The Fishing Line: November Nights

FALLing temperatures and winds continue to challenge local anglers but the autumn promise of tog, sea bass and those beautiful stripers, keep folks trying their luck.
Bill (bucktail willie) Shillingford fishing out of Whale Creek Marina found striped bass everyday last week, 4-8 bass each day but nothing legal. Several approaching legal size but not quite there at 27.75 inches. Willie says the most consistent bait was a trolled bucktail with a chartreuse twister tail but a few were caught on eels. These fish are bright silver indicating they are moving in from ocean but they don’t seem to be staying and are moving on quickly.
Tog fishing is excellent around the jetties, according to folks at Sterling Harbor Marina. Even though the beachfront was quiet, there are plenty of schoolie size stripers in the back bays hitting on bait and top water plugs. As if this writing, the main body of striped bass are still north of us, but this cooler weather should bring them in any day now. Interested in a kyak? Stop by Sterling Harbor for some great deals on leftover and demo kayaks by Wilderness Systems, Hobie, and Ocean Kayak. The marina store will close Thanksgiving weekend.
NEWS: The NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife tells us that Rutgers University is working with the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO) to engage stakeholders to collect information about recreational uses of the Atlantic Ocean and the bays to develop data about recreational uses that can inform planning activities in the Mid-Atlantic Region. As part of that effort, there will be a series of one-day workshops to capture spatial information about how New Jersey’s waters are being used for recreation.
The public is invited to participate in one of the following local workshops: Nov. 14 or15, Atlantic Cape Community College, Mays Landing. Letter of Invitation at:drive. google.com/file/d/1ONSmOGb1Xp3VhOYrhcTO3IxXiSDZfo8pI_-SKYSzS-4aLb9t4UkhBzVy1rzV/edit?usp=sharing The workshop flyer can be viewed at: drive.google.com/file/d/0B2a93eu6HiTxM0Rfb25TUXFuYzg/edit?usp=sharing For more information on MARCO visit their website at http://midatlanticocean.org/ .
Less than a year into the implementation of the first ever catch limits imposed on the Atlantic menhaden fishery, the state of New York has placed the entire regulatory effort in flux by deciding in September to not enforce its proportional 200,000-pound share of the Eastern seaboard-wide landing limit on the fish. Visit www.savingseafood.org (WASHINGTON, Saving Seafood by Christian Bourge, Oct. 24, 2013.
Jersey Shore Beach-n-Boat Tournament, statewide, multi-fish tourney ends Nov. 30. Check out www.beachnboat.com
The Fishing Line runs year round (short hiatus in January) so keep sending your reports and pictures to cmiller@cmcherald.com. Column and pictures are posted online at www.capemaycountyherald.com and on Facebook. Keep them coming.