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Canyon Runner Seminar coming up on Feb. 2

The annual Canyon Runner Seminar is coming up on Feb. 2 in Atlantic City. Only 50 tickets were left last week, and there may not be much time before the seminar is sold out. I’ve attended a couple of these events and consider them to be a must for offshore anglers. For details and reservations all Adam La Rosa at 732 842-6825. If you want to get in on the best tuna fishing of the year, also get details on the Canyon Runner winter trips in North Carolina — where multiple strikes from giant and medium bluefins are routine. Last week they only had three dates left in February and seven in March.

Small craft advisories for northeast gusts to 30 knots are going up at 2 p.m. and into late Monday. However, it looks fishable again on Tuesday with northwest winds of 10-15 knots.

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Nice day, but tog didn’t cooperate

As noted in last night’s blog, the ocean was calm today. Yet, the Ocean Explorer from Belmar reported a poor blackfish bite despite perfect conditions. Almost all of the tog caught were shorts as the high hook only had two keepers. That boat is cancelling for Sunday due to northeast winds, and looking at Tuesday as the next possibility.

Actually,  the marine forecast  improved since yesterday with only 5-10 knot NE winds predicted early Sunday before increasing to 10-15 with gusts to 20 in the afternoon. It’s pretty much the opposite for Monday with NE 15-20 early diminishing to 10-15 in the afternoon. There may be some light snow Sunday, especially in Ocean County.

The Garden State Outdoor Sports Show concludes Sunday at the N.J. Convention Center in Edison. Visit GSOSS.com for details.

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Bowden releases a 60+pound striper in Virginia

Chuck Many often makes the long drive from northern N.J. to Virginia in mid-winter to wait out a striped bass bite that may not come — but if it does will be from a very big bass.

That was the case this week when Bob Bowden and Mike Greene joined him to fish with Neil Lessard on his Top Dog from Cape Charles. Many was hoping to get Bowden his first “50”, but it turned out that their only bite trolling a live eel off Chesapeake Bay was from a 54.5-incher that buried Many’s certified Boga Grip 60-pound scale. That area is closed to harvest at this time, though Many releases every striper caught anywhere in any case. Though quite a few 50-pounders have been caught on his Ty Man over the years, this was the first 60 on one of his trips.

61-lb bass Bob Bowden with his striper of a lifetime before release

The Garden State Outdoor Sports Show opened today at N.J. Convention Center in Edison. Capt. Jim Freda will be presenting a video of bluefin tuna being caught on poppers at the inshore grounds off Manasquan Inlet at 5 p.m. today in the main ballroom — and again at that time on Saturday. For info on the show visit GSOSS.com

Joe Melillo reports from Castaways Tackle in Point Pleasant that he’s had some reports of small stripers in the Belmar surf, and of blackfish in Manasquan Inlet.

Gale warnings for NW winds up to 40 knots through today will come down as the winds diminish to 20-25 knots in the morning — and then to 15-20 by afternoon. Saturday continues to look good with NW at 5-10 knots. Sunday’s forecast is for NE at 10-15 knots, though light snow is possible.

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Gale warnings up through Thursday afternoon

Gale warnings for northwest winds up to 40 knots are up through Thursday afternoon, but Saturday looks great with just 5-10 knots northwest.

The Mimi VI from Point Pleasant is sold out for Friday’s Special blackfish trip which is limited to 12 anglers. Regular 7 a.m. blackfish trips at $75 resume Monday and through January. Call 732 370-8019 for reservations.

 

curt cubera  Kurt Hoefig of Clinton, N.J. was casting a topwater plug in Puerto Rico when he caught this colorful fish. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to identify without sun on the fish. It looks a lot like a cubera snapper. However, while the Pacific cubera is very aggressive on lures and will even jump out of the water to crash on them, the Atlantic cubera is a bottom feeder that rarely hits lures. I did catch one many years ago while casting a MirrOlure at night in a river mouth for snook and tarpon along the coast of Honduras.  Any other opinions on what it might be? Contact me at cristori@aol.com.

Sorry about the first few letters of the Garden State Outdoor Show not coming out in the title of last night’s blog. That show opens tomorrow in Edison. Visit GSOS.com for details.

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den State Outdoor Sports Show from Jan. 10-13 in Edison

The Garden State Outdoor Sports Show will be running from Jan. 10-13 in the N.J.Convention Center, Edison. I didn’t get a press release from that show, but details are available at GSOSS.com.

