NJ fishing reports for Jan & Feb 2010

[DarkSkies]

Important when registering on our site -- use an active email address so you can activate your account to be able to post.

Please post fishing reports here.......as little or as much detail as you want to give.

Please note: NO SPOT BURNING! Posts burning spots will be Edited or DELETED!
Some veteran fishermen have put in years developing and learning about certain spots.Some of these spots can only handle a few guys at a time. We are losing enough access as it is, due to the unfortunate behavior of a few selfish people. No sense in making it worse.

For some areas, it would be wiser to say:
OutFront (Ocean) OR -- OutBack (Bay) -- if you feel too many people will figure out what you are talking about. "Spot burning" also could involve mentioning something specific only to that area. If you do this, your post may be edited, or deleted. Remember that thousands of people could potentially read these posts. You don't want to be fishing next to ALL of them at the same time!


IF you are fishing an area that is NOT residential, being vague is less critical. For example, it's acceptable to say (Any)Park, or (Any)Bay, or mention a specific state park that has loads of parking and can handle the crowds.


If you are unclear on this concept, ask yourself:


If I name this place on the internet, will it be too crowded for me to enjoy tomorrow when people hear I got 30 fish here today?


If the answer is "Yes", then you should probably not be so specific.
More discussion on this:
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...ead.php?t=3763

We post these reports so our community will have a sense of what is working, what is not. We want to show people how to catch fish, rather than where.Even if you struck out or got skunked, it would be helpful to hear that as well.

If you have any additional details you would like to share - weather conditions, tide (incoming, outgoing, ebb, flood) water temps, bait present, or other mention of techniques or plugs used - feel free.






Some acronyms -

SH - Sandy Hook
NoMoCo - Northern Monmouth County (below the hook to Shark River Inlet SRI)
SoMoCo - Southern Monmouth County (below SRI to Manasquan Inlet)

OC - Ocean County
IBSP - Island Beach State Park
LBI - Long Beach Island

AC - Atlantic County
AI - Absecon Inlet
CISP - Corson's Inlet State Park
CMC - Cape May County
CMR - Cape May Rips
GEI - Great Egg Inlet
TI - Townsend's Inlet

RB - Raritan Bay
BB - Barnegat Bay
CB - Chesapeake Bay
CBBT - Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel
DB - Delaware Bay

[DarkSkies]

*****

[DarkSkies]

So who's got the balz to play iceman and catch no fish?

There are a few fish here and there.....

If you can find a place that has water in the mid 40's...

If you can find a place that doesn't have miles of frozen surface...

If you can find a place that has shallow water in one area, but deeper water close by....

If you can find a place that has active killies or spearing. Those smaller fish will tend to congregate toward areas of the warmest water in the area. Herring would draw bass as well, but the way it usually works in the winter, only a few.

Those will be the places where resident bass will sluggishly feed when we get a few days of "sustained heat wave" sunny weather in the 40's.

However the water temps are so cold that there's no logical way I would recommend for people to go fishing right now.

Water in the high 30's and low 40's puts any remaining fish in a position where they are almost hibernating. Their metabolism slows down to such a rate they really don't need food. Eating might be a bi-weekly event, when they're not searching for the warmer water in the 40's and trying to figure out how they missed the fish train to Virginia.

Remember the season is closed in the back. A lot of guys just can't stay away and play C&R anyway. God bless. I've been there and it ain't such a bonanza.






The herring are not as concentrated yet as they were last year, Hickory shad are hit and miss. Honestly, there are a lot better things to do with your time now than fishing.

For those hardcore guys who can't stay away, there's lots of scouting to do during the full and new moon low tides.

There's a fair Spring fishery of sea-run brown trout in some of the rivers as they start to warm up. They ain't an easy target either. Some guys will go out for days on end without any success, and then all of a sudden luck into one.

Party Boats:
There's also a strong tog fishery. Friends of mine were out toggin last week and caught a nice mess o fish up to 14#.

Mackerel have started to be caught in numbers. Fill up on em for bait while ya can. There's no guarantee the run will last till March.

Cod are now being caught in numbers off Montauk. It's still a relatively slow pick. However the sizes are nice, a few teen fish.

Again, warmer days are the key here. There's no need to be a hero, this weather can literally kill ya if your're not careful.

Spend the time with the girlfriend, or wife and kids. If ya still feel the need to fish, Be safe out there....

[Mike O]

Hey Dark,

How did the holidays treat you and your family, good I hope. I haven't fished since before Thanksgiving I'm ashamed to say. I have been re-doing my kitchen, cabinets, countertop fun stuff like that. I probably missed the best fishing of the season, but I did manage to get a couple of keepers for the table earlier in the fall. In a couple of weeks I'm planning a trip to Ca***a's in PA to shop for a new rod and some other stuff thanks to Santa. Have a good winter.

Mike O

[DarkSkies]

Hey Mike, good to hear from ya!

Getting projects done for the family is always more important than fishin. You may miss a bite, but at least ya get to keep your family. Hoping I'll run into ya again somewhere on the sand this season, best wishes for happiness and health for your family.

[wish4fish]

i was fishing for herring in the back yesterday with my cousin, no luck yet. dark u should make up a little fishing pole for wally and well bring him to the pier and do a show. check ur messages.

[VSdreams]

there are lots of guys here who spend time putting up reports. what do you look for in the reports? Is it just if fish were caught and where or does the tackle used and details about catching interest you more?

[fishinmission78]

Where --- is kind of frowned on here. I look at reports to see the general trend of when they're hitting our shores. I use my logs to tell me when I should be out. I come on here to post to let other guys know it might be a good time to get out there.

[basshunter]

I like the details in the reports and the catches. like fnm said, you know if you are going to hit the suds or not anyway. If guys are catching it's more of an incentive ot get out there. When I'm stuck at home I really enjoy the stories.

[clamchucker]

Vsdreams, I will post a general area and what worked in my reports, in order to help the new guys. I read reports on here and other forums to get a general sense of things.

[bababooey]

Jan 30 from Ristori's blog.
http://www.nj.com/shore/blogs/fishin..._be_consi.html

Capt. Jimmy Elliott reported a good day of mackerel jigging in the Mud Hole after a slow start on Miss Belmar Princess due to a strong east current. By afternoon there was less current and wind as mackerel jigging got hot in the frigid temperatures. Elliott anticipates a repeat Sunday in less wind.

[DarkSkies]

Some friends were out on a NJ lake last weekend. They got 12 pickerel and a few perch, sent me this pic.

[bababooey]

Ristori's blog 2/2

Best mackerel of the year

By Al Ristori

February 02, 2010, 6:06PM

Capt. Jimmy Elliott of Miss Belmar Princess had ideal weather today, and only had to sail 11 miles to the winter's best mackerel jigging as some anglers had coolers full by 11 a.m.

[DarkSkies]

A friend went ice fishin in NJ the other day before work. He got some pickerel and crappies. Nice!