Manasquan Inlet Report - August 11, 2007

[Capt. Ed]

Hi All,

No one belonged in the ocean this morning! Especially me and my crew ... so ...

We broke the Manasquan Inlet at 5:30 AM for a quick run out to the mile buoy to assess how bad everything was. It was 5 ft. constant with sets of 7 ft. plus on top of each other. We did not even fish ... just went for an uncomfortable ride. There was no way to fish this as the current was ripping as well.

The water was off-color and has chilled by 10 degrees F to the low 70s.

So, as we expected, we fished the Manasquan River. In short, we caught 50 or so short Fluke in a few hours, a few keepers (especially during the end of the flooding tide) and all the Sea Robins and snappers you wanted.

For anyone who is fishing the river:

1. The Sea Robins were east of the Railroad Bridge.

2. Early on (6:00AM) in and near Wills Hole we connected with 2 keepers.

3. Between the railroad bridge and Rt. 35 bridge, there are all the snappers who want.

4. In the flats just north of Clark's and around Buoy 5, there are a ton of shorts.

5. Near the canal were all thesnappers you wanted.

As expected, due to a howling wind; rain induced runoff; and a ton of boat traffic, we headed back to the dock at noon and decided to focus on Sunday for the tournament we are in.

Just before going in, we saw a guy (yes we have the name and NJ registration number) keeping all Fluke he brought into the boat. Here is what I have now decided for myself:

1. If I am fishing near you and you are keeping OBVIOUSLY SHORT fish, I will politely tell you the NJ regulations.

2. If you give me the finger, I will call the state COs or State police.

3. I will post the incident on the website.

4. If you respond with anything other than an apology to my post, I will embarrass you with a front page article, with name of boat; picture; and NJ registration number.

To recap:

1. We did not expect anything today, so everything was a bonus.

2. I see why NOAA (via NMFS) is skeptical about recreational fishing ethics and numbers.

3. One of the reasons I do not like to fish estuaries is that you catch too many sub-10 inch fluke. We pinched down the barb to help release. BTW, bigger hooks (i.e. 4/0 English style hooks) will still allow you to catch but cut down on some of the gut hooking that may occur.

4. What started out to be a miserable, cold, rainy morning turned into a beautiful day.

5. I love two-day fusing tournaments. We still have a chance to regroup tomorrow and we did not have to "force" things to happen today, which may have been dangerous.

Best wishes,

Capt. Ed

[fishon42]

Shouldnt keep shorts anyway. I can see a slow day, stretching a 16 15/16" inch fish out, but any smaller than that, ridiculous. 





Like the way you think Ed.




Fish On

[hareball]

way to turn a snotty day around and catch fish capt. ed 

i'm a firm believer that there are rouge predators of all local species hunting our estuaires. someday I hope to devote some time on a flats boat and chum up a bullshark.

[Hotrod]

Tough day out there Ed. 

Some people just don't care!

I say F um.  Announce that boat and reg#

You can tell a short fish coming over the side easily.

[Capt. Ed]

Hi Rod,

These were not short ... they were SHORT!

It is a sin!

I waited around a bit to see the outcome of the Marine police boarding but after a while it didn't make sense.

Ed

[Hotrod]

So we did call the MP's on him.  GOOD FOR YOU ED!!

[Capt. Ed]

Hi Rod,

Oh yes ... I even know now where he is docked.

Sorry if that was not clear. My "new philosophy" came out of this incident. If he just said sorry and threw back all the shorts after that, for me, that would be fine. But no. He had to give me the finger.

And what is it with small old folks and the finger. Don;t they know they look stupid doing it and almost anyone can kick their butt.

Crazy but he got my point.

Ed

[Hotrod]

   Nice

[ped579]

Its about time we all follow suit and make the call whenever we see any abuse to the regs. 

I wish I could see the look on his face when he is or was caught.

Happy Catching

Paul

[pktaske]

The guy actually has a slip? shame on him...

[Capt. Ed]

PKtaske,

Sarcasm does not make what he did (and probably frequently does) correct.

When you go to meetings to help keep the fluke season alive, then I will laugh at your post.

Ed

[Flukedood]

I never understand why people keep obviously short fish.. Does he need the meat that bad?? It just really makes all of us recreational guys look bad..I hope he gets fined up to his eyeballs..I fish with guys where we throw fish back that are on the line but its a close call.. Why put yourself in a position where you are only asking for trouble??

[IrishAyes]

Flukedood, I have a sticker on my measuring board that I made up that says, "If you have to ask, throw it back!".  Needless to say, no one asks if it's a keeper anymore.  If it's close, they just release it and try for another.     I also have the tape so if a fish will be a quater of an inch larger than what the reading says.  Thus, a 17 inch fish is acutally 17 1/4 and so on.

[Capt. Ed]

Hi Irish Ayes,

Exactly!

Have a great day,

Ed

[Reel Class]

Joe, I couldn't agree more