A summer flounder fishermen’s wintertime daydream, that describes today. A blue sky, no humidity, no bugs, light wind and a good flounder bite . I fished for 2 hours and 20 minutes today. I caught 4 keeper flounder the biggest was 24″. The water temperature was 67 degrees. The conditions are excellent for back bay flounder fishing from Corson’s inlet down to Cape May Harbor.
Saturday’s four keepers. The largest fell .2 oz short of first place in the Beach and Boat Wildwood fishing tournament.
Wayne shows one of Saturday’s weakfish
The best area based on wind direction and resent reports was far from the spots I fished today. I did not have the time to fish the hot/correct location. However, after spending an hour and a half on the water, three keepers were flopping in the cooler. The fishing pressure was none existent . The water temperature was 65 degrees. Water clarity was good – fair. The special ingredient during this fishing trip was patience.
First weakfish of the morning
The early rise was tough but quickly forgotten. The sun peeked from the crystal blue atlantic. The outgoing tide formed an eddy in front of me. Moments later I felt the distinct thump of a weakfish hit. Great way to start the day! Flounder fishing on tap this afternoon. Update to follow.
Captain Gary with his 6.5 pound summer flounder
Captain Gary remains zeroed in on the back bay flounder, his heaviest this morning was 6.5 pounds. A six pound flounder usually takes first place in the Grassy sound marina’s back bay flounder tournament.
I caught two 20″ keeper back bay flounder today. I fished for 40 minutes. The water temperature at the top of the tide was 63 degrees, 5 -10 SW wind and the water clarity was excellent.
The weakfish bite has slowed due to the spawn. The weakfish could be seen swimming around the structure but they were not interested in any lures. The stripers picked up the slack. Wayne caught a quality short striper on a smoke colored zoom. His first fish of his annual Jersey fishing vacation.
Wayne with a striper he caught while targeting weakfish.
The key today was the right bait (artificial) , and the presentation. I found the flounder in very shallow water. I reached the bag limit in less than one hour. Captain Gary on the double touch also limited out today fishing in deeper back bay water. Today was an excellent day for flounder fishing for sure. The water temperature was 61 degrees on the top of the tide. The wind was SSW. The fishing pressure was very light .
Weakfish, during yesterday evening’s weakfish trip I targeted a new spot with friend CJ . CJ caught and released a nice weakfish. I had one spit the hook. We fished for about 45 minutes.
CJ as he released his weakfish.
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I made my first flounder trip today. The water was 55 – 59 degrees with a 5-10 NNE wind. Two hours of fishing produced 4 keeper flounder and 7 shorts. Planning on fishing for weakfish during both sides of the low tide later today. I am on a quest to catch weakfish from different spots around the Cape and peninsula of Cape May County, NJ . Some spots are holding good numbers of quality weakfish, due to baitfish and water clarity, other historically good areas are missing the conditions . Knowing the indicators of productive saltwater can save time and bypass frustration.
Summer flounder season 2014 is underway.
Slaughter beach on the Delaware Side of the bay is still producing black drum. That spot is a 12 mile run from the Cape May canal. The good news for fishermen docked in NJ is the black drum have set up on our side of the bay. Bob Lasko and crew boated nine black drum on a recent trip, some topped out at over 60 pounds. Jason and crew won the middle twp. drum fish tournament with a 89 pounder. If you want to catch a black drum now is the time.
The summer flounder opener was good. However, here in Cape May County most of the flounder caught were under the 18″ size limit. Gary had three nice size keepers. Reeves and crew boated 7 keepers . Debbie from the Grassy Sound marina reportedly weighed in a nine pounder. I have been busy catching spring weakfish. I will make my first flounder trip this week and I will post the results. The water temperature in the back bay today was 62 degrees on the top of the tide.
There was at least one nice tide runner weakfish caught today in a back bay area of Cape May County. A few nice summer flounder were caught and released in grassy sound today also. There was also some weakfish caught by perch fishermen in their fyke nets in Atlantic County today. There was one confirmed 24″ striper caught from the beach yesterday.
Spring weakfish On The Water TV show:
Commercial fishermen are not an enemy of sport fishermen. Bad regulations are the enemy. Sustainable yield fish stocks ensure the future of both commercial and sport fishing. Commercial fishermen supported a moratorium on weakfish, when some recreational fishing groups would not do so.
Today, Atlantic sea scallop vessel owners voluntarily contribute $10 million a year from their harvest to pay for ongoing scientific research on scallop populations.
They also earned a sustainable yield certification recently:
“This is an American fisheries success story,” said Attorney John Whiteside, who represents the ASA and led the certification effort for the industry group. “The certification is further validation for the efforts of an industry which worked together to progress from the brink of oblivion to prosperity.”
Dr. Kevin Stokesbury, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Fisheries Oceanography at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) who served as the ASA’s lead consultant through the three and one-half year review process said “The industry deserves this. It’s a well-managed fishery. It has come back to sustainable levels. The sort of cooperation offered by the scallop industry doesn’t come along every day.”
Their road to recovery included closed seasons and financial sacrifice. Sport fishermen should bring the same tenacity to the fish management table. Here in New Jersey it is free to saltwater fish. However, we do not have a reliable funding source for marine fisheries management. As the scallop fishery has proven , NJ saltwater fishermen would be much better served by funding marine fisheries management with their own dime.
Spring Weakfish 2014
The first weakfish of the spring has been caught in Cape May co. NJ. They have also been caught just south of Cape May in the Delaware canal. If you are interested in catching weakfish check out the May issue of On The Water magazine: http://www.onthewater.com/issues/
Ken's Dock 