Fish Jersey Shore News. May 5, 2017

Just Short

ATLANTIC CITY: Bluefish in the surf near the T-jetty & the back bay. Big striped bass too. Small stripers in the surf on bunker, mullet, mackerel, herring and lures. Big stripers on clams, bunker, bloodworms.

BRIGANTINE is happy to have the blues. Happy surf anglers and boaters on the back bay. Avg. 12 ½ pound. Some huge blues came at The Cove. South jetty & the jetty at Absecon Inlet at Brigantine. Blues were tough to land unless you had a long gaff. Big number of gator blues seemed to scare off striped bass.

MARGATE party boat ‘Keeper’ has launched. Will exclusively sail for summer flounder on back bay once season begins. Two trips daily. Approx. cost is $30 for adults, $25 for seniors and $20 for kids. Rental rods are free.

What the Fluke? Waiting for the bad news. May 11. Will flounder keeper sizes be raised to 19 inches? (Big flounder are female breeders) Will Congressman LoBiondo step up to protect NJ’s #2 industry?

Flounder Feedback: Too many fish have to be caught to reach the limit. Stop the Madness. The proportion of throwbacks that die might not have changed. The number of throwbacks has risen so high, you probably can’t calculate it accurately. A boat has to catch 100 fish to limit out, when it should only take 40. We are KILLING more fish than we keep. All the regulators have done is consistently raise the size limit… with the same result… of less and less fish. Isn’t that the definition of Insanity?

NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife says: You are spot on! According to ASMFC’s option 5, for the first time in NJ, more fluke will die through discard mortality versus keepers…which is in part why we filed an appeal.

News & Info from Atlantic City