Celebrate Fourth of July by getting out and fishing. You will be pleasantly surprised. Despite the weather, reports continue to be positive with all sorts of species available.
South Jersey Marina posted very good results. The charter boat Top Shelf took the Alberti group out for a six hour trip and caught fish from the time they got to the spot until lines-in. Flounder, tautog, sea bass and trigger fish were caught. The fish are here, for sure.
The party boat fleet at South Jersey Marina runs daily with the Fiesta targets sea bass and flounder and sails at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. for four-hour trips. The Porgy IV is an 8-hour boat and leaves at 8 a.m. It has been concentrating on fluke and recently weighed in a 10.8-pound fluke for the angler Joe Budetta.
Captain Ray felt the effects of the weather with several trips canceling. But when he did get out, stripers were caught on both flies and plugs with the late afternoon and evenings being the best. Chartreuse rattling poppers and Smack-it-jr popping plug provided some exciting surface action on the shallow flat in the back bay.
Bill (bucktail willie) Shillingford fishing out of Whale Creek Marina, found a decent striped bass bite on eels and poppers with bass between 24-29-inches. He reports some decent fluke being caught but you have to worked through the smaller fish. There is some indication that the fluke are moving towards the inlets. Fluke up to 23-inches were caught on mackerel and Berkley Gulp Shrimp.
Grassy Sound Marina reports continued success for flounder with the fish going after any and all bait. Most flounder were in the 20-inch range.
Ken Kang, Cape May, caught a 26-inch, 5-pound, 13-ounce flounder fishing off the pier during the incoming tide, using minnows.
Todd Vantoli Sr., Philadelphia caught a 21-inch flounder on minnows and squid and a 30-inch striper using clam under the North Wildwood bridge on outgoing tide.
Captain Fred at Harbor View also reported good flounder news with keepers up to 6-pounds.
Offshore, sharks are still around and some bluefin were caught on the Hambone; yellowfin reported in Baltimore.
Small blues (my favorites) can be caught off the beach front at Cape May Point and weakies are off Cape May beach front and in 60 Foot Slough with keepers from the jetties and bridges.
The Miss Chris, Cape May, reports lots of fluke action with plenty of keepers. Rocy Mastilini, Philadelphia had six keepers and Sam Nickolas, Drexel Hill, had five keepers up to 6-pounds.
Night fishing still finds a few drum fish and Steve Carlone, Millville, pulled in a 41-pounder.
Sterling Harbor Marina reports flounder in the back bays with the keeper to throwback ratio increasing. Fluke in the Delaware Bay remain steady and the hot report is that the Reef Site 11, the Old Grounds and the Cape May Reef has turned on.
Sterling Harbor’s 16th Annual Duke of Fluke Tournament will be held July 11, 2009. Captain’s meeting Friday evening July 10. Don’t miss this event.
Entry forms are available in the tackle shop and www.sterlingharbor.com. This year they’ll again have a Kayak Division for the kayak anglers to compete in.
A few stripers are still being caught in the North Wildwood and Cape May surf, along with an occasional bluefish.
Crabby Jack gives the crabbing 3.5 claws this week and tells us the crabbing should improve as the full moon appears.
On the kayak fishing scene, Charlie Labar and Chris Parson both of Cape May County, headed up to Long Island, NY to fish the Great South Bay Kayak Fishing Tournament. They reported that the fishing was tough, with only one legal size striper entered, but Charlie took third place with a 19-inch bluefish and Chris took fourth Place with an 18 inch bluefish.
The Royal Flush reports great fishing in the ocean. They are catching a load of seabass with some throwbacks. The keepers are in the 2-pound range with pool winners weighing in at up to 4 1/2 pounds. Captain John is seeing keeper flounder averaging 3-pounds with pool winners up to 4-pounds. They are also seeing plenty of trigger fish in the 2-3-pound range, as well as small blues, sharks, skates and sea robins. The Royal Flush is sailing three trips a day, 8-noon, 1-5 p.m., 7-11 p.m. Call 609-522-1395.
All photos submitted appear online at SeeMyBigFish.com. Be sure to send your fish stories and photos to cmiller@cmcherald.com. This column appears first online at capemaycountyherald.com
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