<b>Port Elizabeth</b>

Drum were boated, at first this season on the Delaware side of the bay, and now also on the New Jersey side, in the Horseshoe area, said Sharon from <b>The Girls Place Bait & Tackle</b>. Surf anglers also eased in drum, all along the bay, and at some places along the ocean. Striped bass fishing was good for surf casters, including on the bay at Sunset Beach and Higbee’s Beach in Cape May, and up and down the ocean coast. Fishing became pretty good in general. One boy reeled up three keeper stripers and a bunch of white perch from Maurice River’s mouth. Croakers and kingfish were sometimes heard about from the bay. No weakfish taken on rod and reel were mentioned from the bay, but the netter caught weaks in the bay. Weakfish were angled toward Corson’s and Townsend’s inlets. Summer flounder season will be opened on Friday, and minnows, a favorite bait for them, are stocked. Minnows are currently difficult to obtain, because of freshwater from the season’s rains, and the cold, and the minnows available are usually small. But Sharon expects minnows to continue to be stocked this weekend, and hopes to find bigger ones to provide. If anglers want clams, like a bushel, for drum fishing, ordering ahead is recommended. The supply is a little tough this season. If anglers order and then change their minds, the shop appreciates if they telephone to inform the store as soon as possible, so the clams can be sold to someone else. Crabbing began to improve a bit. The Girls Place, located on Route 47, just after Route 55 ends, carries a large supply of bait and tackle, and is on the way to the bay. It’s the long, one-story, yellow building on the right, with plenty of parking, including for trailered boats.

<b>Newport</b>

Crabbing was kicked off for the season this weekend at <b>Beaver Dam Boat Rentals</b>, Paul said. But catches were slow, for unknown reasons. Around some of the state, a slower start to crabbing might’ve been expected this year, after the cold winter. But the water at Beaver Dam is 65 degrees, “is there,” Paul said. The shallow waters at the shop are known for giving up some of the state’s first crabs, because of warmth, he said. But some of the store’s rental-boaters trapped no crabs this weekend, and that never happened before. Customers always nabbed at least some in the past. More people than ever showed up to crab at the store on Saturday. Winds howled on Friday, causing flooding, and even kicking up seas on the creek. Whether that caused the slow crabbing was unknown. Though crabbing hardly produced, a rental-boater nailed a big crab, a 7-incher, during the weekend. That was bigger than any crab that customers trapped last year. Two customers tied for biggest that year with a 6-¾-incher apiece. This year’s 7-incher is now the crab to beat in the shop’s annual, season-long tournament for the biggest. The rental-boater with the biggest will win a free rental next year, like the winners did last year. Crabs this week shed like mad, soon after the full moon. Shells were seen everywhere, and crabs often shed around new and full moons. Anglers who fished on the boats reeled in a few white perch. Heads up anglers, because of summer flounder season that will open Friday: Paul is raising minnows, including good-size, a favorite flounder bait, sold at the store again this year, like in the past. Minnows have been scarce in much of the state, and that happens during some springs, because of freshwater from rains and cold. But he raises the baitfish in tanks, doesn’t rely on minnows caught in the wild to stock. So they’re stocked, including sizeable. He lost some when relocating them recently, but the baitfish are on hand. Flounder aren’t really caught in the creek, except juvenile, small flounder. But flounder anglers who plan to fish elsewhere will probably be interested in the minnows. Customers crab and fish from rental boats towed up Oranokin Creek, running past the shop. The staff checks on them every hour, and if customers need a break in the meantime, they simply cell-phone the shop to be picked up. Look for a special to be offered on crabbing this Memorial Day weekend, like on this Monday or Sunday. The staff will decide on the special and post it on the store’s website. Everything needed for a day of crabbing is available at the store, from bait, traps and nets to snacks, drinks and suntan lotion. The staff loves to teach customers to crab, if customers want.  Take advantage of the Frequent Crabber Card: Rent any size boat four times during the season, and get the fifth trip for only $20 that season. Rental canoes and kayaks are available to paddle the scenic creek. Beaver Dam hosts groups like scouts and family reunions, and can offer an educational day about the environment. <a href="http://www.crabulousnj.com/" target="_blank">Visit Beaver Dam’s Web site</a>.

