Bree Zee Lee Buddies - Cape May Fishing

2009-10-31T14:26:00.000-07:00

Cape May Fishing Report Oct 29-30, 2009

Angler: Capt Chris
Captain: Capt Chris
Mate: Capt Chris
Boat Name: Offshore Bites
Fish: 34 Inch Striped Bass, 14 lbs 12 oz
Location: Cape May Rips
Date Caught: Oct 30 2009
Bait: Eel

Offshore Bites made one last trip for the season, after sitting in the slip for the last 2 and ½ months. I took Thursday and Friday off to try some Fall Striper fishing. Thursday the weather was forecast to be a little rough so I went out on the Miss Chris head boat, for an 8 hour trip. There were about 15 people on board. We only caught 4 fish during the entire trip, but they were all nice sized Striped Bass. I didn’t happen to be one of the lucky ones to catch one that day.
The weather on Friday was better so I went out in my own boat, on my own. High tide was at around 6:00 AM, so I got out early to fish the outgoing tide. I went back to the Cape Rips, and stuck pretty close to the beach. The bass like to hide out on the other side of the sand bars that cause the rips so they can ambush prey. It’s fairly easy to know where the rips are because the waves get bigger there. As I would approach the rougher water I would turn the boat so the bow would head into it, as opposed to breaking on the side. As I was turning the boat on one of the rips I looked at the back to make sure my lines were straight; one of the rods and nice bend in it. I jumped back grabbed the rod and started reeling. The fish went under the boat but I was able to bring it in. Getting it in the net was a challenge, since I was on my own. After about the fifth try I got the fish in the net. I was pumped.

I measured the fish and it was 34 inches, they need to be 28 to be a keeper, so in the box it went.
I stuck with the same approach for the rest of the day, but didn’t have any more action. I headed back to the slip at around noon, since slack tide was approaching.
I cleaned the boat up and then Capt Dave helped me get it on the trailer. The boat is now in the driveway.

2009-08-03T18:09:00.000-07:00

Cape May Fishing Report Aug 1, 2009

I drove down to Cape May on Saturday morning. I bought some minnows and ice and I was off for the Cape May Reef for the first time this year. The ride out was pretty smooth, there was some large swells but I could still cruise at about 20 knots. I headed for the bridge rubble towards the north end of the reef. The water temp was about 70 degrees. There were a few boats by me around the pots, but there were a lot more boats a little more south of us towards the middle of the reef.

The weather was great, but the drift wasn’t very good most of the day. I fished from about 9 – 2:30 and only caught about 7 shorts, 1 bluefish, a couple of skates, and a starfish. The drift started getting good at about 2:00 but I had to get back in and do some work.

The ride back in was even smoother. I fueled up again when I got back to the marina. I did about 32 nautical miles and burned a little over 18 gallons and was getting about 1.73 MPG (or should I say NMPG) for this trip, but that included some drifting.

Sunday I got up got some breakfast then stopped at Jim’s Bait and Tackle. I was planning on buying a Penn International 975, but they were out of them. Jim recommended trying a Shimano 2000LD Charter Special, which also has a lever drag and level wind, so I bought one. It was about half the price of the Penn. I haven’t used it yet but hope to use it soon.

I headed home fairly early on Sunday with hopes of finishing up the lawn, but the weather had other plans.

Only 4 weeks left of Summer Flounder Season 2009. When the season is done I’ll be hosting my own version of “After the Catch” at the Harbor View, we can all sit around drinking Duck Farts.

2009-07-27T15:21:00.000-07:00

Cape May Fishing Report July 25, 2009 – Bree Zee Lee Fluke Tournament

I left home Friday afternoon a little early so I could get down to the marina for the Captains meeting for the Bree Zee Lee Fluke Tournament. On my way down I decided to call Capt. Randy and see what his plans were for the weekend. He answered his cell phone and told me that the Envoy had broken down, and he was stuck in Hammonton. I made a U-Turn and went back to pick them up. Luckily I was driving my stretch Nissan Versa and we had plenty of room for all their stuff. The Envoy was towed to the local GMC dealer down the street. I then continued on my way to Cape May with my new passengers Randy, Ruth and Sprocket (the dog).

I dropped them off at the camper and headed over to the Captains Meeting, which was at 7:00 PM on Friday. I wasn’t sure if I was going to enter the tournament because I didn’t have a crew, but I entered anyhow. Then I cruised back over to the camper and we went to CJ’s for diner. The swordfish was pretty good. After diner we headed back to the camp ground, and then I drove back to the boat with Randy and let him take the car. I was going to be fishing most of the day anyhow and wouldn’t need it.

For the tournament you could have your lines in the water at 6:00 AM, and you could have a maximum of 5 lines in the water. I ended up leaving the marina around 5:30 AM and headed for the Old Grounds by myself. On the way out, there was a south wind and some large swells but nothing too bad. I had my two lines in the water at about 7:00 AM. The water temperature was about 73 degrees at the old ground, and the water was pretty clean.

There wasn’t much happening for the first couple of hours. I did see some bluefish jump out of the water just a few feet from the boat. Then a few minutes later I found out why they were nervous; I saw a sharks dorsal fin and tail cutting through the surface. It was probably about a 5 foot shark, but I couldn’t tell what kind.

From 9-11 AM it was pretty much not stop action. I was working two rods and it seemed I would reel one up, and then have to reel in the other. At one point I had hits on both rods at the same time, I decided to reel in the one that felt heavier. Unfortunately all the flounder I caught were short. I also caught a lot of Sea Bass too. I only needed 4 or 5 ounces to hold the bottom at that point, but had to keep adding more weight as the wind picked up. I had an excellent drift for most of the day.

