<b>Brooklyn</b>

Open-boat anglers on the <b>Big M Express</b> bagged 25 blackfish to 9 pounds at a few drops Friday, and the fishing was picky, the report on the boat’s web site said. The high hook nabbed eight, and the rest of the gang took a few apiece, and some big ling and a keeper cod also came up. An open trip for the tog last Thursday was slow, but one angler scored five keepers, and another tackled four, and some ling and a keeper cod were again reeled in. The trip fished at five drops, anchoring in 50 to 110 feet, and the shallower water seemed to hold most life. Open tog trips sail every day when no charter is booked, and the Big M Express is docked at Tamaqua Marina in Gerritsen Beach, Brooklyn.

<b>Staten Island</b>

<b>Outcast Charters</b> packed it in for the season, running charters no longer till spring, Capt. Joe said. But the crew might take personal trips for blackfish. Charters will launch again in April, fishing for flounder, stripers, blackfish and ling. Outcast will post new info on its web site within the next month about its upcoming season, including new types of trips, including marathons, or extra long fishing trips, and combos, or trips for more than one species, so check it out. Joe thanks charters who fished on the boat this past season.

<b>Bayonne</b>

Some customers were blackfishing, but the weather was getting cold, said Capt. Akira from <b>True World Tackle</b> and <b>True World Tackle Charters</b>. Participation in any type of fishing was slim. The shop is open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

A few striped bass, not many, were reported beached in the surf, said Jimmy from <b>Julian’s Bait & Tackle</b>. One angler said he nailed a keeper at Monmouth Beach on a rubber shad. But otherwise a handful of shorts were wormed or clammed in the suds. Jimmy guessed that shads might’ve scored a couple of bites at nighttime. Bottom fishing was productive for blackfish, ling and an occasional small cod when the weather was calm enough for boats to sail. The ocean was 45 degrees, warm for this time of year. Clams, worms and frozen baits such as bunker are stocked, and Julian’s is open every day.

<b>Neptune</b>

Approximately 35 tog, including four or five larger than 10 pounds, were bagged with <b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b> on Saturday, Capt. Ralph said in an e-mail. An 11-1/2-pounder was the biggest. A few openings are available for an individual-reservation blackfishing trip this coming Saturday, and the forecast seemed good.

<b>Belmar</b>

Fishing for tog was good on the <b>Big Mohawk</b> yesterday, and maybe the bite will last another two weeks, Capt. Chris said. He was hoping to sail at least another two weekends. A big black probably 12 ¼ pounds was drilled on the trip, and so were some 10-pounders. A couple of cod were sometimes biting lately, but blackfish were the main catch and the target. The boat was fishing in 40- to 80-foot depths. Blackfishing trips are sailing 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.

UPDATE, 1/28: Patrons on the party boats were catching a few blackfish, and good-sized, big ones, said John from <b>Fisherman’s Den</b>. He heard that mackerel fishing was slow Saturday, but customers were still showing up for mackerel fishing, and the Miss Belmar Princess was sailing for the Bostons. Small herring could be hooked at Shark River Inlet.

<b>Brielle</b>

UPDATE, 1/28:  The weather was calm enough for the <b>Jamaica</b> to sail on it’s offshore wreck trips Saturday and Sunday, and the fishing was good, an e-mail from the boat said. Saturday’s trip was best, and patrons pulled up good catches of sea bass, porgies, ling and a few whiting, pollock and cod. On Sunday more porgies bit than sea bass did. The numbers of cod and whiting boated lately were greater than in the past few years, and normally few cod are found until late February. The crew hoped that meant cod would be more numerous than recent years later this season. They expected mostly sea bass and some porgies and ling to give up most action in the next few weeks. Pool winners included Art Thornton with a 20-pound pollock, Ruben Stovall with an 8-pound cod, Rick George with a 6-pound sea bass and Louis Ada with a 4-pound sea bass. Water temps were holding steady, and the wrecks held plenty of life, and the crew expected the fishing to remain good, and the trips will keep sailing to April. The boat is leaving the dock on these 18-hour trips to the 60- to 80-mile wrecks 12:30 a.m. every Wednesday and every Friday through Sunday and also on Presidents’ Day, February 18.  The <b>Paramount</b> is fishing on 9- and 12-hour trips, and call the vessel for further info. <b>Bogan’s Boating School</b> is offering the boating safety course and certificate required in New Jersey. The next one-day classes will take place 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. February 9, 17 and 23 at Bogan’s Basin. The test-out option is also offered, and so are private classes at your own location with a minimum of eight students, and the rate is discounted for 10 or more students. The private classes can be scheduled on any day of the week and either during daytime or evenings. Select two 3-hour blocks of time, and call to arrange an instructor. Private classes can also be held in one day when scheduling permits.

