Cape May Fishing Report July 1 to 31

[CapeMayRay]

Mother nature put a damper on trip tonight. Took father and 11 and 9 year old out tonight. Had the father an son out last year and they had a big night catching bass on poppers.

It looked threatening when we left the dock but no signs of lightning so we stayed close and worked the back bay and only had one swirl behind a plug. Heavy rain passed us by to the south with us only getting a light drizzle and it looked like it was going to be a nice night so we headed out to the ocean.

Fished for about 15 minutes and I hooked a small bass for the young guy to reel in. (A little tough for the kids to cast with wind waves and rocks.)

From the picture it looks really nice, but right after landing that fish it was looking super nasty to the west and I saw a couple of blinks of lightning in the distance so we shot right in to wait it out.

Storm system was really slow moving with a fair amount of blinks so we packed it in for the night. Kids were really disappointed so we are going to finish up tomorrow morning with some bait fishing in the back.

[CapeMayRay]

Guess I better stick to fly fishing or fishing at night stripers. Went out with the dad and two kids from last night to finish up their trip. Thought we would bait fish and provide some fast action for the kids by fishing for some fluke. We never saw the action. It was dead as dead could be.

Before I went out I talked to those who had been out yesterday and there was a good bite. Not many keepers but a lot of action which we were looking for.

We only had a few hours and we tried everywhere, had perfect weather, tide and the water looked great. We never caught a fish and never saw another boat that was around us catch one. (not even a shark or skate)

Had a friend, who went out with three small kids also looking for the same action we were looking for. He fished totally different area than we did and didn't get a fish of any kind either.

I think maybe the fish gorged them selfs and might of been off feeding for a tide. Kids had a good time just being out in the boat. (I thought this using bait and drifting was suppose to be a no brainier for getting some action) Can't ever remember a day like this where you couldn't even get a trash fish.

[CapeMayRay]

Need to get out fishing soon. Had non fishing commitments Tues, Wed, and Thursday night was South Jersey Coastal Fly Anglers monthly meeting. Wanted to get out last night on a personal trip but radar showed rain with 95 percent chance of thunderstorms, plus there was a good strong wind blowing. (Got no rain and no storms) It just looked dark all evening.

4 days without going out. I need my fix!

[CapeMayRay]

Got out Saturday night with charter with what looked like a perfect night weather and tide wise. Left the dock at 5:00 pm. with charter that wanted to fly or plug fish. With the last of the incoming tide we worked a grassy area with a very light wind from the west. (we had to use some bug spray to keep the green heads at bay.)

About 15 minutes into fishing and the wind shifted off the ocean forcing charter to have to use a back cast in the area we were fishing so he switched to a popping plug.

Missed three fish before getting the first one of the night.

We missed three more fish before moving on. Seemed to be pulling the plug away before the fish really had it.

The water was a bit dirty in several areas that we fished, but over all it wasn't too bad. Did get 3 bass in total for the night with this one being the best of the night.

Charter was happy, but with such good conditions I thought it should of been better. We missed more than were caught and the spots that are usually the best were dead, but that is fishing some days.

[CapeMayRay]

Another night with perfect tide and weather and again we had to work hard for each fish we got. Left the dock at 5:00 pm with a father and son. Father was going to try fly fishing and the son was going to plug fish.

Inland water way was like a zoo with all the joy riders, booze cruisers and jet skiers and there was a good breeze coming off the ocean. The dad with only 3 to 5 wt fly experience decided to pass on the fly fishing with the wind.

We missed the first three fish that hit but then the dad hooked a fish on a popping plug and handed it off to his son. It was his first striper and he did a good job of fighting it.


Got another bass for the son and one for the dad at the first location as the boat traffic started to die along with the wind.

Moved to a couple of normally great creek mouths for the start of the out going flow. They both looked like a text book set ups for bass but we only got two hits with no hook ups.

We kept searching and moving along and finally right around dusk found a few fish. One for the dad and one for the son along with one bluefish. We were fishing in 2 1/2 feet of water where we got them.



A little after 9:00 pm we were ready to call it a night and I told them to each make 5 more casts. The son on one of his last casts of the night got one last striper to make for a perfect ending of their trip.

They were very happy with their trip, but with such great condition I really expected they we would of had more action.

[CapeMayRay]

Frustrating night. I had a free night and wanted to get out and get a few fish on the fly with fishing buddy Peter. We left the dock around 5:30pm with the new moon super high tide still coming in and a strong northeast wind.

Decide to head to the back bay where I have been getting bass on plugs for my charters the last few days. Put on my new super chunky rattling gurgler and had three hits and missed in the first 30 minutes and I though we where going to have a great fly night.

We worked this one creek with the incoming tide to death, working it till it dead ended with about 2 foot of water at high tide. We both changed flies and poppers a number of times but we could not buy a hit. (The last 2 previous nights there was good fish action there.)

Frustrated I put on a popping plug to see if we could raise any fish. Then Peter switched to a popping plug too and neither of us got a hit until we came back out to the mouth of the creek when we both hooked up fish.

We got all excited and switched back to the fly rods thinking the action would start. We worked the area hard and never got a strike on the fly.

