The fish on the Ridge varied from 6 to 10 pounds throughout much of the year. They were biting on day and night trips. The Miss Barnegat Light ran for them seven days a week and also did evening trips on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. "We quit on Labor Day and started running canyon tuna trips," Larson said. "With the speed of this boat we can get offshore in 3 1/2 to four hours, so we run for tuna every day the weather allows during the fall."

ALONG THE BEACHES & IN THE BAYS
With the strong run of menhaden this past spring, bluefish were being seen in Raritan and Sandy Hook bays as early as mid-April. Some of these were big bruisers, too. The number of fish wasn't large enough for head boats to target, but they were the scourge of the private boat striper fishermen, light-tackle guides and smaller charter boaters. Anglers fishing with clams in April and early May caught a few blues. When the water warmed in May, bluefish arrived in great schools joining the bass in feeding on bunker and the baits the anglers were using.

The spring run was also great in the more shallow bays like Barnegat, where small-boat fishermen caught abundant 2- to 7-pound bluefish on poppers and fly rods starting in early May. This is fun fishing where you use very light tackle and catch bluefish in water that is barely 2 feet deep.

Light tackle guide Captain Terry Sullivan of Flats Rat Charters out of Pt. Pleasant (732-899-6245) said he spent many days in late summer and early fall with fly rod clients. That's when they were catching loads of bluefish right along the beach from the deck of his Contender center console. "They're great fun on light spinning and especially on the fly rods," he said. "They chase flies and poppers so well and jump and run so hard that a lot of my customers enjoy catching them as much as stripers."

The fall run along the beaches was permeated with bluefish of all sizes from tiny ones chewing up the peanut bunker to big bruisers smashing the mature menhaden, herring and mackerel late in the season. At that time, bluefish could be caught on almost anything from jigs and poppers to bunker spoons and umbrella rigs.

LOOKING AHEAD!
Will the 2005 season be another banner year for bluefish? I'm not afraid to make a prediction and if I'm wrong, you can always write to the editor and tell him my psychic powers need a little fine-tuning. So here goes.

The winter is shaping up to be relatively mild early and colder late, similar to last year. The fall water temperatures in January were about the same, too. Those conditions prior to the 2004 season were favorable for bait production and an early invasion by bluefish. Also notable were strong numbers of small baitfish moving out of our estuaries again this past fall, which bodes well for a strong forage base in 2005.

Another important factor that is still in place: the state law that has protected mature menhaden from industrial commercial harvesting in state waters the past few years. So bunker should be abundant again, too. There were blues of all sizes available in 2004, lots of small ones inside and along the beaches, loads of medium-sized ones a little farther off, which is a good sign as far as population dynamics is concerned. Add it all up and I'm going to guess that the bluefishing is going to be excellent again in 2005. So get your tackle ready for what lies ahead!