It's that time of the year again. With fall approaching, anything is possible. This is the time of the year you can land three, four or even five different species of fish. Anglers in the Garden State are doing just that. Porgies, sea bass, weakfish, fluke and bluefish are just a handful of the variety of fish being caught. Even with hurricanes working their way up the coast, bay fishing remains extremely rewarding, according to Capt. Steve Purul from Reel Fantasea Charters. The fishing right now is just flat-out fun with weakfish over 22 inches, 2- to 5-pound bluefish, jumbo kingfish, fluke, spot, black drum, croaker, porgies, blowfish, porcupine puffers, and the list goes on. All within the calm, protected waters of our back bays, making for "what fish will bite next?" excitement. The techniques vary a little from species to species, keeping everyone on their toes and enjoying the variety.

Capt. Steve works the Barnegat Bay area and still has some spots available for an open boat trip for September, so if you're interested in a Barnegat Bay Grand Slam, give him a call at 609-290-1217.

Reports from the surf show striped bass are slowly coming in from Sandy Hook to Sea Girt. Striped bass are turning on at night, hitting worms and clams during the day. False albacore are returning and the bonito are starting to patrol the suds, chasing bait at speeds too quick to keep up with, but this is a good sign, and tuna should start to turn on the nighttime chunk offshore as well. The Raritan Bay is loaded with peanut bunker, and weak fish are starting to show up in the Back Bay holes and along the Verrazano approach on the Staten Island side. With an early fluke season now over in N.Y. and N.J., it's back to business. Striper time is what we are all looking forward to. The next six to eight weeks should also hold solid reports for big blues and bass in-shore and, we hope, tuna in the canyons.

Fish on!