Wednesday. October a, IWft

The Herald and Hie Lantern

Fish Story: Fall Action All Around

Assembly OKs Sewer Funds Scek OK For Bulkheading

by LouRodia As the days get shorter and the temperature starts to drop, the opportunities for the out of doors people seem to get greater rather than to diminish. Unfortunately for some, the tradeoff with the television set has been at the expense of their outside recreation. That means that lots of full hunting and fishing has fallen by the wayside over the years. Right now, we consider the current happenings in nature as one of the most exciting times of year. Fish are moving. There is a dearth of fishermen, and that means that lots of time you can have a whole stretch of beach, party boat rail or school of fish all to yourself. SURE THE AIR is nippy and your fingers get cold once in a while. You have to look,to long johns under the fishing pants >r waders, and you might even consider cutting the thumbs and forefingeps out of a couple of pairs of brown cotton gloves to keep your hands warm. But fishing is a long way from over, and lots of good action days are ahead. This week, action centered on sea bass, weakfish and blues, with fluke still hanging in for a last hurrah. The nice part about the action is that it is widesptead, covering surf, inland waters, ocean and bay. The sad part is that many fishermen are missing the action. For those still around, however, it's freezer stuffing time and action for . all. FOR FRANK RICCO of Wildwood, a mullet bait and spinning tackle lured a 12 lb. 6 oz. blue to hook at 2nd ave. and the beach in North Wildwood. He weighed in his big blue at Charlie Glenn’s Tackle Shop in Wildwood. For Walt Deimer, of Ocean City, it was a 9 lb. 11 oz.weakfish which he bested and weighed in at Frank’s Boats, Strathmere. Roland Stnsz of Baltimore, Md., bested a 14 lb. 11 oz blue in the surf at Cape May on mullet bait and spinning tackle, according to weighmaster Jim Wallace at Jim’s Bait and Tacklb, Cape May. ' John Hart of Ocean City landed a 7 3/4 lb. weakfish at the G.E. Bell in Ocean City inlet on souid. Vince Blasillo3of Buffalo, N.Y. bested a 6 lb. weakfish off the public dock in Wildwood Crest, according to Pete and Wimpy’s Tackle Shop in Wildwood Crest.* Dr. J.h. Elgenrankch of York, Pa , won the pool on Skipper Jim Clcchitti’s party boat Starlight for a 12 lb. bluefish while fishing out of Wildwood Crest's Blake’s Dock. FOR THOSE ANGLERS and many more, the fishing action is still fresh in their minds for they have tasted the fall fishing on the ocean front. We have been aWe^in many of the years we have fished add hunted this area, to sample the best of both worlds by combining hunting and fishing in our off work days. This area offers ideal duck hunting in season; fine railbird shooting (which relatively few people do any more) and upland game and even deer hunting. It would nek be unusual to get in some surf or jetty fishing or

some inland waterway fishing and follow up with an afternoon afield. OR, IF YOU ARE not interested in hunting, the fall migrations of birds make the Jersey Cape one of the finest places to watch upwards of 300 identifiable species of our feathered friends making their 'way to warmer wintering grounds. In fact, on some of those days when your fishing is blown out by the winds, you might find yourself enjoying a second look at nature's wonders by doing a little binding on your own. Fishing Report: Surf fishermen are producing lots of snapper blues, some weaks and occasional bigger bluefish. While the season is now for striped bass, the forecast is bleak for numbers of fish although a few are starting to be reported north of here, indicating a possible fall nuT. INLAND WATERWAY Ashing has centered on weakfish and some big blues, mostly at night, but fishermen finding quiet waters are also producing daytime weaks and blues in squid, cut mullet and spot. You might have to work at catching the spot by using small hooks and small pieces of bait around the bulkheads in preparation for your search for blues and weaks. Whole spot drifted live around bridges and bulkheads are good baits, as are whole menhaden. If you see schools of bunkers, snatch a few with a treble hook and liveline them back into the current for weaks and biues. OFFSHORE BOATS are producing weaks, biues. sea bass and tautog. Some fluke arc still being reported on the bottom boats, but their stay is predicated on how far down the air temperature drop drives the water temperature. Look for schools of weakfish and blues just offshore from the inlets. Party and private boats have already started to report school fish action as the bait pours out of the inlets. Jetty fishing and surf fishing around the inlets continues to be productive with blues and weaks hitting plugs, metal lures such as the Hopkins, and bait. CREST REPORT: Skipper Jim Cicchitti of the Starlight out of Blake’s Dock reports good sea bass Ashing over the weekend. Anglers averaged 40 to 60 Ash per man. Pool winner on Saturday was A! Snyder of Wildwood Crest, with a 10 lb. blpefish. Sunday Rick Zavitsky of Philadelphia, won the pool with a 9 lb. tautog. Bob Mullen and his two sons teamed up for 240 sea bass up to Ave pounds on Sunday. Skipper Cicchitti said the Starlight will be sailing Wednesday through Sunday daily for sea bass through November and Friday and Saturday nights for bluefish chumming. Bliiefish action remains good at night. ALSO AT WILDWOOD Orest, Pete and Wimpy's reports good sea bass action with fluke a little slow. Bluefish continue to come in to the dock. At Sea Isle City, Skipper Reds Robbins of the Capt. Robbins reports plenty of fish and not many

fishermen. On a recent trip, Bob Wilson and his two sons of Windsor, Canada, reported 78 sea bass and a pool winner of 4Mi lb. High hooker was Auggie Augustine of* Ceilings Lake, with 38 sea bass. Saturday produced excellent fluke fMhing with anglers boating as many as 25 to 35 per man. Sunday weakfish were more abundant than the fluke. Lou Rodla, an avid fisherman, is asst, director of Publif Affairs for the county.

MILLVILLE - Assemblyman James Hurley has announced more than $2.5 million will be allocated to Cape May County for sewer and water projects under a bill passed by the lower state house last Thursday. The funding allocations, which totaled nearly $12 million statewide and • embraced 38 projects, will come out of the Water Conservation Bond Act of 1979. The sums earmarked for the Jersey Cape included $2,616,692 for the Cape May

County Municipal Utilities Authority and $3,584 for Cape May Point. The bill, which appropriates the money to the Dept, of Environmental Protection, has as its purpose the providing of grants to the 38 projects as 8 per cent of approved local sewerage projects cost/ All of the projects named have been approved for federal matching funds of 75 per cent, Hurley explained. He said Senate passage is , now expected.

SEA ISLE CITY - Permission to Construct bulkheading and place fill material off Ludlam Thorofare at the juncture of Rios Della Bare he and Ponte lagoons, has been asked from the Army Corps of Engineers. The application was made by Edward G. Marini of 3l8-43rd Place to gain firm land for rebuilding a portion of the existing bniBe where supporting piles, foundation and underlying ground are being ■eroded.