Sunday, September 18, 2011

This will be our last fishing report of the 2011 season. We will be open through Sunday, September 25th, so if you want to get in one more fishing or crabbing trip you only have another week. A few keeper size flounder have shown up since the last report. Jessica Clemens of Arlington, VA caught a 20" keeper flounder on Monday. She returned on Thursday to land another 21" keeper.

The fishing is still producing a lot of action with black bass and schools of small blue fish throughout the Strathmere bay area. We hosted the 4th annual Anthony DePiano Invitational Crab Derby with 18 participants this past week. The winners of the derby were Kyle Kielinski & Michael Miller both from Philadelphia, PA. The crabbing is still good to very good and the crabs coming in on our boats are getting larger. Steve Kane and party of Levittown, PA brought in a haul of 60 crabs this week.

Summer flounder season ends on September 25th and we will sadly close our doors on another fishing season. We appreciate your business this season and look forward to seeing you all next year. Check our website in the spring and we'll keep it updated with opening dates and hours.

Have a great winter!

Recent Catches

Kyle Kelinski and Michael Miller – Philadelphia, PA – winners of the 4th Annual Invitational Anthony DePiano Crab Derby

Tony Caputo & Krista Kennelly – NE Philadelphia, PA – 20" flounder

Jessica Clemens – Arlington, VA – 20" flounder

Tony Caputo & Krista Kennelly – NE Philadelphia, PA – 20" flounder

Jessica Clemens – Arlington, VA – 20" flounder & 21" flounder

Steven Kane & party – Levittown, PA – 60 crabs

Frank Bruno party – Lansdale, PA – 48 crabs

Jason Vanderpool – Millville, NJ – bluefish

Herb Hollinger – Strathmere, NJ – 18 1/2" flounder – winner of the Glenn Cunningham Fall Classic Fishing Tournament

Thursday, September 7, 2011

With all the bad weather we have been having I don't have that much to report. The few boars that did venture out between raindrops all caught crabs and fish. Some boats laded both fish and crabs, but most of the fish were shorts and had to be released. Some parties caught 20–30 sea bass and small snapper blues along with an occasional dogfish (sand shark), blowfish, kingfish and sea robin. Jim Collie from Warrington, PA caught a 13" sea bass and a couple of short flounder.

This is the best time of the season to introduce youngsters into the sport of salt water angling. With the abundance of sea bass and snapper blues in the waters, they are just about guaranteed to have action with the fish. The bad weather that we have had has not affected the crabbing. Boats are still bringing back 2–5 dozen crabs in a 4 hour trip. Longer times on the water will produce 6–7 dozen for the more skilled crabbers.

Recent Catches

John Pineman & party – Hamilton, NJ – 3 dozen crabs

Nick Toppy – age 7 – Robbinsville, NJ – 2 dozen crabs

Daniel Ferry & Chris Miller families – Jenkintown, PA – 40–50 crabs

Brian, Aidan, & Evan McDonald – Deptford, NJ – 4 dozen crabs

Bill Doviak – Pottstown, PA – 19" flounder

Dave Curlett & Derick Minker – Wilmington, DE – 5 dozen crabs

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Hurricane Irene did not hurt the crabbing at all. Boats are returning back to the dock with anywhere from 2 dozen to 50–60 & more crabs. Fishing has remained steady. Flounder are still being caught but in fewer numbers. We still see a keeper or two every day. Small sea bass and snapper blues are all over our area. You don't have to go far to catch them which makes this a good time to take young children fishing, especially if they have never caught a fish before. Small hooks and small baits will catch them. Getting back to crabbing, customers ask me what is the best tide to go and I tell them as long as the tide is moving one way or the other. Slack tide, whether it is high or low, will be the slow time. But as soon as the tide starts moving again the action will pick up. I am also asked, “What is the best way to catch them?” I always recommend using hand lines along with a long handled crab net over crab traps. If you never crabbed using hand lines, try it and you will see the difference.

