The Fishing Line: It’s all about the fish

These are the days we have been waiting for and the reports confirm it. Don’t stay away.
First time reporter, Ron Flemming from Cape May Bait and Tackle, says fishing is picking-up and so hopefully is business. They had two nice stripers at 30 and 33 inches and some shorts, caught on clam bait at the Cape jetties.
Guys in kayaks around the concrete ship were catching short stripers on gulp shrimp. They were after fluke, but happy none-the-less with the bass. Ron reports lots of short fluke being caught working the Point beaches using Gulp mullet and shrimp as well as live minnows; only one of 25 is a keeper.
Spike weakies with some keepers to 26 inches have been caught around the jetties, using floating bloodworms and jigging pink Fin-S, mostly in the early morning and at sunset. Kingfish showed up at Higbee jetty caught with bloodworms. Ron’s hoping they hang around.
Snapper blues, 10 to 15 inches have been coming and going, biting on mullet, mackerel, and any small shiny jig. Reports of croakers caught on clam are also coming in.
Check out Ron’s weekly tackle give-aways for the biggest and most fish weighed in at the store.
South Jersey Marina Charter Fleet continues to limit out on bluefish near our reef. Slammer and Top Shelf ran a total of five trips and came back loaded every time.
The water temp is warming and that signals marlin, tuna, wahoo and dolphin. So we now have it all; a great offshore fishery and the ever-popular inshore bluefish action.
The Hooked Up II, Caveman Sportfishing, reports fighting a tuna estimated to be 200 pounds, for six hours before it ran under the boat and was caught off. They were using light leader and couldn’t put a great deal of drag on the fish but the bottom line is, there are some very good size bluefin out there now.
Some Mahi-Mahi have also shown up recently and Captain John caught a few while tuna fishing. He specializes in trolling for bluefin over 150-pounds so if you’re interested give him a call, 425-1970. To date, most tuna have been smaller and caught on jigs or sardines.
With full moon tides, Captain Ray, Tide Runner, had good weakfish and fluke action using for both fly anglers and spin anglers. Small yellow jiggie flies and spro rubber swimming bait were the best producers.
Sterling Harbor reports flounder are moving out of the back bays and are being caught around the inlets. Reef action was slow but flounder are being caught at the Old Grounds and Site 11. There is an excellent bluefin tuna bite at the 19 Fathom Lump and fish are being caught while chunking and butterfly jigging.
Weakies, kingfish, bluefish, flounder, and stripers are all being caught off the Grassy Sound Fishing Pier. Some good sized flounder have been weighed in and crabbing is picking up.
Justin Magill, Wildwood, 8, caught a bluefish on his first fishing trip off the fishing pier and Nicky Simpson and Taz Anthony, Wildwood, caught two keeper flounder using mullet on the incoming tide. Two kings and a blue were also caught off the pier.
The Hertkorn Family, Cherry Hill, fishing the rips caught some nice blues, a 18 1/2 inch weakie and a 19 inch flounder in Turtle Creek using squid & minnow on a cork rig.
Andrew Bassett, Springfield, Pa., 4 years old, on his first fishing trip caught a 19 ½ inch flounder on the fishing pier at low slack tide and Dean and Cameron DePace, Middletown, Del. caught two stripers using mackerel on the pier during incoming tide.
Youngsters and the ladies collected most of the high-hook honors aboard the Duke O’ Fluke pontoon, Somers Point, reports Captain Brook Koeneke. Sean Sylvester, 7, of Philadelphia, reeled in a 2.14-pound fluke from Ship Channel. An hour later, he picked up a 3.4-pound flattie which earned him more than $100 in the pool.
While battling the greenheads in Broad Thorofare, Candy Trace, Wayne, Pa., landed a 2.4-pound fluke and Jessica Cifaldi, Lumberton, had a 2.7-pounder during a drift on the south side of Rainbow Channel.
Duke O’ Fluke regular, Doc Phillips, gave male anglers something to brag about with a 3.1-pound flounder in Broad Thorofare. Akemi Hirose, of New Milford, fishing with her husband and three children, was high hook with a 2.6-pounder. On a later trip, Luke Cherla, 11, Larchmont, NY, collected the boat pool with a 2.2-pound fluke.
Most of the fish were caught with either cut mackerel or squid.
I saw an interesting catch as I walked the beach in North Wildwood recently. Kevin Kelly snagged a sting-ray with a guess-timated 24 inch wing span. His kids, Colleen and young Kevin were really excited. The hook had a good hold of its wing (fin) but Kevin was able to release it into the in-coming tide.
Ocean City’s 33rd Annual Boys and Girls Surf Fishing Tournament is Saturday, Aug. 9, at North End Beach, near the Ocean City-Longport Bridge, 10 a.m.-noon. Register 9 to 10 a.m., parking lot adjacent to the bridge toll booth.
This free tournament is open to anglers, 8 to 16 years of age. Bring your own bait and tackle. Parents may cast lines for younger children. Call Bill 398-5625, or George 398-0534.
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council Meeting, Renaissance Philadelphia Hotel, 500 Stevens Drive, Philadelphia, Aug. 4-7, open to the public, 610-521-5900.
The NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife is offering free 2.5 hour fishing classes at Pequest Trout Hatchery on Aug. 6, 15, 21, 25; 9:30 a.m.-noon, equipment provided. Registration required, 908-637-4125 for more information.
Many great photos are sent in but space available limits how many can go into print. All photos are put on SeeMyBigFish.com. Check it out. Send your fish stories and pictures and Be My Guest reporter to cmiller@cmcherald.com.