<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

The season’s final trip, fishing for blackfish, sailed Sunday on the party boat <b>Atlantic Star</b>, Capt. Tom said. That was after wintry weather kept trips docked for some days. The fishing was no good, and waters had become cold. The tautog were cold to the touch, and only a few, some keepers and throwbacks, were landed. “It wasn’t what we planned for the final day,” he said. Weather and seas weren’t bad on the trip. Tom thanks anglers for fishing aboard this year, and trips will resume in late March or in April.

<b>Highlands</b>

Cold runoff from melting snow will certainly stop blackfish from biting inshore, Capt. Frank from the <b>Vitamin Sea</b> wrote in an e-mail after the snowstorm. “Time to fish the deep,” he said. Maybe cod will also chomp in those waters this season, if sand eels that schooled since fall don’t migrate too far offshore. Charters and open-boat trips are sailing. “Get your dose of Vitamin Sea!”

<b>Neptune</b>

Blackfishing was very slow on Sunday with <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b>, Capt. Ralph said. Only five keepers were totaled among the 12 anglers, and quite a few throwbacks were let go. Only one boat, the Norma-K III, was heard about that fared better on the fish this weekend. The snowstorm seemed to slow the fishing a moment, and blackfish haven’t stopped biting for the season by any means, Ralph thinks. Charters are available, and Ralph hopes to run individual-reservation trips for blackfish this weekend, depending on weather. He’ll also announce individual-reservation trips for cod that will sail this season.

<b>Belmar</b>

<b>***Update, Thursday, 1/9:***</b> Freezing weather was the only thing to report, the party boat <b>Big Mohawk</b>’s Facebook page said. No trips sailed in the cold in past days. But the boat was expected to resume sailing for blackfish today, as weather warms. Green crabs are supplied for bait, and white leggers were going to be available for sale aboard today. The Big Mohawk is fishing for blackfish 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. <b>***Another Update, Thursday, 1/9:***</b> Some of today’s trip’s anglers limited out on blackfish, “and everyone went home with dinner,” the boat’s Facebook page said. The fishing was “decent,” it said, and none of the tautog was exceptionally big, but some were good-sized. Both green crabs and whites caught, and weather looks great for Friday’s trip, and white leggers will be available for sale again. Saturday’s forecast looks questionable currently.

<b>***Update, Thursday, 1/9:***</b> Trips will resume mackerel fishing on Friday on the party boat <b>Miss Belmar Princess</b>, “with the arctic freeze now behind us,” an e-mail from the vessel said. The Miss Belmar Princess is sailing for mackerel at 7 a.m. daily.

No report was posted on the party boat <b>Golden Eagle</b>’s Web site since a report there Friday said the boat’s mackerel fishing had been weathered out the previous few days. But the vessel is slated to fish for mackerel at 7 a.m. daily.

Fishing was docked since New Year’s with <b>Parker Pete’s Fishing Charters</b>, Capt. Pete said. But when weather is fair, trips will fish for blackfish, ling and cod.  Don’t have enough anglers for a charter? Contact Parker Pete’s anyway for individual spaces available on charters. Or <a href=" http://www.parkerpetefishing.com/" target="_blank">subscribe to Parker Pete’s e-mailed newsletter</a> to be kept informed about the spaces. Look for the place to sign up on the right side of the page on the boat’s Web site.

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

<b>***Update, Thursday, 1/9:***</b> The party boat <b>Dauntless</b> last fished on Monday, and was docked in the cold weather since then, Capt. Butch said. Trips also fished through the weekend, and catches weren’t good, but were alright, considering the weather lately, he guessed, he said. Mostly ling were scooped up, and some blackfish, a few cod and a small pollock, a good mixture, were hung. On Monday, most anglers totaled 10 to 15 fish, if he remembered. The boat fished mostly in 130 to 150 feet, and if it fished shallower or deeper, either too many eels or sharks bit. Waters were becoming cold, and were 43 to 44 degrees during the weekend, and were surely 40 now, because of the cold. But weather seemed to be warming today. Most ice melted on Manasquan River locally today. Butch saw Delaware River at Philadelphia, and the waters looked like icebergs, and were frozen from shore to shore. The Dauntless is bottom-fishing 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily.  

No trips sailed Thursday and Friday on the party boat <b>Norma-K III</b> because of weather, Capt. Matt wrote in a report on the vessel’s Web site. But after the snowstorm Thursday night into Friday, blackfishing resumed aboard Saturday. On the trip’s first two drops, “we had some decent life,” he said. Keepers and a good number of throwbacks bit, until the angling dropped off, starting at 12 noon. Then the tautog were picked here and there. Nearly all the anglers “went home with some fillets,” he said, and a 6-pound blackfish was the pool-winner. The tog bit both green crabs and whites. On Sunday’s trip, “it was a little hard to sit still on anchor,” he said, and blackfishing was slow. Still, good-sized blackfish were beaten, including the 12-pound pool-winner. Trips were expected to be weathered out today and Tuesday.  The Norma-K III is blackfishing 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily. Magic Hour Ling Trips are running 3 to 9 p.m. every Saturday.

