<b>Brooklyn</b>

Trips on the <b>Big M Express</b> were still sailing, Capt. Steve said, and the boat fished Sunday in beautiful weather. A few cod and blackfish were boated, and so were ling, and the fishing was tough, but being able to fish at this time of year is lucky itself. The crew planned to target deeper water for better catches of cod next. That was an open-boat trip, and open trips are dominating the schedule now. Call to reserve and to find out the dates of the next trips. The Big M Express sails from Tamaqua Marina in Gerritsen Beach, Brooklyn.

<b>Staten Island</b>

<b>Michael’s Bait & Tackle</b> was open, but not much fishing was going on, Joe said. Someone from the shop a couple of weeks ago said the store was closing for a brief winter break, so apparently the doors were back open for the year. A few boats were bottom fishing, but catches were slowing down. The store is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

<b>Bayonne</b>

Some were buying tackle for cod and jumbo sea bass fishing, said Capt. Akira from <b>True World Tackle</b> and <b>True World Tackle Charters</b>. Customers were scarce, but the weather was mild, so anglers should be able to jump on party boats for such bottom fishing. True World is open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Be sure to catch the deals at the shop’s exhibits at the New Jersey Boat Show in Edison from February 21 to 24 and at the World Fishing and Hunting Exposition in Suffern, N.Y., from February 28 to March 2.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

Bottom fishers boated ling, blackfish and cod on Monday, a couple of days after the blow, but afterward nobody really got out, said Jimmy from <b>Julian’s Bait & Tackle</b>. The fish are definitely biting, because the water’s warm, but not every day, depending on conditions. He was thinking about going himself today, but even though winds were calm today, winds blew so hard from the south yesterday that the fishing was probably going to be dead. Tomorrow, a day forecast to be calm and two days after the winds, would be the day to go. A day before a blow could also be good. Mackerel were also still schooling offshore. Julian’s is open 6 a.m. till lunchtime every day, so long as the weather’s decent, until hours are extended March 1. Fresh clams are stocked, but worms will no longer be carried till March 1.

<b>Neptune</b>

No trips sailed recently, but both the big boat and small boat from <b>Last Lady Fishing</b> are still available for charters for up to 20 passengers, Capt. Ralph said. Ling and a few cod can be hooked. Single-reservation trips were discontinued till spring. In other news, the state released several options for this year’s fluke bag limit, and all were alarming. All the options included a size limit that was too large and either came with a short season and more fish per angler or a longer season and fewer fish per angler (see this site’s Fisheries Watch for an article with the proposed limits). Ralph prefers the shorter season with a larger number of fish per angler, but the limit should realistically be at least six fluke with a minimum length of 15 inches per angler. New Jersey anglers are in for a battle about the fluke limit this year, because the state is threatening to shut down this vital fishery next year, and these drastic regulations are highly unnecessary, based on faulty science and will close down many charter boats and other fishing businesses. If anglers fail to win this fight, they’re in big trouble, because further limits on other fish will follow. In other words, this will set a precedent. “All I can say is support the <a href="http://www.ssfff.net" target="_blank"> Save the Summer Flounder Fishery Fund</a>,” Ralph said, because the members are working hard to solve the problem.

<b>Belmar</b>

Only one of the Belmar party boats, the Ocean Explorer, was apparently still sailing now, and the rest seemed to call it a season, said Bob from <b>Fisherman’s Den</b>. Even the Miss Belmar Princess reportedly stopped sailing for mackerel, because the mackerel run was finished. Bob said the Ocean Explorer was fishing for blackfish and ling, and some days produced good catches, and some days were slower, and lots of strong winds were preventing many trips from leaving port. Herring could be hooked at both Shark River Inlet and Manasquan Inlet. The store is now usually open around 5 or 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., but sometimes the hours are extended to 4 p.m., such as on weekends with fair weather. Hours will be extended March 1.   

