It’s definitely time to get fishing. With a little patience anglers are taking home some great catches.
Grassy Sound Marina reports the women dominated opening day for flounder. Patty Whelan, Swedesboro, won a $100 gas certificate for her 18 inch, 2.2-pound flounder. Mary Bohrer, N. Wildwood, weighed in the first keeper of the season. Patty was fishing near the pier with minnows during outgoing tide and Mary was fishing top of the incoming in Turtle Creek also with minnows.
John Pawling, Burlington, also won a $100 certificate for his 23 ½-inch, 4.1-pound flounder. He was fishing the mud flats of Drum Thorofare. Eric Dundrum, Rio Grande, was a close second with his 4.03-pounder caught near the George Redding bridge.
Tom Anderson, N. Wildwood, caught his first keeper flounder off the pier at outgoing tide with minnows. He landed a beautiful 21 ½ inch, 3.22-pound flattie.
Roy Tarr, W. Wildwood, caught two keepers fishing the top of the tide at the mouth of Turtle Creek using minnow and squid and bucktail and minnow. Jeremy Cox, Court House, caught five keepers in Turtle Creek ; John Robinson, Court House, came in with a nice 40 inch striper, his 31st keeper, caught off the Avalon Jetty and Joe Pryor, Southampton, Pa., caught a 19 inch flounder in the first bend of Turtle Creek during incoming tide with chartreuse bucktail and mackerel.
Captain Chuck on Sea Star III says the drumfish are biting but found fluke fishing slow, but with 57 degree water he wasn’t surprised. He likes 60 degrees or better for fluke.
Striper fishing was slow, says Captain Ray, but he did have some good sea herring action on the fly rod with fish up to 18 inches. They hit chartreuse/white jiggie flies on sinking line along the inlet jetties. No signs of any bluefish, but Ray believes the action picks up as the water warms.
Welcome to Captain Frank W. Breakell, Brynnie-B Inshore Fishing, LLC, (www.brynnie-binshorefishing.com). Victor Novak hired Frank to guide him on a surf fishing trip. They hit the beach in Cape May one afternoon to catch the incoming tide, using fresh clams and circle hooks. The tide was ripping and the wind was howling. Just when they were considering a move to a more hospitable place, the first rod was knocked down. Sand spike and all were pulled over by the force. Victor beached a nice 36 inch bass. A short while later they landed a 38incher, then a 37incher, and finally a nice 40 inch bass to end the day. While the conditions were less than ideal, fishing was fantastic. Another angler just north of them landed three nice bass as well.
Over at Frank’s Boats, the 2012 season is shaping up to be a good one. The weather for opening day was not so good but the anglers who braved the overcast skies and windy weather were rewarded with a good number of keepers.
Several boats returned with 5 to 6 keepers ranging in size from 17 1/2 to 22 1/2 inches. The best bite was on the outgoing tide which can probably be attributed to the warmer water coming off of the flats. Minnows seemed to be the preference for the larger fish.
High catch of the week was Wayne and Eugene Grear, Haddon Heights, with 6 flounder, 2 bluefish and 150 clams. The biggest flounder was caught by Frank Jankowski measuring 22 1/2 inches, and 4 pounds even. Doug Lashkey and Kurt Hess brought in a 22 1/4 inch keeper along with two others between 18 and 20 inches.
Other recent catches were the Stucks Party, Harrisburg, Pa., 17 1/2 and 20 inch flounder, Frank and Candy Jankowski and Chris Stafford, Strathmere and Mays Landing, with seven keeper flounder to 22 ½ inches; Tom Facl Party, five flounder. Walter Escher, Doylestown, Pa., Ed Rigger and Donal Staffieri, Pennsville; Kyle Gordon (4-years old) , Penns Park, Pa.; and Tom Wysecki, Abington, Pa., all took home keeper flounder.
The American Littoral Society invites you to join (oil) SpillSpotters, a network of trained volunteers to be the eyes on the water before, during, and after an oil spill or other catastrophic pollution event. Workshop training: Villas, Monday, May 21, 4 p.m., Lower Cape Branch Library, 2600 Bayshore Road
Calendar: May 19, Kids Bluefish Tournament, ages 16 and under, Absecon Saltwater Sportsmen, 748-8208.
Send your reports and pictures to cmiller@cmcherald.com. All pictures submitted are posted online at www.capemaycountyherald.com.
Cape May – Last week I witnessed a woman helping a man who seemed to be having difficulty getting up in the water. the next thing I saw was she also was injured. My Uber ride was there to take me to the…
