April 11, 1997

Trout

The big news of the week is the opening of Trout season at 8:00am on Saturday morning. There are not too many South Jersey Trout, but we still have two places to fish for them that are semi-local. The first and most fun area is Birch Grove Park Pond in Northfield. Birch Grove is a great place to take the kids. Each year they sponsor a mini-tournament. The gates at the park open at 6:00am. Registration starts at 7:00am. Fishing for prizes is 8:00am to 12:00 noon. For more info call the park at 609 641 3778, they are very friendly there and said to pray for no rain, but that the contest would run rain or shine. Yes, fishing licenses and trout stamps are required for persons age 14 to 69. The fee for Jr/Sr resident license(age 14,15 and 65-69)and stamp is $15.50. The regular adult resident fishing license and stamp fee is $24.25. We have plenty of licenses and stamps in stock. The story behind Hammonton Lake having trout in it is a funny one. The rumor has it that a Trout hatchery delivery truck broke down on the highway right in front of the lake. All the Trout were going to die, so the driver off loaded all the trout into Hammonton Lake. The event turned into a success and Trout have been re-stocked there ever since! Lines in the water at 8:00am sharp; all Trout beware!

Mackerel

First mackerel caught by local anglers happened Friday morning around 9:00am. The trip is South of Little Egg Inlet or kinda in front of Atlantic City. Anglers reported sporadic catches of fish for short periods of time and that the Mackerel were of good size and the numbers were well worth the trip. Otherwise, all comments about the specifics were "cryptic." Fish Mackerel tree rigs with a minimum of 4 to 6 ounce Bead Tackle diamond Jigs or slab jigs for the weight on the bottom of the rig. The Bead Tackle jigs have a much shinier finish and catch more fish, but also take a larger bite out of your wallet. Use cheaper jigs on head boats or use sinkers due to the likeliness of lost gear.

Heering

The Herring are still scattered about. There are reports of Herring breaking the surface of the water at Graveling Point this week. Other Herring are still being caught in the lagoons under spot lights at night. Lots of Herring being spotted, but not too many being hooked. A report as current as Thursday, April 10th was that the Herring have not returned to the Basto Village dam.

Winter Folunder

Our first Winter Flounder were weighed in by Joe Trischitti of Trenton, New Jersey. He had a nice catch with his two largest fish being 1 pound 14 ounces and 1 pound 7 ounces. The rest of the fish were of very nice size also. Joe fished in what is locally known as Tuckerton Bay along the East, Middle and West Sedge Islands. Tuckerton Bay is the Southern area of Little Egg Harbor Bay. This area is also commonly referred to as the Middle Grounds. Begin fishing with the boat anchored and throw clam chum and canned corn to attract flounder. Use small hook Winter Flounder rigs with 1 1/2 ounce weights. Jigging the rig occasionally will put some fish in the fish box. In the past years, the best time to fish was last few hours of the slower moving outgoing tide.

Wreck Fishing

Evelyn Ann out of Oyster Creek in Port Republic reported another good day at wreck fishing. He said that the first few sea bass made a showing. His fishing efforts have been in water depths greater than 60 feet. Crabs and clams are the bait of choice.

Striped Bass

Striper fishing at Graveling Point continues to be excellent. Three keeper size Bass were weighed in the store after the incoming Monday morning (7th) tide. Lou Brofsky of Mystic Island started it off with a 17 pound 8 ounce 37 inch bass followed by Bill Sitar, also from Mystic Island weighed in a 17 pound 2 ounce linesider. This guy Bill breezed through the store with his 29 1/2 inch 8 pounder(best one to eat) not giving up to many details. No keepers have been brought in since then, but I have heard of a few catch and releases. Night fishing activity has also been picking up. The pompano style rig without the floats seems to still be the rig of choice. As more and more crabs start to move out of the mud, switching over to the pompano style rig with the red floats becomes necessary.

Bluefish

The bluefish will be here in less than two weeks. The first bluefish are caught on cut Mackerel bait on a monofilament bottom float type rig. Scott's Bait & Tackle offers a $100.00 gift certificate to the first Graveling Point or Pebble Beach angler who brings in a Bluefish. There is no size limit for the prize fish, it only has to be large enough to be identifiable. Good luck all anglers.