May 9, 1997
What's Biting"
What's biting? I warned you. I threatened you.
Now here it is, GNAT season! Cough, Cough, Gasp, Buzz. If there were half
as many fish biting we would be dancing. Be prepared, we have these great
new head nets and we are stocked up on repellents if you're still working
on the boat or catching up on the garden. You will need it if Mother Nature
gives us a break and stops the wind from blowing.
Fluke
Fluke stories were better this week, but we
have a long way to go to call it good fishing. Most anglers are concentrating
their efforts in the 139 to 135 marker buoy area of the Inland Waterway.
squid and minnows are the favorite choices of bait on single hook bottom
drifting rig. The spin & glow rigs are a good choice for starters.
Another real popular method of landing early season fluke is to use mackerel
strip bait on a bucktail lure. Cut the mackerel into long thin strips--a
little wider than a shoe lace--and bait the bucktail regularly for bright
color and fresh scent. Howard Butler weighed in our big fluke of the week,
5 pounds 23 1/2". Yes, it was caught on mackerel strip and a bucktail.
Another fluke report from the Inland Waterway on Thursday, mentioned two
16" fluke and nothing else. Anglers fishing at Pebble Beach at the
end of Radio Road, off Ohio Drive, reported several fluke this week too.
Largest fish there was 20 inches; not bad! That bit of information brings
to mind a suggestion. Some customers in the past years drifted the area
in front of Great Bay Marina and had very successful fluke fishing trips.
It is definitely worth a half an hour of trying before moving down to the
other side of the bay.
Bluefish
The debate is on! When were the Bluefish here
in full force last year? I thought it all really got started around May
10th. A few Bluefish are usually caught by surf fishermen, but the guys
in the boats usually don' t start knocking them dead until around second
week of May. I am off to consult my last year's bulletin which is still
on the internet at the
I Love LBI
site to see what I said
this week last year! I copied the following out of the May 10, 1996 newsletter
and I didn't even have to ask the author for copyright permission! "The
bluefish are here. The bluefish are here. It is unbelievable how many blues
are in the Great Bay. The most asked question is "Where are they?".
I believe they are everywhere! They are being caught trolling, casting,
and bait fishing. OK, trolling the blues has been best in the area of 139
marker in the Inland Waterway over toward Oyster Creek. A number 2 or 3
tried and true Clarke Spoon is doing well." Oh boy, we are behind
last year for sure! At this time I feel that the Blue fishing is still
best done by drifting and jigging bait down in Grassy Channel or by anchoring
the boat at Graveling Point throwing a little chum and fishing some float
type rigs. Graveling point has been a hit & miss location so far. Trolling
at this point is still not a good option, but somebody has to catch the
first fish trolling. Lets hope that the blues kick into high gear by next
weekend.
Cragging & Lagoon Fishing
Crabbing in the lagoons is pretty much a guarded
secret at this point. Some crabbers are catching good size crabs and good
amounts, and other crabbers are catching nothing but small ones. The only
way to determine if you have one of the better crab catching lagoons is
to try throwing in the overnight crab pot and see what happens.
Also worth mentioning, is a little bit of fish
activity that may be in the lagoons. Several anglers have reported catching
Blowfish while surf fishing. Another customer mentioned catching a keeper
size fluke in his crab trap. If you wanted to try catching anything in
the lagoons, use a size 8 or 10 hook with little piece of squid on it.
A special note to all you guys out there, don't
forget that Sunday, May 11 is Mother's Day. Either help the kids out to
get something special for mom or do something nice yourself!