Surprise cutlassfish caught on Long Beach Island during striper blitz
Last week there were some late season bluefish landed a couple miles off the beach in the Sea Bright area. Over the weekend a cutlassfish was reportedly landed by a surf fisherman on Long Beach Island.
Fisherman’s Headquarters in Ship Bottom said the fish was reported to them via photo by a surf angler Saturday during a steady a striped bass bite on the island. The shop had four bass weighed in in one hour during the mayhem.
Atlantic cutlassfish, or as most fishermen call them ribbon fish, have slender, silvery-blue bodies and rows of razor teeth. The fish is a voracious predator that strikes from a tail-down position, hovering under the surface before rising up to shred its prey with its fang-like teeth. That makes them fun to catch on rod and reel but they’re caught mostly during summer months here and even then catches are few and far between,
Speaking of the LBI surf fishing, the fall surf fishing classic ended with a flurry of fish. Fishermen weighed in 18 fish between Friday and Sunday, the most frantic activity of the 10-week tournament. None of the fish were able to unseat Gordon Kirk’s 12.14-pound striper. Kirk, of Long Beach Township, landed the fish on Nov. 20 and held on for about three weeks to win the striped bass contest.
LBI was not the only spot on the coast where fishermen had solid landings of bass. The Golden Eagle party boat was up in view of the Highlands on Friday and Saturday and Capt. Rich Falcone said they limited the boat out Friday but on Saturday they used up their bonus tags on slot fish and had a lot of keepers, but they were short of the boat limit. The weather kept him at the dock Sunday and Monday.
A lot of fisherman are calling this the best fall run in recent memory at least off the coast of Monmouth and Ocean counties. By all appearances, there looks to be some life left in it, just how much waits to be seen.
11-pound blackfish
The blackfish haven’t necessarily been biting their heads off but there are enough around to hold fishermen’s interest. Part of the reason have been the anchoring conditions. Capt. Jerry Postorino on the Fish Monger II charter boat said they either get too much current or none at all. Some of the spots he expects to get the bites have been dull. Nonetheless, the fishery has had some moments thus far. One of those moments was Sunday when a member of his party reeled in an 11-pounder, which certainly caught the attention of the other anglers in the party.