It finally appears that the offshore storm is moving off, and will be followed by a week of good fishing weather.

The forecast still includes a gale warning through tonight., but only 15-20-knot north winds in the morning which should diminish to northwest 5-10 in the afternoon. Light northwest winds Sunday will usher in a week of light west winds.

Unfortunately, that big swell isn’t going to go away for a while, and its effect on bottom fishing may be a problem for a couple of days. The surf is very dirty now, and it may take a couple of tide changes to put it back in fishable shape. Bob Correll reported that Bay Head had surf coming over the beach to the stairs this morning.

Good luck to anglers fishing the Barrier Island Beach Brawl starting in the morning after a delay due to the gale forecast. Fortunately there are plenty of protected waters to fish, and you never know when stripers may attack a school of mullet even in a rough and discolored surf.

Anglers should check with skippers before coming down. At Belmar, the Big Mohawk has cancelled through Saturday, but the Golden Eagle will sail for blues at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, and again at 7:30 p.m. for night blues.

I did get a boat report from yesterday as Joe Blaze fished Manasquan River with his Boston Whaler and fly rodded two 3-4-pound blues. He noted that there were spearing and peanut bunkers in the river.

Vinny D’Anton tried Shark River this afternoon, but found that the wind held the water in the river and delayed the change of tide. He couldn’t wade very far, and had no hits.

It was pleasant again in Point Pleasant Canal, where I gave casting a brief try during the end of the incoming. I only saw one small blue caught before switching to blackfishing on the slack. That wasn’t as good as yesterday, though I released a couple of shorts. One rocked me out twice before coming out when I slacked the line. Castaways Tackle had been out of green crabs, but got a shipment later in the morning. Joe Melillo noted that the Spring Lake Live Liners are still open for new members. That’s a great opportunity for surfcasters to learn from some of the best anglers on the Shore — and to get in the “loop” with fishing info. Call Joe at Castaways (732 899-1363) or talk to Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina.

At Seaside Park, John Bushell Jr. noted that his father passed away on the beach at IBSP 14 years ago yesterday. It seemed like just yesterday that I was fishing with that great angler as we battled big blues in the surf shortly after I started doing my column in The Star-Ledger.

Grumpy’s Tackle will be running an ODM casting demo from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. tomorrow.

The continuing northeaster has pretty much wiped out the opening of the N.J. sea bass season — and now resulted in the delay of this weekend’s Barrier Island Beach Brawl .

Nick Honachefsky said the storm seems to be peaking on Friday, so the contest is being moved to Oct. 12 and 13. Fishing will start at 5 a.m.  Saturday and end at 4 p.m. Sunday — with awards being presented at 5 p.m.  Any questions can be directed to http://www.saltwaterunderground@gmail.com

Gale warnings are posted through Friday afternoon. The forecast is for north winds at 25-30 knots with gusts to 45 and seas of 8-13 feet, plus likely rain. Saturday begins with north winds of 15-20 knots that diminish to 10-15 in the afternoon. Sunday looks fine with a switch to west at 5-10 knots and seas down to 3-5 feet. However, the surf may be dirty, and bottom fishing could be affected by the big swells we’ve been experiencing.

The Big Mohawk from Belmar has cancelled all trips through Saturday, but will be sailing Sunday.

The weather was fine for me this morning as I fished in Point Pleasant Canal with green crabs from nearby Castaways Tackle. Blackfish cooperated during the brief slack tide as I released five from 11 inches up to a legal 15-incher that were good sport on my light spinning tackle.

The Barrier Island Beach Brawl shore fishing tournament has issued a last call for 9 p.m. to sign up for the weekend contest. Visit saltwaterunderground.com/shop. Nick Honachefsky  has gathered up so many prizes that entrants may exceed their $40 entry in door prizes without even catching a fish.

This is a most unusual blowout week, but it may improve just in time for the contest. The northeast winds may diminish by Saturday, and Sunday looks good with northwest clearing winds.

The Big Mohawk from Belmar had already cancelled the special limited sea bass trips through today, and has added those scheduled for Thursday and Friday — while holding off a decision on Saturday. Thursday’s forecast is for north winds at 25-30 knots with gusts to 45 plus likely rain.

The Jamaica from Brielle got in one of their limited bonito and little tunny trips on Monday, and here was action from start to finish on both jigs and bait. It was about 50-50 between the two species plus a few blues and several Spanish and king mackerel. Alan Deutsch of Hamilton took the pool with a 12-pound little tunny.  They’ll be scheduling more of these trips, but the weather this week is too bad for even the Big Jamaica.

I gave it a very short try in Shark River this morning, but the river was exceptionally  high and I only made a few casts with a jig before retreating.

