In a surprising move, N.J. Governor Phillip Murphy has replaced Tom Fote as the state’s governor’s appointee to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) with a lobbyist, Jeffry Kaelan, for Lund’s Fisheries in Cape May.

Fote has been serving in that voluntary position under governors of both parties almost continuously since 1990. He was in a position to provide the huge amount of time involved because he’s a disabled Vietnam veteran living on a pension that doesn’t permit any other working income. As a longtime officer of the Jersey Coast Anglers Association, he’s been involved with fisheries conservation issues for decades. Furthermore, his long tenure at the ASMFC put N.J. in a strong position within the association as “knowing where the bodies are buried” is often the difference between success and failure during fisheries debates.

Worst of all, Fote’s replacement isn’t another strong conservationist, but rather a man on the pay roll of a powerful commercial fishing business. Kaelin would be well qualified to serve as the state’s commercial member on the delegation — but not as one representing the public,

Gov. Murphy had signaled his attitude toward marine conservation when he selected the Speaker of the Assembly to run with him as Lt. Governor after she had left no doubt where her interests where when she wouldn’t allow a bipartisan bill to prevent commercial gear on inshore reefs to be voted on despite the bill having more than enough sponsors to easily pass.

The forecast is for northwest winds at just 10-15 knots.

At Belmar, the Capt. Cal 2 starts blackfisihing daily at 7:30 Saturday. An Easter morning trip will be run from 6:30 to 12. Capt. Matt Sosnowski has been added to the crew of tog pros.

Miss Belmar Princess will be seeking stripers daily at 7:30 Saturday.

The Golden Eagle will be bottom fishing while hoping to find stripers as they did Sunday — though those bass wouldn’t hit.

The Misty Morn from Morgan gets started with a 7 a.m. trip for stripers on Saturday .

At Brielle, the Paramount will be running for tog and cod at 6:30 Saturday.

The Vitamin Sea from Keyport had bass up to 42.5 inches Wednesday, and may have open boat spots Friday and Saturday afternoons plus Easter morning.

Fisher Price IV from Highlands had a problem finding bass in low visibility until their screen lit up!

Will Hoffman released his largest striper so far this season– a 40-incher.

Raritan Bay water temperatures are finally warming up, and the already great striped bass bite seems to be getting even better.

That’s the consensus from many reports, and Capt. John Contello summed it up on his Just Sayin boats as follows:

*Next Open Boat Sunday Easter morning (Back by Noon)* Private charter availability text 732-670-1919

The fishing could not be any better this morning! As good as it gets eating everything we put in the water! Both boats filled the boxes quick and played catch and release all morning with several fish in the 40” class!! These fish are here and fired up!

Chuck Many concentrated on looking for big bass yesterday with his Tyman from Highlands — and as is usually the case that’s exactly what his crew did.

Capt. Vinny Vetere has plenty of time to get ready for the N.Y. season, but did some exploring yesterday with his Katfish from Great Kills and released a 42-pounder on a live bunker.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar will be running a bottom fishing trip at 7:30 a.m. — unless they come across stripers in the ocean. Also at Belmar, both the Big Mohawk and Ocean Explorer have been finding a lively bottom bite with some keeper blackfish plus lots of shorts and a few cod.

A dense fog warning is up until 6 p,m. — followed by a small craft advisory to Thursday afternoon. The forecast is for south winds at 10-15 knots with gusts to 20, There may be afternoon showers or even a thunderstorm.

It was only yesterday that during a casual conversation with a fishing friend that I became aware that famed outdoor writer Milt Rosko had passed away at 93 last November.

Born and raised in Newark, Milt attended West Side H.S., but lived most of his life in Watchung. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1951, raising to sergeant before getting into the business world as Operations Manager of Annheuser-Busch.

Outdoor writing was strictly a sideline at that time as the compensation was minimal despite the fact that magazines wanted good black and white photos which Milt was able to supply as he had the finest camera equipment at the time. That photography was also vital in producing angling books, and he ended up with 10 published books.

The Rod & Gun Editors of Metropolitan N.Y. were a pretty exclusive organization composed of the newspaper outdoor editors plus the editors of major outdoor magazines , but Milt’s pioneering work earned him a membership. He was just as enthusiastic about writing up night whiting fishing from the old Long Branch Pier as in detailing the new canyon fisheries for tilefish and game fish which anglers weren’t even aware of a few years earlier. Milt did quite a bit of pioneering himself with the Linda June which they even sailed to North Carolina’s Outer Banks one summer.

