The weather forecast for the next two days is as good as you can get it for boaters with today’s gusty northwest decreasing to 5 knots west by morning — and only getting up to 5-10 SW Thursday before increasing that night. The NW did its job of knocking down the swell, and that’s always good news for bottom fishing.

The Big Mohawk from Belmar is taking advantage of that by sailing the next two days at 7 a.m. Blackfishing was good Saturday with some limits and a pool tog of about 10 pounds.

The Big Jamaica from Brielle 11 p.m. every night this week. Call 732 528-5014 for reservations on those jumbo sea bass trips.

The gusty NW this morning made surfcasting uncomfortable, and waters remained dingy. I cast at Belmar and caught only one small bass on a Castaways white teaser. There were about 15 anglers spread along the beach, and that was the only one I saw. Joe Melillo, at Castaways Tackle in Point Pleasant said he heard of a couple of other bass hooked at Belmar and knew of a couple at Bay Head. Jerry Lasko fished IBSP from his buggy and cauught one small bass. Water conditions should be better tomorrow.

The northwest wind has been doing its job, and the surf should be fishable everywhere by Tuesday morning. Bailey will be looking for another striper to sniff when Bob Correll returns to surfcasting this week.

I thought it would look like chocolate after that northeast blow, but Jim Louro went to Belmar this morning and found it to be only dingy rather than dirty. Best of all, he still hooked a couple of small bass in those conditions.

There won’t be any dirty water to worry about far offshore, and the Big Jamaica from Brielle has room on trips to the jumbo sea bass wrecks that leave at 11 p.m. today and tomorrow. They’ll also be doing the same thing at 11 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Call 732 528-5014 for reservations.

Gale warnings are posted through Tuesday afternoon, but the northwester will be diminishing. The forecast is for 25-30 knots  Tuesday morning before dropping off to 20-25 in the afternoon. Then it’s just west at 5-10 Wednesday and southwest 5-10 Thursday.

The northeaster was brutal, and it may take a couple of days with west winds for the swell to decrease and for the waters to clear. The marine forecast is for northwest 15-20 knots Monday, increasing to 20-25 in the afternoon, By Tuesday there will be gusts to 35 that should really work on the swell. Hopefully, surfcasters will be fishing Wednesday in  a west 5-10 knot breeze before it goes south at similar speeds on Wednesday.

Some surfcasters got lucky today as the northeast winds held off and the surf was generally fishable. — though that’s not likely to be the case in the gale force winds predicted for Sunday.

Jim Louro said he caught three stripers before daylight at Belmar, and Frank Manzi got one. The action died at slack water, but Manzi kept at it and eventually beached his largest bass of the fall — a 30-incher. Vinny D’Anton got there in time to catch a bass on a 6-inch Tsunami Eel.

Jerry Lasko put in a full day at Island Beach State Park and caught three stripers casting metal, while Maren Toleno released 13.

The fishing conditions were good in those areas with outer bars to break the swell, but Point Pleasant Beach didn’t look good with a big swell breaking on the beach. The northwest winds following the northeast blow should set the surf up for mid-week fishing.

It appears that my blog didn’t post, so I’m summarizing the bad news. We’ve already got a rough surf. and it’s due to get worse with increasing northeast winds culminating in gale warnings for Sunday morning to evening, The switch to northwest winds after that will take time to knock down and clear up the big seas for better fishing conditions in colder temperatures by the middle of next week.

There were no good reports today in a southeast wind. Jerry Lasko and Maren Toleno had been picking a few bass in Island Beach State Park early in the morning, but they caught nothing this morning.

Even when keepers were hard to some by, Capt. Rob Semkewyc had been finding lots of short stripers with his Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands. However, all that changed today. The bait was still there, but not a single short could be jigged — and Capt. Rob is throwing in the towel on the season a bit earlier than last year.

Surfcasters should have more time, but you couldn’t prove that by my results this morning. I took a first light look at Pt. Pleasant, but moved on to Bay Head where there was some good-looking whitewater. I only got one very light tap there, and later found that some striper action had developed where I almost started. Jim Louro had three good-sized schoolies at Belmar, and Vinny D’Anton lost one there. Jerry Lasko caught two bass in IBSP and Maren Toleno had three as there was only a very early bite.

Sand eels are the attractor, and they tend to move around. Surprisingly, Grumpy’s Tackle in Seaside Park had reports of bass being hooked on swim shads. I haven’t heard of any peanut bunkers in the surf for weeks. Everything could be different tomorrow as the perfect conditions of today with a light northwest wind are forecasted to change to east at 10-15 knots.

The Big Mohawk from Belmar reported that blackfishing was slower than yesterday, though some limits were taken. They’ll be sailing at 6:30 in the morning.

From the time I was a youngster just getting into fishing, there was nothing I looked forward to more at Christmas than any kind of fishing tackle. My parents didn’t fish, so the few hooks or floats they gifted were usually not appropriate for the dock fishing I was doing  by bicycle, but I still got a kick out of speculating about how I might be able to put them to use some day.

Though there’s only limited fishing opportunities now, small striped bass should be available in the surf throughout the month and possibly well into January. Thus, relatively light surfcasting gear can be put to use right away.

