What I see from my window as I write,blue water,blue sky, green meadow grass, an osprey, red tailed hawk, red wing black bird, snowy egrets and a small boat making way across the sound. A beautiful summers day! Most sharp back bay fishermen continue to catch keeper flounder. The average is three keepers a tide, these fishermen fish either the last two hours of the incoming tide or the first two hours of the out going tide. Wally Bockman loaded his boat with keeper flounder 30 keepers! They were fishing out of Fortiscue. After a catch like that I am sure Wally is done fishing in the back bay for the year. Wally is one of Cape May Counties’ top fisherman/ Hunter. Wally owns one of the last working family farms in this area. Captain CJ called to let me know he is gearing up for tuna fishing. Cj does not tournament fish yet ever time I fish offshore with him we tie into a tournament winning size fish! One year we hooked up to a giant blue marlin during the Mid Atlantic tournament,that we were not fishing in. Knowing what that marlin was worth if we were in the tournament haunts me! As I watched the marlin swim away I could see the fleet from the tournament working a temperature brake in the horizon.
Tag: Cape May county flounder fishing
7-1-09 Kensdock fishing report 8:30 pm
I have a few reports from back bay fishermen. Dr. Gary caught his second weakfish of the season and one keeper flounder before being chased off the water by a thunderstorm. Ed T. had one keeper flounder before the storm. I headed out about 5:00 pm I had two keeper flounder in 2 hours of fishing along with many through backs. Note: If you fish or swim around herferd inlet keep your awareness up,it can be dangerous. keep a close eye on your kids. Do not rely on the life guards.Do not take rental boats or rent one anywhere near the inlet. Some very avid local fisherman have drowned in herferd inlet. Many rental boats have been swamped. Many swimmers have drowned. Many boaters have drowned.
6-27-09 Kensdock fishing report 7:00pm
Beautiful 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. 
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.
609-884-6440
Tiderun1@aol.com
6-24-09 Kensdock fishing report
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.
6-17-09 11:00 pm Kensdock fishing report
As we traveled across the bay the NE wind was throwing salt water on Jonathan and Wayne. I promised them that at the end of the ride we would be fishing in an area that historically holds large fluke. The window of the bite at this spot is very short maybe twenty minutes. There was no boat traffic today, exactly what we needed for this spot. We fished for 30 minutes. We boated 3 keepers the largest was 6.5 pounds. The water temperature was 68.5 degrees today.
Ken's Dock 