Scott's Daily Fishing Reports July 2006
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Great Bay and the Southern end of Tuckerton Bay as well as the Little Egg Inlet continue to produce a fair catch of fluke. I wouldn't say take days off of work great fishing, but anglers that are putting in their time are at least throwing a few nice flatties in the cooler at the end of the day. Fluke on the reef site action is still a so-so.
It's hot. If you thinking fishing, get out early and pack a lot of water or gatoraid type beverages. Hat and sunglasses and sun tan lotion are surely a nice addition to the boat too. The temperature is supposed to break one hundred here tomorrow. The flies are at their peak. I think the heat makes them more agressive; be prepared. When it is really hot like this week, I swear the flies use the momentum of flying in on you to jab those fangs in before their feet land.
Sea Ya
E-mail Report:
7/30/06
Boat Name: the T and A
Type: Saltwater
Species Sought: fluke
Location: LEI
Time of Day: Afternoon
Tide: High
Weather: Partly Sunny/Partly Cloudy
Wind: less than 10 kts. W-SW
Seas: 2-4 ft.
Primary Bait: Minnows/Killies/Shiners
Secondary Bait: Squid
Report: "fished lei right after top of the tide
and hit keepers for about an hour before
the flies,sharks and storms chased us in,but we
did have a couple in the box to 20".
Tom
Chumlord"
Submitted by: Tom Williams
E-mail: chumlord@comcast.net
E-mail Report:
7/30/06
Boat Name: Wreckless
Type: Saltwater
Species Sought: Bonita
Location: Lobster Hole
Time of Day: Morning After Sunrise
Tide: Low
Weather: Sunny
Wind: less than 10 kts.
Seas: 2-4 ft.
Artificials: Spoon
Report: "Went out to lobster hole for a little light trolling early on Sunday. Passed a lot of bait pods and tried under them. Just medium size blues. Got to the Lobster hole and immediately caught a bonito. Put 5 more in the box before the bite turned off. Caught them all on clark spoons. Fish were spitting up whole squids. Decided to head home because of the ankle biting flies. Worst I ever encountered. Couldn't get them off the boat, stayed with me to the dock and still kept biting every time I came out of the house. I drove back to Cherry Hill and was surprised they didn't follow me."
Submitted by: Michael Savage
E-mail: michael1savage@yahoo.com
E-mail Report:
7/30/06
Boat Name: Reelaxation
Type: Saltwater
Species Sought: Fluke, Weakfish
Location: LE Reef
Time of Day: Morning After Sunrise
Tide: High
Weather: Sunny
Wind: less than 10 kts. W
Seas: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Squid
Secondary Bait: Spearing
Report: "This is more of a warning to boaters than a fishing report.
On my way in from fishing I nearly ran into a person swimming in the boat channel in the Middle Grounds. I want to warn everyone to watch out for these idiots.
He was swimming in between the two channels markers with no boat in sight. Only when I seen his head and stopped my boat did I realize he was racing his buddy from his boat (about 15' outside the green buoy) to his buddy's boat (anchored about 15' from the red nun).
I noticed a lot of swimming activity from that point in. Those two men were the only two I saw in the channel. Please watch out.
The fishing at the reef was slow but I took 5 flatties and some blues home. The blues are everywhere. 1-2 pound size. The "Deadly Dick" lure works great for them."
Submitted by: Chris
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Sea Ya
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A lot of catching activity in the bays, but it was tough putting a keeper in the fish box for most anglers. Fluke is still the best target fish, since the weakfishing is weak at best and the little fish like porgies, kingfish and blowfish really hasn't started up.
Sea Ya
JCAA - Tom Fote - 7/28/07
Summer Flounder Action Alert:
I do not know if you have been reading the newspapers in the last week or so and you are up to date on what is happening on summer flounder. The National Marine Fisheries Service is proposing a 5.2 million pound quota for 2007. This would destroy the recreational and commercial fishery for summer flounder. I have made many phone calls to our Federal Legislators and people at NJ DEP on this issue. I also testified before a Congressional Committee Hearing on the proposed opening of the EEZ on July 27 and included comments in that testimony about summer flounder. I have included my Congressional Oral Testimony and a couple of newspaper articles below that explain the the summer flounder situation. If you want my written testimony, which is much longer, or the newspaper articles in MS Word files, let me know and I will send them to you.
