NJ Fishing forecast for Feb 17-24

[Destroyer]

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February 17, 2011

By Jimmy Fee

Though most of the world considers February the shortest month of the year, to fishermen in New Jersey, it certainly feels like the longest. If you haven***8217;t had your fill of ice fishing or party boat fishing yet, you***8217;re in luck. Those two remain the best options for the week ahead. If you***8217;re ready for a change of pace, then there may be some good news on the horizon. The 2011 ice-fishing season is nearing its end and the great ice-out opportunities for largemouths, smallmouths, pike, pickerel and panfish are just around the corner. Also coming up quickly is the opening of the back-bay striper season on March 1. Spring is coming up quickly, so you might as well use these last couple weeks of winter to get the gear ready in time for the real fishing to begin.

On Lake Hopatcong, ice fishing was still going as of Monday, when anglers were catching panfish, pickerel and even a couple hybrid stripers. Laurie from Dows Boat Rental said the hybrids were hitting Jigging Rapalas off Chestnut Point in the evening hours. Laurie said that with 12-plus inches of ice, the warm weather should do little more than make the surface of the ice a little sloppy.

On the partyboat scene, cod continue to dominate the catch. A few ling and blackfish are still mixing in, but codfish, a mix of short and keeper sized, are the most likely catch when dunking clams on New Jersey***8217;s deepwater wrecks and reefs. The Ocean Explorer out of Belmar came back with 50 legal cod on their Wednesday trip, along with enough shorts to keep the fares busy.

Best Bets for the Weekend

If you like surfcasting, there will be a great show this Saturday put on by the Jersey Shore Surfcasters at the Brookdale Community College. On The Water will be there signing up subscriptions and giving away a Sebile lure with each subscription. Otherwise, this week***8217;s ***8220;Best Bets***8221; are identical to last week***8217;s. Codfishing on a party boat is the number one option in the salt, and enjoying a rare day of ice fishing in a T-shirt will be the top option in freshwater.