Chuck Many said chunking in Raritan Bay from Ty Man got off to a slow start before they ended up with seven releases topped by a 37-pounder by Alyssa Katyan.– their largest so far this spring. Wednesday’s forecast is great, with a mere 5 knots from the northeast.

Tank Matraxia fished out of the Jupiter, Fl. area today as he and Kenny Fisher got into small snook while Tank also lost a small tarpon at boatside.

Though striped bass have been solid in Raritan Bay since last week, there’s been no word about them from the ocean so far. The Golden Eagle from Belmar has observed bait close to shore, and will be leaving at 7:30 in what should be good weather conditions for an effort to locate ocean stripers right around the time they often up at areas such as Shrewsbury Rocks. Reservations are still required.

The forecast is for northwest winds at 10-15 knots which drop to 5-10 during the morning and switch to southwest late..

Striped bass fishing is already solid in Raritan Bay, and charter boats are taking advantage of it. However, party boat anglers have to wait until April 9 before the Sea Hunter begins sailing daily from Atlantic Highlands with a new time of 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Ocean Explorer from Belmar had flat seas and mild weather for Saturday’s trip which produced some blackfish and cod plus short tog from mostly lively bottoms. They plan to sail on Monday, when the forecast is for northwest winds at 15-20 knots, but sunny and warm.

Andras Toy from Keyport reported 20 stripers up to a 34-incher caught in Raritan Bay on Saturday.

The most unusual party boat reports I’ve ever seen are posted on Facebook by the Morning Star out of Ocean City, Maryland. That boat has such a great reputation for catching outsized blackfish that Capt. Monty Hawkins can be brutally honest about the odds of catching them as follows in his latest announcement:

“Luvs you some misery? Have to get out even though tog fishing is but a shade of it’s former glory? Yes, I’m Going toggin – but with a boat limit far more restrictive than State regs and NO expectation of great fishing. Tog Trips in April 2021 will have a 2 Tog at 16 inches boat limit. Of those two, only one may be a female. That’s less than half the state’s limit. I’ve needed to do this for some while. It’s a Boat Limit – aboard My Boat. It’s NOT A State or Fed Regulation Change! 
This fishery is tough getting tougher. Skunks happen on a daily basis. Even with incredibly skilled anglers aboard – goose eggs! But here we go.. The tug is the drug. 
April 4th & 5th – Sunday & Monday – Tog Only – 2 Fish Limit of which One may be Female – Have shrimp and some crabs for boat bait – my crew has some whites for sale – both trips 7 to 3 – 12 anglers sells out @ $125.00 each. Anticipate tough fishing! 
Released Tog Count In Our Pool. We go by LENGTH. No Live Tog Leave The Boat. All Kept Tog Will Be Bled. 
Reservations Required at 443-235-5577
Tog (Blackfish) Trips Only – Allowed zero sea bass. They’re closed now.

IF YOU BOOK LEAVE YOUR BEST POSSIBLE CONTACT NUMBER & LISTEN TO YOUR MESSAGES –
Weather Cancellations Happen – I Make Every Attempt To Let Clients Sleep In If The Weather’s Not Going Our Way..
Be a half hour early! We always leave early!
..except when someone shows up right on time.
Clients arriving late will see the west end of an east-bound boat.
With a limited number of reserved spots, I do not refund because you
overslept or had a flat.

Bait is provided on all trips: Shrimp & green crabs for tog. (Whites Are USUALLY available from crew for a reasonable cost…) 
I have always encouraged releasing female tog; any keeper, really, that’s in good shape. Those who respect the fishery know what they need to do. 
If You Won’t Measure & Count Your Fish, The State Will Provide A Man With A Gun To Do It For You. We Measure & Count — ALWAYS — No Exceptions!

It’s Simple To Prevent Motion Sickness, Difficult To Cure. Bonine seems best because it’s non-drowsy. It’s truly cheap & effective insurance.Honestly – If you get to go on the ocean once month, once a year, or
even less; why risk chumming all day? Similarly, if you howl at the
moon all night, chances are good you’ll howl into a bucket all day.

Bring A Cooler With Ice For Your Fish – A 48 Quart Cooler Is Fine For
A Few People. Do Not Bring A Very Large Cooler. We DO have a few
loaners – you’ll still need ice.
No Galley! Bring Food & Beverages To Suit. A few beers in cans is fine for the ride home.

Except in high-summer, waterproof boots are almost a necessity unless fishing the bow – sneakers will ruin your day when the water is cold! While some rarely, or never, wear gloves for fishing, you’d not likely see me fishing this time of year w/o at least the half-finger wool gloves. Tuck a “hot hands” warmer in the palm and life is good..”

Striper fishing is improving every day in Raritan Bay, and anglers have a fine weather forecast coming up for Sunday with west winds of just 5-10 knots going to southwest during the day.

Andreas Toy from Keyport posted on Facebook that they had fine light tackle jigging for over 30 stripers up to a 30-incher in the bay on Friday.

Stripers are showing up in other places as Roger Burnley proved Tuesday as he caught three bass to 25 inches casting from his kayak at night near the Manasquan River railroad bridge.

The Ocean Explorer from Belmar got offshore on Friday when it was windy and cold, but found lots of life on bottom even if most of it was from bergalls. They did boat some blackfish, cod and ling while releasing short tog.

Striped bass have flooded into Raritan Bay right on schedule and should provide a solid bite well into the next two months.

