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Scott's Daily Fishing Reports February 1999

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Sunday, February 28, 1999 /\/\/\ 6:33pm  
Not so sunny a Sunday. Rain held back many of the wanna be fishermen who just didn't want to brave the nasty weather and catch nothing but a cold.
Looks like tomorrow is the big day. Several anglers bought worms and clam chum to attempt to sneak in a fishing trip for Winter Flounder on opening day. Other anglers geared up for the opening day of Striper fishing in the back bays.
The $100.00 Scott's Bait & Tackle gift certificate for the first keeper Striped Bass caught off of Graveling Point at the end of Radio Road, goes into effect tonight at midnight.
If anyone you know hasn't voted for the Fluke, Mike Shephard of the Atlantic City press set up a Phone Survey at 609 272 7274. Just give the phone number to your friends and have them dial away, but have them do it before Wednesday to be sure that the vote is counted in some way. G'night all...Sea ya

Saturday, February 27, 1999 /\/\/\ 8:41pm  
WARNING.....
If Scott's Bait & Tackle has sent you an E-mail in the past 10 days, we have sent you a "WORM". A worm is another term for VIRUS, but it does not pose any threat to your system. You can only get the worm by having received an E-mail from us, not by visiting the site. The site is on a highly virus protected host. My virus protection software expired 30 months ago, and the "HAPPY99.EXE"is pretty new and I'm sure you haven't seen or heard the last of it. The worm is named "HAPPY99.EXE". If you have accessed this file, did you recall seeing fireworks???, you have activated the "worm". It is a clever program that automatically attaches itself to E-mails without the senders knowledge. In other words, I didn't know that I was passing it on until a good, now even better friend =), Bill Mc Clinchy, of the famous vessel Top Banana, filled me in, after I sent it to him. Thanks Bill.

To check your machine to see if it is infected, search your hard drive, or hard drives, for the file HAPPY99.EXE
Not sure how to do it???

Left Mouse Click START
Select PROGRAMS
Left Mouse ClickWindows Explorer

Left Mouse Click Tools
Select Find
Left Mouse Click Files or Folders

In the Named box...type the file name you are searching for.
If the file name shows up in the bottom box...
Left mouse Click on it once to highlight it
Right mouse click to bring up a menu
Select delete.
This will remove the file to your recycle bin.

If If If you ran the HAPPY99.EXE, then there are 3 other files to delete. Locate them the same way you found the HAPPY99.EXE file using the above steps.

Delete the following files...
First: SKA.EXE
Second SKA.DLL
Third: If and only if those two above files are present:WSOCK32.DLL
If they are not present, then the HAPPY99.EXE file was not activated and your system was not effected.

Now, search for WSOCK32.SKA Do not delete it.
Right Mouse Click on it and Rename it to WSOCK32.DLL

If that all went well, then you have done it. To run a test, send an E-mail to your own address. Yup, you can do that. See if the attached file HAPPY99.EXE comes through. If not, your clean.

Sometimes, there may be a complication with deleting the file WSOCK32.DLL because it is in use. If this happens to you, then you have to turn off a file that may be using it. Press CTRL ALT DEL all at once, one time. This will bring up a menu. Select active programs and turn them off by selecting END TASK. For a more technical explanation of what this thing is, go to this sight: http://www.avp.com/happy/body_happy.html

Sorry everybody for the inconvenience. Sea Ya

Saturday, February 27, 1999 /\/\/\ 6:02pm  
Many anglers make the trek down to Graveling Point, but no one returned to tell any fish stories. =) Soon, very soon, it's all going to happen. Sea ya

Friday, February26 , 1999 /\/\/\ 7:32pm  
Another day closer to March 1, then well, I guess we will just have to wait until things really warm up. A couple of anglers who were able to catch the occasional White Perch last week, said that the cooler temperatures shut the Perch fishing right off. I really can't expect a whole lot of Bass activity this weekend, but remember, somebody has to catch the first one. Sea ya

Thursday, February 25, 1999 /\/\/\ 10:05pm  
Lots of anglers are planning on some decent weather for the next few days, but I think Mother Nature has other ideas. Fishermen are looking for any possibility to be able to get out ot Graveling Point to catch anything. Getting a line wet is the ultimate goal this early in the season. Many short Striped Bass, well more like a dozen were caught at Graveling Point by this time last year, but the weather was much milder then. February 22, was the magic day last year and a couple of weeks ago, I figured that with the temperatures being a little bit colder this season that the first short Bass would be caught this Saturday, a little later then last season. We will see soon enough. Sea ya

