New Jersey Fishing Reports

Lots of small striped bass, but some keepers 28 to 35 inches, swam the Delaware River, and big catfish hugged the bottom, and the tributary Raccoon Creek especially attracted the whiskerfaces, said Rick from Big Timber Bait & Tackle. Smallmouth bass fishing began to gain steam along the river, especially at the mouths of tributaries like Big Timber Creek and near the Coast Guard station and the Gloucester Marina. Flounder could be angled from the upper bay like at Ship John and Flat Top, and many were shorts. Rick heard about better floundering from the back bays like toward Avalon and Sea Isle City. One customer drilled a 28-inch flounder in the bay behind Ocean City. Drumfish were tackled at Tussy’s Slough, the Pin Top, the Banana Peel and the Horseshoe, and one customer beat up a catch to 85 pounds. The season’s first rumors about tuna fishing flew around, and Rick heard about a couple of boaters who planned to make the run, but heard no results. No customers talked about shark catches yet. But that’ll change soon, and tuna and shark fishing was impending. More will probably be heard within the week. Big Timber carries bait and tackle for all fishing from freshwater to offshore. That includes a complete supply of lures and baits for rivers and lakes; rigs, tackle and frozen bait for bays; and offshore lures, rigs and baits.

Pennsville

Most customers who flounder fished targeted the waters from Ship John to Fortescue, said Matt from Shag’s Bait & Tackle. A few keeper striped bass could be claimed around Ship John and even down to Fortescue on fresh bunker, but most large stripers migrated toward the ocean. Eighteen to 20-inch, resident, juvenile, non-migrating stripers always hang around the Delaware River, and the shorts can be hooked and released on bloodworms and fresh bunker. Crabbing dropped off, probably because the blueclaws were going through the first shed of the season. Fresh bunker and bloodworms are usually stocked. No minnows are carried for flounder bait, but strips of fresh bunker can work great for the flatties, especially in the early season. Frozen baits such as squid and spearing are on hand, and freshwater baits including nightcrawlers and trout worms are supplied.

Port Elizabeth

A friend pounded eight keeper flounder, probably releasing 40 or 50 shorts, near Miah Maul in 20 feet, and flounder fishing seemed pretty good on the bay, said Sharon from The Girls Place Bait & Tackle. It’s assumed the friend kept no more than a limit of six. Drum fishers probably kept picking away at the boomers at Tussy’s Slough and at the Pin Top like they’d been, though Sharon heard no news in the past days. Striped bass, plenty of them, started to get picked up in the shallows like off Reed’s Beach and Pierce’s Point, and most serious anglers dunked bunker for them, but some probably used clams. Ocean surf anglers clammed the bass around Townsend’s Inlet, but could also use bunker. Weakfish reportedly began to appear around the Cape May jetties, sucking up bloodworms fished under floats. Few blues showed up in the bay, were late to arrive, even though northern anglers whaled the speedsters. The netter found only a few blues in the catch. Fresh clams and fresh bunker are usually stocked, so long as boats could get out to catch them. Minnows, bloodworms and sandworms are carried. Sandworms, a great bait, are more common up north but are less expensive than bloods. Frozen herring, mackerel, squid and just about all baits, a large selection, are stocked. The Girls Place is located on Route 47 just after Route 55 ends, and it’s the long, one-story, yellow building on the right. There’s a large parking lot with plenty of room for trailered boats.

Newport

Crabbing was under way at Beaver Dam Boat Rentals for the second weekend of the season, and customers caught, Linda said. One filled three-quarters of a bushel basket with the blueclaws, and two to three dozen keepers was probably average, and 4 ½ to 5 ½ inches seemed the average size. As waters warm, more of the hardshells will come in from Delaware Bay. “They’re going to get serious,” she said. But crabbing was currently no waste of time, so get out the pot of boiled water and the Old Bay. Beaver Dam’s rental boats for crabbing get towed up Oranokin Creek, a tidal stream that runs along the shop, teaming with the crustaceans. The staff checks on the rental boaters every hour, and if any want to return in the mean time for a break, they simply cell phone the shop, and the staff picks them up. Kayaks and canoes are available to rent for sightseeing on the creek, a wildlife wonderland with all kinds of birds, critters and plants. The Department of Fish and Wildlife is building a water trail that eventually will partly run through the creek. Beaver Dam carries everything needed for a day of crabbing, including all different types of traps, hand lines, nets, bait, bug spray, suntan lotion, drinks and snacks. The shop is currently open 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays and will open every day beginning this weekend.

