Reports are a mixed bag but there are enough good ones to make a trip worthwhile.
Bill (bucktail willie) Shillingford fishing out of Whale Creek Marina found a few short stripers but action was a lot slower as a result of the warmer water. Willie says the fluke bite continues to be hot but tough to find a keeper.
Captain Ray reports a slow down in action, too but managed some stripers and bluefish on popping plugs for spin anglers and lime green steroid gurgler flies on floating line for the fly anglers.
Sterling Harbor says flounder action in the back-bays was non-stop with mainly shorts, but a few keepers in the mix. The flounder are beginning to migrate to the ocean as the water warms.
There is some flounder action at the Cape May Reef, Reef Site 11 and the Old Grounds and at the Cape May Rips and Cape May Point areas.
In the back-bays, small stripers are hitting plugs and soft plastics near sod banks, docks and bridges mainly in the evenings and at night.
Croakers have started to show in the Delaware Bay and in the surf there are plenty of kingfish hitting on fish bites or bloodworms. Occasionally a small striper can be caught in the surf, mainly near the inlets.
Offshore, yellowfin tuna, dolphin, and white marlin are being caught with Wilmington Canyon to Spencer Canyon seeing the best action.
James Pierce, 18, Wilmington, Del. had over 60 flounder with two keepers while jigging Berkley Gulp! Swimming Minnows from his Hobie Mirage Outback Kayak.
Great crabbing right now in the Grassy Sound area. Crabbers are coming back to the dock with a basket full. The top of the tide on the fishing pier is producing great catches. Lots of flounder with a few stripers here and there. Larger flounder are being caught near the Stone Harbor toll bridge and a little further out in Hereford Inlet.
Chris Koestner, Palmyra, Pa., caught seven flounder with the largest 22 inches off the fishing pier at the top of the tide using minnows.
The Bill Kinsley Legacy aka Williamstown Bill on the Grassy Sound Fishing Pier, lives on.
Bill’s been coming from Williamstown to the fishing pier for years on Tuesdays and Thursdays like clockwork. He’d watch the sunrise over Hereford Inlet and fish most of the day, chatting with his buddies and making friends with new comers. He’s the last to be there fishing in the winter and the first to show up in the spring.
The first flounder caught at the annual Grassy Sound Flounder Tournament, Pier Division will be honored with the Bill Kinsley Award. This year’s winner was Michael McPeake, Phila., Pa.
Bill is terminally ill with pancreatic cancer and we wanted him to know that prayers and good wishes are being sent his way.
DEP NEWS: Four million cubic yards of rock is being deployed on nine New Jersey reefs over the next three years as part of the NJDEP Artificial Reef Program. During these reef construction efforts, boaters must be aware of the reduced maneuverability of the tugs and allow them the right-of-way. Commercial fishers must relocate their gear to other areas not slated for deployment or risk gear damage.
The following reefs are receiving dredge rock: Shark River, Axel Carlson, Garden State North, Atlantic City, Great Egg, Townsend Inlet, Wildwood, Deepwater and Cape May.
For more information including maps, visit http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/news/2010/reefrock7-10.htm
Send your fish stories and photos to cmiller@cmcherald.com. All photos submitted appear online at SeeMyBigFish.com.
Wildwood – So Liberals here on spout off, here's a REAL question for you.
Do you think it's appropriate for BLM to call for "Burning down the city" and "Black Vigilantes" because…
