Tag: Avalon fishing

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7-8-09 Kensdock fishing report 8:30pm

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Today the water temperature was 79.4 degrees at my dock. I have not been out fishing this week due to family obligations. I will be scouting the next few day in preparation for grassy sound flounder tournament. The Delaware bay has been producing many limit catches of flounder, mostly from the Fortescue area. The ocean reefs and the old grounds are holding some big fluke. I have noticed the guys using the bucktail rigs are consistently catching their  limit of flounder. The crew of  bayhoud returned with 60 keeper flounder from the Delaware bay yesterday. A nice 9.5 pound 32″ flounder was caught by Med in the cold spring inlet AKA Cape May. I am anxiously waiting for the bluefin to set up on the local lumps.flounder 072
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7-5-09 Kensdock fishing report { Staying Active}

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George Spaulding caught a 5.5 flounder today. He is an avid angler with unparalleled local fishing knowledge. George’s dad manned a coast guard tower in Stone Harbor long before all the million dollar beach homes were built. From the tower he could see the red drum, stripers and trout enter Hereford inlet in the fall and the black drum in the spring. I admire George and his wife  for the passion they have retained for fishing and the outdoors. I have seen many of my friends lose the passion, whether it was for fishing, hunting, surfing, travel, golf, or mountain climbing. 
 
Around 4:30 am on a very cold December morning in 1977, six hunters from Cape May county had just arrived at Stokes State forest in Sussex County, New Jersey. Bob,Larry,Tony,Nick,Greg, and myself had traveled all night in a small pick up to make it in time for first light. Greg was slow getting ready so he traveled in the bed of the pick up, a very cold ride to say the least. It was 21 degrees and snowing! We parked the truck, grabbed our gear and at a low whisper, planned to meet back at the truck at 11 am.  We  spread out on the ridge, all of us jockeying for the best position. At about 9:00 I heard a shot close by. At 10:30 everybody was back at the truck shivering and all asking the same question, “Who shot?” .   We heard a rustling of the leaves and there was silence as everybody stopped talking. Moments later an old guy with a muzzle loader rifle appears from the woods. Muzzle loaders were a rare sight in 1977 during shot gun season. The old guy asked “Can you boys help me drag my deer up the mountain?”  We dragged the the six point buck up the mountain and were excited about doing it!  As we closed the tail gate on the old dairy farm truck, a conversation ensued that was burned into my memory. He said, “My name is Bill  andI have been hunting here all my life. I am 88 years old. I am the last one from my hunting crew to make it to deer camp. I asked Bill why his friends stopped hunting and he replied “They lost the passion one by one. Half of them lost it by the time they were 40. If you do not make time for what you love to do,  you will lose it! When you get to my age if you do not have something you love to do, you wind up drooling on yourself in a nursing home.”  As he closed the door to his pick up he hollered, “Keep the passion boys, keep the passion!”  Obviously, like everybody I have family and job responsibilities, but so far in my life I have made time for what I love. I can tell you I still do not sleep the night before an offshore tuna trip or the first day of a November bow hunt. On that cold December morning in 1977, all six of us were avid fishermen and hunters. In 2009, only Larry and myself continue to do so. 
Do yourself a favor, if you fish, get off the couch and grab your fishing gear and go fishing! If you surf, turn off the computer and hit the beach! Whatever you had a passion for in the past, make the time for it today!
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7-2-09 Kensdock fishing report 10:00pm

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window boxes 005window boxes 006We left the dock about 4:30 pm. I noticed right a way that the water temperature dropped to 67.1 degrees. The water was very clean. It was hard to tell it was July 2 by the boat traffic and fishing pressure in the area. I have never seen it so quite on the water in July. We spent a few hours fishing the back bay and caught five keeper flounder. Dr. Gary was at it again this morning and caught two keeper flounder one of them weighted 6.5 pounds. Grass sound Marina is holding a back bay flounder tournament July 11,2009. The tournament is set up for small boats but  the fun and competition  is on a grand scale.Sterling harbor is also holding a flounder tournament on July 11. In this tournament any size boat can partcipate.
 
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6-30-09 Kensdock report 6:45 pm

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At this time the US coast Guard is trying to resuscitate a 28 year old black female in a yellow bathing suit. Earlier they were doing the same to a five year old. The two were swimming in the Herferd inlet area.

Today it was blowing to hard in the afternoon for me to flounder fish. A few reports from those that fished the back bay early this morning. ED T caught 4 keepers to 4.1 pound, Dr. Gary had two keepers, CJ P. caught one keeper it weighted 4 pounds. Wally Bachman fished yesterday he had over 50 throw backs and one keeper. George and crew on the Cutty Caught a 125 pound Mako today. He said that was his last shark trip for the season. Tuna time!  The Ocean flounder bite continues to be red hot.

