<b>Staten Island</b>

Just an okay catch of striped bass was boated Wednesday with <b>Outcast Charters</b> on Raritan Bay, Capt. Joe said. Lots of small bass snatched up the clam baits, and only a handful of keepers were iced. No bluefish showed up.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

Anglers bombed striped bass and blues, great catches, from the ocean to the surf, bay and rivers, said Jimmy from <b>Julian’s Bait & Tackle</b>. Fishing was excellent all around. From boats, the bass were clammed, bunker chunked, jigged or trolled on Stretch plugs or bunker spoons. The blues from vessels inhaled the bunker or smacked the jigs or trolled spoons and plugs. Good numbers of bunker schooled. Surf anglers whacked lots of both fish at Sandy Hook. Wing out clams, bunker or bloodworms for the stripers there. Jimmy wasn’t asked what to toss for the blues from the surf, but bunker, popper lures, swimming lures and jigs should work. Jimmy bunker chunked plenty of bass and blues on the bay. He likes when the blues come in, because they corral the bass, and otherwise the stripers become spread out. Plenty of blues and stripers packed the rivers. Stripers were pulled from along the bridges on the rivers every night, and Jimmy would fish bunker or worms for them. Bottom fishing began to pick up for blackfish and cod at the ocean wrecks. All the baits are stocked.  

Here’s the report from the Atlantic Highlands party boat <b>Fishermen</b>: <a href=" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGHhuUTAWjc
" target="_blank">a YouTube video from Tuesday’s trip</b></a>, showing one striped bass reeled up after another. “We found them again today!” Capt. Ron said in the report on the boat’s Web site. Jigs slammed the catches, and Chris Butchyk, Old Bridge, won the pool with a 30-pound bass. Another nearly 29 pounds was waffled. No other reports were posted on the site since Monday, and Monday’s news was covered here in the last report. That trip “basically limited out,” Ron said on his site.  The Fishermen is striped bass fishing 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily and 3:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Fridays through Sundays.

The morning’s trip for striped bass stayed docked on Monday, but the afternoon’s trip steamed, said Capt. Tom from the party boat <b>Atlantic Star</b>. All the anglers limited out on the fish and released more on jigs between the channels. The fish were abundant and close enough to port to be jigged, though over the weekend the jig-able stripers schooled farther south, at the Shrewsbury Rocks. On Tuesday morning’s trip, the fish that could be jigged were gone, so the anglers clammed stripers. In the afternoon, jigging started off good catches, until south winds chilled the bite. But patrons still picked the fish, ending up with a good catch by the end of the day. On Wednesday morning’s trip, both clamming and jigging were slow, but the afternoon’s trip caught stripers on clams. So trips were now mixing it up with clamming or jigging, whatever worked best. A few blues were hooked among the stripers, and most of the stripers were keepers. Pool-winning stripers probably weighed in the upper teens. The Atlantic Star is fishing for striped bass on two trips daily 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

<b>Highlands</b>

Ocean fishing for striped bass dropped off, but fishing for them on the bay amped up, said Capt. Bob from <b>Sandy Hook Fishing Adventures</b>. A trip with Chuck Thomas and grandsons filled the cooler with stripers to 36 inches and a huge bluefish. First they put two stripers, the 36-incher and a 30-incher, in the box at a spot, and then the fishing slowed as the tide stopped. They searched around for more fish, found none, and returned to the original place when the tide ran again. Then they filled the box. Charters are sailing, and so are open-boat trips in the evenings 5:30 to 11 daily.

Jigging for striped bass dropped out recently, and the body of fish moved north, but no matter, because <b>Fisher Price Charters</b> beat down very good catches of the linesiders all the other ways, Capt. Derek said. Clamming, bunker chunking and trolling – all waxed them this week. A trip Wednesday limited out on bunker chunks. The bunker population changed day to day. On one day Derek castnetted more than enough in one throw. On another, castnetting took an hour to nab only 50 pieces. Bluefish started to hit jigs and bunker baits. Charters are fishing, and so are open-boat trips. Open trips Friday and Saturday are probably full, and Derek will probably add another Sunday.

