One of today’s tide runner weakfish
The more difficult the hunt, the more value and satisfaction is found in the catch. Targeting and catching big weakfish this time of the year takes some effort, but is beyond satisfying, it is a rush.
Kenny,Ken,Chip and Charlie
Saturday was a beautiful June day for fishing . Every crew I spoke with caught fish. Mater of fact, a record amount of flounder were checked in. The tournament has a friendly family atmosphere. However, the competition and the excitement that accompanies it are in the mix. We had 6 keeper flounder and one weakfish. Our heaviest flounder was 5.3 lbs. It held for a second place tie with friend Chip Gruff’s 5.3 lbs flounder. Our weakfish held for first place. I was fishing the tournament with sons Kenny and Justin, it was a great day on the water.
5.3 lbs
You can see a complete list of the winners on the Grassy Sound Marina’s Facebook page.
Summer flounder season 2014 is underway.
Slaughter beach on the Delaware Side of the bay is still producing black drum. That spot is a 12 mile run from the Cape May canal. The good news for fishermen docked in NJ is the black drum have set up on our side of the bay. Bob Lasko and crew boated nine black drum on a recent trip, some topped out at over 60 pounds. Jason and crew won the middle twp. drum fish tournament with a 89 pounder. If you want to catch a black drum now is the time.
The summer flounder opener was good. However, here in Cape May County most of the flounder caught were under the 18″ size limit. Gary had three nice size keepers. Reeves and crew boated 7 keepers . Debbie from the Grassy Sound marina reportedly weighed in a nine pounder. I have been busy catching spring weakfish. I will make my first flounder trip this week and I will post the results. The water temperature in the back bay today was 62 degrees on the top of the tide.
Commercial fishermen are not an enemy of sport fishermen. Bad regulations are the enemy. Sustainable yield fish stocks ensure the future of both commercial and sport fishing. Commercial fishermen supported a moratorium on weakfish, when some recreational fishing groups would not do so.
Today, Atlantic sea scallop vessel owners voluntarily contribute $10 million a year from their harvest to pay for ongoing scientific research on scallop populations.
They also earned a sustainable yield certification recently:
“This is an American fisheries success story,” said Attorney John Whiteside, who represents the ASA and led the certification effort for the industry group. “The certification is further validation for the efforts of an industry which worked together to progress from the brink of oblivion to prosperity.”
Dr. Kevin Stokesbury, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Fisheries Oceanography at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) who served as the ASA’s lead consultant through the three and one-half year review process said “The industry deserves this. It’s a well-managed fishery. It has come back to sustainable levels. The sort of cooperation offered by the scallop industry doesn’t come along every day.”
Their road to recovery included closed seasons and financial sacrifice. Sport fishermen should bring the same tenacity to the fish management table. Here in New Jersey it is free to saltwater fish. However, we do not have a reliable funding source for marine fisheries management. As the scallop fishery has proven , NJ saltwater fishermen would be much better served by funding marine fisheries management with their own dime.
Spring Weakfish 2014
The first weakfish of the spring has been caught in Cape May co. NJ. They have also been caught just south of Cape May in the Delaware canal. If you are interested in catching weakfish check out the May issue of On The Water magazine: http://www.onthewater.com/issues/
Cape May County, NJ weakfish late June 2013.
The weakfish has carved a special place within many saltwater fishermen. If you are one of them, do not miss this week’s episode of On The Water fishing show. Sunday at 10AM on Comcast SportsNet New England. The show is all about the fish that are found in the New Jersey region. The weakfish are making a come back, due to the efforts of many saltwater fishermen. They took the time to write a letter, attend a hearing or make a phone call, asking for a moratorium. It is such a beautiful thing to see the purple hue of the weakfish return to our waters. The management system works best when the participants get involved.
Jeff Polhamus and Sharpie with a few nice New Jersey red fish .
CJ Polhamus with his 22″ New Jersey red fish, he caught the beauty on 9-30-2013.
Mark is high hook of this elite group, this is one of his many 2013 New Jersey red fish.
no matter what happens with the peer review in June
the board needs to remember that weakfish is in a
depleted condition, a depressed state. We can’t agree
with that particular panel on why it is there. One of
the main things that they said was that predation may
be maintaining the population at low levels without
having contributed to the original decline in the
stock.
We agree that overfishing was the problem in the
eighties. We have used management to get the stock
started back in an increasing mode during the early
nineties and mid-nineties, and then all of a sudden it
dropped back down. Now, we definitely agree that it
was overfishing early on. We’re saying the split
happened in the early thousands that predation is the
main focus of a problem out
out there, and it is
continuing to maintain those levels and we can’t
seem to break through it to move forward. That’s it
for me. Like I said, I tried to do this real quick.
Ken's Dock 