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Lighthouse Sportfishing Barnegat Bay Report 5/29/17

I have been on Barnegat Bay every day since Friday. Fishing for target species, bass, fluke and now fluke, is consistent to on fire at times. Friday’s trip had a mix of bass (one keeper) and blues. The DeCicco party on Saturday started off with non-stop bluefish action during the last of outgoing. Fish ranged from 2-10 pound. Great fun on light tackle. Once tide swung around and the water cooled off the blues shut off but the bass turned on. Attached is a picture of Nick DeCicco with a nice bass. Nick was one of my students who graduated from BHS last year. His dad has been coming out with me for years, but this is the first time Nick came out. It was nice to see that not only did I teach Nick in the classroom but on the water 😉 Today I snuck out for two hours. Wind was a little hard out of the NE but the eastern part of the bay had plenty of windbreaks holding fish. I started by landing a couple 4-5 lb. blues on BKDs. Catching the last hour of outgoing I found a steady pick of 16-17” fluke. Snot grass was a little bit of a problem. Although it was supposed to be low tide the bay was still as high or higher than a “normal” high tide.

On the nature side of things: This month’s full and new moons usually mean horseshoe crabs will be mating and laying eggs. Considered living fossils they are not crabs, although their name suggests that. They are closely related to arachnid (spiders). Because they carry a copper substance in their blood it is blue. Their blood contains amebocytes, which is a cell that coagulates around pathogens. Because of that, about a half million are harvest every year for the medical industry. The blood is taken out and the crab is then released back to Delaware Bay. Some survive this process, some don’t. The time at which horseshoe crab lay their eggs along the Delaware Bay shore is inherently known by several species of shorebirds. One of those species, the Red Knot, has is timed so perfectly that they migrate to the Delaware Bay shore from their wintering grounds in Argentina to feast on the eggs. Often flying for seven to eight days straight, the red knots will put their lost weight back on, doubling it in 2-3 weeks of feeding on the eggs. These birds will then complete the rest of their journey flying to the arctic tundra to reproduce only to fly south to the other end of the hemisphere a few weeks later. Isn’t Mother Nature amazing?

Screaming drags,

Capt. Alex  609-548-2511

 

 

Lighthouse-Sportfishing

Author: Lighthouse-Sportfishing

Fishing Barnegat Bay for close to 40 years, Capt. Alex runs Barnegat Bay's premier light tackle and fly fishing service with his custom 203 Dusky Center Console (Debbie M). He knows the back bay, inlet or inshore like no other. 609-548-2511

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