<b>Keyport</b>

Ice thawed, and the crew is doing seasonal maintenance on the two boats from <b>Down Deep Sportfishing</b>, Capt. Mario said. The vessels will be ready to fish by the end of the month, and charters and open-boat trips will sail. Stay tuned for special, open fishing for cod offshore, he said. Join the <a href=" http://www.downdeepsportfishing.com/ddsf/76-2/" target="_blank">Short Notice List</a> to be kept informed about open trips.

From <b>Papa’s Angels Charters</b>, Capt. Joe now hopes to work on the boat as often as possible, prepping it for the fishing season, he said. The coldest weather seemed to end, and he hopes to kick off fishing aboard during the first week of April. The first trips will sail for striped bass on Raritan Bay, and the fish usually hold not far from port in the early season. Anglers aboard will clam for the fish at first. Charters will fish, and open-boat trips will be available daily, when no charter is booked, and enough anglers want to sail. 

Capt. Frank from the <b>Vitamin Sea</b> was working on the boat, when he gave this report in a phone call this morning, he said. Ice in the creek was almost completely melted, and will probably be by the end of the week. The vessel should be ready to be splashed during the last week of March for the fishing season. Charters and open-boat trips will fish, and the first charter is slated for Friday, April 3. The first open trip, fishing for striped bass and winter flounder, is set for Saturday, April 4. Bookings are being accepted for charters for the year, and anglers should book early to ensure the dates they want. Anglers can telephone Frank about the open-boat schedule. Frank looks forward to a great season. Follow the boat on the <a href=" https://www.facebook.com/vitaminseafishing" target="_blank">Vitamin Sea’s Facebook page</a>. “Get your dose of Vitamin Sea!”

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

Ice began to melt away, said Joe from <b>Julian’s Bait & Tackle</b>. No fishing was available to report, except about striped bass hooked farther south, at Oyster Creek, the warm-water discharge from Forked River power plant. Live and fresh bait will be stocked starting the end of the week or beginning of next week. That will include the whole supply, like sandworms and fresh clams. Suppliers raised the price of worms 20 percent, apparently because the cold winter kept the worms from being caught.

<b>Highlands</b>

Capt. Pete Santero from <b>Fin-Taz-Tic Sportfishing</b> was at the boat Sunday, and the vessel only needs the bottom to be painted, and it’ll be ready to fish, he said. Then he and crew will begin fishing on their own, scoping out the water, before charters and open-boat trips are launched for the season. Striped bass and winter flounder will be the first fish targeted, and Raritan Bay became mostly free of ice. Flounder swim rivers and bays in winter and spring, until migrating to the ocean in spring. The year’s first stripers caught will be “local” fish, younger stripers, yet to migrate south for winter, caught in the bay, because of warmer water there than in the ocean. Fishing for them and flounder can be good in the bay in the early season. Eventually, migrating stripers will arrive from south in spring. Trips eventually will chase stripers in the ocean in spring, as waters warm. Fishing for them in the bay will begin with clams for bait. When bunker migrate in, the bunker will be livelined and chunked for bait for stripers aboard, anywhere from the bay to the ocean. Open-boat trips will be available daily, when no charter is booked. The open trips will sail as long as four anglers sign up, and that’s fewer than many boats that require six. Children are welcomed aboard, and Pete loves to make a great experience for them, hoping they become anglers for life. Pete welcomes aboard Capt. Tom Leheide, who will also skipper the boat this fishing season. Tom is experienced at fishing the Sandy Hook area at both New Jersey and New York, with a strong background in stripers, blackfish, fluke, ling and sea bass, Pete said. <b>***Update, Thursday, 3/12:***</b> Pete heard that anglers nabbed flounder from “the river,” he wrote in an email. Seasonal maintenance to the boat, including painting the bottom Friday, will be finished in the next weeks. When anglers begin fishing aboard, if stripers are yet to bite, flounder can be fished for, in the rivers or bay close to port, and so can cod and ling, when the trips take a ride to the ocean. “… we all know there are local fish, and they are catching fish down south,” he wrote about stripers. Stripers currently were hooked farther south, at the warm-water discharge at Forked River power plant. Stripers will bite near port when water becomes warmer. If weather continues to warm like now, those stripers could bite somewhat sooner than later. New Tsunami rods and Release reels will be some of the equipment featured aboard this year. In addition to striper fishing, Fin-Taz-Tic is big on fluke. The fluking will begin in spring and last through summer, and a complete line of fluke bucktails or jigs will be featured on the boat this year. That will include ones from Bucktail Boys, Gulp, Daddy Mac Lures, 9’ers Lures and more.