<b>Fortescue</b>

From the party boat <b>Salt Talk</b>, Capt. Howard wasn’t reached in a phone call for a report this week. But for last week’s report, he said open-boat trips for summer flounder would begin this coming Friday, opening day of flounder season. The boat also sails for drum when the fish swim close enough to port.

On the party boat <b>Bonanza</b>, trips focused on drum, but daily trips for summer flounder will begin on Friday, Capt. Mike said. That’s opening day of flounder season, and drum trips then will continue every Wednesday and Friday nights. Bigger drum than before, some of them 60 pounds, began to be hooked. Lots of puppies still swam around, and drum trips aboard fished from 10 to 20 miles from port, depending on whether the boat fished on the Delaware side of the bay or the New Jersey side. The vessel mostly fished on the Delaware side, but a couple of trips worked the Jersey side. The drum swam shallow, and were quite a fight in the skinny waters. Later this year, special trips will occasionally fish for flounder at the Old Grounds, as the boat does each year, when waters warm. Reservations will be required, and the number of passengers will be limited, as always. The Old Grounds is an area of rocky bottom in the ocean off Delaware that can give up good flounder fishing, including sizeable fish. Sometimes other fish like sea bass can be mixed in. From the bay currently, a few croakers and spots were caught. One couple of anglers on a small boat docked 50 beautiful-sized croakers to 16 inches from 2 miles from shore. White perch fishing will begin to pick up in the bay soon. Commercial netters found weakfish in catches, and weakfish were banked from the surf. Starting Friday, the Bonanza will fish for summer flounder 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. Drum trips then will start sailing 4 to 11:30 p.m. every Wednesday and Friday. 

The Buccaneer, Capt. Ralph Conrad’s boat, is for sale, he said. Ralph, a long-time charter captain on the bay, is retired from chartering. He contributed reports to this website since the site began. The boat, a 31-foot walkaround built by J.C. Boats, is only $20,000, and Ralph purchased the vessel for $80,000.  It features a cabin and head, and an overhead over the cockpit. The boat isn’t fast, but is particularly stable, with an 11-foot beam. Ralph on the boat sailed in seas nobody else did, he said. Call 856-678-3563 if interested. A few drum were caught, he said, mostly on the Delaware side. Ralph pioneered the bay’s drum fishing, sailing for them on charters before anybody really did. Check out the article The Bay Behemoth, posted on this site years ago, about Ralph’s drum fishing. Striped bass were bunker-chunked near the Salem nuclear plant. Boats from as far away as Cape May and Port Norris headed there for the bite.

<b>Cape May</b>

Six big drum to 75 pounds were heaved aboard Sunday from the bay on Anthony Mergliano’s charter on the <b>Heavy Hitter</b>, Capt. George said. Four of the fish broke off, and the angling was slow on Saturday with Charles Schulz’s charter. One drum was hauled in, and a couple of bites might’ve been missed. Both trips fished on the New Jersey side of the bay, and boaters on the Delaware side might’ve caught better on Saturday. Drum fishing usually peaks in May on the Heavy Hitter, and might not last much longer than that. This was the time to sail for them, but sea bass season was opened on Monday, and trips can fish for them on the ocean. Summer flounder season will be opened on Friday, but the Heavy Hitter fishes for the fluke on the ocean starting in July, when the angling there starts to be good. Shark charters could begin any moment on the ocean.

Some good-sized drum, mostly 60-pounders, were plumbed from the bay on Sunday with <b>Melanie Anne Sport Fishing</b>, Capt. Frank said. Not one was a puppy, and one that got off seemed especially big. A couple of drum broke off or pulled the hook on the trip, and a 93-pounder was muscled aboard another boat the other day. Drum were in, on both the New Jersey and Delaware sides of the bay. The drum on the trip gathered in 7- to 14-foot shallows, and seas were nasty in strong winds in the evening on the outing. Most charters want drum while the fish are here, but sea bass trips became available aboard the ocean, because sea bass season was opened on Monday. Summer flounder season will be opened on Friday, and the year’s first flounder trip is booked for this weekend on the boat.

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