Fishing is going to be a challenge this week as there are small craft warnings up through Friday, and a gale watch will be posted for tomorrow.

Northeast winds at 20-25 knots with gusts to 35 are forecast for Wednesday along with showers and 7-10-foot seas.

It wasn’t too bad this morning as I hid from the wind a bit in Shark River to release five bluefish in  the 3-4-pound class on poppers. Vinnie D’Anton had a friend up from Sarasota , Florida who enjoyed a similar pick of small blues on Chug Bugs later in the morning. Bob Frech, originally from Michigan, was also able to hook the 8 1/2-pound chopper pictured from among the smaller blues. Vinny also took him to the beach, but they couldn’t hook up in the rough surf.

Capt. Vinny Vetere was able to take advantage of the relatively calm early morning, and put his party on Katfish from Great Kills into 12 stripers on live bunters, They kept their limit up to 30 pounds, and were back by 10:30. Vetere noted that the water temperature had dropped to 65 degrees.

This was the opening day of the sea bass season in N.J. , but sea conditions certainly weren’t favorable. The Big Mohawk from Belmar cancelled their special limited trips for today and tomorrow, and will reschedule them as soon as possible.

Bob Correll of Bay Head had much better conditions in Southport, North Carolina as he fished with a friend to catch his first red drum plus a flounder, croakers and spot. His redfish was abut 17 inches, but he had a shot at a much bigger one chasing bait in shoreline weeds that ignored his lure.

The deadline for entering Nick Honachefsky’s Barrier Island Beach Brawl shore fishing tournament this weekend is upon us. To enter the $40 contest which offers thousands of dollars in prizes visit http://www.saltwaterunderground.com/shop — or sign up at such shops as Fisherman’s Supply, Gabriel Tackle and Charlie’s.

 

Chuck Many, of Ty Man from Highlands went all the way to Hilton Head Island in South Carolina recently in order to catch and release trophy red drum. Yet, a hundred years ago he could have done he same thing much closer to home as the channel bass capitol of the world was the central New Jersey coast.

 

This was prime time for catching huge red drum (then known as channel bass)  in the Barnegat area and at other inlets in the area. The drum were all large, and the first couple of world records were N.J. fish. Climate change seems to have changed all that, since big reds are only available now from Virginia south — which is contrary to the theory.

According to Climate Change theory, we’ve been in a very long term warming phase. NOAA Fisheries has advised anglers in the north to learn how to catch red drum that should be pushing into warmer northern waters. The only problem is that NOAA forgot to tell the fish about that.

A couple of years ago I caught puppy drum two days in a row in Point Pleasant Canal, and there were few other small ones reported. However, there have been no northern N.J. reports since then. There’s been no lack of anglers fishing the surf where trophy channel bass were so abundant as to be a nuisance to those seeking kingfish and weakfish with tackle too light to hold bull reds. Along with the cold water seals that have become common in southerly waters in recent years, they remain a challenge to Climate Change theory that I’ve never heard a scientist explain.

The N.J. sea bass season reopens tomorrow. Through the rest of the month the size limit of 12 1/2 inches holds with the bag up to 10.

Some party boats have scheduled special limited trips with extended hours, but there’s a possible problem with weather. After blowing hard from the south today, there’s a big shift to northeast at 15-20 knots with gusts to 25 tomorrow. It gets worse the next day with gusts to 30 and a chance of rain. The big party boats may fish through that, but be sure to check with them before heading down.

Protected waters fishing remains possible through a week of northeast winds. Bob Matthews reports from Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina that some anglers have tried to beat the season by fishing from the docks there for winter flounder. The waters are still too warm, but they have caught a few kingfish and blowfish on worms and clams.

The surf was rough in this morning’s southwest wind, but I was able to fish at Manasquan. The only hit came from a 17-inch bluefish that engulfed a Chug Bug. That’s when I found that I’d forgotten to take my pliers. Fortunately, Linda, a regular there and a blog follower, was fishing nearby and offered her pliers  for what turned out to be an operation on that greedy chopper.

Vinny D’Anton hasn’t been doing much in Shark River, but got into a pick of small blues on his Chug Bug.

 

Today was no bargain, but the rest of the week looks much worse for most fishing.

The forecast for Monday is south winds at 15 knots with gusts to 25 plus showers in the afternoon. Small craft warnings are up into Tuesday — and then it gets worse with gusty northeast winds through the week.

Capt. Ron Santee said it was rough for anglers on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands, and unlike Saturday it didn’t get any better when the tide turned. Porgy fishing was poor, and he doesn’t expect to be able to get out again for days to come.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar saw bluefish breaking today, but very few would hit jigs. Some porgies and a little tunny were caught along with sea bass that aren’t legal until Oct. 8.

