• Commissions agree to increased 2009 fluke quota
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board approved a 15 percent increase in the summer flounder quota for 2009 during their joint meeting yesterday in Philadelphia.

• Yocco braved storm to win again
Michael Yocco of New Providence and his college buddies did it again in the tuna division at the Beach Haven Marlin and Tuna Club's 39th annual White Marlin Invitational, coming up with a 129.1-pound yellowfin in the middle of a thunderstorm Saturday morning to win $47,875 on MJ's.

• 2009 fluke quota likely to increase
Though there could be changes when the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board meet in Philadelphia this week, it now appears likely there will be a small increase in the fluke quota next year.

• Cobia hooked in Manasquan
Mickey Alpert of Brick is a veteran surf striper pro, but he had to be shocked when the live bunker he was fishing at Manasquan on Tuesday was eaten by a shark-like fish that turned out to be a cobia. Greg Bogan weighed the semi-tropical visitor at 17 pounds in Brielle Tackle.

• Doormats galore at Point Pleasant fluke tournament
It took a doormat fluke just to be in contention during Saturday's Point Pleasant Elks Fluke Tournament. Thomas Czekay of Brick topped the 240-boat field and won $4,000 with an 11-pounder. Kevin Fahey from North Arlington was only a half-pound behind as his doormat was worth $2000.

• Weakfish biting in Barnegat
It's taken awhile to develop, but the summer weakfish run finally seems to be underway in Barnegat Bay.

• Know the rules for offshore fishing
Offshore fishing used to be very simple only a few years ago, with no permits, or size and bag limits. Then some bluefin tuna regulations were put into place to deal with a crisis in that fishery, and now there are regulations covering almost everything we do far at sea.

• Weathermen telling fish stories
Dire weather forecasts of wind, rain and thunderstorms have kept fishermen home most of the week, even though the actual weather has been at least fishable, if not ideal, most of the time.

• 75.4-lb striper misses record
A near-world record 75.4-pound striped bass was boated off Block Island last weekend by Peter Vican, who came close to the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) all-tackle world record of 78 1/2 pounds that was caught by Albert McReynolds while casting a plug on the night of Sept. 21, 1982, from an Atlantic City jetty.

• Hefty doormat wins charity tournament
Vinny Canfield of Hopatcong fed a peanut bunker to a 10.07-pound doormat in Sandy Hook Channel on Saturday to lead his team to the first-place prize of $2,856 in the 18th annual Raritan Bay Anglers Club Charity Fluke Tournament.

• Data shows anglers catching, releasing
Though the 2007 U.S. recreational saltwater angling catch dropped slightly in 2007, it was the second highest in a decade. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) reports marine recreational anglers caught more than 468 million fish in 2007, down slightly from the previous year's historic high of 475 million fish, but still the second highest recreational catch total in the past 10 years. The overall number of fish caught and kept also declined slightly, from 214 million to 196 million fish.

• After struggles, boats see blue
After struggling since the weekend, the Shore bluefish party boat fleet made a big comeback yesterday as Capt. John Brackett of the Queen Mary at Point Pleasant said the late morning fishing was as good as two weeks ago. Bluefish were chasing bait on the surface, primarily northeast of Shrewsbury Rocks, and everyone was hooked up. Bill Holden of Little Ferry boated a 14~-pound blue.

• Ex-rep shows off catch instead of his product
Former Shimano rep Dick Kondak of Scotch Plains was able to fish yesterday instead of spending the week at the annual fishing tackle show in Las Vegas as he did for decades. Instead of displaying tackle, he put it to good use south of Cape May with Capt. Lou Grazioso on Striper Mania.

• Di Staso's 29-inch doormat takes first
Hector Charone of River Vale had the $3,000 first prize in the 27th annual Sandy Hook Bay Anglers Fluke Tournament in his sights on Saturday morning. He had weighed a 9 1/2-pound fluke at Atlantic Highlands Marina, but then William Di Staso of Linden arrived Sunday afternoon with a 29-inch doormat that took the top prize easily at 11 1/4 pounds.

• Something to crow about: 106-pound roosterfish
Jeff Reinhardt of Washington, N.J., recently boated the largest roosterfish I've ever heard of being caught on a popping plug when he hooked a 106-pounder on a Yo-Zuri Surface Cruiser at Zihuatanejo, Mexico, while fishing with his father Ron, of Vernon, and Capt. Adolpho aboard an Ixtapa Sportfishing panga. The huge roosterfish was 64 inches long, with a 36-inch girth. It was fought on a Shimano Stradic 6000 filled with 30-pound line, and mounted on a St. Croix rod.

• Division gets pots off of the reef
Dave Chanda, Director of the Division of Fish and Wildlife, had very good news for anglers at yesterday's Marine Fisheries Council meeting. Pat Donnelly of Point Pleasant called at press time to report Chanda has changed the Division's compromise proposal that would have left pots on the reefs half the year. Instead, the Division will administratively eliminate the pots from the artificial reefs that were built with federal Wallop-Breaux Funds that can be used only for sportfishing purposes -- and with donations from anglers and divers.