<b>Brielle</b>

UPDATE, 2/11:  Dave Arbeitman from <b>The Reel Seat</b> spent much of the past days working the booth for the Save the Summer Flounder Fishery Fund at the Atlantic City Boat Show. But the Reel Seat is now open on weekends, after a short winter break. Herring could be hooked at Manasquan Inlet on Sabiki rigs, and incoming tides toward the end of the day seemed best. Tony Bogan, the operations manager for the Bogan family’s fleet of boats including the Jamaica, was also working the booth at the show when Dave gave this report. Tony said patrons on the Jamaica landed good catches of sea bass and not as many porgies on the boat’s offshore wreck-fishing trip Friday. The Jamaica also fished offshore Saturday, but Tony heard no news about that trip yet. Dave and Tony said the SSFFF hired a lead scientist to conduct a survey of the fluke population in an effort to dispute the government’s fluke data, part of the SSFFF’s effort to prevent drastic cuts in the fluke bag limit, including a threatened moratorium. Visit the <a href="http://www.ssfff.net" target="_blank"> SSFFF’s web site</a> for more info about this emergency. Take note that the SSFFF will hold a public meeting in South Jersey at 7 p.m. March 6 in Brooklawn, near Gloucester City, at American Legion Post 72 at 11 South Railroad Avenue. If you care about summer flounder fishing, consider attending, because if anglers do not fight, a moratorium will very likely take place. The Reel Seat is open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays until extending its hours in March.

UPDATE, 2/11: Offshore wreck-fishing trips left port Friday and Saturday on the <b>Jamaica</b>, and catches were good, an e-mail from the boat said. A trip Sunday was cancelled because of strong winds. On Friday the anglers boated mostly sea bass with porgies and ling mixed in, and some limited out on sea bass. The sea bass weighed up to 6 ½ pounds, and the porgies were jumbos. On Saturday the catch was made up of more porgies with ling, sea bass and a few cod mixed in. Pool winners included Anan Dwarika with a 20-pound pollock, Sam Spoeing with a 9-pound pollock, Gregory Brown with an 8-pound cod and Fred Moore with a 6-1/2-pound sea bass. Water temps were holding steady, and plenty of life swam around the wrecks, and the crew expected the fishing to continue to be good, and offshore trips will sail through April. The boat is fishing the 60- to 80-mile wrecks 12:30 a.m. every Wednesday and Fridays through Sundays and also President’s Day. Nine- and 12-hour trips are available on the <b>Paramount</b>, and call the boat for info. <b>Bogan’s Boating School</b> is offering the boating safety course and certificate required in New Jersey, and the next one-day classes with be held 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. February 17 and 23. Private classes are available at your own location for a minimum of eight students, and a discount is offered for 10 or more students. Simply select a 3-hour block during the daytime or evening on a weekday or weekend, and call to arrange an instructor. The test-out option is available 1 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays

<b>Point Pleasant</b>

UPDATE,  2/11: Capt. Anthony from <b>Angela Rose Charters</b> contacted New Jersey Fish and Wildlife and confirmed that winter flounder season will open March 23, Easter Sunday, so the season is around the corner, only about 40 days away, Anthony said in an e-mail. He also stopped by the Fishing Reports Now booth at the Atlantic City Boat Show this weekend and said a dozen charters were already booked for flounder, and his e-mail said some of the first days of the season are already booked, including opening day, and so are the first two weekends. But other dates are available, and better reserve your trips. Flounder fishing from northern Barnegat Bay to the Manasquan River to the nearby ocean is one of the crew’s favorite types of fishing. The crew has already serviced the flounder tackle and gotten the gear ready. They’ve also been busy revamping <a href="http://www.angelarosecharters.com" target="_blank"> Angela Rose Charters’ web site</a>, including a great new page for shared charters and also new pages featuring monthly pools, a 2008 photo page, feedback forms and a section about the rebuild of the original Angela Rose. Check it out!

UPDATE, 2/11: Nothing changed during the week, said Rob Sr. from <b>Gates Bait & Tackle</b>. Previously he said a few herring schooled up Manasquan Inlet. But the shop is open on weekends when the weather is decent, and customers can call to confirm whether the local party boats are sailing, because the staff usually knows. Gates is located within walking distance of Manasquan Inlet, the inlet’s party and charter boat fleet and the surf. The Gates Motel is also located on the grounds, is open all year and is especially popular with anglers. They often stay at the motel to avoid driving mornings or evenings before or after trips on the boats. Or sometimes they simply make a fishing vacation out of a visit.

