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Weekly Bulletin: Thursday, May 21, 1998

Wow, it's the holiday weekend already; Happy Memorial Day. It looks like the Mother Nature is going to provide us with beautiful fishing weather. Do a safety check on the boat before leaving the dock. Remember its better to be safe than ticketed.

The fish you should go fishing for this weekend are Fluke. The Fluke are plentiful and are of good size. Even though some of the fish are just barely keeper size at 15 inches, they are thick and have a lot of meat on them. Currently, the best bait choices are squid and minnows, either on the hook together or fished seperately. The hot lures are shad darts, floating jig heads or floating bucktails. Fish the 1/4 ounce shad dart so that it is supported off the bottom by a plastic float. The bait being supported off the bottom covers a larger field of view that the Fluke can see, increasing your chances of a strike. The floating jig heads and floating bucktails work in a similar manner. Tie an 18 to 30 inch, 15 pound test leader to a swivel on one end and the jig on the other. Attach the swivel to a snap swivel or a 3-way swivel with a sinker snap to hold the jig near, but not on the bottom. Work the area of Grassy Channel and the clam stakes on the North west side of the Fish Factory. Many anglers have had good results in these areas during the week. If you spend quite a bit of time in a particular area not catching fish, move the boat. Don't stay in a clutter of boats that are not catching fish just to remain one of the crowd. Another good fishing practice is to carry a floating jug with some rope with a weight tied to the end of it. Throw the jug overboard to mark an exact spot where you caught a Fluke. Repeatedly drift over the same area that you marked with your personal buoy and you may find that fish's buddies.

If you haven't picked up a copy of the new 1998 regulations yet, be sure to. There are quite a few changes that can effect what fish you choose to keep. We have the regulations that pertain to the local species caught in our area printed on one sheet of yellow paper for easy reference and it is available on the counter. The state of New Jersey has made available their Spring digest for better coverage of the salt water fishing regulations. It also has some well written articles that you might find interesting. Make sure you get one of those too.

About a week ago, one angler e-mailed me a question about the location of Grassy Channel. I thought it would be a good topic to discuss in an informative bulletin. First of all, what is Grassy Channel? Grassy Channel is a natural waterway that parallels the Inland Waterway from the 124 marker buoy to the 139 marker buoy. The Eastern end of Grassy channel meets Little Egg Inlet at Dog Island Point, which is a nick name for the Northern most point of beach in Brigantine. The West end of Grassy Channel ends up on a shell pile shoal just South of 139 marker buoy. This natural channel is narrow and shallow in some areas. The pockets of deeper water provide holding areas for many kinds of fish including Fluke, Weakfish, and Stripers. Safest access into Grassy Channel is from the 136 to the 138 marker buoys, just head South.

Yes, the Bluefish are still around, but not in the quantities they were here last week. Concentrate your fishing efforts in the area of 'F' bouy in Little Egg Inlet. Chumming can help draw the Bluefish, but it will also draw the birds. The birds will draw other boats. Just hope that there are still enough Bluefish to go around.

As you will probably find out without even reading this Bulletin, the Gnats are really bad here in Mystic Island. These pesky little tiny biting bugs are in such quantity that it actually makes the air unbreathable if you stand in one place too long. Bug repellents, like Repel (my favorite) help under usual conditions, but when the wind is calm and you still must work in one area for an extended period of time, like cleaning all of those Fluke, I recommend you pick up an item we call a Gnat hat. It is a fine mesh hat that you wear over your head. It makes you look ridiculous, but it allows you to get the outside work done when necessary.

It has been brought to my attention to mention the dangerous area of the inland waterway between 127 and 131 marker buoys. The channel makes a hard turn against the little island known as Taul or Tow island. The sandbar on the West or bayside of the channel actually sticks into the channel. The navigable area of the channel is plenty deep, but very narrow and should be navigated slowly and cautiously for increased safety, especially when multiple vessels are involved.

Have A Great Memorial Day Weekend!

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