Scott'sBait & Tackle
   Weekly Bulletin for
Thursday, Sept. 30, 1999

It's just my opinion, but that had to be the worst September for fluke fishing out of the Little Egg Inlet in a whole lot of years. Storm after storm created rough seas and no one could get out to fish. When the seas did calm, the bottom was stirred up and very few fish would bite. Now and then, anglers would find a small pod of fish, but there weren't any limit catches like we expected. With less then two more weeks in the fluke fishing season, it's getting a little late to hope for a fall run. If fluke is still going to be your target species of fish, then there is a little hope. Some fluke were caught in the Great Bay and Tuckerton bay this week. A starting point in the Great Bay is the inland waterway between the 138 and 139 marker buoys; a few fluke were reported being caught in that area. Some fluke were caught in the mouth of the Mullica River too. The Foxboro Point area, where Marshelder Channel meets the shallower water, was the most productive fluke spot in Tuckerton Bay. I don't want to be misleading and have you believe that there are limit-out catches to be had. If a couple of anglers fishing on one boat catch three to four good size fluke, that would be considered a good fishing day.

Slow down, it's not striper season just yet! Although quite a few anglers have already caught a some. A lot of the fish don't make the twenty eight inch legal size limit, but they are still fun to catch. The largest striper weighed in last week was a twenty pound four ounce striper caught from the bank at the old Coast Guard Station by Stanley Arty. Boaters are working the banks there as well as the ledges along the sod bank from the 120 marker buoy to the Big Sheepshead Creek.

Weakfish are the most abundant fish around now and have been for the past few weeks. Ocean going anglers are finding pods of weakfish between the Little Egg Bell buoy and the Wreck Buoy. The Wreck Buoy is about a four mile run at a 160 degree heading off of the Bell buoy. Top and bottom rigs --especially one called a weaky wacker, a rig with pearl stinger beads-- baited with long, slender strips of squid, jigged a little off of the bottom, will catch ocean weakfish. The difficulty in catching any fish is finding pods of fish. Look for working birds over the water or scan for schools of fish on a fish finder. Random fishing on the open bottom is a shot in the dark. Although, sometimes it works. One of the best kept secrets, until now, is the large weakfish anglers are catching in Marshelder Channel on live babybunker. Drifting the little bunker along the bank at Foxboro point and along the drop-offs on the opposite side of Marshelder Channel where the water flows between the islands on the outgoing tide, have been two of the most productive areas. A couple of drifts over the brick pile is also worth a try.

The best fishing these past few weeks exists in our own back yards. Old and young anglers alike will enjoy catching snapper bluefish in the lagoons. There are tons of small bunker traveling up and down the lagoons, being chased by equally large numbers of snapper bluefish. Fishing from the dock is a lot of fun especially if you are with the kids and the action is good enough to hold their attention. Most people use spearing for bait, but I like to use live minnows. Rig the bait about thirty inches below a float and cast the bait out and jig it back to the dock. The snappers like to attack a moving bait more than one that just sits there. Our daughter was happiest when the first hit took half the minnow; she caught more snappers just jigging the front half of the minnow still left on the hook! If you really want to get the action going, then a chum a little with quart of bunker chum. The chum will attract a lot of spearing and more snappers.

The ten fish limit tautog season opens on Sunday, October 11. There has been a lot of interest this week by anglers who are doing a little fact finding. Many brought home their limit of one tautog and these fish have been around three pounds. Most of the reported action has been by surf fishing anglers who are working the ledges in Little Sheepshead creek. Boaters are catching their tautog along the banks from the old Coast Guard Station to the Fish Factory as well as on the wrecks and reef sites while fishing for sea bass.