Tight Lines

When I was a youngster and just starting to fish aboard party boats on Long Island, a rise in party boat fares usually involved 50 cents as fuel prices were very low and there was little inflation. It’s a lot different now with raging inflation — and steadily increasing fuel prices.

Capt. Ron Santee is hoping to start striper fishing with his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands by the secod weekend in April, but still hasn’t set a new fare. He’s using ng a sharp pencil to avoid a shock for his anglers, but diesel is at $4.60 a gallon and climbing.

The Ocean Explorer from Belmar didn’t sail for cod today due to the wind, but hopes to be able to open the tautog season in April — along with the Golden Eagle and Big Mohawk from that port.

The forecast is for west winds at 20 knots tomorrow morning plus gusts to 25.

This 119.3-pound wahoo was trolled recently during a South Carolina wahoo tournament< but fought by several angles for an hour on 130-pound tackle.

Cod to be targeted

Both the Ocean Explorer and Golden Eagle are planning to prospect for cod out of Belmar on Saturday. The forecast is for southwest winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20. Scattered showers are possible.

Striper fishing in Raritan Bay and River as well as other protected areas should also be possible.

Party boat anglers are awaiting the April opening of the blackfish season, but may have a shot at spring cod in the meantime.

The Ocean Explorer from Belmar had a nice day offshore o Tuesday, and reported a “handful” of both keeper and short cod plus ling. They will get out again whenever the weather is favorable — and will be joined on Saturday by the Golden Eagle. Tere were also lots of dogfish and some congers.

Small craft warnings are up through Saturday afternoon though west winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20 tomorrow doesn’t sound too bad.

Sorry for no blog last night as a short loss of power resulted in losing the internet.

It didn’t look good for Wednesday as of yesterday, but the weatherman has better news for us. Instead of gusty east winds, only 10-15 knot east winds are forecast though showers are possible in the afternoon.

Tuesday’s forecast is for northwest winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20 — which looks a lot better for anglers than the east winds predicted for Wednesday.

The Ocean Explorer from Belmar is planning to sail in the morning for offshore bottom fishing. They had a couple of keeper cod and some ling on their last trip. The Golden Eagle from that port is looking forward to opening its season at 7 a.m. Tuesday with a search for cod.

Nick from Monmouth reported there were stripers to be caught Sunday from Raritan Bay shorelines despite an abundance of seaweed. Jumbo bloodworms produced short stripers of 24 and 26 inches.

Though Raritan Bay waters are still very warm for March, the best school striper bite is still up in Raritan River.

Capt. Joe Massa made a short trip there Friday with his My Three Sons from Morgan Marina, and managed to boat his first keeper bass of the season. That 29-incher hit one of the small swimming plugs he trolled on light tackle for the scattered fish.

Capt. Lou Grazioso was in the river today for a pick of bass before the wind came up hard.

Wind could be a problem tomorrow with northwest at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 30 and a small craft advisory. but Tuesday looks great with northwest at just 5-10 knots.

The Saltwater Expo finishes up tomorrow at the N.J. Convention & Expo Center in Edison with show hours being 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Sunday’s forecast is for west winds at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 25.

The Saltwater Expo is back, and continues through Sunday at the N.J. Convention & Expo Center in Edison. Saturday’s hours are from 10-6, and adult admission is $13.

Capt. Lou Grazioso called in from the Raritan River to report a pick of short stripers on shad lures for Bryne Pieros and Dave Donahue as the he felt the bite was off a bit due to the full moon. It certainly wasn’t due to the water temperature which Lou said was an amazing 57.3 degrees.

It was also a beautiful day along the Shore, and Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina said a winter flounder was caught on a sandworm. Striper action has been both north and south of there so far.

A dense fog advisory is up until 7 a.m. South winds at 10-15 knots increase to 15-20 with gusts to 25 in the afternoon.

One of the great things about fishing is that there are times when it’s impossible to figure out what’s happened under the water.

That was the case yesterday afternoon as I was fishing one of my ponds in Fort Myers, Florida.

My technique involves casting a 5-inch Z Man Die Zel Minnow Z and placing a worm hook in the tip of the head for maximum paddle tail action reeling it across the pond for surface strikes. During my first cast, I noted several twists in the 15-pound mono after having fought a 23 1/2-inch largemouth bass on too light a drag the previous day. Therefore, I stripped out those loops and ran the line though my fingers before starting the retrieve of the lure which had settled to bottom. I immediately felt weight, but no action. Since there’s no other fish in those ponds other than largemouth bass, I was worried about the possibility that a small alligator had picked up the lure. Yet, as I reeled it to shore, I saw a bass tail appear. The worm hook was stuck in the side near the tail. How could that happen when I never struck and simply reeled in the line? The 20 1/2-inch bass seemed to be just as mystified as it only made a little fuss before the release.

Despite the good weather, I haven’t been getting striper reports until Capt. Lou Grazioso called today to let me know he’s been using a small boat t release dozens of bass from 15 inches up to a 30-incher in Raritan Bay area tributaries. All of that action has been on shad lures.

A small craft warning is up, but I don’t know why as morning winds are west at 5-10 knots before going southwest in the afternoon.

After falling victim to the pandemic last year, the Saltwater Expo opens Friday and runs through the weekend at the N,J, Convention and Expo Center at 97 Sunfield Ave., Edison.

Admission is $13 for adults and $3 for kids 5-11. Those under 5 are admitted free.

Thursday’s forecast is for east winds at 5-10 knots before increasing to 10-15 in the afternoon along with rain and patchy fog.

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