<b>Perth Amboy</b>

A few winter flounder and striped bass, including a few keeper stripers, were heard about that were yanked from the back of Raritan Bay, Capt. Frank from the <b>Vitamin Sea</b> said. Flounder should remain in the bay, before migrating to the ocean, through the first week of April, at least. The Vitamin Sea will be splashed Wednesday for the season, and charters and open-boat trips will begin. The first open trip is full on Wednesday, April 3, and space is available on an open trip for flounder on Friday, April 5. Anglers can telephone Frank if interested. The Vitamin Sea also fishes from Staten Island.

<b>Keyport</b>

<b>***Update, Thursday, 3/28:***</b> Raritan Bay was probably 39 to 40-some degrees, and no catches were heard about, said Capt. Joe from <b>Papa’s Angels Charters</b>. But weather is now reaching the 50s, and that will probably warm the bay, and striped bass trips will begin aboard soon. The boat should be launched for the season no later than on April 15, and maybe earlier. This warmer weather will allow boat maintenance like painting, and if the work is finished, the vessel will probably be launched well before the 15th.  Charters will fish, and open-boat trips will be available daily, when no charter is booked, like every year. The season’s first trips will fish for stripers, clamming for them at first, livelining bunker for them afterward.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

A few customers headed out for winter flounder, but nobody reported results, said Joe from <b>Julian’s Bait & Tackle</b>. Flounder season was opened on Saturday, and striped bass beached from the ocean surf were the only catches heard about. But the bass weren’t caught every day. When more boaters start fishing, more news will roll in. Boats should be launched more frequently by mid-April. Boaters then will also scope out changes like low spots and debris from the hurricane. Many places were a mess, like Navesink River. All piers were wiped out at places like Atlantic Highlands, and were being rebuilt. Rebuilding might take another month, Joe guessed. Next week is supposed to be warmer, and more customers might begin to come in. No snow fell this morning, when Joe gave this report in a phone call. But forecasts said a few inches might fall today.

<b>Highlands</b>

<b>***Update, Thursday, 3/28:***</b> The fuel dock became up and running Wednesday at <b>Twin Lights Marina</b>, Wayne said. The hurricane had knocked it out, and the marina’s tackle shop will be opened at the beginning of April. Boat slips and rack storage are available, and everything else at the marina is also in business. The marina kept operating after the hurricane, and the crew became hard at work at recovery. Nothing was heard about anyone fishing yet in the weather.

The boat will be splashed for the season on Wednesday, and open-boat trips will sail for striped bass aboard Friday through Sunday, said Capt. Derek from <b>Fisher Price Charters</b>. Space is full on the trips, but room is available for charters, and open trips will keep running. Call to climb aboard or to be kept informed about future open dates. A few stripers, both keepers and throwbacks, were heard about that were tugged from the bay. Warmer weather is forecast, and when it comes, that should “spark up” the bite, Derek said. Trips at first will clam for stripers on Raritan Bay. As the season goes on, trips will troll for them with Stretch plugs, then fish for them with chunks of bunker and livelined bunker. Trips fish the bay first, then the ocean.

<b>Belmar</b>

Winter flounder season opened on Saturday, but there wasn’t much news, said Bob from <b>Fisherman’s Den</b>. Weather became progressively worse this season, and waters were cold, and not many customers showed up. Only three of the shop’s boats were rented for fishing on Shark River through the weekend. Flounder were hooked from the river, but nobody even limited out on two, the bag limit. Cold and wind was the cause, Bob guessed. He heard about no good flounder fishing anywhere, including toward Barnegat. No striped bass really bit in the surf in the cold. Oyster Creek, the warm-water discharge at Forked River power plant, was the only place that gave up stripers that was known about. But the good news was that the shop’s business was moved back into the store today, after the hurricane. The crew had been working from a trailer after the storm, while the shop was rebuilt, because of flooding. The store looks beautiful, and Bob was busy stocking tackle back on the walls. All baits are stocked, and the rental boats are available.

<b>***Update, Thursday, 3/28:***</b> The party boat <b>Big Mohawk</b> will begin fishing for blackfish on Monday, opening day of blackfish season, Capt. Chris said. Trips will run 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.  In other news, <a href="http://www.sharkriversurfanglers.com/contest.htm" target="_blank">Shark River Surf Anglers’ Annual Kids’ Trout Fishing Tournament</a> will be held 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, April 6, opening day of trout season, at Spring Lake. This Saturday, more than 500 trout – rainbows, goldens, tigers, brooks and browns – will be stocked for the event at 9:30 a.m., and kids are also welcome to help with stocking. The fish will be 14 inches to 12 pounds, and the contest is known for big ones. Open to ages 15 and under, the contest will award 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes in several age divisions. The kid with the heaviest trout will win a trophy, rod and reel, and a taxidermist will mount the fish. All kids who weigh in a trout will win a prize.