Small craft advisories for west winds gusting to 30 knots will go up after midnight. Tomorrow morning the west winds are forecast to be west at 25-30 with gusts to 40. It goes to NW on Thursday at 20-25 with gusts to 35. Thus, the Big Mohawk at Belmar won’t be sailing for blackfish until Friday. The Ocean Explorer reported that the tog were very aggressive Monday and limits were common.

 

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Weather keeps changing

If you don’t like the weather now, just wait a while and it will change. There will be a complete shift from north winds to south in the morning at 10-15 knots with gusts to 20 — and likely rain. It wings to SW in the afternoon at 10-15 before gusting to 30. The clearing west wind Wednesday starts at 20-25 but gusts to 35.

Mimi VI from Point Pleasant will be looking for blackfish like this during Friday’s special trip that was noted in yesterday’s blog.

mimi tog

The Big Jamaica from Brielle will be making Saturday 2 a.m. trips to offshore wrecks filling up with jumbo porgies along with a shot at cod and pollock. Call 732 528-5014 for reservations.

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Diminishing winds on Monday

The gale warning for NW winds is coming down at 1 a.m. and the forecast is for north winds around 15 knots by dawn. They will diminish to a light northeast by afternoon,

The Big Mohawk from Bejmar got in a blackfish trip as the hard NW held off to the afternoon, They picked away on a number of drops, and had some limits with tog up to 7 pounds — and will sail at 7 a.m.

The Mimi VI will run a special tog trip out of Pt. Pleasant o Friday. Whitelegger crabs will be provided in addition to greens on that $120 trip. Call 732 370-8019 for details and reservations.  Regular 7 a.m. trips at $75 will be run from Monday to Thursday and on Sunday.

Jerry Lasko tried the IBSP surf yesterday morning with no results, but Grumpy’s Tackle in IBSP had reports of some bass hitting shads and Tsunami eels.

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Hard NW on Sunday should calm ocean

Today was miserable, but there will be a big change tomorrow. The present small craft warnings will increase to a gale advisory for northwest winds. There may only be 15 knot winds in the morning, and the Big Mohawk from Belmar will be sailing for tog at 6:30.  It’s not until the afternoon that gusts to 35 are predicted.

That wind should calm the ocean and clean the surf to set up possible surf striper conditions on Monday.

 

Capt. Vinny Vetere passed along the sad news that one of his most skilled striper customers, Mark Wallace, has passed away after a stroke. He was a customer on Katfish from Great Kills right from the start, and was very popular with other anglers.

 

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Huge blackfish caught by Dante Soriente

21-lb tog - dante sorrientoDante Soriente has been trying to catch a huge blackfish on his Magictail jigs, and he did so on Jan. 2 while fishing with Paul Naertel of the JCAA on his boat out of Barnegat Inlet.  First he caught a 14 1/2-pounder which he released. Next was a much bigger tog that was weighed at Fisherman’s Headquarters in Ship Bottom at a massive 20.96 pounds. He was going to release that one also, but Haertel talked him into keeping the tog of a lifetime for mounting. It was taken on a Magictail Glow White Legger jig. Haertel caught an 11.5-pounder.

After another nice day, we’re in for a northeast blow tomorrow. The morning forecast is for NE 15-20 knots with gusts to 30. A clearing northwest on Sunday will blow at the same speeds.

Jerry Lasko and Maren Toleno fished dusk at Bay Head. They had some life there the previous evening as Maren caught a striper and there were herring flashing in the surf. However, there was no sign of anything this evening.

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Modern Fish Act signed by President Trump

The following release details the victory by sportfishing groups after President Trump  signed the Modern Fish Act which they worked hard to get through Congress.

Please go down through the boxes I couldn’t delete before starting the release

President Trump Signs the Modern Fish Act

Washington, D.C. – January 2, 2019 – The recreational fishing and boating community is celebrating the enactment of the Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act of 2018 (Modern Fish Act), which was signed into law by President Trump December 31. The Modern Fish Act finally recognizes in federal law the differences between recreational and commercial fishing and adds more appropriate management tools for policymakers to use in managing federal recreational fisheries.
 
“Millions of American families take part in saltwater recreational fishing and boating activities and support multi-billion dollar industries that generate hundreds of thousands of jobs in our country,” said Jeff Angers, president of the Center for Sportfishing Policy. “Today, we are thankful for this important milestone for federal fisheries management and marine conservation, and we look forward to continuing to improve public access to our nation’s healthy fisheries.”
 
