“It’s a keepa”- Fishing report-08-05-10-By bob Misak Barnegat Light Bait and tackle

[jackdaniels]

“It’s a keepa”- Fishing report-08-05-10-By bob Misak



Bob Misak-the author displays a nice land caught fluke

This past week was a great one out there on the water with some really nice fluke coming in to the marinas and off the docks and jetties, as the flatties begin to move towards open water. There were a good number of keeper fish taken in the hotspot of the week, the area from Meyer’s Hole out towards the front of the lighthouse. I fished the 6th st. dock in Barnegat Light on Saturday and came home with three nice fluke from 19 to 22 inches, and I saw several boats drifting the inlet and netting some bruisers, and you can tell a fluke’s size by the amount of screaming and yelling on each boat. This area of the inlet has been on fire for three weeks now with Ray Frazier catching an 8 lb. fish off the dock weeks ago. I did notice, however that as I fished this weekend there were several more toss back fish than in recent weeks, with about 20 fish going back in. Again, I think this is due to the incredibly warm temps in the bay, and even the crabbing has dropped off a bit in the bay as a lot of the blue claws are big females with egg sacs. They must go back by law, so the males are the only keeper crabs you can take home right now. There are guys starting to chum in and around Oyster Creek, and I have heard of some nice triggerfish taken over chum slicks. There isn’t any word of the masses of blowfish coming in like last summer, but give it time; when the water cools down a bit, they will come. I did catch two kingfish off the jetty rocks while fluking, so the flatties will move to cooler water and the kings will move on into the bay, and hopefully the blowfish will follow. If you go to Barnegat Light bait and tackle Basil has fresh ground chum, and it’s fresh and clean. I know it’s good because I went in the shop the other day and Basil had some of it on his chin. I think he was eating it. I worry about him sometimes.
Outside the inlet guys are starting to light it up in about 40 to 60 ft. of water with some keeper fluke and the head boats are full as they leave the docks each morning, some going out for sea bass and tog and some are on the mega-blues at night. Those night trips are cool and comfortable in weather like this, and on a calm night they’re loads of fun, so book yourself a trip! Out at the Barnegat Ridge there are a lot of guys’ fluking, and some 6 to 8 lb. fish are coming to the scales. The tuna fishing out at the canyons is heating up and I’ve seen some really nice big eyes and medium yellow fins being brought back to the docks. The brown sharks are in season big time, and the 70 degree water temps in the ocean seem to have all the municipalities up near Seaside shutting down beaches as the fish come close to the surf pushing bait. There are no threats to people, just bunker and stuff. The warm water has caused an influx of shark sightings, but that’s all they are; sightings. The end of the south jetty is chock full of giant togs, and I was out there a couple days ago and saw a guy with a real bruiser of a white chin, a male tog that was sticking out of a five gallon bucket. This puppy had a broom tail, and I would guess it to be about ten or eleven lbs, but when I went to take his picture, he said something to me in Chinese that sounded like, “take my picture and get a round house to the head” so I left him alone. Anyway, green crabs or those deadly shore crabs are the bait of choice, of course, and I like to catch my own bait. But Basil and Nick have plenty of green crabs and they’re selling like crazy, so head on over to the tackle shop and Basil or Josh will put you on whatever you want to catch that day. Basically, things are great out there and they are going to pick up as the fluke tourneys get under way and fall creeps up on us. Soon, the bass will return! So head on down to Barnegat Light bait and tackle and load up and go fish for some good table treats. Good luck and great fishing to everyone, and if you’re out on the jetty, remember those cleats. There’s grass growing out there. Be safe.