Well, who would have thought we would see a beautiful weekend inbound and not a cloud of rain? It’s a reprieve from the constant weekend weather. There’s nothing like an 80-degree day in October, even if it is only for a couple hours. It will feel like fall into winter by the evening. I have a friend from Florida on his way up to fish the Outer Banks and we keep telling him he needs waders. “Man, I’m not going into the water, so it should be fine.” He’s going to learn this weekend. We hid an extra set of waders in his truck for him. We will wait to the most opportune moment to tell him, probably right after he turns a few shades of blue while denying he is cold. Anglers are stubborn. The red drum run is thick in the OBX, not so much up here.

Surf fishing has been slow but anglers are catching, and have even seen a few smooth puffers or rabbit fish. Kingfish are still around and are thick, citation sized. Along with flounder, small puppy drum and lots of little pin fish, there is still a variety of fish. And sand fleas are still easy to dig up.

Large catfish are still being caught just about everywhere. Those big blues are fun to catch. They are becoming a real issue on the Chesapeake. I would love to see Delaware split that state record to our native kittys and the bluecats separate. Our native fish can’t compete with the blue cats for the record.

The striped bass fall migration is in full force north of us. The middle of Jersey just started to see good migratory striped bass action along the beaches. Now we wait and see how that works out for us down yonder, usually after Thanksgiving. If you want to get into some large and consistent striped bass action from the surf, head to northern New Jersey. Don’t forget the circle hooks requirements for striped bass.

Our local striped bass populations are feeding in all the waterways. The hungrier they are, the easier it is to catch, especially in the schools of fish. Use small swim shads matching the bait and water. White or pearl is always a fall color. I prefer the smaller two-ounce swim shads, as well as bucktails in tandem or single. There’s nothing like a double up, of two shorts heading in opposite directions. A leader with a teaser on the line above your spoon or lure helps create food competition triggers. Often that teaser catches before the lure.

Bluefish are very random. Assateague seems to have more bluefish than Delaware, and the Outer Banks are loaded with bluefish. The new rule for mullet in NC is driving a lot of anglers crazy. I can’t say I blame them, but at the same time, restrictions are created to fix a fishery before it gets destroyed. OK, that’s how it is supposed to work, yet never seems to happen. With the rule, “Supplement A to Amendment 1 of the Striped Mullet Fishery Management Plan, which closes the season Nov. 7-Dec. 31 in areas north of the N.C. Highway 58 bridge between Cape Carteret and Emerald Isle, and Nov. 10-Dec. 31 in areas south of the bridge,” the hope is to decrease harvest by 20%. Overfishing is occurring, according to the ASMFC. This is why you get involved with your fishery folks.

These are the nice snapper-sized, great-eating bluefish. Spoons, plugs and lures will hammer bluefish all day that are schooling. It’s more fun anyway, is a good way to look at it.

Yes, I eat bluefish and I clean my crabs. I should start a club.

Crabbing is still great around the inland bays, for recreational and commercial. If you ever want to go down a rabbit hole of which is the better method, get into the boiled or streamed crab debate on the crabbing pages on Facebook. Add in my “I prefer to clean my crabs first versus not cleaning them” and we have ourselves a real internet throwdown. That mustard is not good for you, considering what it filters out of those crabs.

Clamming has been good — there’s a lot less competition when the water is chilly this time of year. The winter clamming grounds will open in December. I am getting the rakes ready and checking the neoprene waders for holes.

Clamming is a different kind of cold. Regular waders are fine for fishing in the surf and getting a little wet, and standing in a little water. Getting waist or more deep for a couple hours while clamming is not a good idea with the wrong waders. That’s like standing naked in a freezer cocooned in Saran wrap.

I hate cold, so personally I prefer neoprene for longtime exposure to cold water. The insulated Frogg Toggs are good, too. I can’t be the only one with waders for different conditions. Oh, and sizes. Seriously, I’ll just say it, we all know there are two wader sizes: skinny as a rail and fat kid with cake. Also, while we are on the subject, who came up with wider equals taller? It does not. If you haven’t shopped for waders, you are in for an experience. I highly recommend trying on several types or brands before you buy.

Speaking of shopping, the horror-days are coming, when we panic about what to buy the outdoors people in our lives. The easy solution is to get gift cards for their favorite shop(s). They have a solid favorite but they also have others they visit. A variety of gift cards helps more than one local shop and gives your giftee options. Gift cards are great not just for gear, but also bait. A $100 gift card will keep your angler in bait for several trips.

Then there is the real challenge: What do you want to get them for gear? Don’t do that on your own. I have a box of new gear I can’t use, but I keep it around to try on stuff for fun. There are many gear options for an angler that they will love. A rig-making kit that contains all the parts they use is perfect, too. Or you can make a kit yourself with all the parts they need for X amount of rigs. A good bait shop owner can guide you through that process.

The winter low tides are exposing all the structure along the bay shorelines. We like to explore these areas to see how the structure looks and how it would hold fish once it is flooded over again at high tide. We know the position of the structure and can fish it easier later. Looking for tell-tale signs fish feed on the structure helps, too.

Keep in mind, the water temperatures are dropping. Be careful in any watercraft and always wear your PFD.

Attention flounder anglers: Kindsvater Lab Fish and Wildlife Conservation at Virginia Tech has announced you can participate in a research study — “Virginia Tech is conducting a research study to learn more about factors that influence Summer Flounder (Fluke) population dynamics in the United States. Anyone involved in recreational fisheries on the East Coast of the United States can take the survey to help us identify strategies to improve future assessments of the health of the Summer Flounder stock and work to improve the recreational fishing experience. As compensation, upon completion of the survey you will be able to enter a drawing for 1 of 10 $50 Cabela’s gift cards.”