In addition to the regulations on recreational fishing in New Jersey which were featured in yesterday’s blog, that state has also adopted the ASMFC prohibition on the use of gaffs while striped bass fishing. Almost everyone has adopted the use of large nets which permit bass to be checked for keeper size without harming them. Even without a large net, it’s possible and even preferable to lean over the side and grip the jaw to accomplish the same purpose. In most cases, the bass can be released without even taking it out of the water to ensure its best long term survival chances.
A small craft warning is posted until 10 p.m. for north gusts to 30 knots. That drops to north 10-15 with gusts to 20 in the morning.
If you haven’t broken the ice on daytime swordfish, you may have a better opportunity to get an Islamorada charter for one with Capt. Nick Stanczyk’s fleet out of Bud N’Mary’s Marina as his original Broad Minded has been renovated with new two new 425 Yamaha outboards to sail as Water Damage. Call 305 664-2461.
Paul Haertel of the JCAA reported passage of the following N.J. fishing regulations for fluke, sea bass and scup
At their meeting on 3/2/23 the NJMFC set the regulations for sea bass and scup. Once again it became apparent that public sentiment means absolutely nothing. Every single one of the fifteen or so people who spoke, including individuals, representatives from various clubs, charter and party boat captains as well as myself on behalf of JCAA spoke in favor of option 4. Despite that, three representatives on the council voted in favor of Option 1 while one voted against it and the others abstained. Though the fluke regs were set some time ago, I am including them for those who may have missed them. The sea bass and scup regs will become effective once our DEP Commissioner signs off on them. Therefore, until he does so you can still keep scup.
2023 NJ REGULATIONS FOR FLUKE, SEA BASS AND SCUP
Fluke – May 2nd through September 27th with a limit of just one fish 18” or greater AND 2 fish from 17-17.99”. The special regulations for Delaware Bay are 3 fish 17” or greater and Island Beach State Park, 2 fish 16” or greater.
Sea Bass 12 ½” for all seasons 5/17- 6/19 (10 fish), 7/1-8/31 (1 fish), 10/1-10/31 (10 fish) 11/1-12/31 (15 fish)
Scup 10” for the entire season 8/1-12/31 (30 fish)
A small craft advisory is up through Wednesday afternoon. North winds at 20-25 knots plus gusts to 30 are forecast for the morning.
We trolled with 6 Black Hole Giant rods for bluefin on the Good Times out of Hatteras, NC today. We got 200lb (70″) and John Kim fought the bluefin on stand up. It took 15′ 20 minutes .
Anglers in northern N.J. have been getting into stripers earlier every year, but always start with small bass before the larger fish begin hitting. However, Dave Lilly reports that may not be the case this year. A couple of friends took advantage of temperatures over 50 degrees this morning to check out a spot near Port Newark that always produces their first larger bass from shore toward the end of March — and were surprised to hook up on the first cast of a jig before releasing 10 bass. Only two of those stripers were shorts, and the big one was 38 inches!
The water temperatures in waters flowing into the back of Raritan Bay tend to warm up faster than in the bay itself which receives cold ocean waters on incoming tides. The sun with mild air temperatures often sparks activity in shallow areas. The same applies to back bay areas where schoolies such as Jim Hutchinson Jr. is holding are already crushing small lures cast from shore or boat.
A northwest wind usually brings cold temperatures, but that isn’t supposed to be the case over the next few days. The forecast is for northwest at 10-15 knots with gusts to 20.
With the wind forecast at just 10-15 knots northwest, Sunday is looking very fishable. The Paramount from Brielle will be making its 4 a.m. cod trip to mid-range wrecks, and walk-ons are welcome as long as there is room.
The Atlantic City Boat Show wraps up its run at the Convention Hall on Sunday.
George Poveromo has a World of Saltwater TV show on Lower Florida Keys flats fishing at 8 a.m. on Discovery Channel.
Nick Honachefsky’s Saltwater Underground Tale of Two Tunas concludes at 9 a.m. Sunday and again at3 p.m. Monday on Sportsman Channel.
After yesterday’s N.J. internal waters stripers became legal, there was a flurry of weigh-ins at Absecon Bay Sportsman Center that was topped by Vince Trasatti’s 33-inch, 15.5-pounder. That shop now has a supply of fresh bunkers as well as bloodworms and live grass shrimp for tidal rivers white perch.
The first report on Raritan Bay was spotted on Facebook from Extreme Philly Fishing as four anglers cast for five hours, but only caught one short. It was just 30 degrees at daylight — and the water temperature was a chilly 38 to 40 degrees.
