sports

outdoors %lith lou Rodia \ Tournaments Add Zest to Cape Fishing

Contests and tournaments add a dimension to fishing which- offers added excite- \ ment, as well as a chance to win prizes, including cash, fishing tackle and other items with real or intrinsic value. Some tournaments offer modest prizes, while others have big money arid

big merchandise prizes as ..the attraction. ( Tournaments promote interest in fishing, add to the attractiveness of an area which is fishing-oriented by increasing tourism spending. and help sell boats as well as fishing tackle. Anglers like the tour-

naments. Some follow the tournament schedule not unlike the pro golfers who go on tour. We have watched tournaments for many years, and except for a few "experts" who fish the pro bass tournament, there are only a handful of repeat winnets. That's what makes tournaments so exciting. The fish is really the leveller and luck plays a large part in the success of the angler who ultimately wins. SURE, SKILL ups the chances for winning. But a look at the world record books shows few names of pro anglers. Cape May County has a wide range of tournaments open to anglers at all levels in the fishing hierarchy. Some shoot for big money prizes and attract the big boats which are headed offshore to blue water, exotic fish and deepwater excitement. Others are conducted at local docks by enterprising tackle shop, party or charter boat owners or by

area chambers of commerce in efforts to boost local business. Some are regional in concept. Others cover the whole county, as does the one conducted by the Cape May County Board of Freeholders That one is an old timer — celebrating its 50th year. It was started many years ago to boost fishing and it has been maintained as a low key event with modest prizes, no entry fee or advance registration and little hard-nosed competition. Anyone can enter and many do each year. All entrants get an entry badge indicating they have weighed in a fish in the tournament. FISH OVER minimums get citations and first time citation winners get bronze pins. At the end of the year, winners get fishing tackle for prizes. Over 30 species of fish are recognized. This year the citations are printed on gold certificates to mark the 50th anniversary. The entry badges will become collector's items. This will be the first and only year the buttons will be gold in color to mark the 50th anniversary. Another contest with some history is the one conducted annually by the Lower Township Chamber of Commerce. That starts Friday, May 24, and runs through June 3. The contest features $250 cash awards for the largest weakfish and the largest drum weighed in at the contest's official weighmaster locations. Since the contest is localized those weighmasters are in and around Lower Township. THERE IS A modest entry fee. It costs $1.50 for each participating angler to enter. Advance registration is required. The rest of the prizes (at least four in the weakfish and four in the drumfish divisions) will be I fishing tackle. There may be ' more prizes added if the largesse of area merchants provides them. What makes this tournament appealing is that the angler does not even have to own a boat. He can fish from a par#"* or charter boat, from /his own boat if he has one, (with a friend on his boat.W from shore. Drum catches will be from boats, since few, if any. come close enough to shore, but surf and jetty fishermen can shoot for prizes in tbe weakfish division and have a fair to excellent chance of taking a prize. THE LOWER Township Chamber is hoping to revive the contest after this year to make it into one of the chamber's priority projects and an exciting event which will benefit the chamber as well as the area businesses. For the moment, however, anglers heading for weakfish-drumfish action should drop a buck and a half into the kitty and become part of the contest. Someone will cop the $250 prize in each event. There will be other winners. There is room for all and anyone can win. Check with the weighmasters who are assisting with this event. REPORTS: Weakfish action finally got started in Delaware Bay with a bang. The fish are big and some good catches have been reported. Bluefish, however, are still providing the best bet. Black drum have not

made any dramatic moves. Conditions are right, but the drum are not cooperating. Fluke, however, are making an early appearance in Delaware Bay and some big doormats are being reported. The topper so far is a 13Vj-lb fluke which hit a bucktail for Frank McSherry of Levittown, Pa. He was fishing on the Sea Raider with Capt. Jay Beecroft. Another doormat came aboard the Big Jim. Capt. A1 Dulinski reported a 9%-lb. fluke for Rick Conner which' beat out many of the blues arm weakfish for pool honors. Dominick Serpintion copped a Big Jim pool with a 14-lb., 3-oz. weak. TOM GETZ of Cape May Court House won a pool on Capt. JoeN Zaborowski's 4-hour boat Challenger with an llVi-lb. bluefish. Capt. Joe said his fares were enjoying bluefish action when possible, and bottom fishing when the. blues are uncooperative. Bob Menz of Wildwood _ Yjllas and Gene McGough of Wildwood Crest tied for a pool on Capt. Charlie Selby's Rainbow with identical 11-lb., 2-oz. weakfish. Octogenarian Charlie Portner of Ventnor caught his first weakfish of the current season on an outing with Capt. Lou Haubois on the Ditti Lin II. Charlie was fishing with the George Egrie party from Ventnor. They boated 24 weaks including the 12-lb. topper decked by Charlie. They also had six blues. ALL OF THE fish hit a bucktail-worm combo. At Wildwood Crest, Capt. Dave Chicchetti has started a magic hour trip leaving at 3 p.m. for Delaware Bay and returning aril p.m. This trip is for weaks and drum and will be running only until the fluke season gets under way. At that time the ^ Vildwood III will go back to •nuke fishing on an all-day basis, leaving at 8 a.m. from Blake's Dock. Wildwood Crest. Frank Pontari of Ocean City was a pool winner on the Porgy III with Capt. Paul Thompson, he had an 11-lb., 9-oz. weakfish. Anthony Gab from Philadelphia had a 53-lb. black drum — the first boated on the Porgy III this season. Weaks and^ues spice up night action on the Porgy III. DOCK CONTEST: The Miss Chris fleet, which includes the Miss Chris If? the

