Tomorrow starts well with northwest winds at 10-15 knots, but that increases to20-25 plus gusts to 30 in the afternoon. There’s a chance of snow and showers.
A small craft advisory will be posted from Thursday afternoon to late night.
Joe Tomaszewski recently caught this 30-inch, 16.7-pound tautog for a new personal record. It was caught on a wreck in 90 feet. He tried releasing his prize, but it didn’t make it.
An air temperature of 55 degrees is a mild one during the winter in NY/NJ Bight. but in Florida the residents are reluctant to open the front door to such a “deep freeze” Yet, my son-in-law Luis Gonzalez and I drove from Palm Beach Gardens on Saturday to Hutchinson Island to fish with my nephew, Bob Correll, on his new 34-foot Sea Vee center console for the Spanish mackerel which Bruce Hrobak had told us were biting off the mouth of St. Lucie Inlet. Hrobak was the former owner of Jersey Shore Tackle before moving south to run Billy Bones tackle shops in Stuart and Port St. Lucie.
There were boats in the area when we arrived, but nothing was being caught even though the water was still at 68 degrees. Bob ran out to the reef to get some sure action dropping squid to bottom, though that only produced mostly large blue runners before we ran back inside to see some Spanish being caught. It wasn’t every-cast action often experienced with that species. but we chummed with ground bunker and glass minnows while casting small lures on light spinning tackle to catch eight that were all relatively large — up to 24 inches. That was mre than enough for a great fish dinner expertly prepared by Luis. Surprisingly, it still wasn’t hot when we returned near noon
Ric Gross of Point Pleasant had a better report as he fished Friday out of Boynton Beach with his grandson Finn on Phishunt Charters for a good variety of little tunny, king mackerel and snappers on a calm. 78-degree ocean. They mostly drifted baits in 50 to 100 feet.
The forecast is for a modest 10-15 knot northwest wind tomorrow.
Capt. Joe Massa made a final trip of the season from Morgan Marina with his My Three Sons as he and Bobby Glynn fished down the beach for a decent pick of blackfish. Massa said the fall-winter blackfishing has been tougher than usual. and it didn’t help that most of his supply of whitelegger crabs was killed off by heavy rains at the marina.
Bobby Glynn with a 7-pounder to top the catch.
The forecast looks good with northwest winds at 10-15 knots.
Though NJ ocean waters remain open for stripers all year, inshore waters are closed for that species as of the New Year.
Monday’s forecast is for northwest winds at 5-10 knots before shifting to north in the afternoon. There’s a slight chance of showers.
Here’s wishing you a Fishy New Year!
The New Jersey Bonus Striped Bass Program ends at 12:00 a.m. Jan. 1. That program only applies to N.J. and was derived from the old commercial quota which is not used in that game fish state.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar concludes party boat fishing for stripers with Sunday’s 6:30 trip.
A small craft advisory is up to late tonight, but by the morning the forecast is for west winds at just 10-15 knots.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar was striper fishing today and reported as follows:
12/29/2023
“The weather was gorgeous today and it was a fine day of STRIPER fishing with SHORTS, KEEPERS and OVERS. There were enough fish out there to be exciting!“
That was to be the last day, but their customers asked for one more day which will be Sunday at 6:30 from Belmar.
Mike Monte had good news from the Monmouth County surf this morning before returning to Nantucket. He heard from Two-Pole Mike who caught three decent-sized stripers and saw a few others taken despite a rough surf.
A small craft advisory is up through late Saturday night. However, the forecast is for west winds at just 10-15 knots on Sunday.
The North Carolina little tunny run is still underway, and Santa Claus (Capt. Jake Jordan} even got in on it
The Golden Eagle from Belmar will run its final striper trip of a very long season at 7:30 a.m. Friday.
The report on their offshore wreck trip follows: “We had a respectable catch on today’s Offshore Giant Sea Bass Trip with some nice 6 to 7lb. SEA BASS along with PORGIES and several WEAKFISH!“
A A small craft advisory is up until late tonight. By morning, the forecast is for southwest winds at just 5-10 knots with a slight chance of rain.
Mike Monte reported surf conditions were perfect. but there wasn’t a bump in the Monmouth County surf for him and “Two-Pole” Mike even though loons were diving on abundant sand eels. However, Mike did hear that there was a bite of decent-sized stripers further south at Lavallette the day before.
The forecast is for east winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20 and likely rain — especially in the morning.
Brielle dentist Dr. Pat Donelly and his crew had a good recent trip of both stripers and tog recently.
If the forecast is right, anglers will have a perfect December day for fishing on Tuesday. East winds are predicted to be only 5 knots along with mild temperatures – and there’s no chance of showers before late afternoon.
Merry Christmas and a Fishy New Year to all!
The weather forecast is perfect for those seeking to catch a striper before the Christmas festivities. Northeast winds at just 5 knots with two-foot seas are fine for surf and boat anglers, though there is also a slight chance of morning showers or patchy fog.
My granddaughter, Liz Gonzalez, got an early present this morning when she went fishing for the first time and released a 17-inch largemouth bass on the Frozen Elsa spincast rod combo her father, Luis gave her at birth. We were casting paddeltails from shore in a pond at PGA in Palm Beach Gardens when she hooked up — and also had another come off at the last moment. I’ll leave it to your imagination to wonder how many her grandfather caught!
Merry Christmas to all!
Tight Lines 