<b>Bradley Beach</b>

Striped bass, lots, were pounded from the surf on clams, said Roy from <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>. Catches started early this season, and the first weigh-in came in on April 7. But last year the first was on April 28. Three weeks early! A few sharpies scored the fish on pencil poppers, and bluefish were yet to make a substantial push into the suds. Bunker schooled around, and frozen bunker is stocked, and the fresh menhaden will be carried this weekend. Fresh clams are also stocked. Boaters also banged up the stripers on the ocean. Trout fishing pillaged catches, including at Spring Lake, Lake Takanassee and the Manasquan River. A whopper, 11-1/2-pound rainbow trout was checked in from Spring Lake. All the freshwater baits and tackle are on hand. 

<b>Neptune</b>

<b>Last Lady Fishing Charters</b> will set a course for blackfishing on an individual-reservation trip Sunday, and if striped bass swim the area, the trip will also target them, Capt. Ralph said in an e-mail. Cold waters on the bottom made the angling slow to the south on one of the trips last Sunday, covered in the last report. Five keeper blacks, a couple of big ling and one keeper cod were coolered. Lots of small fish bit. But Ralph expects this weekend to be much better, and northwest winds should warm the waters, making the fish bite. He’ll fish local this time. Another individual-reservation trip for the tog is set for next week on Friday, the last day of the blackfish season. Another will run offshore for cod and pollock on May 19. Call to climb aboard any of the trips, and striped bass charters are also sailing.

<b>Belmar</b>

Sharpies began to dial up striped bass in the surf, and some were weighed in, said Jessie from <b>Fisherman’s Den</b>. They scored a mess at Sandy Hook, and fewer but some locally. Striper anglers also hooked up in the Manasquan surf and up the Manasquan River and nearby Point Pleasant Canal. Clams were mostly fished for the stripers in the surf. The Belmar head boats shellacked stripers on the ocean, and bluefish began to be fought from both the surf and the boats. On the boats lures such as larger Krocodiles, Crippled Herrings and rubber shads or Storm lures knocked up the catches. But now that blues arrived, anglers will use the metal lures to hold up against the teeth. The head boats that blackfished began to serve up the tog, because waters warmed enough.

Blackfishing became lots better on the party boat <b>Big Mohawk</b>, Capt. Chris said. A very good catch was clobbered Tuesday, though the fishing on Wednesday’s trip became not as good. Decent-sized ones, up to 8 and 9 pounds, and a black that was almost 10, were hung on trips. The bigger fish crunched green crabs, but clams also caught. Cod were sometimes mixed in, and probably 12 or 15 cod were decked Wednesday. Blackfish had stopped feeding inshore that day because of a southerly tide, so the boat hit the deeper waters for the tog, and then cod came up. The Big Mo had been targeting striped bass on occasion, when the stripers were around, and when the blacks were reluctant to bite in colder waters previously. But striper fishing slowed on the ocean in the past few days. Theories flew around about why, and some said the fish pushed into Raritan Bay, for example. But they actually swam offshore, Chris said, and he knew where they held. Fishing for stripers is closed beyond 3 miles from the coast. The Big Mohawk is blackfishing 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.

Excellent catches of striped bass were plowed on the <b>Miss Belmar Princess</b>, and the fishing became tougher on Wednesday, but loads of bluefish moved in and were plundered, Capt. Alan said. A handful of bass were bagged that day, but scores of stripers were boxed on average on the rest of the trips. Jigs hooked all the fish, and the Miss Belmar Princess is sailing 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily. Night trips on Fridays to Sundays will be added starting the first weekend of May. Night trips will run daily starting in mid May.

