<b>Staten Island</b>

<b>***Update, Thursday, 3/5:***</b> The season for <b>Outcast Charters</b> will kick off April 1, when New York’s winter flounder fishing opens, Capt. Rob said. Whether the fish will bite at the opening will depend on water temperatures, and the winter’s been cold. One of the great things about the flattie fishing is that it’s located only 10 minutes from the dock. That means the trips take only a few minutes of traveling, and an 8-hour charter is mostly all fishing. Striped bass charter will become possible April 15, when New York’s linesider season opens. Schoolie bass will bite first, on baits like worms, clams and mussels. Bigger, migrating stripers will arrive later, following schools of menhaden, usually beginning in May. Then charters will liveline the bunker. Tog fishing, one of the boat’s specialties, is possible in spring, but too many spawning females hit then, and anglers like to leave them alone to build the stock. But sea bass fishing will certainly be done with Outcast in spring, another option. Outcast was able to cut charter rates drastically, because last year’s skyrocketed fuel rates disappeared. Open-boat trips will also sail with Outcast every Wednesday, because anglers kept requesting open trips. Open trips should also help anglers in the current economy. Special trips for parents with kids will also be available, featuring a lower rate for kids, also because people kept requesting them. Check out <a href="http://www.outcastfishingcharters.com/" target="_blank"> Outcast Charters’ Web site </a> for rates and details.

<b>Laurence Harbor</b>

<b>Evening Tide Charters</b> is geared up to begin trips with the start of winter flounder season, and Capt. Kyle is eager to be one of the first to get after the fish, he said. Striped bass charters will kick off soon afterward. Trips for both will run seven days a week, and some <a href=" http://www.eveningtidecharters.com/" target="_blank">great rates</a> are available, including a 10-percent discount on charters booked before April 1. Anglers already grabbed up dates, so book preferred ones while available. Open-boat trips will also fish at an economical rate, limited to six passengers, and again, reserve preferred dates. All bait and tackle is included on trips. Flounder season is expected to open March 23, the same date as last year, unless the state changes the date when this year’s regs are announced. Kyle expects to catch the mud-huggers off the bat at the 6-foot, shallow, warm flats of Raritan Bay, only minutes from the marina. That’s where he found the first catches last year, and action might also be found toward the mouth of the Raritan River, as the fish vacate the river, migrating to the bay and then the ocean. Evening Tide will chum heavily for the flatbacks, both ladling a homemade mixture into the waters and using chum logs in chum pots on the bottom. The ladled chum is kept in 5-gallon buckets and includes stuff like corn, rice, clam, mussels and canned cat food, the cheapest cat food available. The chum pots will be shaken periodically to stir up the bottom, attracting the notoriously curious flounder. Worms and clams will be used as hooked baits on flounder rigs. Kyle prefers gold hooks that seem to attract attention more than black hooks do, and plastic, yellow beads or small Mr. Twister tails are usually included on the hooks for extra flash. He also likes the long Chesterton hooks more than English hooks, because the long hooks are easier to remove from the fish. Kyle hopes to do most of the striped bass fishing with live bunker, and live-bait fishing is one of Evening Tide’s specialties. The crew often takes anglers to catch the bait, an extra step that adds interest. Fishing with live bunker for the linesiders usually begins in mid to late April in the bay. But stripers are sometimes mixed in on flounder trips, and a rod with a big hunk of clam is typically set out to attract a bass among the flounder baits. Eventually in spring bluefish will invade the bay, and sometimes they become too numerous to get a bunker past them to hook a striper. Then Evening Tide will dunk clams for bait that bluefish typically ignore but stripers love. Stripers might already be stirring around in the bay, although today’s snowstorm might drop water temps. Kyle saw water temps of 41 to 42 degrees at Sandy Hook, so the back of the bay should be a little warmer or 43 to 44 degrees, about the temps when stripers will begin to chew.

<b>Highlands</b>

Striped bass season on the <b>Tuna-Tic</b> will kick off on the last Sunday of April and continue through May, Capt. Mike said in an e-mail. The charters typically fish with live bait, and rates are lowered to 2007 prices, because of lower fuel prices. Now that’s good news. A few open-boat trips for stripers are also slated. One will be an 8-hour outing on April 30 and two will be 6-hour trips on May 13 and 20. Spots do fill, so grab them while possible. Tuna-Tic did a number on the fish last year. After striper season the boat shark fishes in June and then launches a heavy schedule of tuna charters and open trips. The open tuna dates should be available in a few weeks. Catch the crew at the World Fishing & Outdoor Exposition in Suffern, New York, on Thursday through Sunday. Mike also passed on the news that he’s got a new party boat, the Islander, that will fish from Barnegat Light this season. Open trips will run on the vessel every Wednesday through Friday, and charters will fish on the boat the rest of the week. The Islander can accommodate 49 passengers, so the crew will be able to host larger groups than before. See more info on the link on <a href="http://www.tuna-tic.com" target="_blank">Tuna-Tic’s</a> Web site.

