“Creepin’ into fall-Fishing report-08-30-10-by Bob Misak
This past weekend the weather was great and so was the fishing, as boats were able to get outside and we had low humidity and cooler weather for most of the week. The fluke fishing was very satisfactory according to most anglers I ran into, and Herland Cornelius got outside and caught a bunch of keeper fluke in 35 to 40 ft. of water outside the inlet. The area up by the Ferris wheel, which is always a late season hot spot for bass fishing every year has been giving up some 5 to 7 lb. fluke, and 6 yr. old Dave Baron got one over the rail at a little over 6 lbs, a great fish for a youngster to put up on the scale. The sea bass are thick on the wrecks and some 5 lb. and even bigger fish are coming in on some of the head boats, with the occasional mega-tog and a triggerfish or two in the mix. The ocean is supposed to get a little angry as this storm passes off shore for a few days but there are plenty of things to do out there to pass the time if you can’t get outside.
The 6th st. dock is now giving up some keeper togs and although the fantastic fluke fishing that we’ve had over there has slowed a bit, there are still some keepers coming over the rail. Most of the regulars over there will now turn to togging as they do catch some 6 to 8 lb. fish there. The fish seem to be coming in with the choppy seas pushing them off the end of the jetty for some calmer water. We get this every year around the September full moon and the boys fishing out on the tip of the jetty are hard pressed to reach the end, because of high water due to the moon combined with this off shore hurricane sweeping by. It doesn’t phase most of us, as I fished with my cousin Mark Cornelius on Saturday and we slammed the blowfish on the west side of the Barnegat Bay. The fish are now carpeting the bottom of the bay and my son was fishing next to us with Chris “cracker” Graham and between the two boats we left with 90 puffers, most of them being jumbo green eyes at 8 to 12 inches. Heavy chumming is, of course the key ingredient, and with the bay being as warm as it is, you should have at least 8 to 10 logs on board. We let the chum run low a couple times and the bite was quickly off, so you really have to keep the chum pot loaded or those sneaky little buggers move off to the next boat. The blowfish undoubtedly are in here taking advantage of full moon crab sheds, which is an easy meal for them when the soft crabs are in full force. Basil has the best chum in town and plenty of spots and killies as we head into the last week of the flatty season. Sept. 6th is it, and the fluking is pretty good right now so if you’re going to squeeze in one last trip or two, now is the time. All in all it hasn’t been a bad fluke season at all and though there were tons of throwbacks to contend with, the last half of the season proved to be fruitful. It certainly eclipsed last season by a mile, and there is some haggling going on over the loosening of the noose next year, so we’ll see what they let us have for next season. Hopefully the size limit will drop an inch or so, and that will give us the break we need to load up on fluke again. The crabbing in the bay has slowed a bit and there are still some good blue claws to be had, but the weather man says we’re getting some days near 100 degrees again this week, and this should be the last hurrah of what was one brutal summer! I know it sure wasn’t any fun for those of us who had to work out in it. So the fishing is pretty good, and no doubt will get better as summer comes to a close, with Labor Day being next weekend and the kids get back on the school bus. I bet they’re looking forward to that, huh? I know I just loved it. The sands are giving up some big blues and even a couple 20 lb. bass, and I think they’re moving in to try to elude this storm as well, so that’s a great option to have as well. Basil has bunker for anyone who wants to hit the beach, provided the angry seas don’t keep us away. So we’ll see you at the shop, and good luck and great fishing to everyone. Be safe.
Barnegat Light Bait and Tackle
1501 Bayview Ave.
Barnegat Light, NJ
(609) 494-4566
Website www.barnegatlightbaitandtackle.com
Email info@barnegatlightbaitandtackle.com