( xf 52 SDOrtS Herald & Lantern 20 |une '84

outdoors with Lou Rodia \ 4 1932 News Stories Make Sense Today

Whatever goes around comes around. That's an old expression which means that history repeats itself. It can also mean that no matter how much things * change, things remain the same. The date is Sept. 29, 1932. You are reading your current copy of the Cape MayStar and Wave. (No, I wasn't there, but I was given a part of an old Star and Wave of that date which came from under a rug). There are items of interest to outdoor people in that issued Some of the material could as well have been written today, since

the material is still pertinent. One article is headed "Old Ships Valuable To Resort". In the story, Harry Armstrong, of Jersey City, then treasurer of the State Fish and Game Commission and chairman of a special committee on salt water fishing, "revived" an idea which is still struggling for acceptance today. Armstrong's suggestion was to take the old, abandoned vessels from our waterways and tow them off shore to be sunk to create new fishing grounds. STRANGE. BUT today, over 40 years later, and with certainly no less in

numbers of abandoned boats and ships to deal with, the idea of artificial reefs is still being studied. Little, if anyting is usually done along the coast to create reefs because of the cost, the red tape and the need for organizations to sponsor and push for reefs. It was pointed out. for example, that it would be cheaper to put these vessels out in the ocean as reefs than it would be to tow them somewhere in the hope of gaining some salvage money. It was ctetermined that the cost of trying to salvage would not even match return from salvage money and it would actually save money to sink the boats as fishing reefs. IT WOULD ALSO make more sense to sink a lot of the old refrigerators, autos, construction rubble, broken storm drainage pipes and abandoned boats in an artifical reef or reefs than it is to contemplate hauling same to a dump site at ali kinds of estimated high cost. Maybe in the year 2024 someone will find this and say that that idea about making an artificial reef for improv ing fishing and cutting down dosts of disposing of some of our big trash items would be something to think about (again). Second story: "Wants Laws To Check Destruction Of Crabs" is the title of the second story which caught our eye. The story pointed out that there was a movement on to get the Legislature to impose a minimum size on crabs being taken from New Jersey

Waters. 1 It was /reported ip the story that a three-inch minimui/i for soft shell and four-indn minimum for hardshells was being considered, it was also reported that thousands of bushels of crabs, one to two inches in size, are being kept and trucked inland, to be used as poultry feed. MANY OF the small ones are being sold for bait. We thought about the taking of the tiny crabs and isn't it strange that there is a parallel? Look into the buckets and bags of some of our anglers today and see just how tiny the fluke are that are being kept. Or, ask our recreational and commercial anglers how many fish are being caught which overburden the market or the potential for immediate use and get spoiled. We like the last paragraph in particular. We've said the same thing many times, and it was almost as if we had written the originaUarticle. It is a shame that over 40 years later, the same words fit so well, and they, again will fall on eafs not too thrilled about hearing them. After all, it is a hot summer already. Reservations are pouring in and the cash registers are starting to hum. Who cares, right now. if fishing and/or crabbing are being threatened by pollution, overharvesting, excessive commercial pressure or good or bad weather? THE 1932 STORY finished up in this fashion: . "Crabbing is a recreation, the commissioners

declafe, that an ever in- 1 creasing host of seashore visitors — men. women and 1 children — enjoy, while as a commercial proposition, it can be developed to a greater proportion if the crabs are properly protected until they are large enough to have food value." Pretty heavy stuff for 1932, but appropriate now. especially if you substitute fish for crabs in the above paragraph. The third story is on a fishing contest and we'll fill you in on that one later. There's also a story on raccoon hunters and their season which we'll catch up on. REPORTS: Bluefish. fluke, sea bass, blackfish. ling and sharks all show signs of upward movement in the angler catch ratios. Some weakfish and black drum catches were reported last week in both the Ocean and Delaware Bay. Night chumming ranges from good to excellent. Trolling for blues has been good. ImamT^ waterway fluke angleAare * catching more fish, and while the catch is mixed with keepers and throwbacks, many of the fluke being caught top the scales at two to five pounds. NAMES: Walter Grabbe of Strathmere caught a 6' 4 lb. fluke he weighed in at Frank's Boats in Strathmere. Walt's fish hit minnow bait at Corson's Inlet. Also at Frank's Boats. . Lee Siegel, of Woodbine, weighed in an 11 lb. and a 9' 2 lb. bluefish. Marmore angler Doug Robinson and Charles Bee from Pocono, Pa., combined for 20 keeper fluke and one small ^blue^The area from the / bridge south to Corson's Inlet has been a hot spot. Sea Isle City fluke action centers around Ludlim's Bay. |

WEAKFISH: John Olivo of North Cape May decked a 14 lb. 14 oz. weakfish while on an outing with Capt. Paul Thompson on the Por gy III out of South Jersey Marina. Blues to 12 lb. are mixed in with angler catches on the Porgy III. POOL: Bill Nelson of Erma took a Sea Raider pool Novith his' 12>4 lb. bluefish. f tkitjPauscher of Seaville was a high hooker on the Royal Flush on a night bluefish chumming trip with Capt. Mike Weigle. He had 13 big'blues. BIRD PLAY: Diving, screaming sea gulls over ocean water often pinpoint schools of surface feeding fish. Capt. Jim Solley of the Happy Days found a school of breaking fish with birds over them on a return trip from FA Buoy. He found a school of weakfish and blues attacking bait. Fares from the Irish Kitchen in Frankford, Philadelphia, led by Norm Finl^y, had some good casting tackle actiop They landed a 20 lb. blue ^nd a 10 lb. weakfish alon^with a goodly number of other fish. What was surprising, however, is that the hot action was only 34 miles off the inlet.