<b>Brielle</b>

The <b>Big Kid</b> is in the water and available to fish, Capt. Ken said. The boat is kept in the slip year-round, and currently ling and cod could be decked from the ocean. Nothing, only rumors, was heard about fishing in the weather. Striped bass reportedly began to bite in the back waters, and dates are booking up for striper charters that will fish the ocean this spring. Blackfishing will be available aboard when the tautog season opens in April.

Ocean wreck-fishing aboard Sunday was better, an e-mail from the party boat <b>Jamaica II</b> said. A better showing of large ling, and some good-sized cod 6 to 12 pounds, came in. Dave Mele, Denville, N.J., won the pool with a 21-pound pollock. Jeff Michalkewicz, Huntington, Long Island, N.Y., bagged five cod 5 to 12 pounds. Frank Vrang, Ridgewood, N.J. boxed 10 ling and three cod. Trips this week will sail at 5 a.m. Wednesday through Saturday. No trip will run this Easter Sunday.

After being dry-docked for seasonal maintenance, the party boat <b>Big Jamaica</b> sailed for striped bass on the ocean for the first time this year on Saturday, a post on the vessel’s Facebook page said. Fish were marked in several areas, but no stripers bit, and waters were cold. A trip was scrubbed the next day, Sunday. But weather is supposed to improve, and the boat is expected to run for stripers at 7:30 a.m. daily starting Friday.

Striped bass were nabbed from Barnegat Bay, like off the creek mouths, on small hard lures or soft-plastic lures, said Eric from <b>The Reel Seat</b>. Some were nipped along Mantoloking Bridge, farther north on the bay. A handful of stripers were still landed at Oyster Creek, the warm-water discharge from the Forked River power plant. No stripers from the ocean were heard about. Ling fishing sounded relatively slow on the ocean, and a customer boated probably a dozen cod, just-keeper sized, near the Texas Tower. That was the most cod heard about from a trip. The shop’s owner, Dave Arbeitman, chartered the Point Pleasant Beach party boat Voyager for a tilefish trip for beginners from Tuesday to Wednesday, June 4 to 5, limited to 21 passengers, and space is available. The trip includes a free seminar at the store on the fishing on Sunday, June 2. Anglers can call or stop in the store for details or to sign up. Dave is an avid tilefisher, and introduced probably the first-ever  off-the-rack tilefish rod this past year. The Reel Seat is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays.

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

<b>***Update, Friday, 3/29</b> <b>Mushin Sportfishing</b> rustled up winter flounder, Alan, Mushin’s owner, said in an e-mail. A trip fished for them on Barnegat Bay and Manasquan River on his smaller boat, the Mini-Mushin. Waters were cold, so the best flounder fishing was probably yet to come. Chumming heavily helped, and strips of clams caught best. Alan’s other boat, the Mushin, with a salon and all the amenities, was kept in the waters all winter, and is ready to fish. Mushin means a relaxed state of readiness. The crew pride themselves on sharing the concept on outdoor adventures.

<b>***Update, Friday, 3/29</b> The season’s first trip aboard was fishing for striped bass when Capt. Bob from the party boat <b>Gambler</b> gave this report in a telephone call on deck at 10:30 a.m. today, he said. The trip fished off Sandy Hook Point, and no stripers bit, and not much bait was found. Waters seemed just a little cold. “We can’t seem to get out of 40-degree water,” Bob said. But if the temp rises just a few degrees, that could make a difference. Stripers will bite sooner or later, Bob said. He hopes that happens sooner, and trips will keep fishing for stripers 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily. Anglers will jig for the fish, but currently fished with clams in a chum slick. Tilefish trips offshore are set for Friday, April, 12, and Saturday, May 4, and visit <a href="http://www.gambler.net" target="_blank">Gambler’s Web site</a> for details.

<b>***Update, Thursday, 3/28:***</b> Open-boat, bottom-fishing, offshore extreme trips will start the season for <b>Andrea’s Toy Charters</b> in April, Capt. Fred said. Andrea’s specializes in mixed-bag fishing for fun, better chances of hooking up, and more variety for dinner, and offers a number of unique trips like this. Call if interested. The boat will go in the water at least by the first weekend of April, but maybe sooner, within the next week. Striped bass charters will begin in May.

<b>***Update, Thursday, 3/28:***</b> Mostly ling and a few cod were scooped aboard the party boat <b>Dauntless</b>, Capt. Butch said. Fishing was “a little slow,” like last week, he said, and most anglers bagged five to 10 fish. On a good day, some iced 15. A pollock was pumped in now and then, like one or two on one day, and none on the previous couple of trips. Trips fished shallow in 120 to 150 feet, and lots of dog sharks filled deeper waters. Dogs also swam the shallows, but in the deep, so many bit that nothing else could be caught. Waters were 38 to 41 degrees or cold. Commercial boats, dragging for fluke, ran into striped bass and weakfish along bottom at ridges and lumps like Manasquan Ridge and the Southeast Lump. The Dauntless is bottom-fishing 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily.

