Surf Slammers, Bob Misak, barnegat Light Bait and tackle 5-31

[jackdaniels]

“Surf slammers”-Fishing report-06-01-10-By Bob Misak
We predicted that there would be a 40 lb. fish or two hit the sands up here in Barnegat Light in the report on Friday, and it was to be. Jason Delpalazzo emerged from the shadows of the night to smack a 42 lb. 14 oz. bass, and yes, he took the lead in the “Simply Bassin’ tournament. I smell a thousand dollars! Congrats to Jason on that gorgeous fish, and he is one of those sharpies who keeps a log and catches those big cows in June year after year! Plus, its guys like that who keep me looking good when I stick my neck out like that. I fished the weekend at night and caught quite a few bass, nothing real big, but there was two guys fishing a jetty next to me and they lit it up for two nights, catching a 30 lb. fish and several in the mid-twenties, although they lost two huge bass in the finger jetty next to me. Charlie Savage caught his first bass, a 17 lb. 8 oz. fish, and congrats to another up and coming sharpie! The bass are on the beach on the north end, and the night hours are when guys are catching the cows. Fresh bunker is the key to getting these fish to hit, and I like to wait until I see it come off the boat for best results. June looks to be a good month for bass on the beach, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see someone catch a 50 in the derby, but I’m not committing to that one.
The fluke season started on Saturday, and guys did catch fluke, but there were some complaints about the water temps being a little too low for flattie fishing. My cousin Mark Cornelius had four fish on his boat on Saturday, and Sunday the bite slowed, all in the bay. Double creek channel produced some fluke, but most of the better catches came from way out by the ridge. Within a week or two there will be an increase in the fluke fishing with the water temps shooting up. It wasn’t easy to fish the bay this weekend with the boat traffic, and I think the bluefish went into hiding.
Outside the sea bas fishing is picking up and will get better as time goes on. We only have a month and the tog fishing will open back up, but the limit will be one 14 inch tog for the summer. That’s not to say that you can’t get out there and keep a bigger fish. We fish the south jetty all summer and keep fish at 18 inches or over, and we try to keep only the males (the ones with the white chins) and that’s plenty enough fish to eat all summer long. It won’t be long and the triggerfish and the sheepsheads should start making their presence along the jetties and out at some of the wrecks, although most of those types of fish have been caught more on the inshore rock piles, probably due to the massive populations of Asian shore crabs that are making the jetty their home. So stop on down to the fully loaded Barnegat Light bait and tackle and stock up and get out there, the 2010 fishing season is well under way! Turkey season is now over so maybe Basil will actually work a little this summer! I’m wondering if he stopped hiding the chairs in the shop! Good luck and great fishing to everyone, and have a safe summer.