Wind continues to plague Jersey conditions
As has been the tale for most of this year’s salt water fishing season, the wind continues to make news. For a change we have gotten a few days of mild temperatures and light winds, but it has not been sustainable formore than two days in a row. That has made a notable hit in the number of anglers out there.
As of about mid-week most of the striped bass activity along the shore has been to the north, way north. Places like Point Pleasant and beyond have been having a fantastic bass run, but here in south Jersey it continues to be hit and miss.
Now that the black sea bass rules have been relaxed for the remainder of the year there has been pretty good action on them, although it is mainly a product of the seas permitting boats to get out there after them. Some of the big partyboats have been coming back to their dockswith just about all the passen- gers limited out. That limit remains at 15 fish per angler through the end of the year.
Tautog fishing has been a steady light throughout this entire fall, probably because you do not need a boat to get them. Virtually all our inlets, jetties, piers and bridges have taug swimming around them. As good as the taug fishery has been just remember New Jersey’s bag limit remains at one fish through November 16 when it jumps up to a half dozen fish.
Of course, summer flounder continued to be the most popular sport fish in Jersey. Depending to whom you talk, this year’s flattie run was anywhere from bad to great. Some of what used to be perennially hot areas practically were devoid of fish, while other area just a couple of miles away were on fire. Some place the blame for areas of poor catches on beach replenishment operations which they claim altered the sea bottom and clogged up some waterways. But yet, how do you explain an area a short distance away being loaded with fish? I don’t have an answer.
Along the beaches it has been a kingfish year. They would come and go but when they were in the fishing for the little critterswas close to excellent.
Early in the year the shore had a super run of big bluefish, almost like the old days. No one expected that sort of action to continue all summer and it didn’t. But, while the slammers were around it was great fun. Smaller blues remained in the south Jersey area for the entire season, so perhaps someday soon we again will experience those years when the big one’s stuck around into the fall.
Offshore, a good portion of the canyon season was wiped out by the wind. But, on the days, and nights, when the big boats could go and not beat their crew to death, the catching was pretty good. Yellowfin tuna seemed to dominate. Mahi were not far behind in numbers and the catches of bluefin tuna and billfish were good. A surprising number of wahoo alsomade it back to the dock.
There was good news and bad news on the fishing front. The good news came in the form of weakfish. Once again, Jersey anglers were hampered by an unrealistic one fish bag limit but hopefully all the verified reports of plenty of weakies will prod the regulators into loosening those regs, if not next year then the year after. On the bad news front there probablywill beamajor slashing of the allowable summer flounder catch for 2017. Speculation has that reduction being at least 30 per cent or more.
Bait never was a problem this year. Almost right fromthe start the shorewas blessed with huge schools of peanut bunker, mullet and spot, all of which provide plenty of incentive for predator fish to hang around.
And, while technically not a fish, the blue claw crabbing in 2016 was epic. Several crabbers, both commercial and recreational, that I have spoken to called it one of the best years in memory.