No Way Jose: remnants of hurricane impact offshore fishing

At the risk of showing my age, there are a couple of things I have to say about the recent weather at the shore and what affect it has been having on the fishing.

First, there is an Art Carney as Ed Norton quote on the Honeymooners: “Sheesh”!

Then, there is the opening of an old Kingston Trio song: “These are times that try men’s souls”!

Obviously, the residue of Hurricane Jose didn’t do anyone any favors last week. A secondary aspect of that is it marked the third week in a row weather conditions impacted the fishing.

To be honest, anglers were able to sneak in a few days on the water without getting hammered. I was speaking to a friend this past Tuesday, and he reported on a trip to the deep a week ago Saturday. His catch consisted of several quite large tuna, a number of smaller tuna and, for fun, plenty of mahi.

He added the freezer is full, and he probably won’t be going offshore again this season. He refused to say what canyon produced all those fish; but since I saw him cleaning them, I know he wasn’t making up a story.

Before conditions fell apart, there was a huge variety of fish swimming around, especially in the bays, channels and inlets. Included were good numbers of now-prohibited summer flounder and black seabass.

Anglers at the time could expect to catch taug, although just one small bluefish, kingfish, triggerfish, schoolie striped bass, sheepshead and perch. A couple of small cobia also were taken before the blow. There also are some reports of blowfish behind Long Beach Island.

Saying all of that, it is going to take several days for the water to settle down and clear up from all the storm related activity. So there is only one way to find out what is out there, and that is to give it a shot.

By now, you know New Jersey’s recreational and commercial fishermen joined forces earlier this year to prevent the imposition of regulations that would have almost closed the summer flounder fishery in the state. But that battle is far from over; and since the regulators are boiling mad at the state for going over their heads, we can expect them to try to impose some even more restrictive regs for next year.

Knowing that, the Strathmere Fishing and Environmental Club will be hosting an open meeting for both the recreational and commercial fishermen Oct. 14. Representatives from area congressmen and state legislators have promised to be in attendance as well as state fishery council members.

It is very important that the state continue to present a united front.

The meeting will be held at the Strathmere Fire Company on Commonwealth Avenue. Since Strathmere is about two blocks wide, there will be no difficulty finding the fire station. The meeting starts at 4 p.m.

ACROSS THE BAY

Delaware anglers were not as severely impacted by Hurricane Jose as those in Jersey.

The folks at Bill’s Sport Shop in Rehoboth are reporting a very nice assortment of fish being caught in the creeks, canals, inlets and surf.

The canal and pier have been giving up huge numbers of pan fish, including flounder, small blues, croakers and spot. In the Indian River Bay anglers tossing poppers have been hooking up with stripers measuring up to about 22-inches.

If you want to specialize in bluefish, the recommendation is the Cape Henlopen State Park; and out on the beachfront, where the water has been boiling with medium-sized blues chasing smaller sized blues. Don’t overcast, because all that action is going on almost around your feet.

One boat paid a visit to the Poor Man’s Canyon last weekend, and its passengers were rewarded with a half dozen mahi and a large blue marlin that was enticed by trolled ballyhoo.

There is a large surf tournament going on along the Delaware beaches as you are reading this, so next week’s report should provide a good gauge of what is happening.