A look back at a November to remember, as Finn Scruggs scored his first ever striper during the 2023 run. It’s time Finn, let’s see another one!Staten Island Fishing Club member Joe Flip celebrated the New Year in style with a 29-inch tautog taken during a winter solo mission. Joe tried to release it, but she wouldn’t go back, ultimately weighing in at 15 pounds at Fishermen’s Supply.While they may have arrived late, the striped bass did make it to Fenwick Shoals by December of ’23, which is where and when Ed Barry found this one on the troll. Photo courtesy of Dennis Lahiff.Andrew Moore caught this monster striper off Island Beach State Park in the late fall while fishing on his buddy’s boat, Poppy. “After some quick pictures, I released it happy and healthy to fight again another day,” Andrew said.How good was the ’24 run? We’re clearing out the photo archives, like this one by Jake Dejulia jigged aboard the Sea Owl in late November. The good news is those fall fish have returned for the spring!Sean Layton reported double-header sea bass to 6 pounds aboard the Big Jamaica back in December, and finally New Jersey boats are back in black sea bass again as of May 17.Ready for bluefin? You can sure bet that Al Rotunno is; he’s shown here with the jumbo he took back in December while trolling ballyhoo on heads off Barnegat Inlet with Joe Barchitta off Barnegat in the fog.Landon Shank got himself a new rod and reel at Christmas, along with a new boat, which he put to use in the Allegheny River near Ford City, PA soon after. We’ll be on the lookout for Landon again during the 2024 season.Mark Malfa caught and released this 44-inch striper in the Southern Ocean County surf last November on a 6-inch Zinger bait swim shad with his trusty ODM NEX1 and Shimano Saragosa 6000.We bumped into Eryk Lewandowski at the Philly Fishing Show in February, where he shared with us this photo of the 36-inch striper he caught during a November nor’easter in the Seaside suds.Helder Rodriquez gets the camera nice and tight (avoiding any telltale backgrounds) to show off the striper he caught on a diamond jig A17 with yellow tail, from whereabouts unknown.Christian Mele got into the fall mayhem off Island Beach. So whadya think Christian, those stripers out along the Park stretch again right about now?Trout season is up and running again in the region, which is good news for Frankie Donnelly of Medford Lakes, who caught this 3.6-pound palomino trout out at Pennypack Park in Philly.Bob McDonald was fishing with John Chmielewski aboard John’s boat Fifty/Fifty last fall, each taking a bass home for dinner (Bob holds the fish while John snapped the photo).James Hickey was going through his ’24 catch photos, and sent us this shot of his wife Rosemarie after a solid day of catching, tagging and releasing striped bass with Capt. Joe on the Little Hawk out of the Atlantic Highlands.Long time subscriber Jeff Ward caught this 44.25-pound wahoo while trolling a Nomad DTX deep diver off Islamorada, FL during a January getaway, fishing with his brother in law John Byberg.Jameson Stokes from Hamilton, NJ is out and about this season in search of his second striped bass, having caught and released his first back in late fall, an impressive 42-incher.Joe Rodd (aka Joe The Plumber) was plugging the beaches of Cabo along the Pacific back in February and ended up with this rather large needlefish (a little smaller than the ones we see around the docks in the summer at the Jersey Shore!)Woodbridge’s Vinnie Darpino was in Aruba back in February, scoring this 40-plus-inch wahoo estimated at around 30 pounds caught on a handline aboard Lucky Star Charters. You know what they say, “when in Rome” (or Aruba!)While so many folks run hard through the inlets in search of stripers, Armando Chavez reminds us that folks in smaller boats don’t have to travel any farther from Manasquan River to find a few good fish.Giovanna Gallo (age 9) was the first young lady on the board at Spring Lake, also earning a boogie board for an impressive 4-pound, 4-ounce rainbow.Tara Babcock (age 4) was the essence of cool weighing in a beautiful brook trout that she scored at Spring Lake.It wouldn’t be possible without the parents, as 4-1/2-year-old Ava Manetta gets from here “fish caddy” mom in weighing in this 2-pound, 9-ounce rainbow.
