<b>Perth Amboy</b>

Nothing was heard about striped bass, “with the snow and everything,” Capt. Frank from the <b>Vitamin Sea</b> said. But trips aboard, both charters and open-boat, will launch for the season on April 1, starting with fishing for stripers and winter flounder. Striper season opened on March 1 in bays and rivers, and the opening of flounder season is slated for March 23, unless the government changes the date. Some of the better fishing for both begins in the back of Raritan Bay, minutes from Perth Amboy, because the fish migrate from the rivers. That’s a short ride to the fishing grounds. Telephone Frank, he said. The Vitamin Sea also fishes from Staten Island. “Get your dose of Vitamin Sea!” 

<b>Keyport</b>

<b>***Update, Thursday, 3/14:***</b> Capt. Joe from <b>Papa’s Angels Charters</b> expects to splash the boat no later than by April 15, he said. Then trips will begin fishing for striped bass, clamming for them on Raritan Bay at first, and livelining bunker for them once stripers begin to chase bunker. Pods of bunker reportedly schooled the bay already, “which is a good thing,” Joe said. Open-boat trips will be available twice daily when no charter is booked, like every year. The open trips will include ones from 4 to 9 p.m.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

At <b>Julian’s Bait & Tackle</b>, no striped bass catches were reported during the weekend, Jimmy said. But by the time anglers would return from fishing, he’d usually be gone from the shop. Bunker schooled Raritan Bay. Nobody reported bottom-fishing on the ocean for ling and cod, and the Belmar bridge was closed for maintenance, so boats couldn’t pass underneath to sail from there. Boats could’ve run from Manasquan Inlet farther south. Back at Atlantic Highlands, snow fell and covered the ground somewhat, but melted within a couple of hours. Fresh clams, worms and frozen baits are stocked.

<b>Highlands</b>

No news came in about striped bass, Capt. Derek from <b>Fisher Price Charters</b> said. He knew nobody who tried for them recently, though stripers were caught a few weeks ago. But bunker were reported schooling the back of Raritan Bay recently. Open-boat trips for stripers, probably clamming for the fish in the back of the bay, will kick-off the season aboard from Friday through Sunday, March 29 through 31, or Good Friday through Easter. Call to climb aboard or to be kept informed about future open-boat trips. Reservations are being taken for charters, and prime dates remain, but are starting to fill.

<b>Belmar</b>

<b>***Update, Thursday, 3/14:***</b> Trips are fishing aboard, but the crew is also working on the party boat <b>Big Mohawk</b> to be ready for the new fishing season, starting with blackfishing when the tautog season is opened on April 1, Capt. Chris said. Keep an eye on <a href=" http://www.njpartyboat.com/fishing-reports.php
" target="_blank">Big Mohawk’s Web site</a> for updates.

<b>Brielle</b>

The party boat <b>Jamaica</b> will begin fishing for striped bass on the ocean this weekend, an e-mail from the vessel said. The trips will run 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday and the following Saturday and Sunday, March 23 and 24. The trips will fish daily starting that Monday, March 25. The boat had been fishing offshore for sea bass until sea bass season was closed on the first of the month.

The snow “kind of put a damper” on striped bass fishing in bays and rivers, said Eric from <b>The Reel Seat</b>. A handful of anglers tried for stripers in the surf, with no luck. Chilled waters from snow runoff would probably affect surf fishing a while. But striper fishing was good, probably the best in five years, at Oyster Creek. That’s the warm-water discharge from the Forked River power plant. Eric landed the fish on 5-inch Fin-S Fish and D.O.A.’s  C.A.L. Shads on ¾-ounce jigheads. Some anglers fished Daiwa SP Minnow lures for them. For boaters, ling fishing was fair to good on the ocean, and a handful of cod were mixed in. The Reel Seat is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays.

<b>Toms River</b>

Striped bass were beaten from Oyster Creek on clams and rubber shads, said Jeff from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b>. That’s the warm-water discharge from the Forked River power plant. A few small stripers were winged from the Toms River and Barnegat Bay along Route 37 Bridge. No white perch were reported from the river or anywhere, and no catches were reported from the surf yet this season. Bloodworms and fresh clams are stocked, and Murphy’s is open Wednesdays through Sundays.

