Southern New Jersey Fishing Report for 7-10-2014

According to sources, the term “dog days of summer” refers to “Caniculares dies,” or days of the dogs, was what the Romans called the period from the first week of July to the second week of August.  It coincides with the traditionally warmest time of our year. So it would appear that we are officially in the “Dog Days” and in angler terms, it can be one of the toughest times of the year to mount successful fishing expeditions.  Like most of us, fish look for relief when the heat turns on and finding those hiding spots can be a daunting task. Factor in bad weather shifts and the outside factors like the cost of fuel and it makes sense to develop a plan before you hit the water to formulate your best options for a fruitful trip. That’s where these reports form OTW can help you. Our relationships with the people who work the water seven days a week are shared for one reason only. To help you achieve fishing goals. And the OTW forecasts are exactly what they proclaim to be- Forecasts. Anyone can tell you what happened last week. The relationships we build with our scouts have been nurtured over the years so we can get the best pro-active information out there to you.

Sailing from Barnegat Light Yacht Basin, the 56’ Super Chic Charter boat.  Super Chic is the perfect boat if you are looking for a trip with more than the standard six pack capacities. Captain Ted White will put you on the fish from flounder to Bluefin.  Licensed for up to thirty-five, they try to limit it to ten passengers on offshore trips but that is still extremely comfortable and stable. Lately, The Super Chic has been on mostly inshore charters. Depending on conditions and bite, it may start with jigging bluefish and finish with fluke and sea bass or ling at the deep holes.  Captain White told me the drop in water temperatures recently has kept them busy staying in front of the conditions but the bite has remained strong. They have been supplementing the three fish sea bass limit with some nice ling and the flounder catch has been picking up on the inshore wrecks. If you are into Tile fishing, keep an eye on the Chic’s FB or website as they will occasionally do an “open boat” trip for them.

If you are looking to jump on a bigger party boat in the Ocean City area, you have several good choices. The Captain Robbins and the Miss Ocean City out of the Rainbow Deep Sea Fishing Docks on Bay Ave in OC offer the best of both worlds. Owner Vic Hartley has the Captain Robbins hitting the inshore wrecks for flounder, sea bass and other wreck denizens.  Fishing has been good and getting better with the bigger fish finally migrating from the bays. Water temperatures are down to 60 or so but it hasn’t stopped the action. If you want to stay in the back waters, the Miss Ocean City is one of the few local party boats that stay in the back waters.  Flounder fishing in the bay remains active but the keeper ratio has gone up a bit. Both boats sail twice daily and have all the accommodations, including rods, bait and rest room facilities, for an enjoyable day on the water.

Mike Jung of Peace Token Bait and Tackle in Cape May Court House tells me that the action in the area has been consistent over the last week and will only get better as the winds subside. The ICW has been the primary target for most local, still getting nice keeper flounder all over the span. There are croakers in the canal as well as all along the Delaware Bay west. Small hooks and small bait will get you all you can handle. On the bay, there have been decent reports of flounder around #19 buoy.  No reports form the Old Grounds and Reef Site 11 as the winds kept many boats closer to home. The Rocks at Cape May Point have been letting go of some nice flounder to anglers tossing Swimming Mullet Gulps in white or chartreuse.  Crabbing in the area remains good.

Owner Noel Feliciano of One Stop Bait and Tackle in Atlantic City is still singing the praises of the local beaches and Jetties. The AC surf has been magic this year with more +5 pound flounder coming out of it than I can ever recall. The key to success has been live minnows.  Noel also tells me that king fish and croakers have moved into the area in very nice numbers. Bloodworms are the key for them. And don’t worry about getting bloods in AC, One Stop is probably the biggest seller of worms in NJ. They always have them and they open early. There are some trigger fish in the rocks but blowfish are still silent. Noel tells me that angler in Lakes Bay have been getting the occasional porgie keeper as a bonus.

At Ken’s Landing in Point Pleasant Beach, you will find the Norma-K III and with that a ride to the good local fishing. Captained by Ken Keller and Matt Sosnowki, the Norma-K does two trips daily and also has night blue fishing seven days a week all summer.  Day trips have been decent of late with some nice fluke coming over the rails. Top baits have been Green and Nuclear Chicken Gulp Mullets and of course live baits. With the cooler water that has come in, they have also been getting some nice sea bass and ling to augment the catch. Night trips for blues have been fair only because of the size of the bluefish they have been getting. The blues are still a little on the small size.  When that bite has slowed, they retarget for sea bass and ling. So it is never a wasted trip on the Norma-K.

Mike Tabasso of the High Roller Pontoon Boat in Gardiners Basin (AC) is still doing good on the flounder fishing in Absecon Inlet. The fish have moved more towards the inlet and the Brigantine bridge but daily pool winners have all been in the 4- to 5-pound range. They are using more live minnows but some anglers are producing with Gulp Baits as well. Small se bass have infiltrated the bay and can be a bother. The High Roller sails twice daily at 8 and 1. A great way to get on the water while in Atlantic City. And if you have never been to the Gardiners Basin area there, it is a great change of pace with some great food and good times. Check it out.

Just over the causeway, as you enter into Seaside Heights you will find Dock Outfitters. With their fishing pier, boat rentals and class A tackle shop, it is a great place to start a day of fishing or crabbing. John Yak at the shop reports that the beaches in the area have been a little soft but anglers are still getting into the fluke and small blues. In the bay, the best bet has been fluking, crabbing and cocktail blues, in that order. The best action has been by his customers on the rental boats but the pier anglers have been doing best with the blues on small metal lures. Crabbing off the pier has been hot one day and cools the next. As is typical for the dog days. The nice thing about fishing off the pier is if you need bait or a break in the action, dining and restocking are only a few steps away.

