Those who would like to enjoy the excitement of giant tuna fishing have the rare opportunity of reserving an open boat seat aboard the Canyon Runner now sailing out of Oregon Inlet, N.C. and hooking giants every day.

Friday and Saturday are available at $550 a person all in (including tip) with a limit of four. Call Adam La Rosa right away if interested at 732 272-4405. There’s also room on a free trip March 11 for active or retired military.

The JCAA is holding an open house at its Tuesday night meeting so clubs and individual anglers can see how that organization operates on behalf of the state’s anglers and may be interested in joining in that effort. The 7;30 P.M. meeting is in the Jersey Coast Shark Anglers Building at 385 Herbertsville Rd,. Brick. Light refreshments will be available at 7. There is no charge, but please call Paul Haertel at 973 843-3201 so he can order enough.

Coming up this week are the Atlantic City Boat Show in Convention Hall from Feb. 27 to March 3 — and the World Fishing & Outdoor Exposition at Rockland Community College in Suffern, N,Y, from Fen. 28 to March 3. Admission for the latter is $13, but you can get a $3 reduction by buying online at Sportshows.com and using the promo code POSTCARD for Thursday and Friday.

The Jamaica from Brielle got in Saturday’s offshore wreck trip that produced lots of big porgies plus a few ling, pollock and white hake. It wasn’t as good as the previous trips due to a strong current, but the high hook still bagged over 40 scup. Mark Myricks of Jersey City won the pool with an 8-pound pollock, That trip will be run again at 1 a.m. this Saturday and Sunday. Reservations are required. Call 732 528-5014.

The Ocean Explorer from Belmar had a couple of nice days before the big winds arrived. On Friday they had a half-dozen keeper blackfish, a cod and ling plus a couple of pollock while fishing deep waters. After three tog and a few ling  were boated Saturday, the current got too strong in the deep, and they were surprised to find lots of bottom life in shallower waters. There were only a few keepers, but over 40 shorts were released. They hope to get out again this week before the blackfish season closes.

Storm warnings for west winds up to 60 knots and 10-foot seas remain up until 6 p.m., but then the winds will diminish gradually. Because the winds have been west, seas will settle in short order. It will be down to northwest at 20-25 knots Tuesday morning– and just north at 5-10 with one-foot seas on Wednesday.  Thursday looks fishable at northeast 10-15 knots.

It’s taken a long time to get started, but west winds gusting to 70 knots are predicted this afternoon. The strong winds are expected to only diminish slowly from the northwest through Monday afternoon, and the first fishable day may be Wednesday. The winds took awhile to arrive as by 1 p.m. the reports from all stations were under 20 knots, and calm at Sandy Hook — though seas were six feet at the Barnegat Buoy.

The Ocean Explorer from Belmar got in two nice days before today. On Friday they fished deep waters for a half-dozen keeper blackfish plus a cod, ling and a couple of pollock. Saturday produced three legal tog in the deep before the current got too strong. A move to shallower depths surprisingly encountered good action even though only a few keeper tog were found among 40 shorts on both crabs and clams. They hope to get out again this week before the tog season closes.

The JCAA is holding an open house for possible new members at their Tuesday night meeting in Brick. I’ll have details in Monday’s blog.

A storm warning has been posted for Sunday. The rain to start the day is no problem, but when the clearing west winds take over there could be gusts up to 50 knots which will continue into Monday.

The Ocean Explorer from Belmar did find some blackfish the last two days, but won’t be fishing until mid-week. More about this tomorrow.

You can stay dry tomorrow as the Philadelphia Fishing Show finishes up in the Greater Philadelphia Expo at Oaks from 10 a.m. to 5 p. m.  John De Bona of The Fisherman said the new 100% fishing show was packed today and is a major success. For details visit phillyfishingshow.com or call 732 330-5674.

 

 

 

The National MarineFisheries Service has responded to the ICCAT determination that mako sharks re overfished and that overfishing is occurring by tightening both commercial and recreation regulations in Amendment 11 to the management plan for that species.

Commercial shark fishermen will still be able to keep makos  of any size, but only if they come in dead on the longline and gill net gear that’s allowed. When I started the shark management plan as a member of the first Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Plan, longliners were reluctant to accept any minimum size  no matter how small, and  insisted on retaining dead makos in any plan. Of course, that would mean that every mako big enough to bother with would be dead. However, the new rule only applies to commercials with an  Electronic Monitoring System which automatically provides photographic evidence as the gear is retrieved.  The total catch is restrained only by the quota.

