Fishing reports-august 1 - august 31

[sparse grey]

August is here & the heat, (weather not basketball) will not subside. Hope that you can get out & have some success. As usual, please give as much information as you can regarding general location, time, tide, wind, fly used & anything else you can add.

[Ol'DirtyCaster]

Went to the inlet last night for a bit, water was gin clear and an upwelling had the water temps in the low 60's. Not a great night, but I did manage a couple fish.

[rob]

ODC, nice fish and looks like a great place to go!

[Ol'DirtyCaster]

ODC, nice fish and looks like a great place to go!

Thanks, SI is one of my favorite places in the world Mon-Thurs, after midnight, as long as snook season is closed. The place can be a nightmare if you go at the wrong time.

[CapeMayRay]

Nice fish and pictures. With the hot water we have up here I am hoping we will see some snook or tarpon as it it too warm for our northern species.

[Foureel]

Ray,
I miss your posts, have you been fishing at all?

[BassonaFly]

The hot water is killing fish all over the US! If not Global Warming....... then Climate Change?

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/na...165092596.html

[CapeMayRay]

I am still fishing when I have to. Water is way too warm for decent fishing. Been canceling all my trips with my regular clients where guys want stripers. It isn't even worth trying. Even the last ones we caught were 13, 14 and 16 inches long and that is pathetic even for summer time resident fish.

Water in the back areas with the heavy algae bloom show no signs of life, not even the snappers want to go back there due to the low oxygen levels. Water around the inlet is the only place where it is semi clean without the algae. There is finally lots of baitfish around the inlet and along the beach front which would normally mean there would be some bass around. Even seeing some bunker schools, but it is all snaper blues. They are the only show in town as the water is just too warm for the bass.

This morning was the coolest water I have seen in awhiles. It was 72 degrees. Even the kids this morning got tired of catching the small snappers and we went dolphin watching the last part of the tirp.

Seeing the dolphins was the highlight of their fishing trip.

I am basically telling my customers the fishing is as bad as it gets and that all they should expect is snapper blues at best. They appreciate the honesty and elect to cancel as they don't want to pay for a boat ride to catch snapper blues.

Right now just about all the trips I am doing are with dads and kids where all the want is the rod to bend and the snapper blues are good for that.

Fishing is so pathetic, I have no desire to even go out on my free nights and catch snappers. Waters are just way too warm and I haven't seen a striper in the last two weeks.

It is not good for the bottom line canceling all these trips, but it much less painful telling the truth than taking them out with hopes of getting something decent. My striper catches this year are down 80 percent from last year and I thought 2011 was bad.

[BassonaFly]

Last month, the hottest month on record!

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/clim...4/1?csp=34news

[Belmo]

Sorry to hear about your lousy summer, Ray. I miss reading your reports. At least you're still in Cape May - that beats the hell out of where I am.

[Narragansett]

I am still fishing when I have to. Water is way too warm for decent fishing. Been canceling all my trips with my regular clients where guys want stripers. It isn't even worth trying. Even the last ones we caught were 13, 14 and 16 inches long and that is pathetic even for summer time resident fish.

Water in the back areas with the heavy algae bloom show no signs of life, not even the snappers want to go back there due to the low oxygen levels. Water around the inlet is the only place where it is semi clean without the algae. There is finally lots of baitfish around the inlet and along the beach front which would normally mean there would be some bass around. Even seeing some bunker schools, but it is all snaper blues. They are the only show in town as the water is just too warm for the bass.

This morning was the coolest water I have seen in awhiles. It was 72 degrees. Even the kids this morning got tired of catching the small snappers and we went dolphin watching the last part of the tirp.

Seeing the dolphins was the highlight of their fishing trip.

I am basically telling my customers the fishing is as bad as it gets and that all they should expect is snapper blues at best. They appreciate the honesty and elect to cancel as they don't want to pay for a boat ride to catch snapper blues.

Right now just about all the trips I am doing are with dads and kids where all the want is the rod to bend and the snapper blues are good for that.

Fishing is so pathetic, I have no desire to even go out on my free nights and catch snappers. Waters are just way too warm and I haven't seen a striper in the last two weeks.

It is not good for the bottom line canceling all these trips, but it much less painful telling the truth than taking them out with hopes of getting something decent. My striper catches this year are down 80 percent from last year and I thought 2011 was bad.

Well, the water up here is just about as warm. 80 to 85 degrees, depending on where you go. Lots of grass shrimp, and baby flounder dying. I have not caught a fish in 5 or 6 weeks now. I hope we have a good fall run

[CapeMayRay]

Took my daughter, son-in-law, wife and 2 year old grandson out for a dolphin watch trip last night. There was zero wind and we had dolphins coming up 10 feet from the boat.

Saw some small pods of bunker along the beach and watched the dolphins cruising through picking off one here and there having one in their mouth as they would turn on their side at the surface.

Fun night with the family and the ocean was as calm as a lake with no wind.

Will be out playing with the snapper blues tonight with a dad and his two sons. I think the bunker are bigger than some of the blues.

[dano1801]

Took my daughter, son-in-law, wife and 2 year old grandson out for a dolphin watch trip last night. There was zero wind and we had dolphins coming up 10 feet from the boat.

Saw some small pods of bunker along the beach and watched the dolphins cruising through picking off one here and there having one in their mouth as they would turn on their side at the surface.

Fun night with the family and the ocean was as calm as a lake with no wind.

Will be out playing with the snapper blues tonight with a dad and his two sons. I think the bunker are bigger than some of the blues.

hi ray, hope all is well at harbor view these days. i'm over at hinch's now. just reading your reports... have you tried targetting the weakies? there are lots of them in the back bay, plus the ocean front and delaware bay judging by reports. i can attest for the back bays, and same areas you fish. its a worthwhile fishery to target right now. the action is great when you find a school. i havent caught anything big, but lots of 12" to 20" range fish... and caught on soft plastics as well as gulp and live bait, just a heads up. i havent done too much schoolie striper fishing back there yet this year, but when I did we at least had several bass at sunrise on topwaters, before switching over to fluke fishing. was a really great year for back bay fluking, with the exception of last few weeks they seem to be getting replaced by weakies. just saying there is life back there! lots of bait fish too. seeing and catching plenty of p-nuts, mullets, spots, spearing, minnows, grass shrimp, etc. dont give up!

[Ol'DirtyCaster]

I can sum up today in one word.... PAIN. Too damn many tarpon on the beach right now.

[sparse grey]

Tough duty Bill. Lobstering in the Keys has been good although the keeper ratio is not too well. Couple more days. See you sometime after Tuesday.