According to the crew at Tony’s Bait and Tackle in Manahawkin, fluking is still the top dog in the local pound. Back waters, closer to the inlet, seems to be the best spot but don’t forget the drifts around the BB and 42 buoys. Crabbing is getting better every day but the blowfish are still scarce. Some kingfish have arrived on the beachside and the inlets, both north and south, are loaded with small bluefish.  Water temperatures in the area are slowly rising but a constant south wind has kept them in the low 60’s.

I stopped by Absecon Bay Sportsmen’s Center this morning to get the info straight from the source in regard to local conditions. The flounder catch in the bay remains decent according to Captain Dave Showell with more throwbacks than keepers on the rise. The cow nose rays have moved into the bay so that could make fishing a little tougher. On the plus side, Dave tells me that the bait is teeming all over the place. The first schools of peanut bunker have surfaced in the creek and there is talk of some spot around. The beaches are seeing nice kingfish and croaker populations. Dave was getting a delivery of bloodworms when I was in the shop and they were as big and fat as I have seen in quite some time.  There have been some trigger fish caught in the inlet along the rocks and bulkheads.  Dave also told me that crabbing was on the upswing.

In Ocean City, Fin-Atics Marine Supply is my “go to” scout for On the Water scouting reports. Coming off the 4^th these guys always have a ton of feedback from the customer base. Much of the action is still centered in the back waters. Fluke can be had off all the usual places. Kennedy Park, 9^th Street and Rainbow channel to name but a few. Corson’s Inlet is still the hot spot off the beach. Kingfish have showed up finally according to matt at the shop and flounder fishing has been good on Gulp, Minnow or squid.  Water temperatures right off the beach have been hanging around the 60 mark and Matt suggested that new winds could bring it up and change the fishing patterns. There have been few reports coming in from the inshore wrecks due to the wind but those who venture out have been doing well. Matt also told me that the blue claw chasers have been doing well in places like the Parkway Bridge in the Patcong and back towards Marmora.

In Toms River, Lenny Hahn of Captain Hippo’s says the best way to put some fish in the box is to target either cocktail blues or fluke. The south wind in that area has really put a lid n most species but those two are holding their own. Spearing, squid or killies will work on both species but all you really need for blues is a metal lure. Lenny told me that the blue claws are also in mid-summer shape if you are looking for some table fare. Sadly, blowfish have yet to make an appearance in the area. The beaches are starting to be visited by kingfish and croakers, so you have that going for you. Water temps in the area are in the low sixties which probably accounts for some of the conditions.

I just have to find some time to jump on the Stray Cat for one of his Open Boat trips. Located in Seaview Harbor just west of Longport, the Stray Cat is a 56’ Downeaster with a 19’ beam, in my opinion, a perfect fishing boat. When Captain Mike O’Neal isn’t taking her offshore in search of charter Sportsfishing opportunities, he fishes the inshore wrecks. And with all the years’ experience he has in the area, you won’t find a better captain at putting you on the fish. I spoke to Mike this morning while he was on the OC Reef and hitting the fluke hard. He told me that  sea bass have gone missing since Arthur  but there were still nice ling as a tradeoff.  Mike told me Arthur seems to have scattered the tuna in the southern canyons but there were still some nice blue fin parked in the Cigar and Elephant Trunk.  With the wind, it has been tough getting solid scouting reports but Mike is at the top of the game. The Stray Cat will have open boat trips tomorrow (Fri), Tuesday and Thursday of next week. Even though the boat holds up to 30, they try to limit these trips to ten or so. I recommend calling ahead if you are interested. Open trips leave at 8 am.

Breaking News -Team Tackle Direct Is crating everything up and heading south to Orlando. Don’t get worried, they aren’t leaving their operations on Tilton Road in EHT; they are going to ICAST to scope out the latest and greatest innovations for our beloved sport. And these guys don’t just check it out for new products for their business; they produce hundreds of videos featuring the best of the new gear. I spoke with Captain Ed Berger at their HQ today and while I wanted to talk product, all he could talk about was his new protégé and the 5.5 pound flounder he caught Behind Longport on his very first fishing trip. Great job Kevin, and I hear you did it without the use of a computer.  While I had Ed trapped, I probed him on the offshore bite but he was hearing the same news as I have.  The bite has scattered and scouts were out searching for their new location. Best options are the Cigar and Elephant Trunk where there has been some blue fin spotted.  Ed feels the weather patterns are leveling out and we should have more info by Saturday.

Best Bets for the Weekend

Early projections look as if we may just get the perfect fishing weekend we need this time. Winds look like they will finally lay down a bit and water temperatures appear to be heading towards where they should be this time of year. As mentioned at the start of the forecast, we are now officially in the “dog days of summer” and that represents a challenge in. If you only have one option, flounder is where I would head. The beaches are producing and you can also rig for croakers and kingfish there and make a day of it. Wreck fishing is picking up but even with the lowered limit sea bass are a little timid. There are some nice 1- to 3-pound blues around but not in volume. So Flounder is the safe bet. Blue claw crabs also present some options to tie in with bay fishing. Whatever you opt to do with this run of nice weather, stay safe out there. You only get so many days in the game, spend them wisely. See you on the incoming.