The Golden Eagle from Belmar is offering vets a very special reward on Nov. 11 — a free trip to the first 15 showing up before the 6:30 A.M. sailing time! Additional vets will be offered a discounted rate. Proof is required. Be sure to bring your Certificate of Service Card or other proof. I’m in Ft. Myers, but will be hoping all my fellow vets will be successful on their special day.

The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant had to put in over 75 miles of running in order to get on stripers during their Striper Marathon trip before finding a great bite which included releases of two bass over 50 inches plus one that was a true 50+-pounder.

Queen Mary striper readings

The Jamaica from Brielle reports canyon tuna trips have been successful, and they are adding additional dates. There is room on Monday and Thursday night departures at 8:30 p.m. by reservation.

A viewing for Bob Popovics will be held on Nov, 11 from 3-7 P.M. at the Timothey Ryan Home for Funerals in Toms River.

Betty & Nick’s Fishing Club reminds anglers that snagging bunkers and fishing them on a treble hook is in violation of the law which requires the use of only circle hooks in bait.

Betty & Nick’s Tackle in Seaside Park reported this morning that there were adult bunkers everywhere from South Seaside to Gillikin’s this morning. One of the regulars released a 45-inch striper on a switch bait/glider and others were hooked up on the big baits.

Capt. Ron Santee Jr. said EVERYTHING went well Wednesday on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands as follows: “

Great group of Happy people on the boat today. Fishing was very good, we have a new President and the Stock Market took off! Doesn’t get any better than that. First boat out payed off again as we were on the fish for an hour before all the Traffic. Bite slowed way down at the end of the tide, took a ride and found another shot of life to end the day.

Not as big a spread of fish like yesterday and we never got the ferocious bite like yesterday afternoon. Still a great day. Back at it in the a.m.”

Chuck Many had another great day with big bass on his Tyman from Highlands as he and Cesar Carranza fought through dogfish to release stripers.

The forecast is for west winds from 15-20 knots plus gusts to 25.

Every day is different, but what Capt. Ron Santee Jr. found Tuesday with his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands hasn’t been unusual in NY/NJ Bight this fall: “Started out the morning in the Fog, fished a new area with NO traffic and caught our Slots & Bonus fish.

Lost the bite when the tide changed so we took a little ride waiting for some current. Found life but it was a one, two pic. Once the current came through, the ocean erupted with life for a couple of miles. Fish busting in the Bunker, topwater, shads & jigs all worked. Big Fish, Little fish and keepers. Everyone went home with dinner.

If seeing & being a part of a blitz like that doesn’t make your heart race, you can’t be a fisherman!! Excellent day on the Meat”

A small craft advisory is up until 6 p.m.

The forecast is for west winds at 5 knots before going northwest at 10-15 plus gusts to 20 in the afternoon.

New Jersey saltwater fly fishing legend Bob Popovics passed away Nov. 1 after being unable to recover from a hit-and-run accident as he crossed a road recently near the Shady Rest Restaurant in Bayville which he operated for almost 60 years.

Popovics (75) was truly a pioneer in N,J, saltwater flyfishing, and was noted as much for his willingness to ensure the success of others in the sport as for his Popeyes creations that have become a standard.

One of the many remembrances of Bob on Facebook was the following from Capt. Gene Quigley:

“Words alone cannot describe how incredible Bob Popovics was. Innovator, fleye tyer, angler, sportsman, Marine, chef, father, husband but most important just an incredibly kind and gentle human. Bob, you taught me so much about fly fishing and about life….but most important you taught me to be humble, to be a sportsman, and to share the stoke of fly fishing and teach others. My mentor, my hero, my dear friend. “Shore Catch” does not exist without the support and guidance you provided.”

A funeral mass for Popovics will be held at St, Patrick’s in Seaside Park at 10 a.m. on Nov. 12.

Capt. Ron Santee Jr. says his birthday usually provides good striped bass fishing, and that was the case yesterday on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands, as everyone went home with fish.

The weather continues to look good, with a forecast for tomorrow of west winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20.

Up to this point, boaters have had by far the best of the fall striped bass fishery in NY/NJ Bight but that’s bound to change in short order.

There have been a few shots of the bigger bass in the Seaside Park to IBSP area. Grumpy’s Tackle sent a shot of Mike Kindall with a fine bass on a plug before release. (see below)

Vinny D’Anton said it’s still slow going in the Monmouth County surf, with just a bass here or there though big bait can be seen out of range where boaters are into large stripers.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported a slower start yesterday before stripers turned on later in the day. Most were overs, but some keepers were included.

Through the wind is going southeast tomorrow, anglers will enjoy temperatures up to almost 80 degrees.