<b>Brielle</b>

Striped bass fishing limited out in 2 hours, catching and releasing more afterward, on the ocean to the north Tuesday with Dr. Terranova’s charter on the <b>Big Kid</b>, with Capt. Wally Harmstead at the helm, Capt. Ken Gallop said. Well over 50 of the fish, mostly keepers, were landed, and big blues were sometimes mixed in. All the fish were trolled on rubber shads. Charters will keep after the fish and are also bottom fishing. Hop on a blackfish charter before the tog season closes May 1. Openings are available mid week for all charters.

<b>Point Pleasant</b>

A few trips motored out on the ocean with <b>Jersey Hooker Charters</b> through the week, and all limited out on striped bass, Capt. Rich said. The fish, up to 40 inches, were mostly trolled, but some were jigged. Rich also owns the tackle shop Jersey Hooker Outfitters, located on Route 88 in Brick.

On the party boat <b>Dauntless</b>, anglers picked away at ling, a handful of small cod and a few blackfish, Capt. Willie said. The fishing wasn’t good yet, but seemed on track to pick up, typical for the season, from what he said. Trips fished inshore for the blackfish and farther from shore for ling and cod. The boat sometimes mixes in mackerel fishing when the Bostons migrate close enough to shore in spring. But bluefish, a species that migrates soon after mackerel, began to swarm the coast. So that was the end of a chance at macks this season. Capt. Butch, Willie’s son, previously said commercial boats ran across scattered mackerel 80 or 100 miles from shore some weeks ago. Patrons on the Dauntless in spring sometimes pick up a striped bass here or there while bottom fishing inshore in spring. None of the bass was bagged in the past days, and though a big body of stripers schooled the coast recently, the fish became scarcer in the past few days. The Dauntless is bottom fishing 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily.

Trips began to fish for striped bass daily on Wednesday on the ocean on the <b>Norma K III</b>, after the vessel had been bottom fishing, Capt. Matt said. Striper catches were slow that day, but a trip Sunday was the first to fish for the bass on the vessel, and all patrons limited out. All the trips are fishing with jigs, and green or red tails seemed best. The Norma K III is fishing for striped bass 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily. Daily winter flounder trips ended that had been sailing on the Miss Norma K, and too few anglers seemed interested.

<b>Bricktown</b>

Point Pleasant Canal anglers dredged up blackfish and winter flounder, said Rich from the tackle shop <b>Jersey Hooker Outfitters</b>. On the adjacent Manasquan River they tied into striped bass at the Route 70 Bridge, the Railroad Bridge and the Route 35 Bridge. In the surf stripers and chopper blues began to come through from Manasquan Inlet to Barnegat Inlet. With Jersey Hooker Charters, Rich’s charter boat, a few trips ran through the week, all limiting out on stripers on the ocean. The fish, up to 40 inches, were mostly trolled, but some were jigged. Freshwater anglers from the shop banked good catches of trout on the Manasquan River. Some headed to Assunpink Lake, doing a respectable job on largemouth bass.

<b>Toms River</b>

Big bluefish swam all the way up the Toms River, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b>. They also stretched from Barnegat Inlet through Barnegat Bay to the river. On the river Sal Graziano wrestled blues to 6.86 pounds from the docks at Island Heights. Another angler there Tuesday morning fished with whole bunker on a bobber, landed three blues, missed four and lost a rod when a blue took off with the line. Dennis and a friend fished with artificials from the docks, and Dennis burned the blues to 2 ½ pounds, and his friend rapped them to 6 and 8 pounds. Another angler bailed 30 blues on the river at night from 10 to 2. White perch were toggled in from the river, but blues overshadowed them. On the bay blues were fought off the Forked River power plant and at the BI marker. But they were also trolled from the Route 37 Bridge to the south. At the bridge itself, mostly blues were tangled with, and a few stripers were cranked in, but getting through the blues was difficult. Loads of small striped bass were plugged on the flats of the bay toward Barnegat Inlet. Not much was heard about weakfish, but now was the time to start seeing the big, spawning tiderunners appearing in the bay. Boaters on the ocean wiped up blues and stripers close to the beaches, and the party boats fished a half-mile from shore. Southerly winds slowed fishing all around Wednesday, but as soon as west winds blow, the action turns back on. Frank Ciccone trolled two stripers to 13 ½ pounds at the Shrewsbury Rocks on bunker spoons. Surf anglers certainly caught fish, more blues than stripers. They fished mostly clams for the bass and swimming lures, popper lures or bunker for the blues. Nobody talked about winter flounder fishing anymore. But fishing was generally very good for the time of year.