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

<b>***Update, Thursday, 3/14:***</b> “It’s fishing,” Capt. Willie from the party boat <b>Dauntless</b> said. He wouldn’t call the bottom-fishing aboard good, but anglers averaged five to 15 fish apiece. Trips rounded up mostly ling, a handful of cod and an occasional pollock. A few cod per trip were usually waxed, and sometimes they were keepers, and other times, they weren’t. One 10-pound pollock was creamed on a trip during the weekend, and two 10-pounders were belted aboard Tuesday. Trips fished shallow in 120 to 150 feet, in 39- or 40-degree waters. The ocean seemed not to become colder anymore this season, but didn’t seem to get warmer, either. Bait was read that looked like krill or shrimp. But no springtime bait like herring or mackerel was seen. The Dauntless is bottom-fishing 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

Waters were 40.8 degrees at Graveling Point, and need to reach about 45 for striped bass to begin biting, a report on <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>’s Web site said. “Steady,” it said, warmer weather, with no cold rains or snow runoff, were needed. The store’s annual $100 gift certificate remained up for grabs for the angler who weighs in the season’s first striper from Graveling. That’s an early-season place to catch them from shore at the confluence of Great Bay and Mullica River. See the <a href="http://www.scottsbt.com/fishing/stripers/springrun.htm" target="_blank">Graveling Point Spring Striper Run Page</a> on the store’s Web site. An angler posted a report on Scott’s site, saying the angler fished Graveling 5:30 to 8:30 a.m. Sunday with bloodworms on an “extremely high tide,” he said. Nothing bit, and in the five years since he fished Graveling, he never before saw the tide so high. “Very spooky,” he said. Ten inches of water completely covered the grass. Winds blew 10 knots from northeast. <b>***Update, Thursday, 3/14:***</b> The first striper from Graveling Point was weighed in Wednesday, Scott said. Vincas Kudrika bloodwormed the 29-inch 8.3-pounder, winning the $100 gift certificate. Waters ranged 42 to 47 degrees at Graveling, and the season’s first throwback striper was reported caught there on Monday. On Tuesday at least three throwbacks and a white perch were heard about from the point. Bloodworms are currently the bait to fish for stripers at Graveling, and outgoing tides are usually best for the fishing in the early season, because of warm water from Mullica River. The fish can digest the worms in the cold, and clams usually become the preferred bait as waters warm. Anglers bought clams for the fishing already, but bloods usually hold an edge right now. The year’s first bluefish usually arrive at Graveling during the last few days in April, and fishing for them usually becomes good by May 10. The shop’s annual $100 gift certificate is up for grabs for the angler who checks in the year’s first blue landed at Graveling from shore. Stripers also bit in Mullica River at Hay Road and in Oyster Creek, the warm-water discharge from the Forked River power plant. Nobody mentioned white perch fishing, and no grass shrimp, a favorite perch bait, were stocked. Scott hadn’t had an opportunity to net the shrimp, though they were difficult to find the last time he tried, because of stirred up waters from weather and rains, Scott thought. Bloodworms, fresh, shucked clams, minnows, nightcrawlers and frozen baits are on hand. A few green crabs, the blackfish bait, probably remain, but blackfish season is closed.

<b>Absecon</b>

Good reports about white perch rolled in from brackish rivers, said Capt. Dave from <b>Absecon Bay Sportsman Center</b>. A few more anglers entered the store’s perch tournament, so the contest looked promising, and excitement was building about fishing. From Mullica River, reports were heard about more striped bass hooked than perch. Most of the stripers were throwbacks, and Dave will begin early-season striper charters on the river this weekend. He expects good action, and hopes for some keepers. Second-hand reports said a few keepers were reeled from Graveling Point and Egg Harbor River, especially the mouth of the river. The store’s annual $100 gift certificate was unclaimed for the angler who weighs in the year’s first striper 30 pounds or larger. Its annual gift certificates for the season’s first through third stripers weighed in, and for the first 20-pounder or larger, were won on March 1, opening day of striper season in bays and rivers. Striper fishing still looked healthy since then, or “it’s all coming together,” Dave said. Or fishing’s looking good. Tides were high since the storm at mid-week. Plenty of bloodworms are stocked. Fresh clams are on hand, and eels are carried, ready for when stripers start to bite eels. Dave hopes to stock fresh bunker soon, if netters begin to catch them. The perch tournament, from March 1 to April 28, features first- through third-place prizes for the heaviest five-fish stringers and a prize for the single largest perch. Entry is $20, and all entry fees are awarded in the prizes. Plus, anglers can enter for another $5 for prizes for the week’s heaviest three, and, again, all the money is paid in prizes.

