Cape May Fishing Report Oct 1 to Oct 31

[CapeMayRay]

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With the wind blowing pretty hard all day and not fishing in a while I need to get out for a fishing fix.

Had to go out and see if conditions had changed any. Left the dock with the incoming tide and figured I could work the inlet and get a little bit of shelter from the wind. Water was 68 to 70 degrees a bit brown but didn't look too bad.

Fishing was bad. Zero signs of mullet, peanuts or bait and
the only fish around were the same small 8 to 10 inch blues.

With the wind still blowing pretty strong I shot to the back bay to find some shelter along the sod banks and try some creeks in the back were the wave action would be minimal.

Looked like a repeat of last week, only saw a few signs of glass minnows and bay anchovies and no signs of fish and after a hour and a half of trying a number of areas I only had one 16 1/2 inch blue and it had a deformed tail.

Finally a ray of hope. Right before sunset I started up a small creek and got a small 16 1/2 inch bass on a olive/white deceiver on intermediate line.

Working up the creek I switched to my Steroid Rattling Gurgler and got two 22 inch bass and another small bass.

It felt good just to get a few bass on the fly again and I was treated to a beautiful sunset which made it even better.


When the action died I moved to another area where I got two more blues that were both close to 17 inches and right after dark I headed back to the creek where I caught earlier and picked one more 18 inch striper and another blue.

I covered a lot of ground and there was only one small area that had any signs of bait and fish. Not really good but at least decent enough to try and get a couple of charters in.

[Joe Horgan]

Hey Ray, great pictures. Hope all is well. joe

[CapeMayRay]

Joe, good to hear from you. Wow time to check fishing reports! Work must be getting slow at work. Hope to get to see you in person before the end of the season. Let me know if you get down and aren't going out in the big boat. There is more to life than spending a ton of money and time chasing white's around the canyons.

Was suppose to be a one person fly charter tonight but angler decided to bring his wife to plug fish. It started out very windy again when we left the dock at 4:00pm with the incoming tide. Went straight to the back bay to hide from the still strong wind.

Fly angler who was use to 3 wt trout fly fishing elected to give up on the heavier fly rod fishing with the strong wind blowing.

Started fishing in about 3 1/5 feet of water and about after 15 minutes of fishing we had a double hook up on smack-it-jr popping plugs.

Kept working along and never saw any of the signs of bait like I did last night but we would get a hit here and there with some being bass and some blues. Ended up with 4 stripers for the husband and 4 for the wife and a good amount of misses and no blues.




They had a great time as it was the first stripers that they had ever caught and the first time they had ever used popping plugs and to make the night even better we had another great sunset as the wind died at the top of the tide. (It makes being out there extra special)

As the tide started to change the wind started to pick up again but we were headed in.

It was a beautiful evening and we did catch some fish but did not see or hear any bait or feeding fish the whole night, but as long as a few fish were around, I can't complain.

[Joe Horgan]

Hey Ray, hope all is well. I hope to get down in the next couple of weeks. Thanks for the reports

[CapeMayRay]

Joe, your the next guy I got to get into fly fishing. Back bay fishing, in calm waters, no pounding long trips to the canyons and home in time for breakfast. You can then do a evening trip and be home by nine and never have to recover from the long day, like when fishing off shore. (IT'S LOOKING BETTER!)

Disappointing but fun morning. This week I spent some time with Stan Walters, (past Eagles Lineman and broadcaster who use to do the Eagles Games with Merrill Reese) He wanted to learn how to fly fish. We spent some time on land with floating, intermediate and sinking lines getting him ready for that first fish on the fly. Working on land he was getting excited about actually getting out and doing the real thing.

Thought this morning was going to be that day, with having a decent catch last night. We left in the dark at 6:00 am with the wind already up around 12 mph. and headed in to the back bay to fish the flats near the top of the tide.

With the wind blowing most of the night out of the southeast, where I wanted to fish it was a bit choppy and with it being dark Stan elected to go with a popping plug until it got light enough to see.

As the sun came up, so did the wind and it just kept getting windier and windier and it would of been tough for the most experienced fly angler. The wind blew my hat off my head twice while we were standing still and just fishing.

