26

sports

Herald & Lantern 8 February 'M

MOSS BROOKS^ c 7 0o 0 0° V T»«*«*tonc ^ 10«Vo DISCOUNT CARD AL- PARTS AND TIRES EXCEPT SPECIAL SALES 4 Blocks from Exit 10 - Garden State Parkway Rt 9 4 Stone Harbor Bivd Cape May Court House. N J 08210 (609) 465-4553

| Closed Sunday

27 YRS IN BUSINESS

outdoors

with Lou -Rodia

Fluke Fishing to Be Even Belter in ’84

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I AM HER COMPANY HAYSHOKK K«»AI> Ml.I .AS. N.l (Ih-j'.i

slloddin ^KEROSENE HEATERS 15,200 BTU CONVECTION ■Reg *1M« #0+ SH8 95

96,00 BTU yiloddin KEROSENE HEATERS Reg‘189”^ $gg95

Fluke fishing is a long way off, but we got a gentle reminder about the good year we enjoyed in 1983 with a letter from one of our readers. Enclosed was a photo of the biggest fluke he has ever caught and it stimulated us into predicting that 1984 will be even better than 1983. There is some logic for , this thinking. First, we have had an ascending fluke population which has also been increasing in size. We are seeing fluke from several year classes in the catches. Two years ago the fish were the size of your hand with a few bigger fish. Last year, there were still small fish but the number of keeper^ jumped dramatically. We saw a lot of doormats like the 12 lb. 14 oz. fluke that Mickey Lokey of Spangler. Pa. boated. It won a first prize for him in the county contest. The second and third place winners in the county contest all topped the 12 lb. mark. MICKEY’S LETTER pointed out in part how important fishing is in relation to the overall tourism industry along the Jersey Coast and in Cape May County. Too often, the business community tends to take fishing for granted but it. does produce a lot of revenue for the party and charter boat industry. Equally important, however, is the revenue it produces for motels, apartm^ n.t houses, c a m - pgrounds, tackle shops, restaurants, gas stations, and a host of other allied businesses. We quote Mickey Lokey: “I’ve been fishing in Cape May County «for 12 to 14 years, about four to six oneweek trips per year In that time, the biggest fluke I caught was about four pounds. I’ve caught big

drum, weakies and blues, so that, (fluke) really put the icing on the cake.” Mickey may or may not be a typical Jersey Cape visitor-fisherman, but if many of them spend that much time here because of the fishing, it becomes important to all of the business community to insure that fishing stay's good, that fishermen do have access to their sport and that water quality is maintained so fish will sur-

vive in it.

ANYWAY, back to the fluke. We start to see our first fluke in Cape May County in the sounds behind the barrier islands around the first part of May. Lots of anglers missed that fine fishing for the past fe* years because the inland waterway fluke run coincides with file start of weakfish action in Delaware Bay Keep an eye on what is happening in the inland waterway this coming spring. If you like fluke fishing, you may get hooked on what you’ll find behind the barrier islands from Ocean City south to

Cape May.

Winter flounders leave about the end of April and the first signs of fluke come when the winter flounder fishermen start catching winter flatties close to the inlets as they get ready to leave the bays for deep water offshore. Early fluke catches seem to start earlies* on the Jerey Cape around Ludlam’s Bay, mainly because we have developed a dedicated group o r anglers who start fishing there a little earlier than they do in the bays above and below Ludlam’s. Fluke tend to hang on the edges and dropoffs along the channel. Essentially bottom feeders, they are caught mostly with baits that are drifted (dragged)

Urr.

