N.J. sea bass opens Saturday

There will be lots of anglers fishing Saturday in N.J. with stripers, blues, fluke and sea bass all on the menu.

The sea bass season in N.J. extends to June 19 with a 12 1/2-inch minimum and a 10-fish bag limit. Jersey anglers have to avoid N.Y. waters which don’t open until June 23 with a 16 1/2-inch minimum and three-fish bag.

The Raritan Bay striper run continues at a high level, though an influx of large blues has created problems at times for those using chunked or live bunkers for bait. Fluking has been decent when conditions are good, but keepers aren’t abundant. Kil Song found that to be the case while fishing on the Osprey V from Port Jefferson as he caught one keeper while releasing 29 shorts in Long Island Sound.

In addition to daytime party boat sea bass trips this this weekend in N.J., afternoon trips will be run Saturday and Sunday from 4-9 p.m. on the Jamaica from Brielle — and from 3:30-9:30 p.m. on the Golden Eagle from Belmar.

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The forecast is for south winds at 5-10 knots with a chance of showers.

Chuck Many reports jumbo stripers cooperated for his crews on Tyman from Highlands this week, though he’s still looking for that 60-pounder!