Posted on March 12, 2020 Friday looks tough, but weekend may be better Today was a good one for fishing, but Friday may be just the opposite. Rain and fog are on the menu for tomorrow morning, with small craft warnings into Saturday morning. The day starts with south winds at 20-25 knots before shifting to southwest in the afternoon.  A clearing and calming 10-15-knot west wind on Saturday should improve conditions though it will gust to 20 knots. The Ocean Explorer from Belmar got offshore today with good conditions, but an effort for cod in 200 feet or more was ruined by spiny dogfish. The best bottom life was in 90-120 feet, where some ling and short cod were hooked.  They won’t be fishing in Friday’s weather, but are planning to sail Saturday. The Big Jamaica will make their Saturday offshore wreck trip at 1 a.m. The last trip produced pollock, ling, white hake and porgies. Call 732 528-5014 for reservations. Some school stripers are being wormed from Raritan Bay shorelines, and winter flounder turn on at times from the Belmar Marina docks. Phil Fischer took a couple of friends up the Shrewsbury on Sunday to look for flouder, but only came up with tree small stripers. He figures this week’s weather may have brought those waters up over 50 degrees and turned on the flatties. As noted yesterday, the Saltwater Fishing Expo had to be cancelled due to the virus problem. but crowding shouldn’t be a problem if you fish this weekend.