There will be joint meeting of Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Mid-Atlantic Marine Fisheries Council to set the summer flounder quota on Wednesday, August 2 in Philadelphia at Sheraton Society Hill Hotel, One Dock Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Summer Flounder Meeting will start at 8:00am and after that the Council and Commission will do black sea bass and bluefish. This meeting is open to the public and you can make comments if you want. If you care and can make it, I hope to see you there. The meeting on August 2 will not result in the final decision on summer flounder. NMFS will still have the opportunity to refuse the recommendations and set the quota independently. You can begin writing letters now to Governor Corzine and Council and ASMFC members now asking for support for a higher quota. There are links to MAFMC and ASMFC at the JCAA web page (http://jcaa.org/) to find their addresses. If you cannot find them email and I will send them to you. JCAA is recommending status quo at 23.6 million pounds. After the hearing I will be in touch via email with additional information and JCAA's plan of action. We will be coordinating with recreational and commercial groups up and down the coast. If you have any questions give me a call at 732-270-9102.
Sincerely,
Tom Fote
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Sea Ya
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Fluke activity continues in the bays, but hasn't really kicked back into gear on the ocean. Some of the better reports have come from deeper water from Tuckers Island back to Big Sheepshead Creek area. Other anglers have found the fluke in the area of the 126 marker, which is between the Coast Guard Station and the Fish Factory. It's not slaying fill the box activity, but it is LOTS better then the past couple of weeks.
Sea Ya
E-mail Report:
7/25/06
Boat Name: My Mistress
Type: Saltwater
Species Sought: Fluke
Location: Great Bay
Time of Day: Evening
Tide: High
Weather: Partly Sunny/Partly Cloudy
Wind: 10-20 kts. S
Seas: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait:
Secondary Bait:
Artificials: Plastic/Softbait
Report: "After being away for a week, and coming back to lousy weather, finally got My Mistress out on the water for some relaxing evening drifts for Fluke. Jigged my favorite Fin S between the 131 and the Shoal Marker on the incoming tide from about 6:15 pm to 8:30 pm. Picked up two 15 inch Fluke(released), and a fat 18-19 inch Fluke(dinner). Missed several that hit short, and also had two small Sea Robins. Made one drift for Weakfish through the mouth of River on the way in, but no activity or marks on the depth finder. Called it a night at 9:00 pm. Very nice evening on the water."
Submitted by: Ted Koenig
E-mail: tkoenig16@comcast.net
E-mail Report:
7/25/06
Boat Name: counterfitter
Type: Saltwater
Species Sought: blue fish, bonito
Location: barnegat ridges
Time of Day: Morning After Sunrise
Tide:
Weather: Partly Sunny/Partly Cloudy
Wind: less than 10 kts. S-SW
Seas: 2-4 ft.
Primary Bait:
Secondary Bait: Chum, Mackerel
Artificials:
Report: "Quick report from the ridge......
Trolled early am with cedar plug, green machine, two deep diving Yozuri's....slow action except 2 bonito and 2 blues; Scott was correct in his thinking, the schools of blues may have broken up due to previous lightning storms; also chummed/chunked for only 1 big hit and miss!
Lastly......cant thank Scott enough for the service he provides; knowing I would barely make it down in time, my bait ready and waiting! Even if he was closed by the time I
THANK YOU SCOTT"
Submitted by: John
E-mail: usgranite@aol.com
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Just dropping in a couple of fishing reports...
Sea Ya
E-mail Report:
7/24/06
Boat Name: Fortuna
Type: Saltwater
Species Sought: Bluefish
Location: Brigantine Shoals
Time of Day: Morning After Sunrise
Weather: Sunny
Wind: less than 10 kts.
Seas: 2-4 ft.
Artificials: Plug, Surface
Report: "Began the morning by trolling from LE Inlet south to the Brignatine Shoals. Action began almost immediately and never stopped all morning. Weather was perfect with bright sunshine and a light breeze. Ocean nearly flat at times with gentle swells. Could see huge schools of baitfish everywhere with snapppers jumping completely out of the water. Had our best luck slowly trolling in between schools of baitfish. Nearly limited out with 43 bluefish boated in less than 4 hours. In short, a picture perfect day for everyone."
Submitted by: Jim Seffrin
E-mail Report:
6/24/06
Boat Name: Carolyn Ann III
Type: Saltwater
Species Sought: fluke
Location: off state island park
Time of Day: Afternoon
Weather: Sunny
Wind:
Seas: 2-4 ft.