Recent Catches

Jared Roth – Warminster, PA – 3lb, 22 1/2" flounder

Nathan, Jack & Matt Sutley & Andrew Cubbler – Jeffersonville, PA – 1 1/2 dozen crabs

Jordan Gandy – Millville, NJ – 18 1/2" flounder

Cruzin, Crabbin, Catchin Group – Montgomery County, PA – 150 crabs

Chad, Ali & Katie Ambos & Chaz & AJ Hance – Cinnaminson & Laurel Springs, NJ – 5 dozen crabs

Girard Party – Lawrence, NJ – 2 1/2 dozen crabs

Chris Gawryth Party – New Providence, NJ – 2 1/2 dozen crabs

McCunney party – Metuchen, NJ – 2 dozen crabs

Jamie & Mike Olson – Sewell, NJ – 35 crabs

Nick Poore – 7yrs old – Cinnaminson, NJ – 60 crabs

Jones party – Sewell, NJ – 4 dozen crabs

Sam & Sean Kirk – Morristown, PA – 3 dozen crabs

Frank Massaro & Daniel Clark Families – Sahmong & Marlton, NJ – 3 dozen crabs

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Crabs are still the hot topic and they are getting bigger. All our crab boats are reporting good catches and the kids are having plenty of fun with the action on the handlines. Our biggest crab catch for this week was Diedra Flaherty and Kate Borza, both age 6, along with their dads brought in 80 crabs after a 3 1/2 hour trip. The fishing action is plentiful with black bass, flounder and many small snapper blues in the area. The small bait fish can be seen jumping and a snapper zapper lure or just about anything silver thrown in the area will land you a small snapper blue. The keeper size flounder are still tricky to find but they are out there. One youngster on one of our crab boats pulled up his 4 door crab trap this week and was rewarded with a 19" flounder in it. You just never know where the keepers will show up!

Recent Catches

Jay Joyce (age 7) – Newtown Square, PA – 19" flounder

Cosenza Children – Haddon Twp., NJ – 3 dozenen crabs

Caraluzzo Party – Erial, NJ – 4 dozenen crabs

Saltzman Party – Philadelphia, PA – 4 dozenen crabs

Corcoran Party – Bethlehem, PA – 3 dozenen crabs

Deidra Flaherty, Kate Borza and Fathers – Plymouth Meeting, PA – 80 crabs

Gabe, Tim, Emma, Steven and Anthony Sulpizio – Mount Wolf, PA – 30 crabs

Nick and Gary Lees – Levittown, PA– 2 dozenen crabs

Ken Struck and Family – Harrisburg, PA – 60 crabs

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Crabs, Crabs, Crabs! There are plenty of crabs and the kids are having lots of fun bringing them in. We are in the heart of crab season and it is a very good one this year with most of our boats returning with 40 plus crabs. The Mauger party out of West Berlin, NJ was the best reporting crab boat with 70 keepers. The fishing is still producing lots of action on black bass, flounder and some bluefish but the keepers are proving a little trickier to find. All the keeper flounder brought in this week were between 18 & 19 inches. Listen to us when you come in and we'll send you to the best areas to crab and fish.

Recent Catches

Jack Githens – Seattle, WA – 18 1/2" flounder

Gracie Kayser – Perkasie, PA – 4 1/2yrs old – 19 1/2" flounder

Matt & Megan Johnson & Kylie & Luke Gregory – Quakertown & Ivyland, PA – 60–70 crabs

O'Donnell Party – Princeton, NJ – 25 crabs

Kane Party – Trumball, CT – 4 dozenen crabs

Mauger Party – West Berlin, NJ – 70 crabs

Mark Caldwell & Party – Lafayette Hill, PA – 40 crabs

Rick Rohvbach & Party – Romansville, PA – 40 crabs

Joe Procapio & Family – Clinton, NJ – 4 dozenen crabs

Anthony Picciardi – Northeast Philadelphia, PA – 18" flounder

Thursday, August 4, 2011

As we had hoped, the water temperature warmed up and is holding steady so the number of keeper flounder has gone up. Minnows still seem to be the best bait. Most boats are reporting good action on the flounder to keep the day exciting and small bass are showing up around the bridges with an occasional bluefish being caught. Kevin McGinn from Ambler, PA had the big flounder this week at 20". Several 18 1/2 to 19 1/2" flounder were also landed. Our crab boats have had even bigger catches this week as the crabs are getting larger. Our best crab catch this week was Robert, Steve, Dennis and party of Fairless Hills, PA with 80 plus crabs. Several other boats had catches ranging from 40 to 50 crabs. Ask us when you get your boat and we will send you in the right direction for both fishing & crabbing.

