July's Fishing Report -

Saturday, July 24

I hosted Robin Cunningham and her group today for their morning charter. 83° F. walking out the door this morning, did I mention the heat wave was cresting? Under sunny skies the temperature hit 100° F. in a number of places today, although it might have been a bit less humid than yesterday. Winds were out of the South-Southwest around 5-6 knots, and the ocean had a large swell of 5' (or more). The current running hard down the beach was really standing up the seas to something much bigger than they should have been given the other conditions. The cooler water along the beach is also spreading offshore now courtesy of the ongoing Southerly flow, we saw a drop in surface temp. on the fishing grounds to around 70° F. today.

Not going to set any records for catching today. We did land about 50 fish for the morning, not too bad I guess, but I saw a lot of empty hooks on the morning. The swell made the catching more difficult for sure. We were a fish shy of double digits for keeping for the morning. Woody was a bit rusty after recovering from knee surgery, he'll be back in fine form soon enough I'm sure. Jody was high hook for throwbacks I believe, while Linda made a nice recovery to lead the way for keepers landed on the day. Phyllis landed a cod on the day, commenting that she thought they were a colder water fish, a sentiment with which I agreed!

Thanks for fishing aboard the Karen Ann II. Stay cool, looks like a break from the heat coming this week.

Capt. Adam

Friday, July 23

Back in the water and back to the fishing grounds today. Today I had Vince with his brother Paul in from Maine, along with Alecio, Chris and Nick from Harrisburg. The heat wave continues, looking like it will crest over the weekend. 71° F. and humid this morning. We had clouds/haze most of the day, and when the sun came out it was uncomfortably hot. The mercury still climbed to the mid-upper 90's on the day. On the ocean, seas were slick calm over top of a couple foot swell. As the wind filled in out of the South at 11-12 knots, we got a bit of a chop. The ocean surface temp. on the grounds was 76.5° F., a little cooler along the beach.

(Click to Enlarge)

After being out of the water for a week, I wasn't sure what to expect today, but found the sea bass bite quite good, especially for the 3rd week of July. We landed over 200 sea bass today with a good percentage of keepers, we wound up with a box of 55 fish for the 5 guys, including a keeper tog. The overall quality was excellent on the day, with many fish (particularly those caught by Paul) going right in the box. Back at the dock, I weighed 4 fish over 2.5 lbs., with the best hanging the scale at 2 lbs. 11 oz. Paul's photo with one of the better fish of the day appears above.

Capt. Adam

Sunday, July 11

I hosted Jim Young and family and friends today for a 6 hour trip. 71° F. and humid (again), this heat and humidity has been here awhile and doesn't look like it's going anywhere. Winds were out of the Northeast this morning about about 10 knots and the ocean had about a 4' swell on it with some chop. The ocean surface temp. is 77° F., and the air temp. rose to around 90.

A little different plan today as the gang wanted to hunt down some flounder. On our way to the ocean flounder grounds, we ran across a good bird play and proceeded to put 60 bluefish in the box up to 3 pounds, it was some very good fishing. The ocean floundering didn't yield much, so we came back in the bay and inlet and caught over 2 dozen flounders in a half dozen drifts with 1 nice 19½" fish going in the box.

And that will be the last of my reports for about 10 days as I am pulling the boat for maintenance. Find a way to beat the heat, and look for more reports soon. As always, thanks for fishing the Karen Ann II!

Capt. Adam

Saturday, July 10

I hosted the Wayne Stevens party today including Charlie, Keith, Larry and Scott. A humid 73° F. morning today with a line of heavy rain setup just west of the Delaware River. Skies were mostly cloudy most of the day and there was barely a wisp of a breeze most of the day. It started to rain back at the dock mid-morning, and we were on our way home and only saw rain from inside the wheelhouse. Heavier rain made it to the coast a bit later in the day. The air temp. climbed into the 80's, and the ocean surface temp. is now not far behind at 77° F. on the surface, along with the never ending 3' ground swell.

Another catch of 175 sea bass today with nearly 3 dozen in the box, this has been about the most consistent July for sea bass fishing I've seen in quite a few years. Keith looked good for fisherman of the day, but Charlie made a late day quiet surge, going to have to call it a dead heat (which is appropriate given the weather). Fun group to fish with today, thanks for coming down and stay cool!

Capt. Adam

Sunday, July 5

The Terry family from Robbinsville was down today to "observe" the Independence Day holiday. 68° F. to start the morning, then one word for the rest of the day, HOT. Pushing 100° F. on land, it was over 90° F. at times on the water today under slick calm conditions. Did I mention the sun was HOT? Barely any breeze, still a 3' swell on the ocean, and the surface temp. was 71° F.

Down a couple bodies from mal de mer again today (it was a good day for sea sickness with the heat, the swell, and the lack of breeze), but the rest of the group made up for it, especially Kevin and his father. Near 200 sea bass on the day again today with a box of over 40 fish. I believe Kevin and his father alone accounted for about 30 of the fish in the box, just goes to show you that if you fish hard and wait for the right bites, there is some good fishing to be had. Stay cool everyone!

Capt. Adam

Sunday, July 4 (Independence Day)

I hosted the Cammarota and Newland families today for a 6 hour trip, with Anne Marie, Bill, Blake, Jerry Sr. and Jr. 64° F. to start the morning, still comfortable ahead of another approaching heat wave. Skies were sunny and winds started out of the West around 10 knots, fell out, then built to over 10 knots out of the South. With the heat pump on, the air temp. climbed into the mid-to-upper 90's. The ocean had about a 3' swell with no chop, and the ocean surface temp. is now 70° F.

With Anne just out to take in some rays and Bill succumbing to mal de mer part way through the morning, we had a good day of catching considering we had only 3 anglers much of the day. We landed 125 sea bass on the day, keeping 1 out of 5, making for a decent enough pile of filets.

Have a safe and happy holiday!

Capt. Adam

Friday, July 2

I had the Doug Rainey charter aboard today with Bill, Lee and Tom rounding out Doug's crew. It was just a perfect 51° F. start to the day, no humidity, a nice reprieve from our summer so far. Skies were clear through the day, and the air temp. was around 80° F. on the day. The wind was out of the North at 10-15 knots, threatening more, but never building. Seas were chops of a couple foot. The ocean surface temp. was 68° F.

After putting nearly a dozen bluefish in the box to 3 pounds on our way out the inlet this morning, it was off to the bottom fishing grounds. Catching was steady, we landed nearly 200 sea bass on the day with 40 going in the box, including a nice scup (now legal to retain in state waters effective July 1st). Doug had the day's biggest, Bill the most keepers, while Lee and Tom made sure we stayed "anchored" for the day!

Thanks for fishing aboard the Karen Ann II!

Capt. Adam

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