Wednesday, February 24, 1999 /\/\/\ 5:34pm  
Old man winter is still here. Brrr.
Many anglers continue to count down the days to the opening of Winter Flounder season. Several anglers were in to pick up the new saltwater regulations. Ha. I don't expect to see the new State Saltwater Digests with the 1999 regulations until almost May. However, we can go by last years posted regulation on Flounder which is a 10" fish and an unlimited catch. Bloodworms are in stock for grand opening of the fishing season next Monday. Winter is over already??? Sea ya

Tuesday, February 23, 1999 /\/\/\ 11:24pm  
The cold air (20 degrees) with a lot of wind blowing had any sane angler hiding inside.
This evening, the Jersey Coast Anglers Association (JCAA), held a meeting to discuss many topics. The one topic on most anglers minds at this time, is the pending Summer Flounder proposal. Of the 21 clubs who voted, 11 chose the 15 1/2" some season,10 fish option and 10 clubs chose the 16", 10 fish, no closed season option. Therefore, the official position of the JCAA, at this time, is to go with a 15 1/2", 10 fish, some season, which is likely to be the May 15 to October 11 option.
The even balance of the club means that the public opinion at the March 4 meeting will probably carry more weight. The Fishermen Magazine surveys and the Scott's B&T poll with help from Fishermen's Headquarters counter survey may help the committee make a decision based on public opinion. Sea ya

Monday, February 22, 1999 /\/\/\ 10:37pm  
The phone has started ringing..."Are you gonna have Bloodworms next Monday?" Well, I think so. If it's sunny and 65 degrees, I'll probably run out with all of the phone calls I have been getting, I am starting to get worried. Most likely, Winter will still be here and there will be plenty of Bloodworms for the opening day of Striper and Winter Flounder season.
Sea ya

Sunday, February 21, 1999 /\/\/\ 6:27pm  
Days and days spent restocking the walls after a partial spring order showed up this week. There isn't a whole lot of new stuff yet, a lot of it was back ordered, like the new Penn Prion series spinning reels and some new Star Rods.
One week left until the official start of the Striper Season. If the weather cooperates, anglers will line up along the bank at Graveling Point especially if someone actually catches a few nice Bass. Sea ya

Saturday, February 20, 1999 /\/\/\ 9:17pm  
Another Saturday where the fresh water anglers still out numbered the salt water anglers. Live minnows were the hot bait of the day for the Pickerel anglers that are just satisfied to have something tuggin on the line. Soon, Stripers will be the news of the day, but that just hasn't happened yet. Sea ya

Friday, February 19, 1999 /\/\/\ 6:02pm  
Oh boy, the one thing that I learned from last nights meeting is that the proposals for the offshore fishery, meaning Tuna, Swordfish/Marlin/Bill fish and Sharks are getting out of hand and even if they are followed to the letter, the future of the offshore fishery looks pretty bleak. The NMFS, National Marine Fisheries Service, is supposed to fix all this by waving it's magic wand. For too many years, the recreational fishermen and commercial fishermen have been pitted against one another always blaming each other for their problems of new regulations and restrictions due to a reduced quantity of fish in the sea. Suddenly, everyone is becoming aware that commercial fishing is taking a large part of the pie, but our own United States fleet, is only getting a very tiny part of the fishery with foreign fleets going unregulated and creating the unbalancing havoc that we as recreational fishermen imagine. Regulating the fishery with a world wide plan is the only possible solution. If anyone can figure out how we, all of the planet, can work together, then it can all get better. Until then, it's going to be some rough going. Sea ya

Thursday, February 18, 1999 /\/\/\ 4:37pm  
Rain kept the fishermen away. Off to the Shark, Tuna & Bill fish meeting. If I have enough energy, I'll post an update on that fishery meeting later tonight. Otherwise, and likely, I'll fill you in tomorrow morning. Sea ya

Wednesday, February 17, 1999 /\/\/\ 3:59pm  
Two anglers trekked out to Graveling Point and one angler reported back. Three White Perch were the highlight of the day. There have been some Herring reported around the Mystic Island Lagoons and a showing of White Perch at Graveling Point mean that it is time for a Striper to be caught. I surely don't expect a whole lot of fish before the second or third week in March, but a nice fishing afternoon on Graveling Point can really cheer up those Winter blahs. Sea ya

