<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

Aboard the party boat <b>Atlantic Star</b>, Capt. Tom was riding out the storm, watching the ropes, Wednesday night, he said in a phone call then. Weather was nasty, crummy then, and today’s blackfish trip would be “out of the question,” he said, because of forecasts. Whether Friday’s trip would get the weather to sail was unknown, and Tom couldn’t know when the boat would fish next. Monday’s trip’s blackfishing, covered in the last report, ended up “nice,” Tom said. Anglers can call him the night before to check whether a trip can sail. Calling at 7 or 8 p.m. is best, and if nobody answers, leave a voicemail, and Tom will call back when he gets home. If he knows a trip will be cancelled, the recording will say. The Atlantic Star is blackfishing 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily, including on New Year’s Day. <b>***Update, Saturday, 12/29:***</b> Today’s trip sailed in cold, miserable weather, and blackfishing was slow, Tom said. But he guessed it wasn’t so terrible, considering weather that just rolled through. Was some storm Wednesday night, and waters were still riled up today. Forecasts for gale winds to 40 knots will keep Sunday’s trip docked. Monday’s weather looks like a “maybe,” Tom said. Whether trips get out, including on New Year’s Day, depends on weather, and anglers can call to ask if the next day’s trip will sail, like described above. 

<i>Some</i> blackfish, and lots of striped bass, said Jimmy from <b>Julian’s Bait & Tackle</b>, when he was asked, in a phone call, if anyone fished earlier in the week or during the weekend. He had just arrived at the store this morning, and couldn’t talk. Weather was rough, and few were likely to have fished in two or three days. In last week’s report, when Jimmy mentioned stripers, he talked about the bass beached from the surf, and thought the fish probably sometimes popped up that boaters could jig. All baits are stocked.

<b>Neptune</b>

Fishing for tautog was cancelled aboard Saturday and Sunday because of winds, said Capt. Ralph from <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b> in an e-mail. Strong winds blew Saturday, settling down somewhat on Sunday. But Ralph knew the tog fishing wouldn’t be so good that day, because of a stirred up bottom. Fishing was very picky for boaters who sailed that day. But a trip for the blackfish ran Monday with Last Lady, including with anglers who could reschedule. The angling was good.  Most of the tog were small, but most of the anglers boxed three to five keepers. “All in all, a very good day, with great conditions,” Ralph said. Four spots are available for blackfishing the rest of the year: on an individual-reservation trip Monday, New Year’s Eve. Six spots are available on Tuesday, New Year’s Day. Individual-reservation trips for blackfish are also slated for every Saturday and Sunday in January. Charters are available daily. Besides fishing for blackfish, Last Lady this season will sail for a mix of blackfish, cod, pollock and ling, within 25 miles from shore. Ralph won’t run any more offshore trips until spring. “I dodged a bullet with (Hurricane) Sandy,” he said, “and I’m not pushing my luck, hitting something, running in the dark.”   <b>***Update, Friday, 12/28:***</b> Last Lady’s been blackfishing beyond 3 miles from shore, catching “pretty good, compared with what others are doing,” Ralph said in an e-mail. To fish that area, weather looks good for Saturday, and looks “maybe,” Ralph said, for Sunday through Tuesday. One space became available for Saturday’s individual-reservation blackfish trip, because of a cancellation. On trips the next few days, Sunday is full, and one space remains on Monday, and six spots are available on Tuesday. <b>***Update, Saturday, 12/29:***</b> From an edited e-mail from Ralph: “We had a very tough day today. Fished hard and no bites. Came home early. Only two blackfish and a few ling. Weather and moon, in my opinion. Tomorrow’s trip is cancelled. Monday and Tuesday do not look good.  Have added a trip. Weather looks better Thursday. 6:30 a.m. leave. Plus all Saturdays and Sundays in January. Happy New Year.”

<b>Belmar</b>

Blackfish, a good pick, were beaten Monday from the ocean with <b>Parker Pete’s Fishing Charters</b>, Capt. Pete said. Some of the anglers totaled four and five keepers, and lots of throwbacks bit. That was the most recent day with calm weather to sail. Charters and open-boat trips are fishing.  For availability on open trips, see <a href="http://parkerpetefishing.com/belmar-fishing-trips/open-boat-trips" target="_blank">Parker Pete’s open-boat page</a> online, and sign up for the e-mailed newsletter on the site. Dates are announced in both places.

