# Who's Headed Where?



## Manayunk Jake (Oct 3, 2001)

Greetings All!

OK, it's 4:15 PM on Friday, so everybody should have their weekend destination picked by now. In the spirit of P&S Kids Day, I'm taking my nephew Scooter up to the sea wall at Manasquan Inlet to see if we can nail some keeper fluke. There may be some cocktail blues storming the spearing in the inlet, too.

Some really nice fluke reports coming out of North Jersey's party boat fleet. Lots of 7 lbers taking pools, and a few limits reported. I might give it a try Sunday if the rain holds off....


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## Manayunk Jake (Oct 3, 2001)

Greetings All!

I got scared off by the weatherman Saturday, and ended up staying home. I didn't want to drag my nephew all the way to the shore just to sit in the car. Looks like a lot of folks made the same choice.

I read some Pt Pleasant reports that indicated the Saturday T-storms never materialized, and a few keeper fluke were caught at the inlet, mixed in with alot of throwbacks. Hopefully tropical storm Alex won't put in an appearance next weekend....


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## davehunt (Mar 27, 2003)

Manayunk Jake,

I got back from vacation around 3 AM on Sunday (we drove to Orlando). Since Saturday was a traveling day, I made sure I got in some freshwater fishing with my kids on Friday. Plenty of Sunnys and Pumkinseeds (I think) in the lake at the condo/timeshare resort we stayed at. It was a nice way to cap the trip. They had a nice little dock to fish from that we made use of several times.

Unfortunately, vacation had to end. I'm back at work  

But, I will be in Wildwood Crest this weekend  

Any word on how the fishing has been in Cape May County?

Nice to hear that you are the new moderator, Congrats & Thanks!!


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## Manayunk Jake (Oct 3, 2001)

Greetings Davehunt!

Welcome back!

Those pumpkinseeds might have been red ear sunfish (called shellcrackers, too.) They do look like an overgrown pumpkinseed -- I think the only way to tell them apart is the ear flap.

No bass? Hell, I thought the sewers in Orlado had bass. I'm heading down this Fall (after all the rugrats are back in school.) You can get some good deals then....

Per Lou Rodia, fishing out of Wildwood/ Wildwood Crest is divided between fluke by day and croaker in the evening. Short weaks are being caught "out front" (in the ocean) and the croakers are mostly bayside (with small blues mixed in.)

Hopefully the Cape May boats will be chasing big fluke on the Old Grounds soon. The few boats still wreck fishing have been getting some triggerfish mixed in with the sea bass and occassional tog. You'd probably have to do a 12 hr trip to pick out a limit (25 fish, 12 inches) of sea bass.

Let me know what you want to do, and we'll head out. Andrew is coming up the coast, and may greet you when you get back to the Crest this weekend.


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## davehunt (Mar 27, 2003)

Manayunk Jake,

Per Weather.com the storm is supposed to stay offshore but I think this weekend I'm going to stick to the beach anyway.

I think I'm still trying to recover from the drive home (case of Van-Lag), the only fishing I plan to do is the beach and maybe Sunset Lake if there are any snappers around. Probably do some crabbing as well.

Weekend of the 14th seems like a more likely date for one of the Cape MAy boats. Let's see how the weather is next week and go from there.

PS, there were some big fish in that lake (it was man made, part of the development) but I couldn't do a thing with'em. All the "activity" center had to use were cane poles. I bought one of those cute little collapsable rods at Bass Pro Shops (went there to buy arrows) and all we had was the slim selection of small hooks and jigs that came with the rod. There were some spinner blades in the kit as well. I tried everything but the big boys wouldn't bite. The assorted pan fish on the other hand attacked anything you put in the water. Hot dog was the bait of choice


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## Manayunk Jake (Oct 3, 2001)

Greetings davehunt!

Panfish have saved the day for me on plenty of occassions, especially when kids are involved. The shellcrackers are traditionally caught on cane poles, and hey have their own category under freshwater records kept by the Fishing Hall of Fame.

The trouble with bass is that if you see them, they probably already know you're there. This makes them tough to catch, except when they are on the spawning bed. Sight casting to beds is allowed in Florida, but goes against the grain of most northern anglers (me included). However, I've never had a 10 pounder sitting in front of me... Hopefully I would take the high road!