Tuesday, February 16, 1999 /\/\/\ 4:42pm  
Warm weather and sunny conditions still didn't bring out more then a few fresh water anglers. I spent a couple of hours catching up on the outside yard projects, so, maybe that's what everybody who didn't have to work today did as well.
Sea ya

Monday, February 15, 1999 /\/\/\ 6:14pm  
MizMo was off from store duty today and rather then having me foul up the whole system of cross referencing, and validating the votes, and making a mess of the whole thing, I'll let the pro do her stuff in the morning. Vote updates should be posted by 9:00am.
The next couple of weeks are last of a dormant fishing season. Last year, the first Striped Bass was caught on Graveling Point, one week from today. Two weeks from now, you will be able to put a fresh Striper on the dinner table if your lucky enough to find a keeper anywhere. The Spring Graveling Point Stripers are usually schoolies. Last year, the length seemed to get a little closer to keeper size. Anglers talked of a lot of fish just missing the keeper size by 1/2 to 2 inches. Many anglers threw plenty of keeper size fish back too, which is always a good thing. One week....Hmmmm...Winters almost over??? We will see.
Sea ya

Sunday, February 14, 1999 /\/\/\ 3:26pm  
A couple of folks have asked about the next meetings...be sure to check out the dates and times. The next Fluke meeting will be on March 4th. I'll gather some information and directions and post them. I am pretty sure that it will be an open to the public meeting too.
As far as a fishing report goes, it was the wind and cold temperatures that kept most anglers indoors watching the Daytona 500 race. Things are quiet!
Sea ya

Saturday, February 13, 1999 /\/\/\ 5:53pm  
Anglers are getting a little anxious for something to happen and quite a few of them are forgetful of fishing seasons. Nope, sorry you have no reason to try to go Winter Flounder fishing, because the season doesn't open until March first. It's almost scary to think that we might have a Fluke season. Our best Winter Flounder action usually doesn't start until the first week of March. A lot of anglers used to catch quite a few Winter Flounders from the route 9 bridge in Forked River in the months of January and February. Now that fishery is gone, due to the closed Winter Flounder season, there isn't much for the guys to do besides look for Perch. Perch fishing has been spotty at best the past few weeks. It's not cold enough for the Perch to make up in their winter holes and it's not warm enough for them to be active in their Spring areas. It will take a little longer before things really get started. Sea ya

Friday, February 12, 1999 /\/\/\ 8:19pm  
Over 200 hundred votes tallied, so far. Postings were updated late this afternoon, 'cause MizMo was off today with the kids. Tomorrow, MizMo will do a posting with the updated count a little while after noon time. Morning updates will resume next Tuesday. Until then, there will be no regular scheduled update on the results table.
Nice Bloodworms came in just in time this morning; we were almost out. We are ready for those anglers who are searching out the early Stripers and Perch. Sea ya

Thursday, February 11, 1999 /\/\/\ 9:15pm  
A few guys printed out the vote page had some other anglers who don't own computers??? fill them out and dropped them off at the store this afternoon. That was a great idea and I encourage others to do it as well.
Still blah on the new fishing news. I'll be sure to tell if something good breaks. Sea ya

Thursday, February 11, 1999 /\/\/\ 9:23am  
Totals so far are posted! Sea ya

Wednesday, February 10, 1999 /\/\/\ 8:47pm  
The response to the Fluke proposal is going well. Each day, we will tally the votes so you can see the results to date. We will do a tally around 8:00am each morning.
Perch anglers are out and about by boat and by land. Boating anglers haven't reported much back and a few reports from the Beach Haven West area tell fish tales of a few White Perch right before sunset. Action is not too exciting yet.
Other anglers are starting to actually fish Graveling Point. Soon we will here of the first catch and release Striper from that area. I believe it to be around the last weekend in February before the first Striper is caught.
As we have done in the past few years, we will offer a $100.00 Gift Certificate to the first keeper Striped Bass caught off of Graveling Point or Pebble Beach which are both very popular fishing areas at the end of Radio Road in Mystic Island. Contest starts March 1, after it is legal to keep Striped Bass. Stripers caught from other areas do not qualify for the gift certificate, but we will take your picture and put it on the web so you can e-mail it to all of your friends. Sea Ya =)

