When Dave Lilly attempted to renew his N.J. Saltwater Fishing Registry, he was shocked to find that he no longer existed as far as N.J. Fish & Wildlife is concerned. Following up, he found the following info: “New for 2024: Beginning December 15th, Saltwater Registrations for 2024 can be obtained and reprinted online at http://NJFishandWildlife.com/licensesalessite.htm , where all other Fish and Wildlife licenses and permits are available. The licensing system can also be accessed by visiting our regular website at NJFishandWildlife.com.

The previous Saltwater Registry system (2011-2023) has been replaced. Old Saltwater Registry accounts are now void. Unless you have had a freshwater fishing, crabbing or hunting license or any other NJFW license/permit, you will need to create a new profile (account) within the NJ Fish & Wildlife licensing system. You will be issued a CID #, which will replace your old Registration #.”

The Wildwood Fishing & Boating Expo runs at the Wildwood Convention Center during the next two days.

A gale watch is up from Saturday evening to Sunday night.

The Saturday forecast is for north winds at just 5-10 knots before increasing to 15-20 knots plus gusts to 25 in the afternoon. Rain may change to snow, and east gusts up to 40 knots are expected at night.

Capt. Monty Hawkins of Morning Star in Ocean City had the following interesting observations in a post this morning:”

“Many an old timer saw marlin move from far inshore then 50 more miles off to the canyons just in their lifetimes. Jack Kaeufer, Irv Mumford, Darrel Notingham, and Jim Whaley, (all resting in peace) for instance, all told me tales of marlin far inshore of Jackspot – at 20 miles SE of OC, that’s the shoal that made us ‘the white marlin capitol of the world’..

Mr. Irv even told me his father worked surf launched boats before the inlet was cut – they hated marlin! Bluefish gear of the era couldn’t handle them. And what? Two miles out?

I’d long noted the decline in water quality as WHY marlin abandoned their inshore feeding grounds.”

A winter El Nino storm is predicted across the country. A small craft advisory is up from this afternoon to late night .

A good time for better dreams. A black marlin jumping off Tropic Star Lodge in Panama, Photo by Hannes Ribbner.

Tomorrow starts well with northwest winds at 10-15 knots, but that increases to20-25 plus gusts to 30 in the afternoon. There’s a chance of snow and showers.

A small craft advisory will be posted from Thursday afternoon to late night.

Joe Tomaszewski recently caught this 30-inch, 16.7-pound tautog for a new personal record. It was caught on a wreck in 90 feet. He tried releasing his prize, but it didn’t make it.

An air temperature of 55 degrees is a mild one during the winter in NY/NJ Bight. but in Florida the residents are reluctant to open the front door to such a “deep freeze” Yet, my son-in-law Luis Gonzalez and I drove from Palm Beach Gardens on Saturday to Hutchinson Island to fish with my nephew, Bob Correll, on his new 34-foot Sea Vee center console for the Spanish mackerel which Bruce Hrobak had told us were biting off the mouth of St. Lucie Inlet. Hrobak was the former owner of Jersey Shore Tackle before moving south to run Billy Bones tackle shops in Stuart and Port St. Lucie.

There were boats in the area when we arrived, but nothing was being caught even though the water was still at 68 degrees. Bob ran out to the reef to get some sure action dropping squid to bottom, though that only produced mostly large blue runners before we ran back inside to see some Spanish being caught. It wasn’t every-cast action often experienced with that species. but we chummed with ground bunker and glass minnows while casting small lures on light spinning tackle to catch eight that were all relatively large — up to 24 inches. That was mre than enough for a great fish dinner expertly prepared by Luis. Surprisingly, it still wasn’t hot when we returned near noon

Ric Gross of Point Pleasant had a better report as he fished Friday out of Boynton Beach with his grandson Finn on Phishunt Charters for a good variety of little tunny, king mackerel and snappers on a calm. 78-degree ocean. They mostly drifted baits in 50 to 100 feet.

The forecast is for a modest 10-15 knot northwest wind tomorrow.

Capt. Joe Massa made a final trip of the season from Morgan Marina with his My Three Sons as he and Bobby Glynn fished down the beach for a decent pick of blackfish. Massa said the fall-winter blackfishing has been tougher than usual. and it didn’t help that most of his supply of whitelegger crabs was killed off by heavy rains at the marina.

Bobby Glynn with a 7-pounder to top the catch.

The forecast looks good with northwest winds at 10-15 knots.

Though NJ ocean waters remain open for stripers all year, inshore waters are closed for that species as of the New Year.

Monday’s forecast is for northwest winds at 5-10 knots before shifting to north in the afternoon. There’s a slight chance of showers.

Here’s wishing you a Fishy New Year!

The New Jersey Bonus Striped Bass Program ends at 12:00 a.m. Jan. 1. That program only applies to N.J. and was derived from the old commercial quota which is not used in that game fish state.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar concludes party boat fishing for stripers with Sunday’s 6:30 trip.

A small craft advisory is up to late tonight, but by the morning the forecast is for west winds at just 10-15 knots.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar was striper fishing today and reported as follows:

12/29/2023

“The weather was gorgeous today and it was a fine day of STRIPER fishing with SHORTS, KEEPERS and OVERS. There were enough fish out there to be exciting!“
That was to be the last day, but their customers asked for one more day which will be Sunday at 6:30 from Belmar.

Mike Monte had good news from the Monmouth County surf this morning before returning to Nantucket. He heard from Two-Pole Mike who caught three decent-sized stripers and saw a few others taken despite a rough surf.

A small craft advisory is up through late Saturday night. However, the forecast is for west winds at just 10-15 knots on Sunday.

The North Carolina little tunny run is still underway, and Santa Claus (Capt. Jake Jordan} even got in on it

The Golden Eagle from Belmar will run its final striper trip of a very long season at 7:30 a.m. Friday.

The report on their offshore wreck trip follows: “We had a respectable catch on today’s Offshore Giant Sea Bass Trip with some nice 6 to 7lb. SEA BASS along with PORGIES and several WEAKFISH!“

A A small craft advisory is up until late tonight. By morning, the forecast is for southwest winds at just 5-10 knots with a slight chance of rain.

Mike Monte reported surf conditions were perfect. but there wasn’t a bump in the Monmouth County surf for him and “Two-Pole” Mike even though loons were diving on abundant sand eels. However, Mike did hear that there was a bite of decent-sized stripers further south at Lavallette the day before.

The forecast is for east winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20 and likely rain — especially in the morning.

Brielle dentist Dr. Pat Donelly and his crew had a good recent trip of both stripers and tog recently.