Didn't get out for them this Fall but from the reports made it sound like a sub par late run. Didn't sound like there were the amounts of bunker around either, sounded like more sand eels than bunker and mullet. With the wind machine on almost the entire Fall out of the E/NE, bait as you pointed out could have tracked further offshore or maybe the Omega processing boats parked off Sandy Hook during the Fall mopped them up. Bass will find the bait before anglers find the bass and if it's not inshore they'll take a wide track offshore and keep heading south until they do during their migration.