Primary Bait: Minnows/Killies/Shiners
Secondary Bait: Squid
Report: "Me and my dad had a good day. We finished with 4 keepers in the cooler, 2 were over 4 pounds. The pink bucktail was the trick. I started with green and the mate (Jeff Lawresen) suggested I make the switch. We also boated 10 trowbacks."
Submitted by: mark wonderlin
E-mail: mwonderlin@verizon.net
E-mail Report:
7/24/06
Boat Name: Reel Lucky
Type: Saltwater
Species Sought: Fluke
Location: Channel behind the Fish Factory
Time of Day: Afternoon
Tide: Low
Weather: Sunny
Wind: less than 10 kts.
Seas: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Minnows/Killies/Shiners
Secondary Bait: Spearing
Report: "It appeared that everyone was staying in the deeper part of the channel in back of the fish factory, so the wife and I started close to the far island in 8' of water. The drift track took us slowly onto the drop in the channel and bang! Right on the 18' to 22' drop a double hook up on the first drift! Debbie nails a 18.5" fluke and mine just missed 16.5. Second drift, same spot, a 17.5"er and a short. Third drift, a 18"er and a BIG searobin. OK, we're done. They hit spearing and killies all the same. After the other folks started working our drift line, we took off to enjoy the quiet bay for a while before heading home to filet and take our beagle for a nice long walk. Ahhh...a great summer day."
Submitted by: Andy Hladek
E-mail: andrewhladek@aol.com
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(6:46am)Ed's report for now. Used to be follow the Oyster Crickers, now it's follow the Rands and Capt. Mikes boats. If it works...
Sea Ya
E-mail Report:
7/23/06
Boat Name: C Hawk
Type: Saltwater
Species Sought: Fluke
Location: Fish Factory
Time of Day: Morning After Sunrise
Tide: Low
Weather: Cloudy/Light Rain
Wind: less than 10 kts. S-SE
Seas: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Minnows/Killies/Shiners
Secondary Bait: Squid
Report: "Hello Scott,
Today we started at the fish factory at around 9:00am. There were not many boats but the action was good. We caught two throwbacks on the first short drift and behind us a rental boat caught a nice four plus ponder. How do I know? They came over and gave it to us. (life is looking pretty good). After a few hours of short drifts we had a few more throwbacks and one keeper. The odd thing was it rained lightly the whole time yet not hard enough to get wet. So now we get the itch for the LE reef. Bad move, big waves, not prudent. So we drift the inlet at a 2.3 knot drift. All skates. Back to the fish factory at 2:00pm. The rental boat is still there but no more freebies. I personally consider a day when people drive up and give you a big fish a good day. The other people on our boat were pretty happy also. I'm thinking forget the bait & tackle and follow the rentals???
Thanks Scott's bait and tackle.
Ed"
Submitted by: Edward Bash
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Sea Ya
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Quite a few folks attempted to fish today. The best part of the day was early morning just before the steady line of thundershowers came through. I surely wouldn't have wanted to be out there at that time though.
Wind and rain had the catching as close to a minimum as it can get. Hence, there isn't much to report this evening.
Sea Ya
E-mail Report:
7/22/06
Boat Name: SeaHunt
Type: Saltwater
Species Sought: Blue Fish
Location: Great bay, from the fish factory to Oyster Creek
Time of Day: Afternoon
Tide: Low
Weather: Partly Sunny/Partly Cloudy
Wind: 10-20 kts.
Seas: less than 2 ft.
Report: "ya I just wanted to let everyone know that we have been nailing by the 10s in Great Bay. You just have to run from the fish factory to "oyster creek". They have been hitting on the rebels everytime. They are only about 6-8 inches but still are good to eat. If you have any question give me a call (856) 889-2586. or email me."
Submitted by: Ryan Hrapczynski
E-mail: RyanHrap@boston-redsox.net
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There are a lot of little bluefish and weakfish in the bay. Small fish, not much worthy of keeping, but real fun to catch on light tackle. Anchor up near the ball over in the clam stakes and chum with bunker and clam chum to draw up lots of action. Usually, anglers pull kingfish and blowfish out of this area, but hopefully that activity will kick into gear by the end of the month.
