As the days of February wane and March is on the horizon, many local striped bass anglers are looking forward to the start of striped bass season in inshore waters. New Jersey regulations will allow striped bass fishing again starting March 1 for the waters inside the inlets.

As a rule, there is not much of a bite in early March until warm days drive the water temperature up, but this past winter has been a mild one. There is no doubt some anglers will be out on March 1 wetting lines and hoping for decent weather.

2022 was a good year for striped bass fishing in the waters around Long Beach Island, especially when compared to the past couple of years. Boat fishing was exceptional at times, and the beach action was also quite productive. As with most years, the bass seemed to come in waves, but if you were able to fish the days when the fish were passing by, you had action.

The number of striped bass weighed in for the Long Beach Island Surf Fishing Classic demonstrated just how good of a year it was. Whereas the total number that came across the scales was 32 in 2021, last year’s total was 83 bass. And that amount came from a few less entrants than in the previous year.

With the current restrictions on striped bass fishing, including circle hooks and size and bag limits designed to increase the striper population, there is no reason to think that 2023 will be even better than 2022 was.

Before the fall arrives, however, there is the 21 st edition of the LBI Spring Derby coming up in early April. Like its fall relative, the Derby is a contest for shore-based anglers only. All registration fees are returned in cash prizes to the prize winners. Details for this event will be revealed soon with Long Beach Island bait and tackle shops having details and registration material when they become available.

As we await the arrival of the spring striped bass action, this might be a good time to look at some local history involving the striped bass fishery. A good place to look for this type of information is the archives of the Long Beach Island Surf Fishing Classic.

What we now know as the Classic was originally called the Striped Bass Derby when first started in 1955 by the Long Beach Island Board of Trade. The movers and shakers then were looking for a way to extend the tourist season on LBI. It was felt a fall fishing tournament would provide off-season business for area bait and tackle shops, restaurants, and even off season house rentals.

The original registration fee for the Derby was just $3 and enticed 2790 anglers to sign up.

In the second year of the contest in 1956, the event ran from October 20 to November 30, 1956, with 2800 contestants. There were two grand prizes. The first was a brand-new Dodge Sierra station wagon with a value of $3,800. The second grand prize was a 1956 Ford 4-door sedan valued at $2,200.

By 1958 the Derby saw an extension of dates and ran for 57 days beginning October 18 and ending December 13. Included in the total of $13,00 in prizes was the first grand prize of a Ford Skyliner with a retractable hardtop and a second-place prize of a Willy’s 4-wheel drive beach buggy. There were 2735 registered anglers who weighed in a total of 481 striped bass.

The year after that, 1959, saw a total of 1157 striped bass checked in.

When comparing those early numbers to our current ones, it is obvious there were more fish around in the 1950’s. But with the current upward trend, we hopefully are on the right track.