Recent Catches

Kevin McGinn – Ambler, PA – " flounder

John Distel – Maple Glenn, PA – 19 1/2" flounder

Randy Roseberger – Telford, PA – 18" flounder

Barbara Chappelle – Aston,, PA – 18 1/4" flounder

Robert, Steve & Dennis Delcia & Party – Far Hills, NJ – 80+ crabs

Shawn Glynn – Philadelphia, PA – First Flounder, 18"

Thursday, July 28, 2011

As we predicted last week, the crabbing has continued to improve. Catches this week on most of our crabbing boats averaged between 30 and 50 crabs, with the high boat this week being the Parvese party from Malvern PA with a total of 55 crabs. The keeper flounder still seem to be scattered and shorts are being caught in a larger ratio so there is still good action for the young anglers. Smaller black bass have begun showing up and should increase in numbers and size over the next couple of weeks. The water temperature is beginning to warm back up to the temperature we had a few weeks ago and hopefully it will bring back more of the keepers we had when the water was warmer.

Recent Catches

Brad, Krista, Matt & Jason Freeman – Houston TX and Thomas & Kaitlyn Clausen – Atlanta, GA – 40 crabs

Mario& Amanda Midence and Nicholas Martinez – Bogota, NJ – 30 crabs.

Lou DeSpirito & family – Perkasie, PA – 6 flounder & 50 crabs.

Parvese party – Malvern, PA – 55 crabs

Neil Kartscher – Mantua, NJ – 18" flounder

Donald Courtney & family – West Chester, PA – 20 crabs

Will Laverty party – Pocono Pines, PA – 30 crabs & 2 keeper flounder

Jim Cerami – Media, PA – 3lb 9oz flounder

Friday, July 22, 2011

Crabbing continued to improve this past week with most of our crabbers bringing back 2 dozenen or more. There are many large female crabs carrying their eggs that have to be thrown back.  They should be dropping their eggs in the next week to 10 days so the keeper numbers should continue to increase.  Our high crab boat for the week was Matt Donahue & Jillian Nester of Chester, PA with 55 crabs.  The flounder fishing continued to be spotty with the water still cool but warming up slowly.  Keepers were brought in all week but in smaller numbers than earlier in the season.  The biggest keeper of the week was caught by the Eric Hitchner group with a 25 1/4", 4 1/2 lb flounder.  Small black bass are beginning to show up and while not yet keeper size, they are a lot of fun for the young anglers to reel in.  We continue to check with our bait customers as well as our boat customers to steer you to the best locations for both fishing and crabbing.  Be sure to ask us where to go before you leave the dock.

Recent catches:

Ken Marx – Port Carbon, PA – 20", 3lb 14oz flounder

Kammarer Party – Rhinelander, WI & Philadelphia, PA – 35 crabs

Gallagher Children – Doylestown, PA – 30 crabs

Amber O'Toole – Southhampton, PA – 18 1/2" flounder

Chris Hoffman – Chester Springs, PA – 2 keeper flounder

Charles & Cory Schleyes – Lincoln, PA – 18 & 19" flounder

Erick Hitchner & Sherice – Ocean View, NJ – 25 1/4", 4lbs 8oz, 24 1/2", 4lbs & 19" flounder

Matt Donahue & Jillian Nester – Chester, PA – 55 crabs

Evan & Nick Yagodish – Medford, NJ – 1 1/2 dozenen crabs

Brianna Albertini – Philadelphia, PA – 18" flounder

Tim Garrity & party – Philadelphia, PA – 50 crabs

Oliver, Jordan, Zack & Sam – Voorhees, NJ – 30 crabs

Joe Kiefer – Haddon Heights, NJ – 3lb 11oz flounder

Frank Jankowski – Strathmere, NJ – 18 1/4" flounder

Brown Party – Glassboro, NJ – 2 1/2 dozenen crabs

Kayleigh (8yrs), Kyle (7 yrs), Kevin (5yrs) & Connor (10yrs) Smith – Roseland, PA – 58 crabs