Milt also had a summer home in Mantoloking, and particularly enjoyed walking the relatively inaccessible portion to cast small lures for stripers, blues and whatever else might hit them before being released. As always, any angler who sought his advice was educated on the spot. Indeed, it was there where I last saw Milt a few years ago when he seemed to be doing well even though he was older than me.

I frequently hooked up with Milt and June (his wife of 69 years) for car rides to outdoor writer and conservation meetings. It seems like just a few years ago that the Fisherman’s Conservation Association of Staten Island arranged a party to present both Milt and I with their Lifetime Achievement Award.

Though Milt is now fishing heavenly waters surely teeming with fish, everyone who ever encountered him was left with positive memories of a man who worked hard to provide good fisheries for the future and who never passed up an opportunity to help others enjoy success in an often frustrating sport.

The forecast is for east winds at just 5-10 knots before increasing to 10-15 plus gusts to 20 in the afternoon.

The Manhattan Cup will be run this year on June 9 with no significant changes from last year.

Anyone wishing to enter their boat or participate individually in this contest for the benefit of wounded veterans should give Gary Caputi a call at 732 740-9982 or e-mail caputifish@gmail.com.

A small craft warning will come down tonight. There’s a strange forecast for the morning with a south wind at only 5-10 knots — but with gusts to 20. That changes to 10-15 knots in the afternoon.

Andreas Toy from Perth Amboy reported Sunday’s open trip started slowly, but improved as the wind flopped out. The high hook jigged 16 bass, and about 25 stripers received Gray tags — bringing them up to over 70 so far. They are open on April 5. Call 732 672-1561 for info.

Fisherman’s Headquarters on Long Beach Island sent this photo of Kory Fishbein with a 46-inch striper caught on bloodworms in the Delaware River before release.

As noted in this blog, it’s often possible to fish “under the beach” in northwest winds as the hills along the N,J. Shore create a calm inshore area. That’s what the Ocean Explorer from Belmar did today, and they had decent tautog fishing in good conditions. Before the day was over that had a fare with three keepers while there was also short action and a few cod.

Monday’s forecast is for south winds at 10-15 knots with gusts to 20 before increasing to 15-20 plus gusts to 30 in the afternoon.

Capt. Jim Freda reported good striper action from his Shore Catch last week, including some big releases such as the one shown that sports the big belly full of roe to be shed later in the month in the Hudson River.

Based on the fishing just before the wind machine took over, there should be a return to hot Raritan Bay striper action as soon as boaters can get to them. The gale warning comes down tonight, though Sunday’s forecast is still for northwest at 25-30 knots before dropping to 10-15 in the afternoon.

Capt. Frank Massaria cancelled through Sunday, but said it was pretty much like all you wanted Friday on his Vitamin Sea from Keyport. There were three and four bass on at a time, with the largest at 38 inches.

Fisher Price VI from Highlands had a similar report with as many as six bass on at a time. Their largest was 35 inches.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar is going to begin their daily schedule with a 7:30 bottom fishing trip in the morning.

George Poveromo is running encores of his saltwater TV show on Discovery at 6:30 a.m. A presentation of the National Seminar Series follows at 9.

Famed marine artist Carey Chen posted an account of the great fishing for giant blue marlin at the Ivory Coast in Africa:

Abidjan did not disappoint neither did Stephane Millez we fished 8 days raised 17 fish. Caught my personal best 600 stand up 800 and 900. Last day today epic we hooked 5 fish got one small then a 800 and 550 the rest that got off were big. Stephane said the fish were not hungry most all were bill hooked and we lost a lot. The 900 i released jumped once and was bill hooked Alex the mate wired it at the transom said it made the mark and was way bigger than the 800 we will leave…

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Today’s small craft advisory changes to a gale warning for Saturday with northwest winds at 25-30 knots plus gusts to 35.

Though April 1 is the start of the NJ spring tautog season, the gale forecast will cut into participation. Actually, it’s possible to fish structure along the N.J. Shore that’s very close to the beach as the hills provide protection from a northwest wind. The season runs through 4/30 with a bag limit of four at a 15-inch minimum.