Capt. Joe Massa fished Thursday morning with his My Three Sons from Morgan Marina and found lots of marks in the back of the bay which provided 10 school stripers up to a 30-incher on small plugs cast with light spinning tackle. Bigger bass are turning onto bunker chunking — and should also be responding to live bunkers and trolling lures such as bunker spoons and mo-jos.

The blackfish season is open in N.J. and some cod and ling are also available offshore. The Golden Eagle from Belmar begins their daily schedule of bottom fishing on Saturday.

The marine forecast is for northwest winds at 15-20 knots with gusts to 25 before dropping to 5-10 knots later.

The

The blackfish season in NJ opens Friday. in N.J., but the forecast of NW winds 15-20 knots with gusts to 25 doesn’t look good, so the Ocean Explorer from Belmar is going to hold off another day. The weekend looks much better.

Striped bass of all sizes have turned on in Raritan Bay, though schoolies are still most abundant.

Chuck Many fished from morning into the dark with several groups of anglers aboard as it wasn’t far from his berth at Gateway Marina in Highlands to the fish. By the time it was all over he had recorded 76 releases up to a 28-pounder. Despite still cold 49 degree waters, everything is set up for the “sure thing” April striper fishery in the bay.

My traveling plans changed, and I was able to get out in the afternoon with Capt. Joe Massa on his My Three Sons from Morgan Marina. Capt. Vinnie Vetere of Katfish from Great Kills joined us with his mate, the famed castnet maker Percy Wentworth. For once, there was someone older than me on the boat as Percy is 86 but can still throw his nets like a young buck.

We found mostly small bass that were fun to catch casting small plugs on light tackle, and Percy boated the largest at 32 inches.

Most interesting was the news from the back of the bay of by far the largest striper of season so far as a kayacker had released a 54-pounder that was later reported by The Fisherman magazine as a 58-pounder plugged by the owner of Back Bay Lures. Of course. that fish was far over the maximum size, so I suppose the weight was calculated by the formula. See the photo below.

Many other boats were into that fishing, including Andreas Toy from Keyport. I was amazed to see so many kayacks out there during a weekday in March.

Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina reports winter flounder fishing improved there, and the few rental boats he had out all limited with large flatties. He’s not expecting much from the April 1 blackfish opener due to cold waters. but the shop has whitelegger and hermit crabs for those who want to try. Back bay areas have been producing lots of school stripers, mostly on blood worms. Peyton Gepp had the largest at 36 inches.

A small craft warning is up for 20-25 knot northwest winds tomorrow plus morning showers.

Capt. Chris Di Stefano has received word that some shore pros have been scoring with the still scarce large stripers by casting SP Minnows while bait fishermen are hooking mostly shorts. I suspect that action is at night in the back of Raritan Bay.

I’ll be traveling Tuesday and there won’t be another bog until Wednesday..

For the first time I ever saw such a thing. the marine weather forecast this evening included a low water advisory which is in effect until 10 p.m. as tides will be as much as two feet below mean low water levels. N.J. surfcasters know that strong northwest winds always push water off the beaches, but it has to be something very unusual for the Weather Service to post a warning about it. There’s also a small craft advisory up to 8 p.m.

Bob Matthews, at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina reported that what appeared to be a tornado last night did a lot of damage to the motor lodge, but all the boats seemed to be fine.

The ocean should be flat from all that northwest wind, and the Ocean Explorer will be sailing from Belmar at 7:30 a.m. for cod and ling.

The wind forecast looks good for Tuesday morning with southeast breezes at 5-10 knots which increase to 10-15 from the south in the afternoon.

When I wrote yesterday’s blog early I assumed no boats would be fishing in the rain and wind, but I wasn’t thinking about Capt. Joe Massa. After enduring several skunkings to start the striper season, Joe got out early with his My Three Sons from Morgan Marina. Morgan is one of the best ports on Raritan Bay to sail from as it’s only a few minutes run to the back of the bay which is usually the first area to come alive early in the spring. There was only one other boat out as Joe trolled small diving plugs to release a dozen shorts before the end of the tide. It was a start, and with lots of bunker around the bigger stripers should be on them within days. The Hudson River Fisherman’s Association Fred Rung Memorial Striped Bass Tournament starts the contest season in April.

Frank Huza of Aberdeen passed along the following warning to shore anglers. “

 heard from a local fireman that they were called out about 8 o’clock Sunday evening to rescue a shore based Striper fisherman who waded out into Matawan Creek at Cliffwood Beach and got stuck in the mud.  (He was walking the shore towards Wagner’s Marina)

Luckily he had a cell phone!  It pays to scout your fishing sites during the day, before walking out at night.”

It wasn’t necessary to wait for today’s reports as I’m sure the wind and rain kept everyone home. However, there was a good report from Chuck Many about his Saturday afternoon and evening striper fishing in Raritan Bay as over 30 bass were caught by the crew of Nikki Bowden, Dave Glassberg and Capt. Lou Grazioso (see photo below). There was nothing big, as a 32-incher was the largest, but the action was the first reported on both bunker chunks and cast lures.

The Ocean Explorer from Belmar reported a beautiful Saturday on the ocean with lots of action from dogfish and bergalls though two cod and about 20 ling got through them and into fish bags. That boat will switch to blackfish on April 1.

Small craft warnings are up until 6 p.m. before becoming a gale warning through Monday morning as clearing west winds gust to 40 knots tonight. Monday begins with west winds at 25-30 knots and gusts to 40 — though they diminish to northwest 15-20 with gusts to 25 and drop out overnight.