“Rollin’ along,” Bob Misak reports from Barnegat Light Bait and Tackle. He said the beach has been on and off with keeper striped bass being landed from just about any point on Long Beach Island. He said fresh clams are the way to go right now and Basil and the boys from the shop have plenty of them in stock. Pete Garra and Mike Lucas had fish around 10 pounds this week. Out front, the boats are still picking blackfish and codfish from the structures. The blackfish have begun to migrate in and take up residence on the Barnegat Inlet. Some 6 pounders have been fished out of the South Jetty rocks. Misak added that the perch fishing off Jennings Road in Manahawkin is crazy good right now. Jeff Bauer of the Carolyn Ann III reports they have been catching codfish and blackfish on their trips out of Barnegat Inlet to inshore structures. He reported bottom temperatures in 55 feet of water were 41 degrees. Frank DiMeglia of Ship Bottom won a pool this week with his 5-pound codfish. Captain Frank Camarda of the Miss Beach Haven is sailing weekend trips for blackfish. Camarda ran anglers out to 80 foot depths where he said surface water temperatures were in the mid-40s. “We had a decent bite on blackfish on clams and green crabs, but we also landed about 25 keeper codfish and released another 50 shorts that were around 20 inches,” Camarda said. Scott Albertson at Scott’s Bait and Tackle on Mystic Island said they have their first report of a black drum being caught this season. The angler was Matt Cook and he landed the fish at night of Pebble Beach. Cook was fishing for stripers when the fish struck a clam bait he set out. The fish was about 25 pounds. Scott added that a few stripers are being caught and weighed in from Graveling Point. Rob Palmer brought a 10.1 pounder into the shop this week.

The Carrick Bend is a knot most often seen around the shipping docks and on large vessels where seaman are tying two haswers together. But it works well in any large rope and heavy line and is a good knot when the ropes are of slightly dissimilar size. It will not jam. The Carrick Bend is somehwhat similaat to the reef knot in that a mistake can result in a granny knot.

Dave’s Sinker Loop is another alternative to the array of loop knots that anglers use for attaching a sinker to a line or leader. This one is strong and can be tied in most leader and line materials, but it has no advantage over other knots in its group. It may be easier for some to tie and remember so it is worth considering.

The Barnegat Bay Shellfish Restoration program and its volunteer staff of ReClam The Bay are opening its six baby clam nurseries to the public so that they may learn earn more about how important these filter feeders are to the health of Barnegat Bay

Crabbers have begun to pick blue claws at a pretty good pace as bay and river waters are warming up. Some of the grounds that are particularly crabby are the Navesink River and the Barnegat Bay. People putting some effort into those waters have been able to get three-quarters to a full bushel of these local pot favorites.

Although this recipe may seem difficult it isn’t and will surprise your guests. So try it!

Jack Monteiro, owner of Surf Side Bait and Tackle in Long Branch Get plenty of fish being caught on the beach but not a lot of keepers. Boats fishing the Shrewsbury Rocks on doing great on bass. Off the beach Terry Miller if Long Branch landed two bass of 10 pounds, 12 oz. and 10 pounds, 14 oz. Eric Green, Elberon, got a bass of 9.4 pounds and Mike Zalay, Long Branch had two fish of 8.4 and 8.9 pounds. Brothers Jack and Mike Kinsey are doing well with trout in Spring Lake and Lake Takanassee, where the PBA Youth Fishing Derby will take place on Saturday. Ernie Giglio of Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright reported Jimm Haddow, Little Silver, caught four bass but just one keeper in the surf at Sandy Hook. He reported there’s a lot of fish in the Sea Bright surf, just not a lot of keepers yet. Steve at Red Bank Boat Rental in Red Bank said a bass are taking blood worms over by the Route 35 Bridge and Pete at the Oceanic Marina in Rumson said nice winter flounder are still being caught in the Navesink. John Christensen reported the Bradley Beach surf is really picking up with bass and the boats offshore are doing well on stripers with jigs and storm shads.

Offshore bass are the story in this zone. Jesse at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said the Mohawk and the Ocean Explored out of the Belmar Marina are doing real well with stripers with all customers limiting out. The bass are feeding on bunker and herring, with soft shads catching a lot of fish. With all the action on bass, Jesse said no one is fishing the bottom. The winter flounder appear to be moving out. Dave Arbeitman at the Reel Seat in Brielle reported that his customers fishing for blackfish are doing well east and south of the Manasquan Inlet in 65- to 80-feet of water. They’re picking up codfish along with the blackfish and most are biting on clams. Bass are also hitting clams on the beach, mostly from Point Pleasant on south. He did report a customer said fish were breaking near the Route 70 Bridge just before dark, but he wasn’t sure if they were bass or blues. Captain Howard Bogan has jumped on the striped bass bandwagon and will be sailing Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 a.m. Captain Francis Bogan on the Paramount reported getting out several times this past week with fishing steady if not spectacular. Customers are catching cod, ling and blackfish. Frank Abriola, Willingboro took a recent pool with a 15-pound cod. Greg Bogan at Brielle Bait and Tackle said trout fishing is off to a great start with lots of big trout coming in from both Spring Lake and the Manasquan River. Lures seem to be catching the bigger ones, as opposed to bait. Mike and Steve Tkacs combined for two giant rainbows at Spring Lake. Mike’s hit the scale at 10 3/4 pounds and Steve’s trout weighed 9 pounds even. Both hit rooster tails. Mike Paras of Lakewood fished the upper Manasquan River and nailed a beautiful 2-pound, 2-oz. rainbow trout on a Panther Martin.

Ronny Bala at Fisherman’s Supply said reports are starting to come in of stripers being caught off the beaches from boaters. The fish are being found from Belmar north on schools of bunker. The fish are in the 15- to 20-pound range with soft plastic shad bodies 8 to 9 inches, Tsunami’s or Storm Shads doing the job. Winter flounder are now being caught in the Manasquan River while in the Point Canal anglers are picking a few bass and blackfish. Captain Willy Egerter of the Dauntless reports bottom fishing has been a little slow and the water temperatures not quite warm enough. Anglers are scooping up ling, cod and a few blackfish. They’ve been fishing up north and have also been running into stripers off Sandy Hook. Capt. Willy added that he’s also been spotting bunker and herring about a mile and half off the beach near the Manasquan Inlet. Captain Bill Burdge of the Barvic reported finding winter flounder in the Manasquan River as the fish continue to make their seasonal push for the ocean. Capt. Burdge said they are chartered this weekend and will not be available for open boat fishing. Captain Ron Pry of the Miss Norma K reports fishing the Manasquan River channels and the path by Fishermen’s Cove for winter flounder. Capt. Pry said the fishing has been okay with an equal mix of keeper size and shorts. Their biggest fish have been 18 inches. Tony Leola of Point Pleasant, Julie Okun of Manalapan and Ben Gibbs of Clinton won pools this week. Jeff at Murphy’s Hook House said the blue claw crabs are crawling in the Toms River, as a result the winter flounder fishing is pretty much done in that area. The crabs are also being caught around Pelican Island by anglers fishing. During the early evening hours, just after dinner, anglers are setting up on the Island Heights docks and catching perch on bloodworms and a bobber. Under the Route 37 Bridge, Rapala X-Rap lures accounted for a couple bass landings.

The Palomar Knot has been for many years the knot of choice fo anglers who wants strength and ease in tyiung a monofilamamnet leader or line to hooks, lures and swivel. Today the Palomar fits the bill for braidned line in many cases where astorng simple knot is needed.