<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

Ling and a couple of cod got rounded up on a bottom-fishing trip that Jimmy from <b>Julian’s Bait & Tackle</b> took last week, he said. No blackfish bit, and they stopped chomping a couple of weeks ago. He heard about no striped bass beached from the surf in the past week. “But that doesn’t mean they’re not there,” he said. Warmer weather could help fishing in general. The shop will be ready for the opening of striped bass season Sunday in the bays and rivers. Actually the shop’s been ready, carrying worms and fresh clams for bait all winter. The season’s first striper catches in the backwaters usually go down at the shallows along the bay shore on warm, 45- to 50-degree days, happening the day after the temps first settle in. A few will be caught at first, like when anglers chum with clams, and the fishing will keep improving. Winter flounder season in recent years has usually opened around March 23. “Are we going to have a flounder season?” Jimmy asked. The fishery is another that the government is talking about cutting back. The flattie season used to open March 1, and previously never closed. Fishing for them used to be popular in fall, but angling for them in fall was already closed. Jimmy remembers boating flounder in February while ice still flowed through the waters, picking away at the fish that bit softly in the cold waters. Lots of seals are hanging out at places like the rocks toward the mouth of the bay around the Shrewsbury River. He saw 30 of them a couple of weeks ago. Seals were more numerous in recent years than in the past, and they love to eat fish like flounder, can put a dent in the population. Jimmy saw bunker in the river already, and bait was already moving around. But he saw no herring yet.

<b>Belmar</b>

The <b>Miss Belmar Princess</b> ran a couple of trips for cod off Montauk, and anglers loaded up on the fish, very good catches, Capt. Alan said. The last trip this past week was weathered out, but one-trip-per-week, limited to 36 passengers, will sail either Friday or Saturday nights through March. The trips last 24 hours or from 8 p.m. the first day until 8 p.m. the next. The boat doesn’t usually sail for the cod, but Montauk anglers were whacking the fish. Here’s the chance for anglers to sail for them from Jersey. Keep an eye on the boat’s web site for the schedule, or call the vessel for an update.

<b>***Update, Thursday, 2/19***</b> Cod trips that the Miss Belmar Princess was running to waters off Montauk were the biggest news, and the past week’s trips were weathered out, said Bob from <b>Fisherman’s Den</b>. But the boat is supposed to make the trip again Friday night if the weather holds. Two of the trips already fished, loading up on catches. One of the other Belmar party boats was running ling trips but was in dry dock this week, so no word was available on that front, except that the vessel was supposed to resume the fishing this weekend. Those were apparently the only two head boats fishing from the port. No customers surf fished, and nobody seemed to try for herring that usually show up at Shark River Inlet sometime soon. Bob didn’t doubt that herring might be around, but nobody bought rigs for the fishing or talked about looking for the fish. Striped bass season opens in the bays and rivers on Sunday, but early season anglers will look for them elsewhere, at places like Pebble Beach along the shore of Raritan Bay.  The anticipated opening of winter flounder season in late March is always a big deal at the shop, and tackle, bait and the store’s rental boats will be ready to fish for them on Shark River. The late opening is unfortunate, because the flatbacks bite best earlier in the river, before migrating to the ocean. If the season opens March 23 like past years, the angling in the river is usually gang busters a week or two. When the season used to open March 1, catches were made a month or so. Fisherman’s Den has been open until about 10 a.m. daily, and will probably continue those hours a moment. When the staff starts prepping the rental boats, painting them and putting them in the waters, the hours will probably start to be extended, maybe around March 10 or 12. Bob hadn’t spoken with the owner about the hours.

