Happy July 4th, everyone! Declare your independence and go fishing. Others have and they’ve been catching flounder, weakfish, kingfish, tuna and even blue claw crabs. The local boats have been busy and I’ll fill you in on what their patrons have been catching. Let’s get started.
Matt down at Jim’s Bait and Tackle mentions “good fluke reports” from Delaware Reef Site 11 as well as the Wildwood Reef. Also, more flounder are starting to show up in the Cape May backwaters. Fluke and weakfish are being caught around the Cape May Point jetties. The fluke are hitting all day, but if you’re going to target the weakfish, try the early morning or right before dark.
Checking the canyons finds bluefin, yellowfin and bigeyes being caught “on the troll.” Some white and blue marlin “are starting to show up, but not in good numbers yet.” “Some bluefin” were “hanging around the 20 Fathom Line.” They’re described as “spotty” as they are “following schools of sand eels.”
Matt reports that sheepshead have started to show up, and if you hit the surf around Cape May or get out to the rips, you may be able to pick up some kingfish as they have started to show up, too.
Captain Chuck and the anglers on the Sea Star III had a good week with flounder, plus sea bass in the early part of the week. They had another three-fluke limit, this one caught by Bobby Scrivani, who also won a daily pool. His 3.25-pound fluke was on a different day and not part of his three-fish limit. He had a very good week.
Other pools went to Kevin Nelson with two on back-to-back days consisting of 2.75 and 3 pounders, Frank Servocky with a 2.5 pounder and Mike Ostroski with a 3.2 pounder.
The Sea Star III is sailing six-hour trips daily, leaving the dock at 9 a.m. Get there early and grab your favorite spot.
The Atlantis at the Miss Chris Marina was out producing catches on Father’s Day, sea bass right up till the end of the season, flounder and a nice weakfish for patron Nina Carr.
Captain Ray from Tide Runner Charters is chasing stripers, weakfish and even a few flounder for his fly and light-tackle fares.
The stripers are “schoolie” size and coming from the back bays and beachfront areas. Captain Ray has been working hard for his charters and trying a number of different places. Both the fly and light-tackle anglers are “doing equally well.” Surface poppers and popping flies are providing exciting “visual surface attacks” for both fishing styles. Stripers are providing the best action, but flounder have been an interesting by-catch. As the fly’s sink to the bottom of the shallow areas, they are being hit by flounder resting on the bottom. They have been “shorts” but are providing an exciting change of pace.
Libation Charters had a good stretch recently as they had one trip that tallied six yellowfin tuna on 10 bites and went one for two on white marlins. They also land some mahi mahi that day. They took a day off due to the weather then returned with a vengeance. When they got out the next day, they caught seven yellowfin and two mahi mahi.
The Royal Flush is now running their summer schedule of three daily trips. In addition to their two, four-hour day trips, you can now include an evening trip, too. The evening outing leaves the dock at 7 p.m. and returns at 11 p.m. You will be able to enjoy evening fishing till Labor Day. When you head out, you will be fishing the ocean and looking for flounder, snapper bluefish, kingfish and weakfish.
Nice catches of weakfish this week went to Mary Canfield and Joe Cioe, while flounder were caught by Don Olsen and Robert Jamison.
Grassy Sound Marina held their 12th Annual Flounder Tournament one day later than scheduled due to Saturday’s weather.
Matt Campbell had the heaviest flounder at 6 pounds, 15 ounces. An all-ladies crew led by Veronica Barbiero took second with a 5.5 pounder, and third went to Bill Dougherty with a 4.1-pound fish.
Other divisions and the listed winners were: Joe Muravsky with the three heaviest totaling 12.2 pounds; Children’s division won by Ellie Struble with a 3 pounder; the Daisy Mae Award to Mike Ciarlante; Rich Kita winning the Kayak Division; and the Pier Division and Bill Kinsley Award going to Tony Kiska, with Sam Walton in second place and Bill Nolde in third place.
