<b>Keyport</b>

On the <b>Vitamin Sea</b>, the year’s first charter fished Friday, “and the fishing was basically nonexistent,” Capt. Frank wrote in an email. The fishing worked hard, and many different areas were fished on Raritan Bay. The water was 43 to 45 degrees. But when the fishing begins is only a matter of time. “One thing, for sure,” he said. “When it does, the Vitamin Sea will be on it.” Charters and open-boat trips are fishing for striped bass and winter flounder. Strong wind kept fishing docked aboard Saturday. The year’s first open trip was supposed to fish then, Frank said in a previous report. Rain is forecast for early this week, but is supposed to clear Thursday. So open trips are slated for Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, fishing for those two fish. “Get your dose of Vitamin Sea!” 

<b>Papa’s Angels Charters</b> will run a recon trip with crew Tuesday for striped bass on Raritan Bay, Capt. Joe said. The water reportedly warmed a little. Open-boat trips will be available when no charter is booked, and telephone to jump aboard.

<b>Down Deep Sportfishing</b> will begin fishing Friday, for winter flounder and striped bass, Capt. Mario said. Down Deep runs charters and open-boat trips, and open trips are set for Friday and Saturday. Join the <a href=" http://www.downdeepsportfishing.com/ddsf/76-2/" target="_blank">Short Notice List</a> on Down Deep’s website to be kept informed about open trips. Also see the site’s open-boat page for dates and availability. Many of those trips were already filling. Wreck-fishing trips, like for cod, will also sail this season. Another boat was added for trips with Down Deep. It’s a 42-foot Willis Beal Downeaster, named the Down Deep Bull, certified for 15 passengers. The crew will also still run the original Down Deep, a 40-foot Custom Duffy.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

A few throwback striped bass were heard about from the Port Monmouth pier, said Jimmy from <b>Julian’s Bait & Tackle</b>. One of the charter boats is supposed to sail for cod on the ocean Tuesday. The trip might need to sail far from shore, but it’ll catch, Jimmy thinks, and weather is supposed to be calm. One day is supposed to blow hard from east this week, but that should push warmer water to shore. Nothing was reported about winter flounder, and hardly any boats were in the water. Anglers were beginning to splash the vessels for the season. All baits are stocked.

<b>Highlands</b>

Capt. Pete and crew from <b>Fin-Taz-Tic Sportfishing</b> fished on a couple of trips, and not many fish were around, he said. But Pete hopes the warmer weather will create “a little more life” this week. The boat is fishing for striped bass and winter flounder, and he and crew will try to fish today through Wednesday, if weather allows. The year’s first charters are slated for Thursday and Friday, and space is available on open-boat trips Thursday through Saturday.  Open trips will fish daily, when no charter is booked, with a minimum of four anglers. That’s fewer than many boats that require six. Special trips might also bottom-fish for catches like cod and ling this season. Fin-Taz-Tic is just getting started fishing for the year, and the boat is now in the water, ready to run.

<b>Neptune</b>

Fishing will be launched for the year with individual-reservation trips that will sail the next three Sundays, April 12, 19 and 26, with <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b>, Capt. Ralph said. The trips will target cod, ling and blackfish at wrecks up to 30 miles from shore. More individual-reservation trips will be added for May that will fish for striped bass or sea bass or will fish wrecks. Annual weekly individual-reservation trips, fishing every Tuesday, will kick off in June, sailing for fluke and sea bass. Charters are available day and night. Book summer cod charters now. Those trips will also fish into October.

<b>Belmar</b>

<b>***Update, Tuesday, 4/7:***</b> Shark River’s winter flounder fishing remained slow, Bob from <b>Fisherman’s Den</b> wrote in an email. “I still have no answers,” he said. A few striped bass showed up in the surf at a few places. No numbers of the fish did, but a few were clammed at Belmar, and a few were plugged in Asbury Park. The number of stripers beaten from Oyster Creek stepped up. That’s the warm-water discharge from Forked River power plant. New Jersey is supposed to decide the year’s regulations for stripers, fluke and sea bass on Thursday. Trout, in freshwater, were the No. 1 fish targeted. Trout to 8 pounds and larger were creeled.

<b>***Update, Tuesday, 4/7:***</b> Fishing will begin for the year with striped bass trips on the <b>Katie H</b>, Capt. Mike said. Seasonal maintenance was currently being done on the boat. Striper fishing began in late May last year, but every year is different, and he hopes the migration arrives earlier. Boats to the north, off Sandy Hook, usually run into the bass first. But the fish spread to the coast off Belmar not long after. Striper trips aboard will look to snag bunker to liveline for bait. That’s the most fun, but if no bunker are around, the trips will fish however’s necessary, like trolling or jigging. Fishing aboard afterward usually includes sharking in June. Bluefin tuna can also show up in June, and few did last year. But the boat will chase the tuna, if they arrive. One fun trip is to shark fish first, and tuna fish next, at that time of year. Mike hopes to offer additional open-boat tuna trips this year. The 46-foot Katie H features comfort, all the amenities and speed.

