Friday, March 1, 2013
Striped bass season opens Friday
Striped bass season begins in the back bays and rivers March 1, and Patch caught up with Dennis Palmatier of Murphy's Hook House Bait and Tackle in Toms River for some tips. The regulations for striped bass remains two fish per angler, per day, with a minimum size limit of 28 inches. Striped bass season in the back bays and rivers runs from March 1 through Dec. 31. In the ocean, the season is open year-round. Anglers fishing Oyster Creek should keep in mind that fishing the west side of the Route 9 bridge over the creek requires a freshwater fishing license. Fishing the east side of the bridge does not, though all anglers statewide must obtain a free registration card online before fishing.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Surfers and fishermen head toward shore
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- Kevin Shea
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Sunday, October 28, 2012
Surfers and fishermen outnumbered beach walkers on many beaches Saturday evening as Hurricane Sandy approached offshore. These surfers and fishermen were at the beach in Bay Head, which is under mandatory state orders to evacuate by 4 p.m. Sunday.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Large number of floating buoys may be a hazard, officials say
Most boaters have been there. It's night time, but channel markers are there to guide you back to your marina or boat ramp. The only obstacle, of course, is the large number of buoys marking No Wake zones that dot the path between the open bay and home port. On a busy summer weekend, the buoys can sometimes cause stress as boaters try to navigate skinny channels in the nation's most densely populated state. Boaters who equate the proliferation of buoy markers in waterways such as Barnegat Bay to a minefield of anchored obstacles will see some relief this summer, however, as the state will reduce the number of No Wake warning buoys up and down the coast. The total number of buoys, which mark areas in which boaters must slow to near-idle …
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
New Jersey's trout season started Saturday
Saltwater fishing gets the headlines in the Jersey Shore area, but freshwater fishing, to many, is just as important. Saturday was opening day for trout season in New Jersey, and Ocean County waterways were no exception to stocking efforts performed by the state Division of Fish and Wildlife. Division employees stocked waterways with more than 180,000 hatchery-raised trout Thursday in preparation for opening weekend, said Jim Sciascia, Chief of Information and Education for the division. --------------- Click on the video stream to the right to see the stocking as it happened on Thursday. --------------- All of the fish are raised at the Pequest Trout Hatchery in Warren County, which is supported by the money raised from the sale of …
Friday, January 27, 2012
Could the size limit for our favorite species dip below 18 inches this season?
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) will hold its winter meetings the first week in February. And that can mean only one thing: we're getting closer to learning what our 2012 fluke regulations might look like here in the Garden State. While thanks to some controversial decision making on the part of federal officials, we have to take a quota hit this year, our actual allowable harvest will increase because anglers in our state did not hit their quota last season. When the ASMFC meets, it will consider a slew of potential regulatory options proposed by the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife which will meet the federal harvest limits. The ASMFC will whittle those options down, and send several back to the state …
Friday, May 6, 2011
Where will you be fishing for summer flounder on Saturday?
In one of the great portrayals of journalism Hollywood has ever put out, the Stars and Stripes team patrolling Vietnam in Full Metal Jacket has to be one of the best. In explaining the meaning of the Tet holiday, one Marine Corps journalist said to another that it was like "Christmas, New Year's and the Fourth of July all wrapped into one." Here in New Jersey, anglers look at the start of fluke season much in the same light. It's Christmas as we're getting the gift of another season, New Year's because (let's face it) the year revolves around fishing and the Fourth of July because, well, it's a day to celebrate our God-given right to fish. Of course, Uncle Sam never wanted for us to be that free. There is an 18 inch minimum size limit and…
Friday, April 1, 2011
ASMFC decision will significantly cut back on sea bass harvest
I know some of you have probably been thinking in recent weeks, “geez, this is the most depressing fishing column I’ve ever read!” Well, get ready to have your point proven again. We’re about to lose 40 percent of our recreational sea bass quota. Don’t shoot me, hook me or gaff me – I’m just the messenger. A March 28 ruling from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has established new state shares for black sea bass that will see the overall recreational quota reduced. “The 2010 regulations resulted in a preliminary estimated harvest of 2.98 million pounds, approximately 1.15 million pounds above the 2010 target,” said ASMFC spokeswoman Tina Berger in a news release. “Given that the 2010 regulations were not effective in staying…
Friday, March 25, 2011
Under 18 inch size limit would decrease season length by more than one month.
When anglers were told last fall by the federal government that the summer flounder quota would be increased 30 percent for the 2011 fluke season, people jumped for joy. Finally, folks thought, anglers who spend millions of dollars on bait, tackle, fuel and accessories would be able to keep a reasonably-sized fish once again. Unfortunately, even with the increase in quota and significant liberalizations, it appears New Jersey anglers will once again contend with a size limit so high that anglers will find themselves throwing back 50 fish (if they’re lucky) before keeping one. Back bay anglers will be hit the hardest, as usual. The final options approved by federal regulators, which state regulators have to choose from, are: 1 Fish @ 17.5 …
Friday, March 4, 2011
Frank Ruczynski nabbed something short of a keeper on opening day
If anyone out there is Facebook friends with Frank Ruczynski, you know the man is a trooper. I recall a few months ago reading his status updates about fishing for striped bass in 20 degree weather from here, there and everywhere across the state. I’ve yet to meet Frank personally, but he comes to mind when one thinks of an angler who puts in his time. Obviously, Frank made it out March 1, the start of striped bass season in the back bays and rivers. He was one of the few who managed to hook a bass, though we assume he threw it back – after all, when the hook is bigger than the fish it snags, well, come on. Enlarge the photo attached to this article for a full view of the “catch of the day.” Turns out Frank was one of the lucky ones. Not …
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Christie signs bill creating free fishing registry
Anglers will not have to pay to fish in 2011, but they will have to register with the state. A week before New Jersey's striped bass season begins March 1, Gov. Chris Christie signed into law a bill designed to create a free registry of the state's recreational anglers. The bill provides for the state to create a registry system to account for recreational anglers, which brings New Jersey into compliance with federal law. Under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which regulates fisheries management policies on the federal level, all recreational anglers must be registered with either the federal government or a state agency in order for scientists to keep better records of catch data. States with fishing licenses use their licensing regimes as …
Sean Conneamhe
2:08 pm on Saturday, March 2, 2013
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