Maryland has made a big conservation change to protect spawning striped bass by pushing back the opening of their striped bass trophy season to May 1, and prohibiting  targeting of the pre-spawners, including catch and release fishing, before that.

New Jersey is getting ready to set their striped bass regulations at a 5 p.m. Marine Fisheries Council meeting in Manahawkin. I’ll have that info in tomorrow’s blog.

Bob Correll recently caught a bluefish behind a house he’s renting in Jupiter, Florida that was bigger than any he caught last summer in his local Bay Head surf.  Yesterday he did the same thing with fluke as a 20-incher hit the small plug he was casting. Actually, that was probably a southern flounder as they are the common flatfish south of North Carolina and hard to distinguish from the summer flounder of the north.

The Ocean Explorer from Belmar had a good bite of blackfish on Wednesday that even included a few limits plus some cod and ling.

There’s a small craft advisory up due to northwest gusts to 25 knots tonight. The morning starts with northwest at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 25.

It looks a lot better for Saturday as the west wind will be down to 5-10 knots before dropping to just 5 in the afternoon with 2-foot seas. The Jamaica from Brielle will be running to the far offshore wrecks at 1 a.m. Saturday when it will be very cold  — but should warm up offshore where waters are much warmer.  They caught jumbo porgies, pollock, hake and even weakfish last weekend plus a couple of cod. Call 732 528-5014 for reservations.

 

 

New Jersey 2020 creational regulations for striped bass and bluefish will be set tomorrow during the Marine Fisheries Council meeting at 5 p.m. in the Stafford Township Municipal Building, 260 Bay Ave. , Manahawkin.  The public is invited to that important meeting.

As noted previously, the N.J. Boat Sale & Expo opens tomorrow at the N.J. Convention and Expo Center in Edison.

Sorry for no blog last night, but something was wrong with Word Press and I couldn’t get into my site.

A small craft advisory is up for tomorrow, though it starts at only 10-15 knots from the south before going to west with gusts to 25 in the afternoon. Rain is likey in the morning.

The N.J. Boat Sale & Expo opens Thursday at the NJ Convention & Expo Center in Edison, and runs through Sunday.  More about that later in the week.

The annual World Fishing & Outdoors  Expo is set for Feb. 27 to March 1 at its usual site in Rockland Community College at Suffern, N.Y.

Today was a blowout, but small craft advisories are coming down tonight. Tomorrow’s forecast is for east winds at just 5-10 knots before shifting to northwest in the afternoon. Light rain is possible.

The Ocean Explorer from Belmar reported decent blackfishing during Sunday’s trip.

After an unusually calm mid-winter day, a small craft advisory is going up at 2 a.m. and up to Monday afternoon. The morning forecast is for southwest winds at 20-25 knots with gusts to 30 plus 4-6-foot seas and rain.

It appears that anglers will get a break on Sunday before bad weather starts moving in that night.

Tomorrow should be fine for the Big Jamaica’s 1 a.m. trip to far offshore wrecks for jumbo porgies, cod, pollock and hake. There is room available on that sailing. Call 732 528-5014 for reservations.

The Ocean Explorer will resume daily trips for blackfish from Belmar in the morning.

The morning forecast is for southeast winds at a mere 5-10 knots, though that will switch to south at 10-15 with gusts to  20 knots during the afternoon.

Needless to say, there’s been no fishing going on while the wind has been howling, but that shouldn’t be a problem by Sunday — and there’s lots going on shoreside tomorrow.

The forecast is for west winds gusting to 50 knots tonight before diminishing to 30 knot gusts later on with 9-12-foot seas dropping to 7-10 feet. By morning it will be down to 15-20 with gusts to 30 knots. The Sunday forecast is for east winds at just 5-10 knots, which should be fine for the Big Jamaica’s 1 a.m. trip from Brielle to far offshore wrecks for jumbo porgies, cod and pollock. Reservations can be made by calling 732 528-5014.

