The Fishing Line: ForTUNAte Fishing


Brian Lafferty of Colorado Springs, CO proudly displaying his 45-pound drumfish caught aboard the Royal Flush. Brian has returned to duty in Afghanistan, pray for his safe return.

Kendell Mc Cabe, 6, Wayne, Pa., had a good catch, but not a keeper. Her brother T.J. is still hoping.

Tyler String, 9, Mucho Clams, landed his first legal YFT, weighing 50-pounds.

Dan Ferraioli, 13, Flourtown, Pa. caught this 24-inch, 4-pound flounder on his grandparents' boat "It's a Keeper" in the back bay behind Towsends Inlet.

Seven-year-old Adrienne Miskiewicz of Logan Townshop, weighed in her first flounder which tipped the scales at 3-pounds 6-ounces. She caught the fish drifting a live minnow on Mom's "Anger Management" out of Wildwood. (Sterling Harbor)

Mark Tallarida of Aldon, Pa., weighed in a 5-pound 2-ounce sea bass measuring 24 inches caught at the Cape May Reef.

Rylan Lillie with a bluefish caught on a popping plug aboard Tide Runner

Devon Fehn, Petersburg, with a really nice 6.5-pounder. (Frank's Boats)

Eight- year- old Owen String landed a Bull Mahi at 12-pounds, fishing with dad on the Much Clams.

Eleven pound striper caught by Jimmy Reiland, Pittsburgh, Pa., June 26 in Sea Isle at 68th Street jetty.

Josh Stoner, Swiftwater, Pa., won the pool on a trip on the Adventurer with this 5.5-pound flounder.

Turk Mihalek of Pennsauken, weighed in a 6-pound 6-ounce flounder caught at Reef Site 11 on an Aqua Clear Rig.

Here is Andrew Hedgepeth of Phila, PA with his 2-pound flounder caught on his birthday on The Royal Flush.

Another fine day out on the Fins&Grins, Wildwood.
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Lots of good reports and great pictures to share with you. Remember, though, that on any given day, fish will ignore you. "That's why they call it fishing and not 'catching," a wise man reminds me.

Frank's Boats is on board today with a fine report and some great pictures. They tell me fishing remains good for most anglers, and very good for some. Keeper flounder are being caught on minnow, spearing, gulp and squid. Most of the larger flounder have been caught in the deeper water of the back-bays. Inner coastal markers 328 to 330 are a good place to start your drift.
Stripers in the back-bays have been caught chunking with clam or bunker along the sod banks. Crabbing has been a hit or miss situation, one day it is good, the next, just ok.

Frank sends a reminder for those fishers who aren’t familiar with saltwater fishing: drift fish for flounder and anchor up for striped bass. When drifting, be aware of your surroundings and pay attention to your channel markers. If you are in an area without markers, avoid the shallow waters. You can usually spot them because they are lighter in color.

Tuna? You bet. Yellows, blues, even a big eye. Out of South Jersey Marina, the Raging Bull, Hooked Up II and Foray, have brought in everything from a 20-pound dolphin to a 47-pound yellow fin tuna. Heaviest catch was the 202-pound big-eye that was caught on the Gold Rush with Captain Avena. The Easy Rider released two white marlin; Super Crew also released 1 white marlin. These fish are reported to be biting strong in the Wilmington Canyon. The marlin bite is quite decent for this time of year with some action reported in the Spencer.

As for inshore fishing, the Cape May reef and the Old Grounds have been the destination for good flounder and black sea bass fishing. This week on Murders Row the Cape Queen, Common Sense and the Big Game all had flounder and black sea bass, reporting that fishing was going well.

Sterling Harbr reports kingfish in the surf along the Wildwood beaches with Wildwood Crest down to the Inlet best. An occasional striper is still being caught in the surf. In the back- bays there are still plenty of flounder, lots of shorts, but some nice keepers being caught, too.

There is good founder fishing in the Delaware Bay along the shipping lanes near Miah Maull. Flounder reports from the refs were sketchy but fish were caught at Reef Site 11 and the Old Grounds. There are still quite a few throwbacks, but also reports of fish up to 7-pounds being caught.

Fly fishing was a bit slower but captain Ray was still able get stripers and bluefish for spin and fly anglers; had to work harder. All fish were caught in the back bayarea as the water around the inlet and beach front was cold. Smack-it-jr popping plugs provided explosive surface action for spin anglers and steroid gurglers and popping flies did the job for fly anglers.

Bill (bucktail willie ) Shillingford fishing out of Whale Creek Marina has had a steady striped bass bite behind the barrier islands with bass from 23 -34-inches. The bite slowed a little as a result of the colder water staying around. Fluke are thick and almost everyplace you stop to fish but the legal size fish are hard to come by. If you work through the shorts you will get a couple of legal size fish.

The Strathmere Fishing and Environmental club held their annual flounder tournament on June 26. Eighty-six men, women and children participated. A total of 101 pounds of flounder was weighed in and another 25-30 pounds caught that were legal but not large enough to be in contention for a trophy. Again, minnows seem to work best, followed by gulp and squid. Crabbing continues to be okay for this time of year.

SFEC Tournament Winners:
Age 11 and under: Joey Owens and Bud Casper tied with a 4-pounders each; Ages 12-17: Matt Schad, 3-pounds; Women: Grace Garrity, 3.25-pounds; Men: Randy Magdin, 4.9-pounds; Seniors 65 & up: Herb Hollinger Sr, 3.5-pounds. Mike Owens won the overall trophy with 3 fish totaling 10.5-pounds.

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