Not as good as last night but still pretty good. Left the dock at 5:00 am. with father and son fly charter. As we passed by the inlet heading to the back the water was 58 degrees. Found a spot on a back flat that was 72 degrees and started fishing. Dad was more interested in seeing his son fish and sat back and watched his son and barely wet a line all night.

First fish was a nice blue that took a chartreuse deceiver and bit it off before we could net it. Little while later he got landed this one on a popping fly.

Decided to use the popping fly the rest of the night as the surface action was what he really wanted. The wind was stronger than the night before and the new moon tides where higher. The wind made it more difficult to get a good angle where I really wanted to fish so I had to go to plan B.

We managed another bass with the tide covering the sod banks but saw no signs of fish or bait to clue us in on a particular area that might be hot. I knew when the tide started out all the creeks and run offs would hold some fish.

The wait paid off. We tried a couple of spots, but found stripers feeding at a sod bank drain off. Young guy missed more fish than he caught, but the action was fast and exciting. He was finding it difficult to strip set his hook up instead of lifting the rod and was trying to set the hook when he saw the fish hit instead of when feeling the weight. I managed get him a few stripers with his biggest 24 1/2 inches.

It was a fun night but a bit cold for a July evening.

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Tide Runner Fly and Light Tackle Charters
Cape May, New Jersey
609 884 6440
Tiderun1@aol.com
Past President 2005 & 2006 South Jersey Coastal Fly Anglers