Scott's Daily Fishing Reports July 1998

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Friday, July 31, 1998 /\/\/\ 7:58pm

Where can we catch a large Fluke or Weakfish for tomorrows' MICA Club tournament??? I think focusing on the deeper water of Little Egg Inlet or one of the reef sites on the ocean is the answer. But, then again, the largest Fluke weighed in today was caught in Marshelder Channel right along the Brick Pile and I am sure it would qualify for some money! It is surely worth a look-see. The Weakfish on the other hand will be caught in a deeper water of 126 marker buoy or in Little Sheepshead Creek. Tiny live eel, baby live bunkers or live mullet will probably give a few of the cast net able veteran anglers an upper hand on raising a big Weakfish from the depths...Sea ya

Thursday, July 30, 1998 /\/\/\ 7:42pm

I wrote the weekly bulletin tonight, so that's my excuse for skipping the daily for today. Sea ya

Wednesday, July 29, 1998 /\/\/\ 6:46pm

There was a lot of chatter on the VHF radio again this morning. Anglers were comparing notes of fish catches in Great Bay. Pretty much the same old story, quantity of little Weakfish in the mouth of the Mullica River and in the Clam Stakes on the North West side (Mystic Island Side) of the Fish Factory. The floating jig heads and shad darts supported off the bottom by large plastic floats have help increase the productivity for some anglers.
Little Egg Reef site gave up a handful of 2+ pound Fluke on a Tuesday morning trip. An occasional Sea Seabass was also caught drifting the reef area too. Sea ya

Tuesday, July 28, 1998 /\/\/\ 5:18pm

Warm and windy, those are the words of the day. Ocean fishing provided the occasional fish for hard working anglers yesterday. Today, all was pretty much quiet on the ocean due to rougher sea conditions. Chatter on the radio suggested that there were a combination of Fluke and Weakfish caught in the area of Oyster Bed Point in Great Bay, which is along the West bank as one leaves the mouth of the Mullica River. No reports from the Oyster and Motts Creek...did anyone try fishing in the creeks? Sea ya

Monday, July 27, 1998 /\/\/\ 6:43pm

The action on the bay today was better than on the ocean. The first cooler I saw had some real nice Fluke and a fair size Blowfish. They said they were fishing around the Fish Factory. Rumor has it that the Fluke are hiding way back in the bay. The mouth of the Mullica River produces a few now and then, but the actual creeks like Oyster Creek and Motts Creek and the mouths of the creeks on the West end of Great Bay have Fluke in them. Don't spend all day in these areas, because their might be no truth to the rumors, but if you are in the area, surely put a line in the water and give it a try. Main Marsh thorofare and Marshelder Channel are also producing the Fluke, but not in any great numbers, but are still consistently the best fishing areas around for now. Sea ya

Sunday, July 26, 1998 /\/\/\ 5:30pm

Clouds, threatening rain... then poof!!! A beautiful day in Mystic Islands. Sure, there were a few fish caught today, too. Anglers found Weakfish, a 5 pounder even, in the mouth of the Mullica River this afternoon on Bloodworms; on those Scott's catch all special #70 rigs with the small gold hook and the magic red bead.
Fluke were a much sought after fish too. Anglers chased all around the ocean to get bounced around by the North East waves and didn't catch enough fish for the punishment taken. Scattered reports of Fluke were caught, but no one was overly excited with their catch on the ocean. Hottest location in the Great Bay was the clam stakes and the action was equally good in the Little Egg Inlet. Hot = a few fish in the box....Sea ya

Saturday, July 25, 1998 /\/\/\ 9:59pm

A few Fluke were weighed in today, mostly between 2 and 3 pounds. The best fishing seemed to be in the clam stakes on the North West side of the Fish Factory and out in Little Egg Inlet along the sand bars near the 'G' Buoy. Weakies were caught out in front of Big Creek again this morning, but today they were mostly shorts. ...Sea ya

Friday, July 24, 1998 /\/\/\ 9:43pm   =)

Finally a little reprieve from the humidity. The temperature did get up to 95 here in Mystic Island today, but it felt much cooler.
There were Fluke and Weakfish caught in Great Bay and Tuckerton Bay today. The VHF radio was alive with chatter this morning with anglers comparing fish tails. One angler stated "one more fish until I limit out." The best action was in Marshelder Channel and the mouth of the Mullica River at high tide for 1 to 1/2 hours of the outgoing tide. Baits varied.
Fluke were caught in the ocean today too with no one area in particular being better then another. Some anglers found the best catch dangerously close to the beach.
...Sea ya

