Sodium Big Fish Classic 2026 We will scout extensively. Push ourselves out of the comfort zone. Then form a game plan for tournament day. The Tournament fishing area is 2 hours south of Cape May via a Spirit Airlines flight. This definitely is an added challenge. Wind direction, water temperature, water clarity, tides, and fishing…
The back bay stripers were putting Ty McDermott to the test on this beautiful October day. The migratory stripers usually show up in good numbers in the sounds of Cape May co., NJ, for about 2 weeks in the fall. But it was tough to find them this year. The speckled sea trout follow as…
Spring weakfishing can be spectacular. Pictured to the right is a 34.50″ 11.70-pound tide-runner weakfish that I caught during a year when conditions lined up. Actually, it was the largest weakfish caught in the world in decades. The sea trout (AKA weakfish) hit my bucktail just in time. I had told myself that I was…
The summer flounder hit my bucktail, then made a drag screaming run. The battle continued until one of the biggest back bay summer flounder that I have caught was in the boat. He later pulled the scale down to 6.95lbs. The fishing was good when conditions allowed. However, my overall numbers were down in the…
The ASMFC is considering a proposal to create 2 summer flounder rules sets for New Jersey. This is an excellent idea. The region/zone approach will make it possible to fine tune the summer flounder size and bag limits. The marine habitat of the Delaware Bay for example, attracts and holds a smaller average size summer…
The conditions for red drum and speckled trout have not lined up this season, yet. However, the stripers are always fun to stalk. Today they were up on the marsh during the flood tide. This is really a lot of fun, as the stripers will hold in the grass. The above striper held tight as…
The bluefish have made an impressive appearance this season in Cape May County, NJ. Today schools of blues in the 3-5 pound range covered acres of water. It looked like fall with the mullet being pushed and the turns working above. However, it did not feel like it, it was hot. The water temperature topped…
I untied the lines and head directly to the spot I was fishing yesterday, but today it was dead. The conditions were different today, so I was not surprised. I ran at full throttle to a new location, based on the conditions. Sure enough, the striped bass were in the area. It was a…
Finding the time to target summer weakfish, between the best flounder bite in years and striped bass fishing, is the hard part for me. When I have targeted weakfish, I have been successful most of the time. The tip of the day is the summer weakfish are here for sure. The summer weakfish are…
Today felt so much like fall, I decided to forgo flounder fishing to hunt summer stripers. It was refreshing to find them with very little effort. I was sloppy in my approach to the spots , but I still hooked up at most locations. In one area they were feeding on peanut bunker and they…