The Fishing Line: Angling in August

August is sending you an invitation to fish. Local marinas, charter and party boats, municipal boat ramps and public fishing piers are easily accessible. Don’t let the summer get away without spending a day on the water. Summer flounder, winter flounder, blues, sea bass, tautog, blue crabs, weakfish, triggers, kingfish, sheepshead, all legal catches right now.
Water temperature has been an important factor in what’s been showing up. Captain Chuck, Sea Star III, reports nice fish were taken, just not the numbers he had last week. When the ocean temperature plummeted, action at the Reefs fell off. Things are warming up again.
Over at Grassy Sound Marina they’ve had 5 pound flounder weighed in every day. The back bays are warmer and boats are finding fluke. Croakers and sea bass also making a showing. Crabbing continues very strong on the pier. Trish Ciarlante, Philadelphia, caught a 25 inch, 5 pound fluke on a minnow behind Stone Harbor, outgoing tide and Michael and Joanne Regan, Berlin, caught 4.3 and 5 pound flounder at the mouth of Turtle Creek, outgoing tide. Speaking of 5-pounders, Johnny Brescia, N. Wildwood (second place in the Children’s Tournament this year) caught his in Beach Creek on minnows, incoming tide.
First fish for 6 year old Kingston Andris, Philadelphia. He had two 20 inch flounder on squid & minnows in Turtle Creek, incoming tide. Interesting: A loggerhead turtle was brought up twice off the pier. Folks at the Marina say its head was the size of a basketball.
Sterling Harbor reports the back bays are holding plenty of flounder with lots of shorts and keepers up to 5 pounds. Ryan Matejik of Levittown, Pa., had a 4 pound 4 ounce flounder near Two Mile Bridge on a Gulp! Swimming Mullet. Tommy Basiura, 12 of Perkiominville, Pa., reported a 21 inch flounder caught on Gulp! near the North Wildwood rocks.
Kayak anglers are still enjoying the back bay flounder fishing and are reporting good action with schoolie stripers along the sod banks behind Wildwood. Good flounder catches were also reported from Reef Site 11 and the Old Grounds and in the Delaware Bay from 14 foot to Miah Maul near the shipping lanes. The Cape May Reef is starting to produce keeper flounder as well.
Offshore, tuna fishing has been excellent at the Canyons while trolling. Some yellowfin and bluefin were caught near the Hot Dog and Hambone areas mainly on the troll with a few caught while chunking and jigging.
In the surf, kingfish are starting to show up along the Wildwood beachfront and plenty of croakers are being caught around Cape May Point. Crabby Jack says crabbing will improve as the water temps rise.
Captain Ray had some evening trips that were productive for small schoolies striper. Nothing big and not hot action, you just had to search and pick up a striper here and there. Typical summer striper fishing; fish low light or after dark when the fish move out of their deeper daytime haunts and search the shallows under the cover of darkness. This time of the year when keeper size bass are fewer, they are still a lot of fun when caught on a fly or light tackle. Popping flies and popping plugs are still the preferred methods.
The Royal Flush is fishing in the ocean catching flounder, king fish, snapper blues, and a few croakers. Notable catches are Scott Fleming, Levittown, Pa., 3 pound flounder, Pat Sitek of Media, Pa., 1.3 pound kingie, Sara Roberts, Philadelphia, 2 pound blue, Mike Betz, Spring City, Pa., 1.5 pound kingfish, and Marty Roberts, Wildwood, 2 pound flounder.
The 4-hour Starlight continues bringing back catches of kingfish, bluefish and weakies with an occasional flounder in the mix. Pool winners include Joe Gallagher, Drexel Hill, 3 pound, 2 ounces fluke; Joan Ford, Philadelphia, 2 pound bluefish; Frank Harris, Sea Isle City, 1.75 pound kingfish. High Hook title was claimed by Laura Conway, Berwyn, for her catch of 4 kingfish, 2 blues and 1 weakfish. Be sure to check the website (jjcboats.com) for sea bass and tilefish trips schedule.
NEWS: A revised draft of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) reauthorization legislation is available for public review and comment. Find the document at www.savingseafood.org
The Fishing Line runs year round so keep sending your reports and pictures to cmiller@cmcherald.com. Column and pictures (many which do not make it into the print edition) are posted online at www.capemaycountyherald.com and on Facebook. Check out www.epektales.com for info on Miller’s book, “Counting the Fish in the Sea: the Story of the NEAMAP Trawls.”