The Reel Seat in Brielle is running an open house at their expanded operation from 9 to 4 today. Refreshments and door prizes are provided. The address is 707 Union Ave.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar will begin their daily schedule Sunday with bottom fishing for cod, ling and blackfish while keeping an eye peeled for signs of stripers. The Ocean Explore rran into a very early showing of ocean stripers, but there’s been no trace of them out front since then.

Raritan Bay striper fishing continues to improve. Andreas Toy from Perth Amboy Got into good jigging with shads for John Welsh and his sons John, Jason and Frank before they switched to spoons for bigger bass up to a 49-inch release.

Capt. Nick Stanczyk was trolling on his Broad Minded out of Bud’N Mary’s Marina in Islamorada during Jimmy Johnson’s Sailfish Tournament when this wahoo became one of the winners. (see photo at bottom)

The Marilyn Jean from Sheepshead Bay ran a cod trip this week during which five fares caught 15, including 10 keepers.

The American Saltwater Guides Association monitored the ASMFC Striped Bass Technical Committee meeting today, and reported that striper removals in 2022 reduced the probability of rebuilding the stock by 83 to 86 percent. This may not result in any near-term regulation changes, but will become a factor in long term planning.

Larger stripers are becoming more common in Raritan Bay charter catches. Andreas Toy from Perth Amboy reported a hot bite of in the dark this morning that died out when the sun came up, They then picked the rest of the trip and had a 43-inch release.

Fisher Price IV from Highlands had another busy day of casting for bass which ranged up to 35 inches.

The Jamaica from Brielle will start sailing for stripers at 6:30 a.m. April 2, 4 and 5.

Friday’s forecast is for southwest winds at 10-15 knots, but that wind will gust up to 40 knots on Saturday.

Capt. Hans Kaspersetz is enjoying tagging sailfish in Guatemala while also hooking into big dorado (dolphin).

It wasn’t many years ago that anglers would just be starting to think about buying a bag of clams to see if there were any school stripers active in Raritan Bay. Now those fish have become established long before the month is out on live bait — with only lures required for good catches.

Capt. Frank Massaria said they were a bit tricky at first yesterday, but his party on Vitaman Sea from Keyport limited up to an almost 40-incher. He’s open next week on Monday and Wednesday.

At Highlands, Fisher Price IV got started with a steady bite yesterday that included one near 30 pounds. They may have an open spot Thursday morning.

Capt. John Contello said both of his Just Sayin boats had full striper limits and a few releases as yesterday’s jigging was steady for 26-36-inch bass.

A pleasant surprise at Fisherman’s Den on Long Beach Island was the weekend catch of a 2.35-pound winter flounder by Brandy Hillgrass. That almost 18-incher was caught on bloodworms while fishing in the back country for stripers.

A small craft advisory is up through Thursday morning when a northwest wind at 20-25 knots will start flattening the ocean before dropping to 10-15 in the afternoon.

After having conquered the worlds of striped bass fishing from New England and Virginia to Tennessee, plus red drum in South Carolina, Chuck Many finally expanded his horizons to Central America by heading a group to Pesca Panama.

An entirely different range of species and conditions awaited him at that mothership operation based around Isla Coiba, but there was no learning process involved before new species personal records were being set

The colorful roosterfish was accounted for quickly as the group cast popping plugs and the Yo-Zuri Hydro Minnow into rocky areas. Chuck’s first shows off the cockscomb dorsal fin. Seeing those fins cutting through the water behind your plug is one of the great thrills in fishing!

Dave Glassberg shows off the dentures of a cubera snapper, a species which seems to be making a comeback with an all-release policy in place for a species which is excellent eating at any size. Chuck also got his share of those great fighting fish, but they didn’t provide the leaping strikes that were common in the past. The most thrilling sights I’ve seen in fishing was watching what appeared to be a stocky bottom fish leap several feet in the air to crash down on a popper before often cutting me off in bottom almost instantly. Many plugs were lost in order to catch a few cubaras. When they missed the plug, there was a boom as if a garage door had been dropped into the water.

Chuck with cubara. Unfortunately, he didn’t encounter the Pesca Panama cubera I released there in 2018 – and which is shown at the top of my blog. By formula, that one weighed 73.58 pounds, just a few pounds short of the IGFA world record — and only a few centimeters shy of the IGFA length mark.

For Pesca Panama info call 507 661-5850.

The NY/NJ Bight forecast is for north winds at 10-15 knots before going southwest at 5-10 in the afternoon.