<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

The season’s final trip steamed for blackfish Saturday on the party boat <b>Atlantic Star</b>, Capt. Tom said. Fishing was good, and Tom thanks anglers who fished aboard this past year, and wishes everybody a safe, healthy winter. Anglers can call him in mid-March to ask when the boat will resume fishing.

<b>***Update, Thursday, 1/10:***</b> Jimmy from <b>Julian’s Bait & Tackle</b> had been down with the flu, but he knew blackfishing was good on the ocean, he said. Boaters fished for them farther from shore than before, so they started to pump in ling on the trips, too. Nothing was heard about cod and sea bass. But sea bass this time of year hold offshore, no matter whether the season is cold or warm. “They’re on a calendar,” he said. Jimmy heard from Joe at the shop that striped bass were beached from the surf. Jimmy would fish for them with “anything,” he said, or clams or worms, and lures also caught.

<b>Neptune</b>

Though blackfishing was slow on Saturday with <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b>, the tautog-ing was very good on Sunday aboard, Capt. Ralph said. The boat limited out on Sunday, fishing at one drop. None of the tog was huge, but they weighed up to 6 pounds, and action was constant. One good-sized cod was also copped. On Saturday’s trip, only one keeper blackfish came in. But a mess of ling were looted, “so everyone had fish to take home,” Ralph said. Charters are available daily, and individual-reservation trips are set for this Saturday and Saturday, Jan. 19, and Sunday, Jan. 25. If anglers are interested in another date for an individual-rez trip, contact Ralph, and he’ll try to put one together. <b>***Update, Thursday, 1/10:***</b> No trips fished since the last report, but three spaces are available for Saturday’s individual-reservation trip for blackfish, Ralph said. The fishing’s recently been the best since blackfish season opened. <b>***Another Update, Thursday, 1/10:***</b> Two spaces were now available for Saturday’s trip, Ralph said. Room was also available for the trips on: Thursday, January 17; Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 19 and 20; and Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 26 and 27. Charters are available daily for blackfish or mid-range cod.

<b>Belmar</b>

<b>***Update, Thursday, 1/10:***</b> Blackfishing aboard was pretty good, said Capt. Chris from the party boat <b>Big Mohawk</b>. The catch included large ones to a 13-1/2-pounder. A few cod and ling were mixed in. Many anglers limited out on blackfish on Wednesday’s trip. Weather was improved lately. “That helps,” Chris said. Green crabs are supplied for bait, and white leggers are for sale aboard. The Big Mohawk is blackfishing 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.  daily.

Weather was great today, and a good number of anglers showed up at Belmar’s party boats, “ready to put some fish in the box,” Bob from <b>Fisherman’s Den</b> said in an e-mail. Blackfish cooperated lately, and a 14-pounder, an 11-pounder and a 9-pounder were weighed in during past days. Two of the party boats reported good to excellent blackfishing recently, with cod and sea bass in the mix. One charter boat limited out on blackfish to 12 pounds. Surf anglers dragged in striped bass, good catches. Sea herring reportedly swam the inlets. “Great weather,” Bob said. “Get out and do some damage.”  <b>***Update, Thursday, 1/10:***</b> “First-hand report,” Bob said in an e-mail on Wednesday evening. He had just gotten back from venturing out on a “safe, flat jetty in Monmouth County,” he said. He landed “a couple of fat school bass,” he said. He had thought he was finished surf fishing for the season, but all the young anglers reporting good fishing to the shop was more than he could take. He saw others beach stripers, and spoke with “young guns,” he said, who reported catching “nice fish later in the night.” Keepers, Bob added. It looks like the bass could stick around a while. One of the party boats returned that day with a good catch of cod, pollock, ling, sea bass and sizeable blackfish. Bob suggests getting the rods out of moth balls and going fishing. Stop by the shop, including to see a new shipment of Century Rods. State of the art, Bob said.

<b>Brielle</b>

Fishing on the <b>Big Kid</b> limited out on blackfish to a 13- to 14-pounder on Sunday, Capt. Ken said. The fish averaged 3 to 4 pounds, and charters are available year-round for any species in season. Currently, blackfish, cod, pollock, sea bass and ling could be reeled from ocean wrecks. Spring striped bass charters are starting to book up.

