From the Surf
11.10.10
The Mainland Angler with that “ALOHA SPIRIT”
By Paul Danielczyk
Well from all reports that this angler has been getting the fish are here and here to stay a while. Reports from Sandy Hook to Holgate the striped bass are making this year one to remember. With a large number of blues thrown in it has been a fun fall so far. The bait of choice is the normal surf fair; an appetizer starts with a serving of clams with a main meal of bunker, raw but fresh please. Oh yeah, don’t for get to order plugs de jour or maybe metal a’ la cart to be sure.
We will start from the south and work our way north. Cape May has given up one nice cow to a 13 year old who might just be the next record holder in the junior female class. Congratulations Juliana Merighi and also to your dad Tom Merighi for putting you on to that beauty. Folks, in case you have not read about it the striped bass was 58 pounds and it was caught in the Delaware Bay just off Cape May. Like her father mentioned grown men in their 50, 60 or even older have not caught a fish as huge as that one was.
Long Beach Island is holding its own with many bass being caught from the northern part of the island to the middle of the island. Good catches are spread out which is unusual, which makes me believe that this is going to be one great run. If you can take the cold early morning and evening as usual are the prime times to bring home that fish of a life time.
We would like to send out an Atta Boy to the LBI crews for catching some pretty nice fish that were weighted in at the Fishermen’s Headquarters in Ship Bottom:
Art Manion caught a 40” 24 # bass on bunker up at the north end.
Bert Tompson caught a 27# 10 oz bass also up at the north end
Edmund Flyntz caught a blue fish 23.5” weighed in at 9# 12oz caught at mid island.
As of Monday the bite on Island Beach State Park had been just south of the bathing beaches but that does not mean that they will be there the next day but so far that is the hot place on IBSP.
Moving up the beach the bite has been hot at he usual spots in Seaside Park with the south pier being one hot spot as well as Seaside Height’s north pier getting its fair share of bass and blues as well. Continuing more north, Brick Beach has been producing starting in the early evening and continuing into the night making some exciting fishing for the night crews.
If you are into kayak fishing the northern part of the bay, it is told, is holding some nice bass in its deeper channels and holes. But be careful out there because the bite has been at night and if you are not familiar with that area of the bay at night please do not try to go out especially in this windy and cold weather. There are plenty of places and other times that will give up its secret places where you can and will catch.
Well Thursday is Veterans Day and I would like to take this time to sincerely thank all those that have served in our military so we can have forums like these that allow free and open dialogues for what ever reasons we care to air them. Freedom is a precious commodity don’t waste it to frivolous bickering.
I had the opportunity to take 2 Vet’s fishing today and well it was one great day even though we all did not catch that was okay as the company was great and the kidding was endless. The 2 Vets were My Uncle Joe Wojtowicz and his good friend George Heitzenroeder. One was a Korean vet and the other a Vietnam Vet. Thank You gentlemen for your time served as it was my pleasure spending time with the both of you.
I played bait boy today so my time was limited to doing other things besides trying to fish (good excuse any way). We started at around 7:30AM on the beach by driving south from the crowded Gillikins and wound up at the inlet. The ocean looked wild as the waves were over 7’ at time. The wind was howling out of the NW with gusts to 35. It looked like terrific Bass water all up and down the coast.
We tried at the pocket but trying to land the lures next to the rocks proved to much for the vets so we moved a bit north. I was out trying my best to land something but I decided to spend some time inside the warmth of the vehicle talking with my uncle. The next thing that happened was classic. I was watching George fishing and then I noticed he was leaning and struggling with reeling something in. Sure enough he had a fish on. Giving him some pointers as to how to land a fish in that type of surf, as you see this is George’s 3rd time surf fishing. Well the fish hit the beach and well he was like a little kid again. We measured the fish and it was a nice 30 ½” striper. We weighed it in at Grumpy’s and it topped the scales at almost 9#.
I checked the stomach and to my surprise it was empty. That was strange but I guess this blow slowed down the bite just enough to scatter the bait and cause empty stomachs to most fish that cruse the surf line. It was great to clean and fillet this fish for George as he never had striped bass before and he was looking forward to dinner tonight.
This article is a bit longer as I put in my trip info with these Veterans, I hope everyone gets a chance to take a vet fishing I think I got more out of it than they did, thanks guys for the opportunity to give something little back.
Happy Catching
Paul