Little Chris, the Christine aad the Nada Jane, offers a special Penn 710Z fishing contest weekly through June i 30. Each week, the angler boating the biggest weakfish on a day trip on any of the Miss Chris Fleet boats wins a Penn 710Z reel. Mark Sydow of Ocean City boated a 10-lb., 6-oz. weakfish on an outing on the Nada Jane with Capt. Jim Sullivan. JETTY CATCH: Julian Stephens of Cape May caught a 12.3-lb. weakfish on ' 10-lb. test line and a mackerel strip while fishing Cold Spring Jetty. BACK BAY FLUKE: Candy Jankowski at Frank's Boats reported seven weakfish from three to5tt lb. for Don Wilkinson, A1 Hendrickson and Al's son Michael while they were fishing behind Strathmere between markers 96 and 104. They also had one fluke and one blowfish using bucktails, Mr. Twisters and squid. The angling trio hail from Franklinville, N.J. Freg Shetler of Strathmere weighed in a 15-lb., 14-oz. weakfish. candy also reported some blues two to three pounds. At Vitello's Dock, Sea Isle City, anglers- are catching blues and fluke. Hershel Clark of Millville had 12 blues on strips of herring. George Colon and sons Angie, Phil, and Jose from Philadelphia caught a bushel basket of big blueclaw crabs. George Loza and Dave Dembicki of Philadelphia caught 12 fluke and one Bluefish on minnows and herring strips. Best fishing has been Ludlam's Bay. Laery's Dock also reported fluke to two pounds in Corson's Inlet and the Intercoastal Waterway. Blues two to four pounds are being caught in the surf at Corson's Inlet. Chapter One ERMA — Mrs. Clarissa Reid, president of the Chapter One Parent Council of the Richard M. Teitelman School, announces the group's program evaluation meeting will be held 4 p.m. tomorrow in the Frances E. ' Jackson Media Center. Refreshments will be served. The public is invited.

Country Club Greens // With Public Prices JJ • Golf Laaaons • Driving Rang* f / • Restaurant / / • Golf Shop / / • Elactrlc Carta / •rrrlv / /STONE / HARBOR r golf f 465-9270 * g\m B|n V Fo,t CLUB V J J / Rl. • Capa Way Court Houaa m h*m Worth o» Mom Master IM

MONAGHAN'S AUTO TIRE CENTER

J J | EXPIRES JUNE 5th n«M<nNmMNr»c | t Front-End Alignment !&Ss^$2i im! I * 1 s SKS I I ~ I L.— .....J

r""^53Ss£7"> — «... ^3 I EXPIRES JUNE 5th Lube, Oil Change & Filter » • r*wm mm- m $15 L.— JS££aVj

MottofCjrd I Ml AM A All AM AUT0 TIRE CENTER IvIllllliliniAll 315 °elSe> °r " Snnde * 886-1 1 16 Ooen Mon thru Fn 7 30 to5. Sat 8 to TWF AT.I.AMERICAN GRILL.

' L ■

Ducane Gas Grills oiler you all the pleasures of outdoor • barbecuing with these unique cooking features ■Patented • stainless steel La-Va-Grale""BEIhcient Top-Ported'" burner ©Convenient up-lrojif Control panel ■ 108 sq inch chrome warming rackBOptional push-button idpition with Vis-U-GIo'" ©Optional patented porcelainized steel Sear Gndr k ALL DUCANE GRILLS ARE ON r SALE THRU MEMORIAL DAY AT • PRE SEASON PRICES!!

live grill demonstration •- « a (V) 3\ Saturday, May 25, 1 985 I 11*1 \ at the Villa* office ' ^ 9 a.m. » 12 p.m.

'DEMONSTRATION MODELS will be available at special DISCOUNTS WOODBINE ^-i Woodbine - Ocean view Rd. Bayshore & W. Virginia Avea. 886-3303 SERVING SOUTH JERSEY SINQE 1929 •OPEN SATURDAYS 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. !

Carpet Sale

•NECESSITY *7.95 so n> •EVENING SONG REG. $26.95 SQ. YD. NSW >20.95 SO. YD. •FASCINATION REG. $14.50 SQ. YD. NOW >11.50 SQ. YD. 50% OFF MINI BUNDS 40% OFF VERTICAL BUNDS RIO GRANDE & PARK BLVD. WILDWOOD 522-2426 mm,