Ocean wreck-fishing aboard, in the past week, was decent, Capt. Joe from the party boat <b>Jamaica II</b> said in an e-mail. Cod, pollock, sea bass, porgies and ling were socked. Peter Callas from Paramus’s 42-pound cod, cranked from 150-foot depths, 40 miles from shore, was a highlight. Anglers and their catches also included: the Julius brothers, Manalapan, 31 ling, 10 porgies, 8 sea bass to 4 pounds and 2 cod; and Derek Williams, Newark, 20 ling, 10 sea bass, 3 cod and 2 pollock. A 12-hour trip concentrated on ling on Sunday, and the fishing was good, Capt. Ryan said in an e-mail. Anglers and their catches included: Chris Molinari, North Haledon, 48 ling; Mac Dubois, Bristol, Pa., 35 ling; and Dave Thomaso, Paterson, 34 ling. The boat is now on the “regular winter schedule,” Joe said: 14-hour offshore wreck-fishing trips at 3 a.m. every Saturday for cod, pollock and sea bass, and 12-hour Mudhole wreck trips at 5 a.m. every Wednesday through Friday and every Sunday for ling, cod and sea bass. A special 13-hour wreck trip will sail at 4 a.m. on Martin Luther King Day, Monday, Jan. 21.

Another good day at the offshore wrecks, an e-mail from the party boat <b>Big Jamaica</b> said about Saturday on the vessel. All anglers limited out on sea bass, and all caught large porgies and some small blues. Plenty of sea bass swarmed the wreck fished, and the trip left them biting. Pool-winners were Mike Strauss, Manville, with a 6-pound sea bass and Mazimo Santos, Flushing, N.Y., with a 5-1/2-pounder. The outlook is good for future trips. “There is a good migration of giant sea bass,” the e-mail said, “and still plenty more porgies on their way to the offshore wrecks.”  The trips are fishing offshore for giant sea bass, jumbo porgies, cod, pollock and ling every Wednesday and every Friday through Sunday, departing at 11 o’clock the night before. <b>***Update, Tuesday, 1/8:***</b> Large sea bass began biting as soon as Sunday’s trip arrived on the fishing grounds, and catches of them were good, an e-mail from the boat said. A few blues and porgies were mixed in. After all anglers limited out on sea bass, a couple of more wrecks were fished. A cod, several pollock and a few more porgies were decked. Pool-winners were John Kizmann, Brick, with a 33-pound pollock and Guy Hoffmann, Putnam Valley, N.Y., with a 20-pound pollock. <b>***Update, Saturday, 1/12:***</b> Fishing was very good on Friday’s trip, an e-mail from the boat said. Each angler limited out on giant sea bass and either limited out on jumbo porgies or nabbed a few. Bill Suittor, Philly, was one of the pool-winners with an 8-pound sea bass, and also bucketed some porgies. Howard Tribucher, Hewitt, was another pool-winner with a 6-1/2-pound sea bass, and limited out on porgies. Both also limited out on sea bass, of course.

Sea bass fishing was reportedly good offshore during the weekend, said Eric from <b>The Reel Seat</b>. The fishing sounded exceptional earlier last week, and the fish weren’t huge, but anglers easily limited out. Sea bass season was opened on Tuesday. After anglers loaded up on sea bass, they bailed jumbo porgies. Mid-shore wreck-fishing was good for decent catches of ling and cod and a few pollock. Anglers could usually wing one or two cod apiece, market-sized fish, but occasionally 30 and 40 pounds. Blackfishing supposedly improved, became “pretty darn good,” Eric said, in 70 to 80 feet on the ocean. Some of the fish were sizeable, and a 20-pound whopper was heard about from a little south. Quite a few 10- and 12-pounders were bombed. From the surf, striped bass were beached, especially at Deal in afternoons. Surf casters clammed them, but also picked away on plugs.  Catch the 50-percent-discount sale on Shimano inshore jigs. Tsunami Timber Lures are discounted 40 percent, and Stingo jigs are marked down 30 percent. The Reel Seat is open Thursdays through Sundays, except it’ll be closed those days during the third weekend of January.

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

<b>***Update, Thursday, 1/10:***</b> After striped bass fishing since fall, the party boat <b>Gambler</b> began wreck fishing on the inshore ocean daily, except on Fridays, Capt. Bob said. On Fridays, the boat started wreck fishing offshore once a week. On one of the daily trips Wednesday, fishing was “okay, not great, but okay,” Bob said. A few sea bass and cod, a pollock and some ling were swung in. Another one of the daily trips was out today, when Bob gave this report over the phone on land. On the offshore trips, fishing was pretty good. Big sea bass and some porgies were mainly socked. Through January, the Gambler is wreck fishing 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except on Fridays for sea bass, cod, ling and blackfish. Also through January, the boat is wreck fishing offshore 1 a.m. to 8 p.m. every Friday for jumbo sea bass. Call to reserve the offshore trips, and space remains.

