May and Wildwood area, 40; BeLnar, 10; Highlands, 10; Ocean City, 

 3; and Forked River, 2. Nearly every city along the Ocean Drive 

 from Wildwood to Atlantic City has one or more operators who cater 

 to the party boat trade, so that the list above by no means in- 

 cludes all the vessels in the New Jersey party boat fleet. 



3» Party Boat fishing methods 



The method of fishing generally used by party boat fishermen 

 may be best described as "still fishing." Party iDOat captains, as 

 a rule, anchor over or near wrecks, rooky ledges, or shoals — areas 

 where fish are known to congregate. Party boat fishermen bait their 

 hooks with clams or pieces of fish, let the baited hook lick to or 

 near the bottOTi, and wait for a strike. If the catch is poor, the 

 captain will move to some other spot, sometimes trying several 

 favorite spots before finding good fishing. 



Party boat operators take their patrons mackerel fishing 

 during the spring and fall runs of mackerel. The methods employed 

 by party boat fishermen in catching these fish are the same as 

 those used by charter boat fishermen, i.e., "Jigging" with tin 

 or lead "squids." The schools are located, and the vessel anchored 

 in or near it, the "squids" paid out and allowed to sink; they are 

 then retrieved with a slow Jerking motion. 



4. Species taken by party boat fishermen 



Because of the "still fishing* angling methods used by party 

 boat fishermen, the fish taken by this type of fishery are pre- 

 dcminantly demersal (bottom feeding) species. Cod, Gadus oallarias 

 (Linnaeus), croaker, Mioropogon undulatus (Linnaeus), fluke, 

 Paraliohthj^a dentatus (Linnaeus), ling, Plhyois chuss , (Tfalbaum) , 

 sotip, Stenotomus ohrysopa (Linnaeus), Sea bass, Centropristes 

 striatus (Linnaeus), Tautog, !Pautoga onitis (Linnaeus), weakfish, 

 Csmosoi'on regalis , (Bloch & Schneider), are the species most 

 commonly caught* Mackerel, a pelagic species, provides an import- 

 ant fishery for the party boat operators of New York and New Jersey 

 during the spring and fall months. 



5* The fishing grounds 



New York and New Jersey party boats generally fish definite 

 areas within the Middle Atlantic Bight. These may be wrecks, rooky 

 ledges or shoals, sand or mud bottoms, or shellfish beds. Many of 

 these have been fished for years and have, through the course of 



10 



