Posted on March 29, 2021 Low water advisory up For the first time I ever saw such a thing. the marine weather forecast this evening included a low water advisory which is in effect until 10 p.m. as tides will be as much as two feet below mean low water levels. N.J. surfcasters know that strong northwest winds always push water off the beaches, but it has to be something very unusual for the Weather Service to post a warning about it. There’s also a small craft advisory up to 8 p.m. Bob Matthews, at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina reported that what appeared to be a tornado last night did a lot of damage to the motor lodge, but all the boats seemed to be fine. The ocean should be flat from all that northwest wind, and the Ocean Explorer will be sailing from Belmar at 7:30 a.m. for cod and ling. The wind forecast looks good for Tuesday morning with southeast breezes at 5-10 knots which increase to 10-15 from the south in the afternoon. When I wrote yesterday’s blog early I assumed no boats would be fishing in the rain and wind, but I wasn’t thinking about Capt. Joe Massa. After enduring several skunkings to start the striper season, Joe got out early with his My Three Sons from Morgan Marina. Morgan is one of the best ports on Raritan Bay to sail from as it’s only a few minutes run to the back of the bay which is usually the first area to come alive early in the spring. There was only one other boat out as Joe trolled small diving plugs to release a dozen shorts before the end of the tide. It was a start, and with lots of bunker around the bigger stripers should be on them within days. The Hudson River Fisherman’s Association Fred Rung Memorial Striped Bass Tournament starts the contest season in April. Frank Huza of Aberdeen passed along the following warning to shore anglers. “  heard from a local fireman that they were called out about 8 o’clock Sunday evening to rescue a shore based Striper fisherman who waded out into Matawan Creek at Cliffwood Beach and got stuck in the mud.  (He was walking the shore towards Wagner’s Marina) Luckily he had a cell phone!  It pays to scout your fishing sites during the day, before walking out at night.”