Recreational fishermen face much tougher regulations as the minimum goes up from 54 inches fork length to 71 inches for male makos — and to 83 inches for females. There is no separate quota as the catch is restrained by the restriction of only one legal-sized shark per boat. Makos have to be very large before giving live birth to a few pups.  That’s a prescription for disaster with all the pressure on them now, but pregnant females seem to have found a way to avoid contact with fishermen as their capture would be so unusual that scientists would fly anywhere to inspect one. That may be the reason why small makos have been relatively common in recent years.

Fishing conditions were fine today, and Saturday continues to look good with an east breeze of 5-10 knots and 2-foot seas as there’s only a chance of rain when the wind shifts to southeast in the afternoon, Unfortunately, that doesn’t last into Sunday when southeast winds of 15-20 knots shift to northwest with gusts to 25 in the afternoon.

The Big Jamaica sails at 1 a.m. from Brielle for it’s weekly Saturday trip to offshore wrecks loaded with big porgies. They’re also scheduled to do the same thing Sunday. Call 732 528-5014 for reservations.

The Ocean Explorer from Belmar  was scheduled to fish for blackfish today, but there was no report or any plans for the weekend posted by 5 p.m.

The Philadelphia Fishing Show runs through Sunday in the Greater Philadelphia Expo at Oaks. .Weekend openings are at 10 a.m., with Saturday’s closing at 6 p.m. and Sunday’s at 5. Admission $10 for adults, $5 for kids 5-12 — and free for those younger. There’s free parking, and seminars by such pros as Nick Honachefsky who has one on surfcasting for sharks. For details visit phillyfishingshow.com  — or call 732 330-5674.

Tomorrow’s Canyon Runner Seminar in the Huntington Hilton at Melville, N.Y. is almost sold out. Be sure to call Adam La Rosa at 732 842-6825 before driving out there.

The hot giant tuna run continues in North Carolina as the Canyon Runner boated ithier second 115-incher of the winter season. Adam La Rosa also reminds all who missed the Canyon Runner Seminar in Atlantic City that there are only a few $99 tickets left for Saturday’s seminar at the Huntington Hilton in Millville, Long Island.  They’ve also set aside 10 tickets which are available at no charge to the military or first responders. Call Adam at 732 842-6825.

 

Capt. Jim Freda will be speaking at the Canyon Runner Seminar on inshore tuna techniques.

It was a February day to remember until the southwest gusts came up in the afternoon, but it looks fishable for blackfish in the morning with northwest winds at 10-15 knots with some gusts to 20 before diminishing to 5-10 in the afternoon. The Ocean Explorer has enough customers to sail, and will depart at 7 a.m. from Belmar.

Saturday is looking even better for the 7 a.m. offshore porgy trip on the Jamaica from Brielle (732 528-5014).

The Philadelphia Fishing Show opens at noon Friday and continues through Sunday in Greater Philadelphia Expo at Oaks.

Check tomorrow’s blog for the new mako shark regs.

The new Philadelphia Fishing Show opens Friday from noon to 7 p.m. in the Greater Philadelphia Expo at Oaks., 100 Station Ave, Oaks, PA 19456. This is a 100% fishing show run by Capt. Dave De Gennaro, who skippers his Hi Flier out of Barnegat.

The admission is $10 except for kids 6 to 12 who pay $5 — with no charge for those younger. There’s free parking, and seminars arranged by The Fisherman magazine are included. For info visit phillyfishingshow.com, or call 732 330-5674.

Coming up next week are the Atlantic City Boat Show in Convention Hall from Feb. 27 to March 3, and the World Fishing & Outdoor Exposition in Rockland Community College at Suffern, N.Y. from Feb. 28 to March 3.

We finally got some snow from this storm at the Shore, but it shouldn’t be a problem for long. Small craft advisories are up this afternoon for east winds up to 20 knots, but they should diminish after midnight . Thursday starts at 10-15 from the west with possible rain, but there’s an increase to 15-20 in the afternoon. Yet, there’s a drop to northwest at 10-15 by Friday morning — and the weekend looks good. The Ocean Explorer got out Tuesday from Belmar for a nice day at sea with good life on the bottom, The high hook had three keeper blackfish, six others were boated. Two big tog broke off in the wreck, but there were no cod on that trip. Check with the Ocean Explorer for the next fishing day.

 

This has been a tough year for winter fishing in the NY/NJ Bight so far, but it wasn’t always like that.

Even as foreign fleets were taking vast quantities of ling and whiting from the Mud Hole, the Jamaica and Paramount were still sailing daily at 7:30 out there for the same species in almost any weather. Some days the fishing was good, and on others there was still enough for almost everyone to bring home dinner. That fishing came back after the 200-mile limit went into effect before local draggers destroyed it again with small mesh nets.  If there were mild, calm days such as we’ve experienced this month, those party boats would have been packed,  I don’t know if anyone knew about all the big sea bass and porgies that were on far offshore wrecks at that time. but the Jamaica wouldn’t have been running almost to the canyons for them when there were fish to be caught locally at a modest fare.

