If you think this year’s fishing is off to a slow start. You are in for a surprise. There are keeper stripers, flounder and plenty of blues moving in.
Captain Ray has had the Tide Runner in the water for a couple of weeks but he had to wait until the water warmed enough to start catching on artificials.
This week he got the first stripers of the year on the fly. They were taken on spearing patterns fished on 300 grain sinking line and were caught along the inlet rocks on the incoming tide. One undersize and one keeper; both were released.
Captain Ray expects to find stronger activity in the back bay start up any day now.
While waiting for the saltwater action to heat up, Ray’s been hitting some of the local ponds and lakes in the County and catching large mouth bass, pickerel, crappies, and yellow perch on the fly. Black wooly bugger flies were the hottest on the trip, producing 10 fish.
Ray says he finds freshwater fishing more difficult than saltwater fishing. “Those trees like to eat flies! We don’t have those trees on the sod banks. The freshwater fish may be a lot smaller but with scaled down equipment they provide good action and are a lot of fun.”
Bill (bucktail willie) Shillingford fishing out of Whale Creek Marina had a bust out week, short bass continued to cooperate on a regular basis.
Fluke began to bite on a regular basis with a high day of 11 but of concern is the size of fluke being caught. April has always been the best month but this year the average size is down and ratio of fish over 18″ is 11-1, hopefully this will change. Willie also had bluefish showing up in good numbers.
The 2010 edition of Reef News is now available on the NJ DEP Division of Fish and Wildlife website http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/artreef.htm
Make Earth Day everyday. Being good to the environment doesn’t have to cost money. Here are five clean boating tips from BoatUS:
If you trailer your boat to different waterways each summer, leave the uninvited aquatic hitchhikers at home by ensuring it is cleaned thoroughly (including any tackle or watersports gear) and allow it to dry completely before splashing in a different lake or river.
Remove unnecessary gear or equipment from your boat to improve fuel economy. For boats kept in the water, keep the hull and running gear free of marine growth that can sap fuel efficiency.
Make a rule aboard your boat that nothing gets thrown overboard, including partially eaten food and cigarette butts. Be especially vigilant with plastic bags that can take flight underway and later kill marine life when ingested. Discard butts in special containers and recycle fishing line.
Learn about safe and clean refueling tips, such the use of absorbent pads and “donuts.” Learn how to not overfill your boat’s gas tank, at helpstopthedrops.com .
Wash your boat with “environmentally friendly” boat cleaners. View short videos at BoatUS.com/foundation/findings/47.
For a complete list of 21 Steps to Clean Boating, BoatUS.com/foundation/cleanwater.
Be sure to get your fishing report to me so I can include your info and photos.
Send your fish stories and photos to cmiller@cmcherald.com. All photos submitted appear online at SeeMyBigFish.com.
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