Mid April: That’s when <b>Fisher Price Charters</b> will start fishing, first for winter flounder and bottom fish such as ling and tog, and then for striped bass, Capt. Derek said in an e-mail. He’s already getting ready. A Springtime Special offering a serious discount on charters from April 13 to 26 is available, and call for details. Open-boat trips will also run through the season.

<b>Belmar</b>

<b>***Update, Thursday, 3/5:***</b> The weather kept the <b>Miss Belmar Princess</b> from steaming on cod trips to waters off Montauk in the past two weeks, Capt. Alan said. Another one is slated for Friday, but the weather looked questionable. One trip per week had been scheduled, but now two per week, running Thursdays and Saturdays, will be slated starting next week, because demand is high. The weather’s got to be fair for the trips to leave port on the long run. Anglers on board loaded up on the fish the last times the boat got out, and cod fishing was phenomenal off Montauk this season. Alan heard no reports about the fishing in the past days during the blizzard and the cold that followed. See the  <a href="http://www.missbelmar.com/" target="_blank">Miss Belmar Fleet’s Web site </a> or call for the schedule and details.

<b>Brielle</b>

Outstanding catches were clobbered on an offshore wreck-fishing trip that Dave from <b>The Reel Seat</b> took Wednesday on the party boat Voyager, he said. All anglers either limited out on sea bass or came close, and the lumpheads were large. A 6-1/2-pounder was the pool-winner, and Dave’s biggest was 6 ¼ pounds or so. He also won the “edible fish pool” with a 10-pound cod. That was the only cod taken on the trip, and he boated the fish with 10 minutes left before the end. Each angler also probably boxed 10 to 15 porgies apiece, and a few ling were lifted aboard. One small pollock was clubbed, and one patron reportedly reeled up a couple of mackerel, but Dave didn’t see the fish. The trip sailed on short notice to take advantage of a weather window, and the day was beautiful. Dave heard that anglers on the Jamaica also bailed sea bass that day, but maybe not as good-sized as on his trip. Ling fishing on inshore boats supposedly slowed down somewhat, but anglers could still bag 12 or 20. Nothing was heard about blackfishing. Second-hand reports said cod catches continued to be abundant farther north off Montauk, but nobody gave a first-hand report.  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 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 picked up but were still fewer than last year at this point. 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 previously 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 might be largely unaware of the 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. The Reel Seat is open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays but will begin to be open Wednesdays through Sundays next week.

<b>***Update, Thursday, 3/5</b> Charters and open-boat trips will launch with <b>Fish Monger Charters</b> with winter-flounder fishing on northern Barnegat Bay and Manasquan River on March 23, the opening day of the flattie season, Capt. Jerry said in an e-mail. The government seems to be threatening a decreased bag limit sometime after the season opens, so the crew hopes to get a good crack at the fish before then. Anglers might want to book a spot early. Space is already filling up, including on the open trips. The boat usually sails 8 hours on trips, but half-days are available upon request. Time is running out for Fish Monger’s Economic Stimulus Plan: Book before March 15 and save $10 per person on both open trips and charters. The flattie fishing will begin on the bay, when the fish start to come up out of hibernation in the mud. Then the boat will follow the fish as they gradually move down the river, heading to the ocean to spend the summer offshore. Worms, clams, lots of chum, and tackle will be supplied, and a mate will be aboard to shake the chum pots and crack the clams and mussels into the waters, and so on. Spring blackfishing, the crew’s favorite, will get under way April 10 to 30, until the season closes. Fish Monger lambasted the tog in fall. Check out <a href="http://www.fishmongercharters.com" target="_blank">Fish Monger Charters’ Web site </a> and call to climb aboard.

