Article: Bottom fishermen having success on reefs, rock piles

[Jer]

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Bottom fishermen having success on reefs, rock piles

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 09/18/07

BY JOHN GEISER
CORRESPONDENT

Bottom fishermen are bouncing from reefs to rock piles, putting together catches of sea bass, porgies and assorted other fishes.

Capt. Joe Bogan, owner of the Jamaica II out of Bogan's Basin, Brielle, said the vessel docked Thursday with mostly bass taken on the broken bottom in 60 to 70 feet of water.

Sunday he reported a showing of porgies on the same grounds with the sea bass.

"More porgies seem to be showing up each day," he said. "'Individual catches range from eight to 20 sea bass on most trips."

Alex Pilewski, Trenton, had 18 sea bass to 3 pounds on one trip, and Walter Swedo, Lakewood, had 22 sea bass to 3 1/2 pounds. Martin Ferrell, Princeton, had 14 sea bass.

"These catches are keepers," he said. "Not too many small ones mixed in."

Ray Bryant, South Orange, caught 16 sea bass and 10 porgies; Luis Ferriera, South Amboy, had a dozen sea bass and 14 porgies; John Judge, Point Pleasant, had 19 sea bass to 3 1/2 pounds; and Fred Morris, Trenton, had 10 sea bass and 21 porgies.

Capt. Ed Bunting Jr., Sea Horse, Atlantic Highlands, is pleased with the way the weakfish action has developed.

"Weakfish broke wide open during the week," he said. "The strong northwest wind turned them on in the channel. All big keepers — very few throwbacks."

Bunting said the bulk of the fish caught on his boat weighed between 2 and 5 pounds, and measured 16 inches and over.

"Sandworms, Gulps, Fire Tails — all hot," he said. "Many limits on the boat, and many customers catching five to six keepers along with a few blues."

Chris Rizzo, Warwick, N.Y., had a 7-pound weakfish; Cathy Melillo, Berkeley Heights, had a 12-pound striped bass; Sara Shirazi, Union, had a 5-pound weakfish; Bill Doran, Randolph, had a 7-pound weakfish; and Chris Ying, Woodbridge, had a 6-pound weakfish.

Capt. George Bachert, skipper of the Angler out of Atlantic Highlands, said the weekend weakfish action was the best of the season thus far with lots of limits on the boat.

"These weakfish are bigger than last year," he said. "There are a lot of 4- to 6-pound fish, and fishing is very good."

Capt. Don Hager Jr., Sea Fox, Atlantic Highlands, said the weakfish action keeps getting better, and he estimated he had close to 300 keepers on the boat Sunday.

"We had a big crowd, and they all caught fish," he said. "One drift alone produced over 100 keepers with the 16-inch New York limit."

Hager said ling fishing was good in the Mud Hole on his Friday special trip with high hooks in the 40s, and an average of a dozen per angler. He said the catch produced a lot of big, yellow-bellied fish as well as white-bellied newcomers.

Capt. Carmine Monaco, Lucky Charm, Keyport, was out Sunday with the Ty Giovator party, North Arlington, and they wound up with two fish shy of the limit.

Pete Meyers had a 4 1/2-pound weakfish, and Lucy Patricia had her limit. All of the fish were caught on sandworms in Raritan Reach.

Capt. Howard Bogan Jr., Jamaica, Brielle, reported excellent fishing for bluefish Friday night with limit catches of 6- to 14-pound blues made by many anglers.

Bogan said the 100-foot Paramount will sail for bluefish instead of the Jamaica every Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. for the rest of September.

"Saturday we were jigging in the morning, and caught 5- to 11-pound blues," he said. "There were loads of readings on the scope at times, and the action was wild. However, the school moved quickly, and we had to keep searching to find them. High hook had 10 bluefish."

Kathy Hawn, New Holland, Pa., won the pool with an 11-pound bluefish.

Fred Wiedemann of the Sandy Hook Bay Anglers said the club's annual snapper contest held Saturday was a success with 17 prizes awarded to young anglers who weighed in snappers between 7 3/4 inches and 10 1/4 inches.

Steven Mueller, Middletown, won the boys' division with a 10 1/4-inch snapper, and Victoria Millicker, also of Middletown, won the girls' division with a 9-inch snapper.

[Double D]

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[Jer]

Originally Posted by Double D

I like how you're reading my local paper in far off Brazil

I have learned a thing or two reading those APP articles