<b>Seaside</b>

A couple of striped bass were weighed in from the surf Wednesday, and catches of shorts from the beach were heard about that day, said the report on <b>Grumpy’s Tackle</b>’s Web site. The site’s weigh-in list showed that the bass were a 10.45-pounder that inhaled shad for bait and a 6.75-pounder that mouthed a Grumpy clam. A 13.15-pounder was checked in Tuesday that ate a Grumpy clam. Two stripers 15.5 pounds and 9.95 pounds hit the scale Monday, and the big one swiped metal, and the smaller one inhaled a Grumpy clam. Great blackfishing was pummeled at Barnegat Inlet’s north jetty, and all anglers there seemed to limit out. Three anglers that day weighed in their limits of four blackfish apiece from 1.95 to 3.75 pounds, all pelted on crab. Bluefish came into the surf here and there, running back and forth, and they liked popper lures, metal-lipped swimmers, assorted plugs and metal. No blues were weighed in Wednesday, but six were checked in Tuesday that weighed 4.4 to 7.7 pounds. Three from 7.45 to 9.45 pounds were registered at the shop Monday. <a href="http://www.grumpystackle.com/fishing_reports.cfm" target="_blank">Click here</a> for updates.

<b>Forked River</b>

Bluefish, big ones, overran Barnegat Bay, said Grizz from <b>Grizz’s Forked River Bait & Tackle</b>, and he saw some that weighed 10 pounds. Crabs were thick in the bay, though the season was early. One crabber plucked three bushels of male crabs from the waters in three days. If anyone wants the blueclaws, they should get out there. News about winter flounder fishing on the bay quieted down, and crabs stealing the baits was a problem. Striped bass were claimed from Oyster Creek and the Toms River. Nobody mentioned weakfish, except in an unverified report a couple of weeks ago. But big, spawning weaks usually begin to be seen in the bay around this time, and netters who begin to catch blues are usually the first to find them. Lots of striped bass and blues were trolled on the ocean every day, and small bunker spoons seemed key. Grizz had been told white spoons worked best, but now color didn’t seem to matter. One angler said yellow grabbed all the catches on a trip. A couple of customers were tog fishing and catching. Fresh clams, fresh bunker, green crabs, sandworms, bloodworms, nightcrawlers, trout worms, killies, eels and all the frozen baits are stocked. This will be the last week that bloodworms are carried, because flounder fishing with them was becoming less popular with all the crabs stealing the baits.

<b>Barnegat Light</b>

A bunch of striped bass were shoveled up from the surf Wednesday from Harvey Cedars to Barnegat Light, and so were some 3- to 4-pound blues, said Basil at <b>Barnegat Light Bait & Tackle</b>. Fish for the bass with clams and for the blues with bunker or mackerel. Boaters piled up lots of stripers from the ocean off Seaside. A few of the linesiders were belted off Barnegat Inlet’s north jetty. Tog could be coaxed to bite along the inlet rocks, and the season closes for them after this month. Barnegat Bay boaters anchored and clammed striped bass, and the bay’s anglers who livelined herring got a strike on every bait. Not many of the bay’s anglers focused on winter flounder. Ocean wreck fishing put up really good catches of mostly blackfish but also cod in 70 feet.

