Due to the great Fall fishing, the Little Egg Inlet area has been full of boating traffic, with hopes of catching Stripers and Bluefish. Unfortunately, this has created a little too much congestion which has led to a few problems. The primary issues are excessive speed and poor lighting on vessels at night. There have been several reports of near collisions; proper lighting at night will help prevent accidents. Other complaints include anglers cutting off fishing lines by traveling too close and a general lack of courtesy, both on the radio and the water. I can only suggest that you pilot your own vessel in the same manner that you would want the others around you to do. Pay attention to the drifting zones that the Stripers occupy. Try not to speed through these areas as a consideration to others and as an effort not to spook the fish you are attempting to catch.
     Tautog, Tog, Blackfish and Slippery Bass are all the same fish. They eat clams, mussels, crabs, and shrimp. I guess just about anything that has a shell. A smaller hook size like a number 1 works better in the bay and a larger hook size, 2/0 works better on ocean reefs and wrecks. The key to catching Tog is to knock 'em right on the nose with the bait. When fishing along the ledges at the Coast Guard Station or the banks opposite the
Fish Factory or any ledge that has a sod bank drop-off near an inlet, it is necessary to achieve still fishing conditions. Anchoring the boat with two anchors will prevent the boat from swinging off the ledge zone. The ledge zone can be defined as the area where the drop-off occurs where there might be small holes or ledges or any other type of structure or debris for the Tog to rest in or on. Tog are also caught around the large rocks of a jetty. This is a difficult way to catch Tog, because the fish have the advantage of scooting between the rocks and actually wedge themselves in place. The method to catch one of these Tog is to wait him out. The Tog will start to roam and you can jerk him away from his hiding spot. If you're too slow, he will lodge himself back under the rocks. Score one point for Mr. Tog. Green Crabs or any type of crab is the best bait for catching larger Tog. Bigger bait bigger fish theory. Break off claws. Cut crab in half. Smaller crabs can be cut in half and larger crabs in four to six pieces. Cut crab from the bottom up; the crab tends to crush more if you cut from the back side down. Remove the top shell. Do not remove the legs unless the Tog fishing is really slow or the water is very cold and the Tog are picky. Bait the crab on the hook by inserting the hook in through a leg socket and fold around into the center of the bait. Always check your bait for meat. Bait fish like Spearing and Minnows will eat all of the meat out of a crab hunk and it will appear that you have bait when you are actually fishing witha hunk of shell. Change bait regularly to keep meat showing and the scent at it's best. The best Tog fishing activity occurs during the slacker tide periods. Slow moving water allows a Tog to roam around his area without exerting to much energy. I have raised a Tog in a fish tank for a few years and I can tell you that they are a very lazy fish. They will actually lay in a tank upside down and on their back. Many a visitor to my house said that I had a dead fish in the tank. If you watched him carefully, you could still see his eye moving. When bait, like Grass Shrimp was dropped into the tank, he became alive again.
     The past three days have been slow Striper fishing at best. Tide nor time of day seemed to make any kind of difference. I don't have the answers. I just don't know if they left or if they just went off the feed. Maybe things will improve for the weekend.
     Fluke fishing may be the way to go this weekend for anglers who want to avoid the inlet traffic, which is bound to be crowded again with the Mica Club Striper tournament event. Earlier this week we had good catching reports of Fluke from 15 feet of water to 60 feet of water off of LBI, or South around WR2 buoy. Squid and Minnow bait is working, but some anglers are having better luck with Spearing as a successful alternate for filling up that cooler with flatties.
     Bluefish are still out there in pretty good quantities from what we have been hearing, which is mostly complaints of chewed up eels!  If you want to go out chasing these chompers, just stay alert. Look for birds working in the Inlet area. In our local area, the Blues have been coming in the old Beach Haven Inlet along the edge of Tuckers Island on the incoming tide. Other action has been from 'B' buoy South along Little Beach to Absecon Inlet. Cast and retrieving any type of metal lure as well as poppers or plastic plugs will catch these activly feeding Blues.