Thursday, July 23, 1998 /\/\/\ 10:16pm

The fastest moving item at the bait shop today was ICE. Fishing was difficult again except for a few anglers catching Weakfish. The mouth of the Mullica is producing Weakfish in the early am AND just after the morning high tide. Anglers have been catching Weakfish during the first few hours of the outgoing tide too.
Did I hear a some fishermen talk about catching a few stray Kingfish in Great Bay? Could be...Sounds like there may be some around. A few anglers reported catching lone Kingfish while fishing for Fluke and Weakfish. I heard the report from more then one angler, so there may be some Kingfish action in Great Bay soon.
Lots of hush hush stories going on the last couple of days too. The Redmens tourney and the Sunshine foundation tourney are this weekend and anglers tend not to share too much information leading into these tournament weekends. I think we will see a few more larger fish weighed in then we usually do. ...Sea ya

Wednesday, July 23, 1998 /\/\/\ 1:33pm

A drop in of a few e-mails...here goes:
"Hi Scott,
Just thought I would send you some info for your report. Every morning this week from 5:30 am to about 7:00 am during the incoming tide, the area to fish was straight out from Big Creek from 1/4 mile to 1/2 mile, the drift was perfect. Using a lead head jig 1/4 oz. white in color with a red worm and a piece of shedder. The fishing was great, a constant little twitch produced a lot of throwbacks but a good number of keepers. I have attached a picture! I hope you get it.

The fish sizes were from 26 inches down to 16 inches. A lot of fun. By 8:00 am it slowed and by 8:30 I quit. Hank"
The following e-mail is a little travel from Great Bay, but none the less fishing information is good! =)
07/19/98
"Weakfish off the the Avalon Pier from 0730 to about 0930. All 5 keepers in excess of 20 Inches. 1 weakie 24'. All were caught on white jig with white and pink tailed shad grub. Nothing at low tide,all were caught on the outgoing tide about half way down the peer. didn't seem to like the bloodworms much. 3/8 and 1/2 oz jigs worked best, with no snap swivel, and on 8lb test or lighter clear mono. Same was true for 07/18/98 but the fish were all under 20"'s."
Russ Andress: papsphon@epics.net
Thanks guys! Sea ya

Wednesday, July 22, 1998 /\/\/\8:54pm

Who really wanted to come out of the house this afternoon just to run down to scotty's to tell him a fish story. The heat wave continues here in Mystic Island, NJ. I think that we are a bunch of whiners in our 95 degree temperature. How about those folks who are experiencing 100 degree plus temperatures for the last ten days. I even heard a high of 127 degrees in Nevada! Eeks that's really hot. It has made it difficult to really put an effort into catching fish too. The mouth of the Mullica River has been the most productive in the early morning. A few Weakfish and Fluke are caught in that area each day. Quick trip out and a quick trip back! ...Sea ya

Tuesday, July 21, 1998 /\/\/\7:23pm

Wow, there sure is a current out on the ocean. Even with a little wind, anglers are complaining that 8+ ounces of weight are required for reaching the bottom. Break out those heavy poles!. It's much cooler out on the ocean, but catching has been difficult.
Weakfish and Fluke are being caught on floating jig head rigs in the mouth of the Mullica River. Thank you Kokomo for the positive report! Floating rigs seem to help keep the bait out of the grass. Other good news is hard to come by. ...Sea ya

Monday, July 20, 1998 /\/\/\7:52pm

Hot, Hot, Hot. Sure it was a little cooler when you got out on the ocean or even near the coast guard station, but you should remember to drink lots of water and hide under a hat away from the sun.
Weakfish are still being caught in the early morning in the mouth of the Mullica River, but you have heard that...Today, an angler reported a catch of Weakfish in the clam stakes on the NW side of the Fish Factory too.
Fluke were reported from scattered areas of the bay, but the grass on the bottom is making catching difficult again. Maybe it is time to did out the shad darts and the plastic floats to support the baits off the bottom a bit and aid in keeping the grass off the lines for more then 30 seconds. .....Sea ya

