August 4, 2014 fish report

August 4, 2014 fish report

August is a very special time at the New Jersey shore. After the last 2 months the waters reach their peak temperatures, and we start seeing some interesting aquatic life in our waters. Last week while walking the docks one of our dock hands spotted a very interesting fish swimming in the marina. It was about 2 inches and was blue, silver, and black with extremely long trailers originating at the end of its fins. We caught the fish and placed it in an aquarium so we could photograph it. We finally identified the fish as a Juvenile African Pompano. Definitely not a fish you would expect to see in Cape May unless it was in an aquarium. The warm waters moving up the coast in late summer bring many of these tropical species into our area. Some of the fish that can show up this time of year are Sheepshead, Northern Sennet, Angelfish, Lookdowns and many more. Keep your eyes out while you are walking the docks or sod banks you never know what might be around.

These warm waters also bring more varieties to our coastal waters. Tuna, Mahi-mahi, and Wahoo all move closer to shore, often being caught as close as 5-7 miles from the beach.  This a great time to mix some trolling into your next flounder trip.

In regards to our Baby Pompano, we did release him back into the wild after we identified him. Sadly, 5 minutes after he swam away a sea gull grabbed him. Rest in peace little Pompano.

Cape May

Off The Hook Tackle, Chuck Hinchcliffe, “We had our 1^st Annual Cape May Flounder Tournament this weekend. We would like to thank all that fished and our sponsors as well.  We had 23 boats participating, with a total payout over $10,000! “

The results from the First Annual Cape May Flounder Tournament

1st Place - Reel Life III - Capt. Joe Musso   19.13 lbs. (3 fish stringer)

2nd Place - Red Contender - Capt. Mike Niedoba 18.42 lbs. (3 fish stringer)

3rd Place - Team Overkill - Capt. Jonny Thomsen 17.37 lbs. (3 fish stringer)

Daily Day 1 - 6.32 lbs. - Tuna Chic

Daily Day 2 - 9.35 - Tuna Chic

Daily Day 3 - 4.91 - Team Overkill

 Big Fish Calcutta - 9.35 lbs. - Tuna Chic

Flounder Pounder Calcutta - 9.35 lbs. - Tuna Chic

Small Boat Calcutta (21' & under) - 5.19lbs - Stars and Stripers

Bluefish Calcutta - 0.96lbs - Team Overkill

1st Place Team -Reel Life III

Single Heaviest Fist- Team Tuna Chic

Matt Slobodjian, Jim’s Bait and Tackle,” Hey guys, the inshore troll bite was excellent this week. Good sized Bonita 4-5lbers are being caught at the 5 Fathom Bank and South shoal. Getting a Clark spoon down deep has produced the best. There are small blues and False Albacore mixed in with these fish. The East Lump gave up a few surprises this week. Lindsey Clarkson had a large White Marlin hooked up for about 10 minutes before it jumped off and had another on in the spread. He also had 3 nice Dolphin on the troll around the Lump. The Wahoo are starting to show up on the Lumps just inside the Elephant Trunk. We are getting a lot of bite off reports in the area and Rick Mc Keon of Cape May boated a nice Wahoo and some Dolphin there. There are still Yellowfin and Bluefin being trolled up on these lumps also.

I spoke to several guys who fished the Old Grounds this week some had decent catches others not but the general consensus was there are a lot of short fish. Delaware Reef site #10 was very good this week but the bite wasn't all day it turns on and off throughout the day. The Cape May and Wildwood reefs are also holding a few fish on the structure there are a lot of shorts there as well.

There are still Bigeye Tuna being caught sporadically in the Wilmington Canyon along with some nice Dolphin around the pots. The best Yellowfin action we heard of this week was in the Spencer and Lindenkohl Canyons later in the week. A few boats got covered up with white Marlin in the Baltimore this week but the fish vanished as fast as they came on. It sounds like the southern boats are getting into the Whites pretty good our Canyons should start heating up very soon.

The surf is still mostly Croakers and small Fluke around the Point jetties. There are a lot of Rough Tailed Stingrays around and they are big they put up a good fight on heavier surf gear. The surf guys are also catching some big Sand Tigers at the point at night and Sandbars on the Cape May beach. Both are protected and should be released if caught. The Kingfish bit is still best in Hereford inlet on Bloodworms.”