FINE FLOUNDER — Walt Grabbe of Strathmere holds up 6 lb. 4 oz. flounder he caught at Corson's Inlet and weighed in at prank's Boats in Strathmere.

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MOON PHASES/POSITIONS The Moon's affect on the Tide is greatest whm closest to Earth (in per igve) and when in direct alignment with Sun £ earth (fu IP- & new moon phases). On and about these dates, low pressure systems and/or strong winds j (depending upon direction) may f result in flooding, and extreme ly V. low tide*. Moon Phases New Moon ." May 30 First Quarter 6 Full Moon 13 »l.ast Quarter 31 New Moon 2* Perigee • ' Apogee 20 TIDE TABLE Computed for Cape May City beach/ront. for other areas, see Correction Times. DATE HIGH LOW ' 20 Wed 1 11- 1:49 7:21-7:47 21 Thu 1:58- 2:38 8.13- 8:48 22 Fri 2 46- 3:27 9 03- 9:45 23 Sal 3:42- 4:20 9:53-10:36 24 Sun 4:41-5:15 10:38—11:26 25 .Won, 5:37-6:03 11:2326 Tue 6:29—6:48 12:16-12:08 27 Wed 7: 18- 7:33 1:04-12:55 28 Thu 8:03 - 8:16 1:54- 1 44 29 Fri ' 8 48- 9:00 2:42- 2 35 30 Sat 9:38- 9 48 3:28 3:23

CORRECTION TIMES Compute approximate times of high S low water for your area by adding or subtracting s the /ollowing number of minutes for each tide phase in the Tide Table. LOW HIGH Great Egg Harbor Inlet Minus 12 pluslO Ocean City (9th St. Bridge) plus 35 plus 22 1 Corson Inlet (bridge) 1 plus 21 plus 7 Sea Isle City , (Ludlam Thoro Bridge) plus 66 phis 43 Sea Isle City Beach 1 minus 2 minus 21 f V Townsend Inlet pnSal plus 4 y Seven Mile Beach _yjplusl5 0 1 Stone Harbor * >. (Great Channel Bridge) plus 43 plus 40 Hereford Inlet (Anglesea) plus 19 0 Wildwood Beach Minus i minus 17 West Wildwood (Grassy Channel bridge) plus 46 plus 43 Cape May Harbor plus 1 minus 4 Five Fathom Bank plus 11 plusl Cape May Point plus 46 ph»34McCne Shoal / plus 28 — — ""plus 22 , Delaware Bay ■ Bayshore Channel (Bay-Canal Junction) plus 31 plus 36 Miami Beach plus 75 . plus 71 Dennis Creek Entrance / plus 98 plus 84 Brandywine Shoal Light "T plus 77 pha52

Marine Sponsors ' Bluefish Tourney

AVALON - A $100,000 Bluefish Tournament will be held Saturday, Aug. 1 if at Sykes Yacht Sales aqti Marina, 290 Old Avalon Blvd. Awarded will be $50,000 in cash to the angler who lands a world record bluefish, a $50,000 award to the angler who beats the current New Jersey bluefish record. Of course, the one who catches the world record bluefish automatically gets the Jersey record too— and that adds up to $100,000. A cash prize of $5,000 will be won by the boat catching the heaviest bluefish in the tournament. The total amount of prizes will be announced Friday, Aug. 10, at the captain's meeting, 8 p.m., at the Sykes Vacht Sales and Marina sales office. Cash awards and prizes, ranging from $1,250 to $100, will go to the entrants fishing in second through 13 places. A free ticket is included in the boat captain's entry fee for the banquet and dinner to be held Sunday, Aug. 12. Extra tickets for the. captain's guests can be purchased in advance. Beer and hot dogs will be available at the captain's meeting. To obtain entry blanks, stop in at Sykes Yacht Sales and Marina or call

Pat Ahlum at (609)967-1003 or 4004 Conveniences offered for the Tournament are launching of vessels from trailers Friday, Aug. 10 until 10 p.m. and again on Saturday, Aug. .11, at 5 a.m.; shower and head facilities; transient slip, and storage facilities for trailers. Basketball Clinics Set AVALON — Les Burke, head basketball coach at LaSalle College High School, in conjunction with the Recreation Department, will conduct two basketball clinics at The AValon Community Hall, 30th and the Beach. Boys between 9 and 18 may attend the clinic scheduled Aug. 6-10 and girls Aug. 13 - 17 from noon until 3 p.m. The primary objective of the clinics is to teach the fundamentals of basketball on an individual level. The clinic will begin with exercises designed to strengthen and increase agility, station drills which stress basic fundamental drills.

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