The Fishing Line Sept. 13

That’s a wrap. Put it in the books. The 2017 summer flounder season is now officially over. Despite the windy weather, anglers got out and fish were caught. The theme of hope I heard mentioned was that the mullet would start their fall run early and attract weakfish, bluefish and stripers. This would help the boats, stores and marinas that rely on a good September of fishing. A meeting will occur Thursday, Sept. 7 in Manahawkin that will focus on adjusting the next scheduled opening of sea bass season, now set for Oct. 22. I’ll have more on the outcome in a following issue. Let’s get to the actual fishing.        
Cameron at Boulevard Bait and Tackle leads off. He starts by saying that even though “it was a short flounder season, it was a good one.” Up until the end, there were flounder crossing the scales. John and John Jr. stopped in with two flounder they caught from the Stone Harbor Pier. Neither were heavyweights, but still good fish just the same. In conjunction with the closing flounder season, fall hours will commence, but “not by choice of course.” He’s hoping the cooler weather lately will lead to an early striper season, at which time the hours will expand again. For now, the shop hours will be as follows: Closed Tuesday; open Sunday, Monday and Wednesday from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.; and open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Let’s hope for an early striper run, as it will benefit all anglers and shop owners.     
The Miss Avalon and her younger sister, the Avalon Lady, concluded the fluke season as we all did. They gave it a good fight till the end, finishing with fluke, sea bass, bluefish and some triggerfish. The idea of running into some weakfish, bluefish or stripers from the pontoon boat in the back, or out front of Avalon, sounds very appealing. Also, don’t forget the crabbing trips scheduled for the Avalon Lady. Call (609) 967-7455 for information. They crab and fish together, so be prepared for a full day of possibilities.    
Tammie at Avalon Hodge Podge starts with a feeling a lot of us share. “What a season it has been. If it wasn’t the wind it was the rain.” Both have been getting us recently. Still, there was successful fishing being accomplished.
Ryan Ferdinand weighed in a 20-inch, 2.92-pound weakfish he caught in the back bay on clam. A sister and brother team, Hannah and Shane Loughran, stopped in to weigh their stripers. Hannah won with an 18.29-pound, 32 incher. Shane’s went 10.09 pounds and 30 inches. A good sibling fishing rivalry is fun to see and hits close to home. My kids love to compete against each other and talk trash whenever we get to fish together, so seeing others share that passion is great.
Elsewhere, Tammie says the reefs are still producing when the boats can get out. Keeper sea bass (until the season closed) plus nice fluke were still being caught. The drawback, as most anglers mentioned to Tammie, was the “heavy weights” needed to stay on the bottom.             
The Royal Flush checks in and reports on its latest activity. The boat is now sailing two times daily at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Both trips are for four hours. Anglers are hitting the ocean and returning with flounder, triggerfish, snapper bluefish, kingfish and weakfish.
Notable catches recently went to John Dietrich with a triggerfish and Nora Stone with a sea bass. Nice flounder went to Bud Duffy and Bette Dructor, while “twin flatties” went to Jennifer Matthews.  
The Sailor’s Delight Back Bay Fishing pontoon boat is running fishing and crabbing trips. Call (609) 827-8309 for availability. Anglers will also be targeting stripers, bluefish, weakfish and croakers. Give them a call and get out on the water. Some trips will combine both crabbing and fishing, covering both options.
Grassy Sound Marina closed the flounder season strong as three nice catches were logged on Tuesday. Bill Roverano caught a 23-inch, four-pound, nine-ounce “beauty” near the marina, John Dailey caught a 27-inch, seven-pound “doormat” from the Wildwood Reef on a white bucktail tipped with some “top secret bait,” mind you, and Jenkins Sound gave up a 26-inch, seven-pound “doormat” to John Kustner. Gulp on the outgoing tide did the trick. That trio of catches was a nice way to put a “wrap” on the season.
Captain Chuck from the Sea Star III also starts with word of uncooperative weather. Anglers still got out most of the week. Two bluefish won pools this week as Rocko Marts and Dennis Leopoldi won with one pounders, while two flounders with accompanying weights also made winners of Chuck DeSantis (2.70 pounds) and Jay Pale (3.25 pounds).
As the fluke season ends, the Sea Star III will target triggerfish, blackfish, porgies, bluefish, weakfish and croakers.
The Miss Chris, dock neighbor of the Sea Star III, had a late season pool won by an angler named Bud. He took home the winnings with a 19-inch flounder. It’s always nice to take home a late season winner.
Matt at Jim’s Bait and Tackle starts as others with word of the bad holiday weekend weather. Monday forecast promises a little better weather. The unfavorable weather made fluke fishing tough, but prior to its arrival, “fluke fishing was good.” Sadly, the season will close too early as September would be a great addition to the fluke fishing season. Matt mentions that croakers, kingfish and bluefish will be available to the inshore fisherman.
Matt is anticipating the mullet run, which should attract bigger bluefish, weakfish and stripers. The “next big cold front” should push them out of the backwaters. He also mentioned that during that time, you may even pick up some throwback flounder.
Offshore, the fishing is “heating up” for those targeting white marlin. The Wilmington Canyon produced double-digits for some boats. There is still not much happening with tuna “anywhere close.” Dolphin are also tough to find. Those looking for wahoo should know they are “starting to show up along the 40 Fathom Line and in the canyons.”
Finally, Matt suggests for those looking for stripers to grab some bait, set up in the back near a creek mouth and chum the area on an outgoing tide. Having done this in the past, I can vouch that it is a good way to land some stripers and generate some action. Give it a shot.
Off The Hook Bait and Tackle checked in with word of a “first” for 6-year-old Brayden Lubaczewski. He was out on a family outing and hooked up with his first “false albacore.” Congratulations, Brayden.
The Fishin’ Fever ended its fluke run successfully, but “scratched” and “picked” while doing it. It doesn’t matter how it was attained, just that you did it. Good job, Captain Tom, as your effort led to fluke of seven-plus pounds going in the box.
Well, take care, flounder, till next year when we meet again. It’s now time for some kingfish, bluefish, maybe weakfish and possibly some red drum fish from the beach while we wait for sea bass, stripers and tog to kick into full gear. 
Submit your fishing news and photos to mrobbins@cmcherald.com.