Chris and Phil LaGrossa cleaned up when the 2013 Jersey Shore Beach N Boat Tournament awards were passed out last Friday night at Marine Max in Brick. Phil LaGrossa weighed in the $3,000 striped bass winner of 46.2 pounds at Grumpy’s Tackle in Seaside Park May 18, and also added third place at 43.95 pounds, while his brother took sixth and seventh with stripers of 40.1 and 39.56 pounds. They added four bluefish awards from 20.25 to 21.19 pounds, and Phil took the second place fluke prize of $1,000 with a 9.75-pounder weighed at Pell’s on July 7 — where he also weighed the $2,000 weakfish winner of 9.75 pounds taken from shore on April 26. Howard Owens not only won the $2,000 first prize for bluefish with a huge 23.4-pounder weighed at The Reel Seat in Brielle on Oct. 19, but added third and fourth at 21.95 and 21.45 pounds weighed at Reel Life in Point Pleasant on Oct. 6. Walter Fisher was second for $1,000 with a 22.75-pounder weighed on Oct. 1 at The Tackle Box in Hazlet, where he also weighed two 20.25-pounders for eighth and tenth. Alex Oliszewski ran away with the blackfish category when he boated a 13.7-pounder on April 27 that was weighed at Lacy Marine and worth $2,000. Charlie Parker of Oceanport took second and $1,000 with a 10.5-pounder weighed at The Tackle Box on Nov. 23. Edward Plichta boated the only doormat, and that 10.49-pound fluke was worth $2,000. He added $2,000 for the second place striper of 45.45 pounds caught on May 24 — while also entering a 37.54-pounder for seventh. All of those were weighed at Lacy Marine. Paul Haertel had multiple winners with the fifth place striper of 40.63 pounds, the fifth place blackfish of 7.01 pounds, and seventh in fluke with an 8.47-pounder caught on July 4 and weighed at Lacy Marine — where he also weighed a 45.5-pound striper on May 24 for the second place $2,000. Michael Ramm was second for $1,000 in weakfish at 9.5 pounds, and added third (8.75 pounds), fourth (7.5 pounds) and seventh (6.5 pounds) — all weighed at The Tackle Box. Robert Pettit easily won the $2,000 for black drum with a 75-pounder weighed at Longreach Marina on May 31. A mere 2.31-pound fish also won $2,000, but that’s a pretty large kingfish that was boated by Bill Young on Aug. 24 and weighed at Creekside Outfitters. Gregory Carr won $2,000 for the largest sea bass, a 5.5-pounder boated on May 27 and weighed at Bobbies Boats in Barnegat Light. He also took fourth and ninth with sea bass of 3.75 and 2.56 pounds. For complete results plus information about the contest visit beachnboat.com. My blog at nj.com/shore/blogs/fishing is still available on a daily basis before switching to weekly in mid-winter. Books make a good Christmas gift, and Manny Luftglass has come out with one that any reader who has ever fished with the Viking Fleet at Montauk will certainly enjoy. It’s called "Gone Fishin’ with the Viking Fleet : The Forsberg Empire", as told to him by Capt. Paul G. Forsberg. I grew up in Merrick Long Island, one town east of Freeport — the original port for the Viking Fleet. It was a shock when they moved to Montauk in 1951 to take advantage of the great summer codfishing at Cox’s Ledge It was on their boat out there that I caught my first big fish (cod and pollock) as a teenager after an adventurous ride out to the east end of Long Island. Though I’ve known the Forsberg family for decades, it was a surprise to read that they had roots in N.J. — first settling in Mountain View after arriving from Sweden and France. The well-illustrated 320-page soft cover is available from Amazon plus Barnes & Noble — and at some tackle shops. Autographed copies by Capt. Paul G. Forsberg can be purchased for $21.95 from Capt. Paul G. Forsberg, 462 West Lake Drive, Montauk, NY 11954. Capt. Howard Bogan will be sailing his Jamaica from Brielle to the far offshore wrecks for jumbo sea bass and porgies almost every day the rest of the month before federal waters are closed to sea bass fishing on Jan. 1. Adam Stevens of Upper Marlboro, Md. won Sunday’s pool with a near-record 8-pound sea bass — beating out a 6-pounder by Arty Taylor of Staten Island. A few cod and pollock are caught on some trips, and 4-to-7-pound bluefish were taken Sunday along with some limits of sea bass and scup. Call 732-528-5014 for reservations. Bob Matthews, at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina, reports there have been shots of small stripers in the surf at many points. Some sea herring are showing up, and could attract larger stripers. Blackfishing has been good for the marina’s party, charter and private boats. Matthews weighed in an 11 3/4-pounder caught by Dan Hawley on green crab from the Laura Ann. Jerry Lasko got into some blasts of small stripers the last couple of days in Bay Head, but there was no such action late yesterday afternoon when I tried the same area. Lasko had been there for awhile and only saw a few small bass caught. Many anglers were leaving, but I stuck it out and picked three by dusk on a 6-inch Tsunami Swim eel and a Gulp Sand eel teaser while missing two others — but saw only one other bass caught. Being at exactly the right spot is very important these days, as I fished the previous afternoon within a half-mile of a hot bite and never had a hit. It’s pretty cold on the beach these days, but I’ve been comfortable without bulky clothing by wearing a Tactical Anglers fleece vest under my jacket. I can highly recommend that vest for winter fishing. Look for other Christmas gift selections in my blog. The Jamaica II at Brielle has been doing well with large ling on Mud Hole trips that sail at 5 a.m. Wednesdays and Sundays. A few sea bass and cod are added. Jeffrey Huffman of Basking Ridge boated 43 ling, Ray Gilbert from Baltimore hooked a 35-pound cod, and Ed Winston of Penns Grove was surprised by a 22-pound angler (monkfish). Chuck Many of Annandale made his first winter trip to Cape Charles, Virginia last week as he and Nellie Greer of Bethlehem, Pa. only picked a few stripers with live eels on Many’s Tyman — but two of the big bass they seek(42 and 47 pounds) were included.