Boats that are sailing, when weather allows, are picking cod, said Capt. Pete from <b>Parker Pete’s Fishing Charters</b>. Some are scoring well, depending on location fished. Annual maintenance is being finished to Pete’s boat, and he hopes to run some of the cod trips. Charters are booking up for striped bass this spring and for summer fishing. Reserve dates as soon as possible. Trips that are fluke-bucktailing seminars, teaching the angling, will run on the boat again this summer, like last year. Don’t have enough anglers for a charter? Contact Parker Pete’s anyway, about individual spaces available on charters.  Jump on <a href=" http://www.parkerpetefishing.com/" target="_blank">Parker Pete’s website</a> to subscribe to the emailed newsletter to be kept informed about the spaces. Look for the place to sign up on the right side of the page.

<b>Point Pleasant Beach</b>

A trip fished Friday on the party boat <b>Gambler</b>, working shallower water on the first drop, hoping to catch blackfish, the vessel’s Facebook page said. “But it did not work out,” it said, and water was much colder than usual. The trip pushed farther from shore, fishing a small wreck. Action was better, and small cod, many of them throwbacks, a few keepers 10 pounds and heavier, bit steadily, the whole time. Only 10 anglers were aboard, so the captain fished, mostly trying for blackfish. But he thinks the tautog are lethargic. Two throwback tog were landed on the trip. Trips were apparently weathered out Saturday and Sunday. Weather looked good for a trip to fish today.  The Gambler is sailing 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily for cod, ling and blackfish.

<b>Toms River</b>

Plenty of striped bass bit throughout the Toms River, from Beachwood to Long Point, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b>. From 7 to 9 p.m. fished best, mostly on worms, some on clams, a few on lures. Any lure about 4 inches, in white, yellow or a combo, worked, like from Bomber or Guides Choice. No keepers were seen at the shop, and the bass were up to 25 or 26 inches, but the fishing was good. Stripers were yet to be reported from the surf this season. Winter flounder fishing was just a pick at different waters, for unknown reasons. Dennis didn’t know whether few flounder migrated into the waters last fall, because of warm water and weather then, or whether something else was the reason. Frank Krupa was in first place with a 2.52-pound flounder in the shop’s flounder tournament. Jared Goldy was in second with a 2.19-pounder, and Howell Chamberlain was in third with a 1.98-pounder. Ninety-six anglers were currently entered in the free contest, running until May 15. The shop’s Facebook page included photos of anglers with flounder from places including the Toms and Oyster Creek. Chamberlain’s third-place flounder came from Brick, and Dennis assumed that was from Barnegat Bay near the Mantoloking Bridge. Dean Malanga checked-in a 1.79-pounder from the bay at Lavallette. Baits are fully stocked, including bloodworms, sandworms, fresh clams and chum. Murphy’s, open daily, also owns <b>Go Fish Bait & Tackle</b> on Fischer Boulevard in Toms River. Go Fish is open Thursdays through Mondays.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

Plenty of throwback striped bass were angled at Graveling Point, a report said on <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>’s website. The fish ranged from 16 to 27 inches, and a keeper, 28 inches or larger, was expected to be checked-in from there any moment. The annual, $100 gift certificate to the store remained up for grabs for the angler who brought-in the year’s first keeper from Graveling. That’s a shore-angling spot, located at the confluence of Mullica River and Great Bay. Anglers reported catching the fish on bloodworms and clams. The fishing on Friday turned on a 10 a.m., and a customer was into a steady bite for 3 hours, so far, when the customer telephoned the store that day. Water was supposedly 47 degrees on the Mullica farther upstream, near Garden State Parkway. Plenty of stripers were also hooked on the Mullica itself.  An angler posted a report on the site about the angler’s boat trip on the Mullica off Hay Road on Thursday. Lots of catfish, throwback stripers to 20 inches and huge white perch were reeled up. Clams and bloodworms were the baits the trip fished, and the catfish and stripers were clammed. The perch were voracious, the angler wrote. “Gold perch hooks w/gold spinner blades did the trick (on the perch),” he wrote. The angler didn’t mention which bait or baits were fished for the perch.