<b>Point Pleasant</b>

UPDATE, 1/28: A few herring could be hooked at Manasquan Inlet, and that was about the only fishing happening, said Rob Sr. from <b>Gates Bait & Tackle</b>. He’s trying to keep the shop open Thursdays through Sundays, weather permitting. Gates Motel, located on the same grounds, is open all year and is especially popular with anglers. At this time of year anglers can stay at the motel when taking a trip on one of the local bottom-fishing boats and avoid driving before or after the trip. Both the tackle shop and the motel are located within walking distance of the inlet, the charter and party boat fleet and the surf.

Anglers with <b>Andrea’s Toy Charters</b> got into good blackfishing at the local reefs straight off Manasquan Inlet on Saturday, Capt. Fred said. The tog to 8 pounds were bagged, and the bite was still happening, and the winter had been warm, although colder days arrived lately. A trip was headed out for blacks again today, so the crew would see whether temps affected things. Fred will try to give an update on that trip, so check back here later. A tog trip was also slated for this coming Saturday. Open-boat blackfish trips will continue to sail on weekends, available at a great rate, and check the boat’s home page for details. Andrea’s Toy will keep fishing until the first week of February, when the boat will finally be pulled.

Bottom fishing went well for catches of ling, blackfish and cod on the <b>Dauntless</b> yesterday, and a shot of mackerel also showed up in the morning, Capt. Butch said. The ling, blacks and cod were mixed together, and patrons probably averaged five to 15 fish apiece. The macks came through in the same area. The boat’s been fishing along the Mudhole in 120 to 220 feet, and mackerel seemed to be mostly farther from shore, but apparently sometimes they were popping up closer. Butch thought that the Miss Belmar was the only boat now specifically targeting macks, and he thought the vessel was finding them 25 to 30 miles offshore. Patrons on the Dauntless are mostly interested in bottom fishing, so the boat won’t head farther from land to get into macks. Bottom fishing’s slower than last year at this time but is okay. Mostly ling made up the catch last year, but blacks and cod were mixed in with ling this year.  The Dauntless fishes all year long from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily.

<b>Toms River</b>

UPDATE, 1/28: The lower Toms River was pretty much frozen around places such as Island Heights, so white perch fishing was out of the question there, but the upper river was open, and anglers in winter sometimes dunk nightcrawlers or small killies to catch the slabs, Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> said. None of those baits had been in stock, but warmer weather in the 40s was forecast for this week, so Dennis would probably carry both baits this week. The store had been open 9 a.m. to 12 noon or 1 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, but the doors might also be open Wednesday if the warmer temps materialize. A few customers were trout fishing on the Toms in the Riverwood Park section at the Route 571 Bridge.

<b>Waretown</b>

UPDATE, 1/28: Small blues 2 or 3 pounds apiece and small stripers were sometimes swimming the Oyster Creek power plant outflow, like usual at this time of year, said Dale from <b>L&H Woods & Water</b>. Keep in mind that striper season is closed except in the ocean till March. Some customers sailed for blackfish from Dewey Beach, Delaware, and boated 20 keepers to 12 ½ pounds. L&H is open throughout the winter.

<b>Beach Haven</b>

A tog trip sailed Saturday on the <b>Miss Beach Haven</b>, and the fishing was slow, Capt. Frank said. Seas were flat calm, but a tog trip Sunday was weathered out. The boat will run offshore for bottom fish this weekend, but the trips are already sold out. The crew plans to sail the following weekend, but Frank will see whether tog or bottom fishing seems the best option, depending on how fishing goes. The vessel mostly fishes on weekends in winter.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

Live grass shrimp and small minnows are stocked for white perch fishing, and green crabs are on hand for blackfishing, said Scott from <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>. But nobody showed up at the shop to go fishing. Still, Collins Cove on the Mullica River would be the place to hook perch right through winter. That’s also the popular spot for ice fishing for the slabs, if ice ever forms this season. Waters were clear for the most part. The shrimp are the hot bait for the perch, but the minnows will also work, and small ones are the preference in the cold, though larger ones can be effective when temperatures rise. The minnows will also do the trick on freshwater fish like pickerel and crappies. Scott noted that the government announced that the weakfish bag limit was dropped to six fish from the previous quota of eight, and the size limit remains at 13 inches. In other news, reel and tackle repairs were popular at the shop, but the staff was maintaining a good turnaround time. Bring in repairs now, before the spring rush and inevitable delays.