My favorite surf outfit is the Tsunami Elite 8-foot, 10-inch two-piece rod that’s light enough to cast with all day but still with enough power to handle a big bass should one show up. Even though I drive a Honda Accord, I use that rod as if it were one-piece as with just a a slight bend of the tip it fits in a compact car from the back corner to the front corner. It got a good workout with 40-pound cownose rays in the summer, and is teamed with a Sjimano Spheros SW5000 reel filled with 30-pound braid. That outfit can handle the 3-ounce metals required on a rough day or the light 6-inch Tsunami Halographic Sand Eels that are the go-to attractor on calmer days or when the wind is behind us. Below is a shot Jerry Lasko took of me at IBSP last week with a typical current striper on the outfit described and the Tsunami Sand Eel.

You can’t go wrong with a package of the Tsunami eels as a stocking stuffer. Many types of metal  will do the job in heavier water, but I’ve done best with the Run-Off Swimming Sand Eel in silver. Various 1 1/2-to-2-ounce metals with red, white, black or green tails are often effective with the small sand eels that are now the basic forage. Teasers are important, and a wide variety of flies  and small sand eel imitations will do the job. Joe Melillo, at Castaways Tackle in Point Pleasant ties up a no-tangle teaser rig that holds the teaser off at an angle so it doesn’t wrap around the leader. Melillo also notes that this is the time to bring in rod and reel repairs so he can work on them over the winter and have everything ready for next season.

If you’re not sure about what to get, a gift certificate is an easy alternative. For boat fishermen the same applies to party and charter boat trips.

Even lighter tackle is appropriate as the end-of-the-season mini-bass take over. I then switch to a light 7-foot rod with a Canyon 350 reel — the same outfit I cast with during the season in Shark River and Point Pleasant Canal.

There wasn’t much news from the surf today as it was still rough from yesterday’s north wind. I talked to one angler leaving Bay Head who hadn’t had a hit. but saw another surfcaster catch a 16-inch striper.  Jim Louro had much better conditions at Belmar than yesterday, and caught two bass that included a slim 24-incher and a mini-bass. His friend J.J. got one before dawn on a teaser, as did Dr. Dave Cheli.

The Ocean Explorer from Belmar had “lock-and-load” blackfishing today as tog hit crabs as soon as they hit bottom. There were many limits plus loads of shorts.

The forecast for Wednesday is NW winds at 15-20 knots before dropping to 10-15 in the afternoon.

At Brielle, the Jamaica is sailing to the far offshore wrecks for jumbo sea bass at 11 p.m. Call 732 528-5014 for reservations. The 100-foot Paramount will be making the same trip 10 p.m. That’s a limited trip at $195. Call 732 528-2117 for reservations.

The Big Jamaica from Brielle will be sailing at 11 p.m. tonight and Tuesday to what’s almost definately the best bet right now — the far offshore deep water wrecks for jumbo sea bass plus some porgies, ling, white hake and pollock.

Limit catches of the big sea bass were common during Sunday’s trip when the pools were won by pollock. Kirk Davis of Middletown had a 15-pounder and Duy Mack of Hamilton a 12-pounder.  Reservations are required for these trips and others the Jamaica will be running throughout the Christmas period. Call 732 528-5014. Don’t worry about the cold, as you may be wearing gloves at the dock but be taking them off when the anchor is dropped as offshore water temperatures are higher and it can be quite mild out there.

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands has stopped operating until spring, but striper anglers can fish aboard the Sea Hunter from that port on Wednesday and Friday,

The marine forecast for Tuesday is looking good at north 5-10 knots before going northwest in the afternoon. Wednesday’s wind will be NW 10-15 with gusts to 20. Thursday should be east at just 5-10 knots before shifting to southeast in the afternoon.

This morning’s north wind was stronger than predicted and hard on surfcasters. Jim Louro toughed it out from Belmar to Shark River Inlet for two hours since the waters were clear and he saw some birds picking. The one bass he caught the day before was unusual in that it was larger than most at 25 inches and slim — wheras all of the smaller bass we’ve been catching in the surf appear to be stuffed with sand eels.

The Elaine B. II from Bahrs in Highlands will be sailing for blackfish on Tuesday at 7 a.m.

The Sea Hunter will be looking for stripers like this on Wednesday and Friday

Striped bass fishing has been picky, but there are still bass in the vicinity and the fishery should last at least through the month.

Capt. Rob Semkewyc said his recorder marked bass that sometimes “paved the bottom” today, but his anglers on the Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands only picked at the suddenly very fussy fish. He’ll be sailing again on Wednesday and Friday.

Even the small bass in the surf have been hard to locate in quantity. I joined Bob Correll in Bay Head this morning where he had caught two bass yesterday, and I managed two 22-inchers on the 6-inch Tsunami Sand Eel that were the only hits. There was no sign of fish or bait, and those bass seemed like miracles after all the blind casting.

Jerry Lasko went to IBSP at dawn and came up with only one bass. Vinny D’Anton heard that Jim Louro got a bass in Belmar.

The Mimi VI from Point Pleasant got into some big blackfish last week, and will sail daily this week through Thursday as an open boat for $75 at 7 a.m. Call 732 370-8019 for reservations.

The forecast for Monday is north at 15-20 knots before diminishing to 10-15 in the afternoon. Tuesday looks great with just 5-10 knots north.