_sports_

outdoors with Lou Rodia

'Good Old Days': How Good Were They?

Things are not always as they were and things that were are not always the same. Things change. The file folder is dated 1964 In it are columns writ ten about the fishing as it existed in that year There are some similarities and some basic differences. We went back to the file to see what things were like back then.

We did it because we were getting some strange readings about how fishing used to be 20 years ago from a couple of acquaintances We didn't remember it the same. It is strange what people remember and what they forget. We did not always remember that we had big numbers of big weakfish

We remembered some < weakfish lean years and i lots of years that were so- < so, when we had only small i fish, r ' BLUEFISH WERE not - always big and plentiful, as we remember it. We did i have more striped bass. Porgies were a popular and plentiful bottom fish Marlin frequented the lightship area. Dolphin were a lot more common Fluke were bigger, but not as numerous. There were more black drum. There were lots of kingfish and the blowfish ! were a plague at times, but [ were good eating. We talk to a lot of fishermen -Some recall the good aid days as being good. Others are not sure. Some just plain do not remember But for some, their memories tend to dwell on only the good. In their minds nothing was ever bad and fishing was always better than it is. BI T THE printed wbrd records things more accurately than memory. And it is there for all to see when it is revived. That's what files are for. And that's why we do not always throw things away. Sometimes it is good to look back Sometimes, it is not We liked a lot of things about the good old days We also didn't like a lot of things. Money, which was one of things we always liked. was hard to come by. for example. There was no frivolous money in our growing up. so rods, reels, tackle boxes filled with fishing gear, boats and incidental equipment were catalog items we drooled over and wanted. But we never got them CANE POLES, cork bobbers and two-for-a-penny hooks were -our fishing style until much later. Since, we have become fishing tackle junkies and pig out on rods, reels, lures and accessories far beyond what we need. But we also remember some ups and downs in fishing. Weakfish were not always the predominant fish in the bay When the M

croakers were there, the weakfish numbers were down. When the weakfish numbers were up, the size was small. Spike weakfish weighing three and four to a pound were dominant in the catches in many years. And the weaks didn't go north of Delaware Bay in an appreciable numbers. BLUEFISII WERE not always those big slammers we read about these days. Five to seven pound-blues were pool winners and 10 to 20 blues on a trip were big catches. In 1964. we chartered a boat of out of Wildwood Crest and returned with U blues to five pounds And we were the high boat for the day. Catches of 10 to 20 blues were 'he norm on lots of days. Today, bluefish are big and plentiful. Fifteen to 20-pounders are \t uncommon. They are caught chumming, trolling, casting and jigging. That's bluefishing in 1985 and it should hold up as how it will be in 1986 Not that much should change with this important fishery. Blues are the number one fish for East Coast anglers In a good year, rod and reel anglers will lead 28 million of these fighting game fish. BUT DO YOU remember how it really was 20 years ago? Ask yourself. And then, read on. Here is what things were like for blues in the mid-60's. A 7 lb. 15 oz. bluefish was the top fish reported at Cape May for the week of June 19. A week earlier, the hot bluefishing was from the beach all the way to Five Fathom Lightship. Blues were four to six pounds and the hot lures were green and yellow nylons, feathers, and spoons, with tube lures also catching lots of fish. The column of July 2, 1964, indicated lots of blues around Five Fathom Lightship. They averaged two to four lb. with an occasional big one thrown in. The hot lure was a small red and white feather trolled deep, or a No. 4 Clark spoon. A WEEK LATER, the fishing broke wide open, with lots of blues and all kinds of lures working Top producers included feathers, spoons, fluorescent skirts and nylon trolling lures. Five to sevenpound blues were considered "choppers". A month later, blues were almost impossible to catch. It was a hot August and the bluefish went into a slump. There was no night chumming in 1964 There was an experimental trip engaged in by Capt. Fred Miller on the Legionnaire

