Fishing Friday

Finally Time for Fluke!

Mild temperatures send anglers into action

There's no doubt I'm a bit late to the party this year. History holds that my boat is often one of the first in the marina and, almost always, the last boat to be hauled out. Jingle Bell Rock has played from the speakers mounted in my center console. But this year, my fishing season has yet to begin. I have a tentative appointment with my boat hauler in Barnegat to drop her in the water Monday, but that's after a spring where some busy work weeks here at Patch and marathon rounds of graduate school studying have pushed fishing to the back burner. Luckily, with formal graduation ceremonies at Monmouth University now complete, I'll continue a much more elusive educational endeavour: finding every last honey hole in Barnegat Bay! With the …

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A 9-Year-Old Wrestling Champ Following In His Dad's Footsteps

Dean Peterson of Barnegat, a recent All-Star Team champ, had dreamt of football, but is settling on wrestling as a "safer" sport.

When he was younger, Anthony Peterson, 47, of Barnegat, played football and wrestled, but his athletic career came to an end with a serious injury in high school. "I busted my whole arm open, and I did it playing football," said Peterson, giving his 9-year-old son a look. Peterson's son, Dean Peterson, the middle child of four, had been dreaming about playing football, even while having a great time rolling around on the wrestling mats. "I wanted to follow in my dad's footsteps," he said. "Mostly, I like to win. I like to pin kids on the mat." Dean, a bright and articulate child who answers questions with a frankness and ease of a young kid, but with an intelligence of someone much older, started wrestling when he was 6. "My first match, I…

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Feds: Summer Flounder, Other Fish Stocks 'Rebuilt'

Record number of species 'rebuilt,' report says

The summer flounder fishery has been rebuilt, a report out Monday from the federal government said. The fish species, commonly known as fluke, is arguably New Jersey's most important sport fish, and is also one of the state's most important commercial finfish species. Summer flounder joins six other species – none of which are common to New Jersey waters – that were declared rebuilt this year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's annual Status of U.S. Fisheries report. A species is considered rebuilt when its stock level meets a federal target that is considered by scientists and policymakers to be considered healthy and self-sustaining. The summer flounder rebuilding effort is important to New Jersey anglers …

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Fishing Friday

Fluke's On, But Anglers Mostly Targeting Bass

Rainy, windy days have limited summer flounder participation

A string of rainy and windy days have curtailed participation in the summer flounder fishery, which opened to recreational anglers a week ago. But those foul-weather fishermen who have wet a line in the last week have mostly targeted striped bass. According to a majority of recent fishing reports from local shops, most anglers who hooked striped bass recently have done so by snagging and dropping live bunker within a mile or two of the shore. Surf fishing was on and off, and even boat fishing required a bit of luck to locate a pod of bunker that was also holding bass. Some anglers found success in the back bays, however. A report from Murphy's Hook House in Toms River indicated bunker schools were found in the Toms River between Cozy Cove …

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NJSIAA Adds Group Classification to Football

Executive committee approves proposal to add Group V

Beginning this fall, 160 high school football teams around the state will have the opportunity to win a state sectional championship, under a proposal approved by the NJSIAA this afternoon. The NJSIAA Executive Committee approved the proposal to create a Group V designation in the four public school sections by a vote of 22-5-3 at its meeting in Robbinsville, according to Jack DuBois, NJSIAA assistant director who's in charge of football. "This creates a greater opportunity for schools and for student-athletes," DuBois said. "It increases the number of teams playing in the playoffs from 128 to 160. At the same time, it eliminates 16 consolation games that schools didn't want to play anyway." The proposal also allows teams whose records are…

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Bengals Blitz

Bengals Blitz: Gearing Up for the Stretch Run

A look back at the past week in Barnegat High School sports along with a look ahead

Baseball: After dropping the two early week games this week against Brick Township and Matawan, the Bengals bounced back in a big way with a win against Lakewood and a nine inning thriller over Toms River East in the Ocean County Tournament. The contest against Lakewood was a 14-4 win, which only required five innings of play. While they saved two innings against the Piners, they played two extras in their 2-1 win against the Raiders of Toms River East on Saturday. Nick Fraim continued his excellent freshman campaign going 1-for-3 with the game winning RBI single in the top of the ninth as Mark McCoy locked down a scoreless ninth, his sixth inning of work on the day. Barnegat can clinch a share of the division title if  they win their …

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Ten Local Sailors Qualify for National Team at Sailing Trials

US Optimist Dingy Team Trials in Beach Haven drew 186 youth sailors from around the country

Over four days of changeable weather, the United States Optimist Dinghy Association held its 2012 KO Sailing/US Optimist Team Trials at Brant Beach Yacht Club in Beach Haven, hosting 186 youth sailors ages 10 to 15 in the competition. After 13 races over the four days, 10 sailors from Ocean County placed in the top 100 racers, who qualify for the US national team and can compete in national as well as international regattas in the Optimist class. The Optimist class is a small one-person sailboat invented in 1947 as a way for young children to learn the sport of sailing. There are now more than 20,000 youth sailors in the United States, and one of the largest groups is in New Jersey, where the Barnegat Bay Yacht Racing Association has more …

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LAST CHANCE: Riptide Cheerleading Tryouts for Girls Ages 5-14

Riptide All-Star Team to conclude the season on Saturday, after winning two national championships this year so far.

Riptide All-Star cheerleaders are getting ready to conclude another winning season, while inviting girls ages 5 to 14 from all around the area for tryouts next week. The team won two national championships in 2012 thus far, the latest one last weekend in Toms River. The team is now working hard as the girls gear up for a third and last event of the season -- getting ready to compete in the U.S. Finals in Providence, Rhode Island on Saturday, May 5. "It's the final destination of all-start cheerleading," said Christine McKenna, 25, of Barnegat, who is one of Riptides' four coaches, along with Nicole Carreno, 29, of West Creek, Laura Brown, 22, of Barnegat,  and junior coach Alex Guglielmo, 14, of Manahawkin. "They basically are a powerhouse…

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