Tom P.

The Coastal Zone (east of the Garden State Parkway) duck season closes January 31st at sunset (5:16 p.m.), which means that there are a mere eight days remaining to hit the bay marshes, sedge islands, tidal creeks, ditches, and salt ponds.

They always seem to know when the tough times are arriving. The birds know, that is.

This weekend’s forecast of 50 to 60-plus degree temperatures will surely fuel the hot perch bite that was momentarily stalled by Thursday’s cold front.

After a break for the muzzleloader and six day firearm deer seasons, the Division of Fish & Wildlife will once again be releasing ringneck pheasants and bobwhite quail on select wildlife management areas (WMA).

With the black sea bass season-closing 11:59 pm New Year’s Eve, and with the torrid bite occurring as you read this, well, if you want to fill the freezer with luscious fillets that will also include pie plate and hubcap-size porgies, these next 19 days are when to do it.

The traditional six-day firearms deer season starts Monday, December 9 and runs through Saturday, December 14.

Well, the “Big Tog” crab crunch is underway, kicking into gear the middle of last week.

The general consensus is that there’s two, maybe three weeks remaining for the opportunities to catch ‘n ice keepers, along with the occasional fat cow mama.

With the inevitable arrival of colder water, the bigger blackfish are moving in from the wrecks and structures in deeper water.

Ringneck pheasants and bobwhite quail (on two wildlife management areas only) will become legal quarry Saturday, and the “bird” season is eagerly anticipated by the 12,000-plus uplanders who have shelled $40 for the mandatory Pheasant & Quail Stamp.

Whitetail deer mating season (aka “rut”) is 95% on, and, to put it mildly, the bucks will be love loco for the next two, maybe three weeks.

It’s a striped bass explosion along the northern and central stretches of the Garden State coast, and these are nuclear detonations for sure, going by the sizes of the linesiders.