New Jersey Fishing Forecast March 10 - 17

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March 10, 2011By Jimmy Fee:

The striper season is off to a great start statewide it seems. Anglers from the back bays of Ocean City to the shores of the Raritan Bay have connected with early-season stripers, and not all of them schoolies. Tog, cod, perch and pickerel made up the rest of the catch for New Jersey anglers this week.

The cod bite is still on according to Chris at Harry***8217;s Army Navy in Robbinsville. These fish have been chewing all winter long in numbers not seen in New Jersey in a long time. If you want to tie into a couple of these groundfish, you might want to get after them now, as once the water warms, they***8217;ll head to deeper waters.

Blackfish activity is also increasing. The limits as they stand right now are 4 fish per person at 14 inches or greater. These fish will be moving closer and closer to shore as their spawning season approaches in May. Bill from Fin-atic***8217;s in Ocean City listed the Great Egg and Atlantic City reefs as the hot spots for blackfish right now.

South Jersey stripers can be found in the rivers and backwaters, but not in tremendous numbers just yet. Each warmer day brings more bass into the area and makes the resident fish more likely to feed. White perch action is providing a fine alternative to Tuckahoe River anglers who are waiting for bass action to pick up.

A bit farther north, Chris at Harry***8217;s reported good action in Oyster Creek with school-sized bass on small soft plastics and swimming plugs, and said he***8217;d heard rumors of some larger fish taken in the Raritan Bay on clams.

A call into the Tackle Box in Hazlet revealed good bass action on
worms in the Raritan Bay. Phil had weighed in the shop***8217;s first two bass of the year, an 11- and a 10-pounder, both falling to worms.

The ice is off the majority of Garden State lakes, and anglers are taking advantage of the open water by targeting pickerel. These mini-members of the pike family are aggressive and take lures as soon as the ice is off the lakes. Spinners, spoons, jerkbaits and tube baits are all great pickerel lures, and these fish are also a good target for fly-fishermen looking to shake the winter rust off as well.

Best Bets for the Weekend

The rains coming may cool off the striper action a bit, but not for long. Phil at the Tackle Box expects the striper fishing to break wide open any day now, and I***8217;d want to be on the water when that happens. Clams and worms are choice early season baits, but small soft plastics like the bubblegum-colored Zoom on a matching jighead has always been a springtime favorite of mine.