Pacemaker Boats

[changeofpace]

With the heat wave we're having, fishing trips are early or late in the evening. There are plenty of bunker, stripers blues and some weakfish to catch. The bunker are easy to snag and you can get a lot of bait easily. The bass are staying low and can be caught but are being difficult. I had made plans for a Sunday afternoon run out to the wreck but we had a severe thunderstorm with heavy rain and wind that ruined that. Now hopefully, Saturday will be good and no storms since Sunday is out due to it being fathers day and the wife doesnt want me gone for the day with my son on the boat

[leokow]

Hi Terry, funny how that Mothers day -Fathers day thing works isn't it
On Mothers Day you don't dare have anything planned that could slightly be construed as being even a little bit self serving, you need to stick around the house make it appear as though this is totally Mom's day !
Now comes Fathers Day and you don't dare do anything that may seem the least bit self serving, you need to stick around the house because it's Fathers Day and you don't want to upset Mom by doing something else.
It's a fun game we play during the different holidays,isn't it ?
But , you know something, I don't think I'd want it to be any other way!

As far as fishing goes, I haven't had the chance to do any and my boat is still on the blocks, going to be a very late start this year,to say the least.
My neighbor went into a bluefish tournament and did really well, he ended up with 4 large blues from 11 lbs. thru 12 and a 1/2 and they took 3rd place plus one of the calcuttas. It seems as though this year is going to mimmick last year in that all of the good fishing seems to be north of Barnegat Inlet, most of the striper action that was going on during the week last week under big schools of bunker had vanished by the weekend. there are still some huge blues around but they aren't packed like they were earlier. I've been invited to go on a flounder tournament
trip this Saturday and I guess we'll see what happens when that day is over. It's nice to be back, there doesn't seem to be a lot of activity on the site, or am I reading things wrong. Everyone mostly working on the their
boats.... with not much time for posting. c u later ....Leo

[changeofpace]

Leo I PM'ed you, sorry for the length, I always was long winded.
OK fishing report for New haven 6/12/08 stripers can be had with bunker chunks right in the harbor, still a ton of bunker and some blues and weakfish. I hope to get out early sunday morning if the weather holds up if not the 22nd will be a scheduled trip with a few guys (The admiral has already been notified)

[shawn_carlson]

Its good to see some of us are getting some fishing in. I'm hoping for a shake down cruise on Sunday and a fishing trip on Tuesday.

Leo best of luck with the tourney (and welcome back).

[leokow]

Thanks Shawn, it's good to be back, but I kinda of really renewed a very
close relationship with my youngest(38)daughter and it was really hard to leave after almost 6 months of being with her 24/7. We still talk to each other every day and the best thing about what happened is we became best friends all over again. Life sort of gets in the way when your 're a 1000 miles apart and your busy with your own families and day to day problems and you start to lose touch with the rest of the family that is spread all over the states.
She is the best fisherman in the family followed by her son, my grandson
even though I call them cheats because they both dive when the boat fishing gets slow. Florida's fluke limits are unblievable 10 fish each with a 12 in. minimum.
Makes me think about relocating !!LOL.
Shawn, now that your boat is running smooth (it is isn't it?)see if you can pick a couple of doormats from up near the brick pile in Marshelders channel. Good luck....Leo
PS.. Please say Hello to Shannon for Marie and I.

[shawn_carlson]

Will do. I just need the weather cooperates on Tuesday.

Great news about your daughter and grandson.

[changeofpace]

6/22 update. got some fishing time in this morning trying to beat the thunderstorms predicted (they never happened) got 6 stripers only 2 big enough to keep bunker chunks still are the best. small blues and bunker are everywhere, not too many weakfish and no flounder at all.
Terry

[changeofpace]

7/5 update, rainy and overcast but still plenty of porgies and black trout to be had. Also a ton of jellyfish have arrived and are even in the river where the boat is docked. I cant remember seeing so many this early, normally Aug. before they are here. Hope this doesn't mean a shift in the current that will bring a hurricane here. We haven't had one since 86 so we are due
Happy fishing
Terry

[leokow]

Real funny that you should mention Hurricane, Terry, there's one on the way and so far it doesn't look good for the northeast coast.
My boat is still on the ground , even the little one is still covered and tied down to the trailer. I'm a real ball of fire this season !!LOL Surgery this wed. , so I guess it doesn't make much difference anyway. Most of the fluke fishing around here has been an exercise in catch and release,some guys catching as many as 25 before getting a keeper. Most of the throw backs are in the 16 to 17 1/2 range,really ,really frustrating ! I am also beginning to hear a lot of ugly talk about a new type of fishing called FILLET AND RELEASE ! I used to hear about this from one or two disgruntled fisherman but now they far outnumber the ones that are quiet.
It kinda of reminds me of another time when people were disgusted about the way the government was treating them, I think it was called the Boston Tea Party.!
How do you justify the recreational sector having a 18 to 20 inch limit,and the commercial sector being able to keep everything over 14 inches. I have nothing against commercial fisherman, they work damn hard for their money,but fair is fair, by the way they also get 60% of the total allocation. I am also at a loss to try to explain the by-catch rules for a supposedly threatened species,draggers are allowed to keep 100 lbs. of fluke 14 inches or better, the rest DEAD or alive must be returned to the sea, to feed the crabs and sharks ! now that's real fisheries management
why aren't we all screaming and yelling at the people in control to fix this mess,why are we ,for the most part just sitting here and taking what they give out ? There are organizations like RFA (Recreational Fishing Alliance)
started by the people that own the Viking Yacht co. in New Gretna, NJ.
they have been fighting in DC and everywhere else on behalf of the recreational fisherman, they also realize that no fishing means no boat sales, it's in their best interest as well as ours, if we are not going to get off our lazy butts then the least we should be willing to do is join an organization like this, that will do the fighting for us. They even write the letters and pre-print the post cards necessary to contact the necessary people in government, all we have to do is sign and mail them. My membership fee is just $25. a year, really a paltry sum to help save what I like to do most in the world,FISH. They send you newsletters and updates on important matters concerning our fisheries and not just locally
this outfit has become big enough to handle nationwide issues and some foreign ones too(TUNA< for instance). So come on guys , I know things are tough, I'm disabled and they are really tough for me, but this organization deserves our support, it's the perfect answer for the guy that is fed up with the way things are going and wants to do something but feels he is only one person and it won't make a difference, add your one to the many that already belong and see the power of UNITY work ! If you check them out you will see that their work has already benefited almost all of us, they are one of the only voices for us in the power centers where the decisions are made. So lets help them , help us.
I have no financial interest in this organization,and no ulterior motive for endorsing it so passionately, I am just another member and have been for several years, among the commercials, and the tree frog lovers, they are one of our only voices. So if your sick and tired of what's been going on with our fisheries and you would really like to institute some kind of change to make things better for us, please think about it,it's the least you can do.
Sorry for being so long winded, but this is a message that I felt just had to get out there, it's much too important to ignore !