<b>Belmar</b>

Ice cleared from Shark River, except for some in the back, and anglers actually bought bait to fish the last three days, said Bob from <b>Fisherman’s Den</b>. They tried for winter flounder on the river, but no results were heard. Before then, nobody even tried to fish from the bulkhead for flounder. The crew will try to launch a few of the shop’s rental boats on the river Wednesday. They had planned to launch them previously, but the river was iced in. Nothing was heard about striped bass locally, but a few were reported from Oyster Creek, farther south. That’s the warm-water discharge from Forked River power plant. One of the Belmar party boats fished the ocean the last three days. The boat fished when Bob gave this report in a phone call this morning. Several keeper cod, a few pollock, some ling, not a lot, but some, and bergals were pumped in on the trips. There was some life in fishing, at least, unlike a couple of weeks ago, in severe cold. Maybe warmer weather this week that’s forecast will help. The shop exhibited at the Asbury Park Fishing Club’s fishing flea market on Sunday, and that went well. All exhibitors Bob talked with seemed pleased, and plenty of anglers showed up. Anglers seemed to want to escape cabin fever.

<b>***Update, Thursday, 3/12:***</b> Fishing is a couple of weeks away from sailing on the party boat <b>Big Mohawk</b> for the season, the vessel’s Facebook page said. Weather became warmer, but water was cold. “There will be plenty of opportunity this spring,” it said. But charters are being booked for spring and summer, and telephone the boat for details.

<b>Brielle</b>

A few striped bass were heard about from Oyster Creek, said John from <b>The Reel Seat</b>. That’s the warm-water discharge from Forked River power plant. The only boat heard about was a Point Pleasant Beach party boat that went to dry dock to be prepped for the coming fishing season. But weather was supposed to be warmer this week, so John hoped more would be available to report then. The next free seminar will be on tilefishing with Dave Arbeitman, the store’s owner, at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 14, at the shop. Dave is a tilefishing expert, and the previous seminars this winter were on fishing Cape Cod Canal, with Jimmy Fee from On the Water magazine, and tying teasers, with Jerry Fabiano from RV Plugs.

Good life – cod, pollock and ling – was found at all wrecks fished Sunday on the party boat <b>Jamaica II</b>, an email from the vessel said. Lots more bergals and pout bit than last week, “so water temps are increasing, which will mean even better fishing in the weeks ahead,” it said. Billy Watson, who holds the world record for the largest ling or red hake caught, landed on the Jamaica II, it said, swung aboard ling and a dozen cod, including a few keeper cod, on Sunday’s trip. “(He) had a nice cooler of fish to take home,” it said. The Jamaica II is wreck-fishing 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.  <b>***Update, Thursday, 3/12:***</b> The trip Wednesday aboard picked away at cod, and a few ling were sprinkled in, the boat’s Facebook page said. A good number of cod bit at one drop, but only half were keepers.

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

The party boat <b>Norma-K III</b> will begin fishing again around the end of the month, a report on the vessel’s website said. The boat is undergoing maintenance to be ready for spring fishing. Previously, the vessel was sailing for ling and cod.

<b>***Update, Thursday, 3/12:***</b>  Trips fished the past few days on the party boat <b>Dauntless</b>, Capt. Butch said. A few ling and cod and a couple of pollock were bagged, he said, and the angling was slow or not good. But being out was good. “Let’s put it that way,” he said. The worst of the wintry weather seemed to break. Dauntless was never iced-in this winter. Commercial boats from the docks, with aluminum hulls, break through any ice, so the ice never sets up. Farther upstream on Manasquan River still held some ice. The trips found the fish in 130 to 150 feet, relatively shallow. If deeper was fished, not even a bite was had. Maybe 10 or 15 ling per day were bagged, and 15 or 20 cod were landed per day. Sometimes half the cod were keepers, and sometimes fewer were. On Sunday, 20 or 30 cod were reeled in, and about 10 were keepers. On Wednesday, probably 25 cod were landed, and only three were keepers. Maybe 14 or 15 pollock were landed that day, and three or four were keepers. No ling bit on the trip. But some of the fish were good-sized on the trips. The ling were sizable or all 2 pounds. The instrument with the water-temperature gauge was just returned from repair and needed to be installed. But Butch guessed the ocean was 35 or 36 degrees on the fishing grounds.  The Dauntless is fishing 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily, and is one of the state’s only boats, if not the only, scheduled to fish daily year-round. Christmas is the only day the boat’s not slated to sail each year.