Sea Ya
E-mail Report:
7/15/06
Boat Name: Lady Stelar II
Type: Saltwater
Species Sought: Fluke
Location: Great Bay/ICW
Time of Day: Morning After Sunrise
Tide: High
Weather: Partly Sunny/Partly Cloudy
Wind: less than 10 kts. S-SE
Seas: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Squid
Secondary Bait: Minnows/Killies/Shiners
Artificials: Gulp Bait
Report: "Sorry I didn't send this report earlier, but it has been a busy week. Took my 5 year old son on his grandfather's boat since the girls (wife and daughter) were out of town. We caught a few throwbacks by the Danger bouy but then moved down the ICW. My son, Matt, didn't like his rig, so he insisted on switching over to a rusty old red and white bucktail and put on a 4" red Gulp minnow he got at the boat show this past winter. After a few more throwbacks, his pole was bent in half once again (he was high hook to this point, beating out his old man and his Pop Pop - who have 95 years of fishing experience between them, but I digress)and was having a very hard time reeling in this fish, I took the pole from him for a moment and lifted it up. Dead weight-like there was an old boot at the end of his line. "Sorry, kid," I told him. "I think you got a big skate." I handed him back the pole and let him crank for a while as I readied the knife to cut the ugly thing loose. Only problem was, when it got to the surface, it was a massive fluke! His grandfather was smart enough to keep the net close by and when he got this beauty into the boat it measured 26 and 1/2 inches and weighted 7.4 lbs!!! I have been fighing 35 years and the biggest fluke I ever caught was 5.6 lbs. We registered the fish in the AC Press kid's contest and took lots of pictures. By the way, he loved telling everybody back at the dock that the 20" 4 lb. fluke was the "little one" he caught that day!"
Submitted by: Chris P.
E-mail Report:
7/20/06
Boat Name:
Type: Saltwater
Species Sought: fluke
Location: great bay
Time of Day: Afternoon
Tide: High
Weather: Partly Sunny/Partly Cloudy
Wind: 10-20 kts. S
Seas: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Mackerel
Secondary Bait: Minnows/Killies/Shiners
Report: "Fished great bay with my two sons Hunter (age 12)and Gunner(age 14). We caught a number of throw backs and hunter caught one 4.6lb fluke and a 6.1 pounder. The big ones are still in the bay. Lots of wind and a very fast drift."
Submitted by: frank elbertson
E-mail: ataboy7129@aol.com
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I did worry a little bit watching Tropical Storm Beryl point at the New Jersey Coast earlier in the day, then it finally made a nice track up and off a bit. Some big sea effect over the next day or two, but other then that, just normal showers in the forcast for the next week!
Sea Ya
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Evening report..really don't have much to add. One large fluke 5.8 pounds 24 1/2" and another keeper caught in deep water out in front of the Coast Guard Station late in the day by Jerry Keer is the best report of the afternoon.
Sea Ya
E-mail Report:
7/17/06
Boat Name: Bet Sea
Type: Saltwater
Species Sought: Fluke
Location: LE Harbor by the LBI red tower
Time of Day: Morning After Sunrise
Tide: Low
Weather: Sunny
Wind: less than 10 kts.
Primary Bait: Minnows/Killies/Shiners
Secondary Bait: Squid
Artificials: Gulp Bait
Report: "Well Scott, I had to submit a report about the day we had yesterday after I read the gloomy report posted about the fish not biting. We had a great day with more than 30 fluke caught and seven keepers. It seemed that the trick to catching (yesterday!) was the bait and rig. Squid and minnies have been our choice, but not very interesting to the fluke. We switched early to GULP shrimp on a SPRO and jigged up a ton of fish! Not one junk fish was caught in nearly six hours of fishing. We also had a King fish! What a fun day of catching. Can't wait to see if the same effort produces again."
Submitted by: Betsy Clifford
E-mail: betsy1561@msn.com
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Sea Ya
E-mail Report:
7/15/06
Boat Name: Wreckless
Type: Saltwater
Species Sought: Tuna
Location: Wilmington Canyon
Time of Day: Early Morning Dark
Tide: Low
Weather: Fog
Wind: less than 10 kts.
Seas: 2-4 ft.
Artificials: Trolling/BigGame
Report: "Saturday trip to the Wilmington, took a long time to get out with the fog. We didn't come out of it until we were 8 miles off where the water temp went up 8 degrees. Started trolling at the 30 fathom line and picked up our first white marlin, saw some bluefin right afterward but no knockdowns. Trolled out to the Wilmington where we finally got covered up and managed three yellowfins about 35 lbs. and another white marlin in the same place. No other touches. There was talk of a morning bite and a some action on the 50 line between the Wilmington and Spencer. Lot of boats did have much to report but it seemed most of those that had fish caught them all at once. Saw a few big sharks in the area too."
