The Fishing Line: Back to School Blues

Here we are approaching the last days in August. The weather has been near perfect for fishing, crabbing or just cruising around.
Our friends at Frank’s Boats invite you to “break away from your daily routine of work, chores around the house and other less important activities, try to make some time for yourself, family and friends to get out and enjoy a day on the water. There’s quite a variety of fish being caught: kingfish and small blues, flounder, sea bass and sea robins, it makes for plenty of action. It’s the perfect time to bring the kids and introduce them to a wonderful pastime!”
Some recent successes were Dan McDonough, Riverside, with an 18 ½ inch flounder; James Elnicki, Philadelphia, first kingfish; Candy Jankowski, Strathmere, two keeper flounder; Mike Grundy, Long Valley, NY, 18 ½ inch flounder; Geraldine Giglisth, Berlin, one keeper flounder and two dozen crabs.
For Captain Ray, TideRunner, Cape May, fishing pre-dawn, near sunset or in the middle of the night is still good for picking up stripers for both fly and spin anglers. No keepers but most fish are running between 21 and 26 inches with the biggest 27 inches.
Smack-it-Jr popping plugs are still the top producer for spin anglers, with buck tail deceivers working best for fly anglers. He did some fluke trips with gulp on a jig head as the best producer and small clousers worked on the bottom catching for the fly anglers. Ray says, you still have to catch a good number of fluke to come up with a keeper but he is also seeing some croakers, small sea bass and trigger fish.
According to Sterling Harbor Marina, a few kingfish are being caught on bloodworms or fish bites off the surf in North Wildwood and Wildwood Crest. Flounder are being caught mainly around the Inlets. In the back-bays, flounder fishing is still good with mainly shorts and an occasional keeper in the mix. The schoolie striper action in the back-bays has slowed.
There is good fluking in the Delaware Bay from Bayshore Channel to Cape May Point, again with a lot of shorts. The Cape May Reef provided good flounder fishing where Frank Gregorio of Medford limited out with fish up to 8-pounds. Art Friedlander and crew of Deptford, reported two 5-pound Flounder and a 7-pounder while fishing on the “Tara Ann” at the Cape May Reef. The crew also released a nurse shark from the Cape May Reef, estimated at 50 pounds.
There are reports of some weakfish being caught in the back-bays and the Delaware Bay.
Offshore, there are scattered tuna at the Canyons and the white marlin fishing has been good. Dolphin are being caught everywhere and the bite was especially good near the 30 Fathom Line.
Grassy Sound Marina Fishing Report says stripers are hanging out around the docks and some reports of stripers being caught in the back bays are coming in. Schools of mullet are plentiful. Flounder, snapper blues, sea bass, and kingfish are also being caught. The top of the tide continues to be the most productive. Crabbing is hot in Hereford Inlet area and Turtle Creek.
Bill Chalmers, Warminster, Pa. caught three keeper flounder to 20 inches at the top of the tide near the Stone Harbor free bridge. His crew also reported catches of sea bass and lots of snapper blues.
Kylie Fulford, 3-years-old from N. Cape May caught her first flounder off the Grassy Sound Fishing Pier during outgoing tide in a crab trap. Taxidermist Len Guthrie, Cape May with Joe Accardo and his son from Texas caught eight flounder with 3 keepers to 21 inches, south of the North Wildwood bridge using minnows and squid, incoming tide.
Report from the RFA: “The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) voted to increase the 2011 commercial and recreational harvest levels of scup and summer flounder, welcome news for a beleaguered Atlantic Coast fishing community.
On the summer flounder front, the MAFMC voted to increase the total allowable catch from this season’s 25.48 million pounds to an increased quota of 33.95 million pounds in the year ahead. The new total allowable landings for 2011 represent the highest allowable catch debated by the MAFMC today. Recreational fishermen are hopeful that this increase in quota means improved summer flounder regulations for 2011, but that still rests in the hands of the Marine Recreational Fishing Statistical Survey (MRFSS) for 2010.
Despite pleas from fishermen to increase the porgy quota by 55% to a total allowable catch of 26-1/2 million pounds, a 9-8 council vote put the porgy limit at a more modest 41% increase. For details, visit www.mafmc.org.”
Send your fish stories and photos to cmiller@cmcherald.com.