 
 
 
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6-29-09 kensdock fishing report 9:00 pm

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I had time for a quick boat ride today. I stopped at a flounder spot in the back bay for a minute and  I `caught one keeper flounder. The water temperature has 74.5. The water was super clean. I am planning on spending more time fishing tomorrow. I should have more of a report.
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6-27-09 Kensdock fishing report 7:00pm

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flounder 085Beautiful day on the water no bugs, not to hot and very light boat traffic in the area I was fishing. I did encounter a conservation officer patrolling the area in a boat  for the first time. I have been fishing and duck hunting the area my entire life. We have all seen the guy that keeps all the flounder he catches regardless of size and bag limit. That person was not fishing in this area today. There was just a few boats and everybody was law abiding.I have a couple of reports, Ed T caught two keeper flounder Dr.Gary had two also, they fished from 5:30 am to 9:30 am. I fished from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm I caught 3 keeper flounder.The time of year when limits of flounder can be caught in the back bay in a few hours is now past.If you are looking for your limit of keeper flounder it is now time to head for the old grounds or any offshore structure. Myself, when I head offshore it is for big game.I will continue to poke around the back bay  for flounder all season. The water temperature was 70 degrees on the top of the tide. The water was very clean.
Cape May Ray is concerned about the lack of bait fish and oyster crackers in Cape May co..  Ray, I have not seen any bait fish in my area. The minnows are usually here by March. This is the first year in a life time, that the minnows are completely absent from my area. The oyster crackers aka Tot fish  are being sold to the Asian market. This has been going on for a few years. The poaching is the problem. If you have the fish they have the cash! This is one reason we need a NJ salt water license! NO license no money.No money no studies and not enough law enforcement to make a difference. How much pressure can minnows and crabs take before the population drops out. Anybody can buy a commercial bait license.WE have minnow pots in every creek in the State. We have crab pots every so many feet in the back bay in the spring. Is this the problem? Ray thinks that heavy malathion spraying for mosquitoes is killing our back bays from the bottom up. NJ is one of the few States that it is legal to use this pestiside. I sure hope he is wrong. I sure enjoy life without mosquitoes.  We will never know what  the problem  is without the money from a NJ salt water license!! Please do not misconstrue, NJ conservation officers do an outstanding job !, the problem is they are way under staffed. flounder 086
I just got a report of keeper stripers floating on top of the water in the back bay of Stone Harbor.One was dead and the other was alive, it was brown on one side and very lethargic. It had just enough energy to stay under water.  I hope this is not related to the bait problem.  Note:
Cape May Ray is a fishing guide that is passionate about fishing and the marine envirorment. He also catches fish. 

 

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6-26-09 Kensdock fishing report 7:00pm

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flounder 081I left my dock at 11:30 am today to flounder fish for a  couple of hours. The bite was slow but I did manage to catch four keeper flounder, Ed T and Harold caught 4 keepers, Cj had 5 keepers yesterday and one today. Wally Bachman had seven keepers yesterday. I was glad I was not fishing a tournament today as I dropped my biggest flounder over board as I was measuring it.

The hooked up II was south of the Poorman’s yesterday and found the yellowfin bite red hot. They had over 50 tuna hit their spread.

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6-25-09 Kensdock fishing report

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 morning
 
 
The yellowfin tuna bite turned on yesterday the 51′ pez machine sportfisher  boated over 40 yellowfin and dolphin to ten pounds. They were fishing the lindinkohl. They were the only boat in the area. This is the kind of situation tuna fishermen wait for!
When I woke up this morning I was tripping over myself as I was in a rush to hit my flounder spots. The spots I had time to fish did not hold any flounder at all! The water in the area I was fishing was way to fresh, due to all the rain. I ran to a spot in the inlet that I was sure would at lest hold a few keepers. The wind and surf made it impossible to fish this spot. Tomorrow I will try the incoming tide closer to the inlet.The water tempreature was 70 degrees.
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6-24-09 Kensdock fishing report

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The flounder bite has been slow behind Avalon and Stone Harbor the last couple of days. I have not been out in a couple of days. I am sure there is still some nice keeper flounder to be caught in the back bay.At last report Dr. Gary had 2 keepers on the morning tide and 2 on the evening tide. Everyone else had only short flounder. If you have been fishing the ocean structure and not catching big flounder you need to reassess your rigs,bait and the time of the tide you are fishing.I can tell you that the 7 pound class  flounder bite is on in this area. Reef 11 has been producing.If you know of any unmarked structure just off the beach that would be a good bet for filing the cooler with big fluke. The water temperature at my dock is 70 degrees and it is over cast and raining.
 
After a poor showing of mako sharks at the scales of the South jersey Shark tournament and other major tournaments along the east coast there has been much discussion of increasing the size limit on mako sharks. Many Captains are calling on a complete closure for a couple of years. I think the idea of one Mako shark per boat recreational and commercial per year  is the best option.
 
6:00 pm update:

I just talked to a few fishermen that flounder fished today. The ocean structure and the back bay produced keeper flounder today with the ocean holding the bigger fish. Everybody I spoke with had at lest 2 keepers today.
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6-22-09 Kensdock fishing report

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I was standing on my dock today about 11:00 AM,  I decided to take boat ride to see how the water looked. It was dirty but not as bad as yesterday and a lot cleaner than I expected.I had 10 minutes to fish. I caught two keeper flounder. A good sign considering the water condition. The water temperature was 67.3.