Submitted by: Michael Savage
E-mail: michael1savage@yahoo.com
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Good news is that maybe with the wind pattern changing off of South, the catching will improve. But, now it is so darn hot anglers are hiding in their homes huddled in front of the A/C.
Sea Ya
E-mail Report:
7/11/06
Boat Name: Angela Rose Charters
Type: Saltwater
Species Sought: Fluke
Location: Manasquan River Inlet
Time of Day: Evening
Tide: High
Weather: Sunny
Wind: less than 10 kts. S
Seas: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Squid
Secondary Bait: Spearing
Report: "July 11
Captain Wayne and Captain Anthony from Angela Rose Charters Point Pleasant took the Mark Caruso family and friends out on a happy hour fishing trip.
We fished everywhere from the railroad bridge east to the inlet and only managed to put 1 short in the boat. Around 7:30 we decided to run outside the inlet and cruise up to the firing range. On our first drift in depths of 20-30 feet we had fish coming over the rail left and right. It remained this way until 9 PM when we wrapped it up.
Stated below is an email from Mr. Caruso about the trip.
Testimony:
My two children, my best buddy and his daughter and I sailed on the Angela Rose last night for fun evening of fishing and sunset out on the water. We all had a great time with captains Wayne and Anthony.
They saw too it that everyone caught fish, learned a few things and a good time was had by all. There was plenty of room for everyone and we had a private boat and personalized attention for about the same price as admission for an overcrowded party boat. You can't beat it! I'll be back soon.
Captain Wayne
Angela Rose Charters
See us at: www.AngelaRoseCharters.com"
Submitted by: Angela Rose Charters
E-mail Report:
7/15/06
Boat Name: Angela Rose Charters
Type: Saltwater
Species Sought: Fluke
Location: Manasquan Inlet South
Time of Day: Morning After Sunrise
Tide: Low
Weather: Sunny
Seas: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Squid
Secondary Bait: Spearing
Report: "July 15
Captain Wayne from Angela Rose Charters went out searching for fluke Saturday morning from 8 - 12 am with Larry McRae his wife and 2 daughters 5yr old Rory and 6yr old Lauren.
5yr old Rory took the first fluke that morning off Bayhead in 30 ft of water and 6 yr. old Lauren followed shortly after with another. The McRae family decided to have there own contest and teamed up father and daughter and mother and daughter. Trying a few drifts if that area from 20 - 40 ft. it did not produce as many fish as we liked so we headed out to the Delaware an fished 60 - 70 ft depths and landed a few more. Recommending that we go back to the Manasquan Inlet and drift the river Larry agreed and there we finished out the morning and evened out the score with each team getting 10 fish apiece. The prize was an ICE CREAM SUNDAE so everybody won and upon returning to the dock the McRea family headed out to claim there prize. Captain Wayne hopes they enjoyed the Sundae's as much as he enjoyed having them spend their morning on the Angela Rose with him.
ALL of the fish were released to fight another day.
Captain Wayne
Angela Rose Charters
See us at: www.AngelaRoseCharters.coms text!"
Submitted by: Angela Rose Charters
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Sea Ya
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Sea Ya
E-mail Report:
7/14/06
Boat Name: Striper
Type: Saltwater
Species Sought: Fluke
Location: Great Bay inter coastal waterway near clam stakes
Time of Day: Morning After Sunrise
Tide: Low
Weather: Sunny
Wind: less than 10 kts.
Seas: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Minnows/Killies/Shiners
Secondary Bait: Squid
Artificials: Ice Jig
Report: "We had a very pleasant day and had 6 keepers ranging from 17 to 21 inches. Also, 7 throwbacks. It was an incoming tide all morning."
Submitted by: Russ Carvin
(Whoot, Some good news in incoming water too! Scott)
E-mail Report:
7/15/06
Boat Name: C Hawk
Type: Saltwater
Species Sought: Crabs
Location: Seventh Bridge
Time of Day: Morning After Sunrise
Tide: High
Weather: Partly Sunny/Partly Cloudy
Wind: less than 10 kts.
Seas: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Bunker, Fresh
Report: "Hello Scott,
The wife wanted crabs, so a little off from the seventh bridge, we got crabs. They seemed a little muddy but they looked real good on the table. I�m thinking crabs again for tomorrow. My buddy was in the stakes north of the fish factory next to the red ball. Nothing. We did see at the Chestnut Neck cleaning station a nice 6 to 7 pound flatty getting pictures then a filet. We also heard around 2:00pm on 68 about a 40 lb yellow fin. I�ll be back out tomorrow.