There were also runs of cod on inshore clam beds at that time. On the front cover of the old weekly Anglers News of Feb. 26, 1970 there was a photo of Arthur Anderson of Long Branch with 10 cod (which all look to be in the teens or better) that he caught aboard the Jamaica on the clam beds south of Manasquan Inlet. There were also daily fishing ads for the Jo-Ann III at Atlantic Highlands; the Satellite from Highlands;, the Zephyr from Bayonne; the Viking II from Staten Island;  the Cock Robin from Point Pleasant; the Ranger IV from Sheepshead Bay;  and the Miss Belmar — as well as the Viking Starlite and Viking Skipper at Montauk.  Today we have occasional blackfish trips by the Ocean Explorer for a species that wasn’t targeted during that era.

I was living on Long Island in those days, and the Freeport party boats were enjoying fine winter codfishing at times. A column by Frank Keating in the old Long Island Press on Jan. 21, 1969 noted that the Freeport and Montauk fleets all left anglers on the docks as they sailed early with capacity weekend crowds, The fishing was worth it. At Freeport, the Starstream reported over 500 cod Saturday, and the high hook Sunday on Capt. Al bagged 27 cod  on the inshore cod grounds a half-hour from Jones Inlet.

That kind of fishing may not be available, but the wind forecasts are pretty good. Wednesday winds are predicted to be northeast at just 5-10 knots before going to southeast in the afternoon with 1-foot seas. Some snow may fall at that time.

A belated report from the Ocean Explorer out of Belmar provided some good news about cod as they picked a few up to 18 pounds on Sunday along with a “handful” of keeper blackfish and some ling. Though a bit rough at first, the ocean calmed during the day — and there was a good amount of life on bottom that included short tog. Cod have been few and far between so far this winter, but could still show up in fishable quantities as they’ve done at times in the past. I’ll have more about that tomorrow.

Though the snow was once again ” much ado about nothing” but rain at the Shore, the northwest wind kept everyone home. Today’s NW gusts to 30 knots will drop to 10-15 by morning along with seas of 2-4 feet. It’s back to the east on Wednesday, but at only 5-10 knots and 1-foot seas — though snow is possible in he morning and likely in the afternoon.

Ice fishermen have to beware of thin ice, but traffic isn’t normally a problem. That wasn’t the case recently during a contest in Tupper Lake, N.Y. when conservation officers arrested a drunk snowmobile driver who was speeding up to 70 mph near the fishermen.

Porgy fishing on far offshore wrecks was even better than it has been yesterday for anglers on the Jamaica from Brielle as everyone was able to limit on the big scup,  There wasn’t much variety, as Ralph Reevy of Camden won the pool with a 7.5-pound white hake while Angel Garcia from Lancaster, Pa. took second with a 3-pound porgy.

 

As a result of that fine fishing, the Jamaica will make the far offshore wreck trip next weekend on both Saturday and Sunday.  They’ve also added March 2 and 3. Reservations are required for the 1 a.m. trip. Call 732 528-5014.

 

Though the weather was good today, there were no other reports.

Some snow or rain is coming in with 10-15 knot east winds after midnight. The marine forecast for the morning is northeast at 10-15 knots with rain before shifting to northwest in the afternoon with gusts to 20.

The Canyon Runner reports a continuation of the epic giant tuna bite out of Oregon Inlet, North Carolina. Multiple hook-ups are common, and often within minutes of lines in. Best of all, they are real giants with all over 85 inches, an average of 90 inches — and some over 100 inches. As noted earlier in the week, this may be the best chance you’ll have to catch a giant all year, but you should do so from a fighting chair or standing up as the commercial method of cranking on a rod in a rod holder is not accepted as a sportfishing catch.

Adam La Rosa of the Canyon Runner can be reached at 732 842-6825. He also has just 25 tickets left for the Canyon Runner N.Y. seminar on Feb. 23 in the Huntington Hilton at Millville, Long Island.

The Ocean Explorer from Belmar had a nice day on the ocean, but the bite was slow. There were some short blackfish and a keeper, but not the big tog they were looking for. A few keeper and short cod were also caught, but they’ll be running in a different direction tomorrow to try to find a tog big enough to win the seasonal pool which is over $4,000.

The weather looks good, as the morning forecast is for northeast 5-10 knots and 2-3 foot seas before dropping to 5 knots in the afternoon.  It will hold at NE 5-10 knots for Monday before shifting to NW 10-15 with gusts to 20 in the afternoon.

As noted in last nights blog, the Salt Water Anglers of Bergen County hold their Fishing Flea market Sunday in the Hasbrouck Heights VFW — and the N.J. Boat Sale & Expo concludes at the N.J. Convention Hall in Edison.