Surf conditions weren’t good this morning, but I tried my local Monmouth County beach  anyway. I raised a very small blue that swatted a Chug Bug, and later got a better hit in the white water that was a 23 1/2-inch striper. That was it, and I was satisfied with one bass under the circumstances.

For those who didn’t comment at the recent striped bass public hearings, the deadline for sending comments to the ASMFC is 5 p.m. Oct. 7.

Both Stripers Forever and the JCAA urge support of Option 2 which takes an 18 percent reduction from both recreational and commercial quotas in order to restore the stocks.

E-mails should go to comments@asmfc.org — with a title of Striped Bass Draft Addendum VI.

The northeast wind put a big dent in fishing today, but there were a couple of good reports. The Golden Eagle from Belmar said they had good jigging for bluefish and added a 15-pound cod.

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands was able to fish at anchor on the incoming tide to catch big porgies  plus sea bass that can’t be kept until Oct. 8 — while a big triggerfish took the pool.

Unlike today, the wind tomorrow will get worse in the afternoon. A small craft warning goes up in the morning with south winds at 10-15 knots and gusts to 20 — but gets stronger in the afternoon at 15-20 with gusts to 30 knots.

Though small craft warnings are up into the morning with north gusts to 30 knots, it should actually improve during the day. After starting with northeast at 15-20 with gusts to 25, the afternoon forecast decreases to a mere 5-10 knots. Though the wind shifts to the south on Sunday, it is expected to blow at 15-20 with gusts to 25.

The west wind didn’t blow hard enough last night to smooth out the surf, but it was fishable this morning as I worked a southern Monmouth beach  that was very shallow. All I could do was to cast into white water, where I was surprised when a fat 24-inch striper hit my Chug Bug. I hoped that was an indication of where the bass were feeding, but I never raised another fish.

Vinny D’Anton and Frank Manzi fished further north later in the morning and found schools of mullet. There were no bass, but they did get into some bluefish.

There were no reports from boats, but there should be lots of porgies available over rough bottoms to the north along with small blues — and sea bass that aren’t legal until Oct. 8.

Capt. Chris De Stefano fished aboard Frank Criscola’s Crisdel from Brielle Yacht Club  on Wednesday as they trolled the Shrewsbury Rocks area, but only found small blues. There weren’t even any striper marks, but the current windy weather could start migrating bass heading to the west.

Boaters have been catching school stripers on eels in Point Pleasant Canal, and Castaways Tackle in Point Pleasant now has that bait in stock.

 

 

It was worth putting up with nasty weather today in order to get a clearing northwester tomorrow which should start calming the sea — but instead of blowing from the west for a few days, the forecast is a return to northeast for Saturday.

Hopefully the surf will be clear up for a day while surfcasters can mike mighty casts with the wind behind them. Small craft warnings are posted through Friday night.

There were no reports today, but Pete Connell of Avon was out Wednesday with his boat from Shark River to fish for porgies at the Rattlesnake. It wasn’t even necessary to anchor as drifting over large readings produced plenty of action on small diamond jigs with big porgies plus some sea bass and small bluefish.

In yesterday’s report from Hans Kaspersetz about his weekend canyon fishing on the Blue Runner, I forgot to note that they also limited on dolphin. The fact that albacore were chunked during that trip is very good news because the longfins usually are the dominant species in the canyons at this time — and provide the most dependable tuna action.

Nick Honachefsky is still getting more prizes for his upcoming Barrier Island Beach Brawl, as noted below:

“Just arrived! Win this Brand new Tsunami SaltX reel for Raffle/Award Prize at the Barrier Island Beach Brawl! I cannot believe how many thousands of dollars of giveaways we have from #yeti #costa #Shimano #tsunamitackle #biminibayoutfitters #spro #st.croix #mustad and many more, all for a mere $40 entry! Do not wait! Spots Filling up fast. SIGN UP TODAY at Grumpy’s Tackle, Betty and Nicks, Charlies B&T or Fisherman’s Supply or CLICK NOW at www.saltwaterunderground.com/shop to register, it takes less than 1 minute!”

It appears we’re going to be paying for a fairly nice fall so far with a real bummer tomorrow. Northeast winds at 20-25 knots are forecast along with rain, but there’s good news ahead with the gusty northwest winds needed to knock down the surf predicted for Friday.

Capt. Hans Kaspersetz (photo above) fished Saturday and Sunday aboard the Blue Runner from Point Pleasant as they trolled a yellowfin tuna the first day before boating two swordfish at night — and then adding three albacore chunking.