Gallagher party – Chesterfield, VA – 22 crabs

Thursday, July 14, 2011

The fourth of July has come and gone and with it has gone some of the keeper flounder. 
However, the crabbing has gotten hotter and this past week our boats have returned with some impressive numbers.  The water temperature cooled one night this past week and the flounder that were concentrated in the Strathmere bay have scattered and we haven't found the new "hot spot" yet. The biggest keeper this past week was a 22 ½ inch, 3 pound 14 ounce flounder caught by Steve Burin of Riverside, NJ.  Our young angler of the week was 10 year old John Pecko of Drexil Hill, PA. who landed a 19 inch keeper flounder.  Minnows are still the favorite bait of the anglers bringing in keepers this week.  Crabbing has been the bright spot for the last several days with the high boat being David Evan & Erick Lilly of Sewell, NJ.  Bunker for bait produced the best crab catches.

Recent Catches

Steve & Pete Scharf – Rockledge, PA 18 & 19–inch flounder

Robert Rapp & Party – Swedesboro, NJ – 20 crabs 

Patty & Steve Lang – Woolrich, NJ – 3 keepers to 20 inches

Phil Burkhardt – Cape Coral, FL – 18–inch flounder

Lou Brasten – Downingtown, PA –  28–inch Striper

Russ Kugler & Ray Logan – Royersford, PA & Mays Landing, NJ – 2 19–inch flounder

Ben Bakanas – Maple Shade, NJ – keeper flounder

Bradley Wrena & party – Philadelphia, PA – 45 crabs

Charlie DiCarne – Horsham, PA – 18–inch flounder

Walter MacNamara – Omar, WV – keeper flounder

Todd Pantuso & Party – 25 crabs

Tony Poluch – Allentown, PA – 15yrs old – 19–inch flounder

Adam & Connor Hatfield – 9 & 12 yrs old – Croyden, PA – 16 crabs

Chris Deasy – Pittsburgh, PA – 19" flounder

McHale party – New Hope, PA – 20 Crabs

Steve Burin – Riverside, NJ – 3lb 14oz flounder

Anthony Bacc & party – Marlton, NJ – 30 crabs

John Pecko – 10yrs old – Drexel Hill, PA – 19" flounder

Brent Ward – Aston, PA – 18" flounder

Kaali & Latasha Cohen – Pennsauken, NJ – 40 crabs

David Evan & Eric Lilly – Sewell, NJ 70–80 crabs

John Raymond – Chadds Ford, PA – 2 keeper flounder 

Koniera Party – Orland, PA – 15 crabs

Wamsley Party – Narrows, VA – 20 crabs

Rich DeMatteo party – Wayne, PA – 35 crabs

Thursday, June 30, 2011

This past week has been another good one with flounder being caught in good numbers and a decent ratio of keepers to total caught.  Our boats are still having a lot of success in the Strathmere Bay, main channel and Flat Creek areas, with the largest catch this week going to Jared Evans at 26 inches, 6 pounds 15 ounces.  The young anglers are having a great time and getting lots of action with minnows still producing the best results.  Fourteen year old Harris Hunter of Plumsteadville, PA landed a 2 pound 13 ounce keeper and 10 year old Christian Chipman of Vineland, NJ brought in an 18 1/2 inch flounder.  Our crabbers are reporting good numbers of crabs with the ratio to keepers low, but still good for this early in the season.  Each week the ratio is improving.  The weather looks fantastic for the holiday weekend – hope we see you – Happy 4th!

Recent Catches

Lena Stuck – Harrisburg, PA 18" flounder

Frank & Matthew Mellor – Deptford, NJ  3 keepers

Katie Greenfield & Chris Brown – Highland, MD – 3 keepers to 4.6 lbs

Jared Evans – 26", 6lb 15oz flounder

Sean Scanten – 23" 3lb 15oz flounder

Harrison Hunter – Plumsteadville, PA – 14 years old – 2lb 13oz flounder

Christian Chipman – Vineland, NJ – 10 years old – 18 1/2" flounder

Thursday, June 23, 2011

The flounder fishing continues to be one of the most productive seasons in the past few years.  Most of our fishermen are catching fish and many are keepers.  The hot spots for our boats this past week continue to be at the end of Strathmere Bay through the turn, up the main channel to the intercoastal waterway and also all through Flat Creek.  Minnows are still producing the majority of the keepers, however Gulp proved to be the winning bait for Steve McGarvey of Springfield, PA when he landed 3 keepers with the largest coming in at 23", 3 lbs 8oz.  Our crabbing customers are reporting increased catches and as we get further into the season the crab counts should increase.  Make sure you get directions to the best crabbing areas before you leave the dock.

