Flounder overtaking the back bays from Cape May to LBI

During a normal summer the flounder have begun to migrate out into the open ocean, visiting the artificial reefs and various snags. This year it appears the popular flat fish has at least delayed that movement outside. The back bays and inlets from Cape May on up to and including Long Beach Island have been producing a very steady catch.

That is great news for a couple of reasons. First, you don’t have to expend a lot of gas as you would when you head toward a reef. Second, people don’t get seasick when they are in the calm water with land all around them. That provides an excellent opportunity to initiate youngsters into the world of fishing. Or, you can do like Rich Kita of Downingtown who simply boarded his fishing-equipped kayak behind the Wildwoods and caught a big enough fluke to win him a tackle shop tournament. I am seeing more and more fishing being done from kayaks and some of these are very impressive rigs, some even with fish finders. These back water flounder seem to be running between 2 and 4-pounds.

While we are in the back, inlet anglers are finding a few weakfish along the Atlantic City Inlet jetties but don’t be surprised if you also hook into some triggerfish and sheepshead. The triggers seem to be getting more numerous. If you have access to an oceanfront pier you can expect some kingfish and an occasional shark.

If you are intent on fishing for flounder in the ocean some have started to appear on the reefs and with the blackfish and sea bass seasons being closed all you have to do is find one of the big partyboats to get you over the hot spots. Just be courteous and do not crowd those big boats.

The action out in the canyons is heavily weighted in favor of the various tuna family members. There are good reports on yellowfin, big eye and bluefin. The Baltimore seems to be the best area but for those who don’t want that long of a trip, the Wilmington should deliver for you.

And, yes. the crabbing remains quite good. I saw one gentleman last week walking a dock with a long handled net that he used to find crabs that were clinging to the dock pilings.

This past week, after my deadline, there were two public hearing by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council to discuss bluefish management. You old timers, like me, can remember the days when bluefish were the staple of south Jersey fishing. On a summer weekend you could find literally hundreds of boats at spots such as the Stone Beds and Avalon Shoals and just about all were hooked up with huge slammer blues. Back then, 18-pound blues didn’t even raise an eyebrow. Then, like some other species, one year they were gone or where there in numbers that represented a shadow of what used to be around. I’ll have a report on these meetings in next weeks column.