It’s been a long time coming, but it appears that the northwest gale has started a striper feeding frenzy in the N.J. surf.

Vinny D’Anton reports he got into them this morning at Sea Girt, but there were other groups of surfcasters doing the same thing at nearby beaches. Vinny and Frank Manzi har good-sized schoolies up to 28 inches. Vinny was using a MirrOlure, but other lures were also working.

Nick Kolodiy of Brick checked Bay Head in the morning and saw bird action well out of casting range, but went back in the afternoon and was able to reach bass up to a 28-incher with a shad lure. The howling west wind made long casts possible.

That wind kept most boaters at home, but the Golden Eagle from Belmar reported very good fishing for stripers and big blues on the Thanksgiving trip — and will be back out there in the morning.

The gale warning continues to the morning with northwest winds of 20-25 knots and gusts to 35. However, the Big Mohawk from Belmar plans to run a blackfish trip as they will be tucked in close to shore where there’s a lee and the Thanksgiving trip produced some tog limits on both rigs and jigs. Whitelegger crabs worked best.

Sunday’s weather looks best with west winds of only 10 knots.

Black Friday has become the busiest day of the year for party boats as anglers with 9-5 jobs have a weekday off — but so does almost everyone else. Only those arriving very early can get aboard party boats that sail early, but that might not be the case tomorrow because a gale warning is posted through Saturday morning. West winds of 25 to 35 knots with a chance of morning showers will gust to 35 knots in the afternoon. Some boats are canceling trips, though it should be possible to fish early very close to the Jersey Shore — and that wind is no problem for NJ surfcasters.

The Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands had a good striper catch by 10 a.m. on their shortened Thanksgiving trip, but they won’t be sailing tomorrow. The Golden Eagle from Belmar has also canceled for Friday.

Though surfcasting has been tough, Vinny D’Anton got into stripers yesterday afternoon when he found small peanut bunkers inshore in the Spring Lake surf. Bass up to 26 inches hit his MirrOlure.

Shortened party boat trips have become a Thanksgiving feature in recent years, and the weather seems to be shaping up perfectly for those who would like to fish while not interfering with family dinner plans. They may even find lots of room on party boats — in contrast to the mob scenes common on Black Friday. Check with your favorite boat for their sailing time.

The Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands reported another good day of striper jigging, and they will fish from 6:30 to 11:30 tomorrow. The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported very good striper action today, will sail from 6 to1 tomorrow with reservations required. The Jamaica from Brielle will sail for stripers from 6 to 12:30.

The forecast is for northwest winds at 10-15 knots with 2-to-4-foot seas.

Surfcasting for stripers remains very spotty, but Mike Monte fished Monmouth County beaches with an old favorite– and the pearl Bomber Long A produced bass of 25 and 27 inches.

Chuck Many has been putting his crews on Tyman from Highlands into lots of big bass before taking a break to catch more colorful red drum at Hilton Head, S.C.

Capt. Ron Santee got into lots of life and a few bass early with his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands before the wind came on. After a good bit of searching, he managed to find some working birds which resulted in some bonus bass and nine over 28 inches up to a 32-inch pool winner. Though small craft warnings are up through the morning, the northwest wind will be down to 15-20 knots with gusts to 25 before diminishing to 10-15 in the afternoon.

Capt. Joe Massa and friends from Morgan Marina recently drove to Rhode Island to fish for tautog with City by the Sea Charters at Newport. Blackfish of 10 pounds or more are a trophy catch in hard-fished NY/NJ waters, but they caught seven or eight over 10 pounds that were all released as the skippers depend on those big spawners to maintain that great fishery. Instead, limits were filled with somewhat smaller tog. One of the 10-pounders released by Massa got a second lease on life as it had been wounded by a spear fisherman that left a healed area on the back as shown

in the photo.

A little poor weather doesn’t seem to bother the huge quantity of stripers presently available in Raritan Bay.

At Atlantic Highlands, the Sea Hunter reported another super day, but Capt. Rob Semkewyc feels the northwest wind may be stronger than expected and is taking tomorrow off. He will be sailing on Thanksgiving from 6:30 to 11:30 by reservation.

Capt. Ron Santee was into whitewater fishing when he got out with his Fishermen this morning, and stripers up to a 34-incher hit surface lures as well as shads. The high hook caught 15. He will sail tomorrow, but not on Thanksgiving.

The forecast is for northwest winds at 15-20 knots before increasing to 20-25 in the afternoon.

Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina reports winter flounder up to 18 inches are being caught from the docks, while blackfish and sundials are hitting in the inlet. He notes that surfcasting for stripers has been a challenge so far. When the boats can get outside, they’re doing well with stripers or fishing bottom for blacks and porgies.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported that stripers were splashing on the surface in the ocean today but didn’t want to bite. They did catch a few on shads and jigs, but it wasn’t like the big catch made Saturday in Raritan Bay despite all the boat traffic. They won’t be sailing tomorrow due to the forecast of northwest winds gusting to 25 knots plus likely showers in the morning.

The Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands reported another very good day of striper fishing in Raritan Bay. They will sail in the morning as the forecast should reduce the small boat fleet and provide good party boat conditions in the bay.

I’m living in Ft. Myers now, and looking for fishing partners in that area. Blog readers can contact me at 732 757-5531 or cristori@aol.com. The same applies to friends or relatives who fish that area of southwest Florida.

The Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands reported a slow start, but the bite turned on as soon as the current started running in the back of Raritan Bay.

Dave Lilly had a lady aboard this morning, and Holly not only jigged her first striper but also many more (see photo below). He said there were lots of 30-34-inch bass and everyone was catching despite the parking lot conditions on a calm day.

Vinny D’Anton checked the surf further south and saw a big fleet off Lavallette — though the fish they were on didn’t move into range while he was there.

Cqpt. Rob Semkewyc of the Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands reported at 818 that he already had as many stripers aboard as there were all say yesterday. The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported another fine day with keeper and bonus bass in the ocean.

The Jamaica from Brielle has room on its 10 p.m. trip to far offshore wrecks, There were limits of sea bass up to 5 pounds on Wednesday’s trip along with lots of big porgies and even some triggerfish. Call 732 528-5014.

The Hi-Flier from Barnegat is running open for stripers tomorrow. Call Capt. Dave at 732 330.-5674.

Greg Tirpak scored with a bass at Bay Head today.

Capt. Rob Semkewyc of the Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands said striper fishing yesterday from the back bay to Long Branch was a striper invasion — but it was just the opposite today. There were a few shots early, but very tough after that.

However, Dave Lilly had some better news, After only catching some small fish in the ,back a move to the mouth of the bay resulted in finding bunker schools at Chapel Hill along with many keeper bass. Dave had some NLBN (No Live Bait Needed) jigs from The Tackle Box in Hazlet, and found those paddle tail jigs with a corkscrew head worked very well.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported bass were up in the ocean and jigs produced keeper bass for all.

While the boat striper fishing continues at a high pace, surfcasters have been generally struggling until today when Jerry Lasko got into an Ocean County concentration of peanut bunker that were snagged and then fished on circle hooks.

Jerry released 14 and Maren Toleno released 28.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Mike Monte is back at Belmar from Nantucket and found his local surf full of small peanut bunker this morning though the only striper was caught by Frank Conover.

At Belmar, the Golden Eagle reported lots of keeper stripers plus some slots and overs.

.The Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands was limited on big stripers by 10:47, and looking for smaller bass.