Saturday, July 12, 2025

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Summer is in full swing, sun and fun in Cape May County. And the fish are cooperating. Charter and party boats are ready to take you out and many local marinas have rental boats. Check the calendar, too, for two big flounder tournaments this weekend. Only one more week of waiting and the tog season will reopen.
Grassy Sound Marina tells me that flounder are plentiful off the fishing pier and in the back waters, mostly at the top of the tide either direction. King fish and croakers were also caught from the pier on squid, incoming tide and on shedders across the channel. John Dailey, Abington, Pa., caught 6 croakers on shedders and 2 keeper flounder on minnows, incoming tide and Bill Dougherty, Wildwood, caught 6 keeper flounder at marker 345. The Moore Crew, Rio Grande and Chesapeake, Va., caught 7 keepers in Jenkins Channel.
Joe Lengel, Doylestown, Pa. caught a 30 inch striper off a dock on Grassy Sound Channel fishing with clam, incoming tide. Bob & Chazz, Glendora, caught 3 keeper flounder with the largest at 24 inches on Gulp in Grassy Sound, incoming tide.
Fishing off the pier, Tony Naimon, Jim Thorpe, Pa. brought in a 21 inch flounder on spearing while Erick DeLellis, Aston, Pa., and Nick Miller, Brookhaven, Pa., had keeper flounder on mackerel, incoming tide. The Dumont Crew, Middletown, Pa. caught 8 flounder with 1 keeper at 21”, 3 lbs. They were fishing with mackerel on the south side of North Wildwood Bridge.
Reports from Sterling Harbor Marina mention solid flounder fishing in the back bays, Cape May Reef, Reef Site 11 and the Old Grounds. Weakfish action along the jetties has slowed but kingfish and croakers are in the surf. Try Fishbites Bloodworm scent strips. Margaret DiMatteo, Bridgeton, checked in with her first ever flounder caught while drifting a live minnow behind Wildwood on a Hobie Mirage Pro Angler Kayak.
Ted Stabolepszy, 8, won the Strathmere Fishing and Enviromental Club fishing tournament out of Whale Creek Marina. . Ted took the overall prize for largest fish of the day at 4 pounds and had two other fish at 3.1 and 3.2 pounds. His sister Carly won first place in the junior division with a 2.5 pound flounder. Over 35 nice fish weighed in for the tournament.
NEWS: The NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, along with NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife, is inviting the public to attend a Port Meeting, July 23, 6 p.m., Jersey Coast Shark Anglers Club, Brick in Ocean County. The meeting will help saltwater anglers improve marine fisheries by discussing best handling practices when releasing fish and learning about how anglers on other coasts are improving survival of angler released fish. The public will be able to provide their ideas on how to best handle the fish they release. www.njfishandwildlife.com/news/2013/portmeeting.htm on the Division’s website.
CALENDAR: Sterling Harbor Duke of Fluke Tournament, July 13. Entry forms are available in the shop or www.sterlingharbor.com
Grassy Sound Flounder Tournament, July 13, back bay tournament. Register www.grassysoundmarina.com
Send your reports and pictures to cmiller@cmcherald.com. Column and pictures are posted online at www.capemaycountyherald.com. Pictures are coming in bunches and I appreciate them all but sometimes there just isn’t room for all of them in print. Check online and in later columns for those you don’t see. Today’s column had an early deadline due to the holiday weekend, more photos coming.