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Gale warning into tonight

It’s been a windy cold spring, but there are better days coming. The northwest wind now blowing up to 35 knots should drop to 20-25 west by morning plus gusts to 30. At least that should settle the ocean.

The relatively few boaters fishing in  Raritan Bay continue to do very well with large stripers. One claimed on Facebook that he had a hard time finding one under 38 inches.

I was able to find an article by Dan Radel in the Asbury Park Press noting that Norma Keller, owner of the Norma K party boat fleet in Point Pleasant, died at 80 from complications of old age. Due to the present restrictions, a small private service was held. However, I haven’t been able to find out any more about Capt. Art Hilliard after reading on Faceboook that he had passed away. Anyone with information can contact me at cristori@aol.com.

Vinnie D’Anton continues to do well wading for spotted sea trout at Sarastota, Fl. — and even added a flounder yesterday on a Z Man jig.

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N.J. party boat fleet loses two great ones

Two of the great veterans of New Jersey’s party boat business have passed away.

Norma Keller, owner of the Norma K. fleet in Point Pleasant was a fixture in that town for decades. Capt. Art Hilliard was part of a famed fishing family sailing out of Atlantic Highlands. He was best known as skipper of the large group charter boat Eagle. I’ll try to get details for the next blog.

A gale warning is going up for Tuesday.  The morning starts with south winds at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 30 before going southwest and gusting to 40 in the afternoon Showers and possible thunderstorms are predicted.

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Marinas open from NJ to CT

The new coalition of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut governors acting together in selectively reopening the economy as the pandemic shows signs of diminishing took a big step this weekend by reopening marinas, boatyards and marine manufacturers in all three states. Unfortunately, both charters and rentals remain prohibited.

Party and charter boat skippers remain out of work, and are finding that they don’t qualify for government programs aiding small business.

Small craft warnings are up until midnight for southwest gusts to 30 knots. The morning marine forecast is for northeast winds at 10-15 with gusts to 20 knots.

Capt. Jim Freda was able to get out on Raritan Bay with family this week and had no problem jigging and trolling large stripers from his Shore Catch.

Freda's striper

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July ICAST fishing tackle show cancelled

Conditions are slowly improving with the pandemic, but there are still few fishing reports, and the annual fishing tackle show which introduces new tackle to the fishing trade has been cancelled.

The annual ICAST event of the American Sportfishing Association was to be held July 14-17 in Orlando, Fl., but with no assurance that social distancing regulations will be down by then a decision had to be made before  exhibits were shipped in from all over the world. A “virtual” show will be run it its place.

The HRFA Catch &  Release Striped Bass Tournament is underway, and continues to May 15. However, entries are being accepted up to May 1 for the contest that’s limited to the Hudson and East rivers plus associated waters — but not the ocean or Raritan Bay. For information contact Joe Albanese at 908 458-2968 or joealbanese2@gmail.com.

Ric Gross of Point Pleasant fished off Florida’s southern east coast yesterday, where chartering is legal. He was aboard Deja Vu  Charters as blackfin tuna and king mackerel  were trolled before they made deep drops in 750 feet for snappers. A dolphin was trolled on the way back along with a blast of little tunny (called bonito in the  south) up to a 23-pounder.

Bob Correll of Bay Head also got into little tunny as he fished off Islamorada in the Keys — but was able to catch  them in the most exciting way by casting poppers.

There was a cold rain this morning, but Sunday should be better though small craft warnings are up. It will be southwest at 10-15 knots with gusts to 20 in the morning  before gusting to 30 knots in the afternoon.

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A remora record in the family

Connor Correll was bottom fishing off Islamorada in the Florida Keys yesterday with his father Todd (my nephew) on their Sea Vee 39 when he reeled up the biggest remora they’d ever seen. Todd checked the IGFA record with his cell phone, and then called me to ask if it would be legal since it came up snagged  — which is very common with remoras due to their small mouth.

I checked the IGFA rule book, which states that only deliberately snagging is a disqualification, and also called the office in Dania Beach, Florida to be sure.

Connor  had been holding the fish alongside in the water while Todd was calling me, and I assured them there was no other fish except an eel that would survive better in a live well as they are also called sharksuckers.

Remoras are oceanic hitchhikers who use a laminated disc on top of the head to grab a free ride with not only sharks but with whales, billfish and almost anything else bigger than themselves.  Natives in many tropical areas around the world learned to tie a line to them and let them swim to a sea turtle they wanted for food.

There’s little information about this relatively common species in the reference books I use, but The Many Splendored Fishes of the Atlantic Coast by Gar Goodson notes that they grow to 3 1/2 feet. However, they are skinny. I’ve encoutered quite a few at times while chumming for yellowtail snappers in the ocean and while casting jigs tipped with shrimp  inshore along the Keys, but  most looked to be about 2 to 3 pounders. The current IGFA all-tackle record is 5 1/2 pounds from Cat Cay in the Bahamas in 2002.