A special cod trip will sail north to fish wrecks around Cox’s Ledge off Block Island at 8 p.m. Wednesday to 7 p.m. Thursday, and space is available, an e-mail from the <b>Jamaica</b> said.  Anglers were pelting the fish, and forecasts looked calm, calling for winds 10 knots or less. Back at home, a trip to the offshore wrecks Friday on the boat knocked down mostly sea bass, and many passengers limited out. Some porgies and ling were mixed in, and so were a few pollock. Everybody scored a good catch, and pool winners included Kerry Weast from Pen Argyl, Pa., with a 12-pound pollock and Duval Dooley from Philly with a 5-pound sea bass. 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.  <b>Bogan’s Boating School</b> is offering the boating safety course required in New Jersey. The next one-day classes will take place at Bogan’s Basin from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday; March 14, 22 and 28; and April 11, 19, 25 and 26. 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>Point Pleasant</b>

<b>***Update, Thursday, 3/5:***</b> A report was heard that one angler knocked down two striped bass on the Manasquan River near the hospital on the opening day of striper season Sunday, supposedly on a Fin-S Fish or a Rat-L-Trap, said Ronnie from <b>Fisherman’s Supply</b>. Then 10 inches of snow covered the local area on Monday, and the cold, snow and ice put an end to any news about fishing the rest of the week. But warmer weather was coming, and the snow will probably melt by the weekend. Offshore sea bass trips were weathered out on the party boat <b>Voyager</b>, docked at the shop, but the trips will keep going, and the fishing’s been productive. Catch a bunch of new products at Fisherman’s Supply’s booth at the Asbury Park Surf Fishing Club’s fishing flea market at the convention center Sunday. The shop will also exhibit at the Saltwater Fishing Expo in Somerset from March 20 to 22. That will be the last event the store will attend this season, before all attention focuses on the new fishing season. Lots of new products are also arriving at the shop daily, and stop in to look around.
  
<b>Toms Rivers</b>

Customers picked up bloodworms to angle for striped bass at the Oyster Creek power plant outflow on the opening day of striper season Sunday in inland waters, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b>. None reported results yet, but stripers were known to be swimming the outflow. The power plant was recently turned back on after being shut off last month reportedly because of a fire. The fish will gather near the warmer waters of the power plant when the plant is shut down, but now they should spread throughout the outflow. The same waters were loaded with out-of-season winter flounder. A couple of white-perch anglers landed flounder by mistake at the Toms River near Island Heights. A few perch could be plucked from the upper Toms, and anglers during the weekend also bought bloods to try for them. Freshwater anglers tangled with leftover trout from stockings at Spring Lake, and a few of the fish could also be found in the Toms. Spinners got the strikes at Spring Lake. Bloodworms, nightcrawlers and killies are stocked, and shiners will be carried this coming weekend. Murphy’s reopened for the season this past week and will stay open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays until the hours get extended as the season becomes busier. The crew at the shop’s been busy extending racks and shelf space to make room for more tackle and goodies, and almost all the new products for 2009 are already shelved. Stop by and check it out. 

<b>Seaside</b>

Eight to 12 inches of snow, a high in the upper 20s and strong winds 20 to 30 m.p.h, gusting to 40, were the forecast today, said Grumpy from <b>Grumpy’s Tackle</b> on the report on the shop’s Web site. “I rather doubt we’ll see any beachgoers today, but we’re open as usual,” he said. Reports in the past days also mentioned nobody surf fishing. But striped bass season opened in the bays and rivers on Sunday, and plenty could supposedly be found around Barnegat Bay, mostly in Oyster Creek and the Toms River.  <a href="http://www.grumpystackle.com/fishingreports/" target="_blank"> Click here</a> for updates.   

<b>Forked River</b>

<b>***Update, Thursday, 3/5:***</b> The Forked River power plant had been shut down, said Dane from <b>Grizz’s Forked River Bait & Tackle</b>, but he believed the plant was running again at least at a certain level. When the plant is turned off, warm waters cease being pumped into Oyster Creek, the plant’s outflow, turning off striped bass fishing at the early season hot spot. But anglers hooked the fish before, often on Rapala X-Rap Lures. Out-of-season winter flounder probably filled the creek, because they usually do at this time of year, but Dane heard nothing about the flatties yet. A ton of sea bass got shellacked on the offshore party boats, and a couple of customers stopped by to pick up tackle. One planned to hop on a boat at Atlantic City, and the other was going to sail from Point Pleasant. A few customers fished for white perch in the brackish rivers. Bloodworms and nightcrawlers are stocked, and the shop is open pretty much daily.