<b>Toms River</b>

The ice was melting, and striped bass were bloodwormed at Oyster Creek, said Mario from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b>. That’s the warm-water discharge from Forked River power plant, and one angler stopped in with one winter flounder from the creek. That is the year’s first flounder caught reported on this site, and the first that Mario knew about from local waters. He heard that flounder were supposedly landed from Shark River, farther north, but no first-hand reports said so. He hopes fishing picks up because of this week’s warmer weather. Bloodworms, garden worms and salted clams are stocked, and Murphy’s is open daily. Murphy’s also owns <b>Go Fish Bait & Tackle</b> on Fischer Boulevard in Toms River, and that shop will be opened this weekend for the season, Mario said for the last report. He wasn’t asked for this report, so telephone to confirm. 

<b>Mystic Island</b>

At <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>, waters were still thawing out, Brian said. Nobody even tried fishing for striped bass yet at Graveling Point, he thought. That’s the nearby shore-angling spot that’s always one of the year’s first to give up stripers in the state. The annual $100 gift certificate to the store will be awarded to the angler who weighs-in the year’s first from Graveling. But the water was cold. The water at Atlantic City was 34 degrees, according to the buoy report online, when Brian checked today, so the water at Graveling was probably about the same. Graveling is located at the confluence of Mullica River and Great Bay. The river’s relatively warm water attracts stripers to the bay’s flats off Graveling. Plus, the spot is simply accessible to anglers, another reason for the catches there. Bloodworms were sold to anglers going white perch fishing. When ice was fishable, ice-anglers slid-in perch from Bass River at the cove accessed from Amasa Landing Road, off exit 50 on Garden State Parkway. Perch could probably be nabbed from open water there now. Though bloodworms are stocked, no fresh clams were this weekend. Fresh, shucked clams were ordered for last weekend, and the supplier said the bait would be available, but none arrived. No live grass shrimp were carried. Scott, the shop’s owner, nets the shrimp, when the bait is stocked. To catch shrimp currently, deep water had to be worked. That might’ve meant water elsewhere needed to be netted. The effort to net them like that might not have been worthwhile currently, because of demand.

<b>Absecon</b>

Sun shined, and phone calls came in, looking for bloodworms, said Capt. Dave from <b>Absecon Bay Sportsman Center</b>. The worms were stocked Sunday, and will be on hand this week. Ice finally broke up on that day, and people seemed to begin at least thinking about fishing. The year’s third striped bass was checked-in Tuesday, covered in the last report. That was the most recent catch Dave knew about. The angler with the third, a 16.15-pounder, weighed-in the year’s first, a 29.4-pounder, two days previously, or that Sunday, also covered in the last report. That Sunday was March 1, opening day of striper season in bays and rivers. The angler nailed both fish at Oyster Creek, the warm-water discharge from Forked River power plant. Striper fishing seemed a slow, slow pick at the creek. Warmer weather this week might amp up the angling by the weekend. The third striper was taken on a soft-plastic lure, like the first was. The angler likes pink, so Dave guessed that was the color the third swiped. The angler said he’d been using large plastics, because large stripers were around in the creek sometimes. But small stripers swam the creek, too. The shop’s annual prizes for the first through third stripers were now won. So were the prizes for the year’s first larger than 20 pounds, and the first angler to bring-in a striper who Liked the store’s Facebook page and joined the event <a href=" https://www.facebook.com/events/586295281514469/" target="_blank">First Striper of the Season Tournament</a> on the page. Two anglers won all those prizes with three stripers, and click the link to see the results and the prizes that remain. Prizes remained for the first angler to stop-in with a striper 30 pounds or larger and the first woman, boy and girl who check-in keeper stripers. Dave plans to announce a prize for the first angler to weigh-in a striper that the angler caught locally. Surely, stripers swam other waters, besides the creek at the power plant. The anglers, so far, with the winning stripers were local residents, who traveled north to Forked River for the catches. In addition to bloodworms that are currently stocked, fresh clams will be carried by the weekend. Grass shrimp that Dave had been netting disappeared, always migrating elsewhere at the first hint of warmer weather. He might not net them again soon, so they might not be stocked in the near future, unless somebody else who nets them makes them available to the store.