<b>Brielle</b>

Offshore sea bass trips were probably weathered out because of winds during the weekend, said Dave from <b>The Reel Seat</b>. So news on that front was unavailable. One angler a week ago lifted two tog from the 190-foot depths, apparently at the Mudhole, so a catch of the slipperies could apparently be made, at least at times. Nobody was seen trying to catch herring at Manasquan Inlet, and that led Dave to believe that none of the fish were there at the moment. Cod fishing farther north off Montauk was holding up. The Reel Seat is open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays until the hours are increased in March. Dave this coming weekend will have an idea of what the extended hours will be. The <a href=" http://www.ssfff.net/fundraiser.html" target="_blank"> The Save the Summer Flounder Fishery Fund’s second annual fund-raising dinner </a> will take place 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, March 6, at Crystal Point Yacht Club in Point Pleasant, and visit the web site to purchase tickets. The SSFFF, spearheading the movement to prevent the summer flounder or fluke season from closing and from harsh bag limits that are essentially a closure, very much needs the continued support of anglers, including their attendance at the dinner. Ticket sales to the dinner are fewer than hoped, and that is bad news for anglers. See the fund’s web site for details about the problems with the fluke regulations and how the fund is attempting to solve the crisis. Also see the news about the fund’s reported success in the effort so far. In a nutshell, the fund says it hired a scientist that this past year proved to the government that the government’s surveys of the fluke population were flawed, and the scientist prevented the catch quota from being decreased this year, reversing a trend of decreases. Dave said that helped prevent a closure of the fishery this year, but a closure is soon imminent if anglers fail to fund further science that is needed to prove to the government that a closure and harsh bag limits are unnecessary. Anglers at this point are probably largely unaware of progress the SSFFF has made. Press coverage has dropped off since the economy forced newspapers to stop carrying some of the outdoor articles, like those that were cancelled from John Geiser in the Asbury Park Press, and the reduced number of articles from Al Ristori in the Star Ledger. If anglers fail to donate to the fund, the next steps in the science will not be done. Seriously consider donating, including buying tickets to the dinner.

Winter flounder fishing will kick off with <b>Fish Monger Charters</b> one month from today on March 23, the anticipated opening of the season. The crew in an e-mail said trips will target northern Barnegat Bay and the upper Manasquan River, but if necessary will head north to Shark River. Like the federal government, Fish Monger created an economic stimulus package. A $10 discount is available per person when space is booked by March 15 on either open-boat trips or charters that both sail 8 hours. Half-day trips are also available. Plenty of room is on board for six passengers per trip, and the boat features a cabin to get out of the winds. Worms, clams, lots of chum, and tackle will be supplied, and a mate will be aboard to shake the chum pots, crack the clams and mussels into the waters, and so on. Don’t have enough anglers for a charter? No problem. The crew should be able to fill in the spaces. If interested in a date, call the crew, and they’ll do their best to put a trip together. 

Offshore wreck-fishing was weathered out during the weekend on the <b>Jamaica</b>, but forecasts looked good for a trip slated for Wednesday night, an e-mail from the boat said. Space is available, and room is also available through the weekend. Recent trips belted sea bass, including limits, a bunch of jumbo porgies and a few cod and pollock. Overnight trips are sailing to the 50- to 80-mile wrecks every Wednesday and every Friday through Sunday, and visit the boat’s web site for the full schedule. Special cod trips might also be scheduled, and contact the boat if interested to be notified of the schedule. <b>Bogan’s Boating School</b> is offering the boating safety course required in New Jersey. The next one-day classes are scheduled for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 8, 14 and 22 at Bogan’s Basin. Private classes are available for a minimum of eight students, with a discount for 10 or more, on weekdays, weekends, daytimes or evenings at your own location. Simply select two 3-hour blocks of time, and arrange an instructor. Private classes can also be held on one day when scheduling permits. <b>***Update, Thursday, 2/26:***</b> Patrons pounded catches, mostly a mix of giant sea bass and jumbo porgies, on a trip that fished several wrecks Wednesday, an e-mail from the Jamaica said. Limits of sea bass were scored, and so were healthy numbers of porgies. Some ling and a few whiting were also pumped up. All the wrecks were covered with life, and the populations of sea bass and porgies were still building during the winter migration, and waters were 46 to 47 ½ degrees, holding steady. Pool winners included Cecil Walker from Queens with a 6-pound sea bass, and he limited out on sea bass and coolered 20 porgies. Another trip will sail tonight, and space is available, and more will head out Friday through Sunday, and space is also available.

