Author: kensdock

Fishermen from Cape MayCounty fishing in the areas of the old grounds and other offshore structure are returning with some impressive flounder. Offshore flounder fishing offers the best shot at large flounder and a bag limit catch. The Delaware Bay is also producing keeper flounder. Back Bay flounder fishing takes much more effort to find keeper size flounder this time of the year but if you are patient, you will find a few keepers. Last trip out in theBack BayI put three keepers to 22” in the cooler.  The water temperature was 64 degrees in the Back Bay. The air temperature was 95 on the water and 105 degrees in town. During a heat wave in this area the wind blows from the S.W.. South west wind causes upwelling, lowering the water temperature. If the water temperature drops more than 5 degrees in a 24 hour period the fish will not feed much, if at all. It takes a few days for them to adjust to the change in water temperature. Upwelling may slow the bite but it is good for the fish.

Northern Cape May County Back Bay areas are still holding flounder. We had nine keepers to 4.5 pounds Saturday. Dr. Gary Linton and Ed Teise continued their reputation for winning fishing tournaments Saturday, with a first place finish during the Grassy Sound Marina flounder tournament. They had a combined weight of 10.85lb {three flounder}. They edged out two close competitors’ by less than an oz.  They ended the day with nine keeper flounder, all from the back bay areas.  They caught a 6.5 lb flounder last year to win the Grassy Sound Marina flounder tournament. The Duke of fluke flounder tournament last year was the same day as the grassy tournament. If Dr. Gary L. and Ed T. would have chosen to enter the Duke of Fluke tournament last year they would have won it, with the 6.5 lb flounder they caught that day. Look for these guys in the winners circle at the Duke of fluke tournament this weekend. Over two hundred anglers fished the Grassy Sound Marina Flounder tournament Saturday July9,2011.

                     Dr.Gary and Ed with their 2010 winning flounder 6.5lb

 Flounder are biting in the back bay, flounder have also gathered at the artificial reefs. However the big news is the offshore tuna bite, it is red hot. We were offshore yesterday we caught 11 yellowfin tuna to 71 pounds, a large white marlin and two nice dolphin. We caught these fish in a relatively short time and we left them biting. Now is the time to burn the fuel or jump on a Cape May County charter boat.  

                                                                                     What a sight!

                                                                                              Excitement!

                                                                                                                                               Tuna!!!!!

Beautiful day on the water today, blue sky, light wind, no bugs and flounder in the cooler. I had Dad out fishing for a couple of hours in the back waters. The flounder bite was fair, but most of the fish fell short of the 18” size limit. Dad did catch two keeper flounder out of about 20 throw backs. Fishing pressure was heave in the Avalon area. The water temperature was 71 degrees, water clarity was a 7.

The flounder fishing continues to be good for those that have put in the time to locate the fish. I had three keepers last trip and two the trip before. The water temperature was 72 degrees, water clarity as a 7.

Today’s fishing trip include a weakfish, John caught the weakie on a bucktail. We briefly tried an old weakfish spot just to see if any weakfish at all had moved in, I was surprised to see the weakfish as the stock is extremely low.  The weakfish was returned to the water alive. We also put three keeper flounder in the box to 22”.  The water temperature was as high as 78 degrees, the water claity was an 8. We fished three hours today.

The secret this year to catching keeper flounder consistently is locating small pods of fish. This year for whatever reason, the flounder did not show up in any numbers in the back bays of Cape MayCounty, NJ. If you are  here on vacation or limited on time, it would be worth hiring a fishing guide. Make sure you see pictures of keeper flounder from this year before you part with your money. Fishing guides and Charter fishing operations are far from equal. Striper fishing on the Back Bay flats during the spring and summers is a lot of fun, again worth hiring a guide. One of the top guides for stripers on light tackle and the fly is Cape May Ray http://www.flyfishingcapemay.com/ The water temperature was 72.5, water clarity was a 7. I caught three Keeper flounder and lost a giant at the net. CJ a long time summer Avalon resident was the only other boat in the area, he had two keepers to 23”. I fished for one hour.

After all the weather reports about the heat today I was ambivalent about flounder fishing today, however it turned out not to be that hot here on the water. I headed across the backbay for a one hour flounder fishing trip. On the way back I had three keepers in the box. The water temperature was 69 degrees, water clarity was a 7.

John Kelleher and I were out for two hours today flounder fishing. A 15 minute run north of my area was necessary to find keeper flounder today. We caught four keepers and numerous shorts. The water temperature was 68 degrees. The water clarity was a 5 on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the clearest.

The flounder bite is improving, but continues to be very slow for this time of the year. Today I caught one keeper flounder 23”, far from a good catch but encouraging considering I spent only 30 minutes fishing; couple that fact with the keepers that were caught by fishermen in the area and the shorts.  The water temperature was 65-67 degrees, water clarity was poor. Surf fishing for striped bass and black drum from the beach continues to be the best bet in town. I was on the beach yesterday I saw stripers {11}to 30.5 pounds and two black drum 20- 25 pounds