Another week with some large flounder, a nice striper, an unusual catch in the back water, and the usual catches of trigger fish, croakers, kingfish and crabs, helped to get us through the first full week of September.
The activity level slowed as the youngsters went back to school, but that only makes for more anticipation as the weekend approaches, when we all will want to get back on the water. On to the reports.
Susie from the Royal Flush leads off this week. First, they are back to a daily two-trip schedule, but that hasn’t slowed their production. They are still fishing out front and catching flounder, trigger fish, snapper blues, weakfish, kingfish, croakers, and porgies, while experiencing plenty of action on both trips.
Notable catches of flounder went to Ed Duffy (Philadelphia) with a 2-pounder, Mike Reilly (Hammonton) with a 3-pounder, and Dr. Hank Lewis (Gainesville, Ga.) with 2.75 and 3-pound set of keepers.
Two big triggerfish went to Leanne Santiago (Pittsburgh, Pa.) at 3.75 pounds and Walter Lehneis (Allamuchy) with a 4-pounder. A puffer fish went to Steve Goetter from Bensalem, Pa.
Capt. Chuck, of the Sea Star III, checks in with reports of fluke, bluefish and a nice jack. He was a little concerned about the Labor Day Weekend, due to the northeast wind that ushered in our comfortable holiday weather.
Amongst the fluke was a 9.15-pound “giant” caught by angler Steve Staab. Other fluke went to Randy Minix (2.5 pounds), Frank Servocky (3.1 pounds), Dave Patterson (3.75 pounds) and George Harley with a 4-pounder. Also, Bob Hackett got a 2-pound blue, while Mark Meany got a jack.
From Grassy Sound Marina, Jim and Debbie report a slower week for flounder in the back, while from the Wildwood Reef eight keepers, including a 26-incher, were reported by Jim McDermott (Stone Harbor) along with “lots of croakers and some small blues.”
On the pier Bill Nolde (Cape May) caught a 19.5-inch flounder, while Mike Kiska (Wildwood Crest) caught a 29-inch striper.
From the rental boats, a fine crabbing excursion was recorded by the Ed Hanway Crew (Avalon) who were out in Turtle Creek. That same stretch of water also gave up the unusual catch of the week, a grouper, plus some croakers and sea bass.
Matt, at Jim’s Bait and Tackle, mentions that fluke fishing is pretty much like it’s been with the notable exception of bigger fish.
Carrie Stengel (Stowe, Vt.) checked in with a 7.89-pound fluke from the Wildwood Reef, Carl Berkall (Philadelphia) got a 7.35-pound fluke and Jesse Shea (Cape May) caught a 9.24-pounder, with the last two caught at the Cape May Reef. A lot of shorts are on the reefs, in addition to the Old Grounds.
A family fishing trip for Matt, including his wife Dot, daughter Jaime, and granddaughter Alexys, found them about one and a half miles outside of Cape May Inlet.
They caught quite a mixed bag that included croakers, kingfish, lesser amberjack, some throwback sea bass, porgies, small fluke, weakfish, and three brown sharks.
In the surf, redfish are in the Wildwood Crest area taking fresh cut mullet, or Gulp New Penny Shrimp on a jig head. As the mullet start to move into the surf, the bite should pick up, and stripers should start to show up with the moving mullet.
Offshore there were football yellowfins in the Washington early in the week, with some double-digit catches reported.
Dolphin, in good numbers, were also there. Billfish were in the Lindenkohl on Friday.
The crew on the “Team Player” got their second slam in two seasons by getting a blue, a white, and a sailfish. Bigeye were reported in the Wilmington, and Matt mentioned a few guys planning on going out Saturday to give it a try.
The Starlight Fleet had another productive week with keeper flounder, trigger fish, kingfish, and porgies. They were running out front from the inlet to the point, and out to some local structure to make their catches.
I received a report recently from a reader about their accomplishments in the South Jersey Shark Tournament that occurred in June.
John Foley Jr., with the help of friends Eric and Dave, landed a 205-pound mako. It was good for second place, and brought in $165,000 after counting all the calcuttas. They were fishing aboard the “Thumbs Up.”
