What's biting in the Long Branch surf?

[Needlefish]

Fished again for a couple of hours in the Long Branch surf. No sign of the bonito that were around yesterday. Small blues (6-8") were chasing rain fish all around me but luckily they weren't biting the tails off the Gulp bait (teaser) that I was dragging along the bottom for fluke. Caught one fluke, a sea robin, a few blues and a Cownose ray. Those rays are heavy suckers and difficult to land. Last few feet were challenging because my line was too light to muscle it over the lip onto the beach but eventually I was successful. The "bite" (black flies) really turned on the last 1/2 hour. Left when I had six flies on my leg at one time.