Recent Catches

John Frost – Lansdale, PA – 23 1/2", 3 lb, 12 oz flounder

Mark Baehser – Bristol, PA – 27 1/4", 5 lb, 11oz flounder

Cooper and Zach Thrush – Bloomsburg, PA – 18" & 19" flounder

Mike Little – Thurmont, MD – 4 keepers out of 35 caught

Dan Leader – Collegeville, PA – 4 lb flounder

Thursday, June 16, 2011

This past week brought our best fishing so far this season.  Most of our boats are bringing in keeper flounder.  There are still a lot of shorts which keep the youngsters busy.  The flounder are spread out all through our local waters from the mouth of Flat Creek to the inner coastal and from markers 328–329 north to marker 309.  Minnows along with gulp, mackerel, and spearing are the favorite baits.  There hasn't been much action on squid.  I have been telling my customers to save themselves some money and forget the squid.  This morning a customer wanted squid along with the minnows.  I tried to talk him into a different bait instead but he wanted the squid.  He came back with a 7lb 2oz flounder caught on squid and bucktail.  When it comes to fishing, nothing is carved in stone!  Crabbing is steadily improving with a high catch this week of 35 crabs.

Recent Catches

Lou & Vince DeSpirito – Perkasie, PA – 8 keepers to 23"

Carole Polley & Kathy Black – College Park, MD – 18" & 20" flounder

Rob Topham – Audubon, NJ – 7lb 2oz, 26 ¼" flounder & 2 other keepers

Barry Sullivan – Cape May, NJ – 18 ¼" flounder

David Morel – Wyckoff, NJ – 22" flounder

Lou Greenwood & Chris Spera – Blackwood, NJ & Clayton, NJ – 5 keepers to 21"

Brian Bausman & Nick Bowen – Havertown, PA & Lansdale, PA – 21" & 18 ½" flounder

Maria Scangella & party – Philadelphia, PA – 35 crabs

Eric Hitchner, family & friends – Marmora, NJ – 3 flounder to 3 lbs

Dana Hunsicker & friend – Oxford, PA – 18 #1 crabs

Apryl Irrera – Millville, NJ – 3 ¼ lb flounder

John Goodema & family – Philadelphia, PA – 20 crabs

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Not too much has changed since my last report.  Lots of flounder are being caught with quite a few being keepers.  Small blues are still in the back bay, but not as many as last week.  Stripers are plentiful for those who know how to fish for them.  The easiest way is to anchor up along a sod bank and use clam or bunker.  A couple of my flounder fishermen have caught stripers accidently on minnow and bucktail.  Several anglers have told me that their lines had gotten broke off by something big.  My bet is that it was a striper.  When using light tackle for flounder (which I recommend) it makes it difficult to land a striper.  The intercoastal waterway between markers 317 and 329 is the most productive for keeper flounder.  Keep in mind that more fish are caught before noon than after, although this is not carved in stone.  Last week I went out at the change of the tide at 1pm and landed 3 18" plus flounder and 8– 10 shorts.  I also caught a weakfish the next day.  It was only 14" long which would have been legal but I did release it.  This was the first weakfish I have seen this season.  It was caught while flounder fishing using a chartreuse bucktail with a pearl white gulp swimming mullet.