The <b>Dauntless</b> bottom fished every day recently except yesterday, Capt. Butch said. Yesterday’s weather was calm at first, but winds were honking by 10 a.m. The fishing was decent, not as good as last year at this time, but alright, and mostly ling were bagged, and so were cod, a few pollock, a few blackfish and even mackerel that occasionally appeared. The boat no longer targeted mackerel, but sometimes schools of the Bostons popped up. Butch was asked whether any whiting bit, and he said that only a handful of small ones, 6- to 8-inchers, were hooked, and that he couldn’t say there was a whiting fishery. He added that he wished whiting were around, because those fish used to be the best fishery in winter. He wasn’t asked where the boat was fishing, but previously he said the trips targeted the edge of the Mudhole between 100 and 200 feet. Patrons averaged 5 to 20 fish, depending on the current, and strong current did push through a few days. The Dauntless will keep trying to bottom fish 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. every day through winter, maybe the only boat still trying to fish every day. The vessel fishes daily all year long.

Capt. Freddy Gamboa from <b>Andrea’s Toy Charters</b> finally called it a season, he said. Andrea’s Toy was one of the last charter boats in the state to stop fishing for the winter, and the weather finally made trips too difficult to schedule, though Fred was holding out hope for a final tog trip in the past week that never sailed. Charters will start again in March for winter flounder, and afterward striped bass trips will kick off. Only about six weeks was left before flounder season. Fred thanked everyone who fished on the boat and looked forward to seeing them again in a few weeks.

<b>Toms River</b>

UPDATE, 2/11: A few white perch were pulled from the Toms River at Island Heights, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b>. Customers there dunked nightcrawlers during the daytime and reeled in three, and some of the shop’s staff were fishing the river at night but with no luck. A couple of other customers bought salted clams and headed to the surf to fish this weekend, but nothing was heard back from them. Nightcrawlers and salted clams are stocked. Murphy’s is open Fridays and Saturdays from about 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., but sometimes Dennis is there during week, so if you call, you might catch him.

<b>Waretown</b>

One customer was catching and releasing out-of-season striped bass, even 28- and 29-inchers, every day while boating the Oyster Creek power plant discharge, said Dale from <b>L&H Woods & Water</b>. Anglers there at this time of year usually toss small soft plastic lures like rubber shads or chartreuse-colored things. Bluefish from 2 to 3 pounds had been hitting there, but people were talking about a large fish kill at the discharge a couple of weeks ago or so, and apparently loads of blues with stripers mixed in were washed up along the banks. So Dale was unsure whether blues were still there. These fish kills take place periodically, apparently because warm water is suddenly cut off from the plant. The dead fish are an alarming sight, and anglers get frustrated about it, and one would think the plant could do something about it by now. Dale thought the plant probably received a small fine but did nothing to end the fish kills. White perch fishing was good in the lagoons on small bait such as grass shrimp. One angler filled a bucket full. Nothing was heard about bottom fishing in a about a week, since some customers put together a good catch from Delaware toward the end of January. L&H is open all winter, and frozen baits including clams and grass shrimp are stocked.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

A customer bought a half-pint of grass shrimp today and was planning to fish for white perch on the Bass River, the cove at the Bass and the Mullica rivers, or the Egg Harbor River at Mays Landing, a recon trip, said Scott from <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>. Somebody said a bunch of boaters were perch fishing at Collins Cove on the Mullica on Saturday. That would be one of the main places to hook up. Some people also bought minnows to fish for pickerel in fresh water, and any freshwater pond or lake should give up the chainsiders at this time of year. Grass shrimp are stocked, and so are minnows, and Scott hoped to supply clams and green crabs for bottom fishing by next week on Friday. The weather looked like no deep freeze would take place this winter, so he wanted to start stocking some kind of bait like that. But nobody reported bottom fishing. Speaking of deep freeze, a reporter from the AC Press called about writing an ice-fishing article, and ice fishing for perch at Collins Cove is the place to be locally when the hard water forms, but the season looked like no fishable ice would appear this year. Striped bass season opens in the bays and rivers March 1, and anglers will certainly target Graveling Point on Great Bay for a chance to score that day. Whether the fish would be active by then was questionable, but the early season stripers will clamp down on bloodworms, if anglers can find bloods at that time. The cold water will definitely make the bloods the most likely bait to produce. Reel and tackle repairs were backing up at the shop, and the rush to prepare for the coming season was on. Better bring repairs in now, and don’t expect work to be finished very soon.

