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There is decent fishing other than the Claw with report and pictures
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We opted not to go to the Claw as our husband and wife charter really wanted smaller more manageable size fish for their day with us on Thursday. There had been a great and I mean great overall bite much closer to Cape May by one of the boats at our dock on Wednesday all trolling and the catch included small yellowfins (10-12), wahoo, mahi and a 135 lb bluefin plus one slob estimated at close to 70 inches or more. These were all mixed in together and the bluefins did bite short surface lines closer to the boat intended for the smaller yellowfins so it was impossible to predict exactly what would show up in your spread when a knockdown occurred. Overall some pretty tasty fillets for the lucky anglers that were out on Wednesday. On our trip on Thursday we did okay but the bite was not there like on Wednesday and we found the good water had moved inshore some from where the guys had them on Wednesday. We did well inshore but opted to move out a little further to a temperature break and that was a mistake on my part as the old saying goes never leave fish to find fish. Our goal was to catch a white marlin, yellowfin tuna, Mahi-Mahi, wahoo and one small bluefin under 47 inches all on the same day troll trip and we did manage 3-5 yesterday. No one would have complained if a slob over 100 lbs had jumped on one of our baits but we really had little interest in ones that big yesterday with only a husband and wife charter. Almost all our bites were before 10:00 am and it seemed to die quickly once out beyond the 30 fathom line. There is a nice break between the 20-30 fathom lines and that is where we had our fish yesterday morning. We did troll around the scallop fleet and one of our friends pulled in that had fished the Claw earlier in the am and hooked up a slob bluefin right away but released it has he had them earlier yesterday at the Claw and had his legal fish. I think he was hoping for a smaller one under 47 inches but that was not in the cards at least behind a 35 fathom scallop boat. Bottom line there is the potential to have a decent day not that far offshore and avoid the crowds at the Claw. Having reported all this the claw is still the place to be right now for big bluefins but my friend reported a fleet there early yesterday morning of many boats doing their overnight canyon trips with do to nothing happening at night to date in our local canyons. We have opted to reschedule 4 overnight trips so far this season to later in Sept hoping the bite will start soon as it should but rescheduling this is not always possible for those charter operations that have few open dates left and the Claw makes for some exciting action for those that overnight there. Just wanted to advise any anglers that do not want to run as far as the Claw there are some legitimate options out there right now if the bite continues in the area we fished yesterday. A little hint: There are small yellowfins just outside the 19 fathom lump and east from there if that helps anglers with small boats and a few were caught there yesterday in the green cooler water.
Joe and Sue UVA from NY, NY who fished with us yesterday. These are the typical size yellowfins being caught inshore now and on good days up to 8 or more can be caught which provides decent inshore tuna action. The real challenge arises when a 125 lb bluefin eats a bait intended for one of these smaller yellowfins as the bluefins are mixed right in with the yellowfins on some days.
We did mange to boat a very nice wahoo on yesterday's trip and overall Joe and Sue had some great eating fish to enjoy while vacationing in Cape May this week.
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