April Fishing Report

Expect to see striped bass consistently on the surf when the temperature breeches 50 degrees. Clam will be the preferred bait; bunker, mackerel, and herring are also viable bait choices. Artificial lures by Bass Assassin, Fin-S, Atom, and others are vastly underrated, and can often out-catch live or fresh bait.
Inlet fishing from the shore will produce similar results to surf fishing, but remember inlets are rocky, and an extra ounce of lead may be necessary to keep your rig. Boaters drifting through the inlet should compliment their bait with some chum. While your bait drifts and your chum permeates, the dedicated angler would toss a white buck-tail with worm trailer. Around the bridges and structure of inlets, an angler with green grabs and clams would catch tautog, a true delicacy.
April fishing in the coastal back-waters of cape May County is spectacular. The days are growing and the temperatures are rising. The back bay is the first fishing ground to thrive in Spring. The shallow waters, and dark mud bottoms allow for quick water warming which promotes algal growth, which in turn supports krill, shrimp, minnows, plankton, and other other organisms that compose the massive lower component of the food web. Once the most important component of the food web has grown from the sapling spring sun, do the true spring predators arrive. By the first week of April, Ludlam Bay is overwhelmed with ravenous bluefish, elusive weakfish, and premature summer fluke. The most successful fishing strategies here all involve artificial lures. Soft plastics on small lead-heads are most successful (they catch fish and are cheap to lose to bluefish). Buck-tails are highly effective lures not to be overlooked. If striped bass is your target, fish the falling tide near creek mouths; the out-going tide brings many food choices off of the marsh to a waiting striper. Cast your lure up the creek and let it fall out of the creek with the tide. Try many creeks and make many casts to be most successful. One may also anchor or drift clams of bunker at a creek mouth or in Ludlam Bay.
Offshore, roughly 100-130 feet of water Atlantic cod are biting better then they have in many years. The cod are biting clams and squid, with standard rigs. With the tog, you are also going to have a nice catch of ling. It is expensive to head offshore, but with a few buddies to ease the gas cost, a cooler of fish is surly waiting for the dedicated spring angler.
Gibson's Tackle & Marine is open daily from sunrise to sunset, in season. Gibson's has a complete stock of merchandise, along with the essential local knowledge, to provide any angler with the tools and know-how to catch a fish worthy of the dinner table.