<b>***Update, Thursday, 3/28:***</b> The party boat <b>Norma K III</b> was back in the slip, after being dry docked to get spruced up for the new fishing season, and will start fishing on Friday, Capt. Matt said in a report on the vessel’s Web site. Trips will bottom-fish for ling and cod 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily through next Thursday. Starting that Friday, the plan is to sail for striped bass during the same hours. The ocean was too cold to begin striper fishing yet, but the crew hopes stripers will arrive during the next week or two.

<b>Toms River</b>

Winter flounder fishing, since flounder season opened on Saturday, was pretty darn good on the Toms River, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b>. Anglers said many limited out on two from the river, and lots of flounder were weighed in from there. The fish included Virginia Murphy’s 2-pounder and 1.98-pounder, Rich Chadwick’s pair of 1-pounders, and Harry Prior’s pair of 1-pound flounder and a 1-pound white perch. Dennis’s nephew told him perch fishing was good on the river on Sunday evening, west of Island Heights. The shop is holding a free perch tournament until April 30, awarding gift certificates to the anglers who enter the three heaviest slabs. John Pedone checked in an 11-pound striped bass from the river, and winged a few perch on the trip. Mike Burnet stopped by with a 13-pound 14-ounce striper from Oyster Creek, the warm-water discharge from the Forked River power plant, that swiped his white rubber shad.  No striped bass catches were reported from the surf yet this season, and waters were cold. Only Island Beach State Park was open to surf fishing locally, because of the hurricane. Fresh clams, bloodworms, sandworms, chum, killies, shiners, nightcrawlers, garden worms, meal worms and almost all baits are stocked. Sandworms are some of the biggest in years, maybe because demand dropped since the weakfish bag limit was decreased. Bloodworms also seem bigger than in past years.

<b>Forked River</b>

<b>***Update, Thursday, 3/28:***</b> Winter flounder, good catches, were boated on Barnegat Bay off Oyster Creek, said Jana from <b>Grizz’s Forked River Bait & Tackle</b>. Mostly bloodworms caught while boaters chummed on anchor. But some used sandworms. Striped bass were hung from the creek, the warm-water discharge from Forked River power plant, on clams and bloods. Bloodworms, sandworms and nightcrawlers are stocked, and fresh clams will arrive Friday.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

Action was as cold as the weather at Graveling Point, a report on <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>’s Web said on Thursday. That was the site’s most recent report, and not only were no striped bass reported banked from Graveling, the nearby shore-angling place at the confluence of Great Bay and Mullica River. But no anglers reported fishing the point. Stripers were banked from the river, though, even if the fishing was slower than during a warmer spell earlier this month. This happens every year. “A tease of activity,” the report said, then cold weather slows fishing. Stripers had been cranked from Graveling a moment this month. Then waters cooled back down. A couple of warm, sunny days, or warm rain from a southern front, will make fishing become good again. <b>***Update, Thursday, 3/28:***</b> Since striped bass fishing turned on for a day weeks ago at Graveling Point, an 18-incher released last Thursday, 15 days later, was the only catch reported, Scott from the shop said. A brief warm spell had kicked off the angling the first day, and cold, rough weather turned it off afterward. Snow blowing sideways on Monday didn’t help. However, laughing gulls showed up on Wednesday, a sign of spring, no matter the weather. That meant bluefish arriving was probable at Graveling, though striper fishing hadn’t even begun, really. The shop’s annual $100 gift certificate was up for grabs for the angler who weighs in the first blue caught from Graveling from shore. It’s usually won around when the gulls appear. Striper fishing is usually rocking and rolling during Easter week at Graveling. An angler this morning said waters were 43 degrees at Graveling. Striper catches are possible at 44, and are usually on at 45. An outgoing, warm tide and sunny weather could kick the fishing into gear. Nothing was heard about striper fishing on Mullica River in the weather. “Lack of reports,” Scott said. A couple of regular customers came through the shop this morning, and that usually means “a glimmer of hope,” Scott said. Maybe anglers were fishing, and catching, but didn’t say. Bloodworms, fresh, shucked clams and minnows are stocked. Green crabs are coming, because blackfish season will open on Monday. No live grass shrimp are stocked, and Scott either didn’t have the time to net them, or conditions weren’t right, when he did. But the shrimp are stocked when possible.  

