We did make it out this past weekend for the official start of our regular Full-Day Season with some limited success on Tautog. With the forecasted weather the long-range trip was cancelled and it was a good call. By Sunday morning the swells offshore were approaching eight to ten feet and building so inshore fishing was a good option.

With Rain and wind pretty much in the forecast all weekend it was somewhat surprising to see a nice group of hearty anglers Saturday morning to give the Tog a shot. I fished several wrecks and rock piles including a stop at an artificial reef and we found a few fish everywhere we went. The Tog bite was somewhat slow but a few lucky and persistent anglers managed to scrape up a little mess of fish. No big numbers were landed and certainly no limits, but there were several real nice fish spread around the boat and we had some throwback action too. Given the weather that we had I was very content to see the fish that we caught, Togging had been much worse over the last several weeks with the colder water and it wouldnÂ’t have surprised me if they didnÂ’t bite at all.

Water temperatures are usually the key to success at this time of year and what we are seeing now is a gradual but most certain increase in surface temperatures. Just a couple short weeks ago we were looking at water as cool as 41 degrees along the coast and this weekend I saw the water as warm as 45 degrees just a few miles off the beach while there are surface temperatures as warm as 47 to 48 degrees and even warmer up in the shallows of the Delaware Bay. With any luck this trend will continue as we roll into April and we should continue to have good fishing with these Tog as well as a few other species of fish including Stripers and Drumfish. Fortunately for the health of the stock of Tog the spring spawning regulations will go into effect this week on April 1st reducing the creel limit to just 3 and increasing the size limit up an inch to 15 inches. There are mixed feelings on these regulations but I am personally all for them especially since the fish will be spawning in the upcoming days and weeks and the angling pressure on these fish now is really unprecedented. Traditionally we would never even fish for the Tog at this time of year but with the noticeable absence of the Mackerel and the Sea Trout it is certainly an early option and is also a lot of fun. Besides if you are lucky enough to land your limit of Tog at this size you will certainly have a nice bag of fillets for your effort! Spring Tog fishing will be closing altogether in May so if you want to take a shot at them these next few weeks will be your best bet until the fall season.

Striper fishing is also heating up along with the water temperatures; there are confirmed reports of good Striper action on both sides of the Bay as well as the Rips in the mouth of the Bay. While most of these fish have been landed on surf clams there are quite a few of them being taken on live bait and artificial as well. This spring striper fishery seems to be turning on nicely so far this year and will most certainly provide some excellent opportunities for catching them in the upcoming weeks. This is the perfect time to book a private charter to try and take advantage of these biting fish while the boat traffic is at a minimum. It is also possible that we can mix a few Stripers in with the catch on the regular All-Day trips with the headboat on some days when everything falls into place. A private charter is still the best option though with these early Stripers because you can dedicate the whole day for these fish where as with the regular headboat trips I will be trying to concentrate fishing mostly over the wrecks for the Tog and will just take the Stripers as a bonus when we can.

I am going to continue with the short schedule for a couple more weeks running just FridayÂ’s through MondayÂ’s anchoring over wrecks fishing for Tog on the Full-Day trip, departure time is 7:00 a.m We will resume running seven days a week around the last week of April unless some Mackerel show up within striking distance during the next couple weeks. I will keep you posted if this happens. We still have several long-range trips on the schedule for the Sea Bass and the Tilefish; our next offshore trip departs this Saturday April 4th at 2:00 a.m. Advance reservations are necessary on these limited space trips so be sure to book in advance to assure a spot. There is a complete list of dates for the long-range trips on the special trip link from our home page.

If you would like any more information about trips sailing out of the Wharf or you would like to book a private charter or reserve a space on a special trip please give us a call at (302) 645-TUNA.

Until Next Week Happy Fishing!

Capt. Rick Yakimowicz
Thelma Dale V
catchfish@verizon.net