Offshore trips on the party boat Jamaica turned out some of the best cod fishing in some time, and an “old-fashioned” spring run seemed to be developing, an e-mail from the vessel said. Saturday’s catch of the fish was the best in years on the boat. About 300 cod, not including throwbacks, were shellacked, and the keepers were larger than before, most of them weighing 8 to 15 pounds, and several were bigger. The fishing took place at several wrecks, and all held life, some better than others. A dozen pollock and some ling were also cranked in, and the pool winners were John Petty, Piscataway , with a 30-pound cod and Dunbar Atkinson, Parlin, with a 29-pounder. Sunday’s trip once again copped very good cod fishing, not quite as wild as Saturday, at a different area. But the fish were a little larger, most of them 10 to 18 pounds. A light crowd was aboard, and they bagged 140 cod and a few ling and pollock. James Sutler, Staten Island, won the pool with a 28-pound cod, also socking nine more of the fish 15 to 24 pounds. James Blushstein, Vineland, totaled six cod, a double-header of 25- and 20-pound pollock and several ling. Chris Steinert, no town given, racked up 10 cod, including six that weighed 18 to 24 pounds, and Joe Gissinger, Philly, also boxed 10 cod. Bobby Claudio, Wall, and Todd Hooper, Whiting, nailed eight cod apiece. The outlook was good for upcoming trips, and water temperatures were right for a good migration of cod to not only the offshore wrecks but to some of the 20- to 40-mile wrecks. These conditions, and the last run this solid, happened in the mid 1990s, and the catches lasted through April and into May. Trips are fishing the 50- to 90-mile wrecks every Saturday and Sunday through April for cod, pollock, hake and ling, and space is available this weekend. The trips leave at 11:30 p.m. the previous nights and return at 6 or 7 p.m. A special trip was added that will sail 1 a.m. to 6 or 7 p.m. this Thursday. Trips to the 20- to 50-mile wrecks will sometimes also sail. Extra trips will be slated during Easter week.

Some of the party boats including the Gambler and the Jamaica scored bang-up catches of cod, lots of them, and bigger ones than before, on Saturday, said Dave from The Reel Seat. Pool-winning fish weighed in the 30s. Ling fishing sounded slower that day, and one of the vessels specifically tried for ling, but the catch wasn’t so good. Not much was doing on the striped bass front locally, but the stripers usually begin to be fought on northern Barnegat Bay, such as along the Mantoloking Bridge, within the next weeks, usually on plugs or soft-plastic lures. Dave, a member of the Shark River Surf Anglers, attended the club’s awards dinner, and no one talked about catching stripers. But the linesiders might’ve been hooked farther south on Barnegat Bay along the Route 37 Bridge. One of the shop’s employees was seeing boaters fishing there, and that’s all they could be targeting, really. Lures or soft plastics probably get the bites. Dave heard about no herring jigged at Manasquan Inlet and saw no anglers fishing there, though herring often swim through the inlet in winter. He also heard about nobody landing out-of-season winter flounder by mistake on the Manasquan River or anywhere, and nobody was fishing the river. But the flattie season opens later this month. New Jersey last week decided the 2010 regulations for summer flounder: A season from May 29 to September 6 with a size limit of 18 inches and a six-fish bag limit. The size and bag limit remain the same as last year, but this year’s season includes the Saturday and Sunday of Memorial Day weekend and lasts through Labor Day. Last year’s season began on Memorial Day itself and closed on Labor Day. Stop by the shop to check out new gear for 2010 and also the new display of G. Loomis rods, because The Reel Seat is now a Loomis dealer. The store’s hours were extended this past week to 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays to Saturdays and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays. The Save the Summer Flounder Fishery Fund’s Third Annual Fund Raising Dinner will be held April 16 at Crystal Point Yacht Club in Point Pleasant, and anglers should buy tickets now. The summer flounder or fluke regulations mentioned above should seriously be improved, and the SSFFF is fighting for that, and is probably responsible for preventing the government from using faulty science to close down the fishery last season. The organization has demanded better science to study the stocks for responsible management, and that takes money from donations, such as from the dinner.