It wasn't one of the easiest nights for fishing strong wind and with the new moon tides most of the sod banks were covered over so a lot of the bait and fish were probably on top of the banks.

Made a move to another creek that was starting to empty into a shallow flat. We tried fishing with the fly across the heavy out going current with no luck and a lot of debris flowing out, so we switched over to a popping plugs again and we caught 4 more stripers, before going back to the fly rods and not catching anymore fish.

It was a very strange night. Usually the fly rod is so deadly with the tide and flows that we had and yet the whole night we could not get a hook up.

Even with my buddy ready to give up I insisted on trying one last out flow that always has some fish. Even put on my newly tied black double rattle over sized gurgler. Fished the out flow for 15 minutes and nothing so we called it a night.

6 stripers, normally is not a bad night but not being able to get one on the fly made the night kind of a downer.

With the wind still strong and predicted to blow all night and rain showers for tomorrow morning I canceled my predawn trip with a father and two young boys. No fun to go out in the dark with wind and possible rain with young kids with limited fishing skills.

[CapeMayRay]

Charter this morning was a father wanting to take his 9 year old out for his first saltwater fishing trip. Only caught sunfish in a pond before. For action we decided to do a fluke trip and leave the dock at 9:00am and catch the out going tide.

It was a beautiful day with light wind and we did get some throw back fluke and a couple of sand sharks but the action was a bit slow.

With 1 3/4 hours of fishing left I decided to make a move and set up with clam and a clam slick thinking we would get a lot of sand shark action and possible a striper or blue.

Move paid off. We did get a number of sand sharks but caught 5 stripers in a short time including one 29 3/4 inch keeper, which we released.



Dad and son had a super fun morning catching more than they expected and we were back at the dock by 1:00pm. Like most kids the sand sharks were the highlight of the trip, but his dad was excited about the stripers.

Some days all the piece fit together and you get lucky. Hoping I have same luck on evening fly charter.

[CapeMayRay]

Last night I had one of my regular fly charters out. He casts well, ties his own flies and usually I can get him on some bass. We left the dock at 5:00pm. with perfect weather and conditions and a incoming tide.

Decided to hit the inlet first. We worked it really hard for about and hour and half. Water was nice and clean but never saw any signs of life. Not even a bird picking and we never got a strike of any kind. (Very unusual for the conditions we had.)

Made a move to the back bay and worked a couple of good looking rip lines with popping flies and deceivers. They looked like text book set ups. Threw a Smack-it-jr out there and was able to raise a couple of fish but could not get anything to take or look at a fly.

Next move was to a shallow 3 1/2 foot area where I have been catching and we saw a decent amount of small bait. Worked it hard never getting a strike. Threw a smack-it out there and hooked up a 23 inch bass.

Moved into a small creek where I have been catching and we tried gurglers, popping flies, surf candies and finally got a bass on a 22 inch bass on a crease fly.

Every once in a while we would see a swirl along the flooded grass but couldn't get a bite going on the fly. Did get two bass on popping plug and would go back to the fly knowing there where bass around, but that did not work.

With it dark and not being able to see the creek banks anymore and charter over we headed back to the dock.

Not wanting to give into the fish I stopped at one last spot and was able to put my charter on to 5 small stripers (15 to 18 inches)
Small fish but a nice way to end the night. They were all caught on clousers.

[CapeMayRay]

Tried to get out this morning with Tuesday mornings canceled trip. Got down to the boat at 4:30am. and looking forward to a cloudy morning of fishing.(according to weather forecast)

Right as father and two boys got down to the dock it started to drizzle and the wind picked up. We decided to cancel as it would not be that much fun for novice fisherman, in the dark and rain.

It was a good move as while I was putting the covers back on the boat it came down in buckets. I got pretty well soaked before I got back to the truck and it continued to rain for the next hour and half, so we made the right decision.

[CapeMayRay]

All day kept watching the weather radar which showed a ton on heavy rain off the coast and we kept getting some bans of heavy drizzle and light rain on and off.

Had a husband and wife plug charter to go out tonight and right as we were to leave the dock the rain came in as it looked like a fog coming in from the northeast.

After it past they decided they wanted to give it a shot and told them if it got super nasty we could head back in. Left the dock around 5:30pm. with a good northeast wind and heavy clouds that looked like it could rain at any minute.

First rip line that we hit, we missed a fish on the first cast of a popping plug. A few casts later his wife landed a small bass.

We missed maybe 6 fish (they were all small) and husband got a small one before we moved to a more sheltered area get out of the wind a bit.

At the second location we went through a heavy drizzle and light rain but it passed. They got a few more small bass and a had a number of misses when the Husband had one hit the popper that sounded like a cider block dropping in the water and it was peeling drag out at a good pace. We were fishing in 2 1/2 to 3 feet of water and the fish had no where to go but away from the boat.

After a nice fight we netted a nice keeper 30 1/2 inch bass. After taking a few pictures he elected to release the fish to fight another day.

Turned out to be a pretty nice evening for fishing. They had a total of 7 stripers for the night with one keeper size, a number of missed fish and this last 24 incher to end the night.

I think we would of had a few more fish but with the super high new moon tides and northeast wind the water was again way over the sod bank and I believe the bait and possible fish where up ther too, making it difficult to fish, especially after dark.