<b>Absecon</b>

Fishing stayed about the same, and waters were cold, and snow fell today, said Capt. Dave from <b>Absecon Bay Sportsman Center</b>. A charter with him on Saturday scored a good catch of white perch from Mullica River an hour and a half, once the tide starting moving out. Fish were marked that he was sure were striped bass in some holes, but the river’s temperature was in the 30s when the trip began. Stripers didn’t seem to want to bite. Dave’s been running early season charters on the Mullica at a special rate. Customers reported stripers, including keepers, caught, and showed photos of them, from shore at Hay Road on the Mullica and the Route 52 Causeway that runs to Ocean City. Both places seemed good for fishing. Customers said the new fishing piers along the Route 52 Causeway are beautiful and are located at the right places, where fish gathered before the piers were built. One customer who fished the causeway bought bait, showing a photo of a 32-inch keeper he grabbed. He returned for bait the next day, saying he landed four keepers. Customers bought a fair amount of bait, so the store’s bait was staying fresh. Baits stocked include fresh clams and bloodworms. 

<b>Ocean City</b>

Snow fell today, and waters were cold, and catches were off to a later start than usual this season, said Bill from <b>Fin-Atics</b>. This might’ve been the deadest he’d seen this time of year. A few stripers – one here, one there – were pulled from the back bay, like along the causeway bridge. White perch fishing seemed “off and on,” Bill said, in brackish rivers. Most catches were reported from Tuckahoe River. Fresh clams and bloodworms are stocked.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Nobody really fished during the past week, said Mike from <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. Weather was usually rough, including snow on Thursday and winds on Friday. But previously striped bass were socked under bridge lights at night, and a few began to be dragged from the surf along the ocean front and Corson’s and Townsend’s inlets, covered in previous reports. The store is open Thursdays through Mondays, weather permitting, and fresh clams, bloodworms, nightcrawlers and all the frozen baits are stocked.

Striped bass swam the back bay that could be caught, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b>, affiliated with <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. Definitely, he said. “No question.” That was despite weather that seemed colder than usual. Joe will start fishing for them next week, and in the early season, his trips toss soft-plastic lures on lead jigheads to the bass. Outgoing, warmer tides are best, and Joe intercepts the fish at places like creek mouths. Afternoons are better than mornings, because of warmth, especially if some days turn warm. That usually turns on the fishing somewhat. The bay’s fishing should really take off from mid-April to May. How good that fishing is can’t be overstated, Joe said. Bluefish usually invade the bay by mid-April, and trips then tackle blues and stripers. The fishing is some of the year’s best. The blues usually arrive suddenly one day. On one day, none will be found, and on the next, they’re in. Blues swim the bay from spring to fall, but lots move in for a moment in spring, before many move to the ocean in summer. Stripers hold in the bay year-round. Joe will run his season’s final traveling trips to the Florida Keys this Easter weekend that he offers each winter to the holiday. The plan is mostly to fly-fish for tarpon this weekend. A buddy fly-rodded a 130-pounder on Sunday. The Florida trips mostly fish on weekends, and can be a fish-filled, mini vacation. 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>

<b>***Update, Thursday, 3/28:***</b> Daily blackfish trips will begin the season on Monday on the party boat <b>Porgy IV</b>, Capt. Paul said. That’s opening day of the tautog season, and crabs and clams will probably be carried for bait.

The <b>Down Deep</b> began striped bass fishing this weekend, Capt. Mario said. The angling was poor on Saturday’s trip, and only one throwback was hooked. But the fishing somewhat improved on Sunday’s trip, and two keepers and four throwbacks were reeled in. Charters are clamming for stripers on Delaware Bay and are being booked. Drum charters on the bay are being booked for later this spring. Sign up for the <a href=" http://www.downdeepsportfishing.com/ddsf/76-2/" target="_blank">Short Notice List</a> for special open-boat trips.

The <b>Heavy Hitter</b> will be launched for the season soon, and Capt. George mated on a friend’s boat on striped bass trips Saturday and Sunday on Delaware Bay, he said. The fishing, with clams, was slow on Saturday but a bit better on Sunday. Two keepers and two throwbacks were pumped in that day, and three or four bites were missed. Waters were 41 degrees in the 12-foot depths fished. Usually the bay is in the high 40s to 50 degrees this time of year. George hopes the fishing will keep improving, and charters on the Heavy Hitter will first fish for stripers on the bay. Blackfishing will be possible when blackfish season is opened in April. Drum charters usually begin in May, and call George if interested in any of this fishing. <b>***Update, Thursday, 3/28:***</b> George had been slated to mate on a friend’s boat Wednesday for stripers on Delaware Bay, but the trip was cancelled the previous day, because of forecasts for winds to 25 or 30 knots.  But he splashed the Heavy Hitter for the season on Wednesday, so trips are about ready to begin aboard. George looked at water temps from buoys online. The temps included 41 degrees on the ocean at Atlantic City, 41 at the Cape May ferry terminal near southern Delaware Bay, 40 or 41 at Ship John on the northern bay, and 44 at the buoy 26 miles southeast of Cape May on the ocean, up from 41 previously.

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