The Fish Story

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Snake Creature of Our Very Own; Uglier Side of Giant Anteaters

7/31/14: The winds will be light but the skies could be drab and even drippy, through Sunday. That spells ideal fishing conditions for the many who believe subdued lighting aids and abets angling However, fluke don't give a ratfish's ass about sun. They'll bite, any time any place.  

I bring up fluke because they're the buzz. Successful catches have been making the photo rounds -- the photogenic ones…

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Monday, July 28, 2014: Well, the westerlies have returned after a lengthy absence. We could see offshore winds into Thursday. This is going to smooth the surf and likely clean the water. I don’t know if it’ll be hard enough to upwell cold beachline water. Maybe, but unlikely. I’ll be watching it.

While west winds aren’t the best for kicking up T-storms, the chance is out there, per forecasters. Keep an eye on weather radar, as…

Saturday, July 26, 2014: Not a bad day if you like strenuous playing beach volleyball. I do – and did just that for a large chunk of the day. Occasionally feeling 70-degree water and noticing the nice cleanness to it. A couple dolphin were nosing about.

 The south winds became brisk earlier on than I had expected, pushing 15 mph by midday and holding that until a small rain squall actually knocked the southerlies off a…

(Above: A fairly common NJ red salamander.)

Sunday, July 20, 2014: The upside to today’s dousing is the bennies for amphibians in the Pines and a huge growth spurt for farms. Around here we like the rain.

However, thanks to…

Croaker ... 

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FB report: "Great day today. Fished at the stink house to mikes and had no end of action on the outgoing tide. croakers everywhere some to 15" i caught around a doz. and kept 3 of the largest for the table. No pix because who…

NJ Law:  

All sharks harvested by recreational fishermen must have heads, tails and fins attached naturally to the carcass until landed. Anglers may still gut and bleed the carcass as long as the tail is not removed. Filleting sharks at sea is prohibited.

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SUBMERGED JETTY STRIKES AGAIN: As you might have heard, another vessel got creamed by the submerged portion of the North Jetty. OK, technically it was the boat creaming the jetty.

The creamed 44-foot cabin cruiser definitely wasn’t cruising so well after hitting those below-water jetty stones. The vessel got fully hung-up on them. It began taking on water and soon hailed help on VHF Channel…

SO YA WANNA EAT SHARKS, EH? That's cool, providing they're the legal kinds. 

While I’m fully on the conserve/release sharks bandwagon, there are some species that are fully keepable and mighty damn edible. Most sharks in the can-keep category, like the mako, are usually pushing very healthy populations -- or are under strict bag and size limits, again, the mako.

Reading history…

Friday, July 11, 2014: Can it be that the weather is ready to present us with an ideal angling and outsider weekend? This is not to say we haven’t had some beauts to date but this could be the first weekend in many moons with low winds twixt Saturday and Monday. Yes, we could see some late-day land/sea breezes fairly…

Fun thing of the day. I got this picture of a surfing lesson being visited by what surely seems to be a cruising/feeding shark in the waves.

Similar to sasquatch and paranormal pics, you have to tilt your eyes and imagination a bit.Make a line between the two beginner surfers. Look midway, on water surface. Give your eyes a second to make out the form at the far end of the wave breaking just outside of the surfer…

As to nearshore fishing, that is a little tough to tout. It just ain’t overly happening. But that’s summer angling at its iffiest. 

They’re still getting fluke off the beach but nothing like in weeks past. According to Fishermen’s HDQ there has been some fair fluking bayside. Bill’s Bait and Tackle in Harvey Cedars is busily making up its own “Bucktail and Teaser Fluke Rigs,” which seem to be working well. Bill is suggesting…

LBI AFTERNOON MOTORIST ALERT: The Boulevard is absolutely flooded – BUT NOT WITH WATER!!!!!!!!!!! There is a veritable traffic tsunami out there, north to south. If you have to be somewhere at a special time, you might want to leave yourself, like, an extra day or so. OK, it might not be that bad but it’s bad enough. And kindness and gentleness is not on the minds of many motorists. So, take the high road and be the one driver who lets side road traffic in.…