<b>Tuckerton</b>

With <b>Legal Limit Charters</b> blackfish to 10 pounds, a decent catch, were wrangled in today, Capt. T.J. said. Cod, 20-some, were also rounded up but were all shorts on the trip. The trip, an open-boat outing, fished a range of depths, starting at 115 feet, working back to 70 feet. Tog chewed at most spots except some in 80 to 90 feet, and cod bit at every drop. T.J. heard about no striped bass in the ocean, but he imagined some were out there. Legal Limit’s other boat, docked in Cape May, will fish for stripers from there during the weekend. Drum trips will run from Cape May when the boomers move in. T.J. heard no news about drum but hadn’t spent time in Cape May yet. Charters are fishing, and open-boat trips are heading out every Tuesday and Thursday from both locations when enough anglers want to go.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

Transition was the word, said Scott from <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>. “Out with stripers,” he said.  “In with blues.” Bluefish tumbled into the bay, and now the population was thick. They were 8-pounders, fun to catch. No set pattern like certain tides or times of day seemed to give up most, and one angler used spoons to hook them from shore at the end of Radio Road. Blues usually only attack bait early in the season. But anglers had either option now. Mike Morrin checked in the year’s first blue, a 3.4-pound 23-incher, Friday at the shop, after landing the fish from shore at Pebble Beach. He won the store’s annual $100 gift certificate for the first weighed in from the Pebble Beach/Graveling Point area. Stripers could still be caught in the bay, but the number dropped off. Clams became the top bait for the linesiders, after bloodworms had been. Bloods are easiest for stripers to digest in the cold waters early in the year, but they begin to prefer clams when their metabolism heats up. They’ll also start grabbing other baits such as herring and eels as waters warm. Nothing confirmed was heard about herring in the bay, but anglers saw fish breaking the surface that weren’t blues and probably weren’t bunker. They could’ve been herring. A few bunker were around. Herring began migrating in the creeks at Batsto two Mondays ago, and lots were caught that Wednesday. Whether they remained was unknown. One drum was checked in from the bay Monday, and no large body held in the waters, but anglers had a chance to muscle one in. Weakfish could begin to be seen any time, and a few big, spawning tiderunners are usually reeled up by the last week of April. Stripers and blues appeared early this year, so a weakfish catch seemed a possibility. Blues and herring usually come in around the same time as weaks. By the third week of April, this week, weaks could potentially be angled from Sheepshead Creek at the southwest side of the fifth bridge on 4-inch, pink Fin-S Fish or bloodworms. Nobody mentioned tog catches, but tog usually feed along the sod banks of the bay by the time blues show up. A customer picked up green crabs to try for them Wednesday. Green crabs, fresh-shucked clams, bloodworms, live grass shrimp and minnows are stocked.

<b>Absecon</b>

Capt. Dave from <b>Absecon Bay Sportsman</b> took the boat on the first expedition of the season Tuesday with six live herring in the baitwell, he said. He found out that bluefish invaded the bay, because they ate up four of the herring. Small stripers beat up the fifth herring, and a 26-inch, short striper was finally landed on the last of the baitfish. All the fish seemed uninterested in lures. But fishing was picking up, and the weather was beautiful, and lots of anglers headed out. A big run of stripers swam up the Great Egg Harbor River, and hardly any anglers seemed on them. One angler limited out and released more, all stripers 35 to 45 inches, on three trips on the river, saying he wondered if he was on the waters illegally, because no other anglers were in sight. Stripers also bit in Great Bay, and Dave heard about one trip that pumped in a 40-pound drum and a couple of stripers there. Bluefish were seen far up the Mullica River, so anglers will have to fight through them to catch other fish nearly everywhere. Blues supposedly ganged up in the ocean, too. Tog will keep chomping through the coming final week of the blackfish season. Curt from the shop found that white perch fishing somewhat picked up on the rivers, but the slabs seemed ready to spawn on the coming moon. Live herring are stocked, and Dave’s been netting enough to keep the supply going, but the herring run was slow this year. Reports were also slim about the baitfish taken along the dams of the rivers. He hopes more arrive with the next moon. Fresh clams and nearly all the baits are stocked. No fresh bunker is on hand, and demand was low, and herring was the baitfish to use anyway. Dave’s new <a href="http://www.fishguatemala.com/abseconbay/main.html" target="_blank">Guatemala charter service</a> will probably splash the boat in the marina any time. The fishing lasts all year, even if North American anglers tend to visit the most from November to June, only because big game angling takes off in North America during the other months. Guatemala is billed as the best sailfishing destination on the Pacific Ocean. But the country’s marlin fishing is usually better in summer than winter, and mahi mahi catches also heat up during the warm months, among other angling available.