The Modern Fish Act, introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman Garret Graves (R-La.), enjoyed strong bipartisan support from a long list of cosponsors representing coastal and non-coastal states alike. On December 17, the Senate unanimously passed the Modern Fish Act (S. 1520) followed by overwhelming approval in the House (350-11) on December 19.
 
“This is historic for the recreational boating and fishing community, capping years of hard work to responsibly modernize recreational saltwater fisheries management,” said Thom Dammrich, president of the National Marine Manufacturers Association. “The Modern Fish Act is a critical first-step solution towards establishing a framework for expanding access to recreational saltwater fishing, while ensuring conservation and sustainability remain top priorities in fisheries management. We thank President Trump and Congress for making the Modern Fish Act the law of the land and look forward to working with them in the coming years to advance policies that protect and promote recreational saltwater fishing.”
 
“The recreational fishing industry is grateful to see this legislation enacted,” said Glenn Hughes, president of the American Sportfishing Association. “We look forward to continuing to work with Congress, as well as NOAA Fisheries and the regional fishery management councils, to improve the management and conservation of our marine fisheries.” 
 
“The Modern Fish Act signed by the President provides an opportunity for significant, positive change on behalf of millions of recreational anglers who enjoy fishing in federal waters,” said Jeff Crane, president of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation. “We look forward to working with NOAA Fisheries, the regional fishery management councils and the states to fully implement the provisions of the bill and improve federal fisheries management for America’s saltwater anglers.”
 
“CCA is proud to be a part of this important coalition, and we are grateful to our champions in Congress who stood by us during the intense, sometimes contentious negotiations on this legislation,” said Patrick Murray, president of Coastal Conservation Association. “There is still work to be done, but this is a valuable first step. We are hopeful this opens the door to an ongoing discussion of tools and processes that can be developed to better manage recreational fisheries in federal waters in all regions of the United States.”
 
“This bill becoming law is the most significant step forward in federal recreational saltwater fishing management in the forty-plus years of the Magnuson-Stevens Act,” said Whit Fosburgh, president of Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “Recreational fishermen, conservationists and businesses united around a set of principles and worked together to get this bill passed and we will continue to work together on priorities like forage fish management and improving data collection in the future.” 
 
The recreational fishing and boating community would like to thank the sponsors of the Modern Fish Act, Senator Wicker and Congressman Graves, who led this bipartisan effort in the 115th Congress to improve federal fisheries management for America’s 11 million saltwater anglers. We also appreciate the support of Senators Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Doug Jones (D-Ala.), and Congressmen Steve Scalise (R-La.), Rob Bishop (R-Utah), Marc Veasey (D-Texas), Rob Wittman (R-Va.), Gene Green (D-Texas), Daniel Webster (R-Fla.), and Austin Scott (R-Ga.).
 
For details on House and Senate passage of the Modern Fish Act and additional industry perspectives, please visit http://www.sportfishingpolicy.com/media-room/u-s-house-passes-modern-fish-act/. 
 
The Modern Fish Act will provide more stability and better access for anglers by:

  • Providing authority and direction to NOAA Fisheries to apply additional management tools more appropriate for recreational fishing, many of which are successfully implemented by state fisheries agencies (e.g., extraction rates, fishing mortality targets, harvest control rules, or traditional or cultural practices of native communities);
  • Improving recreational harvest data collection by requiring federal managers to explore other data sources that have tremendous potential to improve the accuracy and timeliness of harvest estimates, such as state-driven programs and electronic reporting (e.g., through smartphone apps);
  • Requiring the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study on the process of mixed-use fishery allocation review by the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Regional Fishery Management Councils and report findings to Congress within one year of enactment of the Modern Fish Act, and
  • Requiring the National Academies of Sciences to complete a study and provide recommendations within two years of the enactment of the Modern Fish Act on limited access privilege programs (catch shares) including an assessment of the social, economic, and ecological effects of the program, considering each sector of a mixed-use fishery and related businesses, coastal communities, and the environment and an assessment of any impacts to stakeholders in a mixed-use fishery caused by a limited access privilege program. This study excludes the Pacific and North Pacific Regional Fishery Management Councils.

The coalition of groups supporting the Modern Fish Act includes American Sportfishing Association, Center for Sportfishing Policy, Coastal Conservation Association, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, International Game Fish Association, National Marine Manufacturers Association, Recreational Fishing Alliance, The Billfish Foundation and Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.
 
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