Cathy at Sterling Harbor Bait and Tackle reported good fishing prior to the bad weather that permeated the early part of the weekend.
Fluke fishing at the reefs “turned on” with the best area being Reef Site 11. The Wildwood and Cape May Reefs also provided nice fish. Jim Sullivan of Court House stopped by the store with a limit of fluke caught at the Wildwood Reef. The largest fish was 4 pounds, 14 ounces. These reefs also provided sea bass before the season closed.
The back bays are still producing nice catches of flounder, “although the keeper ratio is not what it was at the beginning of the season.” Small stripers were “all over the back bay.” They are favoring top-water plugs.
Yellowfin tuna were being caught at the Baltimore and Wilmington Canyons.
The beachfront areas are producing an “occasional” striper while “there is some good shark fishing in the evenings.”
Crabby Jack gives the crabbing scene four claws for the week and says “there are plenty of large blue claws” being caught in the back waters.
Don’t forget the 25th Annual Duke of Fluke Tournament on July 14. Stop in the store or check their website for an entry form.
Sailor’s Delight Back Bay Fishing continues to bring in nice keeper flounder from the back waters behind Wildwood. They were able to fit in three trips on Saturday. That third trip included their new offering of evening fishing. Keeper flounder have been caught on every trip, plus on Monday an angler added a 20-inch weakfish to their impressive recent catch total. More flounder and “a good flurry of keeper crabs” were also caught during Charlie’s 6th birthday party fishing trip. Happy Birthday, Charlie!
Things continue to happen at Boulevard Bait and Tackle. Flounder rule the roost, but a triggerfish made an appearance also. Some early evening stripers were also caught.
Johnny Ortliebs “crew” caught 30-plus flounder on a recent trip to the backwaters. They had “five keepers for the table.” Another group consisting of Caden, Kacey and Kendall also went to the back water. They returned with word of plenty of short flounder, two keepers and a “bonus” triggerfish. The final group had Ted, Randy and Cameron. Ted topped everyone with a 26-inch, 6.5-pound “flattie.” Cameron got on the board with an 18.5-inch fish. On the way in, they stopped long enough to toss some top-water poppers. They “raised” eight stripers and were able to catch four.
The Miss Avalon was out after the weather and had a “great day” of fishing. Flounder, kingfish, weakfish and triggerfish also came over the rail. Sea bass that went back, plus sharks, skates and sea robins helped to keep the patrons cranking on their reels. Pictures showing happy anglers abounded. A mid-week trip produced the same results with plenty of life being found during the trip.
The Avalon Lady is still pulling up plenty of flounder from the backwaters as was proven during a recent outing. They had over 30 fish during a recent outing that included “two nice keepers.” The fish are still in the back, so jump on in and catch a few.
Avalon Hodge Podge had some nice catches of flounder recently. Sharon Messick stopped by to weigh in a 21-inch fluke that weighed 3.23 pounds. Not far behind were Mike and Jeff who fished Patty’s Hole. Each claimed a keeper in the 20-inch range.
Special thanks to readers who submitted information about their recent outings. Elaine sent in a picture and report of the nice flounder and big sea bass caught by Jason Wrzesinski. Jason and his mom limited out while recently fishing aboard the Porgy IV. Also, a thank you goes out to Jimmy Lees who grabbed his dad’s kayak and went flounder fishing. He caught six fluke, with two being keepers. They measured 19.5 and 18.25 inches. The hot baits varied between a plain minnow or a minnow on a bucktail.
The date of the 27th Annual MidAtlantic is set for Aug. 19-24. Participants may sail from the Canyon Club Resort Marina in Cape May or from the Sunset Marina in Ocean City, Md. The MidAtlantic has a long tradition among the elite offshore tournaments on the East Coast. For further information, contact Tournament Director Aaron Hoffman at (609) 884-0177, or visit www.themidatlantic.com for a complete rundown of the tournament, plus an entry form.
Get out, get fishing and let me know how you did. I’ll see you out and about.
Submit your fishing news and photos to mrobbins@cmcherald.com.
