The cold winds have finally ushered winter into Cape May with water temps dropping toward normal winter levels. As of January 23, 2007, water temps at the mouth of Delaware Bay are about 45 F. That is still warmer than usual.
Up until the last couple of days, reports of bluefish and striped bass were not unusual. Blues that were hitting within a couple miles of the beach were undoubtedly chasing the late schools of herring that are now off the beaches. Birds such as gannets were obvious as they dive for herring off Cape May. They are usually much farther south in January, but the herring has held them close to Cape May. Blues were being caught until mid-month in the Cape May rips, along with striped bass.
Bass, mostly shorts, have been reported from the rips as well as from the back bays. One charter boat captain who had already pulled his boat told me of taking a 20 inch striped bass from the sodbanks on January 14 — on clouser minnows!!! I’ve never heard of bass being caught on flies in January and that may be a record. Along with the bass, he managed to catch several sea herring, which can be fun on flies and a light flyrod. Some bass have also been reported from the surf, taking clams. With temps now moving below about 45 F, the blues will likely disappear and the bass will certainly slow down.
The great sea bass fishing continues on the Atlantic Star. 18 hour offshore trips on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday (weather permitting) leave the dock at 2 a.m. and reservations are a must. Recent reports from the Atlantic Star (Starlight Fleet - see our party boat webpages) show that the fishing has been good with anglers reporting more than a dozen sea bass to about 7 pounds. A 15 pound blackfish was also reported this past week.
So, although it is midwinter, there is fishing to be had.
While inshore striper fishing is still going strong, the “reel” news is that the winter offshore sea bass fishing is really shaping up nicely. Small bass, up to 24″ or thereabouts, are still being caught on flies in water that is unseasonably warm both close to the jetties and in the back bays. Party and charter boats, are still catching good numbers of bass in the rips, although the ratio of keepers to throwbacks is rather high. That bodes well for future fishing, although it seems there have been fewer keepers this year than in previous years. The abundance of smaller bass certainly makes the trips worthwhile. For Cape May charter boats, see http://www.capemaytimes.com/fishing/charter.htm
The Atlantic Star (Starlight Fishing Fleet) out of Wildwood Crest is reporting sea bass to 6 and 7 pounds with plenty of “smaller” fish being caught. Although the trip is an 18 hour trip (2:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.) that ranges to more than 50 miles offshore, anglers have been rewarded with limit catches of sea bass with pollock, tautog (blackfish), ling, and even small cod mixed in. The pollock have been upwards of 20+ pounds on occasion.
For those who don’t know much about pollock, they are related to cod and are sometimes called Boston Bluefish. They will grow to 40 pounds or more, but most f ish are much smaller. They fight much harder than cod and working them from the depths takes some doing. They are very strong fighters, especially when they get up over 10 pounds. They are also a great eating fish with white meat (after cooking) that is delicate, yet very tasty (some say better than cod). The smaller sea bass are under 5 pounds, which means they are still good-sized fish.
Call the Starlight Fleet for reservations - click here for details - http://www.capemaytimes.com/fishing/fishing-wildwood.htm