The Fishing Line: Say Good-Bye to June

Time is a-fleeting. Only six months until Christmas. Don’t let the fishing season get away from you.
At the Royal Flush, fishing is picking up. They are catching flounder, sea bass, weakies, kingies and a few snapper blues. Notable catches include Barb Ross of Abington, Pa., 2.5 pound sea bass; Mark Knowles, Cherry Hill, 2 pound flounder and Cate Marsh from Philadelphia, 1.5 pound weakie.
Flounder, weakies, stripers and blues are in the report from Grassy Sound Marina. The outgoing tide was most productive for flounder on live bait. A nice striper near the sod bank and weakfish in the Inlet and the jetty were caught. Bud from Just Sports caught 3 nice keeper fluke in Turtle Creek on minnows and a bucktail, outgoing tide and Janet McCullough, Southampton, Pa. caught a 19 inch weakie on spearing in Hereford Inlet, outgoing tide. Eric Nikolaus, Quarryville, Pa. caught 2 weakies to 5 pounds near the Cape May jetty on pink Zoom before sunrise. Register now for the 8th Annual Flounder Tournament on June 28 ( www.grassysoundmarina.com for details & registration form).
At Sterling Harbor Marina the fishing season is in full swing with many choices for anglers from inshore to offshore. Back bay boat and kayak anglers are catching flounder up to 5 pounds with an occasional trophy weakfish. There are still plenty of schoolie stripers in the back bays hitting on top water plugs. Surf reports were quieter but there were a few kingfish caught.
Good catches of kingfish, flounder and weakfish have been reported from the ferry lanes. Offshore, at Reef Site 11 and the Old Grounds fluke fishing has been excellent with spearing or mackerel strips being the bait of choice. Seabass action is good on the wrecks along the 20 Fathom line.
Shark fishing remains excellent with many mako sharks, brown sharks, threshers and blue sharks being caught. In the canyons, both yellowfin and bluefin tuna action remains good with mahi-mahi in the mix. Sterling Harbor’s 21st Annual Duke of Fluke Tournament is scheduled for Saturday, July 12. Call the shop at 609-729-1425 for information.
For Captain Ray it was another week of pretty good fly fishing for his charter customers. Using Chartreuse/white clousers and Chartreuse/yellow white deceiver Ray found schoolies stripers and decent size blues fishing the incoming tides along area sod banks in the back bay. There were not a lot of fish around, and you had to work those areas that held some baitfish and then move on and search out other areas.
The Atlantic Star had another great tile trip. Wayne Edwards, Cherry Hill, took the pool for his a 35 golden tile along with a mix of 12 bluelines and goldens. Allen Fenimore, Vincent Town, also mixed it up, catching a total of 15 tile. Kirby Hoffman, Shawcrest, also caught a mix of 20, ranging to 15 pounds.
The Starlight, going out on four-hour trips has been bringing home weakfish, kingfish and blues. Pools were won by Amy Fisher, Reading, for a 3 pound sea bass; Guy Thompson, Philadelphia, 3 pound bluefish; Joe Whitaker, Sea Isle City, 1.5 pound kingfish.
Captain Dan Schafer, Insomniac Guides, figured the water’s been so nice he’d look for sheepshead. He started getting his crab taken, hit a small tog, but the big guys were robbing him left and right. A small adjustment in timing and he was hooked into a nice 3 minute fight. “Net in one hand rod in the other, after what seemed like an eternity my first sheepshead of the year was on the deck. After a few quick pics I released the fish watching it bolt off no worse for wear.”
Stray Cat Charters was fishing the Cigar for sharks with the John Duncan group. They also had a canyon run from 2 am until 4 pm to the Wilmington for lots of action. Tuna and Mahi were biting, too.
NEWS: NJ-DEP has instituted a new program for summer flounder at Island Beach State Park. Anglers may retain 2 fish greater than or equal to 16 inches in total length (minimum size is 18 inch elsewhere) at the park until Sept. 27. The Shore Based Enhanced Fishing Opportunity Program is for “shore-based” anglers only, fishing from a pier, jetty, beach, bank, or marsh. These flounder may not be removed from IBSP, filleted, consumed or otherwise mutilated until the fish is affixed with a tag at the check station. Visit http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/news/2014/ibspflounder.htm
SPECIAL THANKS to all the wonderful folks at Beach n Boat, Suasion Communications, and Wildwoods Convention Center for treating us to a Media Day celebrating the great fishing opportunities in the Wildwoods. Special shout-out to Captain Jim on Fins&Grins, Wildwood. Beach n Boat Tournament is statewide and runs until the end of November (BeachnBoat.com)
The Fishing Line runs year round so keep sending your reports and pictures to cmiller@cmcherald.com. Column and pictures (many which did not make it into the print edition) are posted online at www.capemaycountyherald.com and on Facebook. Check out epektales.com for info on Miller’s book, “Counting the Fish in the Sea: the Story of the NEAMAP Trawls.”