Wednesday, February 10, 1999 /\/\/\ 11:00am  
Okay, here we go! The Voting page is set up, so that you can place your ballot according to the most popular choice concerning the 1999 Fluke Fishery. See the Feb. 8th report below if you haven't read it yet. Older information is listed under our Flounder Proposal page. The votes will be collected and presented at the next meeting on March 4.
Vote Here
Sea ya

Tuesday, February 9, 1999 /\/\/\ 6:00pm  
I am not going to run on about any type of fishing tonight, but get right back to work on the Summer Flounder Fishery proposal. First thing I needed to do tonight was to update the last Summer Flounder Fishery Options table. The most important item of the evening was excluded from last nights report. Just plain old missed putting it in. The current New Jersey Marine Fisheries council plan is for a season of May 29 through September 18 and a size limit of 15" and an 8 fish bag limit. The recreational committee pretty much went for other options. Yet, this should still be included in the options table, because the Marine Fisheries council may choose to keep their original plan. The table has been updated to show this in red.
I'm now going to go work on the Ballot page. I hope to get it on the WEB tonight. Sea ya

Monday, February 8, 1999 /\/\/\ 11:56pm  
Ok folks, you wanted a breaking story. Here comes one. A few weeks ago I was invited by the Administrator of the Marine Fisheries Administration, Thomas W. McCloy, to sit on a committee of recreational advisors to review management options of the 1999 Fluke Fishery. This evening, I attended that meeting from 7:00pm to 8:30pm. During that period of time, Mr. Bruce Halgren handed out some data sheets with the possible management plans that would enable the State of New Jersey to juggle the size, bag limits and season duration to come up with a 40% reduction of harvest of Fluke in the 1999 season. It's cut and dry, that's what has to be done.
The committee was made up of a cross section of the recreational fishery, which included small charter boat vessel captains as well as the large head/party boat captains, individual fishermen, members representing several fishing clubs and a bait & tackle shop operator. We, the recreational advisors did have a difference of opinion, but were a very civil group and did not have any yelling and shouting matches that has gone on at so many of the fisheries meetings in the past. For that, I applaud the group. Thank you.
The commercial fishery has it's own set of guidelines it must meet and our job is completely independent of that. I will "say" it again. The commercial fishery decision is completely separate from the recreational fishery decision at this point. The recreational fishery must reduce the harvest of Fluke by 40% for the 1999 season. Therefore, Mr. Bruce Halgren shaped the data into a few workable tables below.


Size Possession limit Percent of savings Savings required from season a closure
15" 6 17.6% +22.4%
15" 8 15.2% +24.8%
15" 10 14.8% +25.2%
15 1/2" 6 31.4% +8.6%
15 1/2" 8 29.9% +10.1%
15 1/2" 10 29.7% +10.3%
16" 8 or 10 44.5% 0% or no closed season

Possible combinations of Size and Season

Start date 15"
6 fish		 15"
8 fish		 15"
10 fish		 15 1/2"
6 fish		 15 1/2"
8 fish		 15 1/2"
10 fish
April 1 Sept. 12 Sept. 9 Sept. 9 Oct. 6 Oct. 4 Oct. 2
April 15 Sept. 13 Sept. 10 Sept. 9 Oct. 7 Oct. 4 Oct. 3
May 1 Sept. 15 Sept. 11 Sept. 11 Oct. 10 Oct. 6 Oct. 6
May 15 Sept. 17 Sept. 14 Sept. 13 Oct. 15 Oct. 11 Oct. 10
May 29 Sept. 21 Sept. 18 Sept. 17 Oct. 27 Oct. 20 Oct. 19
June 1 Sept. 23 Sept. 19 Sept. 18 Oct. 31 Oct. 23 Oct. 22
June 15 Oct. 1 Sept. 27 Sept. 26 Jan. 31 Jan. 31 Jan. 31

