Rack N Fin Radio

It was around the second month in October that reports started filtering in about the booms, blasts, and blitzes occurring around the seemingly infinite schools of bunkers slowly moving down the coast.

So here it is for October 1-31: a 10-fish limit with a minimum possession length of 12.5 inches. There’s a bump to 15 sea bass from November 1 through New Year's Eve.

This is our prime time to wet wade the NJ rivers that harbor that tawny, vertical barred, scarlet-eyed ultra-light tackle terror: the smallmouth bass.

The diamondback terrapin was once abundant along the Garden State tidal salt marshes and estuaries until its delectable flesh, and fancy as a pet, led to unregulated capture, and nearly proved its demise.

The April portion of the split seasons concludes Sunday, April 30, and while the first week was spotty, as expected, the second week showed rapid improvement to the point where four fish limits were being dropped in coolers and buckets with smile-wide regularity.

One of the largest saltwater fishing tackle shows along the east coast is going full throttle at the New Jersey Convention and Expo Center in Edison this weekend.

The touchy weather hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm for the early season back bay and tidal river striper pursuit.

It’s all systems go for the 2023 season when it comes to summer flounder (fluke), sea bass, and porgies (scup) as per the dates, lengths, and bag limits decided on by the NJ Marine Fisheries Council last Thursday after reviewing four options and listening to public input.

A half-hour after sunset Saturday (6:15 PM), the curtain drops on the 2022-23 small game season.

The tog (blackfish) season draws to a close at 11:59 pm Tuesday, February 28.