The 38th Outdoor Expo at Rockland Community College in Suffern, N.Y. opened Thursday afternoon, and continues through Sunday. Yet, it's a miracle that it ever survived its first year after a massive snow storm buried the facility just before the weekend. There was only one lane plowed on roads leading up to Suffern when I drove up from Lake Hiawatha for the last day on that Sunday. Upon arriving at the field house, I looked down at a floor full of large exhibits from all of the nation's major fishing tackle manufacturers with only a few people walking through the aisles. At that point I'd have bet any money that those companies would never return the next year. Yet, show promoter Paul Fuller was able to put it back together again and there hasn't been a serious problem with the weather ever since.  All of the attractions and seminars plus driving instructions to the free parking can be found  by visiting www.sportshows.com/suffern. That's also the best way to obtain tickets and avoid lines. Admission is $13 for adults and $3 for those 5 to 11, while kids under 5 are admitted at no charge. Expo hours are 1-9 p.m. Friday; 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday; and 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Shimano is introducing their new Ultegra C14 surf spinners in two sizes. Those large diameter Long Stroke spools retrieve up to 41 inches per crank. Local pros Doug Rusch and Greg Kondak are in the booth to demonstrate them along with national surfcasting expert Roy Leyra.  The big one for saltwater anglers is coming up from March 16-18 when the Saltwater Expo moves into larger headquarters at the N.J. Convention and Expo Center in Edison. My usual Saturday seminar at that show has been changed to 2 p.m. om Friday, March 16 since I'll be leaving that night to join my nephews fishing aboard Pesca Panama.  Striper pro Chuck Many will be joining me, and Gary Quon of Tady Lures will present everyone attending the seminar with one of his valuable lures.  The Atlantic City Boat Show is running through this weekend at the Convention Center there.  The fishing season for winter flounder got underway on Thursday, along with that for internal waters stripers. Capt. Chris De Stefano of Wall stopped by the Belmar docks and watched 18 anglers fishing for flounder on a beautiful morning. Despite the fine weather recently, waters are still cold and only a spider crab had been caught.  De Stefano saw a few bunkers near Shark River Yacht Club, but the seal that had been there has left. He got word that there are hundreds of seals in Shrewsbury River, which doesn't bode well for any improvement in flounder fishing there. Gene Graman of Middletown reported the Red Bank area is full of bunkers which some anglers were live-lining, though stripers usually don't respond to them when they show up very early in the season. The first stripers in that area will probably be reported from Raritan Bay shorelines on clam. That fishing is usually best on an outgoing tide when sun-warmed river waters bring up temperatures on the flats. The best bet for keepers is usually around the top of the tide at night.  Some bass should also be caught on worms or small lures from Barnegat Bay bridges at night. The northeaster coming in this weekend will put a crimp in fishing, and muddy the waters for a few tide changes. Gusts up to 55 mph are forecasted by Friday afternoon, and it's supposed to be windy through the weekend.  NOAA Fisheries just issued an emergency regulation pertaining to shortfin mako sharks which becomes effective March 2. Commercial fishermen will be required to release makos alive, if possible, from their gear -- unless they are dead. You can be pretty sure that there won't be many live makos caught as long as the market price holds up. Recreational fishermen with the required permit are also supposed to release all makos, but can retain one of at least 83 inches -- up from, last year's 54 inches.   I'm still trying to get more information on the huge 649 1/2-pound swordfish caught on Frank Criscola's Crisdel from Brielle Yacht Club while sailing out of their winter base in Islamorada, Florida Keys. Richard Stanczyk, the pioneer of daytime swordfishing in that area, said it wasn't weighed at his Bud'N Mary's Marina (800 742-7945), but is the largest he's ever heard of down there. Some marinas in the Keys still aren't operating, but Stanczyk says his operation is almost completely renovated and improved. His son, Capt. Nick, caught three swordfish on Tuesday. Pete Connell of Avon was down there to catch a bonefish in the evening with Stanczyk before fishing offshore the next day with Capt. Chris Walter of Long Key as Don Smith joined him in deep-dropping for big queen snappers. Walters (305 943-7039} has a Regulator 29, Get Bent -- and caught a swordfish on Wednesday.     Paul Haertel of the JCAA reports that "Though we had expected the fluke and seabass regulations to be set at the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council (NJMFC) meeting on 3/15/18, the setting of regulations for these two species has now been delayed until a special meeting can be scheduled in April. This is a result of decisions made at the recent Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) meeting regarding Addendum XXX for seabass. Several positive changes in the way seabass are managed were made at that meeting. One in particular is a smoothing over approach that can be used to adjust MRIP numbers that appear to be way out of line. For example, the MRIP numbers for Wave 3 (May-June) in 2017 showed that New Jersey harvested an extraordinarily high number of sea bass. We will now be able to smooth over that number based on what was harvested during that period in prior years. This is a good thing as it may very well result in us being able to liberalize our regulations this year. Our Bureau of Marine Fisheries has worked diligently on this issue but must have their methodology approved by the ASMFC management board that is not scheduled to meet until 3/20/18. Therefore, the NJMFC cannot set regulations until sometime after this meeting. Further, our council is seeking to close or eliminate the gap from when fluke season closes until when sea bass season opens so they have elected to wait until the special meeting in April to set the regulations for both species. However, the regulations for blackfish and porgies are still expected to be set at the council meeting on 3/15/18. Regarding blackfish, we are mandated to take a 2% cut. The regulations for April will almost certainly remain the same but it looks like the one fish season will begin on 8/1 rather than 7/16 and our bag limit will be reduced from 6 fish to 5 fish from 11/16-12/31. Various other options will be available at this meeting. As with the other species, the options will be shown, comments taken and then the council will make their decision. There is better news on porgies as we will be allowed to increase our harvest by 59%. This will allow New Jersey to have a year-round season. Previously our season was closed from March 1st to June 30th. The bag and size limits will remain the same, 50 fish at 9". The NJMFC meeting will be held at 5PM on Thursday 3/15/18 at the Stafford Township Municipal Building located at 260 East Bay Av. in Manahawkin. The public is encouraged to attend and give their opinion on any of the proposals. JCAA will keep you posted as to specific options as they become available via our newsletter and on our Facebook page."     e