Cold, windy weather kept boaters in port today, but some are set to sail tomorrow.

Small craft warnings are still up for west winds gusting to 30 knots, but they are sorecasted to drop somewhat to 20-25 with gusts to 30 by morning. That may make the Between the Channels area that was loaded with stripers fishable, and the Sea Hunter from At;antic Highlands will be giving it a try the next two days. The Golden Eagle from Belmar will be sailing early at 6:30 a.m. for stripers. The Jamaica from Brielle has room on its trips to offshore wrecks for jumbo sea bass and porgies that sail at 10 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Call 732 528-5014 for reservations.

Vinniy D’Anton reports that the cold and continuing large swells kept most surfcasters home, but conditions should be better tomorrow after all the west wind we’ve had to reduce the seas.

John Bushell Jr. of Betty & Nick’s Tackle in Seaside Park said yesterday;s gale was worse than predicted and left the surf rough and dirty — but the west winds coming should cure that problem.

Bushell was looking at unfishable conditions this morning, but noted that there were bass caught yesterday morning before conditions got too bad. Indeed, three stripers were weighed in at the shop.

The marine forecast is for west winds at 20-25 knots with gusts to 30 in the morning which should reduce the 5-8-foot seas. Some boats may sail due to the favorable direction of the wind, but be sure to check with skippers before coming down. Everything should be in good shape by Thursday — when we’ll find out if the striper concentrations have moved.

As today is Giving Tuesday, it’s appropriate to mention the Jersey Coast Anglers Association. The JCAA has been hit hard by the pandemic as all of their fundraising events and fishing tournaments have had to be canceled. Those able to afford a donation would be making a wise investment in the protection of our marine resources and angling rights by visiting jcaa.org. The IGFA is another very worthy organization seeking donations for its youth fishing and conservation programs which have also suffered due to cancellations of the annual fundraising dinners. 🔚

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The stretch of fine fishing weather is coming to an end as a gale warning has been posted for Monday. Southeast winds at 20-25 knots in the morning will gust to 45 in the afternoon plus rain.

Today was beautiful, and the incredible striper jigging Between the Channels held up despite so much boat traffic that Capt. Rob Semkewyc of the Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands said it was hard to find a hole to drift through. Unfortunately, he had to canel the next two days due to the weather.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported the ocean striper fishing was a pick among lots of fish in sight. They got some slots and keepers, but not enough. A 40-incher was released.

Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina said the striper boats there have had good jigging off Highlands, and blackfishing is good at times. A 16-pound trophy tog was taken on Lock N Load. Winter flounder fishing is good in Shark River. Striper surfcasting has been “challanging” locally. It’s been better to the south where Bob went yesterday. He saw bass of sub-legal size being caught at IBSP along with very large hickory shad.

When striped bass started returning to Raritan Bay after a long absence, there were some mornings when Tony Arcabascio (Tony Maja) scored consistently by chunking on the many small pieces of structure that he had discovered over years fishing out of Great Kills, but as the bass built up there were days when casual boaters could drop their anchor almost anywhere and chunk a load of stripers. That’s what he called “The stupid fishing” — and Dave Lilly says that’s the best description of what’s been going on Between the Channels. Even with no dirds working or fish swirling, the fishfinder shows a massive quantity of stripers covering the bottom. Anyone who can drop a jig to bottom and reel up should hook up constantly. All that has been happening despite the unprecedented volume of boats drifting the area this late in the year.

Lilly said the largest bass they caught today was weighed at 15 pounds, but most are of legal sizes rather than the small bass often encountered in great numbers toward the end of the run. The water temperature actually came back up to 50 degrees today, and as long as the cand eels remain there’s no telling how long that area may produce.

One problem ahead is that tomorrow is the last great weather day for awhile. The forecast is for southwest at 5-10 knots, but it will be a lot different by Monday.

At Atlantic Highlands,Capt. Rob Semkewyc said it was all catch and release fishing by 9:30 on his Sea Hunter. The pool bass was just under 38 inches. Rob requests that his fares be aboard so he can leave in he morning by 7. The Monday trip is cancelled.

Capt. Ron Santee Jr. said the morning action was steady, but it turned yo a pick on his Fishermen in the afternoon even though the bass were still marking. He’s also cancelling the Monday trip.

At Belmar, the Golden Eagle reported a good day of striper jigging with lots of slots and keepers up to 37 inches plus bluefish to 18 pounds. Miss Belmar Princess reported solid striper action with many limits and some jumbo blues.

Vinny D’Anton heard of a good surf bite at IBSP. but put in his morning effort at Belmar to catch three schoolies on a Tsunami Sand Eel. After the modest bite died out, he stayed awhile and got into big hickory shad that were inhaling the sand eel imitation.

As redicted in yesterday’s blog, Black Friday turned out to be a Bonanza for boaters. Indeed, it seemed impossible for boaters to get shut out wherever they went.The Golden Eagle from Belmar left early and sent possibly the quickest report ever — that they were limited on stripers by 9 a.m. on two drifts! They’ll be leaving at 6:30 again in the morning to get on the bass before the crowd.

Rich Carrione didn’t take a chance on the sometimes fussy ocean stripers and ran all the way from Manasquan to Between the Channels with Bustin’Chop and had constant action on diamond jigs from 7:30 to 9:30 before the fish shut down. They caught 15 bass up to 36 inches plus six blues up to 12 pounds as the many boats around them were doing the same.