<b>Point Pleasant</b>

<b>***Update, Thursday, 2/26:***</b>  Mostly ling got wrangled aboard, said Capt. Butch from the <b>Dauntless</b>, but a few sea bass, blackfish, cod and pollock were plucked. Winds prevented sailing Tuesday and Wednesday. Anglers usually went home with five to 20 fish apiece. Not many of the fish like blackfish, only about two to five per trip, showed up. Most of the cod were just-keeper sized, 5 to 8 pounds, or 21 to 24 inches. “Still excellent dinner!” Butch said. A few pollock, 7- or 8-pounders, were creamed when trips fished deeper waters, and a couple were boated Monday. The boat plied depths 130 to 220 feet, around the same as last week. Waters were 40 degrees, apparently top to bottom, no longer warmer on the bottom. A passenger dropped a thermometer to the bottom and read that temp. The vessel will be in dry dock Monday through Friday.  The Dauntless, one of the few boats in Jersey that targets the inshore waters all winter long, is bottom fishing 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily.

Cod catches were pounded from Montauk, said Ronnie from <b>Fisherman’s Supply</b>. Back at home, sea bass fishing slowed a little but was still productive at the offshore wrecks. The party boat <b>Voyager</b>, docked at the shop, is sailing for them. Winter flounder should already be biting in northern Barnegat Bay, but the flattie season is expected to open toward late March, and the regs will be announced. The fish first crawl out of the mud and start feeding in the bay in late winter, eventually migrating down the Manasquan River to the ocean. The shop is filled to the gills with new products for 2009, and stop by to look around. Many of the products are also being displayed at winter flea markets and outdoor shows that the shop is attending. Surf Day at Brookdale College was one of them, taking place this past weekend. The show was a success, Ronnie said. Upcoming events where the shop will exhibit include the Berkeley Striper Club’s fishing flea market, the Asbury Park Surf Fishing Club’s fishing flea market and the Saltwater Expo in Somerset.

<b>Toms River</b>

Good news: <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> will reopen for the season this week from Thursdays through Sundays, Dennis said. That’s in time for the opening of striped bass season Sunday in the bays and rivers. Bloodworms will be stocked for bait, and so will other baits, including nightcrawlers. The season’s first stripers of the year are usually picked up in the Toms River toward Island Heights, in the Oyster Creek power plant outflow and at Graveling Point on Great Bay at Mystic Island. Stripers were already hooked in the warm waters of the power plant outflow, mostly on 3-inch, rubber shads or 4- to 6-inch Mr. Twisters, although legally no effort is supposed to be made to catch them until the season’s openings. Winter flounder season is also closed but usually opens toward the end of March, but tons of the flatbacks were already biting in the outflow. The Toms River will also be a hot spot for flounder at the beginning of the season, but only briefly or about two weeks, before the fish migrate to Barnegat Bay. About March 1 to the first or second week of April is usually the best time for the flattie fishing in the Toms, but the season opens late these days. A few white perch, just a few, were reeled up from the upper Toms River, like at Island Heights and from Route 166 to the Toms River Yacht Club and at Beachwood and Ocean Gate. Nightcrawlers caught them, and bloodworms will do the trick once the shop carries them. The hours that Murphy’s will now be open will probably be 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 8 a.m. to 12 noon Sundays. The hours will be extended when the season kicks in.

<b>Seaside</b>

“It’s still winter,” said the report on <b>Grumpy’s Tackle</b>’s web site on Friday. “Like it cold and windy?” the report asked today. “If you do, today will be just wonderful,” it said. Winter weather this year seemed to last a long time, and the beaches were pretty deserted. No surf anglers, really. Maybe the final cold weather of the year will depart next week, so at least anglers will get a break when striper season opens in the bays and rivers on Sunday. <a href="http://www.grumpystackle.com/fishingreports/" target="_blank"> Click here</a> for updates.   

