Sea Herring and First Striper of 2007

[CapeMayRay]

It was as nice a January day in Cape May as you could find. Tried to get a buddy to run over to Nummy Island with me to try for some sea herring on the fly, but he couldn't make it. Arrived late afternoon, this time on the out going tide. It was so mild. I didn't need a hat, gloves and was only wearing light jacket.

Water was more murky than the other day, but it looked fishy. Started out with olive/white clouser on intermediate line. First half hour I didn't get a strike. Then I had a sea herring come up and miss my fly and I could see the silver flash and the black v tail. They were tough to hook. Landed two, had one jump off, missed two that I thought I had hooked good and missed about 5 other strikes. There was even one time that they came up on the surface and were working some small baitfish. They were just difficult to hook. I checked my hook several times to make sure there was a point on it.

Right around dusk, I had a small striper hit my fly just as I was lifting it out of the water. I could see the stripes on it's side. About 10 casts later I got my first striper of 2007. It was around 20 inches but it felt good. Would of liked to get a picture but my camera was about 100 yards away and I was losing daylight.

Left around 6:00 p. m. as it was dark and starting to drizzle. It was still warm and I was excited. Never had any January fishing like this before.

[Dave Sikorski]

What kind of fly were you using Ray?

It should be interesting to see what the rest of the summer and the spring hold with these unseasonably warm temps.

Have fun out there and stay safe.

-D

[Seaker]

Nice job and an AWESOME photo

[pitch bait]

Ray tell me please about these sea mullet? Are they just big mullet? Are they the same mullet that we troll? Thank you in advance.

[CapeMayRay]

Dave, I was using a standard Olive/white clouser about 2 inches long. Should of used a jiggie with the long shank hook. I usually get a better hook up ratio with them. The weather is really weird. It should be so cold that you shouldn't be able to stand out there for more than 10 minutes at this time of year.

The fish are sea herring and run about 14 to 17 inches and jump like a baby tarpon. Feed on shrimp and small baits like bay anchovies and spearing.
With a closed striper season in the back bay you can't target stripers. You can fish and release any stripers as by-catch.

Below is a picture of ones caught during the spring.

[pitch bait]

Sorry Ray I misread the post.

[CapeMayRay]

With good action yesterday I was all excited about hitting Nummy Island again today. Even tried to get a few fly fishermen to join me. I Fished 3:30 p. m. to 6:00 p. m. and

NOT A SINGLE STRIKE

Water was real clear and maybe there was too much sun, but I fished prime time into the dark. Never got a single strike. Never saw any bait anywhere and no herring jumps, which you usually get to see if they are anywhere around.

It was sunny, warm and looked perfect. Had another beautiful sunset, but it was very disappointing.