Ed"
Submitted by: Ed Bash
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Crazy cold water temperature of 53 degrees reported in the Little Egg Inlet this morning. Ocean catching is going to be tough. Although, I did have one report of an angler who found surface temperatures up to sixty six degrees and he did find some fluke. I really think he was quite a bit offshore before he found the warmer water.
Sea Ya
E-mail Report:
7/13/06
Boat Name: Luna Sea 3
Type: Saltwater
Species Sought: fluke, shark
Location: grassy channel
Time of Day: Afternoon
Tide:
Weather: Partly Sunny/Partly Cloudy
Wind: less than 10 kts.
Seas: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Bunker, Live Peanut
Secondary Bait: Minnows/Killies/Shiners
Artificials:
Report: "Another very nice day, no fluke sea bass. We managed a few very, very small sea bass, 3 large sand sharks, and a large porgie. Perfect drift, perfect weather, not so perfect catch. Netted live peanut bunker before the trip, used them, killies, squid. Water temp at grassy closer to the inlet was 64, and at the beginning the grassy (marker 139)the water temp was 72. The little bite that we did have was in the colder water. Got back and check 4 crab pots which produced about 60 decent size crabs. The crabbing is unbelievably great this year."
Submitted by: Nick
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Reef fishing has been a big disappointment too this week.
Sea Ya
E-mail Report:
7/13/06
Boat Name: Luna Sea 3
Type: Saltwater
Species Sought: fluke
Location: grassy channel
Time of Day: Morning After Sunrise
Tide: Low
Weather: Partly Sunny/Partly Cloudy
Wind: 10-20 kts. S
Seas: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Minnows/Killies/Shiners
Secondary Bait: Bunker, Live Peanut
Artificials:
Report: "Fished the grassy channel with no results, not even a bit. Water temp. was 54 at the inlet which also produced no action. Did hook and lost a brown shark though. Tried to go on the ocean side, but was a little choppy out there and a real cold breeze, so came back inside. Tough conditions for the fishing. Crabbing is great, 4 pots averaging 70 crabs a life at the mouth of the Mullica River."
Submitted by: Nick
E-mail: nickyd2210@aol.com
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Some small fish popping around the lagoon are little bunker and spearing. What's chasing them? How about eight in weakfish; that's the word.
Sea Ya
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Sea Ya
E-mail Report:
7/10/06
Type: Saltwater
Species Sought: Striper
Location: Beach front
Time of Day: Afternoon
Tide: Low
Weather: Partly Sunny/Partly Cloudy
Wind: 10-20 kts. S-SW
Seas: 2-4 ft.
Report: "Scott,
That excited guy was me today(Monday). Seems everytime I fish in the rough conditions it pays off. The bunker were very thick along some beaches and at times there were fish busting through the bait just about everywhere you looked. I managed 8 fish from 23lbs to 36lbs all on live bunker and had the ocean all to myself except for a Thresher shark earlier in the day. We didn't talk long."
Submitted by: Robert Maskos
E-mail: rnrmaskos@comcast.net
E-mail Report:
7/10/06
Boat Name: Reel Lucky
Type: Saltwater
Species Sought: Fluke, Seabass, Kingfish
Location: Great Bay
Time of Day: Morning After Sunrise
Weather: Sunny
Primary Bait: Minnows/Killies/Shiners
Secondary Bait: Clams, Frozen
Report: "Started off at the clam stakes, but the water was too muddy and rough to pick up hits. Moved to the otherside of the fish house and had steady 16"(urgh!) fluke as the drop went from 20' - 26'. Moved to 8' of water off the channel in the bay, chummed with clam logs, hoped for the first batch of king or blow fish - but got in the middle of tiny seabass and decent size porgies! Yep, ended up with a porgie dinner. It is good to see that fishing start up."
Submitted by: Andy
E-mail: andrewhladek@aol.com
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Sea Ya
E-mail Report:
7/8/06
Boat Name: Brittany's Trophy
Type: Saltwater
Species Sought: Brown Shark
Location: Grassy Channel
Time of Day: Night
Tide: High
Weather:
Wind: less than 10 kts. E-NE
Seas: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Chum, Mackerel
Secondary Bait:
Artificials:
Report: "Scott, after a day of trying for fluke for the Sunshine Tournament we went out to Grassy Channel to try some Brown Shark fishing. We went out on Tom Lutzi boat Triple X. We had about seven smaller sharks (one that was just over four feet). Then Tom Lutzi jr. hooked into this seven foot Brown. Photographs are on the way. What a great a fun night whole trip was less then four hours. Have a good one.
