sports

outdoors with Lou Rodia After Mackerel , Are Blues Far Behind? %

By thi» time you get to read this one of several things might have happened One. the mackerel will still he here, biting like crazy in the midst of one of the best seasons on these spring run fish in many years Two. the mackerel may have headed for elsewhere, usually to the northern waters where they spend the

summer Three, they may be bouncing in and out. showing some of the elusiveness which is a trait of these flighty fish. MY CRYSTAL BALL is a little murky when it comes to most fish, but it totally , blacks out on mackerel. I'd like to think that the mackerel will stay around at least until the last of April or the first part of May And

I'd like to believe that as soon as the mackerel go they will be replaced by fluke, weakfish and blues It is Utopian to think this would happen But it would Tie nice Imagine a shutdown , on mackerel one day and a break-open the next day on any or all of the fish listed above. Some are already psyching themselves up for the transition between I mackerel and what is to follow. Party boat skippers are telling their fares that they plan to swing over to wreck fishing for sea bass, ling and tautog when the mackerel peter out FOR OTHERS. the hope is thaj^maekerel hang in un til the blues and weakfish are here Boats from Wildwood and ('ape May will have a choice if weaks and blues show early. Mackerel will not remain around long when schools of blues move in. since j mackerel provide iastant lunch for the big chopperlike jaws of the blues It is a fascinating time to fish on the Jersey Cape. Any day now . the picture might change totally There are some reports las yet uncomfirmedi that a few fluke have been caught on dia mond jigs by mackerel anglers who let their lures down all the way to the bol torn IjsI year's fluking in Delware Bay got an earlystart and stayed with us ail summer long. INI.ANI) WATERWAY fluke action also started ear !y While the back bay cat-

; ches dropped off in summer > for most, there were lots of fluke to be caught until fall The biggest problem for late summer fluke action is the I water temperature i Usually summer back bay water warms up so much that it makes the fluke slug gish. But they will take baits presented properly and on light tackle v Early in the season, fluke catches skyrocketed. Small fluke by the hundreds were boated by back bay anglers all along the inland waterway. Some were miniature size Lots should have been throwbacks SOME < FORTUNATELY not the biggest part » of the back hay anglers, kept every last fish, big or little, and proceeded to throw a lot of them away. The waste was appalling Now. a size limit of 12 inches is in the offing for 1985 /"That will jump to 13 inches V in 1986 and 14 inches in 1987 That 's where thVfluke limit should have been ih the first place - for the commercial as well as the rod and reel angler The waste of fish prompt - ed the legislation on size. If the maskerel disgrace keeps-orf we'll see limitations on mackerel by numbers Mine of our skipper friends who sail a party boat each summer got visited by the New Jersey State Police NO. IIE WASN'T in trou ble It was just that the police stopped down at his dock to ask the skipper to pass the word to other captains and their fares. The word was that over 50 bags of mackerel had been discarded along the north bound land of the Garden State Parkway in just three days around last Weekend , The fish had apparently i been discarded by anglers who boated more than they could use and kept the fish only until they could tra^h them along the highway. Better these fish should have been given away on the boat or returned to the water alive Hopefully, some of those slob fishermen who choose to dump fish rather than to give them away, release them or stop catching so many when they haive enough for their own use will get caught by the State Police It would be fitting to see some of the slobs fined for two reasons ONE IS THAT they are wasting fish The second reason is that they are alsojf" trashing up the side of the road. Only a slob would consider throwing a bag of fish along the side of the road for someone else to pick up. And. what's worse, as the summer wears on. the fish wilP spoil quicker. That makes the pick-up job even more unpleasant for someone. We've had the same reports about bluefish. weakfish. ling and whiting and even black drum. We also" saw a half dozen martin dumped along a back road near where we trained our hunting beagles some time back Sharlu also wind up being dumped after they are photographed or weighed in * in many instances. We're pleased to see that many charter and party boat captains are cautioning fares about wasting /ish. Some make it a point to insist on releasing game fish

which are not destined for mounting as a trophy or unless they are too badly injured to survive. FlSIIINn ACTION: We look at the calendar, the water temperature and past performance to try to guess what the fish are going to do. We also keep in touch with our counterparts to the south At Virginia Beach, the word was that bluefish were already on the horizon last weekend (April 12. 13 and 14). While no blues had been reported, the contact there indicated that mackerel were already north of Rudee Inlet at Virginia Beach and that blues were on their way from North Carolina. By all normal schedules the blues were on their way from North Carolina By all normal schedules the blues should be around Virginia Beach by now and even north of there by the time \ you read this THAT MEANS mackerel will be chased out of the area The first sign other than a disappearance of fish suddenly will be mackerel with their tails bitten off or mackerel being lost to big ger fish when you reel them to the surface. The first blues are usually lean and mean They are long and skinny from chas-

