Bluefishing in the Great Bay is off to an excellent start.  Schools of the
smaller Blues have been reported across the bay in many areas, including
Grassy Channel and an area 1.5 miles at 150 degrees on a compass out
from Big Creek toward the Clam Stakes on the North West side of the Fish
Factory. Watch for flocks of birds working the water; this is the area to
fish. The Bluefish sizes this Spring range from 1 1/2 to 10 pounders. Best
bait choice is Mackerel. Chunks of Mackerel on steel leader hooks fished
at anchor in the mouth of the Mullica River while chumming is the way to
get  the really big Bluefish, or try cutting Mackerel into long thin strips and
troll it on a bucktail and Clarke Spoon lures for the smaller more palatable
Bluefish.  Fishing on the bank at Graveling Point and Pebble Beach has
produced some nice numbers of Blues, but be prepared for long quiet
spells between blitzes of action.  Best tide to fish along the sod banks at
the Point continues to be the last couple hours of incoming water.

Early Spring action for Stripers was excellent at Graveling Point.
Uncountable 18 to 24 inch fish were landed during the 6 week long run.
Every once in awhile, anglers would land a keeper in the 28 to 30 inch
range. Very few fish were caught that were much bigger. The largest
Striper of the Spring that we weighed in was the first keeper Striper of the
season and it was caught by Aaron Moore. Aarons Striper was caught on
March 24 and it was 20 pounds 5 ounces and 36 inches long. He was the
winner of our annual $100.00 gift certificate for the first keeper Striper
caught by a surf angler at Graveling Point. With the warmer water
temperatures and the influx of Bluefish into the Great Bay, the Striped
Bass have become more of a fishing challenge. They scatter and move up
the Mullica River and out along the ocean beach front.  Good surf  reports
from anglers fishing out on Long Beach Island are picking up by the day.
We have had many days of  North East wind at 15-25 miles per hour, which
is the favorable wind for fishing our local beach front.  Stripers are
beginning to hit on more than just bloodworms. Trolling large Bucktails
with white grubs around the Little Egg Inlet area has been  successful at
catching Stripers as well as the occasional surprise Weakfish.  Other
anglers are using up their supply of live Herring way up the Mullica River.

The talk of Great Bay this week has been Weakfish. It has been quite a few
years since anglers caught quantities of 5+ pound Weakfish per trip. The
first area that these slammer Weakfish showed up was in Grassy Channel.
The old timers to the area might remember an area referred to the triple
stake in Grassy. The Triple stake marked the tip of a sand bar where the
deeper water of Miles Thorofare and Grassy Channel meet. This area is
pretty visible on most charts. Rumor has it that this is where the Weakfish
have been hanging out.  The other reported most active area has been
Little Sheepshead Creek. This has produced fish for boaters on the ocean
side of the bridge and active fishing from the bridge and bank at
daybreak. In the past week, 4 to 6 pound Weakfish have been weighed in
by land based anglers. The hottest lure is the 4” FinS Fish lure. Color
hasn’t been too important. Although, the pink(bubblegum/ice),
white(albino shad) and chartreuse(lime shad) are the best sellers on 1/4 to
3/4 lead head jigs. Rat-L-Traps, Bombers, Rebels, Gotcha Plugs, and
bucktails tipped with thin strips of Mackerel bait are all reported in as big
hits for the boaters who were fishing in Grassy Channel and on the ocean
side of the bridge in Little Sheepshead Creek.

Tautog are in season, 10 fish a day per angler until May 31st, after which
you are only allowed 1 fish a day per angler, which is the same set of
regulations as last year.  Current reports of wreck fishing are fair with a
little activity of both Seabass and Tautog.  Sometimes it’s difficult to find a
wreck that hasn’t been cleaned off.  Tog have been caught off the sod
banks at the end of Great Bay Boulevard out near the old Coast Guard
Station (Rutger’s Research Station).  Green Crabs and Fiddler crabs are
the choice baits as well as a sneaky guy who fishes with Grass Shrimp.
There haven’t been a ton of fish caught along the banks, but it is a nice
change of pace from catching Bluefish.

In the last two weeks,  a few anglers fishing with bloodworms caught
some Blowfish at the first bridge on Great Bay Boulevard.  One Blowfish
which we weighed in was one and a half  pounds. Other anglers that like
to fish for Blowfish attempted to catch them by chumming off of the Mystic
Island Beach at the end of Radio Road.  Last year, they had very good luck
in this area, but it seems that the Blowfish just haven’t shown up in the
Great Bay yet.

Sounds like the Inland Waterway and Grassy Channel are going to be
crowded this weekend. Fluke season officially opens Saturday, May 15th.
Chatter on the radio during the last week told tales of many Fluke that
were caught by anglers who were fishing for Bluefish and Weakfish and
those keeper Fluke had to be released due to the closed season
regulation. We did the best we could to keep that season open! Opinion
polls from all over South Jersey were in favor of the 16” season with no
closure, but the Summer Flounder Council had their minds made up on the
15 1/2” May 15 - October 11 season. They basically just went through the
motions of being interested in the opinion of the general fishing public.
Their response to the objections?: “This isn’t a democracy.”  Since when?
Anyway, it looks like we are in for an excellent Fluke season.  Those
reports show that fishing is good without even trying, and many of the fish
being thrown back were 18-23” long.