Fishing Report June 1 to June 15th

[CapeMayRay]

I have to get more clips. I use the smallest ones and they have a 60 lb breaking strength. I have bought all the small ones and my local shop is out. Been looking around for them and every one carries the bigger sizes

Litttle orange pack. Duo-lock I think is the name of the company.

Only time I have one fail is when I use my plier grips to reomove a hook at night and may bugger up the clip trying to get the hook out. Now I check it after removing each hook. Especially at night when you can't see that well.

When you grab the hook and twist to remove you can unclip or bend the clip if not paying attention.

[CapeMayRay]

Had a pretty good night tonight but it just didn't feel like it. Had a free night and decided to get a personal trip in. Pete couldn't make it, he was on the road somewhere when I called.

Left the dock at 5:00 with the tide just starting out. I had high hopes of a big striper or weakie. Headed to some of my favorite back creeks and found the water brownish green and warm in the three that I tried. Water was 69 to 75 degrees and I saw zero bait or activity.

Moved to where I have been getting blues and a few bass consisitantly for the last week and could only scrounge one blue on a natural bait looking deceiver. Water there was 66.8 and no signs of bait or fish.

Decided to try the inlet rocks for a big weakie. Worked it really hard without so much as a strike of any kind. (Did see a nice 10 or 12 pounder caught by someone fishing of land.)

Moved to the shallow beach front where I caught a 14 inch fluke on a yellow/white jiggie. Followed by 3 small weakies 12 1/2 to 15 inches. Weakies must have been spawning as everytime I brought one to the boat it had one following, but I only had a few hits.

The water was very clean warm and there was very slow tidal flow for most of the outgoing tide.

Right before dusk I headed back to the inlet where I caught a 20 inch striper and one sea herring on that yellow/white jiggie.

Guess my expectations were too high. It seemed like I really worked for the fish I got and I was expecting some larger fish. Had good time and it was a pleasant night and was back to the dock by 9:00 pm.

Did see one pod of bunker inside the inlet almost as I was getting to the marina. That was the only bait I saw all night.

[CapeMayRay]

Was a beautiful calm Saturday morning in Cape May and as the afternoon progressed a sea breeze picked up. Was only to be 8 or 9 miles an hour.

Left the dock at 5:00 pm with my one person fly charter with the tide still coming in. Decided to try the back bay first. Just as we started at our first spot the wind kicked up even more. Turned on the weather radio and they said it was blowing 20 knots out of the south.

Water was 61.4 pretty clean but a little on the green side. Charter started with a olive/white clouser with some grizzly feathers in the tail on sinking line. First 15 minutes had one blue come up and miss the fly by the boat. 15 minutes later he caught a large sea herring. It was the first we had caught in the back bay this year. ( Do not get too many on the shallow flats) For the next hour we worked some creek mouths and sod banks never getting a hit.

We tried the back areas where the water was 72 degrees but the strong wind and wave action made fishing tough so we moved back to where we missed the first blue and caught another sea Herring.

With the wind blowing good we decided to move to the inlet and hide behind the shelter of the inlet rocks. Idea was great but we got there just as all the boats from the shark tourney and off shore where coming in. Between the wind and the waves it felt like we were in a washing machine. It was hard to fish and hold on.

Despite the tough conditions we picked one small striper on the first drift out with the tide and two stripers, including a keeper moving in against the outgoing tide using the electric motor. Fish were caught on a chartreuse snake fly and the keeper on a black clouser. (Fish was released to fight another day.)

The keeper was caught right before we were ready to call it a night as we saw lightning off in the distance. The last hour of fishing wasn't bad the boat traffic had died and we had the calm before the storm.

Got in, the boat cleaned and was home before the nasty lightning arrived.

Got a few fish, but again it was another night with no signs of bait fish in the back bay or along the inlet rocks. It is getting to be ridiculous for this time of year not to be seeing bait anywhere.