<b>Mystic Island</b>

Skim ice covered the lagoon in back of the shop, and the week’s forecast seemed like the chances were slim of bagging a striped bass on the opening day of the linesider season Sunday, said the report on <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>’s web site. The season opens on the bays and rivers that day. Forecasts looked too cold, and something like a shot of several days of 60-degree temps or a heavy downpour that warmed waters would be needed to trigger the fish to feed. But Graveling Point and Pebble Beach, both surf-fishing haunts on Great Bay near the shop, are always some of the first places in the state to give up the catches. Bloodworms are the bait to use in the early season and are already stocked. More are expected to be stocked Thursday or Friday. The store was starting to come to life with anglers, and at this point they were mostly chit-chatting about fishing. The new fluke bag limit and season was a topic, and the state is supposed to decide the regs at a meeting March 5 in Galloway. The Sunshine Foundation’s first fishing seminar, mentioned in the previous report, was a success during the weekend. <b>***Update, Thursday, 2/26:***</b> “Sunday, Sunday, Sunday,” Scott said. He was talking about the opening of striped bass season that day. Something like a dozen anglers will certainly hit the beach at Graveling Point to try for the season’s first linesiders, but the effort will more likely be a matter of tradition and saying hello to buddies than catching. Waters need to rise to 43 degrees for a chance at a nibble, and by 45 degrees fish will be landed, but Scott guessed that the waters were 34 or 35 degrees now. The shop’s annual award of a $100 gift certificate for the year’s first keeper from Graveling Point will be up for grabs. Bloodworms, the bait to use, are stocked, and more will be supplied today or Friday. No fresh clams were available from bait suppliers, because of lack of demand at this time of year, but bloods are surely the way to go in cold waters anyway. The fish will start to prefer other baits later in the season. Check out the wealth of info about the fishing, including the tournament’s details, on the shop’s Graveling Point striped bass run web page. Customers bought live grass shrimp for white perch fishing, and many were sold yesterday. But the customers were one-timers, no repeat customers, and normally repeats would turn up if anyone shellacked the slabs. But anglers were beginning to try for the fish at least. The live shrimp are the best bait, and the store is one of the few, if not the only, in the state that carries them in winter. Scott catches them himself. Minnows are also stocked. Party boat anglers supposedly caught cod on long-range trips from Belmar that sailed to waters off Montauk, and some also landed ling, sailing from places like Point Pleasant. Otherwise party boat fishing seemed mostly shut down for winter. Reel and rod repairs were fairly caught up, with waits of about two weeks for reels and one week for rods. Get repairs in before the inevitable rush as the season gets going, when longer waits develop. Business kept hopping at the shop’s web site <a href="http://www.pennparts.com" target="_blank"> PennParts.com</a>, so winter anglers were apparently still tinkering with tackle before the fishing season took off.

<b>Absecon</b>

One customer limited out on big sea bass on an offshore party boat trip from South Jersey, said Capt. Dave from <b>Absecon Bay Sportsman Center</b>. He also boxed red hake and “other odds and ends,” Dave said. That was at least something anglers could do for now. Nothing much was heard about white perch fishing in the rivers. Striped bass season will open Sunday in the bays and rivers, and that’s big news at the shop. The doors then will be open every day, probably 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., and bloodworms and clams will be stocked for bait, and the shop will offer its annual awards for the first keeper stripers of the year weighed in: a $200 gift certificate for the first keeper, a $100 gift certificate for the second and a $50 one for the third. Two $100 gift certificates will also be awarded for the first keeper over 20 pounds and the first over 30 pounds respectively. The fish must be caught by legal methods in New Jersey waters and weighed in during regular business hours. The awards traditionally make the shop one of the first to report striper catches each year. In past years catches came from places including the Great Egg Harbor River, the warm, shallow flats of Delaware Bay and waters around Little Egg Inlet. The store until opening full time on Sunday is currently open during no set hours, but Dave is usually there, and call ahead to confirm.