<b>Longport</b>

Open-boat trips will resume daily on Friday on the <b>Stray Cat</b>, after Capt. Mike returned this week from relocating a boat from Florida, he said. Anglers aboard will fish the ocean wrecks for a last shot at tog, before the blackfish season closes May 1, and cod, if cod remain in the waters. They’ll jig for stripers if the linesiders appear. A couple of anglers were already signed up for Friday, and Saturday was sold out. A few spaces remained for Sunday. Call about availability the rest of next week.

<b>Ocean City</b>

Not bad surf fishing for striped bass went down, and the size of the fish became larger, though plenty were shorts, said Ed from <b>Fin-Atics</b>. Somewhat sizeable blues began to dart through the wash. Fishing for stripers was similar on the back bay, and some shorts were around, but more keepers were seen. For the stripers everywhere, clams were the common bait, but anglers who could get herring fished with them. In the bay some anglers looked for stripers with soft-plastic lures or small plugs such as Mirr-O-Lures or Rat-L-Traps. A few tog hugged the bridges. They also swam at the ocean wrecks. Cod seemed scarcer at the wrecks than before. Ocean boaters could also deck bluefish, but few boaters sailed the ocean this early in the season. Fresh clams in the shell and shucked are stocked. So are bloodworms and all kinds of frozen baits.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Back-bay fishing started hopping, and blues moved into the waters Monday for the first time this season for Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b>, affiliated with <b>Gibson’s Tackle</b>. He banged out eight of the fish the next day on jigs and flies. The tough fighters, currently 2- to 3-pounders but usually up to 5 pounds in spring, migrate to the bay now, and charters tangle with lots through about Memorial Day weekend. Some remain in the bay all summer, but fishing for them is best until boat traffic covers the waters. Many of the blues also depart for the ocean to spend the summer then. Contrary to the common belief that blues are easy to catch, hooking them takes some technique in the cool waters, though the technique is learnable, and takes being at the right place. The fish bit subtly, but fought hard once hooked, and the retrieve had to be slow to entice them. Good fishing for striped bass continued on the bay, too. Clams copped the bigger ones, and jigs and flies got lots of schoolies to strike. Joe landed and released a couple of out-of-season summer flounder, and a charter hooked some during the weekend. Flounder fishing is usually best early in the year before waters warm, when the season opens, this year on May 29, the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. Trips for the flatties should be booked now to lock in dates, especially for the holiday weekend. Fishing on the bay should continue to be good, but anglers should go now, because it’s good now. If you wait, you could miss out. Special, after-work evening charters are great for the angling currently. But the blues can actually bite all day at this time of year. Weakfish usually arrive in the bay when blues do, and Joe heard about no weaks yet, but the trout should be around. Waters at Sea Isle held no large population of weaks in recent years, but occasional ones swam around. Second-hand reports were heard about ocean boaters sometimes getting covered up with blues. Stripers and blues do pop up in the local ocean in spring, though not with the reliability they do in autumn. Surf fishing for stripers kicked into gear at Sea Isle, was going well for decent-sized fish, too. The owner of Gibson’s Tackle sent one customer to the beach, and the angler banked two bass, for example. Clams worked well, and bunker was also a choice. Keep up with Joe’s fishing and photos on <a href=" http://captainjoehughes.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jersey Cape’s blog</a>. <b>***Update, Friday, 4/23***</b>: A trip Thursday fly-rodded 20 blues 2 to 4 pounds on the back bay, fast and furious action, every few casts getting smacked, Joe said in an e-mail. This time is great for fly-rodders, because they can rack up many fish in one trip. But spin-fishing with light tackle is also a blast. It’ll last several weeks. A few dates are open on weekends, but anglers should remember that after-work trips on weekday afternoons to evenings are a terrific option.