I moved a little further south after the action slowed down and continued to pick through shorts and Sea Bass. As the wind picked up I kept telling myself I should head in closer to Cape May and try McCries Shoal, but I kept catching another fish each time I was getting ready to leave. I took off for McCries Shoal at about 1:00 PM. I was the only one fishing at McCries Shoal, and didn’t even get a hit while I was there. I left McCries at about 2:30 and was back in my slip by around 3:00 PM. Weigh in was from 3-4. Unfortunately I didn’t have anything to weigh in.

I checked the trip meter on my chart plotter before I left the slip and after I returned. My round trip total for the day was 55 miles, and I burned about 35.4 gallons of fuel, which gives me an average of about 1.55 miles per gallon. I got an average of about 1.65 mpg last year while trolling but the sea conditions where better on the trolling trip.

In all I think there were 25 boats registered for the tournament. The entry fee was $100 and the Calcutta for the stringer of the two heaviest fish was $50, and I think everyone went in on the Calcutta. So the Calcutta probably paid out about $1250. I’m not sure how they broke down the percentages for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd heaviest fish. I do know I didn’t have any of them. After the weigh in we all sat around at the tables up by the fuel dock and enjoyed our gourmet hot dogs and had a few beers.

Here’s a photo of the leader board after everyone weighed in. Looks like the “Stanely Rose” won the Calcutta with a two fish total of 11.62 lbs, and Duchess came in 1st place.

Here’s a shot of me holding up my parting gift I got just for playing the game.

I ended up spending the night in the Outback because I needed internet access in order to do some work at 1:30 in the morning. By the way Randy and Ruth’s camper is an Outback, I wasn’t in Australia. I got up and went out to the Picnic Pavilion because I can get a better internet signal out there. I was out there until about 2:45 AM. I may need to file for workman’s compensation since I was being eaten alive by skeeters.

Sunday we got up and washed the boats, then headed to the Harbor View for lunch. After that we packed up and left for home.

2009-07-19T15:02:00.000-07:00

Cape May Fishing Report July 18, 2009

I went down to Cape May on Saturday morning, hoping that the weather report would be wrong and I might be able to get out and do some trolling. Unfortunately the wind was blowing a little too strong. I really didn’t do much all day. In the afternoon I went over and sat outside at the Schooner bar at the Lobster House. I sat there waiting for the boats to come in for the South Jersey Tuna Tournament. Around 5:00 I saw Andy and crew pass by, and I yelled out to them to see if the caught anything. Andy replied they had one and guessed it to be about 150 pounds. I popped of my trusty bar stool and ran over to South Jersey to watch them weigh in. They did have a big Bluefin that weighed in at 152 lbs. On Friday they had weighed one in that was 142 lbs. Even though they had some big fish they weren’t in the money.
Here’s a photo of the leader board after everyone weighed in.

Meanwhile back at the Bree Zee Lee, I noticed Capt. Dave’s boat the Tiramisu was up on the sling. I saw Rich working on the Tiramisu on Sunday morning. I asked him what the problem was; he told me it was a simple case of catastrophic engine failure!!!!

No not really he was getting ready to change to the impeller. I think the boat is already back in the water; at least it wasn’t on the lift when I left for home this morning.

Hopefully next weekend I will be entering the Bree Zee Lee Fluke tournament. I think Ross the guy a few slips up from me, might be the guy to beat. I saw him Saturday afternoon, after he had returned from the Old Grounds again. His cooler was pretty full and he showed me the fish, one was over six pounds.

2009-07-12T18:55:00.000-07:00

Cape May Fishing Report July 11, 2009 – Duke of Fluke Special

I looked at the weather report for Saturday and realized we were finally getting a day with the wind from the South, which is good for heading to The Old Grounds. Then I realized that the Duke of Fluke tournament was scheduled for Saturday as well. I decided to put together a team of elite flounder fishermen, but ended up with Capt Randy, Dave M, Dave S, and yours truly.

Capt Randy, Dave M, and I made it over to Sterling Harbor in Wildwood to register for the tournament and attend the Captains meeting on Friday evening. We also entered the 5 biggest fish Calcutta and the biggest single fish Calcutta.

We met up on the docks at the Bree Zee Lee at 6:00 on Saturday morning. I drove up to Wildwood for the shotgun start at around 6:45 AM. They stopped registration for the event at 7:00 AM. They were approximately 150 boats and 15 kayaks registered for the event. The organizers smartly held off checking people in until 7:15, since the shot gun start was scheduled for 7:30. I wisely parked on the other side of Rio Grande Avenue heading back towards the parkway. Once it reached 7:30 they let us go, and people started running for the cars. I thought a couple of guys were going to get run over running across the road. I hopped in the mighty Nissan Versa and had the squirrels under the hood screaming as I headed for the GSP. There’s was a pack of 10-15 cars in the first group and we were all heading south on the GSP at about 90 MPH. The winner of the race was also rewarded by a State Trooper, luckily I wasn’t the winner. I ran over to the boat which Capt Randy had waiting at the fuel dock and we were off by 7:45 AM. I was already having fun and the day just started.

As we pulled out of the marina we could see a high speed parade of boats coming out of the ICW towards the Inlet. There was one guy who had a center console with three outboards on it and he impressively put the hammer down and was flying by the other boats. The inlet looked like a blender. As we broke the inlet Capt Randy punched up one of the waypoints for The Old Grounds. It took us about an hour to make it to the area.

