sports

outdoors with Lou Rodia Ubiquitous Blues Dominate Cape Catches

Bluefish remain an enigma on the local fishing scene. Blues arrived early this season in unprecedented numbers. They invaded Delaware Bay before the weakfish season started, and they are in the ocean all the way to the canyons. They have been caught in the back bays in places no ~ one remembers bluefish being and in numbers which have surprised anglers. Blues are everywhere. It has been a dramatic season on blues. There is a big spread in line classes. Lots of blues are being caught in the one to three pound class. That's a healthy sign for the future of the fishery. Lots are big — 10 to 15-pound blues are not uncommon. And there are lots of blues in between the two ends or the year class scale. FOR SOME, blues have become a blessing, providing fishing when few other fish seem to be around. For others, the bluefish have become a nuisance. Shark fishermen report having to move several times on an ocean trip to escape bluefish which are taking shark baits and coming into the chum slicks. Fluke anglers in the back bays are reporting bite-offs and loss of rigs to blues. Weakfish anglers in Delaware Bay also reported the same problem. However, on lots of days, if it were not for blues.

there might have been little else to fish for. Because of the large numbers of blues there is now speculation that the numbers may be hurting the other fisheries. THE QUESTION has been raised as to whether or not it was the large numbers of bluefish in Delaware Bay which are hurting the overall success of the current weakfish season. There is some thought, too, that the large numbers of blues in the back bays may be keeping the fluke catches down. We have come to expect a lot better fluke action in the back bays this time of year. While there have been some good days and some fluke hot spots, by far and large, fluke fishing has been unsettled. WEAKFISH HAVE also been scarce in the back bays. Veteran weakfish anglers bemoan the fact that when they attempt to fish for weaks in the sounds, they are much more apt to catch blues instead. As to how harmful bluefish can be to the overall fishery, the book is still open. It has been well documented that these fish are voracious feeders. They travel in schools and go on feeding frenzies which have to be seen to be appreciated. Blues are cannibalistic, and they know few enemies. The nagging question is whether the upsurge in bluefish is causing the shortages of other kinds of fish, or whether the blues are increasing in numbers because the other stocks

are down and it has made more room for the blues. IT MAY WELL be that if numbers drop on one kind of fish, there is less competition for bait and space, and another kind of fish moves in. Nature- has its peculiarities, and bluefish are among them. Recent years have seen big blues. The world record now tops the 31-pound mark. Last year, one surf angler in Florida caught a half dozen fish in the 30-pound class and cut them up for the table before they were weighed on official scales and verified as to the exact weights. Lots of 15 to 20-pound blues are caught each year. Most of the blues are caught in the ocean in that size range. Big blues are also found in back bays and in Delaware Bay. IT IS TOO SOON to write off the season on all the other fish. Each day the water temperature climbs in the back bay means another day sooner that the blues will leave and head out to deeper and cooler water in the ocean. Once they do, it will mean less competition for bait and for space in the back bays and fluke fishing should improve. Weakfish catches should get better. Meanwhile, it is the bluefish which are saving the day for a lot of anglers since they provide action on days when little else is apparently around. For those who might turn up their noses at the bluefish, however, be reminded that they are still a lot of fun to catch on light tackle. THEY ARE BETTER to eat than many anglers will admit. And the bottom line is that they may well be the best, if not the only game in town at times. Chesapeake Bay anglers are finding this to be the case. Chesapeake Bay's striped bass population is all but gone, compared to the numbers which used to be present there. There is a moratorium in effect on stripers in Chesapeake Bay in the hope that this will help the fishery to bounce back. Meanwhile, anglers who grew up catching rockfish are now having to turn elsewhere for their sport. FOR A WHILE, weakfish (sea trout to Chesapeake Bay anglers) seemed to be the answer. Croaker (hardheads, there), also started to fill the gap. The numbers of both of these fish dropped dramatically in Chesapeake Bay in recent years, leaving bluefish as the main source of angler entertainment. The transition has been difficult. Charter boat skippers report a reluctance on the part of their fares to make the switch from stripers to blues. But the change is coming about as the anglers recognize that it is blues or else. IT HAS BEEN an educational process to convince striper, croaker and weakfish die-hards that blues are fun to catch and if cared for properly, are good to eat. Only time will tell which direction we are heading on the Jersey Cape and in I Delaware Bay. Meanwhile, blues apparently are here

