John Howell holds two summer flounder that weighed more than 5.5 pounds each. (Photo: Provided)

 
Opening Day is finally here! Anglers up and down the state are ready to burst through the gates as fluke season opens on Saturday and lasts through Sept. 25, with a coastwide 5-fish limit at 18-inch minimum length, though Delaware Bay has a separate set of rules at 4-fish limit at a 17-inch minimum length.
 
Look for some excellent flounder action to transpire as hordes of flounder have been stacked in the backwaters for the last month. Even more striped bass moved into South Jersey waters this week, with quality 15- to 40-pound fish hitting the scales. Bluefishing, well, it simply hasn’t let up one bit. And adding to the excitement, black sea bass season reopens on Monday to June 19 with a 10-fish limit at 12.5-inch minimum length. This weekend should be a wild one on all fishing fronts.
 

Linda Davoli with a 72 lb. black drum caught in the Brigantine surf. (Photo: RipTide Bait and Tackle, Brigantine NJ)

 
“A wave of larger bass moved in off Brigantine beach,” said Fred Hynes, Riptide Bait and Tackle, Brigantine. “Between bunker and clams as bait, we had well over 25 stripers weighed in this week, all between 15 and 35 pounds.” Gary Hill nailed a 33.3-pound linesider using a bunker head as bait, while Joe Smitty scored a 28-pounder.
 
“The best bite was from the mid-island and south, and there were a bunch of black drum sucking down clams as well.” Linda Davoli had a monster battle with a 72-pound boomer taken off the surf at Brigantine beach. Bluefish are stacked in the backwaters, and John Wilkinson has been running to the 139 marker to load up his charters with 2- to 5-pound choppers.
 
For the start of fluke season, Hynes suggests to try out Lake’s Bay or Broad Creek to find flatties hitting spearing or mackerel strips.
 
“I would hit the 10- to 15-foot depths to start out fluke fishing,” said Pat Martin, Fin-Atics, Ocean City. “Try out Kennedy Park or Rainbow Channel to see if they are biting, though the water has been a little colder than normal.” Meantime, bluefish are still crushing plugs, poppers and bunker chunks, especially at the South End near Corson’s Inlet where a steady evening bite from 6 to 8 p.m. has occurred all week.
 

Jeremy Ridgeway with a 37" bass on his first clam. He was fishing the North part of Brigantine NJ. (Photo: RipTide Bait and Tackle, Brigantine NJ)

 
White perch fishing picked up in the rivers, as grass shrimp and bloodworms hooked plenty of perch in the Tuckahoe River this week.
 
“Striper fishing really picked up this week as it seemed the center of the island around the 20 to 60 streets had the most activity,” stated Mike Cunningham, Sea Isle Bait and Tackle, Sea Isle City. “There’s been a lot of seaweed near the inlet areas, and the center island doesn’t have as much around there, letting surf guys toss clams and bunker to land bass to the 40-inch mark.”
 
Cunningham also noted that he heard of the first handful of kingfish in the surf, while bluefish are ripping up baits at the inlet areas and are not as affected by the weed.
 
For opening day of fluke, Cunningham’s said of his best bet is to “fish either side of Ludlam’s Bay, that’s where the warmer water is at. Flat Creek and the ICW should also have fluke there, but the water has been pretty cold lately, only around the low 50’s.”
 
“I know I’m beginning to sound like a broken record but the fact is that there really are lots of big blues in the bay and surf,” said Tammy Carbohn of the Avalon Hodge Podge, Avalon. “The blues are feeding on just about anything.” Bruce Conley of Avalon used a jerk bait in the bay to fight a 12-pound slammer from his kayak.
 
There have been reports of anglers catching and releasing fluke near the 8th Street jetty area, so that’s a good bet to start focusing your opening day festivities.
 
“We’ve weighed in several bass up to 38 pounds that were caught along the North Cape May beaches,” said Matt Slobodjian, Jim’s Bait and Tackle, Cape May. “The fish are starting to move north along the beachfront, and bass are being caught at the Point as well as from the Wildwood and North Wildwood beaches.”
 

The Brigantine surf continues to produce as Al Jones shows off two nice fish he caught this week. (Photo: RipTide Bait and Tackle, Brigantine NJ)

 
Using fresh bunker has been the key to surf striper success. Bass have also been taken close to the beachfront, about a 1/4mile off, as anglers are trolling or chunking the Ferry Jetty to Reed’s Beach in Delaware Bay. Dave Spiewak from Sicklerville and his two sons Benny and Carmen bagged three bass to 20 pounds while Harold Byron of Warminster, Pa., nailed a 34 pounder from the 20-foot slough.
 
Black drum moved to the Jersey side as Tussy’s Slough coughed up 5 boomers to 50 pounds for Zach Robson and Dave Duckenfield while Arty Mansfield fished closer to the beach just inside the 20-foot slough to score two drum to 40 pounds. Watch the drum fishing really take off this weekend with the full moon sitting upon us on Saturday.
 
Reach Nick Honachefsky at beachnut33@hotmail.com