We pulled in by some of the boats with a good reputation for catching fish. I immediately hooked up with a massive 3 inch sea robin. We continued to drift but most of the boats in the area were heading elsewhere, then I picked up the first keeper of the day, a 21 inch flatty.

We moved to another area and Capt Randy hooked up and landed a 23 incher. At another spot Dave M had another 21 inch keeper, and Dave S caught a 22 incher. If you’re keeping track we were up to 4 keepers, and we needed 5. I lost track of how many throw backs we caught, I personally must have had at least 10 throw backs. At one point Dave S hooked into what he thought was a big fish. He was using a high low rig and ended up with the only double header of the day, unfortunately he pulled in two rocks. The one was pretty cool it had a red plant growing out of it. We stuck it out until about 3:15 and then had to give up. The weigh in back at Sterling Harbor was from 4-5.

The wind had really picked up in the afternoon; I’m guessing it was blowing about 20 knots, luckily from the south so we had a following sea. Capt. Randy had the boat doing about 20 knots on the way in. We did find a few pots holes on the way back to port. The waves were mostly 4-6 footers, but we happened to run into a set that were about 8 footers. A few members of the crew got a refreshing blast of water. We made it back to the slip by 4:30 PM. In theory if we had enough fish to weigh in we could have made it up to the weigh in.

We cleaned the fish, and then ourselves and headed over to the awards party back at Sterling Harbor. There were hundreds of people there and you had to wait in line to get to the buffet table. There wasn’t enough room to sit so we sat on the grass across the street. We hung out there until a little after 8:00 and they still didn’t hand out the awards, so we left and headed over to the Harbor View.

I read on the BassBarn that the heaviest fish weighed in was over 11 pounds. I think it was 11.8 but I’m not sure. The guys who won for the heaviest 5 fish weren’t in the Calcutta, so they only won $1600. The guys that came in 2nd place for the heaviest 5 fish were in the Calcutta and ended up taking home about $16000.

All in all it was a fun day and I think everyone had a good time.

2009-06-28T18:01:00.000-07:00

Cape May Fishing Report June 27, 2009

Bill, his Dad, and I headed out of the marina around 8:15 AM and headed for the Delaware Bay. Capt Randy and Dave had left around 6:00 AM and headed for the Cape May Reef.

We started in the bay, in the Brown Shoal area but the wind was against the tide and we didn’t have much of a drift, or any action. After about an hour we decided to move north. We were heading up towards Buoy 16, but stopped a little North of Brandywine light because there was a small fleet there. We pulled in right next to the Lady Chris head boat. The water temperature was around 70 degrees. I think we picked up one short there. So we headed further North toward Buoy 16. There was a North West wind most of the day and with an incoming tide. We did pick up a few more shorts once the tide went slack, and the wind was able to push us along.

We made it back to the barn by about 2:30, and Bill and his Dad headed home. (empty handed). While I was walking up to the Fuel Shack Captain Andy from the Island Girl yelled out to me, “Boy are you glad you didn’t go with us”. They ran into trouble 62 miles out. While cruising at 25 knots his anchor suddenly came undone, as it was dropping it got caught in his port side prop, and banged it up pretty bad. The good news was they were able to limp back in, all 62 miles on the other engine; the bad news was they were only doing 8 knots on the way back. The breakdown took place at around 6:00 AM, and they didn’t make it back until 3:00 PM. So yes I was glad I wasn’t on that trip.
When I caught up with Capt. Randy he reported that they only caught shorts while at the Cape May reef.

Later in the afternoon I went to Jim’s Tackle to buy a new jigging rod and reel. Matt at the shop helped me out. I ended up with an Avet LX 6 reel, with 60 lb braid and a top shot of about 100 ft of 60 lb mono. For the rod I went with the Shimano Trevala Jigging rod. Hopefully I’ll get to use them soon; I hope to jig for some tuna. Here’s some photo’s of the new weapons in the arsenal.

2009-06-15T05:03:00.000-07:00

Cape May Fishing Report June 13, 2009

Capt. Dave and I headed out of the slip in the Tiramisu at about 6:00 heading towards the Maih Maul area again. Again the ride out was fairly smooth. I think low tide was somewhere around 7:30, but we had a decent drift most of the day. We started off a little North of the light, but weren’t doing much. We headed over by some of the Party boats which were a little South East of the light. Capt. Dave’s sonar was indicating the water temperature was 73 degrees, but that might be off a little.

Again I think we ended up with about 10-12 shorts, and one bluefish, no keepers this week. We did come across a big sea turtle when we were out there. He was floating on the surface with a seagull sitting on his shell. He was still alive but didn’t look to good. We were also boarded by the coast guard when we came back to the harbor; they were conducting a spot safety check which we passed.

Later in the afternoon Capt Randy helped me get the new alternator in my boat. I was going to go to sleep early on Saturday night, but got a phone from Jim at around 9:00 letting me know he was over at the Harbor View. I got back to the boat after 1:00 AM.

2009-06-07T17:53:00.000-07:00

Cape May Fishing Report June 6, 2009

Bill and yours truly left the Flemington area around 6:00 AM. We drove down in separate vehicles, and were down in Cape May by around 8:30 AM. We left the slip at around 9:10, and headed out the Cape May canal, heading towards the Maih Mall Lighthouse, which is a bout a 14 mile run up the bay. The seas were calm and we are had the lines in the water by 10:15 AM. We didn’t have much of a drift at first, but the tide started moving out a short while later.