Sunday, July 19, 1998 /\/\/\ 9:50pm

Anglers fished everywhere today, most in search of Fluke. A few were caught on the ocean, however anglers had to work hard to get the few fish that they did. It seemed plenty of boats came home with a couple of Fluke and many caught plenty of short fish to keep the day interesting. It was a fine day weather wise and everyone should be grateful for the nice day on the Great Bay.....Sea ya

Saturday, July 18, 1998 /\/\/\9:55pm

A couple of anglers were proud of their Fluke that they caught in Great Bay today. Fishing in the ocean produced a few Fluke too. Can't say that anyone had a ton of fish to clean. A few Weakies were caught early at Oyster Bed Point in the mouth of the Mullica River. Trolling in the area of the Little Egg Bell buoy produced some Spanish Mackerel on real small Clarke Spoons. Bye. .....Sea ya

Friday, July 17, 1998 /\/\/\9:45pm

One angler made an effort to come back and tell me about his afternoon experience in the mouth of the Mullica River. They had good action with small Weakfish and a few keepers too. Bloodworms on small gold hook Top & Bottom rigs caught the Weakfish just fine at the high tide.....Sea ya

Thursday, July 16, 1998 /\/\/\10:06pm

Brians' E-mail kinda tells a good tune:
I was in Main Marsh Thorofare again today, right as you go into Main Marsh , right at the turn , 10 ft of water , 12 weakfish , very nice fish, no throwbacks....squid w/shedder oil...and bucktails....all the action before 7.30 .....i think you would have till 8.30 tomorrow...before the tide slacks ....well i'm off to hiltonhead s.c. for a week
....good luck brian
Other anglers found a good catch of Fluke and Weakies in the mouth of the Mullica River...I guess they just started to bite...
Jay found himself a Black Drum in Little Sheepshead Creek, but he didn't tell us about all those weakfish he is catching as the sun just come up...Hmmm....Sea ya

Wednesday, July 15, 1998 /\/\/\ 6:25pm

Well, I give...No Shedders. All phone calls come back with there aren't enough to go around or there aren't enough to run to Maryland and get etc. etc....Lot's of Shedder Oil and Squid Strips on those bucktails is just gonna have to do...sorry. =(
A couple of anglers tried to fish in the area of Main Marsh Thorofare from 145 to 148 Marker Buoys. I sent them there, because I heard that there were some decent Fluke and Weakfish coming out of this area and were chased out of there in short time by the green flies. The Little Egg Inlet was a safer place to fish for the Fluke, but has not been as productive as is was at the end of last week. Don't have any real good suggestions except to keep bouncing around the Great Bay. Just don't spend too much time fishing in one area if your not catching. Sea ya

Tuesday, July 14, 1998 /\/\/\ 5:31pm

Hot and breezy today and according to the VHF radio, the only thing biting real good were the green flies. One angler reported a few Weakfish (18"-20") in the Clam Stakes on the North West Side of the Fish Factory on Squid strip and Minnow bait. A few Weakfish reports are still coming out of the Little Sheepshead Creek in the evening too.
An E-mail from Capt Clutch may be of some interest:
July 11, 1998
South Ridge Barnegat - Boat - "The Hunter" - Drifting & chumming - 13 Fishermen boated 130 blue fish in less than three hours- Great day to be underway.
'Till tomorrow...Sea ya

Monday, July 13, 1998 /\/\/\ 5:38pm

A few keeper Fluke were caught around the Great Bay today, but the quantity of Fluke were mostly of throwback size. Best catch(pic up later) of Fluke was by the Christy family who were fishing up the Inland Waterway in Main Marsh Thorofare. They also had a couple of Weakfish in that area too.
A new fish arrives on the scene and it is the Spanish Mackerel. Anglers caught a few of the Spanish on squid and minnows in an effort to catch Fluke on the ocean. To give it an honest try to catch the Spanish Mackerel, troll rather fast with size 0 Clarke spoons or real small hopkins in an effort to simulate rainfish or spearing. The area to start in would be around the Little Egg Bell Buoy. Why would anyone want to catch the Spanish? Unlike other Mackerel, this guy is real good eating. Sea ya

Sunday, July 12, 1998 /\/\/\ 8:09pm

A couple more anglers reporting fair catches of Fluke on the ocean again today. Half way between Little Egg Inlet and Atlantic City Inlet and far enough off the beach to be in about 40 feet of water and the other ocean reported area was in 24 feet of water in front of the Red Tower on the South end of Long Beach Island. Back in the Great bay there was just no one hot spot. Many anglers caught tons of fish but were unable to find any keepers among them...Grow fish grow!...Sea ya

