Lots going on this week, so I’ll get right to it.
A quick reminder that the 25th Annual MidAtlantic Tournament is rapidly approaching. August 21 to the 26 is the week you’ll want to save. For information, contact Tournament Director Aaron Hoffman at (609) 884-0177 or visit www.themidatlantic.com where a complete tournament brochure with rules, Calcutta payouts and a schedule is available.
Captain Mike of the Miss Chris reports good “mixed bag fishing” from their trips to the Cape May Point area. King fish, weak fish, small bluefish and a few fluke are providing the action. A particular fluke of note was caught by Ashley Amber of West Cape May who boated a “beauty” that weighed 6 pounds, 2 ounces.
Tide Runner Charters and Captain Ray sends word that fishing is “still pretty good” for his fly and spin anglers even with the “super warm weather.” His strategy to get fish aboard has been to fish the prime tides in the morning and late afternoon, and then after dark. Weakfish in the 15-19 inch range, as well as small stripers, are still being caught. In the back and in the ocean, they have come across some 30 inch blues that have bitten off the plugs and flies that were offered to them. One young angler had an exciting experience when a huge sting ray, with “about a 5 foot wing span,” spooled the light spinning rod of all of its 12 pound test line.
Captain Ray is covering a lot of ground because of “the total lack of any decent size bait fish anywhere.” No one area is holding a lot of fish as nothing is there to keep them there. When some bunker were found off the beach, there was nothing underneath chasing it. The bunker just moved “along undisturbed.”
Captain Fred at Utsch’s Marina is next. The boats that have been at the Old Grounds have been returning with flounder on every trip. The Cape May Reef is giving up a flounder here and there, but recently the production has slowed.
Bluefin and Yellow fin have been caught at Massey’s. Captain Bob on the Full Ahead caught 12, but kept on four. An unnamed slip-holder recently got a 68.6 pound Bluefin.
Inshore trolling is producing small bluefish, while the 5 Fathom area gave up a “few small” dolphin for those who tried.
Crabbers should know that the back bay area is the place to be for crabs.
Matt at Jim’s Bait and Tackle opens with word that flounder is picking up at the Cape May Reef and Delaware Reef Site 11. A lot of small fish are present. The Old Grounds have given up an occasional nice fish, but it is still spotty there. Recent word has some fluke in the lower bay area. A few have come from Crow Shoal, and around the #16 Buoy near the channel.
Inshore, the troll is slow for tuna, but there have been a number of false albacore, Bonita and dolphin around the lumps.
The Bluefin tuna bite continues to be good at Massey’s Canyon. Chunking and jigging work best. Some Yellowfin are mixed in also. While trolling from her boat “Heavy Cat,” Gina Milner hooked up with a 62.2 pound wahoo.
A few Bigeye Tuna are being caught in the Wilmington Canyon, plus a lot of “Mahi action” is occurring around the pots.
The beaches are good for kingfish, with good word coming from the Cape May beaches and also from Wildwood Crest. Catch and release sharking is very good now at Cape May Point. Some huge stingrays are also being caught.
Sterling Harbor Bait and Tackle has Cathy who mentions that the flounder fishing is back in swing since the 4th of July. The back bays, reefs and Old Grounds have fish, but you need to get through a lot of shorts to find the keepers. A 27 inch, 8 pound, 3 ounce fluke recently was weighed in. It was taken from the Cape May Reef by Sean McIlhenney and Mark Lattanzio who were on Sean’s boat the “KelseA.” Some nice sea bass can be had to compliment the fluke.
Offshore, jigging and chunking with Butterfish or Sardines was working at Massey’s Canyon and the 19 Fathom Lump. The “Kensington Princess” with Mike Reed and crew were 2 for 5 on Bluefin, boating a 51 incher, and also had one Yellowfin. Some Mahi-mahi were also caught while chunking. The trolling bite is difficult due to the boat traffic.
The beaches, while “still quiet,” have kingfish, some snapper blues and some triggerfish along the jetties.
Crabbing is a 3.5 this week. Many shedders were in the traps this week. Crabbing should improve “as we get closer to the full moon.”
The Royal Flush continues to catch fluke, sea bass, snapper blues, weakfish, kingfish and porgies. The action is heating up as the ocean temperature increases.
Brennan King, Jim Abboud and Steve Kulisek all had nice size king fish, Ian Gallagher and Janice Brown got bluefish, and Carol Zielinski, Luke Smentkowski and Mark Harkman recorded nice keeper weakfish. A couple of 2.5 pound flounder were caught, with one each, by Brenda Wright and Margie Larmer. All the action is occurring out front in the ocean.
The Sea Star III led by Captain Chuck reports slow fishing at the reefs, but when they went to the bay they were rewarded with fluke, weakfish, some kingfish and some small blues. One pool winner this week was a 2 pound sea bass for Pierre Daigle, while the rest were fluke. Harry Theurer (4 pounds), Stefan Mueller (3 pounds), Gary Agness (4.75 pounds), Frank Servocky (2.85 pounds), George Versak (4 pounds) and Kathy Mulvehill (2.5 pounds) all made the grade.
Stick’em Charters checks in with news of a recent outing. They caught eight Blue Fin over 50 inches, and landed six of those. They released five, and returned to port with a 95 pound, 52 incher. They were 40 miles offshore. Action, keeping one and returning the others for another day does make for a “stellar day on the sea.”
Grassy Sound Marina delivers word of “lots” of shorts amongst their keepers. Anthony Ciarlante had a 24 inch, 4.8 pound flounder, Ashley Chilcote had three keepers to 23 inches and Matthew Miller had two keepers to 22 inches. A 21 incher went to Jim Tait and an 18.5 inch fish were caught from the pier. A rental boat allowed Mike Currie to get his 21 incher, while 80 keeper blue claw crabs were caught from the rental boat of the Gerstley crew.
Boulevard Bait and Tackle had a good week filled with variety. A big blue, stripers, with a nice keeper among them, triggerfish, kingfish and flounder all came across the scales.
First Fish Adventures of Sea Isle had a week full of flounder, kingfish and a big cow-nose ray that all kept their patrons busy.
The Miss Avalon was catching flounder, sea bass, weakfish and triggerfish, and even had time for nature and party cruises. They definitely are staying busy and keeping everyone happy.
The Sailor’s Delight in Wildwood is also bringing in some nice fluke, weakfish and sea bass, plus some sea robins, sharks and skates just for added fun. And if that’s not enough, they are loading up on the blue claws as an extra feature for their fares. Don’t forget their Friday evening trips. Call (609) 827-8309 for information.
A final couple of entries come from Laura McLaughlin who caught a 24 inch, 5 pound fluke that was weighed at Smuggler’s Cove, and from Steve Kiszely and his granddaughter, Ashley Kerrigan, who caught a 28 inch, 18 pound bluefish in the Back Bay behind Sea Isle.
