6/17/24
It has been quite the Spring!
Lets start by talking about Drum fish. We have ended our Drum season as of Father’s Day. Our final foray to Delaware Bay with a large crowd hoping for their final shot at these massive fish proved fruitless as they were not biting. We could mark them on our sounder, but we could not make them eat our fresh clams. Now that the negative is out of the way, how about the positive parts of Drum Fishing in Cape May, New Jersey for 2024. We had so many successful trips! Let me preface that with this is a gamefish that not everyone gets their chance always. Reports of up to 17 fish on a boat, still leaves others without a fish. However, the quality makes u for quantity.
THe start of Drum season saw many “puppy” drum caught. These trips found us with catching four or five fish a night with a couple larger fish mixed in. The smaller Drum are said to taste better, or at least that’s what many will say in Cape May and WIldwood when trading recipes back and fourth. As we rolled into the end of May and Memorial Day, the siz e of the fish increased, with fish up to 65 lbs. Fishing at times just off of North Cape May, with the inlet in sight, these four hour trips sometimes result in 3 hours of fishing time because the travel time is so low.
Ok, moving on to the day to day. Fluke fishing is off to an amazing start! these fat flatties. We have had more success on Fluke early on both inshore and on the reef. Throwback action abounds, but those who target fluke specifically find the keepers. While our rental rods are setup for maximizing bites, you always have the option to stop in to the Miss Chris tackle shop for the latest in tackle to specifically target keeper fluke. Captain Bob and his knowledgeable team will point you in the right direction to find your fluke.
Sea Bass fishing has been our mainstay of the 2024 Spring. Venturing as far as 16 miles from Cape May on a Four Hour trip (which turned out to be a mistake, but we tried it anyway) we have caught our fair share of Black Sea Bass throughout the spring. This fishery closes on June 19, 2024. It reopens in July and August but at one fish per man and then closes for September. We will be resuming our Sea Bass FIshing on October 1, 2024 when it reopens at 10 fish per person.
In other news, Kingfish, Weakfish and Croakers have shown up at Cape May Point along with short Fluke. Our evening trips will be focusing on this fishery for the remainder of 2024. We get asked about Bluefish often, and we would love to see the monster blues return to Cape May, NJ. I will admit, I have seen monster blues caught in Cape May already this season. Many have been caught in the back bay, while the others I have seen caught have been by Bottlenose dolphins. I have seen more Bluefish flying through the air this season than any other time in my life……
Check out some our recent catches
