NJSALTFISH.com

1000's of NJ Saltwater Fishing Reports, Dozens of Sources, Maps, Wrecks, Historical Search

Marine anglers can enjoy the one sportsman's show of the winter devoted entirely to their interests as the Somerset Saltwater Expo runs from Friday through Sunday at the Garden State Exhibit Center. The major national fishing tackle companies are all at this American Sportfishing Association show along with many local exhibitors, such as Pete Meyers with 12-to-32-ounce Mo-Jos plus the introduction of a 2-ounce casting Mo-Jo tipped with a 6-inch shad at Run Off Lures; Art Berkman with Garone Custom Rods & Tackle from Manasquan; and Kil Song with the very light Black Hole rods for tuna. The Expo runs from noon to 8 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday; and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $15 for adults, $3 for kids 5-11, and no charge under 5. There are also many seminars by pros such as Crazy Alberto Knie, Gene Quigley and Lou DeFusco. I'll be presenting a striped bass seminar at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, during which Tady Lures will be presenting one of their valuable jigs to the first 100 attendees. Visit sportshows.com for seminar times plus directions and other show information. There was an overflow crowd Wednesday night at the Red Bank Library for a presentation by the Navesink River Heritage Association about their push for a Sandy Hook Bay National Marine Sanctuary that would involve about 12,500 acres including the Shrewsbury, Navesink and Swimming rivers plus part of Raritan Bay. The room wasn't big enough to handle the crowd, and I didn't hear anything but opposition to turning over control of state waters from a fisherman-friendly and efficient NJ DEP to the federal government. As Jim Donofrio of the Recreational Fishing Alliance noted "This is a solution looking for a problem." Marine sanctuaries sound nice, but fishermen in California and Florida have had very bad experiences with them. I'll have more about this in future columns and my daily blog at nj.com/shore/blogs/fishing. The Saltwater Anglers of Bergen County celebrated their 79th year at the annual Past President's Dinner Tuesday night in Mountainside Inn, Clifton. Some very impressive catches were honored, including a 46-pound striped bass by Rich Reitano, a 12 ¼-pound fluke for Rich DeMelo, and a 12 ¼-pound blackfish by Bob Cameron. Chuck Santoro entered an 18-pound jumbo bluefish; Tom Siciliano had a 3 1/8-pound porgy; and Bill Fish a 2 ½-pound winter flounder. Ten-time president John Toth was tops in sea bass at 4 ½ pounds. Sunday's Hi-Mar Striper Club Dinner at the Channel Club in Monmouth Beach featured a lifetime achievement award to Gene Graman, the former "Capt. Wood" whose new That's It Two (a Contender)  is a "go-fast" boat. Jeff Sutton was the Angler of the Year, had the largest striper at 34 pounds and received a Sportsman of the Year award along with Dan Brady for service to the club. Len Fantasia tagged and released a 46.5-inch striper for that award, and Steve Webber weighed a 2.2-pound winter flounder. The Spring Lake Live Liners dinner at the Lobster Shanty in Point Pleasant Beach last Saturday night featured two boat awards for Gavin Petillo – largest striper of 35 pounds, and fluke at 9 1/8 pounds. Frank Balacco also doubled up with surf awards for a 21-pound striper and 17 5/8-pound bluefish. Jeff Dyer had what was a rare surf catch last year with a 7 1/4-pound weakfish. I talked to fly-fishing pro Bill Massie of Wall who managed to catch only 50 stripers while fishing local beaches almost every day during a poor surf year – down from his usual 200 on a fly. Bob Matthews said he rented out a skiff from Fisherman's Den in Belmar Marina to anglers who chummed and managed a flounder while losing another. He also heard of a flounder being caught from the docks. Despite all the recent warm weather, inshore fishing has been slow to develop – but Dave Lilly of Hazlet saw earthworms crawling out of the ground during the rain this week and says that's a sure sign stripers will be turning on within days. Bunkers have arrived early, and large bass can't be far behind in the warming waters. Tom Paglioroli reports that South Jersey anglers are catching some short and keeper stripers at Graveling Point and in back bay areas. At Seaside Park, Grumpy's Tackle has heard of short stripers on salted clams in the Island Beach State Park surf, and of others being taken on small plugs in the back bays. Betty & Nick's got reports of small bass on Ava jigs in 46-degree surf waters. Yet, Joe Melillo had no surf or flounder reports at Castaways Tackle in Point Pleasant. The Jamaica from Brielle has room on Saturday's 1 a.m. cod trip. For reservations on that $165 sailing call 732 528-5014. Though the weather was good last Saturday, fishing was surprising slow with only some cod and pollock plus a lobster. The pool winners were Tim Mingo of East Islip, Long Island with a 14-pound pollock, and Anthony Puzzo from Bridgewater for a 9-pound pollock. The Ocean Explorer from Belmar also had poor fishing in fine weather on Sunday with a keeper cod, a pollock and a ling along with lots of dogfish -- while some big out-of-season blackfish were released. Capt. Pete Wagner, of Hyper Striper at Twin Lights Marina in Highlands, is back in Costa Rica running his Dream Girl out of Los Suenos for sailfish. He says that trolling has been very good with double-diget releases every day -- and up to 30 some days. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Council will be holding a public meeting on their Blueline Tilefish Management Plan on Tuesday, March 29 at 7 p.m. in Hilton Garden Inn, Lakewood.

Report Conditions

Tides

Ocean Temps

Moon and Sun

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Web Analytics