<b>Barnegat Light</b>

Despite today’s snowstorm that could dump 6 to 12 inches, anglers could take solace in Sunday’s opening of striped bass season in the bays, said Capt. Steve from <b>Reel Fantasea Charters</b> in an e-mail. Ahhh, can you smell the Coppertone? he joked. He expects no robust action out of the gate, he admitted, but it’s a start, he said, and he’s one to wrap his mind around any good news. The off-season gave him time to create fun ideas for the coming season. All anglers on the boat’s trips this season will become eligible for a tournament for the biggest striper, bluefish, fluke and weakfish wrestled aboard. The winners will receive either half off a Barnegat Bay charter—a $200 value—next year or a free space on an open-boat trip next year. Each winner will also receive a hand-carved trophy with the weight and date of the catch. For a few dollars the weight can be adjusted. “Wink wink,” Steve joked. Steve also created his own Economic Stimulus Plan for the tough times. Pricing that previously was available for up to three anglers will now be the same for up to four anglers on trips that can accommodate up to six. He also noted that in addition to charters, open trips were successful last year and will continue. Seminars and flea markets that Steve attended this season helped to kick off his bookings to a great start, but some choice dates remain, and book early to reserve. Here’s a rundown of his fishing schedule through spring. <i><b>March 23 through mid April:</i></b> Trips for winter flounder and resident striped bass in the bay, not trips that will slam large numbers, but instead “if I don’t get out of this house and fish, I may have to hurt someone” trips! <b><i>Mid April:</i></b> Fishing for blues and stripers that should become more abundant by the day. <b><i>Late April:</i></b> Trips for larger schools of blues and stripers and also trophy weakfish that will arrive in the bay. <b><i>May:</i></b> One of Steve’s favorite months. Breaking schools of blues, attacking anything that moves. Stripers and trophy weakies. <b><i>Mid May:</i></b> Adult bunker arrive along the ocean front, and both trophy stripers and huge blues are all over them. Smaller stripers, blues and weakfish will keep hitting in the bay, and fluke season should open. <b><i>June:</i></b> The chance to whack the striper of a lifetime. Last year’s two biggest, a 52-pounder and a 48-pounder, were hammered on the boat. Bay fishing continues, and fluke angling will be very productive, and wreck-fishing for sea bass will be in full swing. After spring, targeted species will include bonito in the ocean, smaller weakies that will stack up in the bay and much more. Check out Reel Fantasea’s Web site for details.

<b>Barnegat</b>

<b>***Update, Thursday, 3/5:***</b> Capt. John from <b>Perfect Drift Sport Fishing</b> expects to start sailing by mid April, probably beginning with winter flounder fishing on Barnegat Bay, he said. The flatties will start biting before then in back waters like Oyster Creek, but the creek gets too crowded. Fishing along muddy bottom is one trick to catching the blackbacks, but the bottom of the bay is mostly muddy. By the end of April John expects to begin trolling pony tails for bluefish that invade the bay. The speedsters can arrive as early as April 20, but the run should really kick in around May 1. Big, tiderunner weakfish also enter the bay a few weeks, arriving with the blues, and the trout will also slam the pony tails or can be hooked on rubber baits like Fin-S Fish. Fishing for big striped bass that chase schools of bunker that migrate to local waters typically begins around Memorial Day and really takes off in June. That’s later than some areas like Delaware Bay and Raritan Bay, but the fishing was great last spring, and John hopes for a repeat. Smaller, resident bass are probably already willing to strike at places like Oyster Creek, and a few can probably be coaxed to chew in the Toms River. Surely resident stripers are also hovering around the jetties in the ocean, but the ocean’s cold, probably 34 or 35 degrees, too low for the fish to be active. Fluke fishing with Perfect Drift will begin whenever the season opens, and anglers expect the state to announce the dates and bag limit today. Fishing for the flatties from the bay to the ocean is a specialty on the boat all summer long. 

