<b>Brooklawn</b>

Striped bass fishing was going wild on the Delaware River around the local piers and the National Park area, said Rick from <b>Big Timber Bait & Tackle<b>. The linesiders to 38 inches were reported caught so far, and that meant more of that caliber were probably lurking. The larger channel catfish to 10 pounds were on the hunt in the river off the Gloucester Pier and at Raccoon Creek, and dead baits brought them up. Little was heard about the bay’s fishing, but resident stripers, like the ones in the river, should start to move into the bay more and more as water temperatures drop. With any luck, bigger bass will make a run up the bay this fall when the stripers migrate south along the coast for the season. Anglers will mostly fish chunks of bunker to hook up. 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.

<b>Fortescue</b>

Fifty blues were kept and a hundred more were released on the <b>Buccaneer</b> on a trip to the Elbow, Capt. Ralph said. Three striped bass probably 18 or 19 inches were let go. Schools of small blues were there, and maybe the stripers meant resident bass were getting active in the cooler weather. Trips will fish for the linesiders when bigger ones appear later this season. Anglers talked about short weakfish landed at Straight Creek toward False Egg Island Point.

Striped bass, including keepers, sometimes started to get bunker chunked at the lighthouses, said Dave from <b>Al’s Bait & Tackle</b>. A buddy and his friend landed 15 stripers including a 33-incher, a 29-incher and two 28-inchers in 4 hours of fishing. Fresh bunker is stocked on weekends and will probably begin to be carried on weekdays soon. Plenty of blues schooled the bay, and a few weakfish could be boated in the waters. Fortescue surf anglers beached weaks, blues and a few spots. Try fishing with bloodworms, chicken or shedder crab for the weaks, mullet for the blues, and bloods for the spots. Frozen shedder crabs are stocked, and so are the bloods, chicken, mullet and a full supply of all the usual baits. Lots of white perch filled the creeks, and plenty of crabs were nabbed. The store is open every day except Tuesdays.

<b>Bivalve</b>

Few customers fished in the weather through the past week, said Pat from <b>Longreach Marina</b>. But John Eichenberger landed 20 striped bass including one keeper. Boaters from the marina can often fish the Maurice River in windy weather. White perch and catfish cram the waters, and sometimes stripers or a stray weakfish can be hooked. Pat will try to begin stocking fresh bunker this weekend for the bay’s striper fishing, if the weather allows bunker boats to sail. But if the baitfish are unavailable, they should certainly be stocked by the following weekend. It seems time. 

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