New Jersey Fishing Forcast for Jan 21-28

[Destroyer]

This is a copy/paste from www.Onthewater.com Enjoy

Jimmy Fee

On the headboats still fishing the frigid winter waters, codfish catches continue to increase while blackfishing tails off. With cod only recently back on the menu for New Jersey bottom fishermen, I haven’t heard any complaints about the switch from tog to cod.

On the Ocean Explorer sailing out of Belmar, Captain Bobby Quinn has been finding a good number of keeper codfish for his fares, along with a mix of ling, blackfish and a few pollock. His trips Tuesday and Wednesday were blown out, but by Thursday, he expected to be sailing again. Clams offer the best shot at a mixed bag, but jigs would help target specifically codfish and keep pesky dogfish catches to a minimum.

For ice fishing, perch are the most willing target, and a large number of lakes are giving up these small panfish. Lake Hopatcong is serving up a heaping of sunfish, crappies and perch, according to Laurie from Dow’s Boat Rental. Anglers are doing well with jigs tipped with waxworms or mousies. Pickerel are also plentiful, and shiners fished under a tip-up in the area off the State Park at Hopatcong are producing nice pickerel on a regular basis.

Speaking of the Esox family, pike and muskies are the pinnacle of Garden State hardwater fishing, and many anglers have subjected themselves to long, slow days on the ice hoping for one of these fish. Two of the top New Jersey waters for a pike and muskies are Budd Lake and Furnace Lake. Reports of large pike have been scarce so far, but anglers fishing live large baits have tangled with some small northerns in Budd Lake. As for muskies, while their nickname of fish of ten thousand casts may not apply to anglers targeting them through the ice, they can seem like the fish of ten thousand hours when waiting for a tip-up flag to fly. So far, I have not heard any report of muskies taken through the ice this year.

Best Bets for the Weekend

It’s going to be a cold weekend, but if you bundle up, you won’t regret spending a day aboard a partyboat chasing codfish. Anglers have been getting keeper cod regularly, and returning to the dock with some of the finest tasting fillets the Atlantic has to offer will be an added bonus.

With the falling temperatures, ice fishing is another good option for the weekend. Ice fishing is a great activity for the kids. While perch and sunfish may not seem very exciting to an experienced fisherman, a young angler will be delighted to catch anything through the ice

[RWilson2526]

Shoot, I still haven't thawed out from last years cod trip........