<b>Brigantine</b>

Customers tried fishing the surf this weekend, but weather was windy, almost not fishable, said Capt. Andy from <b>Riptide Bait & Tackle</b>. Nothing really happened with fishing yet this season. Bloodworms and fresh, frozen bait is stocked, and Andy hopes to carry fresh clams for the weekend. Lots of new tackle is arriving. The Riptide Striper Bounty was up to $1,420. Sponsored by Hess Plumbing, the bounty is awarded to the angler who checks-in the season’s first striped bass 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. Two $50 gift certificates will be awarded this season, one to the angler who stops-in with the year’s first keeper striper from Brigantine’s surf, and the other for the first boater who comes-in with the first. The Fish for Life Tournament, a Brigantine surf-fishing contest, from Tom LaPera’s 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, and none was entered yet. Entry, available at Riptide, includes a permit to drive Brigantine’s middle beach until the final day of the tournament, when accompanied by a Brigantine beach-buggy permit. Without the permit, driving the middle is prohibited. The tournament essentially enables entrants, with the Brigantine permit, to drive the island’s entire surf. <b>***Update, Tuesday, 4/7:***</b> Reports, a bunch, rolled in about bait forced onto Brigantine’s beach Monday, and birds working the water, 500 feet off the surf, Andy wrote on Riptide’s Facebook page. None of the reports mentioned the type of bait, “but I’m thinking, herring?” he said. “Something has to be chasing them, if they’re beaching themselves,” he said. Must’ve been big bluefish, he said.

<b>Longport</b>

Gusts to 40 knots blew during the weekend, said Capt. Mike from the <b>Stray Cat</b>. “(You) didn’t miss a thing by going to the Easter egg hunt,” he said! But crabs showed up in his traps, were out of the mud. Baby blackfish also showed up in the traps, were active. The ocean was 41 degrees, the last time the boat fished, but was probably warmer now. Open-boat trips for blackfish will fish the ocean 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday and daily during those hours Friday through Sunday. Telephone to climb aboard. April 25 and 26 are sold out. Looking ahead, open trips for summer flounder will probably sail every Wednesday and Sunday, later this fishing season.

<b>Ocean City</b>

White perch and small striped bass were scooped from Great Egg Harbor and Tuckahoe rivers on bloodworms and grass shrimp, said Justin from <b>Fin-Atics</b>. The fishing was heard about from as far upstream as Mays Landing on the Great Egg. No keeper stripers were heard about, and the stripers known about were up to 26 inches. Two small stripers landed on the back bay, along 9th Street Bridge, were reported, so far this season. But that wasn’t enough to consider a fishery. No trips on the ocean were reported, and wind was stiff this weekend. Bloodworms and frozen baits are stocked.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Sea Isle Bait & Tackle</b> hopes to fish for striped bass on the back bay this week, he said. This was later in the year, much later, than he usually angles the year’s first stripers from the bay. But the water was cold this year. During some years, he hooks the first in the first week of March. He’s always one of the first captains to catch stripers each year. The bass begin biting early in South Jersey’s relatively warm, shallow back bays. By mid-April, bluefish and weakfish usually migrate to the bay. Then his trips boat all three, some of the best angling of the year. The bay’s stripers are younger fish, yet to migrate, that swim the bay year-round. They begin biting as waters warm. Out-of-season summer flounder usually migrate to the bay soon after blues and weaks. Then the trips angle all four, called a grand slam, a catch of all four of the bay’s species popular with anglers, in one trip. Flounder season is yet to be decided but is usually opened in late May. Early in the fishing season, Joe’s trips catch all those fish on soft-plastic lures, worked slowly along bottom in the cool water. Joe fished the Florida Keys this weekend, trailering his flats boat back to New Jersey afterward. He used the boat for traveling charters to the Keys that he offers each winter until Easter. The fishing during the weekend pumped in catches including big Jack Crevalles, yellow jacks, cero mackerel and hogfish from Florida Bay. Two tarpon were broken off in the bay. Sharks, mostly lemons to 30 and 40 pounds, some of the sharks bonnetheads, were fought and released while sight-fishing on the flats of the bay. Weather was great. 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 did some maintenance on the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> this weekend, and will see whether the boat can be splashed for the season in the next week, he said. He knew about nobody who fished from Cape May this weekend, and wind blew strongly. One of the mates from the boat tied into striped bass, none keepers, but plenty, on Delaware River, from shore at Elsinboro, on bloodworms. The fish were up to 24 or 26 inches, and many were small, like 18 or 22 inches. The angler thinks the migration of large stripers will arrive soon, George guessed. The ocean warmed to 45 degrees, according to the news. Drum trips are being booked that usually fish in May on the Heavy Hitter. Blackfish could be targeted aboard, and blackfish season is open this month. Charters will fish for stripers, if stripers can be boated this spring from Cape May.

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