The 14th sounds good -- buy a Thursday Philadelphia Daily News and check Lou Rodia's column to see what the local boats are up to. The little pier next to the Starlight Fleet is usually pretty good for snapper blues, but not a good crabbing spot. You just might sneak a keeper fluke or slot striper out of there in the early AM....

Even if Andrew passes offshore, he might stir up some rough surf. Could be a good time to soak a surf clam out in the suds!


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## davehunt (Mar 27, 2003)

Agreed, the pier next to the Starlight is where I caught the fluke a few weeks back. Very spotty for crab though (surprising considering that the Starlight boats and the Royal Flush clean there fish and toss the carcases right near there).

Getting hold of a thursday Philly Daily News can be tough up here in NY, but they should have a web site, I usually check with the Asbury Park Press, but the reports for the Wildwood area always seem to be a week behind, thanks for the tip about the Philadelphia paper.


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## Manayunk Jake (Oct 3, 2001)

Greetings davehunt!

Oops - I forgot that you're a weekender. That happens with age! Unfortunately, Rodia's column is not carried on the website because it is considered one big advertisement.

Indeed, with all those carcasses laying around, you'd think it would be crab heaven. I think there's just a little too much tide there for the crabs to feel comfy. I've always done better farther back in the bay (using a rental boat, of course.) Kids seem to like crabbing, even if 95% of the catch goes back over the side.

I'll keep you posted re: partyboat reports.


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## Manayunk Jake (Oct 3, 2001)

Greetings Davehunt!

Lou Rodia reporting more of the same: fluke by day and croakers, small blues, and an occassional weakie at night. Some of the Wildwood Crest and Cape May boats are lining up tuna trips, but I haven't heard anything about the Old Grounds for fluke.

Let me know if you'll be heading out this weekend. I'll keep an eye on the 5 day forecast (not that they ever get it right), and I'll call the Starlight fleet on Thursday.

Anybody else out there interested in hooking up?


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## davehunt (Mar 27, 2003)

Manayunk Jake,

I'll keep you posted. Still not sure about what my weekend holds, I'll definitley be down the shore, I just don't know if I'll be able to hook up with you this weekend or possible push back to the 21st. I may try to get out on the Royal Flush with my 8 year old, the 4 hour boat is too short a trip but it should work well for my sons short attention span!

It was pretty much more of the same in Wildwood Crest this weekend. Not much doing in the back bay although while crabbing we caught a couple of snappers and some jumbo sized killy (I'd never seen a killy take a hook before) on my sons little utra light rod, fun stuff.

I saw a kid catch the largest blue crab I'd ever seen, easily 7+ inches!! I also caught 2 large soft shell crabs, that was some good eating!!!

Incredible amount of bait in the ocean on Sunday, more than I have ever seen. Not sure what they were, but you couldn't take a step without chasing a school of fair sized baitfish. Sand fleas were also in their usual abundance


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## Manayunk Jake (Oct 3, 2001)

Greetings Davehunt!

Thanks for the back bay report! Eating softshells? Guess there's no use saving them for bait with no real weakfish action happening....

Keep me posted on your availability. I'm either going back to chasing the Fluke Jackpot (over $1500.00) or I might try a night bluefish trip up north.

You might want to grab some of those sand fleas if the Royal Flush is bottom fishing. Triggerfish and the odd tog are taking pools. Or you could try them down at the N. Wildwood rocks.

Keep in touch....


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## davehunt (Mar 27, 2003)

Manayunk Jake,

Well, looks like this weekend will be a washout (pun intended), hopefully the 21st and 22nd will be better


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## Manayunk Jake (Oct 3, 2001)

Greetings davehunt!

Yup, looks like Charlie will be pulling into S Jersey waters Saturday morning....

Next weekend sounds good. I was hoping one or more Cape May boats would be sailing for the Old Grounds, but it seems they're having a decent pull of keeper fluke closer to home. The croakers are still going strong in Delaware Bay, with some guys catching 100 or more (that's a lot of scaling!)

Guess I'll go to work tomorrow....


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