The Fishing Line: Great fishing everywhere

Sterling Harbor leads off the reports this week with very good news. Plenty of flounder are being caught in the back-bays and also at the Cape May Reef and the Old Grounds when conditions are right. Believe it or not, the drum bite is still going on in the Delaware Bay.
Along the beachfront some stripers are being caught and small stripers are moving into the back-bays. Most are caught in the evening or at night when the boat traffic slows down.
Offshore, yellowfin tuna are being caught from the Wilmington down to the Baltimore Canyon. There has been a good white marlin bite northeast of the Wilmington on the 100 Fathom line. The Big Bully II out of Wildwood, went three for four on bluefin tuna on Massey’s while trolling Blue Ilanders and Ballyhoo.
Sterling Harbor’s 15th Annual Duke of Fluke Tournament is scheduled for July 12. This year’s tournament will also have a Kayak Fishing Division. Call 729-1425 or e-mail sterlingharbor@comcast.net
Reports from Grassy Sound Marina in the back-bay are also excellent. Flounder are being caught on spearing, mackerel, Gulp, minnows, squid, and mullet. Stripers continue to be caught in the morning and evening hours from the Grassy Sound Fishing Pier along with bluefish, kings and some nice flounder.
Justin Magill, 8, Wildwood, on his first fishing trip caught a bluefish and Nicky Simpson and Taz Anthony, Wildwood, caught two keeper flounder to 19″ using mullet on incoming tide. They also had two blues and a kingfish.
Bob Cox, South Seaville and Jody Stoothoff, Vineland, caught five keeper flounder using spearing and shad darts in Turtle Creek, two on the incoming tide and three on the outgoing tide. Jody’s largest was 27 inches and 7 pounds.
Jake Sholders, 10, Grassy Sound, caught a 23 inch, 4 1/4 pound flounder using minnows in his secret spot and Mark Iannacone, Philadelphia, brought in a 22 1/2 inch, 4 1/4 pound flounder using minnows near the North Wildwood Bridge on a rental boat.
Grassy Sound Marina is hosting a flounder tournament this weekend, too. Contact Debbie@grassysoundmarina.com
“We’re seeing more big fish—three-pound flounders and up—than we’ve seen at this time in the past several years,” reports Brook Koeneke, Duke O’ Fluke, Somers Point. “There are a significant number of big ones.”
Some of those nice flatties included a 4-pounder caught by Pat “One-Way” Mickles, of Maple Shade, using a Gulp! pearl-white swimming mullet. Another Maple Shade resident, Eric Waibel, employed a strip of shark bait to fool a 5.1-pound flounder. Clayton Thomas traveled all the way from Indianapolis to land a 2.14-pound fish.
Ten fighter pilots from the 177th New Jersey Air National Guard enjoyed a no-fly day and 1st Lt. Mike Nicolson won the pool with a 3.2-pound flounder.
The week’s most unusual catch was made by Scott Urbach, of Budd Lake, who used cut mackerel to haul in an 11.7-pound, 31-inch striped bass.
Amy Snyderman, Marlton, picked up a 2.9-pound fluke in Ship Channel and a 3.3-pound, 20-inch fluke won the pool for Harold Homes, of Atco. Dr. John Phillips, Somers Point, boated a 2.9-pounder; Rich Tobias, of Linwood, went home with a 2.7-pound flattie; and an anonymous angler on a Masonic Lodge charter hoisted up a 4-pounder.
South Jersey Marina’s Charlie Langan reports that the warm water has moved into the canyons along with the offshore species of fish we’ve been waiting for.
Captain John Sowerby on the Hooked Up II went offshore and caught three yellowfin tuna and six dolphin.
Captain Joe Pritchard, standing in on the Olivia Grace went to the South Shoal of our Cape May Reef and caught 42 bluefish of the mid-size variety.
He also had another great trip boating 12 yellowfin tuna and a couple Mahi-Mahi. The morning was so flat that he dropped a couple real deep in 600 plus feet of water and caught a golden tile fish about 15 pounds.
Also out of South Jersey Marina, Caveman Sportfishing Charters, Hooked Up II with Captains John and Diana Sowerby, ran their first canyon tuna trip to the Wilmington and ended up with three yellowfin and six Mahi-Mahi, with some skipjacks thrown in.
Some very warm water moved in with sea temps rising to 77 degrees and this really slowed down the action. The bite should start again as the water cools.
Currently the bluefin tuna inshore bite is bringing in tuna from 40-100 pounds. The Sowerbys will be running some jigging and trolling trips until July 13 so if you are a single or small party this is the chance to fish on the Hooked UP II.
Whether you want to fish inshore or offshore, there are fish to be caught and South Jersey Marina has the charter fleet to take you to them. Call 884-3800 or contact any of the captains directly.
Don’t forget: July 9 – 13, 19th Annual “War at the Shore” Sportfishing Competition and the seventh Mid-Atlantic Tuna Tournament is scheduled for July 16-19, South Jersey Marina, 884-2400, 884-1600.
Captain Ray, Tide Runner, Cape May reports a tougher week of fly fishing but he was still able to get some schoolie size stripers, bluefish, weakfish and sea herring. Winds, sea swells and thunderstorm activities made it challenging. Popping flies and popping plugs have been very effective during periods of low light and at night, with evening trips doing better than the morning ones.
Bucktail Willie fishing out of Whale Creek Marina saw the average flounder size increase significantly but reports that the striper bite has been slow with schools of small bluefish roaming around.
Captain Fred at Harbor View reports drum up to 75 pounds at Pin Top and threshers and makos in the ocean. Some sea bass can be had on the reefs and the Sterling II, out of Cape May, had five yellow fins up to 47.5 pounds.
The Miss Chris is bringing in flounder up to 5 pounds on daily trips and night trips are still finding drum up to 70 pounds.
Recent entries in the Cape May County Fishing Tournament:
Michael Laing, 11, Town Bank, flounder, 4 pounds 8 ounces, June 13, Cape May Inlet, on the Fish Box with Captain Michael Laing Sr.
Kim Bulifant, Wildwood, bluefin tuna, 45 pounds, June 28, on the Big Bully II with Captain Greg Bulifant.
NJ DEP Division of Fish and Wildlife Information:
1) Current data collection efforts for recreational fisheries are hindered by sampling only a small portion of the fishing public and from collecting only minimal data on discarded fish. A new voluntary survey will provide data that may support alternative management strategies that increase fishing opportunities for the public.
The survey is located at http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/marinesurvey08.htm. Anglers are encouraged to submit a survey whenever they return from saltwater fishing.
2) Artificial Reef Program–information on 500 prefabricated reef ball units deployed on the Ocean City and the Wildwood reefs is available at njfishandwildlife.com/news/2008/reefballs07.htm .
NOAA’s Fisheries Service is seeking applicants for the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee, the only federal advisory panel charged with advising the Secretary of Commerce on living marine resource issues that are the responsibility of the Department of Commerce. Go to: http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/press_release/2008/News/070108%20MAFAC.pdf or contact Monica Allen at 301-713-2370.
Check out www.SeeMyBigFish.com for more photos and be sure to send your fish stories and pictures to Be My Guest reporter. Send info to cmiller@cmcherald.com.