Stan took wind in in stride and had a great time catching 2 small bass and a couple of blues on the popping plug and the missed strikes that we didn't get a solid hook up on. It was the first time he ever caught fish using a surface plug and liked seeing the fish blast it on the surface and on the light outfit found it to be a lot of fun.


Told him next time we will get them on a fly and it will be even better. We had great conversation and we had a fun morning.

Looking forward to getting him that first bass on the fly. Then he is going to be hooked for life, like the rest of us.

[CapeMayRay]

Decent night considering the wind. Left the dock at 4:00 with one person fly charter with just 3 wt. freshwater experience. We tried the inlet first and found the water a bit brown and no signs of any bait or fish. Like the day before, with the wind charter elected to fish with a spin rod rather than fight the wind.

Went to the back where we drifted across some shallow flats, 2 to 3 feet deep and picked two blues to 17 inches and missed a few. Water was very brown from all the wave activity during the day and with the chop it made fishing a bit difficult so we moved to a creek where we could get out of the wind. We got two small bass on smack-its there.

Then when the tide came up higher we worked some lee shore sod banks and picked up 4 more small bass with the biggest being 18 1/2 inches and right as it got dark picked up 2 more small ones at a small creek mouth.

The wind took a lot of the fun out of the evening and as soon as the moon got really bright the bite stopped and it was time to go in. Every one of the bass caught were small and the only signs of life that we saw all night were just glass minnows once in a while when a popper splashed while being retrieved. Never saw any signs of fish other than the ones that were hooked.

[CapeMayRay]

Took a day off from the salt and participated with fellow South Jersey Coastal Fly Angler members. We volunteered as guides for the day to help Casting For Recovery. It is an event where women breast cancer surviors get together for a weekend to learn fly casting, share experiences and get a day on the water to try and get that first fish on the fly.


Our club helped sponsor their event, raise funds, tie flies and provide volunteers.

A fun day was had by all, the weather was perfect with no wind. We fished at Lake and Shore Outdoor World in Ocean View New Jersey and for the 13 participants we were able to produce allmost 50 fish. (sunfish and small largemouth bass.)

Here I am with my angler holding her first fish caught on a fly rod. (small large mouth bass that took a chartreuse wooly bugger.) She didn't want to go after the small sunfish which were easier to catch on tiny flies.


We had a great day and super lunch. Here John Loeper our club president received a club thank you card signed by all the women and at the same time presenting them with another check for money raised at our last donation for flies event.


Each Volunteer received a certificate of apperciation for guiding for the day.


After it was over half our club members decided to go out and do a little personal fishing. You know me, I have to buck the system and could not use a normal fly. Since the big bass seemed to be feeding on sunfish, I use a saltwater peanut bunker fly. I didn't catch Bubba Bass but did get a couple of his kid brothers.

[CapeMayRay]

Had a free night and with a light wind I decided to go out and give it a shot. Left the dock right as the tide was starting to come in so I headed to the inlet to see if there was any activity along the beach front. (no sign of any birds or any bait.)

Worked some of my favorite beach front structure that should be holding some bait and fish at this time of year. Absoulutely dead. Never got a strike using clousers and deceivers.

Worked the inlet rocks with the incoming tide. Again no signs of baitfish of any kind and had a few 8 to 10 blues bite at my flies.

Before sunset the wind kicked up pretty good out of the southeast so I headed to the back. Fished the incoming tide on some shallow flats 2 to 3 feet deep I picked up 3 blues to 17 inches on a steroid rattling gurgler.

When the tide came in a bit more I worked a little deeper sod bank area that had some current and switched to a chartreuse buck tail deceiver because of all the wind. Got one strike and hooked alittle 16 inch striper.

On the way back to the dock I checked the bridge shaddow lines and a lighted dock and saw no bait or signs of fish.

Pretty poor fishing for this time of year.

[CapeMayRay]

Hard to tell what is worse. Not being able to get out and try because of the wind or getting out on a nice day and having poor fishing. Seems like it is one or the other this week. Canceled trip this afternoon with a nice tide but the wind was strong enough to blow your socks off.

[Joe Horgan]

Hey Ray, hope the fishing gets better and the wind behaves. Hope to get down during the week in the next couple of weeks. Hockey season rules out weekends for now. Joe