A small craft warning is up through late tonight before changing to a gale watch from Friday morning to Saturday afternoon. However, the Friday morning forecast is only north at 5-10 knots plus a chance of rain.
The Paramount from Brielle will be sailing for cod on mid-range wrecks Saturday and Sunday at 4 a.m.
Vinny D’Anton got into a good surface bite of snook and redfish yesterday morning near Sarasota.
Capt. Hans Kaspersetz fished aboard Water Proof in N,C. for a hot bite of bluefin tuna. See photo at bottom of page.
Chuck Many ran into bull reds yesterday at Hilton Head, South Carolina.
Though striped bass can be legally caught by anglers year-round in New Jersey, they are protected in internal waters during the winter. That changes tomorrow as the internal waters open with no changes in regulations.
Absecon Bay Sportsman Center has their usual season-opening contest with the top three stripers weighed in eligible for gift certificates. White perch fishing continues in the rivers there, and the biggest of those will win a sweatshirt from the store.
A small craft warning is up through late tonight, but the morning forecast is just for northeast winds at 5-10 before going southeast at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20 in the afternoon.
Only 20 tickets were left as of this morning for Saturday’s Canyon Runner Seminar at Capt. Bill’s in Bayshore from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. No tickets will be sold at the gate.
The $120 tickets include a full meal with carving stations as well as all the offshore fishing information that’s well worth the price. Call 732 272-4445 ASAP.
A gale warning goes up at 6 p.m. in NY/NJ Bight and runs through Tuesday morning. East winds of 20-25 knots plus gusts to 35 are in the forecast along with likely morning rain.
The weather is a lot better in Florida, and Vinny D’Anton reports he got into some snook yesterday morning while wading in Sarasota. MirrOlures were effective.
Kil Song reports that Chong Chae’s party had great tautog fishing Sunday out of Virginia as nine over 12 pounds were caught. The largest went 16, 17, 19 and 21 pounds. They were caught on Chae’s jigs and Song’s Black Hole Challenger Bank 701L rod.
An historic note to yesterday’s blog about tilefishing off Key West in 1975. That was long before modern braided lines that make it possible to drift in 600-foot depths. Mono is so stretchy that you can’t feel bottom in such depths, and the best line we had to use then was DuPont Dacron. Unfortunately, I didn’t record in my notes what we were fishing with that day.
While going through old fishing records, I was amazed to find how much time and effort I used to be able to invest in catching fish during brief trips to Florida in the “old days”. A notable sequence started on June 25, 1975 while staying in Islamorada. My “day” started at 2:45 a.m. when I got up to fish for tarpon on the outgoing tide from bridges to the west. I knew that small tarpon would be lining up under lights at the bridges to pick off shrimp and small fish coming out of the Gulf of Mexico. However, in order to get to them at that time I had to hug the rail, with trucks passing by at 60 mph, while using a long rod to flip a live shrimp into the dark so it would float freely into the lighted water and result in a hook up. Then I fought the jumping tarpon as it went under the bridge until it settled down and I could control it around pilings while walking to the end of the bridge and scrambling down to land and release the fish which were in the 15-25-pound class. Years later, I switched to casting lures from the sides of the bridges which was safer and produced some bigger tarpon.
Three tarpon were released before first light stopped the action, and I went to Caloosa Cove to seek a bonefish on a flat just yards from the highway. I found a bone tailing there, and managed to cast a shrimp just far enough ahead of its path so as not to spook it. The bonefish raced all over the flat before I weighed it on my Abu Combi at 8 3/4 pounds and made the release.
Then I started the long drive to Key West where John Mortimer wanted to try catching a tilefish from his outboard boat in the Gulf Stream. We left on a calm day at 11 a.m. and caught a few small dolphin for chunk baits. I didn’t note what tackle we used to get down in 550-600 feet, but I caught two gray tilefish of 4 to 4 1/2 pounds and a 5 1/2-pounder while John added one. I suspect what they were calling gray tilefish were actually bluelines.
There was a lot of driving involved, and no sleep, but I wonder if anyone else has ever caught tarpon and bonefish from shore plus dolphin and tilefish in the same morning?
A gale watch is up from Monday evening through late night. Monday starts OK with north winds at 5-10 knots before going east 10-15 in the afternoon with a chance of snow.
The Ocean Explorer from Belmar reported a calm ocean yesterday though the waters were very cold and there was little fish life.
Capt. Nick Stanczyk sent this photo of yet another big swordfish caught aboard his Broad Minded from Bud N’Mary’s Marina i Islamorada. For charter info call him at 305 664-2461.