Saturday, July 11, 1998 /\/\/\ 9:11pm

Most of the anglers through the store this afternoon reported just OK catches today. One angler reported a nice catch of Fluke off the Red tower on the ocean in 24 feet of water. He mentioned that he had to pick through the shorts and trash fish like sharks and sea robbins, but eventually put together a very nice catch of decent Fluke. The hot spot of 'F' & 'G' buoy in Little Egg Inlet today was not so hot. Seems that a lot of smaller Fluke were caught there instead of the larger Fluke, like earlier in the week. Other niceFluke were caught in scattered areas around the Great Bay. Not much to say about the Weakfish again. They will just be caught when they want to be caught and thats that! I can't figure them out...Sea ya

Saturday, July 11, 1998 /\/\/\ 6:17pm

Some good stuff here...Thanks Ray for sending it our way..
Subject: Keeping bait alive
Here is an other idea for keeping minnows ( killies ) alive. I use two tupperware type containers of the same length and width but different depths. I use only one lid with holes at the sides of the lid. I put shedders etc. in the larger container then minnows - NO water - in the smaller container which acts as a lid for the larger one. I put the lid with small holes in the sides of the lid on the less deep container. I put a Colemans Brite Ice or some other plastic covered ice pack on TOP of the small lid and one under the pair of containers. The bait lives all day and then I put the minnows in a 5 gal pail with local water and a cheap air stone and pump in the basement (cooler there ) . I can do this with minnows for more than a week if I remember to feed them tropical fish food - the love it or if you like aggression - feed them some worms ! Thanks for all your information and keep up the great work on your site.
Ray Sanford Newark DE formerly of Port Republic NJ Sea ya =)

Friday, July 10, 1998 /\/\/\ 10:17pm

The Weakfish were in the mouth of the Mullica River earlier this morning, anglers could see then on the fish finders in large black clouds, but just couldn't get the fish to bite. Blame it on the boating traffic??? One Weakfishing report was from the West bank of Great Bay in front of Landing Creek, Oyster Creek and Motts Creek, provided 9 Weakfish with only one throwback. Other anglers caught some nice Weakfish but didn't disclose where.
The Fluke hot spot continues to be the deeper water in Little Egg Inlet in the general area of the 'G' marker can buoy. Top and Bottom rigs baited with squid strips and a minnow are the best producers in this deeper water.
Coolest fish of the week was this Sandtiger shark caught last night in Great Bay in the area of the inland waterway by anglers who were in search of the evening common Brown sharks or Sand Bar sharks and the 4' regular sand sharks. This toothy critter surely was a surprise.
Heard a good batch of large Blues showed up outside Little Egg Inlet this morning. Sorry, I only have the loran numbers, you should be able to cross reference them on a chart to get the GPS numbers. The Blues were in this area this morning. Who knows, they may be no where near these numbers tomorrow, but it can still be a good place to start. 26955 & 43123. Sea ya

Thursday, July 9, 1998 /\/\/\ 8:41pm

I am not sure weather or not everybody was telling fish stories this afternoon or not, but it sounded like a real good Fluke fishing day. Good reports on Fluke came from Little Egg Inlet and the mouth of the Mullica River too. A lot of small Fluke kept everyone busy, but not very productive for the fish box. Sea ya

Wednesday, July 8, 1998 /\/\/\ 6:25pm

A nice steady rain fell today, yet it didn't cool the temperature off that much. Fishermen didn't flock in to tell me a whole lot of fish stories either. A much needed rain was welcomed by gardeners and people with lawns.
Some interesting new news on the Graveling Point fishery though...A couple of large Bluefish have been caught the past few nights. I am not sure where they came from. Other anglers found good numbers of Bluefish on the Barnegat North Ridge, but not on the South Ridge. It's funny the difference a few miles can make. Sea ya

Tuesday, July 7, 1998 /\/\/\ 8:22pm

Hottest action seems to be the offshore fishery. Now that sure is a switch. A Wahoo was weighed in this afternoon and a pretty good size fish too! As you can tell by the previous reports today, offshore fishing surely is worth the trip.
Back in the Great Bay and Tuckerton Bay, anglers found some quantities of small Fluke and Weakfish. I believe from the information that I heard on the VHF radio that the area of Marshelder Channel in the Tuckerton Bay to be the best area for action for both Fluke and Weakfish. Sea ya