Fortescue

Flounder got boated from the stakes in shallower waters to the Elbow in deeper, said Dave from Al’s Bait & Tackle. Fishing for everything in general’s been good so far this year, and the number of keeper flounder caught already seemed better than last year, and more boaters seemed to be on the waters. Dave fished Monday, usually a day with lighter crowds, and saw more vessels than he expected. Although when flounder season first opened two weekends ago, more keepers seemed to hover in deeper waters, the sizes of the fish this past week appeared no different in shallower than in the deep. A few blues, small ones that typically roam the bay around this time, were sometimes mixed in with catches. Striped bass fishing amped up on the southern bay like off Pierce’s Point, and the fish were big, including 40-pounders. Fresh bunker or bunker snagged and dropped back down for bait were the choices. Bunker did school the bay. The striper fishing really lit up during a couple of days. A few stripers, not as big, were also taken around the lighthouses near Fortescue. Weakfish, including sizeable ones 4 to 6 pounds, began to appear around the lighthouses like Cross Ledge or Flat Top. Anglers floated bloodworms to hook them. Drum were caught at Tussy’s Slough, the Pin Top and the 16 buoy, and bigger ones pushing 100 pounds began to get pumped in. Fortescue’s surf fishing tapered off for the moment, and horseshoe crabs invaded, after striper fishing had been better than usual along the shore this spring. But the beach fishing should improve again when the horseshoe crabs leave. All kinds of white perch, big ones, none of them less than a pound or two, hit in Fortescue creek. Minnows, fresh clams, fresh bunker and bloodworms are stocked. Shedder crabs are now carried. Plus the full selection of frozen baits including mackerel, spearing, herring, the different types of squid and more are on hand.

On the Salt Talk trips flounder fished through the week, and fish were caught on a couple of days, Capt. Howard said. In other words, decent catches of keepers were made, and the fishing wasn’t bad, was all right, he apparently meant. Sunday’s fishing was pretty good for about 15 keepers to 21 or 22 inches. Four small blues were also boated. So were a couple of sharks, but junk fish like sharks weren’t much of a problem. Waters were 68 or 69 degrees. “Not bad,” he said. A drum charter is slated for Thursday, and the boat will continue to sail for the boomers on charters. Drum fishing sounded slow for a moment over the weekend, but that could change. Charters are also available for flounder. The Salt Talk is sailing open-boat for flounder 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, but always call ahead to confirm, because the schedule can depend on demand or on whether a charter is booked.

Bivalve

Customers started checking in striped bass, finding the fish in the shallows or in close, anywhere from Thompson’s Beach to Pierce’s Point and Reed’s Beach, said Pat from Longreach Marina. The bass were big, too, weighing up to 40 and 50 pounds, including 20- and 30-pounders. Fresh bunker, the bait to soak, is stocked. Flounder were also boated, and minnows, the favorite bait for the flatties, are stocked when available, though the supply is somewhat scarce at this time of year. Drumfish were also hauled up. Anglers and their catches included: Ron Rosewall, 50-pound 49-inch striper; Jim Wood, Greg Erber and Kyle Gleason, 48-1/4-pound 48-inch striper, two 47-inchers and three stripers 46, 36 and 34 inches; Jim Wood on a trip the next day with Jimbo Wood and Kyle and Bailey Gleason, 42- and 41-inch stripers; Anthony Albano, 41-pound 47-inch striper; Albert Albano, two 41- and 40-inch stripers; Terry Chalow and Joe Santoro, 40-1/4-pound and 27-pound stripers; Ed Branden Sr. and Jr., Siwa and Anthony, 42-inch striper; Gary Wilson and George Wengert, 42-inch and 38-inch stripers; Tom and Frank Przelomiec and Rich Jillard, 41-, 36- and 35-inch stripers; Tony Rizzo III, 38-1/4-pound striper; and Jim Bottina and Tim Regan, four stripers to 26 1/4 pounds.

Cape May

Drum fishing somewhat slowed by the weekend, but tons were marked, and they should get active again, said Capt. Tom from the Fishin’ Fever. The fishing’s been like that this season, with times when the boomers decided to feed, and other times when they were slower to respond, but lots remained in the bay, and the full moon that’s approaching this weekend might trigger them to perk up. Tom is 110-percent sure they should get active again, and anglers just need to fish, because if they wait for reports, they can be too late. A trip Saturday pulled the hook on one drum. Sea bass littered the ocean wrecks, and the boat is up for sailing for them. Big blues schooled a little ways from shore, and trolling or chunking trips are available for them. Trips are also on tap for flounder fishing both on Delaware Bay and on the back bay, and good catches could be made. Tom’s ocean flounder fishing will probably start in three weeks, when waters warm. Sharks started to arrive, and a buddy saw a big, 8-foot mako free jump from the waters, and Fishin’ Fever will also hunt them down. Tom is also available for striped bass trips on another boat from Brigantine, where 20- to 40-pounders and larger ones are swimming along the beach front. When bunker are found, the trips will snag and drop them back down for bait. Otherwise the trips will troll for the linesiders.