Daily mackerel trips will launch aboard as soon as weather settles, said Capt. Alan from the party boat <b>Miss Belmar Princess</b>. That might happen Friday or during the weekend, though another storm is forecast for Saturday into Sunday. Still, the trips are scheduled to sail those days if possible. The mackerel trips were originally supposed to begin last Saturday, but were weathered out since then. Thee Miss Belmar Princess is fishing for mackerel 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily

Blackfishing managed to sail on a couple of days, between weather, on the party boat <b>Big Mohawk</b>, Capt. Chris said. The anglers picked a few of the tautog.  Some of the slipperies were big, including a 14-pounder and some 9’s and 10’s. He hoped trips would resume Friday, after this week’s weather. Green crabs are supplied for bait, and white leggers are available for sail on board. The Big Mohawk is blackfishing 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. But New Year’s Eve’s trip will sail 6 a.m. to 1 p.m., and no trip will run on New Year’s Day.

This season’s striped bass fishing was “coming to an end of a roller coaster ride,” Bob from <b>Fisherman’s Den</b> said in an e-mail. Hurricane Sandy “changed the whole landscape,” he said. Beaches had been closed after the storm, and some still were. Sandy Hook and Island Beach State Park, two of the best beaches to fish, will be closed for some time. Many tackle shops are still closed, and some will never reopen. Those who “live to chase these great fish, some of us for over half a century,” Bob said, still fished, the best they could, and caught.  Most stripers were small, but were stripers, just the same. The anglers will continue fishing for them “as long as the weather allows,” Bob said. “Such is the life (for them). … “I wish all a healthy and happy (New Year’s), and we all pray next year is one for the plus side of our memory book. God willing, I know I will be right back in the hunt.” Remember to sign up for the 2013 Saltwater Angler Registry, he reminded.

<b>Brielle</b>

Space is available on a 19-hour trip offshore for jumbo porgies, cod and pollock at 11 p.m. Friday on the party boat <b>Big Jamaica</b>, an e-mail from the vessel said. “Sea bass are presently closed, but there are lots of porgies offshore,” it said. Recent trips reeled up a bunch of jumbo porgies and some good-sized cod and pollock. Last Friday’s trip for the fish was weathered out. Sea bass season will open in January and February, and offshore trips for giant sea bass, jumbo porgies, cod, pollock and ling will fish every Wednesday and Fridays through Sundays during those months, leaving at 11 o’clock the night before. Sea bass season has been closed in winter in recent years, and the trips, a New Jersey tradition on the boat, will resume. Catch the special through New Year’s Eve: Buy five of any color Krocodile spoon, and get a gold Kroc free. Contact the boat to order.

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

Trips bottom-fished during the weekend, and were weathered out in past days, on the party boat <b>Dauntless</b>, Capt. Butch said. Blackfish, ling, a few blues, and one or two small cod were swung in. The angling was fair, and most customers probably bagged five to twenty fish. Trips fished in 150-foot depths in 48- to 50-degree waters. The ocean near the beach was 47. A couple of commercial boats caught a few mackerel, but no mackerel landed on hook and line were heard about. Butch tried jigging for the Bostons a couple of times with no success. But if the mackerel migration shows up, the boat’s trips will mix in fishing for them, along with bottom-fishing. The Dauntless is bottom-fishing 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily, including on New Year’s Day. The boat might be the state’s only that sails daily through winter. Christmas is the only day the boat is scheduled not to fish.

For anglers on the party boat <b>Norma-K III</b>, blackfishing on Monday was “a little on the slow side,” Capt. Matt said in a report on the vessel’s Web site. They picked at the tog at each drop, and Skip Reese, Bordentown, limited out on the fish to 7 pounds. A few anglers bagged one or two, and some landed no keepers. White leggers for bait caught better than green crabs did, “by far,” Matt said. The crew will try to have white leggers aboard for the weekend, but a supply isn’t definite. After Monday’s trip, weather was rough, and the boat wasn’t expected to sail. Friday might be the first possible day to run. The Norma-K III is blackfishing 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays. The blackfish bag limit will remain six through Monday, dropping to four starting Tuesday. Magic Hour Ling and Cod Trips are sailing 3 to 9 p.m. every Saturday.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