to stay and we can look to catching them even where and when we least expect them. Meanwhile, there is other fishing to be had. Here are some of the reports. OCEAN CITY: The Challenger fleet is producing good catches of sea bass and blackfish. A few fluke are being caught ... Fares on the Adventurer VI are reporting blues and fluke. Cape May: Boats are jigging bluefish while waiting for the fluke action to pick up. Night chumming activity has been good. The Miss Chris fleet has been catching blues on day and night trips. A special July 4th offshore wreck trip still has some openings. Call the Miss Chris dock at 884-5445 or 886-8164 for information ... Fiesta fares are doing well on blues on day and night trips. Sea Star II fares have been catching blues along with some fluke and sea bass ... Happy Days anglers are doing well on sharks on the special shark trips. J.W. Moore, of Wildwood Villas, caught a brown shark on one Happy Days trip. Sea bass and blues are also being caught on regular Happy Days trips ... Capt. Paul Thompson of the Porgy III has been jigging blues in the ocean pending an upswing in weakfish and bluke catches ... Capt. Rich Sotnowski of the One of a Kind reported two hammerhead sharks and a dusky shark for a party from Glenolden, Pa. which included Jeff. Jim. and Jack Azpell and Scott Dixon. WILDWOOD CREST: Tom Connor, an 87-year-old regular on the Wildwood III boated a 14-lb. 10-oz. bluefish. The Wildwood III is fluke fishing daily ... Bluefish catches have been averaging 10 to 20 per trip for Starlight fares ... The Twilight reports sea bass and some fluke >v. Royal Flush fares are catching sea bass, tog and a few fluke. Tim Fitzpatrick, of Wildwood Crest, caught a 3-lb. 2-oz. sea bass ... Night Skipper Mike Weigle of the Royal Flush said good bluefish catches are the norm. A mako was boated on one trip ... Capt. Lou Haubois of the Dotti Lin II said his fares were catching weakfish. John Miller's group from Bieglersville, Pa. caught a 225-lb. mako and a 200-lb. blue shark. SEA ISLE CITY: Capt. Neill Robbins of the Capt. Robbins reported good sea bass fishing. Paul Barrus of Sea isle City caught 53 sea bass and tog. Night blue catches are in the seven to 10-lb. range ... Capt. Ritchie George of the Starfish said sea toss and tautog action has been • good. Night blue trips are also producing good catches. Sandy Roberts boated an 11-pounder among the 15 blues he caught. ! NEW ADDITION: Capt. I Bill Henfy and his wife, Diane, report a new addif lion to their activities at Wildwood. They are the owners of the Sea Raider i deep sea fishing boat and > the Delta Lady sightseeing i boat at Wildwood Marina. THEY HAVE added i another enterprise by ac-

quiring the boat rental facility at the marina. It is 1 being operated under the B < and B Boat Rentals name. i It is under the manage- i ment of Bruce Belton, I manager of the Sea Raider. ' New boats and equipment i have been purchased, i Bruce is renting 16-ft. I fishing and crabbing boats ; for full or half-day trips. I Speed boats are also I available on hourly or half- : hourly basis. The boat ren- i tal facility is next to Urie's Restaurant at Wildwood Marina. FLUKE CATCHES: Helen Nacella of Palmyra, caught a 5>.*-lb. fluke among the several she Bowling Tourney WILDWOOD - The finals of the Second Annual Singles Tournament sponsored by the City of North Wildwood will be held Saturday and Sunday at the Wildwood Bowl, New Jersey Avenue and Oak. The event is ABC and WIBC sanctioned, and offers over $10,000 in prize money. Competition begins noon each day. Aces Face Home Start Tonight WILDWOOD - The Wildwood Aces semi-pro basketball team plays host to the Tampa Bay Flash 8 tonight, at Wildwood High School, 3100 Pacific Avenue General admission tickets are $6 and are available at the door and the Aces' office, 4106 New Jersey Ave. Tickets are also available at Scoop's Sporting Goods on Rio Grande Avenue, the County Liquor Store, Wildwood Boulevard and Rio Grande Avenue; Sport's n' Stuff on Texas Avenue in Cape May and Woody's at 18th and New Jersey Avenues in North Wildwood.

boated at Dad's Place in Grassy Sound. John Berger of Newark, Del., caught a 6-lb. 5-oz. fluke and Ben Gismondi of National Park, a 1Mb. 10-oz. fluke. Good action has been recorded between No. 5 and No. 10 buoys. George Dunham, at Dad's Place, said there are more blues caught than fluke, the fluke catches should pick up with water.

