Another week from the summer of 2023 has ticked off the calendar. The fishing has remained steady, as nice catches of thick flounder continue. A nice sheepshead also made our report and a big tournament is going on this week. Sea bass and croakers are still filling coolers.

The Sailor’s Delight, with Capts. Andrew and Stan, are keeping their fares busy, as flounder, weakfish, sea bass, spot, and croaker have been clearing the rail with regularity. Throw in some blue claw crabs, from their crab trips, and you have plenty of action for everyone.

Some of the keepers on a recent mid-week trip reached 20 inches. In addition to those, they caught plenty of smaller fish that kept everyone aboard busy. The smaller fish today could be next year’s keepers.

The Sailor’s Delight, and its sister ship, Sailor’s Delight II, sail the backwaters on fish and crab trips, and split trips, so you can target what you want to try for. 

The Starlight is fishing for fluke, sea bass, triggerfish, and any fish swimming at the reefs or inshore near the Point. Kingfish and weakfish have been caught down there, so they are also fair game.

For small group, or family fishing, the Starlight Fleet offers the 32-foot center console Southern Star. Call them or go online to get more information.

Sterling Harbor reported that Karen McKinley stopped by with a very nice fluke she caught in the back. She was fishing with her father, Ralph Shaw, on his boat, Green Meanie. She was using a minnow as bait. No length or weight were listed but the fish appeared to be easily in the 5 to 6-pound range.

Capt. Mike, from the Miss Chris, was fishing most of his trips at “The Point” recently. While there, he was following the “bird play,” which is always fun, as it basically announces that there is fishing underneath that area.

Under those birds were bluefish and weakfish, and below those were triggerfish and croakers, which his patrons loaded up on.

Pool winners were John Brancato, with a 16-inch weakfish, and 10-year-old James McKenzie, who won with a big triggerfish.

Capt. Chuck, aboard the Sea Star III, reported another busy week that featured fluke, sea bass, and triggerfish. There were keepers and shorts of the first two species, as you would expect. There were also some three-fish limits of fluke and one day featured “an entire boat limit of sea bass,” as all anglers aboard caught their one keeper.

Pool winners for the week were Mike Griffis, with a 1.6-pound sea bass, while the others caught fluke. Those anglers were Chick Collington (2.25 pounds), Fred Jennings (4.35), Jason Thomas (2.4), Walt Prawdzik (3.55), Luis Rivera (2.55), and Paul Bodkin, who caught the largest winner of the week, a 5.25-pounder.

The Miss Avalon crew has seen their patrons staying busy with catches of fluke, sea bass, and triggerfish. They are sailing twice daily, Monday through Friday, and once a day on Saturday and Sunday, so hop on and get involved in the action.

The Avalon Lady has been picking through flounder, with some keepers amongst them, and has been doing well with croakers. A number of those flounders have been caught by the campers who are putting the lessons learned to real-life use.

One angler, during an early week open-boat trip, proved the old adage “you never know what you’ll catch” by reeling in a 12-pound sheepshead. It was weighed, photographed, and safely released “to swim another day.” Congratulations, and the lucky angler can check that one off their bucket list.

The Starfish, out of Sea Isle, is sailing evening trips and has been doing well with the sea bass. They are also sailing during the day, at 8 a.m. and 1p.m. Those trips have been producing flounder, sea bass, and triggerfish.

Whale Creek Marina has been busy, as their slip holders have been stopping by to show off their catches of fluke, weakfish, and crabs. You can also rent a boat there, if you don’t have your own, so you can get out and catch your own fish. Good luck.  

Boulevard Bait and Tackle weighed in a nice sheepshead for an angler named Ed that pulled the needle down to 11.6 pounds, saw one angler, Kevin, stop by to get a picture of his fluke hanging from the scale, and had the owner, Cameron, put his own fluke on the scale. It was 26-inches long and weighed 6.3 pounds. It represented his largest fluke of the season.

Thanks to Len Fennimore for submitting a report on his nice catch. He was fishing on a friend’s boat, the “Good as Gold,” at the Cape May Reef. Len was using a bucktail tipped with a Gulp Grub when he caught a 28-inch, 8.5-pound fluke. Congratulations, Len, on a very nice catch.

The Ocean City Fishing Club (OCFC) recently held their Boys and Girls Surf Fishing Tournament. Ninety-nine participants entered and helped to set the record for the most fish caught in this event, with the highlight being a 27-inch, 8.5-pound fluke. It was caught by a first-time entrant , 8-year-old Shamus McDonald.

After the final weigh-ins, and the counting concluded, Shamus’ fish was the largest caught in all the boys age groups. For that, he won a $300 gift certificate and a rod and reel. Claire Amici won the same prizes, as she won the girls division with a 17-inch flounder, which was the largest caught by any lady angler.

Claire’s fluke was also the “most caught” category in the girls 11-13-year-old group. In the same age group for boys, Aiden Covone was high-hook with 27 fish.

The 8-10-year-old group was won by Chloe Kilroy and her eight fish, while George Benner won with 12 fish. Ben Texter (21 fish) and Kaelyn Sheehan (8 fish) won their respective divisions in the 14-16-year-old group.

The anglers above all won prizes for catching the most in their listed age groups. All those who entered received prizes that included certificates and gift cards from local businesses.

The total of 209 fish caught in the two-hour tournament included fluke, croaker, spot, and kingfish. Twenty youngsters recorded double-digit catches.

The tournament was held in cooperation with the Ocean City Department of Recreation. The OCFC, founded in 1913, is the oldest, continuously operated fishing club in the nation.

The 2023 MidAtlantic is now running through Aug. 25. It is being held simultaneously at the Canyon Club Resort Marina in Cape May and the Sunset Marina in Ocean City, Maryland. Last year’s purse topped $5.23 million, so we’ll wait to see if that amount can be topped this year.

This tournament targets offshore species, and features an exciting final day where any fish caught could mean the difference between respectable winnings or a very lucrative, and prestigious, payday. Good luck to all the entrants.

Well, it was another good week with some nice fish being caught. A big sheepshead, some hefty fluke, and plenty of sea bass and croakers helped to make memories and put filets in the box. Good luck if you get out, take care, and I’ll see you around.

Submit fishing news and photos to mrobbins@cmcherald.com.