Recent catches

Dan Pilquist – Philadelphia, PA – 18 ½" flounder

Matt Musial – Philadelphia, PA – 5 lb 9 oz and 2 lb 1 oz flounder

Russ Tucker and Patrick Finch and Doug Lashley – Port Norri and Leeburg, NJ – 4 flounder to 22 inches

Ken Dougherty and Mike Grundy Jr – Gainsville, VA and Long Valley, NY – 3 lb and 2 lb flounder

Jim Fender – Langhorne PA – 20 ½" flounder

Jim Fender Jr. – Lanhorne PA – 19 ½" flounder

Tuesday, May 23, 2011

Due to the rainy weather that we had during this past week, we did not send many boats out fishing.  A few diehards did manage to get out between the raindrops and all of them caught flounder and bluefish.  The upper end of Flat Creek and the intercoastal waterway between markers 309 and 339 have been producing most of the keepers.  Spearing, minnows and gulp seem to be the preferred bait.  Several of my customers say their lines have been broken off.  My assumption is it most likely is a striped bass or big blue fish.  The largest flounder I weighed in this week was 4 pounds even caught by John Darby of Philadelphia, PA.  He had a 3 pound flounder last week.  High boat this week goes to yours truly and my wife Candy with a total of 5 keeper flounder of which none went over 18 ½ inches.  Six year old Ted Stabolepszy of Reading, PA was fishing with his dad Jeff and caught a 3 ¼ pound flounder which was the largest of the four keepers they brought in.  Quite a few striped bass and big bluefish are being caught in the surf on clam.  Here’s hoping that we’ll have better weather this week!

Good luck fishing,

Frank

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Action remains about the same as last weekend – lots of flounder and 1 – 3lb blues being caught in the intercoastal waterway behind Strathmere and the upper end of Flat Creek.  Minnows and cut mackerel are the preferred bait.  Spearing is also a good bait to use but does not hold up well on the hook.  Is you are going to use spearing, put it on the hook first and then back it up with a minnow or squid strip.  Short stripers are also being caught along the sod banks using clam or bunker.

Recent catches

Glenn Cunningham – Delran, NJ – 3 lb 5 oz flounder

Tom Fala – Warminster, PA – 22" flounder

Bill Todd – Mullica Hill, NJ – 3 ½ lb flounder

Matt Musial – Philadelphia, PA – 2 lb flounder

John Darby – Philadelphia, PA – 3 lb flounder

Donald Mallen – Croydon, PA – 3 lb bluefish and 19" flounder

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Opening day of the 2011 New Jersey flounder season has arrived. Despite the 54 degree water temperature of the incoming tide on Saturday morning and cool temperature during the day, the avid fishermen were not deterred. Most of them were successful with a lot of action. All but a few had keeper flounder with 1 to 1 ½ pound bluefish mixed in. The bite was mostly in the morning. Minnows seemed to be the preferred bait although mackerel and spearing also caught fish. With the cold water temperature most of the action was in the inter– coastal waterway from marker 301 to 341. The upper end of Flat Creek and north end of Ludlam Bay were also productive.

The results of the Strathmere Fishing and Environmental Fishing Club Herb Hollinger Sr. Opening Day Flounder Tournament are:

Men's Division

1st Place – Bud Lyons of Kirtwood, Pa with a 4.8lb flounder

2nd Place – George Creds of Mantua, NJ with a 3.7 lb flounder

3rd Place – Herb Hollinger Sr. of Strathemre, NJ with a 3.7 flounder

Women's Division

1st Place – Nancy Freed of Pennsville, NJ with a 3.7 flounder

2nd Place – Doreen Callahan of Dennisville, NJ with a 2.4 lb flounder

Overall Winner was Candy Jankowski of Marmora, NJ with a 5.1 lb flounder.

Other Recent Catches

Tom McCracken – Norristown, PA – 3lb 1 oz flounder

Dan Boyer – Ridley, PA – 9lb 10z flounder

Al, Tom & John Fala – Warminster, PA – 5 keepers to 3.5 lbs

Mike Lannuth & party – Norristown, PA – 17 crabs

Glenn Cunningham – Delran, NJ – 3lb 5oz flounder

Monday, April 18, 2011

Another fishing season is almost here! We will be opening this year on Saturday, May 7th at 6am which is the start of the 2011 flounder season.  The size limit remains at 18 inches with a bag limit of 8 fish per angler, per day.  With no increase in the size limit hopefully all those 17 ½ to 17 ¾ inch flounder we caught last year  will now be legal!  The season will run until Sunday, September 25th which is the longest season we have had in quite some time.

It seems like the bigger fish are caught earlier in the season so make plans now to get down to Frank's.  We'd love to include your catch in the first fishing report of the 2011 season!!

Good Luck Fishing and hope to see you soon!

Curious about last season?  Read last year's fishing reports here!