The best sportsman’s show in the NY/NJ Bight area is coming up on Friday. The New Jersey Convention and Expo Center at 97 Sunfield Ave. in Edison is the site for the Saltwater Expo, which runs from noon to 8 on opening day before continuing Saturday from 10-6 — and Sunday from 10-5.

All the major national manufactures display at this show along with many at the local level. Several national and area fishing personalities will be on hand, including Crazy Alberto Knie, Ron Arra Jim Hutchinson Jr. , and Nick Honachefsky.

A pair of Stripers for the Future Seminars will be featured on Saturday. at 3 and 5 with the emphasis on proper release techniques. I’ll have more about this tomorrow.

For details about the Expo, visit sportshows.com.

The weather is finally changing for the better. The Wednesday forecast is for a mere 5-10 knot south wind! Stripers should be waiting for Raritan Bay anglers.

Northwesters aren’t pleasant when they are blowing, but they knock down swells and clear waters as they die out. Though there is a gale watch in NY/NJ Bight to late tonight, Wednesday looks great.

Tuesday’s forecast is for west winds at 15-20 knots before diminishing in the afternoon to 10-15 plus gusts to 25. Striper anglers casting worms from Raritan Bay shorelines should soon be back in business.

It’s time for stripers in NY/NJ Bight, but the weather isn’t cooperating.

A small craft advisory is up from 6 p.m. to late Monday night.

Monday’s forecast is for northwest winds at 25-30 knots plus gusts to 45 and 4-7-foot seas.

Capt. Franl Massaria posted his reaction to the N.J. Marine Fisheries Council approval of option 32 . “Great news on the new fluke regs. Three fish at 18″ or bigger. Last season we had to leave big fish spots once we had our 18″+ fish to find smaller fish in order to limit the boat. This season we will be able to seek the bigger fish each and every trip.” His Vitaman Sea from Keyport is ready to go for spring stripers. Call 917 439-6488.

This won’t be an ideal weekend for fishing in NY/NJ Bight as there’s a small craft advisory from 6 p.m. through Saturday before going to a gale warning into Monday evening. The Sunday forecast is for west winds at 20-25 knots plus gusts to 35 with showers and 6-9-foot seas.

As expected, yesterday’s meeting of the New Jersey Marine Fisheries approved option 32, which provides a bag of three fluke at an 18-inch minimum from May 4 to Sept. 25. That satisfies both South Jersey with the early season they favor and North Jersey plus surfcasters with the late season they prefer.

Fisherman’s Headquarters in Ship Bottom reports there were lots of anglers at the meeting which went smoothly.

Tom O’Connor sent in the first Raritan Bay striper report after releasing two of about 25 inches at South Amboy on worms. There were some bunkers flipping, but nothing was on them.

A small craft advisory is up through Saturday afternoon, before becoming a gale watch from that evening to Sunday morning. Saturday starts with southeast winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20 increasing to 15-20 along with gusts to 30 and rain in the afternoon. Seas will build to 7-8 feet after midnight.

Dave Lilly has a surefire way of determining the start of striped bass fishing in Raritan Bay — and it occurred today as earthworms covered the sidewalks in Hazlet. Dave doesn’t know if there is any relationship between the volume of worms and that of stripers, but he’s never seen so many worms emerge.

Lilly thought they might come out with rain after the 66 degree day, but it didn’t happen then. As it is. this is earlier than normal. Anglers casting bloodworms from shore should be into school bass plus an occasional keeper right away. Dave says there are very few boats in the water so far, but he guarantees boaters will be catching stripers as soon as they can get out.

A small craft advisory is up through Friday afternoon. Friday’s forecast is for northeast winds at 10-15 knots with gusts to 20 before shifting to east at 10-15 in the afternoon with 4-6-foot seas.

March 2024 began with honoring Jim Motsko, founder of the White Marlin Open, as the Lifetime Achievement Award recipient at the Greater Ocean City, Maryland Chamber of Commerce Annual Awards Celebration.

Motsko started the WMO with 57 boats competing for $20,000, which has grown to 400 boats and a purse of $10.5 million!

A small craft warning is up in NY/NJ Bight to late Thursday night. The forecast is for north winds at 15-20 knots in the morning with gusts to 25 and 4-7-foot seas. Rain is likely.

Vinny D’Anton has been doing very well with his light tackle wade fishing around Sarasota. Spotted sea trout have been consistent, and redfish were added yesterday. MirrOlures and D.O.A. Shrimp have been producing.

Paulies Tackle reports the old Montauk has fallen victim to sky-high real estate costs and is no longer viable for a small tack shop despite having a loyal core of surfcasting customers. Therefore, he’s closed his doors.

A small craft advisory is up through late tonight. That’s down to south at 5 knots by morning before going east in the afternoon. Rain is likely.

Chuck Many reports that Jason Bardenhagen & Edward Conte stopped by for a day & a half of fishing in Hilton Head on their way to FL. Not the best conditions, but Hilton Head didn’t disappoint! About 30 Reds, 4 Black Drum, some giant pinfish and croakers kept us busy! Good times!!

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Capt. Joe Massa, who runs his My Three Sons out of Morgan Marina, was vacationing in St. Maarten recently where he was able to enjoy great sport releasing tarpon from shore for just $10 a day!

As many anglers fishing in the tropics are aware, tarpon like to hang around fish cleaning areas to feast on the heads and guts being thrown in the water. It’s not always permissible to fish for them at marinas as tarpon may jump into boats.

That doesn’t apply in St. Maarten, where Massa gave the women cleaning snappers $10 for a bucket of guts which produced instant hits and lots of jumps from tarpon Joe estimated as up to 40-50 pounds — and were released to fight another day.

East winds at 15-20 knots plus rain move in around midnight and last until decreasing to southeast 10-15 in the afternoon with seas at 4 to 5 feet.

Capt. Joe Massa called from Point Pleasant with the surprising news that it was 66 degrees there this afternoon — not much different than Ft. Myers, Florida.

Following is a report from the Ocean Explorer out of Belmar. “Wow what a beautiful day down here at the shore!! The surf is giant though so I am glad I am not offshore.. We are not fishing due to the main street bridge being broke..They are trying to get a repair plan and I will keep you updated on future sailings…..So stand by everyone! “

A small craft advisory is up in NY/NJ Bight into Monday even though it will be down to southeast 5-10 knots by morning — with the big swell down to 3-5-feet.