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outdoors with Lou Rodw^ Cape Anglers Enjoy Finny Smorgasbord

Bluefinh may be the prime fi»h for Jersey coast anglers '<over 28 million blot’s fell prey to recrea

FAIR CATCH - Diane Dlnglrriin of Tucson. Aril., displays 10-pound wrakflsh she boated while fishing aboard the Rainbow with ( apt. Charles Selby out of Wildwood Yacht Basin.

tional anglers on the Atlantic Coast in 1982) but right now, Cape May County is enjoying what outdoor writers like to call ‘smorgasbord’ catches. For many years, bluefish have been in peak supply with a spread in sire from small snappers all the way to monsters in th-' 1 15 to 20 pound class. But variety is the real key to the attraction for fishermen who flock to the Jersey Cape. Anglers are able to plQ|< and choose from bluefish. weakfish, sea bass, ling: blackfish, fluke, sharks, and the occasional porgy. The first tuna have been reported and the marlins, wahoo. dolphin, albacore and bonito are not far behind. Not only is the ocean producing, so is the inland waterway Delaware Bay. which has petered out for big weaks and black drums, still holds fluke and a scattering of blues, weaks and sharks. NOT ONLY is the variety holding up. size and numbers of fish are also providing lots of angler ex-

citement. Fuke have grown up from the hand-sized throwbacks of last year. More and more in the one to three-pound class are winding up on the table as filets. The occasional four and five-pounder makes the fishing all the more delightful. Pointing up the quality; her* are some fish reported to us this week. Dave Easterbrook, of Sea Isle City, fishing aboard the Royal Flush with Capt. Mike Weigle on a night chumming trip, weighed in a 15V,i-pound bluefish. Scott Rief of Wildwood boated 26 blues in the eight to 12-pound class and Art Sparks of West Cape May added 15 on Royal Flush outings Also weighing in big fish at the Wildwood Crest dock were Royal Flush anglers Rick and Leo Zatavetsky, brothers from Philadelphia. Rich weighed in a 14-pound bluefish and a 13-pound tautog. His brother had 19 blackfish in a four-hour afternoon trip. On another trip from

Wildwood Crest, the Zatavetsky brothers, fishing on the Starlight with Capt. Jim Cicchitti, took high hook and pool honors. Rick had 43 blackfish an^ Leo won the pool with a 134-pound blackfish. AT SEA IS1£ City, Capt. Neill RobbinSMjf the Capt. Robbins, reported continuing good sea bass fishing. It was so good that the Pete DeRieux family of Williamstown boated 357 sea bass between one and four pounds early in the week. A day later, Pete and his son caught 187 more sea bass. At Ludlam’s Bay, Elwood Tustin, of Sea Isle City caught 57 fluke on minnows and squid. Frank Stefanski and A1 Coughlin from Camden caught 102 fluke on minnows and squid and Mike Swiaki from Westmont, caught 74 fluke on minnows and mackerel. All of the fluke were brought in to Vitiello's Dock, Sea Isle City. Millville angler Jerry Stiles of Millville weighed

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in a five-pound 14-ounce blue at Vitiello's. Localites catching ‘trophy’ fish include: Richard Bock, of Woodbine, 7-pound 9 ounce fluke from Ludlam's Bay on minnow bait; Lionel Ddesresiers of Court House, 8-pound, 13 ounce, blackfish caught in the surf on crab bait; a 12-pound 7 ounce weakfish caught by John Baker of Cape May from the Sea Raider with Capt. Ed Watson on squid and bucktail; a 355-pound mako shark caught by Tom Polis of West Cape May 27 miles southeast of Cape May Inlet on the Sea Mist with Skipper Bill Garrison and a 6-pound 7 ounce largemouth bass caught by Joe Jordan of Cape May Court House wile he was fishing in fresh water at Dennisville Lake. AT OCEAN CITY. Capt. Joe Zaborowski of the Challenger Fleet is fluke fishing daily on his fourhour trips. A night six-hour bluefish chumming trip sails every day at 7 p.m. except Sundays. Blue catches have been good with high hookers boating as many as 25 slammer blues. A daily six-hour trip is also scheduled from the Sampson Bros. Marina dock in Ocean City. Corson’s Inlet continues to produce good fluke catches. Frank’s Boats reported a 7 , 4-pound fluke for Joe Brodie of Glassboro along with 30 fish for the day. A few blues have also moved into the back

waters.

Shark Results: Great Egg Harbor Marlin and Tuna Club shark anglers in the group's first annual tournament gave bonus points in their recent ocean event for anglers who boated a shark without shooting it. They also did not allow makos under 100 pounds. As a result, the two prize winners shared the third prize since no other sharks reached the minimum weight Top shark was the mako boated by Larry Stringer of Margate on the Judith R . sponsored by Campbell's Marine. The shark weighted 290 pounds but it was given bonus points which scored it at 319. Second place went to an 111-pund mako caught by Jim Del Cane pn the Salty Dog His fish also got bonus points and scored at 122. Stringer’s shark earned him $1,500 and Del Cane's second place fish earned

FAT FLUKE — Don Smith of Woodbury shows off his 124-pound Duke, caught on minnow bait while fishing in Corson's Inlet in a boat out of Strathmere. him $750. The two anglers also split the third prize of $500. A great white shark weighing 223 pounds won $500 for angler Greg Vernon of Ocean City. He was fishing a 17-foot boat with his brother AI and Jim Mott, of Ocean City. Fluke tip: anglers fishing very light tackle (6 and 8 lb. mono on light spinning gear) are catching more and bigger fish. The light line allows use of a small sinker and light rod-line-weight combo allows the angler to feel the nibbles from fluke which are already overfed and glutted with shrimp. The fluke ‘pros' are also using smaller minnows and smaller pieces of squid or fluke belly. Some days, plain hooks work better than fluke killer rigs. Drift your baits along the channel edges. The most productive areas continue to be just north of the West Wildwood Drawbridge, Grassy Sound, Channel marker 48 behind Stone Harbor and Paddy’s Hole. Ludlam's Bay and Corson's Inlet are also producing fluke and some small

bluefish.

Party and charter boats are catching a few weakfish in the mouth of Delaware Bay and around McCrie's Shoal. However, more slammer blues are being caught than bluefish Bottom fishing centered on sea bass, a few ling, porgies and some blackfish. Some party boats are switching over to fluke fishing. 937 Bestsellers

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