Tight Lines

Though fluke fishing in NY/NJ Bight was generally very slow during the May 4 opener, there were a couple of bragging-size fluke reported.

A near-doormat of 8 pounds, 11 ounces was taken on the Super Hawk. and Kevin George Rusty reported a 27.5-inch fluke off Coney Island that was almost 5 pounds.

to northwest winds which should result in warmer waters and a better bite. The Thursday forecast is for just 5-10 knots.

Fortunately, there’s a switch from southwest

Fisher Price IV reports a great live bait bite of mixed size stripers as fluke fishing is off to a slow with cold waters and southwest winds. That southwest wind continues tomorrow, but there’s a shift to northwest coming

after then.

Ginger Tatum releasing a trophy bass with Gary Caputi in northern N.J.

as that seson opened at a very early date with 53 degree waters that produced only two keepers and a few shorts. He’ll be back at it tomorrow at 7:30 with his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands.

The forecast is for southwest winds at 15-20 knots.

Most N.J. party boats will be shifting to fluke for the May 4 opening of that fishery at a very early thatdate. The Golden Eagle from Belmar caught one Friday that was released along with sea bass and tautog while ling went into some bags.

The forecast is for NW winds at 10-15 knots.

Though I virtually live in AFTCO shorts, I recommend long pants for fishing the sides of Keys bridges, That’s especially important during the warm months when moisquitos are a problem. They will also protect your legs should you fall on a dry coral rock.

The Saturday forecast in NY/NJ Bight is for south winds at 5-10 knots. Showers are possible in the morning and rain in the aftrernoon.

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Yesterday’s report from Chuck Many sums up the Raritan Bay area fishing with live eels for jumbo stripers. Before leaving for a vacation in S.C., Many put his crew on Tyman into 45 releases from 42 to 49 inches!

The forecast there is for NW winds at 10-15 knots before going SW in the afternoon.

With fine weather in yhe forecast, the Golden Eagle from Belmar will be back to chasing stripers on Friday.

The Thursday forecast in NY/NJ Bight also looks fishable with northwest winds at 10-15 knots.

T

hough Chuck Many is the most successful striper angler in N.J., he can still appreciate his first sea robin of the season.

Anglers seeking blackfish in N.J. are running out of time, but there’s good news with the fluke opening at a very early 5/4 which is a big improvement for South Jersey anglers.

A report from Betty & Nick’s Fishing Club in Seaside Park was very interesting as an 8-pound striper that hit a chunk turned out to have a stomach full of grass shrimp rather than the expected sand fleas. The angler feels that may lead to great surf fluking.

The forecast for NY/NJ Bight is for SE winds at just 5-10 knots.

Chuck Many and crew found that casting plugs at night produced big bass in the Raritan Bay area.

As noted in yesterday’s blog, Frank Manzi caught a large snook at Sarasota on a live whiting, but is that an accurate description of the species?

Anglers in the NY/NJ Bight area are familiar with a once abundant whiting which was actually a silver hake – a member of the cod family. Anglers in the South Atlantic also fish for a whiting, but is actually closely related to the weakfish and familiar to surfcasters as the northern kingfish. There are also southern and Gulf versions of that species. Kngfish is used for the much larger king mackerel in the south. Thus, it’s likely that the bait Frank was using was a Gulf kingfish.

The forecast is for NE winds at only 5 knots before going to SE in the afternoon.

Vinny D’Anton reports Frank Manzi joined him on a charter out of Sarasota today to catch a l arge snook on a live “whiting”. North Jersey surfcasters know that angler as F.B.I. Frank.

The NY/NJ Bight forecast is for NE winds at 10 knots before going east in the afternoon.