Tuesday, July 7, 1998 /\/\/\ 4:04pm

Great news of a catch and release from July 4th. Check it out. Sea ya...
"Offshore report- fished the lindenkohl canyon overnight. Day trolling yielded a bluefin,yellowfin and true albacore tune plus a 250 - 300 lb blue marlin. Night chunking produced large blue sharks and no tuna. Boat is the Witchcraft out of Loveladies captained by Bud Wigmore. Ed Frey of Media Pa was the lucky angler that fought the blue marlin for a release."
Another offshore report...thanks guys for sharing the info....
"Michael Savage---mksavage@cyberenet.net
July 3 and July 4 Left Tuckerton on the 3rd aboard Wreckless along with Chunkin'Chuck Huff and a couple of his buddies looking for tuna at the 750 square and found big bluefish. Trolling out to 30fathom line and picked up a dolphin on the way. We decided to run out to Wilmington and try the chunk. Chuck chunked all night without a break. No tuna at night but lots of blue sharks. I hooked one with a flying gaff that was big eneough to pull my 38 Bertram. We trolled up 10 yellowfin in the morning, had lots of multiple hookups. We were still catching fish at 10am on the fourth when we decided to head in. Canyon was about 74degrees. Warmer water was inside the 30 fathom, as high as 78. Calm seas and the boat ran great, doesn't get much better... fish could have been a bit bigger."

Monday, July 6, 1998 /\/\/\ 7:03pm

Grass and lack of biting fish made it a slow day on the Great Bay. However, the weather was so pleasant and the weekend so hectic that many anglers enjoyed the nice quiet relaxing day on the water. Fluke hot spots??? Warm is more like it. The area between the islands around the fish Factory and in Grassy Channel on the Eastern most end continue to be the most productive. There is still the occasional Weakfish being caught in the mouth of the Mullica River, but it seems like you have to be fishing there real early in the morning. Sea ya

Sunday, July 5, 1998 /\/\/\ 8:42pm

John, Taylor, and Tori will tell you that there are still some very large Fluke to be caught in the Great Bay. Too bad everyone didn't get a fish like these! A lot of grass was around today too to add to the difficulties of catching Fluke. After this weeks rain, that we are supposed to get, maybe it will shake up the fishing a bit. Sea ya

Saturday, July 4, 1998 /\/\/\ 8:59pm

Happy fourth of July. =)
Sure wasn't one of the top ten days of fishing today. Saw a couple of interesting fish though. One that didn't make the catch page was a Northern Stargazer that was caught in Grassy Channel and the other stranger in Great Bay was a Black Drum. Fluke and Weakfish were on vacation in the mountains 'cause they sure seemed like they weren't in the bay. It's like the El Nino, if we don't know why they didn't want to bite, we have to blame it on all of the additional boat traffic. The early anglers, before 6:00am, have been catching a fair quantity of Weakfish along the West side of Great Bay in the areas of Landing Creek, Oyster Creek and Motts Creek. Fishing has been difficult, but at least it has been a beautiful weekend. Sea ya

Friday, July 3, 1998 /\/\/\ 10:39pm

Fishing was far from great today in the Great Bay. Most anglers agree that there was just too much boat traffic running here and there. A few anglers had a good day though. Check out this 7 pound Fluke that was caught in Grassy Channel. Another angler broke down in the area of 134 marker buoy and drifted his way back toward Mystic Island. While he was fixing the water in the fuel filter, his son caught several nice Fluke and a large Weakfish even though a whole lot of boats were running all around. Go figure? Sea ya

Thursday, July 2, 1998 /\/\/\ 9:30pm

Hi folks! Needless to say, we are all extremely tired, and Scott just hit the road to fetch some shedder crabs. Will have some at the store as long as he doesn't wrap himself around a tree! Check out weekly bulletin for info. Have a good night! :)MizMo

Wednesday, July 1, 1998 /\/\/\ 6:55pm

Hello again, everybody. Here it is 6 months of the year gone by already and only 18 months to the year 2000! Can't believe the days are going by so fast.
Today is not exactly what the average person would call a good fishing day. A few anglers braved the 15 to 20 mph winds, only to drift way too fast to catch any fish. Other anglers turned to crabbing and found it to be very entertaining. Lets get some good fishing going again tomorrow. Sea ya