ing food Some anglers call them racers since they are so streamlined. The same length blue in the fall would weigh two to five poinds heavier in the big sizes. Don't sell early season blues short, though. They generally eat better. They also have a tendency to move into the back bays on occasion. The blues in back waters are usually not in schools and they provide exciting light tackle action in shallow water on the flats. ANOTHER INDICATOR for us is the invasion of Chesapeake Bay by bunkers imenhaden) That came a week or so early this year, indicating that the blues > should be up that bay a week or 10 days sooner than last year. Shad season tflso started two weeks earlier than usual up the Delaware River. At l-ambertville,' anglers' v lishing the wing dams there ^started last Sunday to catch big sha4 Usually that action comes ut late April rather than at mid-month. A lack of rain and' low runoff from fresh water should be a big plus for early season bay action. It might make a difference in how many weakfish show up in the spring of 1985 Hopefully, more than last year

: K S..L t * /■ r/ r i. f.f.m/.r r7 Vt { £j; .r| ! GET UP AND GO I s Come nandlel us maldi j fofung. slang or crua- > s «tg bon to one <* these soM partocmars from s . Johnson* They're * loaded *ththe latest otf S board technology ndudinif VRO - automate vana ■ > Me ratio o*ng lor added economy and conwraance >, I "fnNVX ^ 884-7272 ' ; MARINE SUPPF 1J0.1ROUU '09 fj ; : • • . ca^MAT NJ ^ // i HXttllUCC/ —

'J?..**.*.*/ r2.Z2.7LA.A2 A A A. / > ^ ^ In 5 MR. ADVERTISER... | 5 "Don't You Miss | s he Boat!" | s Catch The Biggest n > One of AIL. The N ! Htraiii s Lantern B ' 5 ( i I ; FISHING & BOATING ] | v SECTION N s r i I N f > Last year this special section of papers ran all M - n season long and ws Very popular! Well, this ^ year we plan to make it bigger and. better with kj ^ related stories and photos! Here's ypur chance s to reach over 23.000 potential customers every week! , fsj : ener | S Reservations iV/tf %J\J %J%J N s / N t •' _ v _ . * N A Ax A A( AAAAjtAcG jPZAl ftA A A A A A futj "AlAt'Al tr' /

Rio Grande Army & Navy SUMMER DRESS PANTS s12 BEE-MAR SHOPPING CENTER 886-6868 VILLAS Mon-Sat. 9:30-5 j Cape May County ALMANAC > APRIL 1985 MINIS Pit ASKS, POSITIONS CORRECTION TIMES The Moon . affect on the Tide Compute approximate I, met IS greatest when closest to Earth of high t low water for your tm perigee I and when in direct sarea bv adding or subtracting alignment with Sun * earth tfull the following number of & new moon phases) On and minutes for each tide phase In « about these dales low pressure (he Tide table svilemi and/or strong winds LOW HIGH (depending upon direction) mov c_.. l- , . mZ,. ... "i"** low tides Pl«4>2 ph»10 Mooa Ph.se. City (9lh S< Bridge) Full Moon i Plus 35 plus 22 Ust Quarter 1 1 Carson Inlet (bridge) New Moon ....» piugz, plus 7yFtrsiQwarter » Sea Isle City K Xoaeer iLudlarr. Thoro Bridge) " - £& « " u»« • pi«.« _« i Sea Isle City Beach TIOF TtRI F minus! minus 21 Computed for Cape May City ^ , Townsend Inlet beach/ront. for other areas, tee Plus4 Correction Timet . « Seven Mile Beach IMT*: HIGH low plus 15 ' o a.m. p.m. a.m. p.m. Stone Harbor 24 Wed 10:17-10,-20 4 04- 3 47 Great Channel Bridge) 25 Thu 11:02-11:07 4:43- 4 22 plus43 plus 40 V Sat 12:0^12:33 5 ^ 8 29 ^ ' ' 3 Mon 3:ul IS IS^l' S Wildwood Beach 30 Tue 4:22— 5:10 10 43— II 06 Minus! mint* 17 West Wildwood (Grassy Channel bridge i f \ f P1"8* plus 43 # \ j Cape May Harbor / I ! P*1" 1 minus 4 I I Five Fathom Bank j / Ph*» II phis l V M m. / C\ \ J Cape May Point y 'a ."*1 Lr V pha 46 plus 34 I fy V I / \ McCrie Shoal W sli jl j pltan plus 22 ^WSNpaw^Vf I Delaware Bay • ^ / ) CM \ \ / Baysbore Channel / ./ \ \ I (Bay-Canal Junction) ^ I plus <7 phase f' fri | jlTTTiii V I Mi*m' Btmcb ' ^*41 fs I ry / piu*7s. plus si mill I. y^lj W / Dennis Creek Entrance / Pk"U4 plus 97 f f \_ / / Brandywine Shoal Light ph« 77 phaSS