Shep on Fishing: Tuna, mahi lurking offshore; flounder filling back bays

Published in The Press of AC: Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Offshore trolling and back-bay drifting form an interesting inside-outside fishing combination.  Big-game action for tuna and mahi is strong in the warm waters of the canyons and other offshore areas. Flounder, mostly shorts with few keepers mixed in, are carpeting the bays and inlets.  Some of the captains trolling the offshore fishing areas are not just using the "way-back" style of fishing, they are employing the "way, way, way-back" method.  Don Brown at Captain Andy's Marina in Margate and Dan Sheeley at Fin-Atics in Ocean City both said the successful captains are trolling ballyhoo 300 yards back of the boat for tuna. That's considerably farther back than most area anglers are used to.  Brown says to do this, put two long lines out (one on each rigger so they won't cross) then put a third line out with ballyhoo - just not as far out as the long lines - and down by using downriggers and planers. Cedar plugs, small feathers and spoons are also in the spread of lures behind the boats.  Fishing has been good, just not over the past couple of days when rough conditions played a role.  Charlie McLaughlin skippered two offshore runs that resulted in nice catches, according to Brown. He went to the 19-Fathom Lump and trolled up eight bluefin tuna, keeping two in the 80-pound class. Then he took a ride to the Wilmington Canyon and made it pay off with yellowfin tuna, keeping two that weighed 50-60 pounds, plus four skipjacks.  Bobby Ogden on the Woodshed trolled blue and white Islanders with ballyhoo 300 yards back at the 28-Mile Wreck and had an 89-pound bluefin on Friday, according to Sheeley. Steve Bent on the Free Spirit picked up a bluefin tuna that weighed close to 200 pounds at the Sea Isle Ridge.  Joe Pritchard on the Olivia Grace had six yellowfin tuna, two tile fish, mahi and two shark releases on an overnighter at the Wilmington, reports Charley Langan at South Jersey Marina. John Sowerby on the Hooked Up II picked three yellowfin and six mahi.  Matt Slobodjian at Jim's Bait and Tackle in Cape May reported good tuna trolling at 20-Fathom, the Cigar, Misty Blue wreck, Massey Canyon and Hambone.  Brown said the next good window for offshore fishing looks like Wednesday.  Now for the inside report.  Flounder are thick in the back bays. An invasion of colder water, below 60 degrees in some areas, have kept flounder from moving, according to some of the experts.  There has been some spectacular action. There are a lot of healthy flounder in the 16-17-inch range, and quality fish that are more than the 18-inch minimum.

Jack Kantz took a crew to the Margate back bays on Sunday and had three keepers in a catch of 86 flounder. Brown said white, green or pink 3-4 inch Gulp curly tail swimming mullet are hot.  Mike Tabasso, who runs the back-bay pontoon partyboat High Roller from Gardner's Basin in Atlantic City, said he's been fishing in the "swamp" inside Absecon Inlet. That means in skinny water around five-feet deep, where the water is a little warmer.  He's been averaging three keepers most trips, sometimes up to six. There are a lot of short flounder in the Absecon Inlet bays, like just about everywhere else.  Frank Jankowski at Frank's Boat Rentals in Strathmere says the flounder he is seeing are nice fish, and the catch ratio can be as high as one or two keepers for every 10-15 fish hooked up.  Sandy and Charley Stoblespszy of Reading, Pa. had a couple of nice trips on a rental boat. On Friday, Sandy had a 6-pound fish, and on Sunday Charley had a 4-pound, 11-ounce flounder and three other keepers between them.  Paul Batog was fishing with his dad, Paul Sr., and uncle, and had a 4-3 and 2-pound flounder. They are from West Chester, Pa.  A white bucktail with the Gulp white swimming mullet or the newpenny shrimp, plus old-fashioned minnies and squid are the best bet for flounder, according to Jankowski.  Jankowski said boaters targeting striped bass in the back bays are still having some success. Andy Beaver of Sewell had a 30-inch bass among five he hooked up while fishing a sod bank.

Mike Shepherd is the retired sports editor of The Press. His Shep on Fishing column and Hot Spot appear on Tuesday and Saturday in the sports section, and on Thursday in At the Shore. Call 609-350-0388 or email: sheponfishing@yahoo.com