Every fishing year has its ups and downs, but 2013 started out well. Access for surfcasters opened up in many areas, and most marinas were back in business by the spring, while the state did a fine job in clearing the channels of debris after Sandy. I was surprised by the unusual winter surf fishery for striped bass. It was a relief to find that Sandy didn’t devastate the fisheries, and I was able to pick small bass up to as late as Jan. 29 while casting mostly at Sea Girt and Point Pleasant with the 6-inch Tsunami Swim Eel and a black Mambo Minnow. Though I didn’t catch any over 27 inches, there were a few keepers caught. Fishing was available even though the waters were normally cold, rather than in the 50-degree area as during the previous winter. Spring striper fishing in Raritan Bay started well. I joined Tank Matraxia’s party with Captains Fletcher Chayes and Lou Grazioso on Two Rivers Charters out of Bahrs in Highlands on April 16 as we clammed 40 to 50 bass that included about 15 percent keepers. Clammers later had one of their best spring fisheries, with plenty of legal bass included. Most surprising was the unprecedented spring run of croakers and spot in Raritan Bay. Chuck Many of Annandale was determined to net bunkers and catch the first 30-pound striper when he left Gateway Marina in Highlands on April 21 with his Tyman. Matt Calabria cast-netted about 100 bunkers, and Many headed into a stiff northwest wind for a lee from Staten Island — but never got there as fish were marking on the fish-finder in rough mid-bay waters. It was practically nonstop action after that for Nellie Greer of Bethlehem, Pa., Calabria and I over a wide area as Many only occasionally stopped netting our bass to get a line in the water. When we were almost out of bunkers, I switched to casting a Tsunami Deep Shad and caught bass even faster during a very fast drift. Calabria had to get to work that night, and we left them biting in mid-afternoon with the count up to 95 stripers. Calabria kept two, but the rest were released. It was the best Raritan Bay bite of large bass I’ve ever experienced as all were over 28 inches except possibly one or two of the jigged fish. Many only fell short in his quest for that hoped-for 30-pounder as the largest was "only" 22 pounds. The spring striper run in the bay marked a big improvement over the previous two years, as we continued to do well with bunkers and blind-casting the Deep Shad. Bluefish were late arriving in the bay, and I didn’t get my first on Sheri Berri from Baker’s Marina on the Bay in Highlands with Captain Hans Kaspersetz until May 16. Even then we enjoyed a decent striper bite in the back of the bay until a northeast wind drew such a mass of big blues into the bay on June 19 that we couldn’t get a bunker to bottom in 14 feet that day. Ironically, party boats were having a hard time finding any blues in the ocean at the same time. My spring surfcasting started out on a high note May 6 as one of my first few casts with a Daiwa SP Minnow produced a 28-inch striper. Unfortunately, it was going to be many months before I caught another. There was virtually no run of big stripers pushing bunkers to the beach in the spring, and boaters on the ocean were generally very disappointed with striper fishing under bunker schools. Some bass to over 50 pounds were trolled on Tony Maja bunker spoons just inside the three-mile limit off Island Beach State Park. A major exception to the poor ocean striper run occurred on June 14 near Shrewsbury Rocks the afternoon after a tropical storm. There was supposed to be a calming northwest wind when I joined Chuck Many on Tyman that afternoon, but after Nellie Greer netted bunkers we ran down the beach into a moderate southwest wind before coming upon bass blasting bunkers on the surface. I immediately released a 38-pounder on a Cordell Pencil Popper, while everyone else was hooking big bass on bunkers which I switched to for a 42-pound release. The action continued to dusk, as we ended up with 28 releases of 25-to-35-pounders that included five from 40 to 42 pounds while Greg Prestosh of Hellertown, Pa. also released two big blues up to 18 pounds. Part Two of the year’s review will appear next week. Visit my daily blog at nj.com/shore/blogs/fishing. The Jamaica from Brielle concludes their sea bass season when the federal closure occurs on Jan. 1. They’ve found jumbo sea bass and porgies have been biting well in the dark, so the daily sailing time has been moved to 10 p.m. for fishing the next day. Call 732 528-5014 for reservations. In January, the Jamaica will run 1 a.m. trips on Saturdays for porgies, cod and pollock. The water temperature remains a mild 53 degrees on the far offshore wrecks. An 8-pound sea bass took Saturday’s pool over a 7.2-pounder by Naazimm Ali of Newark. Last weekend’s exceptionally warm weather brought out lots of surfcasters. Bob Matthews, at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina reported that lots of short stripers were released in the Ocean County surf. Blackfishing was good for boats out of the marina, and he weighed the shop’s largest of the season this week -- a 15 1/2-pounder caught by Jake Niedenstein of Wall off Long Branch. There was nothing like the fishing I experienced during Christmas Week two years ago when Capt. Joe Massa ran his My Three Sons from Morgan Marina to Shrewsbury Rocks where jigs dropped under working birds by my son Mike and Bob Correll of Bay Head produced doubleheaders of cod before we added stripers and blues -- and saw a bluefin tuna jump by the inner buoy. Miss Belmar Princess and the Golden Eagle from Belmar start seeking mackerel today. Capt. Scotty Hilliard has had good blackfishing for tog up to almost 10 pounds in 70-foot depths from his Prowler V out of Atlantic Highlands, but Sunday’s fishing was tough in a 30 mph wind, as was the special Christmas morning sailing. After releasing lots of 15-to-20-inch stripers while surfcasting in Bay Head and Point Pleasant recently, I had to go to Florida in order to catch fish that are keepers at that size. Crazy Alberto Knie of Tactical Anglers put Luis Gonzalez of Homestead, Fl. and I into some fun fishing for spotted sea trout at a Fort Pierce area pass into the Gulf of Mexico prior to dawn this week. It was only a pick of six colorful and good-eating trout, but lots of fun while casting small jigs on 4-pound spinning from shore.