Cape May Fishing Report.

[CapeMayRay]

Another no fish night. Around 6:00 p.m. I went out to give it a try. No wind and harbor was like a mirror. Got to the boat and found the harbor water 45 degrees with the incoming tide.

Was able to get out the inlet and work the south jetty. Couldn't work the north side due to decent sea swells breaking on the jetty. Water was super dirty. Lots of back bay grass wood etc. and 45 to 46 degrees with one foot of visibility in the water. Was able to work the beach front structure and right up on the beach in the drop off behind the waves.

Did see the first dolphins working up the beach. They were just cruising, but that is a good sign. Weakfish and Hickory shad must be moving in.

Raced to the back bay to look for warmer water or bait but warm water was no where to be found. Best I could find was 46 degrees up this little creek. No hits but did see a fish swirl. Had to get out fast as the new moon tides were completely covering the sod banks and I could barely see the creek sides under the water and had to get out before it got too dark. Didn't want to get stuck high and dry all night.

Knew fishing wouldn't be too good but just had to try. This is now past the latest date in the spring that I have not had a bass on a fly. The ocean water last year at this time was 50 to 51 degrees.

May have to resort to using bait if the cold water keeps up I know that will get them.

[CapeMayRay]

Got up this morning and checked out the guys fishing along the surf. There were a few small bass caught on clam. Checked all along the surf all the way to Cape May Point Concrete Ship. Water was brown and no signs of life, no birds, just lots of junk in the water.

Ken Kelly, member of the SJCFA club and fellow charter captain and guide launched his boat THE IRISH FLY for the season and was going to go out for a shake down run. He asked me if I wanted to go out. I first told him I was going to trout fishing up at the Court House Pond and then called him right back and told I would go as I could not past up the chance for a decent fish.

We left the marina with 46 degree water the was still very brown. By the time we got to the inlet it was 44 to 47 degrees. We worked the jetties for a while with out a strike and then shot in to the back bay with the out going tide. Found some 48 to 49 degree water in a couple of locations, working some prime spots with no hits again.

Right around low tide we decided to shoot out the inlet once again and work the beach front on the low water. Got there and found 48 to 50 degree water in 4 to 7 feet of water and the clarity wasn't too bad.

We were working it with chart/white clousers on intermediate lines and I was kidding Ken about how bad it would be to get a hit after all this work and miss the fish. A few minutes later, that is exactly what happen. Fortunately a couple of casts later I hooked up and landed a 19 inch bass. It sure felt good to get back into the game again. A few more casts and I got another and then Ken was hooking up.



We had great end of the day. We hooked 10 bass landing 7 up to 23 1/4 inches with a number of missed strikes. We should of gone 10 for 10 but some how I put on a 4 lb test leader by mistake and missed three fish because my line broke.

We both were excited to get our first bass on the fly for the season and it was especially nice for me as Ken did all the work maneuvering the boat with the electric motor. I felt like charter as all I had to do is cast and catch. It was a real treat for me and we both came it with big smiles

We both have fly charters this weekend so it made us both feel confident that we can get them for our customers.

[MissingLink]

Looks awesome!!! Can't wait for those guys ( and more importantly the water temps) to make it up to me!!
Tight Lines!!!
Bob

[striper101]

Ray,
Thanks for the great report!

I'll be down tomorrow and I'll post my results. I might even have Capt Kobey from Bunkerhead Productions onboard. Hopefully we can get some video.

[CapeMayRay]

Sounds great, you guys have been nailing them in the bay. For us small boat guys, it has been a longer than usual wait for the action to start in the back and beach front. It is the price you have to pay with a small boat if you want to work all the shallow spots. Hope you catchem up.

[CapeMayRay]

Fantastic fly fishing day. Started out slow. Went out about 1:00 in the afternoon and worked the back bay on the out going tide. Tried all my go to spots, creek mouths and points. Water looked good but no fish or signs of bait anywhere. found some 56 degree water but nothing. Did that for two hours and decide to try out front where Ken Kelly and caught yesterday.

Got out front and the water was 49 to 51 degrees and had great action for 2 1/2 hours. Fished the last of the out going in 4 to 7 foot of water with about a foot and half of visibility. Chart/white clouser on intermediate was deadly. Landed 15 bass out of 18 hits. All small fish 19 to 22 1/2 inches and one little 15 incher that I thought was a weakie that I caught right in the surf in about 3 foot of water.

[Dave Sikorski]

Great reports Ray. Glad to see some action from your neck of the woods again.

I hope to have a few reports of my own in the coming weeks.

-D

[CapeMayRay]

Dave, it was short lived. Crashed and burned with my charter yesterday. Had a excellent fly castor and his girl friend who I was trying to teach how to fly cast. Her style was getting better and most of her casts put her where she should of been able to hook up.

Guy had fish strike and a miss and she had one take the fly but it pulled the line out of her hand for a miss. We worked the whole area and inlet rocks to death. It wasn't a matter of their skills, there were just no fish.

Was a beautiful day, they had a great time and will be back again. Was just tough on my ego as I just couldn't believe it could be so dead after two days in a row of good fly action.

[CapeMayRay]

Pretty nice day here in Cape May but very windy off the ocean keeping temperatures down. Early afternoon it clouded up and around 6:00 p.m. it got cold and raw and you could see vapor from your breath.

Made a run over to Cape May Point figuring if I could fish the wind would be off my back or shoulder. No other crazy people were out fishing with the wind, just a couple of dog walkers. The tide was out maybe half way and the water looked pretty good for the point. Worked between three jetties with chart/white clouser and intermediate line.

First hour I had no hits but did see a couple of terns pick some bait fish at the end of a jetty. Bottom line is I went 1 for 1 with a small 20 1/2 inch bass that I hooked up about 30 feet away from a jetty.


Hit came at 8:00 p.m. and I thought it was the start of a good night. Worked it for another half hour and then it started to drizzle so I called it a early night.

[POON MAN]

Thanks Ray

Are they Fresh ones ?

They look nice and clean but no sea lice ?