The people representing the Delaware Bay area swear that if the size limit is pushed up another 1/2" to a 15 1/2" size limit that you might as well just close the season altogether, because that will reduce the keep able fish in their area to zero. A little extreme, but conversation around the room believes this to have a some creditability, but not to the extreme of zero. They chose a season of May 1 through Sept. 11, 15" size limit and a bag limit of 10 fish.
A representative from the Jamaca II represented the Manasquan area and other head boats in his area with an opinion of a season of May 15 through October 11, 15 1/2" size limit and a bag limit of 10 fish.
The New Jersey Beach Buggy Association hinted at and the New Jersey Fishing Tackle Trade Association according to Dave Showell have the same opinion of a no closure, 16" size limit and a 10 fish bag limit.
I, Scott Albertson, a representative of a bait & tackle shop hold the opinion of a no closure, 16" size limit and a 10 fish bag limit, as well. The reason I feel this way, is that anglers will be able to fish for Fluke at any occasion they choose rather then by restrictions of a legal season. For our local area, the 16" size limit will still allow anglers to catch a decent quantity of Fluke on a regular basis.
The recreational committee will meet again on the March 4 date when we will give a final collective decision to the State Summer Flounder committee. At that point, they will make a final decision on the Summer Flounder Fishery.
Tomorrow, I am going to set up a ballot page for all of you fine people out there to vote your opinion. If enough people vote, I will collect the data and include it with a report at the March 4th meeting. It will be based on the two most popular choices discussed at the meeting and the option of a no closed season and the currently selected option of the Marine Fisheries council which is represented below in the table in red.

Summer Flounder Fishery Options

May 1 September 11 10 fish at 15"
May 15 October 10 10 fish at 15 1/2"
January 1 December 31 10 fish at 16"
May 29 September 18 8 fish at 15"

That's enough for tonight. Thanks for being out there to "talk" to. Sea ya

Monday, February 8, 1999 /\/\/\ 5:02pm  
The weather continues on its wacky routine. Sun, rain and snow was todays mix. Sold a few more fresh water fishing licenses to anglers looking to calm the grip of cabin fever. Even a little Pickerel tugging on the line can help this time of the year.
Sea ya

Sunday, February 7, 1999 /\/\/\ 3:39pm  
It was supposed to be almost 50 degrees this afternoon?? Well, that didn't happen...as a matter of fact, it is currently sleeting outside. Favorable weather is a must to get the anglers off of the couch. It didn't happen. Sea ya

Saturday, February 6, 1999 /\/\/\ 4:54pm  
Anyone that I promised a Gibbs lure to, don't hold your breath. I told you that I placed my order for the product in early January, and that a potential ship date was around March 10 or that is when I could call back the first time and ask on the progress of the lures. I received a letter stating that the company has been sold and that it was now in "good" hands. I guess the new guys will get it together soon, but I imagine that the business sale transition will probably set the order back a little bit. Hang in there. I am sure the new guys buying the business are going to come in with a bundle of energy to start off with and that should at least get some product o our walls for a short term anyway.
Enough babble...Fishing is still in it's February mode. Nothing new to report... Sea ya

Friday, February 5, 1999 /\/\/\ 4:55pm  
The long awaited Turkey permit applications showed up this afternoon. The deadline to be in at the State is February 22, 1999. You should send them in at least a week earlier then that to be sure the Post Office beats the deadline.
Rumor has it that a few White Perch are being caught up at the Mill Creek in Beach Haven West. If you go there, please make sure that you clean up a little of some other guys garbage so that the place doesn't get trashed like last year. Grass Shrimp are definitely the bait choice.
Sea ya

Thursday, February 4, 1999 /\/\/\ 4:56pm  
They say that the sun was out early in the morning, but by the time I got up the clouds had moved in for good and the rain started during the mid day. Wet. That is the news of the day...Sorry.
Sea ya

Wednesday, February 3, 1999 /\/\/\ 4:59pm  
Lots of phone calls about the status of bait...Warmer weather got anglers itchy. Still no news of fishing though. Hard to locate Perch are mostly the topic of discussion. Mullica River action is quiet and they are not catching them at Mill Creek in Beach Haven West either. Sea ya

Tuesday, February 2, 1999 /\/\/\ 4:49pm  
Phil didn't see a shadow this morning, so I guess there will be an early Spring?
Felt like March outside, with a fine hard cold rain for the whole day. An angler called wanting to know if there have been any Stripers at Graveling Point yet?(cabin fever worsens). Do have a fish story to tell...One of our good customers had an occasion to be out on Brigantine Beach toward the end of last week and he saw a lot of birds working the surf and on closer observation could see Striped Bass rolling in the waves. His closest fishing rod was 30 miles away. Now, if that won't strike some cabin fever into your bones....seeing something like that, then nothing will. Sea ya

Monday, February 1, 1999 /\/\/\ 5:05pm  
January is gone already? Anybody know where it went? Winter is zipping by. Guys were talking about painting and waxing the boats already, but surely not last weekend. Now that football season is over, the cabin fever will really begin to set in. Hang in there guys, Stripers will be at Graveling Point in about three weeks. Sea ya