Joey 'Jigs' McMenamin shows the 4.9-pound tog he recently caught in Atlantic City. He entered it into two contests.
Fishing columnist Michael Shepherd
Mike Noresbey caught a 38-pound, 45-inch striped bass Saturday in the back bays while fishing with Dave Showell of Absecon Bay Sportsman Center in Absecon.
Judy Shoffler, of Cape May, shows the 73-pound black drumfish she caught while fishing with Ron Rookstool on the Delaware Bay. She said it took her a half-hour to reel it in with 16-pound test line.
Members of the Atlantic City Police Department pose with toys gathered as part of the Fish for Toys contest sponsored by One-Stop Bait and Tackle in Atlantic City.
Doug Brown caught a 42.75-inch, 27-pound striper on the north end of Brigantine this week. The catch made him the leader in the Riptide Derby with a current prize worth $525.
Tony Pano caught a 5.3-pound summer flounder Friday. It was 241/2 inches long.
Tom Zumetitis caught a 7.4-pound summer flounder. Fluke season, which began May 24, runs through Saturday.
Bill Cundiff, of Margate, caught a 5.5-pound summer flounder in the back bays of Margate this week.
Sixteen-year olds Danny Stradley and Nick Hoffer, both of Wilmington, Delaware, caught their limit on their first flounder trip. They made their catches aboard Scott Wheeler’s boat Big Bone out of Wildwood.
Len Andalis caught a possible state-record 90.6-pound cobia Friday. He had it weighed at the Canyon Club in Cape May and has submitted the catch to the state Department of Environmental Protection for record certification. The existing record is
A 496-pound swordfish was caught at Wilmington Canyon on Aug. 2 and weighed at the Canyon Club in Cape May. It was caught on Real Teasers, owned by Joe Hevener, of Somers Point, with Tommy Rock, John Wilusz and Brian Tomlin on board. Hevener said it it took 3.5 hours to fight the big fish to the boat with all of the crew taking turns cranking and another 45 minutes to get it on board.
Bob Belansen’s boat Beast earned the Warren Buckingham Memorial Trophy awarded for the Most Outstanding Catch during the 53rd annual Yacht Club of Stone Harbor Billfish Tournament. The winning catch was a 124-pound yellowfin tuna caught by son Tommy after a three-hour battle on light-tackle. The tournament was held July 25-28 out of Canyon Club Resort Marina in Cape May.
Lynn Simon, center, holds up a 7-pound summer flounder she caught Friday in Margate.
Nick Alaburda, of Brigantine, caught a 4-pound, 12.8-ounce triggerfish Saturday. It was 20 inches long and is a potential state spearfishing record for triggerfish. Pictured with Alaburda is his 6-year-old son, Colton.
The Jessie James crew fights a blue marlin Mark Schrenk estimates weighed 350-400 pounds. They got it boatside and released it. Another craft — the Oh Well — took a photo and sent it to Schrenk.
Tommy Lamplugh, who works at Riptide Bait and Tackle in Brigantine, caught this 4-pound flounder this week.
Wil Martinez, of Atlantic City, recently caught this flounder and weakfish.
Fishing has been very good so far this fall when weather permits. It is poised to get better.
Those middleweight to heavyweight striped bass have crossed the border into South Jersey, tautog season just opened up to a five-fish daily possession limit, and black sea bass are biting on the inshore and offshore wrecks and reefs. And a few more bluefish have joined the crowd.
Some of the area’s best-known fishers popped up with entries into a couple of the popular fall fishing contests.
Joey “Jigs” McMenamin has been a fixture on the Atlantic City fishing scene for decades. He just put his third tautog into the latest promotion being run by Noel Feliciano at One-Stop Bait and Tackle in Atlantic City. It weighed 4.9 pounds to go with two others that weighed 3.3 pounds he caught in the past couple of weeks from an Atlantic City jetty.
It also went into the Pat Erdman Atlantic County Surf Fishing Derby.
Another consistent rock stars performer has been Isidro Valentin, of Atlantic City. His photo appears on a regular basis on the One-Stop’s Facebook account showing off a fat tog.
Linda Davoli is a well-known fisher from Brigantine.
Bluefish have been difficult to locate, but she took the lead in the Riptide Bait and Tackle Fall Surf Fishing Derby with a 2-pound, 12-ounce bluefish. And who did she surpass? Herself. She now holds first and second places.
The Riptide Derby also got a new striped bass leader with a 13.10-pounder caught by Jim Scnapp, of Franklinville. Second in that division is another well-known local fisher, Paul Lavigna, of Brigantine, with a 13-pound entry.
There are a lot of reports of CPR striped bass. The regulations for striped bass require the release of any we catch of more than 38 inches. The minimum is 28 inches.
That’s Catch-Photo-Release (CPR). Good idea.
A report from Fisherman’s Headquarters in Ship Bottom included several 40-inch-plus striped bass.
It described surf-caster Jay Shayne catching and releasing a 47-inch striped bass on his first cast Friday in Ship Bottom. A little later, he pulled in a 44-inch striper.
Rob Vallone reported to Fish Heads that bass are in the troughs in the surf close to the beach on Long Beach Island chasing metal lutes with teaser tails.
A report from Jim Hutchinson Sr. for the Beach Haven Charterboat Association said captain Carl Sheppard and mate Max Goldman on the Star Fish out of Beach Haven had a local Boys Scouts troop on board and recorded nearly 150 fish including keeper black seas bass and a 14-inch porgy.
And captain Ray Lopez on the Miss Liane had Joe Nadine and family from Forked River out on an all-day charter and racked up a 46-inch bass that was released, plus many keeper-size and dozens of shorts.
Elks tourney
The Brigantine Elks Lodge 2428 will run its Fishing Around The Clock striped bass fishing contest this weekend.
It is a heaviest combined weight of two fish format with cash prizes for first, second and third places. It starts 12:01 a.m. Friday and continues to 11 a.m. Sunday. Sign up for $30 for individual surf fishers or $60 per boat at Riptide or at the Elks Lodge, 400 W. Shore Drive in Brigantine. The boundaries are Barnegat Inlet to Great Egg Harbor Inlet.
Money raised benefits the Elks’ veterans programs.
Follow Shep at
ShepOnFishing
Michael Shepherd is the retired sports editor of The Press. His column appears Mondays online and Tuesdays in print.
Contact: 609-350-0388
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