Fishing in the ocean recently has been hit and miss right now. It seems like the schoolie stripers can be there one second and gone the next with the majority of the fish being shorts. Sand eels are the most prevalent bait available, so if you are looking to fish with a fly rod, I would suggest any sand eel pattern. If you are using spinning gear from the surf AVA jigs are producing the best some days with tails, and other days without.

The fishing on the rivers has been tough between snow melt and rain over the past few weeks. With the cold weather having changed the water temperatures until the spring, look for fish holding in deeper pools and keep the drift slow for the fish with the preferred flies being midges and even an occasional slow steamer may work. On the warmer days, a midge hatch is possible as well which can be a great time to fish a dry fly or emerger pattern. It is a small fly, but can rival a good trico hatch.

Best regards,

Bill Hoffman

Skyland Angler
skylandangler@yahoo.com
908-310-3422
http://skylandsangler.com/