Submitted by: David Karch
E-mail: Truex8jr@yahoo.com
E-mail Report:
7/8/06
Boat Name:
Type: Saltwater
Species Sought: weakfish
Location: deep point
Time of Day: Morning After Sunrise
Tide: High
Weather: Sunny
Wind: less than 10 kts.
Primary Bait: Crabs, Shedder
Artificials: Plastic/Softbait
Report: "For 2 months been talking about entering the sunshine foundation tournament. A family bbq came up so we didnt enter. We still went fishing in the am and caught 17 weakfish 17 - 25 inches.Heaviest fish 4.5 lbs. could have won both the weakfish div.heaviest 2 fish and calcutta. oh well maybe next year."
Submitted by: dave rothmel
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Sunshine Tournament Results
Sea Ya
E-mail Report:
7/8/06
Boat Name: C Hawk
Type: Saltwater
Species Sought: Fluke
Location: GB, LEI
Time of Day: Morning After Sunrise
Tide: High
Weather: Sunny
Wind: less than 10 kts.
Seas: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Minnows/Killies/Shiners
Secondary Bait: Squid
Artificials:
Report: "Hello Scott,
Fished in the tournament today, what a showing by all. My guess is that a lot of the first timers (including myself) were a result of your web page. I think you missed a few details leading up to the tournament. First the captains meeting on Friday night is not just for captains, it�s for everyone involved, kids and all. Second you could have been a clearing house for the rule changes. The promo indicated staying inside the inlets behind LBI, and the reality was inside & outside LBI down to AC was OK. Last you gave no credit to yourself for your sponsorship (nice mugs). (/grin Tnx)
Now for my report, 5:30am I'm replacing the plugs on my port motor with no bug spray so the gnats and lack of wind had a field day on my person. After this exercise, out to the 130 something buoys. No wind, no drift, no fish. Next the inlet, drift, no fish. Next the LE reef, unlimited supply of throwbacks. The water was cold and we tricked ourselves into thinking that staying out there would be the ticket. From what we gathered at the weigh in was the bay that was the ticket. Then again everyone had a mug and a story. Of the 203 boats, I saw about 50 coolers unload on the scale. The closest crowd to the scale were the kids. We didn�t stay past five o�clock but by then the place was packed, the food was plentiful and all the prizes and auctions were just getting started. (Note to self, do not put wristband on wrist and cut off circulation to wrist, put band on belt hoop). This deal was a blast.
Ed"
Submitted by: Edward Bash
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Even though it was raining, the store was quite busy all day. Anglers were gearing up for the beautiful weekend that is in the forecast. One can only hope that the wind doesn't blow. Others were getting prepared for the Sunshine tourney this weekend. Some, just in to shop, because the rainy weather gave them the opportunity. Sun is out now, tomorrow is going to be a real nice day.
Sea Ya
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Sea Ya
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I didn't get to spend much time up front today and chat with the fishermen and listen to the radio. That leaves me empty to pass along little tid bits of fishing wisdom this evening.
Friday night, July 7, at 6:00pm is the Captains Meeting at Great Bay Marina for the 9th Annual Sunshine Foundation Fluke/Weakfish tournament. It's not big prise money, because the event is a fund raiser for the Sunshine Foundation children. The tournament is a lot of fun and very low pressure. The picnic on Saturday afternoon is HUGE and even more fun too, where you get to meet those voices that you hear on the radio all summer. Some folks enter the tourney now just so they can come to the picnic. The door prizes, silent auctions, and chinese auctions, have a TON of items to WIN that have been donated by many business and private individuals both near and far. I hope you are able to join the festivities this year. Follow the link above for further information.
Sea Ya
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One angler followed around the birds and small bluefish this morning, threw cast masters, waited for the bluefish to move off and caught weakfish behind the working blues. By six in the morning, it was over due to boating traffic. It's a good sign that there are weakfish in the bay; finding them is another issue.
Largest quantity of keeper fluke was nine today. Short drifting the slot over between the fish factory and the ball in the stakes toward the bottom of the tide. Plenty of shorts too, keep things busy.
An occasional angler found decent fishing on the reef sites. It surely was a minority from what I have been hearing today. Most folks landed one, maybe two keeper fluke for their efforts.
