It is Thursday morning in beautiful Margate NJ. Our homes have survived last nights 70 mph Nor’easter, our garage floors are wet from the high tide, and our tile floors are just starting to warm up from our power being out for 16 hours or so overnight. With all of that on the front burner, you can imagine why all I want to do is get on the horn and start talking to our network about something that warms my heart instead of leaving another layer of frost on it…. fishing in March!
The reports in general over the last week, before the blow, were really pretty excellent. Many areas seemed to have good populations of holdover stripers in the back, and before the 24’ waves started hitting the beach, there was even some activity in the surf. Find the warm water my friends..
Water temps are still hovering in the low 40’s, which is still on the down side of where we want it to be, but with daylight savings time kicking in this upcoming weekend and the more direct rays of the sun (if it ever comes out) hitting the back bay mudflats, everything is in line for a strong early run. A couple of days of low winds, average temperatures, and cloudless skies will make a big impact. That is exactly what the forecast is for this weekend.
Up in North Jersey in freshwater, Nick at Meltzer’s in Garfield has seen some big Pike taken from the Passaic River on shiners and Muskie up to 45” on bombers. There seems to be a little early action on decent walleye in the Wanaque River with a couple stretching to 25”.
Also up North, for those that read stories over the last couple of months since the real storm, we want you to know that John and the guys at Keyport Marine Basin are back up on their feet. “KMB is coming back stronger than ever” was the message he gave so I thought I’d pass it along.
In Brielle, The Reel Seat has got Dave super busy getting ready for both his on shore and offshore crews. For the surfcasters and back bays, he is a Century and CTS rod dealer with deep stock on both, and holds an exclusive on a new line of striper plugs you should definitely check out. For the offshore flotilla, there are his super respected line of spreader bars and a new rollout of custom tilefish rods. By the way, be looking for Dave’s feature article on tile fishing in a couple months in the printed edition of On The Water magazine. He truly has a passion for it, shares lots of great tips, and now qualifies as resident tile guru.
Ron at Fisherman’s Supply in Point Pleasant is still unpacking boxes of new gear, and looking forward to see all of you at the Somerset Show. He echos local sentiment that finding warm water is the key and although no one place is a sure thing, there are some nice striper catches being put together both in Barnegat and Raritan Bays.
Chris from harry’s Army/Navy in Robbinsville has his ear to the tracks and is picking up rumblings of successful striper outings behind LBI. He wants to give it a shot himself, but they have him chained down to the counter getting ready for Harry’s Huge Annual Spring Sale. Lots of deals and lots of informative seminars beginning March 22. Check out their Facebook page for full details at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Harrys-Army-Navy/205104827807.
Moving down to my neck of the woods, it is always great to talk to Ed over at Fin-Atics in Ocean City. He and Bill and the boys are back to 7 days a week now that striper season is open and did weigh in some nice keeper bass before the blow. Nighttime is the right time and dark plugs were the tools.
Did you see the new 2013 Shimano Stella video yet with a really handsome local outdoor writer and Larry Dahlberg? Well what are you waiting for? http://www.youtube.com/user/tackledirect . I went from infectious to viral overnight!
There should be some good opportunities for those that bust out the gear this weekend. Best bet is pretty direct, during the daytime, go find some warm water. At night, throw dark plugs in back bay areas where bait is congregating. Shadow lines of bridges are good starts, warm water outflows, or areas where dropping tides are forcing afternoon warmed waters into deeper channels.
There are fish there… are you going to get yours or keep waiting?
Stay Tuna-ed!