The Fishing Line: They’re all here

What’s your fishing pleasure? Cape May County has it all: Fluke, sea bass, drum, blues, stripers, blue fin tuna and sharks. There’s something for every fisher, keep the fish, or catch and release.
Schmedley Charters, South Jersey Marina, brought in a 49-inch, 72-pound blue fin trolling out at the 19 fathom lump. Angler Joe O’Donnell from Seaview, was able to reel in the big one.
There have been some nice fluke caught in the bay with a wide range of keepers. Some seabass have been caught at the old grounds.
They’re booking trips for tuna, shark, fluke; inshore and offshore trips, www.biggamejp.com
Sterling Harbor reports drum fishing good near Tussey Slough and the Pintop areas.
Patty Lamplugh caught her first ever drumfish near Tussey Slough on her boat “Pattycakes 2” out of Wildwood.
The North Wildwood surf is still producing nice striped bass mainly on fresh clam bait and Cape May Reef remains good for sea bass.
Flounder are starting to show. Frank Gregorio of Medford, reported a good catch of flounder on his “Frankie Fish” while drifting at the Old Grounds.
Back Bay fluking remains good using minnows, Gulp!, mackerel and squid strips. Schoolie stripers are patrolling the back bays and can be caught using clam bait.
Crabby Jack reports that the back bays are loaded with large blue claw crabs.
Captain Ray, Tide Runner, Cape May, says that striped bass and bluefish are providing good fly-fishing action, with early morning fishing around the inlet and beach front working best. He had several keeper bass along with the smaller schoolies, with one striper that was too large to fit in the net and was lost trying to lip gaff it at the boat side.
Again it was large Chart/white/olive clouser flies that both the stripers and blues were taking. All the blues are pretty nice ranging from 16 to 22 inches.
Ray reports that while fishing along the outside of the jetty rocks and netting a striper, he had a very large thresher shark (the size that wins shark tournaments) come out of nowhere and grab a hooked striper.
The shark came up so fast that when it turned to go back down Ray got whacked on the arm by the tail, getting knocked down in the boat. He got back up just in time to grab the fly rod that was still connected to the striper in the shark’s mouth. He had it on for a short time before it bit off the line. (Where’s that picture, Ray?)
Flounder have been plentiful at Grassy Sound during outgoing tide on the fishing pier. Short stripers and some nice blues have also been caught off the pier. Minnows, Gulp!, mackerel and clams are all catching flounder.
Chuck Harris, S. Philly, fishing on the pier caught one 21” flounder on mackerel and clam and 3 blues to 18” using minnows and mackerel all during outgoing tide.
Mike Johnston, Rio Grande, caught three keeper flounder on minnows, outgoing tide near marker 485 behind N. Wildwood and the Mayo clan from Wilmington, Del. caught a 20-inch flounder off the fishing pier using minnows during outgoing tide.
Daniel Evans, 12, N. Wildwood, caught a 22-inch flounder using minnows near the marina during incoming tide.
NOTE: Saturday, June 26, 7:30-8:45 p.m., cruise beautiful Barnegat Bay with the American Littoral Society on Paradise Cruise’s “Flipper” pontoon boat. Navigate the salt marshes with expert naturalists. Enjoy a picturesque sunset while sipping wine and noshing on snacks. Embarking from Barnegat Light on Long Beach Island, $25 includes narrated tour, wine and cheese, 732-291-0055 or e-mail pat@littoralsociety.org
Send your fish stories and photos to cmiller@cmcherald.com. All photos submitted appear online at SeeMyBigFish.com.