<b>Absecon</b>

UPDATE, 2/11: A report rolled in about a catch of big white perch at Deep Point along the Mullica River, and perch were also reportedly biting at Mosquito Lagoon near Route 50 on the Tuckahoe River, said Capt. Dave from <b>Absecon Bay Sportsman Center</b>. Perch were definitely hitting, and those two places seemed hot spots. The only other big news was that the countdown to striper season was approaching. Less that 20 days were left before the season opens in the bays and rivers, and if the weather stays relatively mild, there should be action. The shop awards big annual prizes for the first several striper catches each year, so the first catches are usually reported at the shop. Last year’s customers landed some of their first stripers in the shallows of Delaware Bay, including from the beach at Fortescue. The store is open this winter, but call to confirm at this time of year.

<b>Atlantic City</b>

Bottom fish including sea bass and tog should be able to boated at the wrecks, but practically nobody’s boat was still in the water, said Jack from <b>Offshore Enterprises Bait & Tackle</b>. Offshore anglers will probably soon start trying to target tilefish in 300 to 600 feet, simply because of cabin fever and because the tiles were one of the only fish available. The store will be pretty much closed this month, but customers can leave a voicemail or send an e-mail if looking for products. The staff was doing inventory and preparing for the new season, including ordering its usual large supply of offshore baits for tuna and big game. The shop opened a new web site at  <a href=" http://www.offshorebaitandtackle.net" target="_blank"> www.offshorebaitandtackle.net </a>, and it’s under construction but already includes a link to its E-Bay store. Check it out.

<b>Longport</b>

The <b>Stray Cat</b> was docked during the week, and rough weather was forecast for the coming days, but tomorrow looked like the best chance to slip out for an open-boat bottom-fishing trip, Capt. Mike said. So he planned to go then, and call to jump aboard. Trips through Tuesday would probably bottom fish inshore or at the 30-mile wrecks, because of the weather, and ling and cod were the catch there. Saturday and Sunday looked like a washout, and maybe Tuesday was going to be okay, but the boat is available to sail any day the weather is alright, so long as enough anglers want to go. Open offshore trips will resume fishing for sea bass when the weather clears, and one of those outings on Sunday cleaned up pretty well on the lumpheads. The offshore fishing takes place at the 60- to 80-mile wrecks.  UPDATE, 2/11: No trips fished on the Stray Cat over the weekend, because of no interest and then fierce winds on Sunday, but a trip is expected to sail Tuesday, because the weather looks fishable, and patrons are booked to sail. Capt. Mike expects to fish the inshore pieces for ling, cod and blackfish throughout this week through President’s Day, because winds were forecast to be too strong offshore, but seas should be fine inshore in the westerlies. No reason to sit on the sofa in the 50-degree weather, he said, so the boat will sail, and the cabin is heated, and plenty of green crabs, a few white leggers and a full supply of clams should be in the buckets. If you want to get out of the house, Stray Cat is one of the few boats still running. 

<b>Ocean City</b>

Little was happening, and nothing was heard about anyone fishing, including bottom fishing, said Bill from <b>Fin-Atics</b>. The opening of striped bass season in the bays and rivers on March 1 is the big upcoming event. Anglers will then target the linesiders at Beesley’s Point in the bay and up the Great Egg Harbor River and such places, as the fish begin to move in to spawn. The anglers will also be anticipating the herring run that especially brings the fish in, and the timing will depend on water temps. Sometimes the herring migration begins in early March, sometimes in mid March and sometimes later, but April is prime time. But when striper season opens, bloodworms and herring will be the popular baits, though sometimes anglers will fish soft plastic lures worked slowly. Otherwise the only thing that was happening lately was that the staff at the shop was preparing for the new season, including getting new inventory. Fin-Atics is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day but is closed Sundays. Hours will be extended when striper season kicks off March 1.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Fishing on the <b>Captain Robbins</b> is finished for the season, Capt. John, the boat’s owner, said. Mike Williams, who limited out on tog to 5 ½ pounds, was the final pool winner when he also reeled in a 6-1/2-pound cod on the vessel’s last trip. The boat’s fishing will resume at the end of March, first for blackfish and then for sea bass. John thanked customers for a great season, and also thanked Capt. Mike Weigle, who ran the boat, for the same.

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