The first reported striper catch in The Fisherman’s inbox this season came at 5:08 a.m. Sunday morning, March 1, which is when Mario Teixeira emailed this photo of a Raritan River bass that took using a swim shad from his Hobie Outback.Anthony Goncalves caught this slot striper (28-3/4 inches) at Huddy Park on the Toms River on March 2 using a “bloodworm ball” while fishing from shore. Photo courtesy of Gabriel Tackle.On March 5, Joe Damiano (left) and Teddy Gill (right) scored the first two keeper bass (28 to 31 inches) of the Absecon Bay Sportsman Center tournament season along with $500 in shop gift certificates courtesy of Capt. Dave Showell.Rob Russell from Deerfield, NJ with the first actual keeper striper (29 inches) from Fortescue Beach for the season caught over the weekend of March 7-8 using bloodworm. Photo courtesy of Higbee’s Bait and Tackle.