The water temperature was around 66 degrees, and the wind was from the North, but had changed over the course of the day. The drift was originally running from North to South, but became more Easterly after a while.

We ended up with about 10-12 throw backs, two of which were over 17 ¾ inches, so they were just short of the limit. We also had one keeper that was around 19 inches. Bill also caught 2 skates.

The ride back in was just as smooth. We left the fishing grounds at around 2:30 PM, which was around low tide. The hydraulic pump on the outdrive was working so I was able to raise the motor. However I think the alternator may have took a dump, battery one lost its charge and the volt meter was running low.

When we got back to the slip we filleted the fish, and Bill took a look at the alternator.Later I cleaned the boat and went for sushi at the Harbor View. On Sunday morning I removed the alternator and gave it to Randy to test and repair.

Here's the after shot from Sunday evening.

2008-09-01T07:46:00.001-07:00

Cape May Fishing Report Aug 30, 2008

My buddy Mark drove down from the Harrisburg area early Saturday morning and we headed out of the slip around 4:30 AM. The plan was to get out early and do some trolling. It was a little foggy when we left, but the seas were very calm with hardly any wind. The boat was running fine as we made our way slowly out of the inlet only doing about 6 knots.

We cleared the inlet and set the chart plotter on a course for the East Lump. We were still moving pretty slow because it was dark and the fog was building up. We only made it about a mile from the inlet and the motor suddenly stopped. I tried to re-fire the motor but it wouldn’t start. The lights and the electronics were all still working but the motor wouldn’t turn over. After trying a few things I finally had to call Tow Boat US, luckily I’m a member with unlimited towing. Benny is the Capt of the Tow Boat US vessel, and his slip is just a few down from mine. I felt bad calling him because I knew he was out all night towing in a big sail boat, I saw him when he was getting in at around 4:00 AM.
We threw the anchor over and waited for Benny, he was there fairly soon. Then he hooked us up and towed us back in.

The guys in the fuel shack had heard of my problems, and let me know the Jeff the mechanic was inside the shop, and this was at about 7:00 AM. I told him what happened and he came down to the boat by 8:00. He must have had a good idea what it was because he had a spark plug wrench with him. He pulled some plugs on the left, they looked ok. Then some on the right and there was water in the cylinder heads. Once he pulled the plugs the engine was able to crank. The water gets into the cylinders through exhaust manifolds and risers. Raw water is used to cool the exhaust. When they ware out, you have problems. Jeff gave me an estimate to fix the problem including a set of new risers and manifolds; it should be in the $1500 range.
Hopefully the boat will be fixed by next Thursday. Here’s a link to Boat US article on the problem. http://www.boatus.com/seaworthy/swbtob.asp

2008-08-18T04:50:00.000-07:00

Cape May Fishing Report Week of Aug 10-16, 2008

Capt Dave and Chuck hit the Old Grounds on Weds and Saturday and finally got into some decent keeper fluke. They had nine keepers on Weds, and Chuck had four keepers on Saturday. The biggest fish was 26 inches; they need to be 18 inches to be a keeper.

Capt. Randy and Jim and John stayed a little closer to Cape May, but they didn’t get any keepers.

Capt Chris stayed home and he didn’t have any keepers either.

The Mid Atlantic 500K fishing tournament is taking place this week. I believe Capt. Andy is in the tournament again this year. You can check the results for each day on MA500.com

2008-07-29T09:18:00.000-07:00

Cape May Fishing Report July 26th, 2008

We left the slip at around 7:00 AM and headed for the number 9 and 10 buoys because the water was a little warmer over in that part of the bay. We were heading right into the wind on the way out, but it wasn’t too bad. We had the lines in the water by 8:00. The water temperature was around 68-69 degrees. Low Tide was at 9:22. We caught a few skates, then at around 9:12AM as I was untangling Jim’s line from mine I finally caught my first keeper flounder of the summer. It was a 19 inches and weighed in at 2 lbs 11 oz, and I named him dinner.
Once the incoming tide got going the drift really started to pick up, because the wind and tide were in the same direction. We put the drift sock out but it didn’t slow us down all that much. Jim caught a little snapper blue, and before the drift picked up we had quite a few skates.
Deck Boss Jim took the helm for the ride back to the Yacht Club, and backed “Offshore Bites” into the slip for the first time.The sad thing is… there is only 5 weeks left in the summer flounder season. Hopefully the water warms up and some fish move in.

2008-07-13T17:09:00.000-07:00

Cape May Offshore Fishing Report July 12th, 2008

The “Island Girl” left the slip at the Bree Zee Lee around 11:30 PM on Friday night for a long trip to the “Toms Canyon” area, which is just a short 110 mile run from the Cape May inlet. After we got past the 2CM buoy just outside the inlet Capt Andy punched in the numbers for the canyon, and put the boat on auto pilot. We were cruising at a comfortable 18 knots. After that we all headed for the bunks, and we woke up when we got there. That autopilot is great. OK well if you think we all went to sleep you’re pretty gullible. Somebody needs to keep an eye on the radar to make sure we don’t run into anything, like the big cruise ship we came across. The seas were flat, it was perfect weather.