<b>Brigantine</b>

<b>***Update, Thursday, 3/12:***</b> Customers bought bloodworms to try to find warm water where fish might bite, said Fred from <b>Riptide Bait & Tackle</b>. No catches were reported, but anglers headed to places like the warm water at the Forked River power plant to the north or the plant at Beesley’s Point to the south, trying for striped bass, or up Mullica River for stripers or white perch.  Bloodworms and frozen baits are stocked, and the shop is open daily. The Riptide Striper Bounty, presented by Hess Plumbing, was up to $1,310. The bounty is awarded to the angler who checks-in the season’s first striper 43 inches or larger from Brigantine’s surf. The bounty wasn’t won during fall, so is being rolled over to spring. That happened last year, too, and the bounty was won that spring. The angler must be entered before the catch, and entry is $5. All entry fees are awarded, so the bounty will build. An annual $50 gift certificate will be awarded for the season’s first keeper striper weighed-in from the town’s surf. The store will also put together a prize for the season’s first keeper striper from a boat. The Fish for Life Tournament, a Brigantine surf-fishing tournament, from Tom LaPera and the LaPera real-estate team, is under way until May 21. Entry is $20, and proceeds are reportedly donated to the South Jersey Cancer Fund. Trophies are awarded for the three heaviest stripers. Entry includes a permit to drive Brigantine’s middle beach, when accompanied by a Brigantine beach-buggy permit. The tournament’s permits are available at Riptide. Without the permit, driving the middle is prohibited. The tournament essentially enables entrants, with the Brigantine permit, to drive the island’s entire surf. Many customers stopped in to buy the bloods or pick up the permits.

<b>Longport</b>

Capt. Mike fired up the <b>Stray Cat</b> on Sunday, and might run the boat to the ocean Wednesday to explore, he said. Ice melted at the marina, and the bay finally cleared of ice on Sunday. It should be gone today. The water at the marina was 32 degrees. Mike on the trip Wednesday will see whether cod bite at 28-Mile Wreck, and hopes to run open-boat trips 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Telephone for reservations. Equipment aboard this year includes all new rental rods, and some new electronics. Stray Cat hoodies are available. Check out <a href=" http://www.captmikesstraycat.com/" target="_blank">Stray Cat’s revamped website</a>.

<b>Ocean City</b>

Anglers might be able to fish for white perch on rivers like the Great Egg Harbor, once all the ice melts this week, said Bill from <b>Fin-Atics</b>. Catching striped bass there seemed doubtful, because of cold water. Stripers cranked from Oyster Creek, the warm-water discharge from Forked River power plant, were the only catches talked about. Fin-Atics began to be opened daily this weekend for the fishing season. Frozen bait is stocked, and fresh and live bait will be carried, once demand picks up.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

<b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b> was reopened this weekend for the season, Mike said. The doors will be opened each weekend and probably, each time weather’s fair, quite often on weekdays, until the shop is opened daily for the season. A handful of people clammed on Saturday, and the clamming was excellent. That was the hot report, he said, from Sea Isle. Striped bass were landed farther north, at Oyster Creek, the warm-water discharge from Forked River power plant. Anglers ice-fished at Collins Cove on Mullica River for white perch during the cold. Nearer to the shop, a couple of anglers found open water to fish on Tuckahoe River, reeling in a few of the perch. Catfish and a few small stripers were around in the river. Nothing exciting, but catches, at least. Frozen bait is stocked, and fresh clams and green crabs will probably be stocked beginning this weekend, if weather is good.

Though last winter was cold, ice didn’t form like this winter, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b>, affiliated with <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b>. Last year, Joe thought fishing might begin late, because of the cold. But the angling began to peak a day earlier than the previous winter, a warmer winter. So, he thinks this year’s ice will have no impact. Striped bass will begin biting this month in the back bay. By mid-April, bluefish and weakfish will arrive in the bay, joining the stripers. When summer flounder season is opened, usually sometime in May, all four species can be hooked from the bay. Spring fishing is some of the best of the year aboard. Joe is always one of the state’s first captains to grab stripers each year. His trips fish for them in the early season at places like creek mouths, where warmer water flows into the bay, on outgoing tides. Afternoons, when the water is warmest, can fish best. Soft-plastic lures are fished slowly along bottom for the bass, early in the year. Even the blues prefer the plastics fished slowly along bottom, early in the season, though blues are known as fast-swimming fish. Their metabolism is slower in the colder early season. Dick and Mike Blackman joined Joe this weekend for some of the traveling charters to the Florida Keys aboard. On Saturday, they went 1 for 2 on tarpon, and tackled jacks to 10 pounds, lots of mangrove snappers and a bonnethead shark. On Sunday, they hooked but lost two tarpon, and tugged in jacks to 12 pounds, yellow jacks and mangrove snappers. All the fishing came from the bay near port in Islamorada. Weather was windy, so the trips stayed there. The fishing’s been good this year, including for lots of permits and tarpon. Traveling charters fish the Keys each winter until Easter, mostly on weekends. The trips can be a mini, fish-filled vacation. Anglers can arrive on a Friday, fish all day Saturday and part of Sunday, return Sunday, and be back to work Monday morning. Or they can fish on a different schedule. See <a href="http://www.captainjoehughes.com/page3.html" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s traveling charters Web page</a>. Keep up with Joe’s fishing on <a href="http://captainjoehughes.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s blog</a>.

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