Well, due to the weather, we probably just experienced our slowest period of fishing activity since last March. But, as in other tough times, we had anglers who got out and succeeded. A large tuna, more backwater stripers and a couple of young anglers provided us with some exciting catches. A local meeting on summer flounder occurred, and I’ll give you a report on that. And remember that by the time this column hits the streets, the sea bass season will have reopened and gives us another avenue to cover. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate and allow our local boats and bait shops to load up on patrons and fish, and get a nice injection of needed revenue. Let’s proceed.
Captain Chuck and the Sea Star III sends in word that bluefish and weakfish can be caught at the Point. He should know, as he and his fares were on them over the weekend. Weakfish took the pools of Saturday and Sunday with Matt Tiedeman and his 1.5 pounder, and Frank Servocky and his 1.25 pounder, proving to be the money fish.
On the coming Friday and Saturday, the Sea Star III will set up shop at the Point again, but when Sunday arrives, Captain Chuck’s attention will turn to sea bass. That will be the opening day of the next segment of sea bass season. Get down to the dock, get your place at the rail and be ready to go after your limit.
Cathy at Sterling Harbor Bait and Tackle touches base with word of a nice offshore catch that was brought to their scales. Ryan Worley, of Wildwood, was fishing a local canyon aboard Tim McGregor’s boat Reel Maniacs during a window of opportunity in our changing weather. They returned to port with a 151-pound bigeye tuna.
The back bays are controlled by snapper bluefish. Some smaller striped bass are also in the back and will take clam baits, top water plugs and rubber baits.
Throwing your line at the Point could get you a mixed bag of fish. Weakfish, kingfish and snapper bluefish are all in the area, and willing to take your offering.
The surf has “plenty” of bluefish, plus some stripers are swimming around there, as well as at the local rock piles. While at the rocks remember to try for a blackfish, as they are “plentiful” also. Just remember that it’s one fish, at 15 inches, through Nov. 15. From Nov. 16 till the end of the year, you can keep six fish per angler, per trip.
The Sailors Delight Back Bay Fishing pontoon boat was out on Sunday, Oct. 15. They had an “excellent mixed bag” of back water dwellers. Bluefish, sharks, weakfish and pufferfish were caught. Also caught and returned were flounder (“yes, still”) and keeper size sea bass. Give them another week and those sea bass will be cooler-worthy.
Captain Skip from Stalker Fishing Charters has been owning the back waters. He has had his charters fishing in the very early morning or the late afternoon light, and been putting them on the fish. They have had some keeper fish mixed in with their throwbacks. Basically, it’s like any fishing. You have to put in your time, cull through some small fish, but eventually you will be rewarded.
Congratulation to 7-year-old Adriana Bader. She got out fishing recently to fish the back water behind Stone Harbor with her father. She caught a nice bluefish that was one of 22 they caught and released. Good job, and keep on fishing.
The Strathmere Fishing and Environmental Club’s recent meeting covering local fishing issues focused primarily on the summer flounder dilemma. Other topics were on the agenda but were tabled due to the coverage of this hot topic.
The science and methods behind the collection of pertinent data was explained by panel member Jeff Brust, a New Jersey Fish and Wildlife Marine Fisheries Research Scientist. He explained that a major consideration of his department is to keep the harvest of flounder sustainable, while also maintaining a healthy resource. This is done by collecting data, analyzing that information, then implementing plans that allow for sustainability. With that in mind, the three best tools available are size limits, the length of the fishing season and the bag limit. These factors have gone into the regulations that we are now living with.
A major challenge to his conclusions came from other panel members. It concerned the fact that the allowable, larger fish are breeding females. In essence, anglers are trying to rebuild the population by removing the members that are providing the next generation. To relieve pressure on them, the option of a smaller slot-fish was proposed. The slot-fish, proposed at 15 to 18 inches, usually are males. The benefit of this is that more females survive because anglers can fill their bag limit with a male fish. Research also shows male fish usually die off soon after reaching the 17-inch range. Anglers and businesses both benefit because your chance to go home with dinner increases, and bait and fishing gear will also be needed. Finally, fish that are thrown back don’t always survive, so if they go home for dinner that is a better use of this resource.
Besides the possibility of a slot-fish, two other considerations surfaced. The first is a desire for New Jersey to be recognized as its own region and governed by a separate set of rules. Doing this would relieve it of being under the New York region. The unique features of our region with the ocean, the Delaware Bay and many backwater areas make that an option worth investigating.
The concluding point was that recreational anglers need to have their voices heard. They need to join an organization that supports their views and shares their opinions, or at the very least fill out any questionnaire or survey that provides data on what they are catching, or maybe not catching, due to the existing regulations.
The panel also included local fisherman Bill “Bucktail Willie” Shillingford, a member of the American Littoral Society, Adam Nowalsky of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, local charter Captain Dick Herb of the New Jersey Marine Fishery Council, Jason Galane, an associate of Frank LoBiondo, Senator Jeff Van Drew and Assemblyman Bruce Land.
Submit your fishing news and photos to mrobbins@cmcherald.com.
