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Weekly Bulletin for Thursday, September 3, 1998

The fish of the week is Croakers. Anglers that were on the ocean searching for Fluke caught Croakers instead, mixed in with some Weakfish. The same areas where the Fluke were caught before hurricane Bonnie are good areas to search for Croakers. A smaller hook rig, similar to a Sea Bass rig, works well and the baits to use are either clams or squid. If you don't mind spending money on Bloodworms, an old timer said "If you really want to catch those Croakers, you gotta use Bloodworms." One good fishing report was from an angler who was fishing near the Wreck Buoy, which is about 3 miles South East of the Little Egg Bell Buoy. There are no New Jersey State regulations on the size or quantity limit for Croakers at this time. A good rule of thumb for judging their size is about a 14 inch fish, which is large enough to get a nice size fillet off of. If you catch a bunch of Croakers all at once, dropping the anchor could put you over a school of fish and really increase your catch potential. If the action should stop, pull the anchor until you drift over the next patch of fish.
     Where have all of the Fluke gone? Ever since hurricane Bonnie stirred up the ocean, the Fluke fishing has been poor. We were hoping for a recovery, but it just hasn't happened yet. Our best Fall Fluke fishing is usually during the first few weeks of September. Many other fish seasons came and went early and some anglers feel that we had our Fall Fluke fishing a little early and that the best is over. The hurricane just made a good excuse for the Fluke to move on to wherever they go. I don't doubt that you can catch 3 to 6 Fluke on the ocean during a morning fishing trip. The best reports this week still came from anglers who were fishing in 55 to 60 feet of water.
     All is not bad news though. Some of the Captains that run the local charter boats feel that there is a great Weakfishing season ahead. So, maybe you have enough Fluke in the freezer already and it is a time for a change. There have been a few nice catches of Weakfish on the ocean already. No fancy stuff is necessary. Top and bottom rigs baited with shoestring thin long lengths of squid are working well. There is one pearl top and bottom rig that has been called the Weaky Wacker which seems to work a little better then the others, and the flashy mylar top and bottom rigs are really popular, too.
     Bluefish have been scarce for local Little Egg Inlet fishing. For about 3 to 4 days last week, the 1/2 to 4 pound Bluefish were working the outer breakers of the inlet and then they just moved on. The only Bluefish that have been caught this week were at the Barnegat North and South Ridges. Anglers are mostly chumming and chunking with Mackerel bait. Anglers who are trolling the ridges have also picked up an occasional small Dolphin. Not to be confused with the bottle nosed dolphin, who were often see near Little Egg Inlet this week.
     This has been a good week for Weakfish in the Great Bay and Tuckerton Bay. Some anglers are catching the Weakfish on plastic worms, others are using bucktails with squid strips soaked in shedder oil, while still other anglers are catching their Weakfish on bloodworms. There are even a few anglers who have caught some nice large Weakies on live Bunker too. The information on the whereabouts of this great fishing is scarce. I heard the Brick pile and Foxboro Point were the hot spots in Tuckerton Bay and the mouth of the Mullica River was the best producer on the outgoing tide in the Great Bay. There also were a few Weakfish caught in the Clam Stakes on the North West side of the Fish Factory and down at the 131 marker in the Inland waterway.

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