George Poveromo is back in N.J. with his Salt Water Sportsman Seminar in Atlantic City at Resorts Casino Hotel.  Nick Honachefsky is the co-host, and there will be many local pros on hand to provide vital info from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The SWS Seminars are well worth the admission, and there are also lots of valuable door prizes. The $55 tickets are available by calling 800 448-7360.

Though I didn’t get a press release, I’ve confirmed that the Hi-Mar Striper Club Fishing Flea Market & Seminars is on for tomorrow from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Port Monmouth VFW on Rt. 36. Adult admission is $5.

Capt. Vinny Vetere will be there with his Ho-Jos and bunker spoons — and also out on Long Island for the 2020 Expo in the Hilton at Melville.

Winds gusting to over 50 knots were also predicted to the south today, and resulted in a second straight postponement of the Bassmasters St. Johns River Tournament which will now be contested from Saturday to Monday.

With marginal weather predicted for Saturday, the Big Jamaica  has moved their offshore wreck trip to 1 a.m. Sunday. Space is available by calling 732 528-5014.

They didn’t have a specific report for last Saturday’s trip, but noted that porgies, cod and pollock were caught.

Unfortunately, the Jamaica also had sad news as their lead deckhand, Dominic Wines, has passed away.

A small craft advisory is up for tonight, and that becomes a gale watch Friday. Friday morning starts with south winds at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 30 and rain before shifting to the west in the afternoon at 25-30 knots and gusts to 40 and 7-10-foot seas. Those winds drop to 15-20 knots by Saturday morning — and further to 10-15 by afternoon. Sunday is looking good with east winds of just 10 knots and seas down to 3 feet.

There was a lot of wind to the south today as Bassmaster, in a very rare fresh water move, had to postpone the opening day  of their St. John’s River Tournament due to a forecast of winds gusting to over 40 knots.

Bob Correll was casting off the dock of a home he’s renting in Jupiter, Fl. yesterday evening when he was surprised by a 4-pound bluefish hitting his Crystal Minnow. That was much larger than any of the very small blues he caught last summer casting in his home surf at Bay Head, N.J. That blue was larger than most caught inshore in Florida, but some years there is a brief offshore run of very long, but skinny, blues moving to the north during the winter.

 

The relatively mild winter has permitted the few boats still in the water to continue blackfishing.

Indeed, Bob Matthews, at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina, was surprised to see the Ocean Explorer sail Tuesday morning with a full boat.

They fished on a calm sea, and had some nice keepers though no jumbos. One angler caught three keepers, and others had one or two.

Unfortunately, tomorrow doesn’t look good as a small craft advisory is posted for 3 a.m. to Friday afternoon. Thursday starts with east winds of 10-15 knots with gusts to 20 plus rain, though the wind is supposed to drop off to 5-10 knots in the afternoon.

Capt. Al Crudele is also doing well with tog on his Bayhound out of Sea Isle City. He’s running that charter boat open whenever the weather is right.

Chuck Manny reports that there was only one hit trolling live eels in Virginia today, but that was a very good  one as a 55-pound pre-spawning striped bass was tagged and released by Bob Bowden.

The Ocean Explorer from Belmar  had a new leader in their seasonal pool on Monday when Roger from Brooklyn weighed in a 12.6-pound blackfish at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina. Monday’s tog action was a pick in deeper waters, but there was life on the bottom, and a large pollock was also boated. They will continue to fish this week on every decent weather day.

The marine forecast for Wednesday calls for west winds at 10-15 knots with gusts to 20 plus rain in the morning.

 

The Striped Bass Management Board of the ASMFC will be meeting from 11:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday in Westin Capitol City Hotel, Alexandria, Virginia. They will be dealing with Addendum VI to the Striped Bass Management Plan  and the implementation plans from the states plus any conservation equivalency proposals being put up for approval.

The following notice from the N.J. Div. 0f Fish & Wildlife details upcoming scoping hearings of great importance for the future.  Please read through the empty boxes.