Another killer week of striper fishing on the Archangel off the Jersey Coast, maybe one of the best of the Fall Run so far. Rods have been bent for the full 8 hours on each trip and the striped bass we are catching have been bigger, up to 35 pounds. As usual, the 10 to 15-pound bluefish are keeping us very busy, you have to fight through the blues to get to the bass, and the action has been non-stop. After a couple of months of small baitfish schools of sand eels and rainfish hanging around, we now have massive schools of adult bunker up and down the beach. AVA 17 to 47 jigs have been the key lure to hang both bass and blues and we even jigged up a 15-pound codfish on one trip. The highlight of the week came when we were hooked up with a 30-pound bass and a gigantic whale surfaced about 20 feet off the bow of my 23 foot craft and spouted!
**Mickey Melchiondo
Archangel, Shark River NJ
**http://www.mickeysfishing.com