We made it up to Tom’s Canyon and had the lines in the water by around 4:30 AM, which was before first light. We had 2 Penn International 70 reels, and 4 smaller Penn International 30’s. The target species was White and Blue marlin. We had something break the surface and take a look at around 7:00 AM, but we are not sure what it was. The water temperature was between 79 and 83 degrees at various spots in the canyons. Around 8:00 all hell broke lose when we hooked up with a large Blue Marlin in the 400 lb range. Of course it hit on one of the smaller reels, with 10 lb test on it, but we managed to land him. See you are gullible, the reels had 50 lb test on it, and we only had it on the hook for about 5 minutes max. We made same mistakes the cost us the fish, we didn’t have the rest of the lines cleared fast enough, Rob left the helm to clear a line, Capt. Andy jumped into the Captains chair, he couldn’t back down on the fish until the other lines were cleared. As the fish swam past the boat and was heading towards the bow of the boat, Walt the angler was screaming to Andy to turn the boat to the Starboard side. Andy was trying feverishly to get the boat to turn by working the engines in opposite directions. The boat would not turn and many expletives were being thrown around. And soon the fish was gone. When Rob left the helm and Andy had jumped in, Andy didn’t realize we were trolling with the autopilot on. This is why the boat would not turn. The autopilot was fighting every move.

So then we trolled around for a little while more before calling it a day and heading back in. A little while more means we kept trolling until 5:00 PM before heading in. The ride in only took about 3 hours because we could run at a faster speed in the daylight and the seas were flat. We made it back to the slip by around 8:00 PM.

Capt Randy and Jim took “Just One More” out for some fluking but didn’t get any keepers. Chuck inadvertently went offshore with out a boat when he found a strong rip current while in the water at Wildwood Crest beach, but that’s whole other story.

2008-07-06T17:18:00.000-07:00

Cape May Fishing Report July 4th, 2008

“Offshore Bites” stayed in the entire holiday weekend, because I had to get some stuff done for work. However Capt. Randy and Jim took “Just One More” out on July 4th up the bay towards the Sixty Foot Slough. Capt. Dave, Chuck and Buddy also headed out and up the bay. Capt. Randy got his first keeper fluke of the season. I don’t think Capt. Dave and Crew caught any keepers, and they explored the bay a little bit more.

2008-06-30T04:06:00.000-07:00

Cape May Fishing Report June 28, 2008

We left the slip at 6:50 AM and headed to the Cape May Reef for the first time this year. The ride out was pretty smooth, large swells but no chop. We headed for the rubble from the Ben Franklin Bridge. When we first arrived there were only 5 or 6 other boats around but it was fairly early still. The water temperature was between 66-67 degrees, with a wind from the south. Low tide was at about 9:30, we had decent drift most of the day but it was slow at some points. To make a long post in the blog short, we didn’t even catch a fluke at the reef. We picked up a ling cod, some skates, sharks and some small sea bass. We stayed at the reef until about noon. Then we headed back towards the inlet, and fished by the cans just off the coast guard station. Jim managed to catch a real short fluke while we were there but that was it. A few pods of Dolphins swam by while we were drifting over there. Capt Randy, Dave and his cousin also went to the Cape May reef and also came home empty handed; catching the same junk we had caught. We only heard of one keeper be taken at the reef on Saturday.

Saturday afternoon we stopped in at the Harbor View for the obligatory cold ones and sushi. They had most of the deck roped off for a private party, there was a wedding being held on the deck. They lucked out because the weather was perfect. Instead of arriving in a Limo the bride arrived in a big Ocean Yacht. If it was her yacht I was thinking of speaking up when the priest asked if anyone objected, just to explain why she might want to think about marrying me.

On Sunday I got up early and decided to tackle the broken horn on the boat. If you don’t have a working horn and the police or coast guard boards your boat you will be ticketed. I had saw Capt Dave early in the morning and he pointed out where the horn on his boat was, so at least I knew what I was looking for. Mine was mounted in the anchor box. For a job that seemed like it would be pretty easy, it took a while because I stripped the head on the one screw, and it was a pain to get the old horn out.

2008-06-08T16:06:00.000-07:00

Cape May Fishing Report June 7, 2008
Capt. Dave and Chuck took there first trip of the year to the Old Grounds, while Jim and I headed up the bay to Buoy 19 and Miah Maul Light. It was pretty foggy early in the morning. Capt. Dave was on his way before 7:00 AM, while we waited for some of the fog to burn off and left the slip around 8:20 AM. The weather was great in the bay and we had a good drift for most of the day. Unfortunately we only caught 1 short fluke around 17 inches. The water temperature in the bay was in the 68-69 degree range.
Capt Dave and Chuck ended up with 2 keepers out at the Old Grounds, with only one short and a bunch of sea bass. Jim and I fished until about 2:20 and were back in the slip by 3:30.
The guys with the Parker a few slips up from me went out in the evening for Drum Fishing and killed them. They had 15 drum layed out in the parking lot when we came back from CJ’s restaurant bar. They said they have been doing great with the Drum fish for the last few weeks.

The big improvement at the marina, or should I say Yacht Basin, this week is a new sign.

2008-05-27T04:05:00.000-07:00

Cape May Fishing Report May 24-25

Friday afternoon I headed down to Cape May a little early so I could drop off my entry form for the Save the Summer Flounder opening day fishing tournament. Saturday the 24th I headed out of the slip by myself at 6:00 AM heading towards Buoy 19 and Miah Mall. The wind was from the North West and I was heading straight into it. The ride out took almost 2 hours. I fished in between Buoy 19 and the Mall from 8:00 AM until 2:00 PM and only caught 2 short flounder and 2 skates. The water temperature was about 59 degrees. The ride in was much smoother, and it only took about 40 minutes to get back to the canal.