Surf fishers plucked away at a strong run of striped bass, said Wes from <b>Gibson’s Tackle</b>. The waters reached 54 degrees or higher, good conditions, and the bass seemed to be caught throughout the day, and spring usually doesn’t require hitting the beach early. Clams and bunker were the baits, and the angling should only become better, and the migration was just beginning. Schools of stripers were heard about farther south off Delaware and the Chesapeake Bay and farther north in New Jersey, fish that were yet to spawn. Bunker and shad schooled, and blues to 4-pounds also fed on them in the ocean. Surf anglers could tackle the blues on lures like a ½-ounce Kastmaster or on bait like bunker. Stripers and blues also ran along Corson’s and Townsend’s inlets. Blues 1 or 2 pounds moved into the back bay, and striper fishing continued going off in the bay. Anchoring and chumming was the best way to belt the bass there. Some anglers played catch and release with out-of-season summer flounder in the bay on bucktails or darts, and they always have a chance to hook other fish or blues, stripers or weakfish. Tog definitely hovered along the bridges and the ocean wrecks, and plenty will continue to be knuckled up through the close of the blackfish season May 1. Crabbing was starting to warm up. Fresh clams, fresh bunker, bloodworms, green crabs and frozen herring, mackerel and other baits are stocked. 

<b>Wildwood</b>

The season will be launched Saturday on the party boat <b>Adventurer</b>, Capt. Gary said. Trips will probably fish for tog with clams on the ocean. Later, if drum move into Delaware Bay, trips will put the bead on them. A few drum came up from the mouth of the bay so far. Striped bass moved up the bay. Small blues swam around in the ocean. Open-boat trips are sailing daily, but call ahead at this time of year to confirm that enough people are coming down for a trip to run on a given day. Charters are also available.  

<b>Cape May</b>

A striped bass bite popped up on Delaware Bay, and a charter on the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> would sail to the location today, Capt. George said. More striper trips are slated for Friday to Sunday, and the fishing was still on tap, but anglers should act fast if they want to go, before the bass depart. George heard about no drumfish hauled from the bay this week, but drum catches could turn on any time, and the boat’s charters will go after them. A friend said he marked drum at Tussy’s Slough on Monday. The Heavy Hitter is also tog fishing before the blackfish season closes May 1.

From the beaches striped bass fishing seemed to taper off a bit compared with better surf angling previously, but okay catches were dragged in, said Nick from <b>Hands Too Bait & Tackle</b>. Dunk clams for them, or float bloodworms under a bobber along the jetties. Most of the fish remained up Delaware Bay and the Delaware River on the spawning run, but when they migrate back to the ocean, they’ll blitz the surf. Still, Nick’s been telling anglers, don’t wait for reports. Make your own reports. Bluefish, fairly large, schooled the ocean beyond the surf a little, but sometimes they stormed the inlets and the Cape May Point surf. Nick heard about a couple of the season’s first weakfish hooked along the jetties. Float bloodworms or work bucktails tipped with soft plastics for the trout along the jetties. Tog were clocked along the jetties and the inshore wrecks, and cod gathered at the wrecks. When the weather was calm enough for boaters to sail Delaware Bay, they pinned down healthy catches of stripers and hunted for drum at places like Tussy’s Slough, all on clams. Fresh clams are stocked, and green crabs will arrive Friday. Fresh bunker will be on hand later in the season.    

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