Chuck Many specializes in catching big stripers from his Tyman out of Highlands, but even he often finds it hard to catch a 50 from among many 30-and-40-pounders. However, he finally added another to the Tyman’s substantial score from this fall’s NY/NJ Bight run on Tuesday with a 51-pounder.weight

Many has a 60-pound certified scale, and tags all of the boat’s stripers after recording length, girth and weight.

Fifty-pounders have always been hard to come by, and many great anglers have gone to their graves without ever catching one. In the old days, every 50 was weighed-in, and releasing them only started in recent years before new conservation laws required that anglers release all large bass.

The standard for determining striper weight has been a long-established formula — length in inches to fork of tail times girth in inches — divided by 800.

Unfortunately, many anglers use length to the tip of the tail in their calculations, which turn bass in the upper forties into fifties. The formula was developed when fork length was the standard measurement before a change to the tip of the tail when striper conservation started just a few decades ago. Anglers can correct that measurement by taking about four inches off their overall measurement.

One more on an eel for the Tyman

Monday’s forecast is for southeast winds at 10 knots.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported boat traffic made striper fishing tough on yesterday’s early departure trip. but they got a good shot in the afternoon on overs.

Though there have been days of great striper fishing in NY/NJ Bight this fall, there has usually been a “big” problem in that almost all were too large to keep. Dave Lilly reports that wasn’t the case this morning in Raritan Bay as the surface was covered with bass of legal sizes . They only kept two of over 30 caught before leaving them biting at 10:30 — and those two had nothing in them. Birds seemed to be picking up tiny bait of some kind. The bass wouldn’t hit anything large, but a switch to 5-inch shads did the job.

Famed saltwater fly angler and innovator Bob Popovics wasn’t able to recover from being hit by a car recently, and has been transferred to hospice care.

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

The Tackle Box in Hazlet was opened on a Halloween day 48 years ago yesterday — and the Sciortino family has been serving anglers there and as charter skippers ever since.

Paddy Sciortino

Capt. Ron Santee Jr. of the Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands started off well with slots and bonus bass as birds were working on the surface for miles.

“Went searching after the change and found some fish close to the beach. Not enough for the amount of customers we had so we took a little ride. Had the Big girls coming and bending the rods with a few more slot fish in the mix.

Brandon landed his personal best at 48 pounds and over 50 inches. Scott Scuderi had his personal best also at 47 inches 44 pounds. Amazing!”

The Golden Eagle from Belmar was into a hot surface bite on the early departure striper trip at 6:30.

Vinny D’Anton saw lots of big bunkers and whales over the bar in the Monmouth County surf this morning, and caught 3-4-pound blues casting an Ava 17 with teaser tail. Those fish wouldn’t come up for surface lures, and he only heard of one school striper being caught.

A small craft advisory is up through the evening. The forecast is for northwest winds at 10-15 knots in the morning.

Chuck Many had no trouble catching big stripers in NY/NJ Bight this morning in order to find candidates for the expensive satellite tags he wanted to implant from his Tyman out of Highlands. After taking care of that business, more bass were sent away with standard tags.

Sorry about the very old reports at the end of yesterday’s blog that was picked up when I transferred a paragraph. Fortunately, they carried the very old dates.

A small craft advisory is up through Friday afternoon. The forecast is for southwest winds at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 25 and 4-5-foot seas.

The black marlin here was caught after an 8-hour battle during the big money Bisbee’s Black & Blue Tournament in Baja California, Mexico — but disqualified because it wasn’t brought to the scales in time. What a bummer!

The weather may have been too nice today in NY/NJ Bight as there wasn’t the wild surface action as in yesterday’s blow. However, there were more stripers small enough to keep in the mix,

At Belmar, the Golden Eagle reported a steady pick that included some keepers. Miss Belmar Princess had slower jigging than yesterday, but still caught 50 including eight keepers. Run-Off jigs remain the best bet.

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands got off to a good start with their best showing so far of keeper and bonus bass totaling a couple of dozen — while also releasing some big girls.

Vinny D’Anton said northern N.J. surfcasters still had a rough surf to deal with. One angler did manage a couple of near-keeper bass by casting metal.

Betty & Nick’s Tackle in Seaside Park reported the water temperature is down to 61 degrees, and there is some larger bait in the surf.

The forecast is for southwest winds at 10-15 knots.

Chuck Tyman Manny reports a trip this week from Highlands as follows:”Awesome day yesterday with Andrew Laffey, David Mormak, & Laszlo Hasko. Avoided the humans, went off by ourselves and had a steady bite all day. Small fish were in the 30 pound class, big fish went 48 pounds.