The tide flooded into the street Wednesday night in the storm, said Scott from <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>. After Hurricane Sandy, that could be nerve wracking. The store is being rebuilt after the hurricane, and isn’t really open, but no anglers were around anyway. Occasionally someone telephoned to ask whether live grass shrimp were stocked. None was stocked, and Scott put away his perch netting gear for now, but apparently anglers were interested in fishing for the perch somewhere on the brackish rivers. Nothing else was heard about fishing. Sea bass season will open January 1, so anglers will be able to jump on party boat trips for giant sea bass offshore. Eels and green crabs are stocked.  <a href="http://www.pennparts.com" target="_blank">PennParts.com</a>, the store’s online business featuring every Penn part available on the market, and many no longer available, is up and running. The crew at the shop were busy updating the site for the New Year, like posting new gear and new prices. Not a lot could be done to rebuild the shop until insurance settled, and that might not happen quickly. But the plan was that, even if settlement hasn’t come through, the store will be opened full time however possible this coming season. There was an incredible amount of work to do. Even something like recreating a wall of fishing rigs, including making up new tags to put behind the rigs in the plastic bags, took time. That didn’t even include the shop’s physical rebuilding.

<b>Absecon</b>

This storm will probably push out striped bass for the season, at least in the local area, said Capt. Dave from <b>Absecon Bay Sportsman Center</b>. It’ll “stir everything up,” he said, and the fish will probably move “beyond where it’s practical to fish,” he said. The storm will probably also cause blackfish to move way offshore, and they were already far from the coast. He heard from Curt, a white perch angler, who works at the shop, that perch started to gather well “in their winter holes,” Dave said. Now’s a good time for winter perch fishing on the brackish rivers. Dave might try to stock live grass shrimp, a favorite perch bait. He doesn’t usually carry the bait, but after this fall’s hurricane, the bait could help keep anglers fishing. Green crabs and eels are stocked. A couple of bushels of fresh clams, gotten before this storm, are on hand. They’ll probably be kept in the shell until New Year’s, in case anglers want them. Afterward, Dave will probably shuck and freeze them. Frozen clams and other frozen baits are carried. Catch the annual holiday sale through New Year’s Eve, featuring 25 percent off most tackle. Starting in January, Dave will usually be at the shop, but call to confirm. He wishes everyone a Happy New Year!

<b>Ocean City</b>

At <b>Fin-Atics</b>, Bill was sure fish were around, but few anglers were, he said. Nobody really fished, including during the weekend and Monday, when weather was sometimes better than the rest of this week. The last he heard, blackfish bit in the ocean, not far from the coast. Great Egg Harbor Reef and Ocean City Reef held plenty. A few striped bass were caught the week before, but not many fished for them. Frozen baits are stocked, and the store is open daily. In January, it’ll be open Fridays through Sundays.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b> arrived at the Florida Keys on Wednesday, he said in a post on his blog. He arrives each year during Christmas week, then begins annual, traveling charters to the Keys on weekends, through Easter. He was tired on arrival, but fished anyway. The trip caught a bunch of jacks and jumped a tarpon. He hooked fish on his first three casts. “Need to get some rest,” he said on the blog. The trips can be a mini, fish-filled vacation. Anglers can arrive on a Friday evening, fish all day Saturday and part of Sunday, return home that evening, and be back to work on Monday.  A large variety of catches are possible, including redfish, speckled sea trout and tarpon in the back country, to king mackerel, blackfin tuna and sailfish out front. See info on Jersey Cape’s <a href="http://www.captainjoehughes.com/page4.html" target="_blank">Traveling Fisherman Charters</a> Web page. Keep up with Joe’s fishing on <a href="http://captainjoehughes.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s blog</a>.

<b>Cape May</b>

The party boat <b>Porgy IV</b> sailed for blackfish on Sunday, after strong winds, and was weathered out since then, Capt. Paul said. The boat also fished for the tautog on Thursday, in a break in weather. Not many keepers bit on Sunday’s trip, and waters were filthy. But blackfishing was good on Thursday’s trip. One angler limited out on the tog to a 9.2-pounder on Thursday. Keepers on Sunday weighed up to 6 pounds, Paul guessed. He hopes the boat will start fishing again on Friday and Saturday, after this week’s weather. Forecasts for Saturday call for rain showers but calm winds.  The Porgy IV is scheduled to fish for blackfish at 8 a.m. daily, including on New Year’s Day. Afterward the boat will probably fish for them on weekends, and anglers can call to confirm.

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