<b>Brigantine</b>

<b>***Update, Thursday, 3/14:***</b> No striped bass were reported beached since a throwback was banked from Brigantine’s surf in the first days of March, Capt. Andy from <b>Riptide Bait & Tackle</b> said. The catch was covered in a previous report. But details became available for the annual Fish for Life Tournament, benefitting South Jersey Cancer Fund. The contest will be held from Friday through May 25, and entry, available at the shop, is $20. That includes a permit that allows entrants to beach-buggy the entire Brigantine beach, when accompanied by a Brigantine beach-buggy permit. The Brigantine permit allows driving on limited areas, but the tournament permit opens up the whole beach to driving. Also, the store’s $50 gift certificate is available for the angler who weighs in the season’s first keeper striper from Brigantine’s surf. Last fall’s bounty was never won for the season’s first striper larger than 43 inches checked in from Brigantine’s surf. It’s being rolled over to this spring. The bounty is up to $650, and entry is $5, and anglers must enter 24 hours before the catch to win. Riptide is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and is open at 7 a.m. on weekends. Bloodworms are stocked, and fresh clams will arrive on Friday, and all frozen baits are carried.

<b>Ocean City</b>

One small striped bass was reported bloodwormed along the Route 52 Causeway near Somers Point, said Ed from <b>Fin-Atics</b>. That was about all that was heard, and fishing conditions were difficult, because of last week’s storm then rough seas and strong tides. Maybe a couple of warmer days will increase water temperatures slightly, picking up fishing. Seas were rough for both surf  angling and boating. Nobody was known about who boated, and today was probably the first day when seas were calm enough for boaters to sail. Maybe a few ling and cod could be boated on the ocean. Sea bass and blackfish seasons were closed on March 1. The store is open daily, and bloodworms and plenty of frozen baits are stocked.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

A few customers bought fresh clams to surf fish for striped bass during the weekend, said Mike from <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. But none returned and reported results. Others tried for stripers along bridges on the back bay, but ripping currents weren’t fishable because of unusually high tides from northeast winds. They hoped tides would calm soon, because previously they found quite a few stripers there, covered in the last report. They caught them then at night, around high tide, either on small Rapala lures, when the fish swam near the surface, or on Bass Assassins on jigheads, when the fish held 3 or 4 feet down. Most of the fish were throwbacks, but an occasional one was a keeper. Sometimes anglers landed three or four apiece in a trip. The shop is open when anglers are likely to fish, like during fishable weather on weekends, sometimes on weekdays. The store will be open full time starting Friday. 

One of the traveling charters to the Florida Keys fished aboard Saturday with Dick Linus, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b>, affiliated with Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. Fishing the Everglades, he tackled nine snook to 12 pounds and some redfish, speckled sea trout, jacks and ladyfish, and a black drum. Live and Gulp shrimp were fished on jigheads. Joe fished solo on Sunday near port in Islamorada in the Keys, fly-rodding jacks, good-sized mangrove snappers and moonfish on Clouser Minnows and a shrimp pattern that Joe ties. The Florida trips will fish through Easter, and see info on Jersey Cape’s <a href="http://www.captainjoehughes.com/page4.html" target="_blank">Traveling Fisherman Charters</a> Web page. From Sea Isle, Joe usually pulls in his season’s first striped bass this month from the back bay. By mid-April and in May, fishing for stripers and bluefish aboard should be some of the best of the year on the bay, and book now.  Keep up with Joe’s fishing on <a href="http://captainjoehughes.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s blog</a>.

<b>Cape May</b>

<b>***Update, Thursday, 3/14:***</b> Capt. George hopes to launch the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> for the season within a couple of weeks, whenever the marina allows, he said. Charters will clam for striped bass on Delaware Bay, and a few small stripers 22 or 23 inches were heard about that were hooked in the bay. Drum charters usually fish the bay starting in late April or in May.

The <b>Down Deep</b> is in the water, and striped bass charters are being booked, Capt. Mario said. Trips will clam for the bass on Delaware Bay, and drum charters are being booked that will fish the bay next. Stripers could be boated from the bay starting any time now, and drum fishing usually takes off around May. Sign up for the <a href=" http://www.downdeepsportfishing.com/ddsf/76-2/" target="_blank">Short Notice List</a> for special open-boat trips.

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