It seems that we may have hit what some call “the dog days.” Things slowed according to comments made in some reports, not due to dog day heat, but the lingering effects on the recent full moon, (and the heat probably won’t be far behind anyway). Some nice fish were caught, so we can continue to look for a bounce back. Let’s get into the reports.
The Sailor’s Delight with Capt. Paul gets us going. He reports sea bass action aplenty, which is taking bait intended for flounder. Keeper flounder are “still coming over the rails.” Also making an appearance is an occasional weakfish. All the weakfish this summer have been keepers, “but they are few and far between.”
They have seen an “influx of porgies in some of the sounds.” Two recent catches of Inshore Lizardfish were different, and a 2.5-foot juvenile dusky shark was recently caught, while scattered croakers are still around. Sounds like a good mixed bag to keep the patrons crankin’ the reels.
Fred at Utsch’s checks in with mention of flounder fishing that remains consistent. Not much change as most boats from the marina are bringing in five to 10 keepers per trip, plus a lot of throwbacks.
An interesting note from Fred is that divers are reporting wrecks with “a lot of flounder on them.” He hopes the recent northeast wind will bring in some warm bottom water, and get the flounder moving around.
Two other topics were the recent catches of dolphin and yellowfin at the 19 Fathom Lump, and word that Utsch’s is now handling rifle and firearm accessories. If you hunt or shoot stop by and see the Fred, and he will help you get what you need.
Also out of Utsch’s Marina, Cassandra Dilks caught a keeper sea bass on the Miss Cassea on the last day of bass season.
Capt. Mike from the Lady Chris reports Jim Pertzinski (Pitman), while fishing with his father, caught a 3-pound, pool-winning, flounder. He also tells of Christian Moldanado (Court House) who caught a 17-inch weakfish.
Matt from Jim’s starts with a personal flounder report that resulted in some nice fluke caught at the Wildwood Reef. From the Old Grounds he has heard of “some bigger fish” caught near some structure, while shorts continue to be caught also.
He reports good results still from the ”backwater” as his brother George checks in with a recent 7-pounder, plus 17 other fish that “he could have kept.”
Inshore, on the troll, Mike Bascombe and son, Mike Jr., caught Skipjack, False Albacore, Spanish mackerel, and a 4.27-pound Blue Runner for 11 year old Mike. A few dolphin are around the pots, but Matt hasn’t heard anything recently concerning cobia.
Matt looks offshore next as Bigeye continue to be caught in the Wilmington mostly on the night troll, while others were caught on the chunk, or jigging with glowing lures. Marlin are in the canyons, and some captains had “double digit shots” at Whites in the Baltimore. They also have heard of a good number of 200-300 pound Blue Marlin, with some larger ones mixed in.
Surf fisherman should head to the Cape May Point area for croakers, Northern and Southern kings, and short fluke near the rock piles. The catch-and-release shark fishing “is still pretty good” even though “it slowed up considerably around the full moon.”
The Cape Queen reports a steady amount of charters that have brought in a consistent supply of blue fish and sharks. Blue fish totals range from 14 for the Joe Berry Group (New Milford, N.Y.) to 92, plus five frigate mackerel, for John Daniels and group from Erie, Pa. Shark catches went from four (Joe Berry), five for Mike Rosenberg and party (Chatham) that had weights ranging from 150 to 200 pounds, to six for two groups, those being Donald Bean from Hunterdon County, and Tom Minardi and friends from Franklin Lakes.
An interesting catch that was made was a “huge” ray, with an approximate 7-foot wingspan that weighed roughly 250 pounds.
Grassy Sound Marina reports an early morning striper for 4-year-old Chase Gould (Holland, Pa.), Plus a nice 26.5-inch, 5.6-pound flounder for Chip Gruff of Anglesea. Short flounder continue to be caught.
A couple rental boats from the marina reported lots of nice crabs and two nice keeper flounder. The Stocklin Family had their annual crab outing and Steve’s boat brought back a tasty bushel. The Bob Grier Crew (Lycoming, Pa.) got the flounder, and threw in the hand lines when the crabs started stealing their minnows.
The Pier produced a 19-inch flounder, and two dozen crabs for Joe and Eddie Duca (Sicklerville), and a 20-inch flounder and some croakers for Frank Sniederman of Scranton, Pa.
Susie Q from the Royal Flush steps up to tell us of some productive fishing out front on the ocean. They have been catching flounder, blues, king fish, weakies, croakers, porgies and trigger fish. The night trips are good for croakers and snapper blues. Nice recent catches of 3-pound flounder went to Barbara Black (Philadelphia), Mona Martin (Blackwood), and Rocky Cwenar of Northeast Philadelphia, while Sally Timmons (Baltimore, Md.) registered a 2.5- pound flounder. Mark Hines (Cherry Hill), caught a 2-pound bluefish. John Pepper (Philadelphia) got a puffer fish.
The Sea Star III reports some nice fluke in the ocean, but only throwbacks in the bay. Kingfish have helped make up for the slack, as some nice ones even won pools.
The fluke winners were: Two for Frank Servocky (3.85 and 3 pounds), and Joe Romano with a 2.75 pounder. King fish winners were: Chris Perkins (1.25 pounds) and 1-pounders for Don Fagan and Fred Harrison.
Recent legislation for a “Fishing Buddy License” was signed into law Aug. 10. It will amend state laws for all-around sportsman and fishing licenses. The new allows for the fee for the “All Around Sportsman License” to be reduced by $10 for each “fishing buddy” who buys that license.
Submit your fishing news and photos to mrobbins@cmcherald.com.