Fishing Reports Cape May July 1 to July 15

[CapeMayRay]

Had one of my regular, one person fly charters out this morning. (he charters me every weekend he comes down) Left the dock at 5:30 a.m. and found it super foggy. With still enough water in the back bay, low light and out going tide we decided to work some flats.

Found it dead, dead, dead. Conditions looked good but not a strike and I got to fish too. so we had two guys fling flies. We moved to a couple of spots with deeper water and a nice little rip current and still neither of use even got a strike.

Charter said his wife wanted him to bring home a fluke for dinner. Since the fly fishing was dead we decided to fish bucktail with herring strip to see if we could get him dinner.

It was very entertaining to watch all the inexperienced boaters dealing with the fog. Horns and whistles and boaters wandering all over the place. Don't think people ever learn how to use their plotters or radar on nice days so they know how to use it when they need it. Even saw jet skiers trying to find their way around with no compass.

I picked up a small striper and we caught a couple of fluke. After charter got a 19 1/2 keeper fluke for dinner he said let's head in. He was happy, had dinner and could get in early enough to have breakfast with the family.

Got back in early, the fog lifted and you could see all the boats that were huddled in the harbor waiting to get out into the ocean and it was already starting to get real hot.

[CapeMayRay]

Was out last night with a husband and wife charter. Left the dock at 5:30 p.m. with a good wind blowing off the ocean and we decided to work the back bay for a bit. Found it very slow.

Husband wanted to try the fly rod and I had him throwing an intermediate line with a bucktail deceiver. He was doing pretty well with only throwing a freshwater rod before, but with no hits and the wind being a bit of problem he switched to a plug.

We managed two small stripers on popping plugs and missed a nice big blue in the 28 to 30 inch range.

With the tide getting low and the wind dying, we headed out the inlet to work the rocks. We caught a good number of blues, and the weeds and debris pushed in by the winds made casting toward the rocks difficult at best. It was almost impossible to cast without picking up weed every time.

[CapeMayRay]

Turned a real windy night into a good night. Some nights you are just lucky. Left the dock at 5:00 p.m. with a 2 person fly charter with the tide just starting to go out and the wind blowing 15 to 20 mph out of the southeast

Went to the back bay and found the wind a real pain. Very hard to control the boat even with the electric motor. The less experienced fly angler opted to throw a plug and the experienced one used a sinking fly line in order cast with the heavy wind.

In the first couple of minutes the plug angler caught a small striper on a popper to break the ice.

With in a short time the they both missed a couple of fish. Then the plug angler had a tremendous hit and miss. He popped the plug another time and was hooked up with a huge fish that pealed drag and took off around a piece of structure and was off to the races. I was able to quickly follow preventing a break off and we were able to work it away into an open area. After a nice fight and numerous runs he landed a huge 33 inch bluefish.

He was excited as it was the biggest fish he had ever caught and it was on a light rod with 10 lb test.

With no more bites and the wind a problem we moved to another spot where we could fish a leeward shore line. Here both the fly angler and the plugger were able to catch some small bass. We fished two rip lines and had a good number of hits and misses and more bass for both up until the time we quit at 9:00 p.m.

The wind started to slow up a bit by 8:00 and we caught most of our fish in 3 feet of water or less with an EP fiber bunker fly doing it for the fly angler and the old smack-it-jr for the plug fisherman.

Cleaned the bluefish for them to take home and found a small striper (about 12 inches and some other small fish in its stomach.)

Ended up the night with 8 stripers and one nice blue on what started out looking like a tough night.

[CapeMayRay]

Was all excited about tonights charter. Guy who regularly charters me when he is down and goes by himself and I get a chance to fish too.

We left the dock at 5:00 p.m. in heavy fog, fairly good breeze and it was damp. We were both wearing sweat shirts as it was thick and wet. We had a perfect tide for fishing the back and with the low light had visions of killing the fish as the bite was pretty good last night.

Worked the back flats sod banks and creek mouths for about 1/2 mile with dead high tide and didn't have a strike or a swirl. We came to the creek where we caught last nights big blue and decided to go up it. I have tried it a number of times and never did very well, even though it always looked great.

Seemed like the wind totally died with the top of the tide and it was starting to get a bit warm as we worked back on the creek with the electric motor. Water was clear and we saw tons of small half inch bait that was spooked by my fly and his popping plug on many of our casts. Came to a creek leading into the larger creek and I caught a 22 inch striper.

Came up to another creek and he had a nice hit on the popper with a miss. As he was casting up the creek I notice a tail sticking out of the water on the opposite side. He turned and saw it and took a cast. Two pops of the popper and a fish blasted it and missed one more pop and he was hooked up with a big splash. The water was only 4 feet deep and the fish ran all over the place and took three big jumps and we could see it was another large bluefish.

Finally got it to the net and saw it just about swallowed the whole popping plug. He was excited and it turned out to be 28 inches long. (another big one in shallow water.)

We worked the creek further up and we caught a couple more blues that were more normal for the area. With the tide starting to run out we left the creek to work all the creek mouths and drainage areas.

When we got out of the creek the wind had picked up again from the south east and the fogg thickened again. We worked the death out of some really prime looking spots that normally produce and there was nothing. Even went to the couple of points with nice rips, that we caught on yesterday and the same nothing.

We were really puzzled and couldn't figure out why there was no bite with such prime conditions. I then turned on my depth finder and found that the water temp had really dropped. We had high 60's yesterday and it was 55 to 59 degrees and that also answered why we had all the heavy fog.

With the fog really getting heavy and darkness setting in I move way back toward the parkway where we found 68 degree water and we got one more bass before we quit for the night.