Happy new year, Alan, the boat owner, from <b>Mushin Sportfishing</b> said in an e-mail. A trip fished the mid-range wrecks on Sunday in 120 to 140 feet, pumping in jumbo sea bass, cod to 15 pounds, ling to 5 pounds, pout, silver eels, pollock and blackfish to 6 pounds. “Talk about variety!” Alan said. The anglers went home with bags of delicious bottom fish. Great life swam the waters, and Mushin will fish all winter, “weather permitting,” he said. “Offshore sea bassing and bottom fishing is hot!” he said. Mushin means a relaxed state of readiness. The crew loves to share the concept on outdoor adventures.

A handful of blackfish were picked from every spot fished Sunday on the party boat <b>Norma-K III</b>, “but we could not keep the bite going,” Capt. Matt said in a report on the vessel’s Web site. Plenty of blackfish swam the waters. “Just got to find the right day that they want to bite,” he said. But a 12.7-pound blackfish was the pool-winner, and an 11.3-pounder was also cracked. Two anglers limited out, and some bagged one or two, and some landed no keepers. On Saturday’s blackfish trip, the bite was “scratchy,” Matt said. Anglers plucked away at the tautog at every drop, but the fish “were not aggressive at all,” he said. A fairly strong current, from the south, probably turned them off somewhat. The catch included a few blackfish 8 to 11 pounds, and those big ones were taken on white leggers. The crabs are for sale aboard when available. Some anglers limited out. On Saturday night’s trip, ling fishing was good. Anglers probably averaged 10 to 20 ling, and probably 8 to 10 anglers nabbed more than 20 apiece. The ling were mostly medium-sized, “with some hot dogs mixed in,” Matt said. The fish were picked during daylight, and the catches became better in the dark. The Norma-K III is blackfishing 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays. Magic Hour Ling Trips are sailing 3 to 9 p.m. every Saturday.  <b>***Update, Thursday, 1/10:***</b> A 14-pound 11-ounce blackfish and a 12-pounder were eased aboard Monday, Matt said in a report on the boat’s Web site. A good number of big blackfish remained in the waters. But lots of throwbacks, a few keepers among them, bit that day. Tuesday’s trip picked a few blackfish at every place, and the last stop produced best. A light crowd jumped aboard, so Matt decided to fish a few small wrecks. Three anglers limited out, and the rest bagged one to three keepers apiece. “Everyone went home with meat,” Matt said.  A 13-pounder was drilled, and a 7-pounder was the pool-winner. At least a half-dozen large blackfish were broken off.  On Wednesday’s trip, weather was beautiful, like other days this week, but blackfishing was somewhat slow. At the first drop, anglers picked away at 3- to 5-pound blackfish. After the boat was moved, the bite never got going again, but some of the fish came in. A 7-pounder was the pool-winner, “but we did sheer off some (bigger ones),” Matt said.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

At <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>, the walls were being worked on now, Scott said. “I’m looking at studs and fiberglass,” he said. That was because of flood damage from the hurricane. Nothing was heard about fishing. Once anglers found out no live grass shrimp were stocked, they stopped telephoning, Scott guessed. Few telephoned since the hurricane anyway. He planned not to stock the bait this winter, though he usually nets the shrimp to carry for perching. Nearby Collins Cove on Mullica River is usually one of the state’s popular places for the catches in winter, including for ice fishing. Scott explained in past years that perch fishing isn’t necessarily better on brackish rivers like that in winter than in summer. In fact, summer is better. But the fishing can be safer and more convenient than other types of saltwater angling in winter, and can be productive. Plus, the fish can concentrate in places like Collins Cove, located just upstream from Garden State Parkway Bridge, in winter, making them easier to find. The fish seek warmer waters at a spot like the cove. At the cove, slower currents than the main river make the waters warmer. The crew was busy with things like rebuilding the store, keeping <a href="http://www.pennparts.com" target="_blank">PennParts.com</a> rolling and working with the insurance company. PennParts.com is the store’s online business featuring every Penn part available on the market, and many no longer available. Maybe more will be heard about fishing to report next week, Scott guessed.

