***Update, Thursday, 2/2:*** Mackerel, excellent catches, were clobbered on the party boat Miss Belmar Princess, Capt. Alan said. Patrons filled coolers, garbage cans, “everything,” he said, and the fish swam only 10 miles from Shark River Inlet. Plus a big area held them. Three head boats fished for them today a mile apart. “That’s how big,” Alan said. Fishing for mackerel was good since Friday, and the fish then swam 20 miles from the inlet. About three days ago they moved within 12 or 13 miles, and now they were 10. Maybe mackerel anglers will get lucky and the migration will remain within range the whole month of February. “The water’s warm,” Alan said. The fish now were mediums to large, and previously “were mixed sizes,” he said. The Miss Belmar Princess is fishing for mackerel 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.

Party boats that bottom-fished scooped up blackfish, ling and a few cod, good catches, said Bob from Fisherman’s Den. The ones that mackerel-fished also shoveled in good catches. Lots of striped bass, including sometimes keepers to 15 pounds, were beached from the surf, mostly from Asbury Park to farther north. The angling never let up since fall, and most of the catches now came from along the jetties, not the open beach. Most were hooked on weighted rubber eels like Vision Surf Eels or Tsunami Eels. A few were plugged and fly-rodded, but the eels worked best. Fishing on the whole was better than this time last year in warmer weather this year.