Y'all probably figured out my answer already, but I'll try to lay it out for you, step by step.

I met an old timer the other morning, we were talking about the lack of bass and big bluefish in the NJ surf so far..... He's been catching, but it's been very spotty for him. The guy has 50 years of experience, so I would think he knows how to catch a fish or 2....

He said to me:
"If there are no fish in the Montauk surf, and fishing is this slow in NJ, where are they???"

The answer to that prompted the idea for this thread.

I'll fill it in as I get time...