[shawn_carlson]

Not to add fuel to the fire. The Rutgers Marine center is requesting the carcasses of keeper fluke. It appears they screwed up big time because something like 90% of the fluke over 18 inches are female. Thats really going to hurt the breeding population.


Best of luck with the surgery.

[leokow]

Thanks Shawn, by the way , where did you hear about the Rutgers item, I would like to know more about what's going on with them.

[shawn_carlson]

They posted signs at all the fillet tables at my marina. Of coarse, they don't mention the reason why they want the carcasses. I found that out from the people that work in the store. Not much more than hearsay at this point, but makes sense.

[leokow]

Thanks Shawn, I'm just having a real hard time with 90% of the fish over 18 in. are female. An 18 in. fish isn't much more than 2 lbs. and there are an unusual amount of large fish getting caught north of Barnegat light, fish in the 8 to 14 lb. range, I can't believe that they are mostly female, that would really throw the mating procedure way out of kilter. A 14lb, fluke could almost eat a 2lb.der.I'm gonna try to find out how to sex those darn things and see what I can find out. A bunch of scientist(what they call themselves) has tried to tell the fishing community and the powers that be that the reason the fishing has shifted to the north is because of global warming. However, there's an old fishing captain down here that has been espousing a different theory,that no one in power wants to hear. He's been fishing for 55yrs, mostly between Little Egg and Barnegat Light , and most of his favorite spots are now devoid of life' Recently, they did a drag from Barnegat to Little Egg,that's about 14 miles, to try and see how many surf clams and quahogs they could catch.
They were trying to dispel the rumors that there weren't any to be caught, suprise ,theydidn't drag up 1 clam or quahog, there is a dead zone down the entire coast. Global warming ? Habberstrom doesn't think so, he believes it's the 3 outfall pipes from the water treatment plants on shore, when we get heavy rains it overwhelms the system so they are permitted to get out from under the pressure by releasing UNTREATED water directly into the Ocean,he says that everything comes out of those pipes,consequently the dead zone and northward movement of the fish. This sounds a lot more feasible to me to be the reason for the clam and fish problem we are experiencing and global warming comes in real far down the list.Because these outfall pipes have become a pet peeve for the old captain they just write him off as cranky at any meetings he attends,and he goes to all of them,and possesed by the outfall pipes as causing most of the problems along Long Beach Islands shore.I for one must agree with him, it sure makes a hell of a lot more sense than what they are trying to come with. You'd think that someone would do a little testing and see what's up, but no, if the capt. is right just think of what it would cost to fix.That's the root of the problem, money, they don't mind spending it ,as long as it's on something that they want to spend it on, in the ocean it's out of sight and the only people it's bothering is fisherman,so they will keep on getting away with it until someone gets really sick, either from the seafood or from swimming or surfing in that stuff.For me , I know you can see a real difference in water quality after some of the heavier rains, which would be normal if we were fishing below Little Egg inlet, but this area is above the inlet,so it should be fairly clean. I really wish those guys at the meetings that have the power to get something done would remember one of the things we were taught as kids, Mind Your Elders, boy,you'll learn something !!
Sorry this was so long, but you got me on my soapbox with that Rutgers thing !! c ya Leo

[shawn_carlson]

Well back to fishing. I hope to take a shot this friday for some weakies at the mouth of the mullica... maybe try for a fluke or 2. Hopefully the forecast will cooperate.

[leokow]

If your going for weakies up there the 2 best times are very early in the morning just as the sun comes up and in the evening until about an hour after dark. Most of the fish are caught closer to the left side of the point about 20 feet out fron the flashing light. Once the boats start coming out of the marinas and the back of Mystic Island the fish turn off, but then you can drift for fluke from that same spot out to marker 139 in the ICW,or the reverse if the tide is going the opposite way. Good luck.and I'll talk to you later.

[rebait]

If the weakies are hitting the Mullica better than Barnegat the week after next, maybe I'll trailer the Dixie done to Chestnut Neck. I always had good success early morning, mid week at the mouth of the Mullica. I'll give you guys a shout. If they are hitting better at Barnegat we can take the Wahoo. Have to break that engine in and my son has some new jigs that he made.

John