<b>Newport</b>

Weather hampered the opportunity to crab sometimes, around the offshore hurricane, but crabbing was picking up at <b>Beaver Dam Boat Rentals</b>, Paul said. Some trips trapped a half-bushel on Monday, and two to four dozen keepers was probably average lately. Not great yet, but definitely better. A 7-incher, trapped on the shop’s first weekend of crabbing this year, remained the year’s biggest. But some 6-inchers were nabbed this past week. Pregnant females were the largest of the blueclaws around, and most customers preferred to release them. The season was early for pregnant crabs. Law enforcement won last week’s crabbing contest between law enforcement and emergency workers. Law enforcement trapped more crabs than emergency workers, entitling all law enforcement workers a 25-percent discount on the rental of any size boat this month. Customers who fished hooked quite a few croakers. Fishing was improving, like crabbing was. One angler caught and released four striped bass that were just under legal size. Minnows that the shop raises are still stocked for fishing bait, though they were selling briskly. The minnows are sizeable, because the shop raises them, and some customers are liking them for summer flounder bait, like on Delaware Bay or back bays. Some boasted about bagging 6-pound flounder on the baitfish. Customers at Beaver Dam 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 store to be picked up. Call ahead to reserve a boat, because they can book up. 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. The 7-inch crab, mentioned above, 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. Rental kayaks and canoes are available to paddle the scenic creek. Beaver Dam hosts groups like scouts, birthday parties 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>

The offshore hurricane kept trips docked a few days, said Capt. Howard from the party boat <b>Salt Talk</b>. A few anglers jumped aboard Sunday, bagging a couple of fluke, good-sized, releasing a dozen throwbacks, in wind against tide that hampered the fishing, because of the boat’s drift. The storm had dirtied the bay, too. A half-dozen bluefish, some junk fish, a cownosed ray and a couple of sharks were also hooked. But on Wednesday aboard in better conditions, lots of flounder, sizeable, were bagged. No bluefish showed up that day. Mike Buehler from Fortescue’s 5-pound flounder was one of the hefty ones aboard recently. The Salt Talk fished the stakes for flounder, because plenty of the fish gathered there. But other boats, including one of the other party boats from the port, caught plenty of flounder north of the Elbow around the shipping channel. Flounder swam different places in the bay. The Salt Talk did no croaker fishing recently, but private boaters hammered croakers in the bay. Howard sometimes likes to fish for croakers closer to shore first on a trip. He likes croakers for fresh bait for flounder, and some anglers like to keep croakers to eat. But customers lately wanted to jump right into flounder fishing. Open-boat trips are fishing for flounder daily when no charter is booked.

<b>Cape May</b>

Summer flounder, lots of small, but some keepers, bit in the bay for boaters from Cape May, Capt. George from the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> said. He usually fishes for flounder on the ocean, but jumped on a trip on another boat that fought bluefish on the bay. A few blues were around in the bay, and also swam the Cape May Rips, he thought. During the ocean fishing for flounder, sometimes decent catches were made. George usually waits until July to begin the ocean fishing, waiting for warmer water.

The bay’s summer flounder fishing sounded good toward Fortescue, said Nick from <b>Hands Too Bait & Tackle</b>. But the fish were also boated locally on the bay, at places like around Bug Light. Boaters at Cape May Channel latched into croakers, kingfish, flounder and spike weakfish. Surf anglers banked croakers and flounder, pretty good catches, at Cape May. Near the concrete ship and at Sunset Beach were places to drag them in, and a few kingfish were mixed in. Lots of sharks were tackled at night from the surf toward Cape May Channel. Boaters on the back bay still reeled in flounder. That angling starts to slow as some of the fish migrate to the ocean for cooler water.

Back to Top