When Frank Manzi will be fighting rough surf in northern N.J. later this year, he’ll really be able to appreciate the spotted sea trout action he enjoyed while wading flats with Vinny D’Anton in Sarasota, Florida. A lot of ground must be covered, but Vinny wades spots with the wind at his back. Redfish and snook did not cooperate during Manzi’s last shot on Monday. but Vinny was excited to hook a small gag grouper and a flounder among the trout.

Vinny has heard from northern anglers who have tried the cold surf with no luck so far. One even tried using sand fleas.

Andreas Toy made its first striper trip of the season out of Perth Amboy yesterday and marked some bass that weren’t interested in anything. They even netted bunkers and chunked without any results. That will change suddenly any day now.

*******

A small craft advisory is up tonight through Thursday afternoon. The forecast is for south winds at 20-25 knots that morning with gusts to 30 plus possible fog and showers,

The striper season in NY/NJ Bight has been off to a slow start. but there was a brief item of encouragement from bass pro Capt. Matt Calabria who posted yesterday on Facebook simply that the bass were “chewing” — and sent a photo to prove his point.

Unfortunately, there were no other details, but I’ve known Matt for a long time and have no doubt about his word.

The forecast is for northeast winds at 10-15 knots before going to southeast at the same speed in the afternoon.

Though it’s spawning season, and female tautog ripe with visible roe should be released, there should be enough smaller male tog available for dinner.

Blackfish are reputed to have soft mouths in the spring and may pass up the usual green crabs. However, if the water is very cold it may be possible to fish with clams if bergalls aren’t active as yet.

*****

A small craft advisory is up in NY/NJ Bight through Tuesday afternoon.

The forecast is for northwest winds at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 30 in the morning.

The Capt. Al from Point Lookout sent a recent report as follows”We sailed today with a dozen fares and picked some nice, tasty Ling everywhere we tried. We also caught and released a couple of small codfish and a handful of blackfish and dogfish. The water has warmed up quite a bit in the past 2 weeks and we’re looking forward to trying some shallower spots for blackfish this week.

“We will begin sailing EVERY DAY this Tuesday, April 1. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. We’ll be targeting Blackfish, Ling and codfish. Sailing time is 7AM, returning around 4PM. Text me your name, day and date of trip and number of people to 516-361-9275.

+3

Dave Lilly is still waiting for earthworms on the sidewalks after a rain as a sign that stripers will become active. Though the bass located one day this week by Just Sayin from Keyport was a good sign, Lilly noted that was on bait which is attractive to stripers even in cold waters. Lilly pointed out that the Prowler from Atlantic Highlands once again had a tough trip with just one 27-inch striper being hooked. With only a few more degrees, linesiders will start responding to trolled lures as well as jigs.

Monday’s forecast is for south winds at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 30. Seas will be up to seven feet.

Capt. Frank Masseria ran took a ride through Raritan Bay with his Vitamin Sea and reported as follows :probably stay with jigs most of time.

All reactions:

3131

6

1

Like

Comment

Send

Share

View more comments

Chris Theodorellis

I’m looking forward to your report as I’ve been curious about these trips for a long time & have been apprehensive because of the crowd.

• 15h
• Like
• Reply

Kil Song

Chris Theodorellis I am curious too.  I will give objective and honest report.

• 15h
• Like
• Reply

4

View more replies

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

On Airplane Mode with Shutterfly.

otoeprsnSd28hacmimo1S4eun7ffs6g30u917dp5omcc55uglr0303mffc1u  · 

Today is the day we met and it is so surreal to believe where we are now. To think where it all began—meeting in NYC in 2017— From traveling the world together to start…

See more

Resume Video

)

Capt, Frank Masseria of Vitamin Sea reports “

‘Ran a shake down trip and the boat ran great. Tons of bunker in the bay. Didn’t see too many bass yet though. We will run our first open boat trip Wednesday April 2nd. 917-439-6448‘.

A small craft advisory is up tonight. Sunday starts with east winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20 before calming to 5-10 in the afternoon.

It didn’t take long before Frank Manzi was catching spotted sea trout along with Vinny D’Anton while wading flats yesterday near the latter’s Sarasota winter home. There was more variety this morning while fishing live baits at the mangroves from a guide boat in Sarasota Bay

Better known to northern N.J. surfcasters as F.B.I Frank, Manzi is now able to enjoy retirement while expanding his angling goals well beyond stripers and blues.

Surprisingly, after good action with sea trout while wading and casting lures yesterday, that was a species missing among the expanded variety of fish while fishing with Capt. R.C, on his G-Force. They managed snook up to 24 inches and redfish (red drum) plus mangrove snappers. among others

****

As noted in yesterday’s blog. the Just Sayin from Keyport got Raritan Bay striper fishing off to a good start even before the earthworms appeared on sidewalks after a rain. I suspect there will be a lot more boaters out there this weekend especially if the air temperature does get up to 75 tomorrow,

Te forecast is for southwest winds at 15 knots plus gusts to 25.

Captains John Contello and Matt Calabria got the local striper season underway this morning with the following report: :#JustSayin We did some Raritan Bay searching today and found what we were looking for. “Overs” and several lucky keeper sized fish released for another day. Hopefully the start of another great season. Text us at 732-670-1919 for private charter availability – Visit JustSayinSportfishing.com for more info. Two boats running full time #StripedBass#RaritanBay

0:06 / 0:17

0:00 / 0:21

All reactions:

135Chuck Tyman Manny, Kil Song and 133 others#JustSayin We did some Raritan Bay searching today and found what we were looking for. “Overs” and several lucky keeper sized fish released for another day. Hopefully the start of another great season. Text us at 732-670-1919 for private charter availability – Visit JustSayinSportfishing.com for more info. Two boats running full time #StripedBass#RaritanBay

0:06 / 0:17

0:00 / 0:21

All reactions:

JustSayin We did some Raritan Bay searching today and found what we were looking for. “Overs” and several lucky keeper sized fish released for another day. Hopefully the start of another great season. Text us at 732-670-1919 for private charter availability – Visit JustSayinSportfishing.com for more info. Two boats running full time #StripedBass#RaritanBay

0:06 / 0:17

0:00 / 0:21

All reactions:

JustSayin We did some Raritan Bay searching today and found what we were looking for. “Overs” and several lucky keeper sized fish released for another day. Hopefully the start of another great season. Text us at 732-670-1919 for private charter availability – Visit JustSayinSportfishing.com for more info. Two boats running full time #StripedBass#RaritanBay

***

A small craft advisory is posted through

0:06 / 0:17

0:00 / 0:21

A small craft advisory is up through Friday afternoon. The forecast is for west winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 30 in the morning before dropping to 10-15 in the afternoon.

Dave Lilly expected to see earthworms on the sidewalks after the latest rain, but once again that sure sign of the real start of the striper season failed to appear. Dave noted that the Prowler from Atlantic Highlands also failed to find any stripers in still very cold local waters.

Chuck Many with one of the gag groupers caught off Hilton Head, S.C. as noted in yesterday’s blog.

The forecast for NY/NJ Bight is for west winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20.

Chuck Many is in no rush to get his N.J. striper season underway — especially when there’s plenty of warm water species to be caught at his second home in Hilton Head, South Carolina. A good forecast for Sunday produced a catch of gag groupers plus other species on his Isabella, an Avenger perfect for working those waters.

The NY/NJ Bight forecast includes unusual rain with a west wind of 10-20 knots.

I don’t expect it will amount to much, but snow is in the forecast for tomorrow along with northwest winds at 10-20 knots.