R.I.P. Famed stand-up angler Marsha Bierman

Michael Leech of the IGFA had sad news today on Facebook as great woman angler Marsha Bierman passed away this morning. Though she looked more like a showgirl than an angler, that tall blond woman could put most men to shame while fighting big marlin and tuna on stand-up tackle long before that type of big game fishing became popular on the east coast.

Marsha put tremendous pressure on those big game fish, and I’m sure she never gave up on one while setting numerous records. I had the pleasure of fishing with her in Costa Rica and also when giant tuna were first discovered during the winter on shallow wrecks off North Carolina. She wanted to catch a giant standing up, but was frustrated by only hooking up with medium bluefins. Of course, as soon as we switched to 130-pound outfits so all could participate, we caught all giants!

There was finally very good news from Vinny D’Anton as the northern N.J. striped bass surf run got underway this morning. He fished northern Monmouth County where 20-25-pound bass were feeding on peanut bunkers. Swim shads did the job as Vinny said anglers casting poppers didn’t seem to be connecting.

At Belmar, The Golden Eagle reported lots of big bass on live bunkers, with yesterday’s largest at 53 inches. They change their sailing time to 6:30 a.m. tomorrow. Miss Belmar Princess had a similar report.

Capt. Ron Santee said he was at the right place at the right time with his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands this morning. It was mostly big bass up to a 56-incher, but included some keepers.

The forecast is great — southwest winds at 10-15 knots..

Eric Kerber with a 47-pounder on his digital scale