The Fishing Line: Labor Day Blues

Labor Day Weekend. The slow spring made the summer seem to fly away even faster. Don’t fret, fall fishing is always a pleasure.
Cape Queen Sportsfishing booked Joe Wilson with family and friends to go flounder fishing and he is sure happy he did. Joe brought up a nice fluke weighing in 10 pounds, 12 ounces. Tom Ladik from Advantage Engineers in Mt. Laurel, and group went for an 8 hour wreck trip. Lots of action pulling in over 75 throwback sea bass; they came back with 5 keepers, 4 ling. After not getting many keepers on the wreck, Captain Andy and Captain Mike took the group trolling and came back with 50 bluefish. One afternoon, Dan Tantisunthorn from Bankok, Thailand, and family booked a 4 hour trip and had fun reeling in bluefish. They kept about 28 for dinner and threw back the rest.
Our friends at Grassy Sound Marina say the stripers are getting larger and more aggressive with a 40 incher caught near the marina at slack tide. Bait fish are plentiful, the flounder bite is still strong, and weakfish are being caught but in lesser numbers. Over 60 folks participated in the 16th Annual Big Jim Adair Memorial Fishing Tournament on the Fishing Pier. Big Jim was the patriarch of the Port Richmond Adair family. He was an avid fishermen who shared his passion with his children. They come together to celebrate every year with a great day of fishing. Winners: First Place: Jack Savage; second place: Joe Tarczewski; third place: John Smith, with a 20 inch, 19 inch, and 18 inch respectively.
At Sterling Harbor Marina the hottest action has been fluke fishing. Fluking at all the reefs has been excellent especially at Reef Site 11 and the Cape May Reef. Frank Hennigan and crew of Glenmore, Pa., limited out with flounder up to 7 pounds at Reef Site 11. There is still good fluke action in the back bays. There are still a lot of throwbacks to pick through to get the keepers, but the action is steady. The back bay striper fishing was red hot with sardines being the bait of choice. Some stripers are also being caught throwing top water lures such as Zara Spooks and the like along the sod banks.
Offshore tuna action improved with bigeye tuna and yellowfin being caught from the Lindenkohl down to the Baltimore Canyon, with the occasional mahi-mahi and some white and blue marlin in the mix. Tim McGregor of Wildwood, got his largest bigeye tuna to date a 225 pounder from the Lindenkohl Canyon.
ALERT: Three hearings to gather public comment on the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s proposed management options for striped bass have been scheduled in New Jersey. NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife strongly encourages the public to attend these meetings in order to assist managers in the management of this precious resource. Striped bass anglers who fish the Delaware River and are unable to make any of the NJ hearings should attend the hearing hosted by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.
Locally we might see 25-50 percent reduction in Striped Bass regulations next year. There will be a meeting in Galloway Library on Sept 4 at 7pm
The August Council Meeting Report is available on the Council’s website at http://www.mafmc.org/newsfeed/2014/august-council-meeting-report. Briefing materials, presentations, and webinar recordings are available on the meeting page.
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council voted to suspend the Research Set-Aside (RSA) program in 2015 to allow for a thorough review. The Council’s decision followed an extensive discussion of the program’s costs, benefits, and enforcement concerns, and consideration of public comments. (details at www.mafmc.org)
The Fishing Line runs year round so keep sending your reports and pictures to cmiller@cmcherald.com. Column and pictures (many which do not make it into the print edition due to space limitations) are posted online at www.capemaycountyherald.com and on Facebook. Check out www.epektales.com for info on Miller’s book, “Counting the Fish in the Sea: the Story of the NEAMAP Trawls.”