A kingfish was also caught in the steaks, but no reports of blowfish.
We are out of minnows. Fingers are crossed for an early delivery tomorrow morning. It was to hot to travel minnows over the road this afternoon.
We had a very busy weekend. With the challenges of fuel costs, mother nature not providing the best of weather this Spring, on behalf of all our local business, thank you for business and making this holiday weekend a good one.
Sea Ya
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Again, not a lot of fish for the coolers, but many folks had lone large fluke and quite a bit of throwbacks. Both held true both in the bays and on all the reefs.
A little trolling along the West bank of the Great Bay, in front of Oyster and Motts Creek and toward the mouth of the Mullica River, as well as down in Grassy Channel, anglers found the pound and a half blues now and then.
Just a reminder, Tuesday July fourth, hours are 5:00am 'till 3:00pm.
Sea Ya
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Some activity on the LE reef, but folks that fished it hard had shorties and a few keepers; nothing close to a box full or limit catches. Back in the Great Bay was a steady catch for one group of anglers using Gulp Shedder Crab strip baits. Thirty plus shorts caught and released and not a keeper to drop in the fish box. Lots of fun, but hot dogs for dinner. Other anglers working the fish factory area tell similar stories, but the occasional keeper did come through. A little bit of activity on the 126 marker side of the fish factory today too; in the deeper water. Point is, move around if the catching isn't happening. Change the baits frequently too. No point dragging a washed out minnow and bland dirty strip of squid and raking the cutting boards worth of bait overboard at the end of the day. Fresh bait does make a difference? Ever notice one guy seems to be catching all the fish? Well, each new fish in the boat means a fresh bait on the line. Just something to think about. Change up the minnows too. Maybe you need a dumb one that's not paying attention to get ate up!
Berkley gulp crabs catch tog! Yup, I knew they worked for sea bass, but a seasoned tog angler has found a way to catch them on gulps too. The heat and hot lagoon water cooked our live green crabs and the supply we got on Friday was half cooked before we even got them and we ran out of green crabs. So, break out the Gulps! I was told that the greenies still work better, but Gulp Crabs got the job done in a pinch.
More reports on the Great Bay evening shark fishing. It's ON! No huge fish, mostly thirty five to fifty pound sand bar sharks, but they are a lot of fun if you stick to lighter bluefish trolling type tackle or your ten foot spring fishing surf rod! The favorite fishing spot in the Great Bay is just South of 138 marker up into Grassy Channel far enough that a shark with a hundred plus yards of line out isn't gonna get the line cut off by inland waterway boating traffic. A size 9/0 hook and a chunk of mackerel gets the job done. Chum is a bonus, but isn't absolutely necessary. There have been some smaller blues working the chum slicks just before dark that can be caught and used for fresh strip baits too, so remember to bring light spinning tackle and some poppers for some evening casting fun before the night sharking. Sea Ya
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Back in the Great Bay, folks found some fish in the clam stakes on both tides. It sounded like the shorts were in pretty good numbers which kept the younger anglers busy and happy.
One big bluefish was caught off of deep point and one pounders have been schooling up around the bay. You have to keep an eye to the sky for birds to point the way to the blues.
Bunkers were plentiful along the beach today, but anglers report nobody home under them.
Sea Ya
E-mail Report:
6/30/06
Boat Name: Tiderunner
Type: Saltwater
Species Sought: Fluke
Location: ICW 130 - 132 buoy
Time of Day: Afternoon
Tide: High
Weather: Sunny
Wind: less than 10 kts. W
Seas: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Minnows/Killies/Shiners
Secondary Bait: Squid
Artificials: Bucktail
Report: "Hi Scotty. Took my boss's advise, called it an early day and took my brothers-in-law (who are visiting from Port St Lucie, FL) fishing around noon time. Drifted the edge of the bar from the "danger pole" to the 130 buoy. Found hungry fluke staked along the edge. Once the tide got rolling out, we had a steady pick of fish to 20". Managed 7 keepers (17-20) and a 12-15 throwbacks. The day got nicer and nicer. It was nice to be out fishing finally on a nice day. I have logged 15 hours so far this season (4 crabbing) as compared to 50 in 2003, 30 in 2004 and 40 in 2005 (by July 1st). Most fluke were caught on a bucktail and minnow or Pro Cut pink squid strip."
Submitted by: Chris Miller
E-mail: chrismi105@comcast.net