_sports

outdoors with Lou Rodia

Mackerel Are Here , And Reason Is On

Mackerel have arrived. The mackerel madness has set in. Angler^are returning to the dock with baskets, buckets, coolers and trash cans filled with fish. It is one of the rites of spring. If you have a yen for some fast action, lots of fish, short runs to the fishing grounds, and short days on the water, there is no time better than richt

now. Mackerel are close to the inlets, plentiful and big. That there is a big spread of fish is one indication that the season might last for a while. Fish are well below the Jersey Cape. But these are flighty fish. They may stay for a while and they may choose to take off as suddenly as they arrived. Sometimes mackerel stay close to the beach. Other times, they move off-

shore. One day they bite like mad. The next day may be a pick. What we're saying is that you can't take mackerel for granted. Get them while they're hot They may not stay tbo long. BOATS ARE sailing from Ocean City, Sea Isle City, the Wildwoods, and Cape May. Four, six and eight-hour trips are all producing fish. Again, as of this writing. Things might change. Be prepared for it. Cape May boats all report lots of fish. Capt. Bill Schumann of the Sea Star II said high hookers included Joe Durkin of Bensalem, Pa., and Marty Durkin from North Cape May. Joe Skey and Rick Fuehver of Malvern, Pa., and Charles Duus and Dave Johnson of Collingswood, also bagged lots of big macks. Capt. Al Dulinski of the Big Jim also reported plenty of fish on the good weather days. At the Miss Chris docks, boats are sailing four, six and eight hours and producing lots of fish six to eight miles from the inlet. Capt. Paul Thompson of the Porgy III said his fares are bagging lots of fish eight to 10 miles from the inlet. SOME DAYS the Porgy III has returned to dock early. High Hook catches were reported by Betty Warfel and Joyce Roque of Pottstown, Pa.. Jo Mac Dougall of Lindenwold, and Ted Boron of Clayton. On the Happy Days, Bill Wilby and his son Bill Jr.

combined for over 300 mackerel. Leon Duffield and Joe Jeff brought in over 200 fish to the Happy Days dock on Ocean Drive at Cape May. Many went over three pounds. r Har,ry Conner of Philadelphia was a high hooker on the Capt. Robbins out of Sea Isle City with Capt. Neil Robbins. Capt. Neill said fish were as close as two to three miles from the inlet. Wildwood Crest Capt. Chris Kanya of the Starlight Fleet also reports hot mackerel action. The Twilight sails daily at 8 a.m. for all day trips. AT WILDWOOD Yacht Basin, Capt. Charles Selby of the Sea Raider also reports plenty of mackerel. Fares boated 40 to 150 per trip. Sea Raider skipper Jay Beecroft, of the Wildwood Yacht Basin fleet, also reports plenty of mackerel. The Sea Raider sails at 10 a.m. daily. So it goes all up and down the Jersey Cape Coast, and even beyond. There are lots of mackerel below us, and plenty north of here. It remains to be seen how many days the fish will be here. FISHING BENEFITS: How important is fishing to any area's economy? I think there are times we vastly undersell the importance of the sport. Consider that over 90 million Americans fish in fresh and salt water, and they pursue their sport with great enthusiasm (not to mention a lot of bucks). v The casinos vyill get little of my play-around money. My choice has always been to put it into hunting and fishing, for the most part I can't guess how much I have invested in one way or another over a lifetime, but it is considerable. A recent Sea Grant Study in Florida provided some interesting figures THE SURVEY estimates that tourists spent 65,000,000 man-days at fishing They generated direct sport fishingoriented expenses of nearly $1.4 billion in one year. Florida's Commercial fishery had a value of $175 million. Sea Grant figures indicate that the value of fishing to Florida exceeded the combined valu6 of the and the beef industries in Florida in the sitme year. These figures are staggering if you think about it. But they are important for two reasons. One is that they point up the relative importance of recreational angling vs. salt water commercial fishing. It has been believed that the recreational angler is given short shrift when it comes to fish allocations in many areas. A FISH CAUGHT by a commercial fisherman has value, but that same fish caught by a hook and line fisherman generates a lot more money into a local economy. Before some of our commercial fisherman friends get upset with us we are not suggesting that all fish should go to the rod and reel anglers. All we are saying, and ever said, is that we should recognize the relative values of both industries and make sure that there are plenty of fish for both user groups