and Capt. Dom D'Orio. on the Rainbow. Both tried to chum for blues but rough seas hampered the efforts. A FEW WEEKS later, another effort was made involving the Big Jim. with Capt. A1 Dulinski. and the Rainbow, with again Capt. D'Orio. That same night. Capt. Ed Royles of the Royal Flush had taken a group on a night trip for weaks in Delaware Bay. Big sharks broke up the chum slick and only a few weaks were caught. But all three skippers agreed, in reviewing the night's activities, that the inti < acies of night fishing could be worked out. Once the art of night fishing was mastered, they said, it would be an economic boon to the party boat industry. Their prediction worked «»ut. Today, we have established a firm night chumming party and charter boat business both in Delaware Bay and in the Atlantic Ocean for Cape May County charter and party boat patrons. BUT THERE was no night chumming in the early 60's. It was yet to come. There was another problem in 1964. Tuna clippers from the West Coast were decimating the tuna population. When there was a shortage of tuna, they set nets on schools of blues. There was a tragic waste of blues after they found there was no market for these fish and the clippers moved on But for a time, the threat of netting the blues threw a scare into the then-existing charter and party bloat fleet. Then the clippers moved on and everyone forgot about the threat. In the 60's, there were few. if any big slammer blues. Night chumming produced the same size blues we would call snappers today. So did the daytime trolling boats ON THE FIRST bluefish chumming exploratory trip. 16 blues were caught The biggest would have been around three pounds We remember because the old columns reminded us. But, we were also there, i We made all of the RamI bow exploratory trips to chum for blues that year Beth of them Bluefish chumming was in the experimental stage for Cape May County, but (t i had been a hot item in » North Jersey and New t York for years, i And. while we were attempting to find blues in t August, radio reports in- ? dicated lots of two to four ) pound blues from Indian I River south to Ocean City. ? Md . and some big blues up

to 10 lb. off the Virginia Capes. The question was whether or not the blues would make it this far north. The bulk of them did not. especially the big fish. DELAWARE BAY weakfish action started slowly in June that year and picked up after that. The leader in the Cape May County fishing tournament in the last week in June was a3-lb 15-oz. weakfish. That fish held up for several weeks. 0 In mid-June, weakfish were still scarce. Some being reported on the lower Cape jetties. As the summer set in. weakfish moved up the bay They were catchable on bait for the most part. But they were small. Lots of spikes were reported in 1964. i Few weaks were reported north of us. It took 10 years for the big I weakfish populations to ari rive. It took as long for the numbers of weaks to growto where they spread all I along the East Coast to Massachusetts. > THERE WAS another problem in the early 60*s. The bunker boats were working the bay and were • impacting on the recrea- ? tional fishery. Boat liveries 1 reported that their ! customers did not want to rent boats to go out to fish f in competition with a fleet of netters. - The bunker boats 1 operated flagrantly within sight of the beach on the * bay and often ran aground in shallow water in their ef- - forts to catch bunkers. i That they were legally ^ operating was a moot - point. 1 The recreational anglers ? were upset because they believed the bunker boats e were hurting the fishing by r catching weakfish in their 5 nets, and they were. They e also disturbed the weaks so K that they were harder to e catch by the rod and reel anglers. THERE WAS a hue and y cry and groups formed to fight the bunker boats A e major change in the in- >■ dustry moved the bunker e boats out. organizational »- efforts were set aside and !. everyone went back to ■ fishing again o Now it is 20 years later, r- The weakfish have been harder to catch in the past is few years since the big ;e numbers of the late 70's and early 80'« are down, n But a new problem faces w the recreational fishing industry This time it is the t- gill netters. They are comin peting for the fish. n- ONCE AGAIN we are ^ r- hearing from the recreain tional industry. But. once y. again, there is no organiza'P (Page 35 Please)

