<b>Port Elizabeth</b>

Some beautiful weakfish were brought in, mostly from along the Cape May jetties, said Sharon from <b>The Girls Place Bait & Tackle</b>. Five-pounders were sometimes seen at the shop. If the weaks swam there, they probably also gathered up the bay farther. One customer who Sharon knows reported bagging a couple of summer flounder from the bay. A few flounder were around in the bay, and not many reports about the fishing came in. Weather was often rough, including winds that often blew strongly, for fishing last week and during the weekend. Calmer winds, better weather and hot days were forecast now. A few drum seemed to still be boated in the bay. Crabbing didn’t seem to improve much, and seemed slow all around, even as north as Long Beach Island. Baits stocked include minnows and fresh bunker and clams. Shedder crabs were difficult to obtain, because of scarce crabs. The Girls Place, located on Route 47, just after Route 55 ends, carries a large supply of bait and tackle, and is the long, one-story, yellow building on the right. It’s on the way to the bay.

<b>Newport</b>

A special on crabbing for Fathers’ Day was a huge success at <b>Beaver Dam Boat Rentals</b>, Linda said. Crabbing was off, and crabs shedding around the full moon didn’t help. Strong tides because of the moon and five days of rain didn’t help either. Trips probably averaged a dozen to two dozen decent-sized blueclaws, and lots of small crabs skittered around. But participants had fun, and enjoyed complementary pizza and soda. The small crabs were good for the future, and crabs grow on each shed, about once a month. Full and new moons often trigger shedding, and crabbing can slow-down then, because crabs won’t eat while shedding. But not all crabs shed at once, and shedding usually lasts about five days. So crabbers are hopeful about catches this coming weekend, and crabbing was great two weekends ago for customers, covered in the previous report. The next special will be a police vs. firefighters crab-off from Saturday, June 28, to Friday, July 4. The side that totals the most crabs for the week will win 25 percent off for the rest of July. Everybody knows police or firefighters, so readers should tell them to go fight for their side. “Money’s at stake,” Linda said! Keep a lookout for more specials to be announced in this report or on Beaver Dam’s website and Facebook page in the future. One special will be for teachers, featuring a discount. Customers who fished this weekend reeled in croakers and white perch from the creek. Bloodworms are stocked for bait for the fishing. Minnows, good-sized, are carried that the shop raises. The baitfish started to run somewhat low, but more should be stocked. Someone bagged a keeper striped bass from the creek last week. 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 want a break in the meantime, they simply cell phone the shop to be picked up. A 7-inch crab, trapped on the store’s first weekend of crabbing this year, is the one to beat in the season-long contest for the biggest. The rental-boater with the largest will win a free rental next year. Beaver Dam hosts groups like scouts, birthday parties and family reunions, and can offer an educational day about the environment. Rental canoes and kayaks are available to paddle the scenic creek. Crabbing from the rental boats is currently available on weekends and will be available daily starting June 30. The store is already open daily. <a href="http://www.crabulousnj.com/" target="_blank">Visit Beaver Dam’s Web site</a>.

<b>Fortescue</b>

A few summer flounder and weakfish swam the bay, and croakers, small to small-medium in size, seemed to take over the bite lately, said Capt. Mike from the party boat <b>Bonanza II</b>. A few small bluefish, 1 pound, showed up, and more of them did two weeks ago than last week. Kingfish schooled the bay, and a few drum remained in the bay, but fishing for drum was about finished for the season, and the boat is done drum fishing for the year. Trips dealt with windy weather around the weekend. Coming up, more flounder should migrate to the bay, and trips aboard will target them. The bay currently was probably in the high 60 degrees or 67 or 68. Special flounder trips will steam to the Old Grounds, on the ocean off Delaware, like every summer, probably starting in the beginning of July. The date for the first will probably be determined this week or next. Reservations are required, and the Old Grounds is an area of rocky bottom that can attract flounder, including sizeable, and other fish, like sea bass, that can be mixed in. Mike had sad news to pass along. Capt. Joe Ronketty Sr., former captain of the Bonanza, passed away a couple of weeks ago at age 85. Capt. Pat Tierno, president of the Fortescue Captains and Boat Owners Association, and owner of the Cap’s Lady , passed away last week at age 69. Open-boat trips are fishing daily on the Bonanza. Charters are being booked, and now is not too early to book striped bass charters for fall. The dates will go.

Rain fell and wind blew on a trip Wednesday on the party boat <b>Salt Talk</b>, Capt. Howard said. A few croakers and throwback summer flounder were managed. Wind, from northwest, blew even stronger on a trip Saturday, and small croakers, small blues and a couple of throwback flounder came in. Wind also blew on Sunday, and some croakers were bagged on the day’s trip. Weather wasn’t easy on fishing last week and during the weekend, and trips fished for the croakers inshore and the flounder farther out, at the stakes and Miah Maul rips, and once farther north. But the weather dirtied the bay closer to shore, keeping fish from biting. One group of three anglers on a private boat said they landed 10 flounder, keeping five larger than 20 inches, at the stakes on a trip. That seemed surprising, considering rough seas in the wind. Drum fishing seemed about finished for the season on the bay. Open-boat trips are slated daily on the Salt Talk, and charters are available.

<b>Cape May</b>

A friend’s trip smashed 12 drum on the bay last week, and the friend, a charter captain, said other boats also totaled a dozen that day, Capt. George from the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> said. But drum fishing seemed to slow down, and the Heavy Hitter is finished fishing for them for the season. George mated on a drum trip on the same friend’s boat on Saturday. But seas were rough, so the trip returned early, after four hours, and none of the fish was landed. The Heavy Hitter is now fishing for summer flounder, sea bass, sharks and tuna.

In the westerly wind, Capt. Jim from <b>Fins and Feathers Outfitters</b> opted to fish the ocean close to shore during the weekend, instead of testing Delaware Bay for summer flounder, he said. Strong wind from that direction roughs up the bay on the New Jersey side, but land protects the ocean close to shore in westerlies. The fishing nabbed bluefish and kingfish from the shallows on bloodworms. That’s always something to fish for when the wind is an issue. A couple of small summer flounder were also caught and released. Jim hoped to fish the bay for flounder this week, at places like near the lighthouses, like Miah Maul, that usually hold the fish this time of year. During the ocean fishing, water clarity was gorgeous, and Jim just booked two trips to fish the mid-shore ocean for catches like mahi mahi and wahoos in mid-July. He hopes the ocean stays clear, like two years ago, when catches of both were good. The ocean in that range was dirty last summer. Bluefin tuna pop into the waters during some years, too. Fins and Feathers fishes both Delaware Bay, trailering the boat to the launch, and the ocean from Avalon, from the boat slip. The company offers a variety of outdoor adventures, including duck and goose hunting during the waterfowl seasons. Anglers in the fall aboard can fish for striped bass and hunt ducks over a series of days on Delaware Bay.  

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