[CapeMayRay]

Had my white light go out last night and I thought it was just the bulb. Should of know better with a boat. Put a new bulb in and it still didn't work. Pulled off the hardware and found the lower piece was corroded. Spent most of the day trying to find a perko base that matched and finally Tony's Marine came up with the part.

Wasn't going to fish tonight and just fix my white light before the rain came across the bay, but finished the repair and the 17 mph southeast winds died to nothing and it didn't look too bad.

Since I fish close to the marina I thought I would give it a shot. Tried to get Pete and my last nights charter to see if either could make it on short notice, but neither could make it.

Left the dock at 6:00 p.m. and decided to head up that creek that produced the big blue last night. Really want to get one of those on the fly rod. Flats were 61 degrees, which was warmer than yesterday but not great. Inside the creek it was 62 and it kept getting warmer the further up I went.

Caught the first bass on a EP fiber bunker(same ones that have been catching) and continued up the creek.

Worked it all the way up till it got so narrow I could barely turn the boat around, but the water was 68 back there. Missed one strike on the way up and picked up another bass on the way back out.



Worked the sod banks to another creek and caught another bass off a drainage area. Once up that creek I caught my 4th bass of the night and I was feeling pretty good. Water in that area was 62 degrees.

With no area hot I decided to zip over to the other side of the sound to see if the water temps were any better or if there was more bait. Temps and bait were the same and caught a 23 inch bass, my nicest of the night in a creek with a good out flow.

With 5 stripers on the night I was going to head in early as I could see some rain clouds and some lightning off the coast. On the way back I stopped to hit one last spot and saw a couple of patches of nervous bait and two fish swirl up on it.

Turned out to be a good move. From 8:30 to 9:00 I got 6 small stripers on the same bunker fly in quick order.


With the lightning still offshore I called it a night with a total of 11 bass. Guess the water warmed up enough to get the fish active. Water at the last stop was 62 degrees. I was pleased I had a super fun night and was in early too.

[CapeMayRay]

Had a one person charter out tonight. Left the dock at 5:00 p.m. with the tide coming in and super high tides being close to new moon and a good wind blowing from the north west. Found the water in the back flats cold again. It was 60 degrees when we started to fish and got colder as the tide came in.

Charter started with a popping plug and had a hit and a miss right at the start and it was super slow after that. I got to fish with the fly rod and I was not getting any hits either. We worked one whole side of the sound getting one more miss for him.

Moved over to the windy side of the sound figuring the water might be warmer and the bait might of gotten blow to that side. Conditions there were the same only we had waves and white caps to fight. Went up a creek while there and had another miss on the plug.

With the tide ready to change we moved back on the Leeward side to try some creek mouths and sod banks and found the water now 58 degrees. It was looking like a super tough night. When we got back over there the wind started to drop out and there was zero wind. Then around 8:15 my charter got his first bass.

About that same time I got one of those big blues that I have been hoping to get on the fly rod. It took off like a rocket and and put up a super fight in the shallow water. It was around 28 to 30 inches. Had it to the boat and was holding the line trying to put the Boca grip on it and the line got chewed off before I could grip it. Had the fun, but sure would of liked a picture of that baby.

We moved along and found a patch of bait and a few fish working it. We worked that 100 yard area till 9:30 with my charter catching 6 more stripers, with this one his best of the night.

I ended up catching 5 stripers too, turning a bad night into a good one in the last hour and a half. Shortly after the tide got rolling out, the wind started up again and it began blowing pretty good so we decided to head in.

[CapeMayRay]

Had a free night and got to go fly fishing with Peter. We decided to wait for the tide to come in since the day before there was cold water and the fishing was slow.

We left the dock at 7:30 With the day before new moon the tides were very high flooding way over the sod bank. My theory is you can still catch some fish here and there, but the bait goes high up on the grass and the fish start feeding when the tide starts come out for the most part.

We started working around where I found bait and fish yesterday. Found some bait but not too much. Water was 58 to 60 degrees and very clear, maybe too clear for it not being dark out.

I started with sinking line and a EP fiber bunker fly and Peter was using floating with his chartreuse weakfish fly. I had one hit and a miss and about a 8:00 caught my first striper. With the EP fiber flies the fish make a mess of the flies. They get all mangled up, twisted and fouled on the hook, as the one pictured below. I was kidding Pete that he needed one of these new hair ball flies. ;D

The fly when it is combed out and straighten really looks good in the super clear water and looks very natural in the water. Here is a shot of one that same fly and it has caught a number of fish and no longer has the bunker shape, but now looks more like a mullet. (it is about 4 1/2 to 5 inches long)

For the next hour we both struggled. I put on a popping fly and had a couple of followers and one striker but no hook ups. Pete was having the same luck.

When the tide changed we worked a creek mouth and I switched to my old faithful coal black silicone mullet fly. I missed a fish right at the boat when I was pulling the fly out of the water and Pete missed one in similar fashion on a his weakfish fly.

With the tide starting to go out we moved over to a point that produces a nice rip current. It was just starting to flow and in short order, with my mullet fly I caught 3 more bass up to 22 inches.

Pete, still fish-less gave in and said I will take one of those mullet flies that you had offered. It was too late. By then the tide was ripping as hard as I have seen it. I had my electric motor on full blast and could barely make head way into the current. We would cast out and it seemed like we would take about 5 or 6 strips and the line would be straight out the back of the boat.

We tried two other spots real quick and found the current ripping and loaded with weed and junk from the high tide. Checked the bridge on the way home and the water was running way too fast there two.

I told Peter we were staying out till he got a fish or lightning chased us in. It was a perfectly clear night. (he kept telling me he was seeing lightning) I kept telling him it was the fish Gods punishing him for keeping and eating that last big female weakfish he caught. (hope he learns his lesson.)