<b>Mystic Island</b>

It’s all settled: This year’s bag limit for summer flounder is two fish at 20 ½ inches, said Scott from <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b> in the report on the shop’s Web site. “Scared you, did I?” he asked. “You should be scared,” he said. “It is still a possibility.” If not for a handful of people fighting for other regs, that bag limit, a coast-wide one that some favored, was almost a done deal. The New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council will meet Thursday at the Galloway Township Branch of the Atlantic County Library to hear public opinion about the regs, and will decide the bag limit and season sometime afterward.  Click here for directions and info.  A surprising amount of bloodworms and clams were sold Saturday for the opening day of striped bass season in the bays and rivers on Sunday, considering that forecasts called for sleet, freezing rain and cold rain that day. Some were also sold on opening day, but nobody fished long in the weather. Graveling Point and Pebble Beach near the shop usually give up some of the season’s first catches. Bloodworms are usually best bait in the coldest, early season waters, but clams can also catch, especially if waters become a little warmer. The clams at the shop came from a bushel of fresh ones that arrived Friday.  See the wealth of info about the fishing, including info about a $100 gift certificate that is awarded to the angler who weighs in the first keeper, on the shop’s Graveling Point striped bass run Web page</a>. Scott caught a small blueclaw crab and a stickleback while catching minnows, and that seemed a good sign, because he usually sees neither until stripers start biting. There is hope, he said. If today’s blizzard would end, that could help! <b>***Update, Thursday, 3/5:***</b> “Unbelievable!” Scott said. “January in March!” Temperatures failed to rise above freezing even yesterday, and there was no hope to catch the season’s first striped bass in the chill at places like Graveling Point. Even cold and rains on Sunday, the first day of striper season, the day before the blizzard, kept anglers to a minimum at the point. Probably seven diehard customers bought bloodworm to try the point on the opening, but that was down from about 20 that usually haunt the point that day. A couple of customers who always fish there on opening day decided to stay home. If the blizzard and cold weren’t difficult enough, the snow is now going to melt during the first warm weather, chilling the waters again. Air temps were forecast to rise as high as 60 degrees or so this weekend. But that should give anglers the bug to try the fishing, and eventually somebody will hook up. No customers even perch fished since the snow. But the shop is stocked and ready for fishing. Bloodworms, fresh clams and small and large minnows are on hand.   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 PennParts.com, so winter anglers were apparently still tinkering with tackle before the fishing season really took off. The fishing season is here, by the way! Take care of tackle before it’s too late.

<b>Absecon</b>

<b>***Update, Thursday, 3/5:***</b> Not much happened in the snow and ice since Monday’s blizzard, but the first keeper striped bass of the year was checked in on Sunday, the opening day of striper season, before the weather got too raw! said Capt. Dave from <b>Absecon Bay Sportsman Center</b>. George Bucci brought in the fish, winning the shop’s $200 gift certificate annually awarded for the first keeper. Dave said George kept secret the exact location of the catch but said the fish came from the warm waters at one of the coast’s nuclear power plants. So that narrowed the locale down either to the plant toward Beesley’s Point near Somers Point or Oyster Creek, the outflow from the plant at Forked River. George, who also won the shop’s prizes last year for both the second keeper and the first over 20 pounds,  reportedly tossed a Rat-L-Trap lure for the catch, lost a bigger bass and saw another angler land and release a bigger one than George’s keeper in the same waters. So they were biting, Dave said. The store’s prizes for the second and third keepers and the first bass over 20 and 30 pounds were still up for grabs. See the <a href="http://www.abseconbay.com" target="_blank">shop’s Web site</a> for details. Otherwise no fishing news rolled in, not even reports about white perch fishing up the creeks, since the weather. The store is mostly open every day, and call to confirm. Better weather was coming, and the shop’s hours will become more solid as the weather improves. Bloodworms are stocked, and so are frozen clams. The clam boat was weathered out, but fresh clams will be carried when the boat sails.

<b>Longport</b>

Open-boat trips are expected to hunt striped bass as soon as the snowstorm blows out of here, said Capt. Mike from the <b>Stray Cat</b>. Anglers aboard will toss baits like clam, mackerel and squid at Great Egg Harbor Inlet or in the bay like around the warm waters of the power plant, now that striper season opened in the back waters on Sunday. Got a Jonesing to get back to striper fishing after the long winter? Here’s the chance. Mike also plans to test the waters of the bay for catch-and-release winter flounder fishing to see if the bottom huggers are stirring around yet. Open trips will target the flatbacks when flounder season opens March 23. Fishing for them used to be popular in South Jersey’s bays until the population declined for some reason. But the population rebounded in recent years, and the Stray Cat will chase after them. Offshore, open-boat sea bass trips are scheduled for Thursday through Saturday, depending on when the weather is clear. Anglers are already booked for the trips, but a few spots are available, and call to claim. The last trip shellacked the lumpheads, and see last week’s report for the scoop. If weather keeps the sea bass trips from breaking the inlet, the boat will go after stripers instead. <b>***Update, Thursday, 3/5:***</b> An offshore sea bass trip was expected to fish today, Mike said last night. Another was on the books for Friday but looked like it would get blown out. Forecasts weren’t terrible but weren’t great either, and the trips will only sail in perfect weather. The weekend is also supposed to be rough, so open-boat trips are expected to chase striped bass instead on Saturday and Sunday. Openings are available, and call to reserve. Also call to be kept informed about the schedule for the next sea bass trips

Back to Top