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OUR NEW WAREHOUSE IS ALMOST FINISHED AND WE WOULD RATHER SEU APPLIANCES AT GREATLY REDUCED PRICES THAN MOVE THEM ALL APPLIANCES IN OUR WAREHOUSE WILL BE'SOLD A> SLIGHTLY OVER OUR COST - SAVE EVEN MORE. IF YOU PICK UP YOURSELF CALL OR VISIT OUR SHOWROOM. BUT nnxi*T HfAITI IF WE DON'T LIST “UN I WAIT! WHAT YOU NEED. CALL AND ASK WE PROBABLY HAVE IT! SUPPLIES LIMITED TO WAREHOUSE STOCK. c

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^Rick

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along the bottom Minnows (killies if you come from north Jersey) are the most popular inland water bait for fluke. Lots of fluke are caught on squid and on fluke belly strips. Early season fluke hot shots cat^h a lot of fluke on fresh •herring strips. Frozen hearing works, but not as well. Mackerel also accounts fot lots of inland waterway fluke. A few anglers use spearing or smelts Clam strips are also good, as are

shrimp.

WHILE WINTER flounders are caught mostly on blood worms or small pieces of clam fished on small hooks on the bottom, fluke or summer flounders tend to take bigger baits and bigger hooks are used. Most winter flounders are caught from piers and bulkheads of from anchored boats. Summer flounders hit moving liatfs best. A few anglers even troll the dropoffs and edges

for them.

Since the development of spinning tackle, more and more fishermen are using it for fluke fishifl^. Light tackle is helping produce a • lot of flake in the inland waterway, especially at times when th<? fluke are glutted with natural food and they are lethargic because of rising water temperatures. If you want to increase your chances for catching . fluke, learn lo read the bottom where you are fishing. Find the edges and fish there. If you find a spot that holds fluke, learn how to get back there again on future trips. Since you will be drifting for fluke, learn how to get back there again on future trips. Since you will be drifting for fluke, speed is critical. If wind and tide are pushing you too fast, it may mean moving to somewhere which has^ the wind and tide against each other to slow down the drift. You may have to find a place where the wind is blowing crossways to the edge you want to fish, instead of up and down the edge. SOME DAYS fluke killer rigs with Spinners, beads and all of the paraphernalia seem to jar fluke into biting. Other days, the keener the terminal tackle the better. A bare hook on a long leader may be what’s needed. Be flexible about your choices of rigs, colors and other ornamentation. Change from one to another so that you even-

tually find a rig which will work. Flounder spreaders are i pot suggested for drifting • for fluke. They were • originally designed for bottom fishing for winter flounders from an anchored boat. If you fish a bucktail tied directly to the t end of, the line, you can ahd should sweeten it with some type of bait. Minnows, strips of natural bait and even pork rind and plastic worms fished on a lead-headed jig all datch fluke On days when there is no drifit, you can anchor your boat and then cast’around it in a 360-degree radius with a spinning rod and a bucktail. Let the lure hit the bottom and bring it back to the boat in a bouncing manner so that it moves along the bhttom. After you have covered the area around the boat, move a way'rffti re-anchor- Lots of days, casting in this manner will save your day if the wind and tide combination is spoiling your drift potential. Juniors

Go 2-0

CAPE MAY - Keltic News notched its first win of the season, in the junior street hockey league as it downed a winless C-View team 5-1 jn action recently. The game was knotted at 1-1 after the first period as Kellie’s John DeCamillo and the C-View’s Nick Dragotta scored a goal apiece. Kellie’s blew things open in the second end third periods as DeCamillo and Matt Notch scored two unanswered goals apiece to pace their team to an easy win. The Dellas Stores team remained unbeaten as it handed the Cape May Volunteer Fire Company team its first loss, 4-1. The Firemen got on the scoreboard first as Joe Rozanski fired in a goal at the 6:42 mark of the first period. Dellas countered with three goals in the second period, two by Marc Brown and one by Jim Kelly, to lift its team to a 3-flead. Kelly scored again in the last period as Dellas won handily 4-1. STANDINGS Delta Stores jp—. Kellie News Cape May Volunteer Fire Co j.i C Vww

.■ •uwwwfenfc HEATERS^ 6,000 TO 22,800 B.T.U.

From *59.88

22,600 B.T.U. W.M

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We will BEAT of MEET any advertised Drice ALL HUNTING & TRAPPING LICENSES AVAILABLE

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