The local fishing scene has a lot going on for those attempting to cool off in or near the surf or out on the water. The heat is expected to break this weekend so it looks as though the action could reach a peak just a few days into summer.
Flounder catches had a breakout over the last few days and the great news about improving weakfish just keeps getting better and better.
Another double-digit flounder was reported this week.
Jerry Eiseman of Monroeville, Pa., took a rental boat from Dolfin Dock in Somers Point to Ship Channel off Somers Point on Tuesday, and returned with a flounder that weighed 13½ pounds and was 33 inches in length. Rob Barrett at Dolfin certified it for The Press Fishing Contest. Barrett said it was caught on a minnow
A 17½-pound flounder was caught Father’s Day by Phil Todd of Egg Harbor Township from the rocks in Absecon Inlet and Nancy Tregnan of Brigantine got a 10-3 flounder in Broad Creek back on May 18.
Robert Bloom of Egg Harbor Township drifted Ship Channel on Friday and weighed a 7.96-pound flounder, Barrett reported.
Tyler Allen of Egg Harbor City weighed a 4-pound flounder at Absecon Bay Sportsman Center in Absecon that he caught Thursday and entered in the Youth Division of the contest.
The morning high tide is the best time for catching flounder, according to Mike Tabasso, captain of the High Roller partyboat that sails 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. daily from Gardner’s Basin in Atlantic City. And that’s the tide we have this weekend and into next week.
Nice flounder are also out in the ocean. That’s where Mike Simrell of Scranton, Pa., got an 8.79-pounder at Townsend Inlet Reef on June 9.
It was weighed for The Press contest at Moran’s Dockside in Avalon.
One of the hot spots for flounder mixed with sea bass is Old Grounds across Delaware Bay. A Ho-D-Doe charter out of Budd’s Bait and Tackle in Villas crossed over Tuesday and racked up 16 keepers and a load of sea bass, according to Mike Hodges at Budd’s.
Hodges also reported that the jetties and beaches around Cape May Point are holding weakfish, kingfish, croaker and flounder.
Joe and Miriam McSherry of Villas worked the waters near the concrete ship off Cape May Point on Wednesday and caught 14 weakfish. They could only keep one each, but that is an indication of the improvement in catching weakfish this year when compared to the recent past.
Piermaster Pat Curran said Friday that they are catching some nice weakfish on the Ventnor City Fishing Pier. She said there are a lot of small weakfish around the pier, but 1-in-10 is a keeper.
Higbee’s Marina in Fortescue said weakfish are coming on strong with lots of flounder and a few bluefish in Delaware Bay, and Longreach Marina on Maurice River reported that Capt. Tim Smith’s charterboat Bodacious wound up with a weakfish for about 20 customers recently.
Kelly Gregory of Somers Point caught a 7-pound weakfish while fishing in the Great Egg Harbor River on Monday. It was entered into the Women’s Division of The Press contest at Dolfin. So was a 3.36-pound weakfish caught by Kim Lynch of Millville in the back bays of Avalon on June 5. Avalon Hodge-Podge handled the weigh-in.
The offshore sportfishing crowd surely will head for the deep water for yellowfin tuna this weekend because of some great catches during the week.
Mike Del Rosario of Margate made another super offshore sojourn Thursday on the Sturgeon General, this time with Eric Hilletheim and Michael Almendras, both of Northfield.
They hit Wilmington Canyon for a daytime troll with skirted ballyhoo and went 5-for-5 on yellowfin, plus they raised a white marlin. Del Rosario reported the bite was late morning to early afternoon.
Justin Aversa of Brigantine was out there on Doughboy and caught eight yellowfin and also raised a white marlin. Curt Ricccardi reported from Offshore Bait and Tackle in Atantic City that he was on that trip, and they also caught a barracuda.
Earlier this week, Capt. John Sowerby had a charter on Hooked Up II out of South Jersey Marina that had seven yellowfin while trolling 55 miles off Cape May. Tim McBride of Somers Point had a crew out Tuesday for 12 yellowfin and a blue marlin release.
These yellowfin all seem to fall between 30 and 55 pounds.
Jim Moran said from Moran’s Dockside in Avalon that a lot of the local boats are planning to head for Baltimore Canyon. That’s likely to happen from just about every port along the coast.
* * *
Become a fan of Shep's on Facebook and he'll let you know when he files an update. Go to our website at Facebook.com/ShepOnFishing, and look under favorite pages, or simply search for Mike Shepherd's Shep on Fishing in the Facebook search field.
* * *
Mike Shepherd is the retired sports editor of The Press. His Shep on Fishing column and Shep's Hot Spot appear Tuesdays and Saturdays in the sports section and daily on-line.
Call 609-350-0388 or email sheponfishing@yahoo.com.
You can also hear Shep's on-air fishing reports Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 6:05 a.m., 9:45 a.m. and 7:05 p.m. on WOND 1400 AM.
