Fading weakfish fishery makes slight comeback

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 09/25/07

The Raritan Bay weakfish run made a partial comeback Sunday and Monday after what appeared to be a collapse last week.

The fish are not there in the numbers that they have been in past years, but they provided some entertainment earlier in the month, and still offer some opportunities.

Capt. Sal Cursi, skipper of the charter boat Cathy Sea out of Sewaren, said the fish began to bite Sunday morning, and he wound up with a catch.

"We had a shutdown for three days," he said. "It looked as if they were gone, but they came back. I've seen it happen before."

Cursi said the fishing went from "fantastic" to "horrible" overnight. Fishing was so bad that some captains switched to bottom fishing.

"Only time will tell," Cursi said. "This happened for a while three years ago. The fish disappeared, and then we had them good in October. We'll see."

Capt. Tom Buban, Atlantic Star, Atlantic Highlands, made the switch from weaks to sea bass over the weekend.

"I gave up on the weaks," he said. "The weakfish fishing really fell apart last week, and I'm going half-day bottom fishing now - 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m."

Capt. Carmine Monaco, Lucky Carm, Keyport, had the Charles Ball party, Keyport, out, and they tried for weakfish.

"We had one small weakfish," he said. "As far as I'm concerned, it's over. I switched to bottom fishing and had porgies to 2 1/2 pounds and sea bass to 1 1/2 pounds."

Monaco said there are still plenty of bluefish in Raritan Bay, and striped bass are being caught at the point of Sandy Hook.

Chris Salus of Crabby's Bait and Tackle, Keyport, said his customers are pleased with the bottom fishing.

"We're seeing some of the biggest porgies that we've seen in a long time," he said. "Some of them are up to 3 pounds. And there are lots of sea bass, though you have to catch and release three small fish for every keeper."

"Bluefishing is also good," he said. "Jen Rice, Middletown, was out fishing for blues, and he nailed an 11 1/2-pounder on 10-pound test line."

Salus said the annual snapper and crabbing contest was a success, with a big turnout in spite of a couple of hours of rain.

"The crabbing was great, and we had over 100 crabs brought in to be measured," he said. "The biggest one was 6 7/8 inches. But snapper fishing was slow because of all the bait around Keyport."

Bob Matthews of the Fisherman's Den, Belmar, said porgy and snapper fishing have both been good in Shark River, and there are some weakfish and stripers in the river.

Capt. Francis Bogan, Paramount, Brielle, said the bottom fishing has been up and down lately.

"Thursday was the best day of sea bass fishing in months, and Friday the fish decided to take a short vacation," he said. "It was just plain slow fishing, but Sunday's trip saw renewed action on the local grounds."

Bogan said Rubin Stuvall of Piscataway had 21 sea bass; Mike Francesca, Lakewood, had 23 sea bass and three porgies; Don Stanton, Hamilton, had 23 sea bass; and Bill Salvage, South Plainfield, had 16 sea bass. The heaviest sea bass was a 5-pounder caught by Randy Veney, Paulsboro.

"Clams have been the bait of choice on the daily inshore trips," Bogan said. "A one- or two-hook rig with six to eight ounces of lead is the way to go.

"With porgies in the area, it is wise not to go with too large a hook while sea bass fishing. When the porgies start to bite in earnest on any given day, many anglers will switch over to a small hook to increase their odds."

Capt. Joe Romaniello, Papa's Angels, Keyport, had the Bob Brooks party, Maywood, out, and they fished the back of Raritan Bay, catching bluefish and weakfish. The blues were taken on cut bunkers, and the weaks on sandworms.

Frank Pogue, Willingboro, fished with Capt. Howard Bogan Jr. on the Jamaica, Brielle, and he caught two yellowfin tuna while Angelo Ruvio, North Haledon, had two yellowfins and a longfin. John Hans, Milltown, had a yellowfin, a longfin and a 10-pound dolphin.