1) Long Beach Island/Great Bay
Weakfish might be making a decent come back at the mouth of the Mullica River. Maryanne Schutz at Chestnut Neck Boat Yard said a couple of anglers remembered the good old days of weakfishing there by taking shedder crab as bait and going out early in the morning before the boat traffic spooked the fish. They caught their limit of one fish. Schutz said boaters fishing out of Chestnut Neck are coming back with one or two keeper flounder just about every trip. The flounder fans like Intracoastal Waterway marker 139 and they use a variety of baits, including spearing, minnows and mackerel strips. Chestnut Neck weighed a 4.68 flounder caught by Karen Verdi. Tom Paxton at Great Bay Marina said they are seeing a lot of 4-5 pound flounder.
2) Atlantic County
Dave Showell at Absecon Bay Sportsman Center in Absecon said the flounder keeper ratio is as good as one to four in the back bays and toward Absecon Inlet. He used Gulp, minnows and live spot to catch flounder off Reed Bay and at ICW 178. Linda Davoli of Brigantine won the Brigantine American Legion Flounder Tournament Saturday, June 25, by fishing more toward Absecon Inlet at Little Panama and on the other side behind Borgata with minnows. Flounder are inside Great Egg Inlet at the barge off Lakes Bay, Risley Channel and back off Kennedy Park in Somers Point. Triggerfish are hanging around the rocks at Seaview Harbor, Ocean City fishing pier in the inlet, and T-Jetty and the Absecon Inlet rocks.
3) Cape May County
Triggerfish and kingfish are collecting around 8th Street Jetty in Avalon. Try for them with pieces of clam and bloodworm close to the rocks. Kingfish also are in the surf at Strathmere, Sea Isle City and Wildwood. Kingfish and a few weakfish have been caught at the Cape May Point and ferry jetties. Croaker are in Cape May Canal and around the toll bridge into Wildwood Crest. Flounder are in the back bays throughout. And, just to prove that a few striped bass still are around, Justin McCafferty got a 15-pounder while fishing from a Pier 88 rental boat inside Sea Isle City. He was using a bunker head for bait.
4) Delaware Bay
Skippers and flounder fans are making the run across Delaware Bay to fish for flounder at Old Grounds and Reef Site 11. Flounder Alley in Delaware Bay also has flounder.
5) Offshore
Great reports of yellowfin tuna along with mahi, plus white marlin and blue marlin are coming from Wilmington to Lindenkohl Canyon. Troll for them with naked or skirted ballyhoo, green machines and assorted lures. Some of the yellowfin approach the 100-pound mark and double-figure catches seem to be common. Mako and other sharks are also around. Bluefish are on some of the inshore ridges. A sailfish was even caught the other day at East Lump, which is 20 miles off Cape May.
