Everybody knows that the
weather has been miserable for the past few weeks. Hurricane Dennis, tropical
storm Dennis and just plain lousy low pressure system Dennis have really
set back the fishing. The last good ocean fishing day was Sunday, August
25th. At that time, anglers were still catching fluke, croakers and weakfish
on the ocean. Back in the bays, Tuckerton Bay and Great Bay, there were
still the occasional fluke, quite a few weakfish and the beginnings of
kingfish. That was then, two weeks have gone by since, and new information
is scarce, but I will do my best to fill you in on what I know.
Only a couple of boats were on the
ocean before this Thursday. One angler fished out of Barnegat Inlet and
worked the Garden State North Reef to catch two short fluke. That sure
isn't very encouraging. Listening to the radio, anglers were fishing a
few miles outside of Little Egg Inlet this morning and six ounces of weight
weren't holding the bottom due swift winds making fast drift conditions.
Ten ounces of weight were just barely holding which means that today's
fluke fishing on the ocean isn't likely to be too productive either. There
haven't been any successful bay fluke fishing reports or even anglers attempting
to catch fluke in the bay the past few days.
Even with the rough bay conditions,
a few anglers were able to anchor on the North West side of the fish factory
in the clam stakes. They anchored in the channel marked by the orange balls
in about eight feet of water and chummed with clam chum. One day was remarkably
well with about forty kingfish being caught by one boat. Most of the anglers
caught between six and fifteen kingfish depending on how long the chum
lasted or how long they stayed. There is a lot of other smaller fish in
the area that help to make for a very busy fishing trip. Seabass will be
plentiful, though anglers will unlikely see any of legal size (10”). The
occasional blowfish and porgy help to put a variety of little fillets on
the fried fish platter.
Crabbing in general is pretty slow.
I could be the weather or maybe the moon cycle. I am not really sure. Although
I do know that some of best crabbing occurs in the fall right on through
October. It's to early to give up on the crabbing just yet. If you do attempt
crabbing, you will still catch a few, but just don't expect bushels full.
Some mornings, anglers are finding
three-quarter to two-pound bluefish feeding in and around the Little Egg
Inlet. Best reported catch on small metal lures was by an angler and his
children right off of Tuckers Island. Occasionally there will be a little
bit of feeding bird activity to point the way to the schools of Bluefish.
Weakfish are still around, with the
activity of anglers fishing off of the fifth bridge in Little Sheepshead
Creek after dark being the most active action of the week. Marshelder Channel
and the mouth of the Mullica River were still the most productive, but
the weather really didn’t allow for good fishing conditions. A few fish
were the most that anyone could hope for. Best report the past few days
has been by anglers fishing in the Osborn Island section lagoons. They
have caught quite a few weakfish from nineteen to twenty two inches long
on live bunker.
Scott's Weekly Bulletin
Scott'sBait
& Tackle