Todd  ran into Bud N’ Mary’s Marina at Islamorada to record an official 7 1/2 pounds to clearly set a new standard after the necessary papers, line samples and photos are accepted by the IGFA.

remora

Conner, a student at Baylor University and a skilled competitive sailing  champion, should be joining me in the IGFA world record list with my 6-pound round whitefish from Putahow River Manitoba, Canada in 1984 and a 27 1/2-pound leather bass on a Tady jig from the Royal Polaris off Isla Clarion, Mexico in 1988. Both of those fish were also surprises caught while seeking other species.

Though southwest winds are gusting to 25 knots tonight and some rain is expected, the morning forecast is better with west winds at just 10 knots before switching to northwest with gusts to 25 knots in the afternoon.

 

 

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Curbside pickup challenged

With bait & tackle shops closed as non-essential during the pandemic, anglers have been hard-pressed to find what they need for fishing. A partial solution has been curbside pickup in which a call to a tackle shop allows the owner to fill a credit card order to be left at curbside for pickup without any interaction. Yet, on Facebook today there was a message from Charlie’s Bait  Tackle (formerly Ernie Wuesthauf’s shop) in Normandy Beach that they were prohibited from doing that and shut down by the Brick Police.

Jim Hutchinson Jr. of the Fisherman magazine checked with the governor’s office and was assured that curbside pickup is still legal in N.J.

Under an emergency situation it’s not unusual for officials to reach beyond the law, and citizens must be ever alert to protect their civil  liberties. Hopefully, this matter will be resolved by tomorrow.

There have been lots of stripers in Raritan Bay, and Mark Roy planned to troll a few during a test run with his Release Me from Raritan Marina in Hazlet yesterday afternoon before the wind took over. However, the two boaters he talked to were shut out both trolling and with live bunkers as the waters were muddy.

Blackfishing is also open at this time, and Nick Honachefsky of Saltwater Underground has been catching them from shore on 2-ounce blackfish jigs tipped with half a green crab.

Small craft warnings are displayed to midnight. Friday morning will be cold again with west winds at 10-15 knots which increase to southwest 15-20 in the afternoon.

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N.J. limited to 737 cobia this year

New Jersey is on the northern fringe of cobia migrations, and as a result is included with other states seeing few cobia in de minimus status. Those states share a mere 1% of the cobia quota, which results in a recreational allocation for New Jersey of 737 cobia this year. Though cobia have been becoming more common along the coast in recent years, that should be just fine.

Cobia are a lot more abundant in Florida, where the pandemic has slowed fishing opportunities — but seems to have improved fishing.  My nephew, Todd Correll, reports from Islamorada that the lack of commercial activity seems to have resulted in lots of bait fish in very clear waters, and an unusual volume of 100-pound yellowfin tuna.  Tuna have also been appearing much closer to shore.

Pete Connell of Avon is also in Islamorada, and notes that back country waters are loaded with small “hammer handle” snook from what must have been a very good  spawn.

Vinny D’Anton has been enjoying good wade fishing at Sarasota for large spotted sea trout, but has been surprised by a complete lack of bluefish there this winter.

Small craft warnings are up from midnight through tomorrow afternoon. It will be cold in the morning with northwest winds at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 25.

 

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NJOA fights to open state parks

The New Jersey Outdoor Alliance (NJOA) has been opposed to the closure of state parks due to the pandemic right from the announcement of the executive order by Gov. Murphy, and have been circulating a petition calling for him to change that position. Now, they are asking those who agree the parks should be open for much-needed recreation to contact the governor and legislators to express that opinion. Visit info@njoutdooralliance.org for talking points and links.

Dan, a regular on this blog, said there were a lot of cars in the lots during Saturday’s trout opener, but everyone was well-spaced on the streams — as were the trout. Many caught one or two — and some more. Stocking continues, and there are no special restrictions on those days.

The Hudson River Fisherman’s Association has extended the registration deadline for its 2020 Catch and Release Striper Tournament  to May 1 because the  pandemic has hurt participation. The contest will go on in any case, though prizes may have to be reduced to prevent a loss to the HRFA. Contact Joe Albanese for info at 908 456-2968 — or joealbanese2@hrfanj.org.

Small craft warnings are  up until 2 a.m. Showers are likely in the morning when winds will be northwest at 10-15 knots before going to west with gusts to 20 in the afternoon.

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First bluefish report

The Fischers not only caught stripers in the river yesterday from their boat in Highlands, but also added the first two bluefish I’ve heard of so far. Phil said they caught at least 20 stripers up a 15-pounder.

I didn’t have to wait for any fishing reports today, as it’s been blowing and raining all the time.  The lone positive has been the lack, so far, of the thunderstorms and a possible tornado that were also forecast. Winds did get up to about 70 mph off Atlantic City.

Storm warnings should come down at 6 p.m., and winds will turn to west with gusts to 30 knots after midnight before dropping to northwest at  10-15 knots plus gusts to 25 in the morning. That should start calming the 10-to-15-foot waves down a bit.

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Batten down the hatches!

A storm warning has been posted for Monday, and south winds are already predicted to gust to 30 knots this afternoon before blowing at 30-40 knots in the morning plus gusts to 50 and 10-15-foot seas.  The marine forecast is only for showers, but land-based forecasts are predicting heavy morning rain along with thunderstorms. The winds are supposed to drop to 10-15 knots in the afternoon.  A perfect day for social distancing!