Fall is here — can’t argue or avoid that anymore. There was a little frost this morning around the state. The water temperatures are dropping nearly a degree a day this past week, hovering in the upper 50s to low 60s in some areas at low tide in the sun.

Tautog and sea bass have been the targets for most of the charters. Offshore anglers are still going for tuna much farther out. Now is the time to get those last-of-the-season trips in before winter.

So far, we have a decent weekend coming. Last weekend was a little nautical, to say the least, with more surfing than surf fishing, and a lot of beach combing since the nor’easter washed the beaches flat and clean. Once the water calmed down, many tried surf fishing.

That wider wash area before the waves turns into soft sand and gets harder to walk all the time. Get the waders out. It is time to keep warm and stay dry. I don’t mind standing in the water all day if I am warm.

Catching the summer fish has slowed down a lot. There are still some fish around and sand fleas can still be found for bait. The fast-acting Fishbites is good. We have been using bluefish and squid for bait, too.

The short striped bass action has increased. Is it white swim shad time? Every fall that seems to be the go-to — white or pearl swim shads for short striped bass. Spoons do pretty well, too, mimicking the bait fish. Sand eel lures always catch striped bass. With the increased bite of the schooling bass, it will be fun action for the kids. Get some bloodworms for the kids to use for short striped bass.

Flounder are around, but that is about done for the season. The bull red drum action has slowed at Assateague, with one or two caught in the past couple days when the island opened the OSV back up.

November is a great month for shooting stars so keep an eye out when you are out at night, especially after midnight.

We really won’t be able to tell how the fishing was affected by the nor’easter for a couple more days of actual fishing. So far it has been OK in the surf. Boats are starting to see action now that they can get out.

On top of that, we have the king tides here which will increase some minor tidal flooding. That always throws off the inland bay fishing.

When it comes to boats and nor’easters, it is best to just pull your boat. A lot of boats drifted off during the nor’easter. They came off their lifts and were not tied down. But tying a boat to a lift is a bad idea.

Captain Clarke Droney, Tow Boat US Indian River, said, “Owners need to take the boats off the lifts and out of the water for nor’easters. If you tie the boat to the lift, it will just swamp the boat on the lift. We pulled and had to recover near 20 boats after this storm. One drifted miles from its dock and over a thousand feet into a marsh. Another went so far up a creek we had to find it with a drone first.”

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science Eastern Shore Laboratory is looking for input on any external parasites found on striped bass and sheepshead. Much like sea lice, there is another parasite that is covering bass, including sheepshead, more than usual. These, too, are normal but the amount and frequency apparently is of concern.

The laboratory released this statement: “If you catch fish with any of these critters attached, please contact the lab, 757-787-5834. We’d like to know if this is isolated or more widespread and get a closer look to identify them. It should not affect the food quality of the fish, but is not good for their health.”