At the same time, if there is a shortage of fish, both user groups should have to give up a share rather than to take away all of the fish from one group in favor of the other. But the argument between the commercial and the recreational angler can wait for another day. WE'LL SEE some of this conflict again *w 1985 in Delaware Bay when the netters and the spqrts fishermen try to live by the new rules being promulgated in Jrenton. Hopefully, there will be few confrontations. Back to the relative merits of the impact of recreational angling on local— economy. For 50 years, Cape May County promotional effort has been directed at bringing tourists to the Jersey Cape. As the short sjimraef' season filled up, the shoulder month expansion started, and we are now experiencing increased numbers of people visiting the county i^ver a longer period of time than at any in county history. One of the keystones for this expansion of offseason business has been the excellent fishing which is of- • fered over a long period of time *on the Jersey Cape. For all practical purposes, the real season is from late March through November. We have seen it last much longer. HOW DOES fishing help the econony? Visit any party boat dock any day from now on and you will see cars filled with fishermen showing up from the several states surrounding us. These anglers charter boats, bring their own boats, or they pay to fish on the four-hour, six-hour and

all-day boats which cater to transient anglers. Tackle shop openings have started to occur. Restaurants and sandwich shops are seeing a boost in their businesses as fishermen stop to eat on the way to and from fishing, and to purchase lunch. Since fishermen do occasionally bend the elbow, bars, as well as package stores, get a few dollars in plus revenue from them. So do gas stations, clothing stores, supermarkets, fast food operations, motels and hotels, and a host of business enterprises. Some recognize the fishermen as their customers. Others do not. Once the fisherman's dollar is bled into the economy, it is difficult for anyone to sort it out. Suf- ' fice it to say that fishermen make a solid contribution to the economy, here, in Florida, and just about anywhere they go to enjoy their sport.

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Cape May County ^ ALMANAC > APRIL 1985 UIUIA PUlcrCfDACITCA.fi: -- - - _..n..

The Moon's affect on the Tideis greatest when closes t to Earth (in perigee; and when in direct alignment with Sun * earth tfult It new moon phases; On and about these dates, low pressure systems and/or strong winds (depending upon direction! may result in flooding, and extremely low tides Moon Phases Poll Moon 5 Last Quarter 1 1 New Moon M pint Quarter ,.M Apogee l» Perigee y S TIDE TABLE Compiled for Cape May Clly beach/ronl. for other areas, see Correction Timet date: high low 17 Wed 6:01- 6:24 11:53— 18 Thu 6:43- 6:59 12:22-12:33 - 19 Fri 7:16- 7:31 1 OS— 1:11 20 Sat 7:53- 8 06 I 44- 1 46 21 Sun 8:77- 8:35 2:20- 2 18 22 Moo 9:01- 9 07 2:55- 2 50 23 Tue 9:38- 9 42 3 30- 3:18 24 Wed 10:17-10 20 4:04- 3:47 25 Thu 11:02 — 11:07 4:43- 4:22 26 Fri It.M- 5 33- 5:12 . 27 Sal 12 03— 12 S3 6:37- 6 29 28 Sun 2 03- 2 59 8:46- 8:56 29 Mon 3:11- 4 07 9:45- 10 06 30 Tue 4>22— -Srio 10:43—11:06

CORRECTION TIMES Com^pfe approximate limes "N><jUjigh t low water for your araj^by adding or subtracting the following number of minutes for each tide phase in the Tide Table / LOW HIGH Great Egg Harbor Inlet Plus 12 plus 10 Ocean City (9th St. Bridge) plus 35 plus 22 Carson Inlet (bridge) plus 21 plus 7 Sea Isle City I Ludlam Thoro Bridge) plus 66 plus 43 Sea Isle City Beach minus 2 minus 21 Townsend Inlet plus 21 plus 4 Seven Mile Beach plus 15 0 Stone Harbor (Great Channel Bridge) plus 43 plus 40 Hereford Inlet iAnglesea) plus 19^ 0 Wildwood Beach Minus 2 minus 17 West Wildwood I Grassy Channel bridge ) plus 46 plus 43 Cape May Harbor plus 1 minus 4 Five Fathom Bank plus II plus I Cape May Point plus 46 plus 34 McCne Shoal plus 29 phis 22 Delaware Bay Bayshare Channel (Bay-Canal Junction) pi us 47 plus 36 Miami Beachplus 75 plus 61 Dennis Creek Entrance plus U4 plus 97 Brandywine Shoal Light* plus 77 plus 52 __J