There was bad news on Facebook today as Capt. Bob Garafano passed away at 85 on Christmas Day. The veteran skipper ran the large group charter boat Catherine II, which was the largest of that category in Belmar when I moved to the Shore. The funeral will be held Friday at St. Innocent’s church in Neptune at 10:30.
Captain Bob Garafano’s “CATHERINE II” from Belmar, NJ circa 1993. She was built in 1988 by Panhandle Custom Marine at Panama City, FL and was the largest charter fishing boat in the Belmar, NJ fleet. Mel Deak photo
The weather looks good for the last jumbo sea bass trips to far offshore wrecks before that season closes. Southwest winds at 10-15 knots are predicted for tomorrow. The Golden Eagle from Belmar and the Paramount from Brielle have 7 p.m. Friday trips by reservation to fish on wrecks showing up on fishfinders as illustrated below:
Party boats are making their last trips to far offshore wrecks before the sea bass season closes.
The Paramount from Brielle has openings on Dec. 29and 30 trips that depart at 7 p.m. Call 732 528-5014 for required reservations. The Jamaica had limits of both sea bass and weakfish on this week’s trip along with plenty of scup.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar makes their final trip of the season to those sea bass wrecks on Dec. 30 at 7 p.m. The last trip produced limits of sea bass and weakfish as well as lots of porgies.
The forecast for the week features favorable west winds. Tomorrow starts with southwest winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20 with 2-3-foot seas.
The weather was right, and Jerry Lasko saw birds working over bait in the Ocean County, N.J. surf, but he and Maren Toleno haven’t had a bite during the last two afternoons. Though the ocean conditions were fine, Barnegat Bay is already frozen over.
The forecast remains good with west winds at 10-15 knots tomorrow plus 2-4-foot seas.
Mike Monte won’t be casting into the NJ surf until the morning, but he took a look at it this afternoon and found it to be flat calm.
That should be the same condition in the morning as the forecast is for west winds at just 10-15 knots with 2-3-foot seas. The Big Mohawk from Belmar reported mostly short blackfish this morning, but it should be better tomorrow as the bottom settles from recent swells.
Capt. Clinton Lessard reports from Cape Charles, Va. that he only has two days open for trolling trophy stripers on his SHO NUF — Jan. 1 and 10. Call him at 757 710-0098.
It was 43 degrees yesterday morning in West Palm Beach, and Florida continues to experience its coldest Christmas in 33 years. There’s not much more fishing going on here then to the north, but at least we know it won’t last.
The NY/NJ Bight forecast is for west winds at 15-20 knots tomorrow morning before dropping to 10-15 in the afternoon. That should result in calm seas inshore plus the opportunity to get into the deep water wreck fishing for jumbo sea bass and porgies.
The weather may leave something to be desired, but striper anglers trying to join the ranks of those who have caught a 50-pounder may not have a better chance of doing so than during early winter out of Cape Charles, Virginia. The following report yesterday from Chuck Many illustrates the possibilities as follows:
Big Girls came out to play!! 3 over 50 (55, 54, 51) and a few real close. Smallest of the day went just over 40 pounds. Great day on SHO NUF Sportfishing with Captain Clinton Lessard, Wesley Rose, & Joseph Eller!!
Lessard has some openings in January. Call 757-710-0098.
+Though the weather has been brutal, west winds will settle the ocean and possibly provide fishable conditions during the week.
Merry Christmas and a fishy New Year!
212Alberto Knie, Nick Honachefsky and 210 others
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ActiveJim Hutchinson Jr.Keep an eye out for our tagged fish named Berkeley – she’s gotta be there somewhere!
Write a comment…Chuck Tyman Manny · Awesome day with Clint Gray & Clint’s Striper Guide Service!!! Close again with fish to 58 pounds. Union Hall, VA · A bumpy start to the day was an understatement. Me and Chuck Tyman Manny beat our way out through the chop and it paid. 3 for 4 today with a big behemoth 58lb slob. Congrats Chuck on some beautiful fish. Heading home for Christmas tomorrow and I’ll be back at it next week. I still have a few January dates available to chase these trophy fish. Call 540-493-9660. Write a comment…Lori Rose · 0:43Water looks fairly calmLikeReply1wView 4 more comments
Sorry about the problem with publishing as I’ve found that my last two blogs didn’t go out. That was unfortunate as Jerry Lasko reported a very late blitz of school stripers in the Ocean County surf the last two afternoons. The mornings were duds despite peanut bunkers being present, but there was plenty of bird life in the afternoons with bass in the 24-inch class. Maren Toleno released 14 and Jerry had five this afternoon. Rick Murphy also found a 30-incher among them yesterday. See photo below.
Unfortunately, the water temperature has dropped to 43 degrees — and that fishing may not survive the bad weather coming.
A gale warning is posted from 7 p.m. through late Friday. The morning forecast is for south winds at 25-30 knots with gusts before going southwest at 30-35 plus higher gusts and rain in the afternoon.
Party boats have been having a hard time getting in their offshore giant sea bass trips, but there may be some windows of better weather coming up. The Jamaica from Brielle had limits of sea bass plus many porgies on this week’s trip. Bill Itkin of Tuxedo Park , NY won the pool with a 10-pound pollock that beat a 6-pound sea bass. The Jamaica has spots available on several upcoming trips. Call 732 528-5014 for required reservations.
Though smaller tog dominated today in a strong current, The Big Mohawk from Belmar came up with a real trophy on Monday when a few in the 7-10-pound class were also caught.
The forecast is fine for Wednesday with north winds at 5-10 knots before a gale watch goes up Thursday evening through late Friday.
Mike Monte has been shut out on school stripers the last two mornings in Monmouth County despite an abundance of loons feeding on sand eels.
With striped bass fishing winding down, and blackfish limits low, large party boats are turning to the to the big catches of large sea bass and porgies available on far offshore wrecks. Limit catches are routine, and several other species often provide variety.
At Brielle, the Jamaica has room on the 10 p.m. Wednesday trip — and has added another for the following Wednesday. The Paramount sails to those deep water wrecks at 9 p.m. Tuesday. Call 732 528-5014 for the required reservations.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar has spots available on Tuesday’s sea bass trip at 7 p.m.
A small craft advisory is up through Tuesday morning. The morning forecast is for northwest winds at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 25 knots before dropping to 10-15 knots in the afternoon. Wednesday sounds ideal with 5-10-knot north winds.
Jerry Lasko said there was some small striper action in the Ocean County surf this morning as he released four and Maren Toleno added two.
Though the hot surfcasting may be over, there’s still some smaller stripers in the NJ surf with enough sand eels to hold them until water temperatures plunge.
Mike Monte had loons picking on sand eels in front of him this morning in the Monmouth County surf. He released a couple of bass in the 24-25-inch class and lost another while casting the 6-inch Tsunami Sand Eel into perfect surf conditions.
Jerry Lasko said there was no life in the Ocean County surf this morning, but he and Maren Toleno released a few in the 24-inch class in the afternoon. Herring were spotted shining in the surf at dusk, though the bite shut off at dark.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar wrapped up its striper season, but has room on its Dec. 20 offshore sea bass trip.
Small craft warnings are up from 7:30 p.m. to Monday morning. The forecast is for west winds at 15-20 knots with gusts to 25 in the morning
Tight Lines 