Welcome to the first of 26 digital weekly editions of The Fisherman for 2025. If you’re a new subscriber I welcome you aboard; if you’re already a “member” of our New Jersey, Delaware Bay edition family it’s good to see you here for another year. Of course, if you’re not a paid subscriber but still reading this week’s edition, enjoy the sneak peek before the window pops up asking if you’re Already a subscriber? Log in here. That’s where you’ll click through to enter your Email Address and Password for full, unimpeded access to TheFisherman.com.
The April print edition is on newsstands and in subscribers’ hands as of March 27th, with the May print edition out during the week of April 21nd. Each week in between and all the way through the end of November you’ll receive a digital weekly with Inshore and Surf columns, a Freshwater or Offshore piece, along with tips, weekly news and calendar items, the full lineup of fishing reports throughout the region, plus my weekly Editor’s Log (38 of them in total for the 2025 season).
The very first edition of the New Jersey, Delaware Bay edition of The Fisherman came off the press in the first week of June back in 1973; my family was just getting ready to celebrate my 6th birthday when this magazine was first launched, and here we are 52 years later and I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else than right here at my desk. We cover a lot of fishing news in The Fisherman, which is what I was taught to do back in 2002 by New Jersey edition founder and longtime associate publisher Pete Barrett; it’s what we do.
There were of course no social media accounts to contend with in those days, only a handful of online message boards with local newspapers like the Newark Star Ledger, Asbury Park Press, and Atlantic City Press all fully staffed and boasting weekly fishing sections. Today when I sit in fisheries meetings with notebook in hand, I’m often the only reporter, which is why I tend to focus much of my Editor’s Log content on fisheries management and the politics of fishing. Basically, there’s no one else left, and beginning to feel like the last of a dying breed.
Next week, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will convene in New Jersey from April 8-10 at the Seaview Dolce Hotel at 401 South New York Road in Galloway, NJ. On the docket for Wednesday, April 9th is a joint meeting with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) Policy Board to review public comments on the Recreational Measures Setting Process Framework for establishing season, size and bag limits in the recreational fishery. There’s also a review of “scoping” comments from the Recreational Sector Separation and Data Collection Amendment discussed during the winter (MAFMC.org).
I’ll be there to cover it, sharing the news with you here at TheFisherman.com; it’s the type of information you can expect to find here on a regular basis, along with the fishing reports and the gear reviews, the “hot spots” and “how to” articles throughout the year, in 12 printed monthly editions and 26 digital weeklies, for “members only” all season long.
Finally, I’m looking for a handful of offshore tips in particular to share with readers this season; if you have a few ideas, email me at jhutchinson@thefisherman.com. Heck, maybe you have a few other article ideas, perhaps a guest Editor’s Log rattling around in your head or a Tale End story to share. I’m always looking for new authors, young or old, grizzled vets, and even those still a little wet behind the ears. Pete gave this kid a shot 23 years ago, with strict instructions that I continue passing it along.
Dying breed or not, we must always look ahead to tomorrow.