On Sunday the 25th Capt. Dave and Chuck headed up towards the Miah Mall they were out of the slip by 7:00 AM. I took it slow and didn’t leave my slip until 10:00AM. The ride out was a lot easier since the wind had died down. Once I got up by Buoy 19 I called Dave on the radio to see where he was and how he was doing. At that point he had quite a few shorts and 1 keeper. I hung out by Buoy 19 for about 40 minutes then Capt. Dave strongly suggested I move up toward where he was because he had just picked up two more nice keepers. I was able to get up there in about 5 minutes but I had missed the party. I ended up with 3 throw backs and three skates. The water had warmed up to about 63 degrees on Sunday.

2008-05-05T05:23:00.000-07:00

May 3, 2008 – Back in at the Bree Zee Lee

The boats are out of storage and in there rightful positions at the old Bree Zee Lee Yacht Club. I actually picked Offshore Bites up about a month ago, and took it home to get it ready for the season. The boat didn’t need a lot of work, mostly just bottom painting it and waxing it. Of course the Exhaust Bellows popped off again, we tried several times to get in on but it wouldn’t stay on. I ended up paying the guys at RJ Marine Service located at the marina to get it back on. The guys at RJ Marine Service were nice enough to pick up my boat from the canvas shop and tow it over to their shop, saving me a trip down to Cape May just to move the boat about a mile.

Over the winter I had dropped the old Bimini Top and enclosure off at Nor’easter Marine Canvas down in Cape May. Clint the owner told me he could start on the top, but needed the boat on site to work on the enclosure. I got the boat to him around mid-April and he finished the job in a week. The new top is green. So far I’d say I like the job, the seams and zippers line up nicely. He also added zippers to the front windshield so now we don’t have to pop out the entire window to let air in.

From the reports I heard the fishing hasn’t been great lately. When the guy in the bait shop tells you there’s not much out there, you know it can’t be good. Capt. Dave and Chuck went out for a little while in the back bay on Saturday, and caught a small bluefish and a flounder. Flounder season hasn’t started yet.

Lets all welcome out new Dock Neighbor Capt Rob, and his boat “Better Days”. Capt Rob is from the same hometown, and was one of the winners of the Mid-Atlantic 500K last year.

Here is a late breaking "Man on the Docks" fishing report from Capt. Dave. It looks like Chuck is back in the swing of things after a difficult off season. We ended the regular season last year by toasting the end of the season at the Harbor View Tiki Bar. From there things quickly eroded for Chuck. Here's of photograph of Chuck and a striper he caught 2 weeks ago.

2007-09-10T04:36:00.000-07:00

Sept 8th, 2007 – That’s All Folks

Since I found out last week I will probably doing a bit of traveling for work during the next few months I decided to pull the boat on Saturday. Friday evening I hooked up the trailer and drove down to Cape May. I dumped the trailer at the Bree Zee Lee, and headed over to the Harbor View for some dinner. There were a lot of bikers in town for Wildwoods Roar at the Shore weekend. After dinner we all sat around on “Just One More” and had a few beers.

Saturday morning Jim and I took “Offshore Bites” out for the last trip of the season. The wind was blowing from the South West, so it made the ride out and in from to the Cape May reef a little slow. The drift was pretty fast out there and that was with the drift sock out and we were using 10-12 ounce weights. The water temperature was around 72 degrees and the water was pretty dirty. I managed to pick up a 19 inch keeper; the last of the season since summer flounder season closes on Sept 10th in NJ.

We got back to the barn and we cleaned up the boat and filleted the fish. Then we headed over to the Harbor View for a while. High Tide was around 6:00 PM so I headed back over to the boat and hooked the trailer up. We backed the trailer down the ramp and then pulled the lines on the boat and drove it right on to the trailer.

Sunday morning I got up early and hauled the boat home. It’s sitting in the driveway now. I broke out the power washer and knocked most of the growth off.

And so ends another fishing season aboard “Offshore Bites”

2007-09-04T05:01:00.000-07:00

Sept 2, 2007 – Finally got out trolling

It was the big Labor Day weekend down in Cape May. Saturday my brother was going to come down and go Fluke fishing, but yet again it was too windy. Capt. Andy took his 38 foot “Island Girl” down to the Old Grounds on Saturday and he even said that was a mistake. They took a wave over the hard top in that boat, and it took them 2 hours to get back from the Old Grounds.

The winds died down on Saturday evening. Mark drove down from Harrisburg and arrived Saturday evening. We got up around 4:15 AM and there was no wind and no waves. Finally a good day to go trolling. We left the slip around 5:00 and it was still dark out. I navigated out of the harbor using the chart plotter and radar systems. There was some boat traffic to deal with and we took it slow. Once we got past the buoy the boat traffic began to clear out. Soon we were up to 15 knots, and as it became lighter we were doing 22 knots. The seas were very calm.

We had our lines in the water at the Lori Dawn wreck at about 7:00 AM; I was hoping to have them in at sunrise. Next time I’ll leave a little earlier. We trolled around the wreck area a few times but had no action. I was also concerned about my fuel level. I had a full tank when we left the slip, but the fuel meter was bouncing around between half and three quarters full. So after a short while I started trolling towards another wreck called the Misty Blue. Along the way we found a nice weed or debris line and started following that. Pretty soon the clicker on Mark’s Penn 70 started going off. Mark reeled in a 9-10 lb Little Tunny. The water temperature was 71 degrees and we picked the fish up on the way back bird with a clean ballyhoo attached. We circled back again and started following the weed line again and had another Little Tunny on that I reeled up to the boat but we lost it right at the boat. We followed the weed line for a little more but again I was concerned about my fuel consumption so headed back towards the Misty Blue. We trolled around the Misty Blue a few times and then headed back towards the East Lump. There was no action in either location.

