Fishing to the beat of a different Drum and timing was every thing. I joined my good friend Keith Bush from Monroe and his party for there 2nd annual drum trip aboard the Lone Star from Cape May. With big bass and blues being caught in the Raritan I traveled 2 and a half hours south to Cape May to see what the big fuss was all about.
At 4pm we approached a small city of about 100 boats in the fleet just 25 minutes from the dock in the Delaware Bay. I thought I was in the canyon in September. As we positioned in for the night every boat as far as you can see had fish on. The bite was on before we could even drop anchor. It didn’t take long before the first rod screamed off the back of the boat and 20 minutes later the first 75 lb drum was aboard. That was just the beginning one after the other we had fish on.
The sun set picture perfect as every boat in the fleet continued to fight these powerful fish into the light of a full moon. The bite continued till about 9pm when everyone had there share of fighting drum from 50 to 75 lbs. Keith Bush, Darren Bush, Peter Louie, Sammy Vocchio, Paul Cutrupi, Kyle Hutchinson, Ronnel King, Mark Gassoso,Rudy Gontek, Kent Bush and myself had at least 1 fish for the night.
High hook went to Darren Bell from Old Bridge who landed 3 all over 70lbs and Anil Singh a first timer fishing with a rental pole off to the side landed 3 and lost 2. The trip was an incredible fishing experience especially when you hear the actual drum beat sound that is produced by these fish. Drum run until about the end of June in the Delaware and if your not going to eat them then tell the mate to cut it lose for another day. These are big fish with only about 15% of the body weight being edible. The fight is worth the release. A fish in the 60 to 70 lb range is estimated at 20 years of age and with no commercial value they should be around for the next generation to enjoy. The fight on drum this size was a 8 out of 10 with a yellow fin tuna being a 10. Light gear 25 to 30 lb test and fished with clams. I had a great time and look forward to next years trip. Captain and mate took care of us with plenty of clams and chum to keep those fish around all night.
From The Surf: along the shore veteran surf fisherman Paul Danielczyk reported that the blues are close to the beaches and the Striped Bass are making their way out of the bays and all heading to the ocean side.
From Sandy Hook south to Ortley Beach the surf has been still very rough to fish with waves pounding the shoreline and making it difficult to hold bottom or work a plug, but there are reports of short bass being taken on the outgoing tides using clams and/or bunker.
From Seaside Heights to Island Beach State Park it is pretty much the same but if you try using bunker and clams you will probably be rewarded with a decent size Blue Fish or a Striped Bass as they are starting to make their move to the ocean, especially watch this coming week as the Full Moon on the 19th to 20th should produce some notable catches. If you are adventurous and have the time try an hour before and after sunrise and an hour just before and after sunset as the Striped Bass like to prowl in close to the shore at those times of the day. For more surf tips check out Paul’s surf reports on NJSaltwaterfisherman.com.
Fish On.