<b>Ocean City</b>

Rumors said blackfish bit in the ocean, and trips had to sail far from the coast to catch them, said Bill from <b>Fin-Atics</b>. Nothing was heard first-hand about the tautog and also sea bass, but trips for sea bass supposedly also had to sail to deep waters to catch. Catches seemed to come from deeper than 100 feet, and nothing really seemed to be caught closer to shore. Nobody mentioned striped bass, and the ocean along the coast was 40 or 41 degrees. That’s cold for stripers, and fishing for them might’ve been finished for the season. Fin-Atics is open Fridays through Sundays, and frozen baits are stocked.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Blackfishing went well on the ocean, said Mike from <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. The local party boat sailed for them probably four days a week, a good number, between weather, and anglers seemed happy with the catches, and kept coming back. Anglers on private boats also caught the tautog, and Mike wasn’t saying the fishing was “record breaking,” he said, but it was good. No customers reported sea bass fishing offshore, since sea bass season was opened on Tuesday. But the sea bassing was apparently excellent. Striped bass were banked from the surf. Some customers fished for them steadily, and nobody bailed them, but one averaged two landed per day, for instance. Most fished with clams for the bass. The shop is open on Saturdays and Sundays, so long as weather is fair. The doors aren’t officially opened on weekdays, but if the day seems fishable, they’re usually opened. When the party boat is going to sail, the shop is opened in mornings at least for anglers to gear up. Fresh clams, green crabs, eels and all the frozen baits are stocked.

Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b>, affiliated with <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>, did no fishing in past days, he said. But blackfishing was good on the ocean, he heard, and a buddy caught them on Sunday, a beautiful, calm day with flat seas. Joe’s traveling charters to the Florida Keys, fishing on weekends each winter, began during the holidays, covered in the previous report. The trips walloped a large variety of catches, including redfish, speckled sea trout, snook, tarpon, black drum, jacks and more. Lots of fish, and good-sized. Joe expects the fishing to continue to be good.  The trips can be a mini, fish-filled vacation. Anglers can arrive on a Friday, fish all day Saturday and part of Sunday, and be back to work on Monday. See info on Jersey Cape’s <a href="http://www.captainjoehughes.com/page4.html" target="_blank">Traveling Fisherman Charters</a> Web page. Keep up with Joe’s fishing on <a href="http://captainjoehughes.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s blog</a>.

<b>Cape May</b>

Capt. George from the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> is finished running charters for the season, he said. The friend’s boat he could charter on was probably going to be hauled from the waters this week for the season. The Heavy Hitter was dry-docked weeks ago. George thanks anglers who fished aboard this past year, and looks forward to fishing again toward spring, whenever the marina allows boats back in the slips. Then trips will begin to fish for striped bass or blackfish or whatever can be caught. Sometimes George has been able to charter very early in the season in March for stripers. The fish swam Delaware Bay then in recent years.

<b>***Update, Thursday, 1/10:***</b> The party boat <b>Porgy IV</b> blackfished through the weekend, Capt. Paul said. The trips didn’t clobber the fish, but the catches improved since the previous week. Saturday’s catch was better than Sunday’s, and several anglers limited out on the tautog on Saturday’s trip. One spot gave up good action, and a couple of other places turned out a pick of throwbacks and a few keepers. On Sunday’s trip, blackfish caught were “spread around the boat,” Paul said, but only one angler limited out. The boat’s been on a weekends-only schedule, but because of the number of anglers who telephoned asking about fishing on weekdays this week, Paul figured he could’ve sailed every day. The weather was improved. However, bait was scarce, because many commercial suppliers stopped sailing for the season. Some, in the northern state, had no docks to sail from since the hurricane. So Paul would probably keep fishing on weekends, because of the bait supply. Suppliers told him bait would be available for this weekend. Many anglers telephoned about this weekend’s trips, because weather is supposed to reach the 60s. Paul hopes anglers don’t show up in shorts, because the ocean is in the low 40s, and weather will be cool on the water. Maybe the better weather this week and during the weekend will make blackfishing improve even more. “You never know with blackfish,” Paul said. But maybe settled waters would pick up the fishing further. The weekend’s catches were improved in better weather after strong winds a couple of weeks. The Porgy IV is blackfishing at 8 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

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