<b>Longport</b>

Open-boat trips were going to sail for tog this past weekend, because anglers were starting to scratch away at the blackfish, but there wasn’t enough demand for the boat to head out, said Capt. Mike from the <b>Stray Cat</b>. Still, he’s ready and willing to go, and it’s only a matter of time. Stray Cat is one of few charter-sized boats ready to fish already this season, and its open trips are a rare chance to go. Call if interested, and Mike will keep you informed of the schedule. Great catches of sea bass were decked at the offshore wrecks, and a few spots remain on an open trip for the lumpheads slated for Wednesday. Call to reserve. Striped bass season opens Sunday on the bays and rivers, and open trips will probably target them during mid weeks. Open trips will also run for winter flounder when the flattie season opens later this month. Fishing for the bottom huggers used to be popular in South Jersey’s bays, until the population declined. But in recent years the population rebounded, and Stray Cat will get after them. <b>***Update, Thursday, 2/26:***</b> “We whacked them!” Capt. Mike said. Anglers on Wednesday’s offshore sea bass trip smoked the fish, limiting out on all big ones, tossing back smaller keepers. Conditions weren’t even that great, and 24 ounces of weight had to be used on rigs at one point. But the trip started fishing at 7 a.m., and the anglers maxed out by 11 a.m. Some of the anglers used electric reels that were the deal. They just flipped a switch to let the bait drop down, and flipped it again to get the fish reeled back up, and they whaled three fish at once. If anyone likes to put down electric reels, they were slicker than heck. “They were the show,” Mike said. A 7-foot rod with a roller tip did the trick. Sea bassing is unbelievable now, he said, and the trip fished 63 miles from the coast. Waters were 47 degrees, cold. Open trips for sea bass will run every day when the weather and demand allows. Call to reserve and to be kept informed about the schedule. The weather the next couple of days looked like a washout. Anglers should try to be available on weekdays, because waiting for clear weather on weekends downs the odds too much. The trip also fished an inshore wreck 30 miles from shore in 130 feet on the way home. Bergalls, conger eels and one small sea bass chomped, but no blackfish chewed. Waters there were 41.3 to 41.7 degrees.

<b>Ocean City</b>

Anglers dusted up sea bass, lots of them, at the offshore wrecks on party boats from South Jersey, said Bill from <b>Fin Atics</b>. Some boats also tog fished closer to shore. No anglers talked about fishing for white perch up the rivers, but commercial netters said they hammered away at the slabs. Striped bass season opens in the bays and rivers on Sunday. Anglers usually catch the first stripers of the season in the bay when water temps consistently reach 45 to 46 degrees. The current temp was 39 degrees. The anglers will dunk baits like clams and bunker. The first stripers to bite will be resident fish that live in the bay through winter, too young to migrate. Eventually mackerel will migrate north in the ocean past the coast, and bluefish will follow them and take up residence in the bays a number of weeks to feed, before moving to the ocean, where they’ll spawn in summer. Migrating stripers, bigger bass than the residents, will follow the blues, traveling through the bays and up the rivers to spawn, before dropping back down to the ocean, eventually swimming north to cool waters for the summer. Customers showed lots of interest in the store’s Wilderness Systems Kayaks for fishing, and sales were going well. Newly stocked, the ‘yaks are available in all sizes and styles. They come either rigged or unrigged for fishing, and all accessories are available for custom rigging. Stop by to see them. Waters around Ocean City are full of areas perfect for kayak-fishing that are inaccessible by boat. Kayaking can be a great way to reach honey holes that can be fished practically no other way, and is also suitable for anglers previously without a boat to get a feel for fishing from a vessel. What’s more, anglers can get started in the sport at a reasonable expense. Fin-Atics is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, resuming full-time hours, seven days a week, on March 1.

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