• Cape May County * ALMANAC MARCH. 19X6

MOON PHASES/POSITIONS The Moon * effect on the Tide U greatest when closest lo Earth a (In perigee ) and .when in direct c alignment with Sun t Earth t (full * new moon phases) On ' and about these dates, low t pressure systems and/or strong winds (depending upon direc lion) may result in flooding and/or extremely tow tides Moon Phase* ! I.a»l Quarter 3 Nru Moon ID | First Quarter IN Full Monti 25 f \pogee ,s Perigee t TIDE TABLE I Computed for Cape May City beoch/ront. for other areas, see t Correction Times DATE HIGH LOW , a.m. p m. a m p.m. 5 Wed 1 02 3 41 9 27 9 39 ' 6 Thu 4 IS- 4 S3 10 * 10 40 7 Fn 5 17 5 49 II 22 11:37 8 Sal fits 6 38 -12 12 1 M Sun 6 57 7 211 12 30 12 59 in Mon 7 38 7 SB I IB 1 40 | 11 Tue 8 16- 8 35 2 01 2 19 12 We<1 8:55- 9 12 2 41 2 54 ] U Thu 9 32 9 48 3 19 3 19 14 Fri III 09 10 25 3 55 - 4.00 i:. Sal 10 46 II 03 4 33 4 30 16 Sun II 28 II 44 5 1) 5 04 I 17 Moo 12 15 6 00- - 5 48 AH Tue 12:31 I U8 7 IM 6 55 I < Ik Wed I 26- 2 10 8 12 8 II .H Thu 2 31 3 22 9 14 9 14 , 21 Fri -I 41 4 28 10 07 10 12 22 Sat 4 44 5 21 10 SB II US 23 Sun 5 T7 6 06 II 42 11 54 1 24 Mon 6 23 - 6 49 12 27 25 Tue 7 06 7 31 12 44 I 10 I 26 Wed 7 47 8 13 I 31 1 SO 27 Thu 8 31 8:55 2 18 2:14 28 Fri 9 16 9 44 3 03 t 16 29 Sal 10 06 10 35 3 53 3 58 30 Sun II 02 11 31 4 43 4 49 31 Mon 12 03 5 43 5 49

CORRECTION TIMES Compute approximate times of high 8 low water for your by adding or subtracting the following number of minutes for eoch tide phase In the Tide Table HIGH Great Egg Harbor Inlet 12 piualO Ocean City (9th St Bridge i plus 35 plus 22 Carson Inlet i bridge i plus 21 plus 7 Sea Isle City i Ludlam Thoro Bndge i plUS 66 plus 43 Sea Isle City Beach 2 minus 21 Townsend Inlet plus 21 plus 4 Seven Mile Beach plus 15 0 Stone Harbor (Great Channel Bndge i plus 43 plus 40 Hereford Inlet (Angleaeai plus 19 0 Wildwood Beach Minus 2 minus 17 West Wildwood (Grassy Channel bndge i plus 46 plus 43 Cape May Harbor plus I minus 4 Five Fathom Bank plus II plus 1 Cape May Point plus 46 plus 34 McCne Shoal plus 28 plus 22 Delaware Bay Bayshore Channel i Bay-Canal Junction) plus 47 plus 36 Miami Beach plus 75 plus 61 Dennis Creek Entrance plus 1 14 plus 97 Brandywine Shoal Light plus 77 plus 52

I MONIGHAN'S AUTO TIRE CENTER 1

;-^Toup~Q" |" Expires March 19th I Brake Service Your Choice | $ O Additional parts aad terrier oo ■ 2 WHEEL FBOWT DI6C riD 4 WHEEL D«UM: In- I I I.Mali w. front bake Mall new brake halag J ■ pads s»d resurface aad resurface all four | I trout rotoers • Install drums • Install new. Cl I ws front grease seals front grease seals sad | 5 aad pack front wheel repack front wheel a | bearings* laspect bearings • Inspect I I systems • Add fluid | I road test car (Does not s a d r o i d I e S I | Include rear wheels I car • Moot U.S. cam _ | mat see Imparl.

7/^ MONACHAL J Expires March 19th s41.88 j "Check charging and starting I "Install new rotor, new spark pings ! "Set timing to recommended specs | "Lubricate and adjut choke j "Adjut carburetor I 6-cylinder cars - $46.95 j 8-cyllnder cars • '49.88 j 4 cyl. EJect rook Ignition STANDARD IGNITION: Add $8.00 for | required point*, coodenaer, and additional labor

Gofd^CMrr gg> Hflll A PU A II AUTO TIRE CENTER mUimUIMII 315 Dslieo Df., Rio Grands 886-1116 Open Mon <h~ Fri. 7-30 AM ,o 5 PM. Sot 8 AM to Noon J-

_ - FINE QUALITY (Quaker lllaid "ITCH™ "BmE,sl OuyyiuM .,40^,1 Professional Design 1^1 Service for Kitchens CAPE MAY F mous Brand Major I And Baths LmJ Appiiancat . VANITIES • COUNTERTOPS A AD D# /a. - M€DICIM( CSSIMETS .dMVvlJ /jne. SHOP MON. -FRI. I • LIGHTING FUTURES COOCS 9.5 . S»T. 9-2