Cape May CountyBBI^K ALMANAC JUNE

MOON PHASES/POSITIONS The M oon i tf/ect on the Tide it greatest when clotesl lo Earth (in perigee I and when in direct ^ alignment with Sun 6 Earth (full 6 new moon phaten On and about thete datet. low w pretture tyttems and/or ttrong winds (depending upon direc It on) may result in flooding and 'or extremely low tides Mow Phase* New Mow ; First Quarter IS Poll Moon 21 Last Quarter l/SI Apogee 6 Perigee .21 TIDE TABLE Computed for Cape Mav City beachfront, for other areas, see Correction Timet HATE lllt.lt LOW am pm a.m. p.m. 1 Sun 3:54- 4:33 10:01-10:41 2 Mon 4:51- 5 36 10:40-11:29 3 Tue 5:43-6:13 11:314 Wed 6:32- 6 53 12:10-12:13 5 Thu 7:10— 7:33 1:01-12:56 6 Kri 7:54- 8 07 1:45- 1 36 7 Sat 8:33- 8 42 2:27- 2:17 8 Sun 9:12— 9:17 3:00- 2:55 9 Mon 9:52- 9:54 3:48- 3:33 10 Tue 10:32-10:32 4:24- 4 09 11 Wed 11:17—11:12 5:01- 4 44 12 TTtu 12:02— 5:30- 5:25 13 Fn 12 01-12:50 6:18- 6:15 14 Sal 12:46- I 40 7:07- 7:23 15 Sun 1:39- 2:32 8:01- 8:33 16 Mon 2:35- 3:28 9:00- 9:38 17 Tue 3:40- 4:30 9:54-10:39 18 Wed 4 46- 5:28 10:46-11:38 19 Thu 5:52- 6:27 11:4220 Fri 6:51- 7:18 12:35 — 12:37 , 21 Sat 7:46- 8:10 1:32- 1:33 22 Sun 8:39- 9:01 2:20- 2:30 23 Mon 9 S3- 9:52 3:22- 3 38 24 Tue 10:27-10:47 4:11— 4:19 25 Wed 11:24-11:40 5:01- 5:11 26 Thu -12:20 5:51- 6:07 , > 27 Frt 12:35- 1:15 6:41- 7:00 ; 38 Sat 1:27— 2:08 7:32- 8:08 K. » Sun 2:10- 2:58 8:27- 0:08 ■ 430 Mon 3:12- 3:50 8:18-10:00

CORRECTION TIMES Compute approximate times of high 6 low water for your area by adding or subtracting the following number of minutes for each tide phase in the Tide Table l-OW HIGH . Great Egg Harbor Inlet ; Plus 12 plusio i Ocean City 1 9th St Bridge: I plus 35 plus 22 Corson Inlet <brtdge> ' plus 21 plus 7 I 1 Sea Isle City • Ludlam Thoro Bndge 1 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 Bndge) 1 plus 43 plus 40 J Hereford Inlet lAnglesea) , plus 19 0 I 5 Wildwood Beach S Minus 2 minus 17 \ 7 West Wildwood i i Grassy Channel bndge > 5 plus 46 plus 43 J Cape May Harbor 5 plus I minus 4 j Five Fathom Bank 3 plus It plus I | 3 Cape May Point 8 plus 46 plus 34 i McCne Shoal* 6 plus 28 plus 23 j Delaware Bay 3 Ha > shore Channel 0 (Bay-Canal Junction) 6 plus 47 plus 36 9 Miami Beach ' plus 75 plus 61 ' ' Dennis Creek Entrance , plus lit plus 97 m 1 Brandywine Shoal Light Rfl g plus 77 plus 52 gj

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