We finally picked up the lines and headed in to the Cape May reef. We picked up a few short fluke and some sea bass but that was it. Capt Randy and crew on the “Just One More” fished the Cape May reef and picked up three keeper fluke, Capt Dave took the “Tiramisu” out, but didn’t pick up any keepers.

When we got back to the marina I stopped at the fuel dock to fill up. It ended up that we only burned 54 gallons of fuel. The tank holds 101 gallons so I had plenty left. We should have kept trolling the weed line. We did 80 something miles and were getting about 1.65 MPG.

After cleaning the boat I headed to the Harbor View and Mark headed home. I did not win the Kayak that was hanging in the bar all summer. Andy and Sonya from the Island Girl stopped by at the Harbor View and filled us in on all the details from the big winning fish from last week. Then we headed over to the Tuna Marlin club to close out the evening. All in all it was a good weekend.

2007-08-27T04:45:00.000-07:00

Aug 24-25 2007 – Congratulations Island Girl

I took Friday off and got down to Cape May by noon. The Mid-Atlantic $500,000 tournament had been running since Monday, and Friday was the last day of competition.
On Weds our friends on the Island Girl weighed in a 524 lb Blue Marlin and that was the only one weighed in up until Friday. I called Capt. Andy’s cell phone and Sonya answered. I asked her if she could let me know when Island Girl would be hitting the scales. Five minutes later she called me back, Capt. Andy had called on the Satellite phone to let her know they had another Blue Marlin on board and it was about the same size as the first. We expected them to pull up to the scales around 6:30 but they were coming in a little earlier. Luckily I had my VHF radio on and heard them coming in. I went to get in the car and drive up to the Canyon Club, only to discover my car battery was dead. Luckily I was able to get a jump start and get up there in time.

Another boat came in with a Blue Marlin, before Island Girl came in. The other Blue Marlin weighed in at a measly 414 lbs. When they pulled the Marlin out of Island Girl and weighed it in, it was a whopping 536 lbs. putting the crew of the Island Girl in first and second place in the Blue Marlin category. With the prize money and Calcutta bets the Island Girl won a staggering $327,000. Congratulations.

To add to the excitement of Friday I headed out with Capt. Randy on “Just One More” back out to the Cape May Reef on Saturday. We ended up with 3 keeper fluke, and a nice sea bass. We also had plenty of short throwbacks. Capt Dave and Chuck had been at the reef also and had 1 keeper.

On Saturday evening we all went to the Harbor View to celebrate our big catches.

2007-08-20T07:07:00.000-07:00

Aug 18-19 2007 – The Reef turns on

Saturday the 18th we had a strong wind from the north so we didn’t make it out fishing. That was expected based on the forecast. I ended up putting some snaps on my springer lines, fixing the bulb on the spreader light, and verifying the bilge pump was working. Based on the forecast Sunday sounded like it would be a good day with low winds, and I hoped to go trolling for tuna. Of course the winds kicked up again and it looked like rain was moving in on Sunday morning, so the trolling yet again was put on hold.

Joe came down Saturday evening, with the thought that we would be leaving early to go trolling. We had a few beers and sushi over at the Harbor View before calling it a night. Got up at 4:00 AM and the flag at the marina was moving pretty good, and as I said it looked like rain was moving in, so we decided to go Fluke fishing at the Cape May reef. The reef is only 8-10 miles from the marina. We were out of the slip by 6:00 AM and one of the first boats at the reef. We fished until about noon.

We ended up with 5 keepers and I would say 15-20 shorts. Capt. Dave and Chuck were out there as well and had 2 keepers. We all lost a lot of rigs in the rocks and rubble. There were a ton of boats out there. The water temperature was about 75 degrees and we had a good drift going mostly from south to north. I wouldn’t say any particular rig was working best, because none of them were lasting that long.

The wind kicked up as we were getting ready to come in, so the ride in was a little choppy. It also rained as we were cleaning the fish and boat. Overall it was a good day. Joe had 3 keepers and I had 2 keepers.

2007-08-05T14:03:00.000-07:00

Aug 4th 2007 - Fish 1, Capt Chris Negative 300

The weather report looked good all week, and we were planning to leave the dock at 4:00 AM on Saturday morning, hoping to go trolling and see if we could catch the elusive Blue Fin Tuna. Well they are still elusive. I got down the Bree Zee Lee marina a little after 8:00 PM on Friday and the winds had kicked up and were blowing between 15-20 knots and the Offshore Forecast was for 3-5 footers. So I cancelled the trolling trip, which meant we didn’t have to get up too early.

Saturday morning the winds had dropped down, and Jim and I decided to hit the bay for flounder. Capt Dave and Chuck headed back to the Old Grounds trying to capture more of the glory from last week. We took Offshore Bites just off the point and trolled from the point past the F4 Buoy. Jim caught a little shark and that was it. I decided to move out to the 10 Buoy. We drifted from the 10 buoy all the way up to Brandy Wine light and didn’t catch a thing. Next I decided to move over to the Anchorage. There were a lot of party boats over there. On our first drift we didn’t get anything. On the second drift I hooked into what I believe was a Great White Shark, or a large croaker. Anyhow I wasn’t paying all that much attention and the tug pulled the rod right out of my hand, and it was the good rod. The rod hits the drink and I was a little in shock, but it floated for a few seconds. I jumped down on the swim platform and went to grab it, only to see another tug and the rod submerge. I should have jumped in after it immediately, and was kicking myself all day for not doing so. We ended up catching a bunch of croakers after that but none of them had a $300 lip ring hanging out of its mouth (the cost of my replacement rod & reel).