Catches of drum seemed to slow down a little during the weekend, but Jaftica Sportfishing was able to work the waters and land some, Capt. Ray said. The boomers seemed to turn on for a short time like 1 ½ hours on the tide. The bite was like a couple of weeks ago, when piles of the fish were marked, but they only fed at certain times. Drum fishing seemed to keep changing this season. Last week just about anyone who drum fished had a chance at racking up a slew of the beasts. But previously anglers had to work, and during the weekend they also had to work and know what they were doing. But there was no predicting the better stretches and the slower ones, and they changed too quickly for anglers to wait and go when good reports came out. The fish in the past days continued to be a mix of sizes with some big ones like previously. Striped bass were pillaged throughout the bay, but Ray knows a couple of boaters who struggled to hook them Saturday. But when the linesiders are plentiful, the boat is available to go after them, if anglers want. Ray and crew saw a 5- or 6-foot shark, maybe a dusky, in the southern bay, so the monsters seemed to be around. Lots of blues schooled farther north at Barnegat Ridge in the ocean, so they should be at the ocean lumps off Cape May. Flounder fishing wasn’t bad on the bay, gave up lots of shorts but some keepers, and a flounder trip is slated to fish with Jaftica at the end of the week.

Drumming was tougher Saturday on the Heavy Hitter, but the fishing was decent Friday on the boat and was better, pretty good, on Sunday, Capt. George said. The fishing seemed to go through days of slower fishing and days when they bit a lot. That’s unlike last year, when trips often caught the heck out of them and then went home. Both the Jersey side and the Delaware side put out the fish lately. On Friday’s trip Steve and the pipe insulators belted drum to 60 pounds. On Saturday Rich and family boated one 50-pound drum. Sunday morning’s trip was the best among the days, when Paul Champy’s group hauled in six big drum to an 80-pounder. George hadn’t been running morning trips, and most boats usually ran from afternoon into dark. But the anglers wanted to fish in the morning, and they hooked up. On Sunday night Jim Dougherty’s charter beat drum to 60 pounds. The Heavy Hitter will probably drum fish another couple of weeks. George’s friend pumped in bluefish 20 miles offshore. George also heard about a few mako sharks that started to be fought along the 20-fathom line and about some thresher sharks around. A few small bluefin tuna supposedly swam Baltimore Canyon.

A drum was being gaffed with Legal Limit Charters on Sunday evening when Capt. T.J. gave this report during a phone call on the waters. He hung up to take care of the fish then called back. The fishing around then was “hit and pick,” he said. Anglers got maybe an hour when catches turned on, and a half-dozen got boated. He sailed for the boomers every day through then, and that’s about how it went for everyone, he said. T.J.’s other boat is bottom fishing from Tuckerton and ran a trip that shoveled up lots of keeper sea bass to 6 ½ pounds and some big ling Sunday.

Drum fishing kept boaters cranking them in until the weekend, when things got somewhat slower, said Matt from Jim’s Bait & Tackle in an e-mail. The most catches came from around the 16 buoy on incoming tides in 30 feet. But the fish also pulled lines at Tussy’s Slough and around Deadman’s Shoal toward Bug Light. Striped bass picked fights with boaters in the shallows of the bay off Reeds Beach and at the cove near East Light on bunker. They mostly stopped biting by the weekend, probably because of boat traffic. Weakfish began to suck in baits in the surf, mostly on floated bloodworms, at Cape May Point and along the Cape May Inlet jetties. The trout to 12 pounds were weighed in, and “this is just the start of it,” he said. But striped bass fishing was best in the surf. They were banked all along the beach front at Cape May and at Cape May Point. Catching them took a little patience, not a blitz, but the linesiders usually showed up at some time, usually around the top of the tides. A 43-3/4-pounder that Kevin “The Big Cheese” Olson, who works at the shop, muscled in was the biggest lunker seen at the store. But other big bass hauled from the beach included C.A. Pecorelli’s 33-1/4-pounder and Joe Poole’s 24-1/2-pounder.