<b>Atlantic City</b>

Boats up north were sailing for tog and sea bass, Dominic from <b>Offshore Enterprises Bait & Tackle</b> said. He was planning on jumping aboard himself. Parts of the bay behind Offshore were starting to freeze. The staff was doing inventory and packing offshore baits, and the doors are currently open, but call ahead to make sure somebody will be there. Frozen baits are stocked.

<b>Longport</b>

Tog fishing was finished for the season on the <b>Stray Cat</b>, Capt. Mike said. The fish were still there along the inshore grounds, but the water was chilled enough to keep them from “snapping” most of the time. Sometimes warmer currents might push though and get them active, but the fishing was too much of a crap shoot to continue. So now Stray Cat will head offshore on two types of open-boat, bottom-fishing trips: runs to the 30- or 40-mile wrecks to look for cod, and longer trips to the 60-mile wrecks to try for sea bass, ling, cod and pollock. The long-range trips are slated for this coming Saturday to Monday, and the short-range ones are on the slate for Tuesday and Wednesday, and space is available. The short-range outings will sail 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the long-range ones will take place 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. Crabs will be carried on the boat for tog fishing, but no blackfish will be specifically targeted.  Stray Cat wrapped up its season last year with a tog trip January 28, when cold weather made trips impractical. So although tog fishing this year was ending about the same time, the weather this year was still decent enough to head offshore. UPDATE, 1/28: An offshore bottom-fishing trip was cancelled yesterday because of the weather forecast, but the weather ended up calm enough that the trip could’ve fished. Not enough people signed up to take a trip the previous day. Capt. Mike will try to go again Thursday, and the forecast looked decent, and space is available. Another one of the trips is slated for Saturday but is sold out. Stray Cat will now strictly fish on the long-range offshore trips to the 60- to 80-mile wrecks for sea bass, ling, cod and pollock, running 5 a.m. to 5 p.m., arriving at the grounds after a 3-hour sail.

<b>Ocean City</b>

One of the local party boats was fishing for tog, Bill from <b>Fin-Atics</b> said, and he thought the vessel was occasionally sea bass fishing offshore. That was about the only type of fishing that was available along the coast. Striped bass were apparently still swimming the ocean toward Chesapeake Bay down south, but fewer of the fish, and smaller ones, than before were biting. The shop is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and closed Sundays.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Little was biting locally, except maybe some tog, though the weather was getting cold, said Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b> and <b>Gibson’s Tackle</b>. But he fished at Palm Beach, Florida, this past week, taking John Martin out on John’s new Regulator. Winds were terrible, so the ocean was big, and sailfishing was out of the question. But they searched the back waters and tangled with jack crevalles to 10 pounds on white bucktails tipped with shrimp. Plenty of sails were landed before the blow, when a cold front turned them on. Cold fronts can trigger the fish to migrate from farther north at this time of year. Although action around Sea Isle becomes slow around now, Joe usually hits the back bay by March 1, when striper season reopens in those waters. Only a month to go!

<b>Wildwood</b>

The Fins N’ Grins, docked at the store, was still tog fishing, and a trip was slated for this Saturday, said Fred from <b>No Bones Bait & Tackle</b>. The Bodacious, a party-boat sized vessel, is also docked there this winter, and an offshore sea bass trip reportedly wasn’t too great 1 ½ weeks ago on the boat, but another was on the books for this Saturday, so anglers were still trying for the bottom fish. A couple of customers bought clams to test the surf for stripers, but if any scored a catch, Fred was sure they would’ve stopped back and bragged. The bay behind the shop was 34 degrees. The dead of winter might’ve been here, but the good news was that Sam’s Pizza, the popular pizzeria on the boardwalk, opens in two weeks, the first sign of the new season. No Bones is open every day, but call ahead to confirm, because sometimes the staff might run errands and step out.

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