<b>Mushin Sportfishing</b> will keep fishing to January 15, Capt. Alan wrote in an e-mail. A trip targeted cod and other bottom-fish on Sunday on the mid-range ocean, planning to blackfish closer to shore on the way back. A dozen keeper cod to 15 pounds and throwback cod were picked, and ling to 4 pounds were shoveled aboard, from depths from 125 feet to 180. Plentiful dog sharks “(made) it tough to keep baits in the feeding zone for cod,” he said. But if the anglers sifted through enough dogs, they hooked cod. Then the trip pushed inshore to fish for blackfish in 70- to 80-foot depths with white leggers, green crabs and clams. But few blackfish bit because of runoff from the snowstorm. Previously, weather often wasn’t fishable, and the crew was also busy with waterfowl hunting. When Mushin stops fishing after January 15, the crew will take a break to prepare for spring fishing. Charters are being booked for the 2014 fishing season for trips inshore, offshore “and everything in between,” Alan said. Mushin means a relaxed state of readiness. The crew pride themselves on sharing the concept on outdoor adventures. 

<b>Absecon</b>

One customer blackfished last week and telephoned to ask whether more green crabs will be stocked this week for bait for them, said Capt. Dave from <b>Absecon Bay Sportsman Center</b>. He’ll see whether the bait will be available, and expects to keep stocking grass shrimp all winter for white perch fishing on brackish rivers. Curt from the shop, a perch angler, reeled in the slabs from Mullica River around New Year’s. Perch are definitely swimming the river. Today was relatively warm, and severe cold is forecast for the next day or so, and then cold is supposed to linger a few days, until weather warms back up. Weather will become cold enough for Collins Cove to freeze on the Mullica, but probably not long enough for fishable ice. When the cove, just upstream from Garden State Parkway, becomes solid enough, that’s one of the state’s most popular places to ice fish for the perch.  The theory is that the perch swim the cove in winter, escaping stronger, colder currents of the main river. The store is open during no regular hours, but Dave is usually there. Telephone ahead to confirm. Regular hours will begin at least by March 1, when striped bass season will be opened in bays and rivers. The season was closed there starting January 1, but is open year-round in the ocean, out to 3 miles from the coast. Fishing for stripers is always closed beyond 3 miles. The shop each year awards substantial gift certificates for the year’s first stripers weighed in from the back waters. In recent years, that included a $200 certificate for the first, a $100 one for the second, a $50 one for the third and similar prizes for the first that weighed larger than 20 and 30 pounds. At Dave’s <a href="http://www.abseconbay.com/fishguatemalaparlamasportfishing.html" target="_blank">Guatemala charter business</a>, fishing is coming into the best season. Warm waters usually push closest to the coast then, and fishing, including for sailfish, peaks. The crew is ready to host anglers.

<b>Brigantine</b>

From a report, along with a photo of the winter surf, that Capt. Andy from <b>Riptide Bait & Tackle</b> posted on the store’s Web site: “There were 6 stripers swimming just in front by the hotel today, while I was body surfing in the water. Some shorts here and there. Plenty of <i>fresh</i> bunker and clams, and we are having 100 % off everything in the shop that you can’t wear, fish with, eat or use … Just making sure that everyone is still alive out there. Hope you’re having a great beginning to the New Year. 56 days until we open back up. 8:00 a.m. sharp!!!!” <a href="http://riptidebaitandtackle.com/articles.php?category_id=6" target="_blank">Click here</a> to see the photo.

<b>Avalon</b>

<b>***Update, Tuesday, 1/7:*** Fins and Feathers Outfitters</b> did no fishing, but duck hunted on Delaware Bay a couple of days, Capt. Jim said. Weather was extremely cold, and temperatures dropped as low as 3 degrees, and winds blew, gusting to 40 knots. The bay held slush ice on one of the days, Saturday, and Jim had no water temperature gauge aboard, but someone said the bay was in the 30s. It must’ve been, at least on the day with slush. Still, the clients on the guided trip, a father and 10-year-old son, shot the heck out of ducks. Jim will guide Canadian goose hunting in Pennsylvania today and Thursday, then will guide more duck hunting on Delaware Bay Friday and Saturday. Fins and Feathers offers a variety of outdoor adventures, including waterfowl hunting like this, fishing from Delaware Bay to the ocean during the warmer months, fly-fishing for trout on Pennsylvania’s streams like the Yellow Breeches, and steelhead and salmon fishing on upstate New York’s Salmon River from Jim’s lodge. Steelheads swim the river all winter, but springtime is an especially good time for angling for them. Delaware Bay striped bass and drum charters are being booked for spring. Anglers can even enjoy a combo of striper fishing and duck hunting over a series of days aboard when the seasons are open.

<b>Cape May</b>

A blackfishing trip sailed Sunday on the party boat <b>Porgy IV</b>, Capt. Paul said. No trip sailed Saturday after rough weather. No great numbers of the tautog were hooked, or the fishing wasn’t good, but some sizeable ones were pasted. Keeping the boat over top of the wreck was difficult because of wind against tide. Dan Stinsman from Atco only bagged one blackfish, but it was about 9 ¾ pounds or just less than 10. Don Mark from Philly bagged three of the tautog to a 9-1/2- or 9-3/4-pounder. A couple of 8-pounders were cranked in. The Porgy IV will sail next for blackfish at 8 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.

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