Chuck and Dave ended up with 5 keepers out at the Old Grounds. The water temperature in the bay was around 74-75 degrees. Maybe we’ll get to troll next week, if not I can break in my new rod and reel.

2007-07-30T04:30:00.000-07:00

July 28 2007 – Bree Zee Lee Fluke Tournament

The entry fee for the tournament was $50 per boat and I think there were 12 boats signed up for the tournament. The tournament was for the biggest fish, with payouts to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.

Dave M and Chuck on the “Tiramisu” headed to the Old Grounds and ended up coming in second place. They ended the day with five keepers. The second place fish was in the 4lb plus range. They caught three of their keepers within 2 minutes, and much like the circus they were working with out a net when the 2nd place fish was hooked. Congratulations!

I was on board “Just One More” with Randy and Jim. We headed back out to the 9 and 10 Buoys, with a lot of other boats. The drift was terrible for most of the morning on an outgoing tide. Around noon we finally got a decent drift. Capt. Randy hooked into a fish that probably would have been a money fish, but was heart broken when we lost it at the boat. We ended the day with only one 18 inch keeper. We had a few through backs and a bunch of skates and sharks as well. Conditions were calm, wind from the South West and it was a 98% waxing moon, with an outgoing tide most of the time. We also saw a few sea turtles but as usual they would dive each time I tried to snap a photo.

I’m not sure who came in first and third place, but I know it wasn’t us.

2007-07-27T08:49:00.000-07:00

July 14 -22 2007 – A Week in Review

Sat – Old Grounds, Seas were Flat, 1-Keeper Fluke and some Sea Bass

Tues – 9 and 10 Buoys, Foggy, Fished with Dave M. 3- Keeper Fluke, Skates and Sharks

Weds – Harbor, Fished with Anthony, Anthony had a few shorts

Thurs – 9 and 10 Buoys, Nice Weather,1-Keeper Fluke, Skates, Sharks, Bluefish. First Time out in the boat on my own.

Sat – 9 and 10 Buoys, Bay was rough to start but improved, Fished with Bill, 2 – Keeper Fluke.

I spent the week in Cape May aboard my palatial yacht, well that might be a slight exaggeration but it worked out and the price was right. For the most part the weather was good all week, and it never became unbearably hot. I thought I was going to knock my head on the head (a.k.a. toilet) when some idiots blew through the no wake zone at night a few times.

On Saturday, since the winds were right, Jim and I headed to the Old Grounds. It’s called the Old Grounds because that’s where all the restaurants dump their old coffee grinds, and the fluke are all jacked up on caffeine. Must have been Decaf because it was a slow day at the Old Grounds. We only had one keeper.

One of the days I replaced the thermostat on the boat. It had been running cool. The problem was that the thermostat wasn’t seated properly (it was sitting Indian Style in there.) I put in the new thermostat and that did the trick.

Monday was too windy.

Dave M. called on Tuesday morning and asked if I wanted to fish. I said yes and the fog was lifting in the marina. Dave got to the marina and the fog started rolling back in. Once it started lifting again we decide to go out on “The Tiramisu”. We headed in the direction of the 9 and 10 buoys. We fished from about 8 – 2 and then the fog started rolling back in, so we decided to make like a banana and split. We ended up with three keepers for the day. Luckily Dave has radar because we needed it on the way in. We were going slowly due to the conditions. Once we got to the inlet it cleared up.

Wednesday I fished with Anthony in the harbor right in front of the marina. We fished while the tide was going out, and we got some good drifts. Anthony was using extremely light tackle and picked up a few shorts. I got a sea robin.

The weather was perfect on Thursday so I decided to take “Offshore Bites” out on my own for the first time. I headed back to the 9 and 10 Buoys again. I actually saw two pelicans sitting on the number 9 buoy when I first got there. These are the first pelicans I’ve ever seen in NJ. There was no drift when I first got there and all I was catching were skates. My arm was getting tired from reeling them in. I also caught a 3-4 foot shark later in the day. I only ended up with one keeper for the day. When I got back to the marina I got the boat into the slip on my own on the first try and it was blowing at about 13 knots at the time.

Friday I helped Capt. Randy install his Sirius Satellite radio receiver in his boat. Bill came down Friday evening.

Bill and I headed out Saturday morning in some rough conditions; there was a strong wind from the North. It took us a while to get out to the 9 and 10 Buoys but we made it out there. We were drifting at 3-4 knots and using 16 oz sinkers. I didn’t think we had a chance of catching anything but Bill pulled one in that was just short of 17 inches on the first drift. Resetting the drift took a while because we had to head right back into the North wind. The seas calmed down once the tide started coming in. We ended the day with 2 keepers. Bill had one early and I had one later in the day.

2007-07-05T09:37:00.000-07:00

June 30 2007 – Reef Site 11 and Ye Old Grounds

We started off at Reef Site 11, Capt Randy and John were on board “Just One More”, and Jim and I were on “Offshore Bites”. We weren’t having much luck at Reef Site 11, a few shorts and a couple of Sea Bass. So we called Capt. Dave and Chuck on the radio to see how they were doing at the Old Grounds. At that point they already had 4 in the box.

We headed over to the Old Grounds, which is a fairly large area. We didn’t see Dave and Chuck so we set our lines out with the rest of the fleet. Nothing! We finally ran into Dave later in the day but we weren’t catching anything. Dave and Chuck ended up with 8 in the box for the day. The water temperature was in the 70-71 range, and it was overcast all day.