<b>Neptune</b>

No trips fished in past days with <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b>, Capt. Ralph said. But the boat is still in the water, and if trips get the weather, it’ll sail for blackfish and cod. Charters are available.

<b>Belmar</b>

A trip was expected to sail Sunday on the party boat <b>Big Mohawk</b> for cod, ling and blackfish, the vessel’s Facebook page said. But no results were posted there at press time, this morning. No trips fished aboard previously, since the snowstorm early last week, apparently because of weather. But the weather was supposed to break Sunday. The Big Mohawk fishes at 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

<b>Brielle</b>

Some of the party boats fished the ocean Sunday, said Dave from <b>The Reel Seat</b>. He guessed they sailed for blackfish, cod and ling. That was the only news, and he just returned from Florida, and Sunday might’ve been the first day the boats sailed in some time, after last week’s wintry weather, including the snowstorm. Dave for next week’s report will probably announce free seminars that will be held at the shop, like free ones held there this past year. <a href="http://superstrikelures.com/" target="_blank">Super Strike Custom Lures</a> began to be stocked at The Reel Seat. Catch the store at Surf Day on February 21 at Brookdale Community College, the Berkeley Striper Club fishing flea market on March 1 in Toms River and the Asbury Park Fishing Club flea market on March 8 at Convention Hall. Dave will give a seminar on tilefishing on February 19 at the New Jersey Boat Sale & Expo in Edison. The Reel Seat is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays. Those will be the hours through the month, at least, and the hours will be expanded when the fishing season picks up.

Wind kept the party boat <b>Jamaica II</b> docked Saturday, but Sunday’s wreck-fishing trip was supposed to sail, in forecasts for calm wind, the vessel’s Facebook page said Friday. But no report about Sunday was posted on the page this morning, at press time. The boat had been fishing for whiting every Friday, but that angling was slow, so those trips will also wreck-fish.  The Jamaica II is wreck-fishing 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday and 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Friday. <b>***Update, Thursday, 2/5:***</b> Wednesday’s trip was expected to fish, in forecasts for great weather, the boat’s Facebook page said. But nothing was written there about whether the trip did fish.

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

<b>***Update, Thursday, 2/5:***</b> Fishing sailed Friday on the party boat <b>Dauntless</b>, and was weathered out during the weekend, Capt. Butch said. The boat was dry docked on Monday, and will be splashed back into the water this Monday, resuming fishing on Tuesday. On Friday’s trip, fishing was slow, totaling 23 fish bagged: 18 ling and five blackfish. No cod were hooked, and Butch was surprised, because two places fished usually give up a few cod, keepers and throwbacks.  The ocean was 38 to 42 degrees, depending on location. The deeper water was 42, and the best angling was there, in 130 to 140 feet. Fish apparently were moving deeper, for warmer water. Fishing will resume Tuesday on the Dauntless, sailing 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily. The boat is one of New Jersey’s only, if not the only, that fishes daily year-round. Christmas is the only day the vessel’s not scheduled to fish.

The party boat <b>Norma-K III</b> was supposed to fish Sunday, in good weather forecasts, Capt. Matt wrote in a report on the vessel’s website beforehand. Gale wind caused Saturday’s trip to be cancelled, but no report about Sunday’s trip was posted on the site at press time. The boat has begun fishing 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays for blackfish, ling and cod, after it blackfished daily previously. A special cod trip, reservations required, is slated for February 10. <b>***Update, Friday, 2/6:***</b> The boat last fished on Sunday, and the angling was pretty slow, Matt wrote in a report Thursday on the vessel’s website. A handful of ling and a few small cod were hooked, and a bunch of places were fished. But he hopes for better results this weekend. “We will be trying both Saturday and Sunday,” he said. Weather looks rough for Tuesday’s special cod trip, and Thursday is the rain date. The crew will telephone those already signed up, giving them an update on when the trip is expected to sail. “We will let you know in the next few days,” he said.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

<b>***Update, Thursday, 2/5:***</b> Whether any fishable ice formed on Collins Cove on Mullica River was unknown, Maureen from <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b> said, when asked for this report. She heard nothing about ice-fishing there, and didn’t remember seeing ice or ice-anglers at the cove, when driving past on Garden State Parkway. She last drove past a couple of days ago, and the cove, located on the brackish river just upstream from the Parkway, is one of the state’s most popular places to fish for white perch through the ice. The perch school the cove to escape the cold current of the main river in winter. The store is closed for renovations, and will be reopened starting on March 1. But it’s online shop, <a href="http://www.pennparts.com" target="_blank">PennParts.com</a>, is open, and customers can telephone to stop in the physical shop for parts or to drop off rod and reel repairs, confirming that somebody will be at the store. PennParts.com features every Penn reel part on the market, many no longer on the market, other tackle, and free online schematics for Penn reels. Striped bass season will be opened starting March 1 in bays and rivers, and Scott’s annually awards a $100 gift certificate to the store to the angler who checks in the year’s first keeper striper from nearby Graveling Point. That’s a shore-angling spot at the confluence of Mullica River and Great Bay that’s always one of the state’s first places to give up stripers each year. The fish are attracted to the river’s relatively warm water that meets the flats off Graveling.

<b>Ocean City</b>

A little about white perch fishing was reported from Great Egg Harbor River and Mullica River, said Ed from <b>Fin-Atics</b>. Mostly grass shrimp that anglers caught for bait were probably fished for them. Maybe artificial worms were used, like from Gulp or Fishbites, or if anglers could find minnows to buy, maybe they fished them. But the shrimp were probably most common, and anglers scoop them in nets at places like along pilings. Nobody locally might’ve fished the ocean for catches like blackfish, because of last week’s cold and wind. Fin-Atics is open Fridays through Sundays through February and will be open daily starting on March 1.

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