The Fishing Line Dec. 13

Stripers… stripers everywhere. Or so it would seem. The action has been steady, even though the boat congestion of the weekend caused a slowing of the catches. Still, many were caught. The action seemed to be centered on Townsends Inlet. North or south of there – your choice – and you were golden. Let’s get into the report and see who got into the fish. 
Matt from Jim’s Bait and Tackle states, “It finally broke loose down here. I’ve been weighing stripers at 30, 40 and 50 pounds all week.” Trolling various plugs and rigs has worked well. Some anglers were snagging and dropping bunker where thick schools could be found. He also mentioned that some anglers are drifting eels or trolling diving plugs in the Rips, and that a decent chunk bite is developing at the mouth of the Delaware Bay.
A few highlighted catches were noted. One went to T.L. Sawyer with a 38.3 pounder, while Chris Clark boated a 45.1 pounder. The heavyweight of the report went to Joe Vallese with a 52.3-pound, 50-inch fish caught off of Stone Harbor on a white Mojo.
Sea bass inhabit the wrecks in the 20 fathom range, while blackfish are on the wrecks in the 60- to 90-foot depths.
The surf report shows a slow week with some short stripers interrupted by the “occasional keeper.” There also were reports of “a few speckled trout” being caught from the beach.
Full Ahead Sport Fishing Charters with Captain Bob has been on the stripers since they arrived off the Cape. His Friday charter was into the fish early. By 9 a.m., everyone on the charter had a fish in the boat. All the fish were “quality fish.” Captain Bob finished the report by saying, “It doesn’t get any better than that.”
Saturday saw the charter wanting to head out for sea bass. Anglers found them and limited out. For good measure, they pulled in a few bluefish.
Fishin’ Fever Sportfishing Charters, with Captain Tom at the helm, had good striper fishing all through the weekend.
Saturday’s and Sunday’s totals were slowed due to heavy boat traffic. Despite that, Saturday’s was the best in terms of quality with two “overs,” plus four “unders” to 34 pounds. Friday’s total was seven fish, but they were of a smaller model. Sunday was a “tough day,” again due to the weekend increase of boat traffic, but anglers still managed to put fish in the boat.
Cape Queen Sportfishing Charters took out Shane Hosler and “group” for a day of rocking striper action. The totaled over 40 fish, with the largest being a 46 incher that was “close to 50 pounds.” The numbers make for happy anglers.
Off The Hook Bait and Tackle had three fish over 30 pounds cross the scales recently. Chris Sauer and Bill Paul brought in 41 and 38 pounders, while young angler Brady Niedoba tallied a 30.2-pound striper he caught while fishing from his dad’s boat.
Sterling Harbor checked in with word of a nice striper being caught by Bruce Fish. He weighed in a 31-pound, 41-inch fish. He was trolling when he hooked into his keeper.
Grassy Sound Marina reported that one of its “pier members” hooked up with a real “beauty.” Joe Romano landed a 51-inch, 51 pounder while the boat he was on was trolling behind some whales. He made his catch off of Hereford Inlet.
Peace Token Fishing Tackle in Burleigh checked in with a nice catch of note. An angler named Bill came in to have his catch weighed. It went 38 pounds and reached 46 inches in length. As with most of the recent catches, he was trolling when the fish hit. He was about 1.5 to two miles off the beach.  
Boulevard Bait and Tackle proved to be a busy place as the bass approached the Sea Isle area. There was plenty of fish to hit the scale, with a range running from 14 pounds to 46.9 pounds. One fish that hadn’t hit the scales yet, because it was still on the boat, was estimated to be close to 50 pounds. The angler sent Cameron a picture which I saw, and it definitely looked like the fish could push the scale over the magic 50 mark.
A quick roll call of some of the catches shows the crew of the Sunken II had the 46.9 pounder, plus a 36 pounder. Dan weighed in a 40.4 pounder; the Undertaker crew brought 30 and 33 pounders in; Rich came in with a 41-inch, 24.3-pound fish while friend Joe accompanied him with a 46.25-inch, 38.7 pounder; and Sean and Tom brought in 14 and 22 pounders, respectively.
Flyin’ Hawaiian Charters sent word in to Boulevard about two recent outings. The first trip had Jason setting a boat record with a 48-inch, 41-pound fish. Other fish went 35, 30 and 29 pounds. The second trip on the following day had Scott take “a ride with the Flyin’ Hawaiian” and put three fish to 42 inches “in the box.”
Tight Lines NJ in Somers Point was another busy shop. They weighed in a lot of fish during the end of November/beginning of December week. This included at least three fish at 50 or more pounds. One was 52.7 pounds (no name for anglers), a 50.1 pounder (no name) and a 50 pounder for Barbara Kerrigan. They had numerous pictures of other fish going between 25 and 36 pounds.
Another boat pulling the curtain down on 2017 is the Miss Avalon. On Saturday, Dec. 2, she went after blackfish. Even though Captain Irv worked hard to get us on fish, the day was slow. This was seconded by reports from other anglers I know who targeted blackfish that day, but the day did have a neat highlight. We saw and photographed a whale frolicking around about a mile off the Avalon beach. It’s the second time in the last three seasons that I saw whale activity while fishing in December. It’s an experience that never fails to leave an impression. Have a good break, Captain Irv, Captain Brandon and families. Enjoy your time off. See you at the Wildwood Fishing and Boating Expo.
Get out and get fishing while the fishing is hot. Let me know how you do.
Submit your fishing news and photos to mrobbins@cmcherald.com.