Wildwood

Cathy Algard, Sterling Harbor Bait and Tackle, “Flounder fishing this past week was excellent with fish being caught in the back bays, around the inlets and at the Reefs. The Wildwood Reef produced many nice fluke with keepers up to 5 pounds. The Cape May Reef has started to produce more keeper fish this past week, and Reef Site 11 and the Old Grounds continue with excellent flounder fishing. There are lots of throwback flounder mixed in with the keepers, making for plenty of action. John Niewinski of Mullica Hill, NJ checked in with a 3 pound 15 ounce flounder caught on a live minnow in the ICW behind Wildwood. Nino Aversa of Washington Township, NJ fished with a buddy near the Grassy Sound area behind North Wildwood and boated eight keeper flounder. Eric Calvitti of Warrington, PA landed a 13 pound sheepshead while fishing behind Stone Harbor. Gerald Vessels of Wildwood, NJ had a great day on the water fishing with seven year old daughter Allyson and friend Billy on his boat “Mc K & A III”. The crew landed several nice mahi-mahis and had a nice catch of flounder. Seven year old Allyson Vessels landed her first ever mahi-mahi that tipped the scales at 23 pounds! The fish was caught while trolling the 5 Fathom Bank areas. Billy Boyle, Jr., of Philadelphia, PA weighed in a 5 pound 14 ounce Flounder from the Cape May Reef while using a Spro Bucktail and Gulp! The Cape May Rips are providing a lot of action for fisherman looking for snapper bluefish, croakers and kingfish. The offshore hotspot this week was the Wilmington Canyon with bigeye tuna, yellowfin tuna, mahi-mahi and white marlin. The lumps inside the canyons are still producing nice catches of bluefin tuna while trolling, chunking and jigging. There are plenty of schoolie stripers being caught in the back bays around the bridges and sod banks. Anglers have been catching them on soft plastics, top water lures and while chunking sardines. A few kingfish are being landed from the surf and the bait of choice has been bloodworms. Crabby Jack gives the crabbing 4 Claws this week and says there are some nice size crabs right now, just not in large quantities”

Debbie Mooers, Grassy Sound Marina. “A mixed bag of fish including croakers, sheepshead in greater numbers, king fish off the pier and stripers.  The kids are having fun with the snapper blues, double headers and one right after the other.  Still plenty of nice size flounder coming in and crabbing continues to be strong. A 26”,  6 lb. 5 oz. doormat for the Roberts Brothers, Logan Twp., NJ.  They fished with pearl white Gulp in Turtle Creek, slack tide. 10 yr old Matthew Gagliardi, CMCH, came in with a very nice mahi mahi caught at 2fb buoy. Bill Kelly & Dylan Mooers, Grassy Sound caught 2 nice keepers to 20” at the Wildwood Reef on minnows and squid. Anthony Corrado, Elmer, NJ caught a nice 22”, 3 ½ lb. flounder on minnows near the N. Wildwood bridge, incoming tide. Carol & Jim Boyle, National Park, caught about 30 fluke with 2 nice keepers to 21” on minnows near marker 431, outgoing tide.

PIER

7 & 11 yr olds Cole & Chris Quesenberry, Horsham, Pa. caught a 19 ½ fluke on clam, incoming tide.

Suzanne Braun, Newtown, Pa. caught a 20” flounder off the pier on minnows, incoming tide.

Avalon

Tammy Carbohn, Avalon Hodge Podge Bait and Tackle. “More kingfish and fluke in the surf this week as well as keeper fluke coming out of the back bay. The largest weighed in this week was 4.69# & 24” caught by Chuck Umbra from the Flying Hawaiian. This fish was caught using pink gulp on bucktail.

Margate

Robin Scott, Ray Scott’s Dock. “Itʼs called the second run of the summer. While offshore action heats up, a blast of cold

water to the bay changes the character of the bite reverting it to June conditions.

Anglers spoiled by the steady action of small flounder find themselves catching fewer numbers but larger fish. Unaccustomed to waiting the fish out, anglers called the dock asking “is anybody catching anything?” The answer came quickly. Mike Maslanich of Linwood hauled in a 6.5 and and 4.5 pound flounder. Jon McNichol of Paoli, Pa. caught a 4.5 pounder, both winning $100. Gift certificates in the dock tournament. Jon has achieved a record winning five of the gift certificates so far this summer. He still has a solid six weeks of flounder season remaining. Frank Boninu of Philadelphia and Al Thatcher of Quarreyville, Pa. had three big keepers, one at 3.5 pounds, one at 3 pounds and another fat two pounder. The whispering in the store indicated pink as the preferred bait color during these overcast conditions. The Donato family of Princeton Junction, N.J. trumped last weekʼs crabbing champs with their organized attack on the Margate Bayʼs blue claw population. They kept only the largest specimens; some over six inches across, and returned home with two five gallon buckets of the tasty critters. Most familiesʼ children return from camp shortly and school starts in four weeks. Now is the time to hunker down and hit the bay!”