The Fishing Line: Keep on Fishing

First week of September proved to be a great one for anglers. Now if the weather will cooperate, we’ll have a terrific September on the water. Remember the regulations: No tautog in September and flounder season ends Sept. 28.
Captain Dan Schafer, Insomniac Guide Services, got out with Kevin and worked the current finding the flatties, getting them biting pretty consistently. They maneuvered around with the trolling motor and edged a solid 5 pounder right into to the net. Kevin ended up with 3 more nice ones before they wrapped it up for the morning.
Cape Queen Sportfishing reports another busy stretch with little bluefish providing a good catch for clients. Jim Cisneros with Mike Rosenhouse and Sean Curry and their kids caught about 70 of those blues, keeping only 25 and letting the rest go. The Carl Yerger went out with sons Tyler and Jordan and brother Ron and got 15 sea bass up and a 23 inch fluke. Despite some nasty weather, Charles Malson and friends hit the bay and limited out with weakfish, and had fun catching what seemed like 100 croakers, but none keeper size. The group from GWP Enterprises, Franklinville, got 28
keeper sea bass, a 3 pounder caught by Gary, plus a keeper flounder and a bunch of cocktail blues to round out the day.
Sterling Harbor reports that Reef Site 11 still has flounder and quite a few nice ones were caught 1-2 miles outside Cape May Inlet. Weakfish were around in great numbers. Bob Fritz reported excellent weak fishing in the Bug Light area of the Delaware Bay. The limit is only one fish. Tsunami Pro Ball Jigs tipped with Gulp! were producing well. R.T. Dunne checked in with a 4 pound 9 ounce flounder caught on squid at the Wildwood Reef and a 2 pound 9 ounce flattie for Rob Luzzi.
The back bays are holding flounder, weakfish, small bluefish, and the occasional striper. Cathy suggests you try around the lights at night for nice weakfish and striped bass. Mirr-o-Lures are working well for the stripers and weakies. Kingfish and small snapper blues are still off the beach. Use Fishbites and Aqua-Clear Kingfish rigs.
Offshore things are starting to heat up with plenty of white marlin, tuna, dolphin and wahoo reported. Joe Gillen and crew of the Y-Knot out of Wildwood, had a 48 pound wahoo while trolling around the 30 Fathom Line. Frank Scirrotto of Cherry Hill, a 40 inch Mahi-Mahi while trolling at the East Lump.
Grassy Sound Marina is seeing porgies, croakers, kingfish, spot and sea bass caught on Fishbites and Sabiki rigs. Reports include nice sized weak fish in the back bay. Nick Hertkorn, Cherry Hill caught 3 sea bass to 14 inches, an 18 inch trigger, 18 ½ inch flounder and a nice bluefish fishing the Wildwood reef with minnows and mackerel. Alex Bales, Toms River, caught a nice kingfish off the fishing pier on squid during slack tide.
Johnny Michael, Court House, and John Brescia, N. Wildwood had a great day at Cape May Inlet bringing in nice bluefish and sea bass, a 24 inch smooth puffer fish, an keeper flounder and an amber jack.
Braden and Mark Zebley, Perkasie, Pa. are having fun with brown sharks on the beach in Cape May. They are fishing at night with mackerel. The largest shark measured 5.5 feet.
Brynnie B fished the surf in Strathmere Beach and we managed 3 nice kingfish. They caught were plenty of spot, some were quite big and pretty tasty too. On another trip, Captain fished TI Reef with Andy Majka. They drifted over a variety of structure and caught a ton of small sea bass and 3 nice keeper flounder to 23 inches. They also saw a lot of porgies mixed in with the sea bass.
Stray Cat Charters are still strong, the water is clear and all kinds of fish are just 10 miles out: Dolphin, Mahi, and bonito, false albicore and Spanish mackerel, cobia and needle fish.
CALENDAR: NJ Wild Outdoor Expo, Sept. 15-16, Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area, Jackson Township, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, rain or shine. Try fishing, kayaking, hiking, shooting sports, rock climbing, camping skills, geocaching, wildlife watching and orienteering. Demonstrations of sporting and tracking dogs, turkey calling, crafts and more await. Admission and parking are free. Most activities are free.
http://www.wildoutdoorexpo.com/
Ocean City Surf Fishing Tournament, Sept. 15, call Mike Hayes, 856-303-0906
Send reports and pictures to cmiller@cmcherald.com.