Fishermen land fluke, lobsters in between fog, rain showers
The foul weather gear had to be fished out a few times over weekend when the rain fell steady as the wildly unpredictable summer weather pattern continues.
Saturday started foggy but the ocean was calm and the low hanging clouds would eventually break up as the morning developed. There were some passing ominous clouds early afternoon but nothing much came of them.
It didn't keep Capt. Kevin Fahey on the Curlew out of Point Pleasant from filling the cooler with some deliciously cold lobsters. Fahey had his son Travis and friends Vin Ciallella and Dom Lore on board. They weren't out for long, Fahey said it was a short trip. But there were out there long enough for Ciallella to boat his first ever fluke after they were done picking the traps.
Over 75 boats participated in the Sandy Hook Bay Anglers annual summer fluke tournament. The contest is a two-day event and the winning fish was landed in between the rain showers on Sunday by Mike Ramirez of Matawan. The fluke weighed over 8 ½ pounds and netted Ramirez $3,000 in prize money. It was one of two 8 pound fluke that were landed in the tournament. The other was caught Saturday by Bryan Farmer of Monmouth Junction and weighed 8.07 pounds. The second place finish was good enough to earn Farmer a $1,000 pay out.
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The fluke were in a biting mood early Monday morning at Island Beach State Park. Grumpy's Tackle in Seaside Pakr had an angler stop into the shop mid-morning to weigh a keeper who reported releasing over dozen more fish. The same angler was out the day before on the Island and landed a pair of almost identical 18-inch, 2-pound fluke.
In the perpetual competition for the morsels of ground menhaden being ladled overboard by the party boats on the edges of the Mud Hole, it sounds like on Saturday the blues had muscled out the mackerel, for a short while anyway.
After a few drifts to get everyone a sea bass, Capt. Rich Falcone of the Golden Eagle said they ran offshore and anchored up for mackerel and bluefish. The mackerel started hitting right away but then the blues found the chum slick and took it over. Falcone said they were running two to six pounds and were visible where they could visible watch them attack the baited hooks. A few blues were attracted to the shiny metal lures of the fishermen that chose to jig for the fish instead. Falcone said they had two to three fish on a times.
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Anglers on the Friday and Saturday night trips walked off the Norm K III with their buckets full of mackerel and bluefish. The blues again seemed to push out the mackerel for a few hours on Saturday night.
When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel is not reporting the news, you can find him in a college classroom where he is a history professor. Reach him @danielradelapp; 732-643-4072; dradel@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NJ fishing: Fisherman land lobsters, fluke in patchy fog and showers
