Humidity, hurricanes, and heat have Mother Nature in charge of September fishing. But it’s still a great time to fish. You can be sure the firefighters will be on the water trying to catch that pool winner.
At Grassy Sound, larger stripers are being caught off the pier and in the back at different tides. Hereford Inlet, outgoing tide is where they’re finding the fluke. (Season closes Sept. 27) Liam Casey Hawk, Willow Grove, Pa. caught his very first flounder there, a hair away from a keeper. He was also having fun catching snapper blues, top of the outgoing tide. Catherine Binowski, Cherry Hill, caught a five pound flounder near the toll bridge at Hereford Inlet, and Patrick O’Drain and crew, Philadelphia, caught six nice keeper fluke despite conditions at the Cape May Reef. They were using drift rigs with squid and minnows.
Off Grassy Sound Pier, Carmen Zaccaro, had a 31.5inch striper on bunker at, slack tide, while Jim Mooers himself, caught two stripers to 32 inches on a rubber lure and a jighead, outgoing tide. Flounder were had also with Eric DeLellis, Aston, Pa. catching a 23 incher at the mouth of Hereford Inlet on minnows, outgoing tide.
Sterling Harbor Marina reports flounder fishing still leading the action. Anglers reported excellent flounder action at the Cape May Reef with a lot of throwbacks mixed in with the keepers. Along the beachfront kingfish are taking bloodworms and Fishbites with a few croakers mixed in. Back bay striper fishing is red hot with sardine chunks being the bait of choice.
Offshore, it seems like the tuna are north of us in the Lindenkohl Canyon and white marlin are scattered from the Wilmington Canyon south. Wahoo and nice mahi-mahi have been reported from the East Lump out to and along the 20 Fathom Line.
Striper fishing for Captain Ray’s fly and spin anglers was pretty good when fishing early mornings and evenings till our back bay waters got super-heated. With ocean water around 76 degrees, a couple of evenings saw back bay water temperatures 80 to 82 degrees on the incoming tide. With those high temps, the striper bite really shut down on the shallow flats. With hot water holding less oxygen it seemed that the fish preferred not to leave the cooler depths of the channels and the fishing was slower than normal. With a cool down in water temps, action should improve.
NEWS: The American Littoral Society is recruiting volunteers for upcoming Project PORTS oyster restoration activities. This is an educational and community-based program led by Rutgers University that helps revitalize Delaware Bay oyster populations and the important fish habitat their reefs provide. Students throughout South Jersey made shell-filled mesh bags as part of Project PORTS and now help is needed transplanting the shell bags on Sept. 14 at 7 a.m., 3 to 4 hours, depending on turnout, Rutgers Cape Shore Laboratory, 299 S Delsea Drive, Court House. If you’re interested in lending a hand, contact: Shane Godshall at 856-825-2174 or shane@littoralsociety.org or Lisa Calvo at 609-440-4560 or calvo@hsrl.rutgers.edu
NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife will stock more than 25,000 trout in the state’s major trout waters. The fish will be stocked in 17 streams and 14 ponds beginning Oct. 7. There are no closed dates during the fall stocking period. For the schedule, visit www.njfishandwildlife.com/flstk14.htm
NJ WILD Outdoor Expo, Sept. 13, 14, rain or shine, Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area, Jackson Township, classes, lessons, demonstrations and exhibits on a host of outdoor activities, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. www.nj.gov/dep/newsrel/2014/14_0088.htm; or www.wildoutdoorexpo.com/ .
FALL SCHEDULES: Sea Star III with Captain Chuck is sailing 9AM -3PM daily except Thanksgiving. Special trip Thanksgiving Day 6AM- Noon. Trips should continue until Dec. 24.
Starting Sept. 8, the Starlight will go to the fall 6-hour weekday schedule, 10AM to 4PM. Four -hour trips will resume on Saturdays and Sundays only.
The Royal Flush will be sailing 2 trips daily. 8-noon and 1-5 pm. Night trips will be limited, call for details.
The Fishing Line runs year round so keep sending your reports and pictures to cmiller@cmcherald.com. Column and pictures (including some that didn’t appear in print) are posted online at www.capemaycountyherald.com and on Facebook. Check out Miller’s new children’s book “Counting the Fish in the Sea: The Story of the NEAMAP Trawls” on www.epektales.com
Cape May – Governor Murphy says he doesn't know anything about the drones and doesn't know what they are doing but he does know that they are not dangerous. Does anyone feel better now?
