.

Another area that's been very productive for the last several years is Barnegat Bay along the inland water way. In general, Barnegat Bay is a shallow area. How good the fishing is has a lot to do with how warm the waters get. Really warm summers usually find better numbers of fluke in the channels, while a cooler summer puts a lot more fish on the shallow flats.