N.J. offshore wind farm delayed

Fisherman magazine editor Jim Hutchinson had the following good news about the offshore wind farm off the N,J, coast:

Breaking News – On May 1, piledriving operations were slated to get underway on the Empire Wind 1 site 16.9 nautical miles east of Long Branch, with 54 wind turbines expected to be driven deep into the seafloor by Equinor (Norway) and British Petroleum (United Kingdom). Thanks to New Jersey congressmen Chris Smith and Jeff VanDrew, that ungodly piledriving will not be happening; not now anyway! I’ll have more to share in my weekly video fishing forecast on Thursday.

********

Hans J. Kaspersetz and five others enjoyed an epic night of tarpon fishing at Big Pine Key under the pink moon this week. They fought over 30 tarpon which were all over 100 pounds — and managed to get Grey tags into four of them.

Capt. Jim Freda was encouraged this week to see striper fishing in NY/NJ Bight stand up even with discolored waters down to 44 degrees. Best of all, those bass were covered with sea lice which proves they are fresh in from the ocean.

*******

A small craft advisory is up through Sunday morning. Saturday’s forecast is for southwest winds at 15-20 knots with gusts to 25.

The earthworms on sidewalks after a rain finally showed this week. and Dave Lilly was sure he’d be able to troll stripers in Raritan Bay. That was quickly confirmed this morning, as Dave joined Rick Martel and Luke Carpenter on a windy and rough trip to the bay shallows only to find 45 degree waters there and no bass hitting where they should be at this time. However, a short move to the depths of the bay provided constant action with 300 feet of wire line deployed.

Those bass were of all sizes from shorts to overs, but he didn’t see much action aboard party boats in the area as the combination of a fast drift in deep waters is a bad condition for jigging.

I’ve been having a problem with getting party boat reports on my computer. but Lilly mentioned this was the first trip for Sea Tiger II out of Atlantic Highlands.

*****

The forecast for that area is an unusual south at just 5-10 knots, but with gusts to 20. In the afternoon it goes to 15-20 plus gusts to 30.

After a slow start in March, the spring striper run in the Raritan Bay area has hit a new peak as the healthy Hudson River stock is feeding heavily prior to the spawning season.

Capt. Frank Masseria reported from his Vitamin Sea a couple of days ago as follows: ‘If you thought yesterdays report was good today blows that away. Nonstop action from the moment we left the dock to the moment we left to come home Todays group of four landed over 80 bass Many over 40 inches the biggest being 45 inches.

Better than this it cannot get. Great job today guys and a big thanks to Capt Derek who worked deck for me. I know his hands have to be sore. He truly made it look easy.”

****** Though we’re coming off a gale warning, the morning forecast is for just 15-20 knot northwest winds dropping to 15 in the afternoon.

Nick Honachefsky has been kicking off his season with released stripers.

It now appears that the spring striped bass run in NY/NJ Bight is well underway despite cold waters. Capt. John Contello of Just Sayin at Keyport had a typical report as follows “Total beatdown today!! The kids fished hard and crushed it. Non stop action all morning with fish up to 39”. Nicholas was high hook with 15 himself! Fun Stuff – We have 5 spots left Friday morning on the 37 Foot Center Console and Easter morning is available on the 37 as well,”

Capt. Frank Massaria had his biggest release so far with a 45-incher from his Vitamin Sea.

Vinny D’Anton says he hasn’t had similar reports from Monmouth County surfcasters who have had few bass so far. He’s still in Sarasota where sea trout casting has remained very good though snook have been scarce — and the weather a lot better!

****

The Bight forecast is for west winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20 in the afternoon.

Shore anglers in North Carolina have been enjoying a most unusual opportunity to catch school bluefin tuna in range of their casts. However, there’s a big problem as it’s illegal to do so. Rules for catching bluefins only apply to boats. and there’s no provision for anglers to buy a permit. Anglers must release any hooked bluefin, and even targeting them is illegal.

This is such an unusual situation that NMFS has simply ignored it in the past, but that could change any day. Considering the few bluefins involved, the logical thing to do is to make rare shore or pier catches legal. A simple reporting requirement could be imposed for those catches of a lifetime.

****

Another good fishing day is coming up in NY/NJ Bight with a forecast of southwest winds at 5-10 knots before gusting to 20 in the afternoon with a small craft warning to late night.

Dave Lilly swears that northern N,J, striper fishing isn’t worth the effort until worms are found on sidewalks after a heavy rain, That finally happened yesterday and he’ll be out there this week trolling bunker spoons and deep-diving plugs as those worms indicate that stripers will be cooperating in waters up to suitable temperatures. That should also be a signal to get party boats involved in the fishery.

The forecast for tomorrow couldn’t be any better — west at 5-10 knots!

Andreas Toy from Perth Amboy reports “Slipped out for a couple hours in the afternoon and got on our best bite of the season. Mostly oversized fish but weeded thru and got some keepers too. The 8.25” @shadlifebaits paddle tails in white and chartreuse did some damage. With fish pouring into the bay it’s lining up to be a great season. “

‘A gale warning continues to 6 p.m. The forecast is for a switch to northwest winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20 and a chance of rain in the morning.

Chuck Many returned from S.C. yesterday. and quickly found the big stripers he specializes in tagging and releasing from his Tyman out of Highlands. Caesar Carranza got one casting, while the big bass then responded to live eels just as they do during the summer.

***** A gale warning goes up this evening into Saturday afternoon. Saturday starts with northeast winds at 20-25 knots plus gusts to 35.

Though some good catches have been made,

a consistent striper bite has been held back by winds and big swells. The A small craft advisory is up for Friday afternoon to evening, followed by a gale warning from then to Saturday afternoon.

Friday starts with east winds at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 25.

Chuck Many is in no rush to get back to N.J. for the early striper bite while he’s enjoying variety sport in Hilton Head, S.C., where he has a choice of working salt ponds or small boat fishing close to shore. The salt ponds are reliable for redfish and many other species, but sharks have eating everything up out front. Nevertheless, Many has been into some bull reds and colorful gag groupers,

*******

The NY/NJ Bight forecast is for southeast winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20.