At Atlantic Highlands, Capt. Rob Semkewyc summed it up as perfect weather and perfect fishing. When you don’t hear party boat skippers complain about being crowded by private boats on a holiday you can imagine how good the fishing was. There were lots of slots plus a few bigger bass up to a 38-inch pool linesider.

Capt. Ron Santee Jr. reported from slots up to a 34-incher on his Fishermen as two anglers in the bow combined for over 80 bass. Big blues were mixed in and came up stuffed with sand eels.

Allen Riley and John Mazzeo figured they’d have ideal surfcasting conditions this morning at Sandy Hook– which they did. There was a high tide at dawn and a calm sea — but no bait or birds. Riley managed one hickory shad on a Deadly Dick, but there was no sign of stripers among the many anglers at that popular area,

There was a better report from Betty & Nick’s Tackle in Seaside Park as a 20 1/4-pound striper was weighed after hitting bunker at Island Beach State Park.

The great weather continues Saturday with northwest winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20,

There were no boat reports after the weather forecasts led to cancellations of shortened Thanksgiving trips. However, the forecast for Black Friday is west at a mere 5-10 knots with seas down to two to four feet. On Wednesday there was great striper fishing between the channels and also in the ocean — so it’s likely there will be a repeat under fine conditions. As noted in yesterday’s blog, Black Friday is probably the busiest party boat day of the year. Add in the pandemic restrictions on capacity, and it’s a sure thing boats will sail early in order to get in on the best bite. Make reservations, and get to the boat long before sailing time!

The Jamaica from Brielle will be sailing early at 6 a.m.

John Bushell Jr. weighed a 19 1/4-pound striper at Betty & Nick’s in Seaside Park for Matthew Ferrera — his biggest. One regular caught 14 stripers from 1 to 4 a.m. yesterday on swimmers. All were in the 20-22-inch class. Bushell noted that some red drum have also been reported from the still relatively mild surf.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Many party boats have scheduled early Thanksgiving striper trips, but be sure to check with skippers before coming down as some are canceling due to the weather.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar had decent striper fishing today, with plenty of slots and some keepers plus big blues — but they have canceled the Thanksgiving sailing. Black Friday looks good, but anglers should arrive very early as that has become probably the most packed weekday of the year. Especially with pandemic restrictions, it’s likely that boats will leave long before schedule.

The Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands had the best day-long striper bite of the season today as the hot bite kept getting better. Unfortunately, the Thanksgiving trip has been called off.

Vinny D’Anton heard there was a striper blitz at Island Beach State Park this morning, but decided to avoid the mob and did well enough at Belmar. The Tsunami Sand Eel produced six stripers by blind casting before he tried a Florida favorite and got a 26-incher on a MirrOlure Mirradyne plug.

The Jamaica from Brielle may have two spots open on the Nov. 27 offshore wreck trip that sails at 10 p.m. Friday. Call for reservations at 732 528-5014.

The Hi Flier from Barnegat is sailing open by reservation from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. from tomorrow through Monday. Stripers are the target unless it’s possible to get out to 50-150-pound tuna jumping 5 -10 miles offshore. Call 732 330-5674.

Small craft warnings are up through through Friday afternoon. The morning forecast is for south winds at 10-15 knots with gusts to 25 plus rain.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

As good as the northern NJ striper jigging has been. Capt. Rob Semkewyc didn’t expect anything better this morning. Yet, his first drift with the Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands turned out to be his best of the striper season. The boat was limited with bonus bass quickly, and 16 of 28 inches or more were added as everyone went home with two keepers. A Thanksgiving trip is set for 6:30 to noon.

Capt. Ron Santee Jr. had similar jigging on his Fishermen from that port as catches ran up to 47 bass plus some blues. A 12-pound bass took the pool. The Fishermen won’t be sailing on Thanksgiving.

Once again the ocean striper fishing was tough despite lots of fish on the surface. The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported just a few bass and blues that would hit, and will be trying a different area tomorrow.

Also at Belmar, the Ocean Explorer had a fine day of blackfishing on flat seas as some fares limited quickly on 3-6-pounders. Both jigs and rigs worked.

Paul Haertel had to call off the JCAA blackfish contest as not enough boats entered, but he was out today limiting on his boat at the Axel Carlsen Reef and other spots.

Mike Monte started in the Belmar surf, but ended up getting into some stripers later at Sea Girt. Those were better schoolies of 24 to 27 inches which wanted Zoom Split-tails on a 1/4-ounce jig rather than sand eel lures.

Allen Riley took advantage of the northwest wind to fish Monmouth Beach, but found no bait or birds and nothing being caught when he arrived during mid-morning on a blow-out tide from too much wind.

South winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 25 with 3-5-foot seas are forecast for Wednesday. Rain may arrive after midnight.

While a gale warning is bad news for boaters, when it’s from the northwest that’s fine for Jersey Shore surfcasters except during low tides when it might blow all the water off the beach. Since it’s also possible to fish in partially protected areas, some boats may also get back into action tomorrow. Be sure to check with skippers before coming down.

Northwest winds are gusting up to 35 knots this evening, but are forecast to drop to 15-20 with gusts to 25 by morning — and to diminish by afternoon to 10-15 knots.

There were no boat reports today, but the Ocean Explorer from Belmar had an unusual blackfish report from Sunday when the tog bite actually improved as it got rougher by late morning. Some limits were taken.