<b>Port Elizabeth</b>

The upper end of the bay’s summer flounder fishing seemed slow, near the shop and Maurice River, said Sharon from <b>The Girls Place Bait & Tackle</b>. A few customers headed to fish that area toward Flounder Alley and Fortescue, but no results were heard. Nothing was heard about flounder fishing in the southern bay. Croakers were caught in the bay, and even in the river near the bay, from Matts Landing to downstream. Good catches of white perch came from the river. No drum reports rolled in from the bay, and few clams, the favorite drum bait, were sold. One trip was headed to drum fish that was known about. Seemed a shame, because a week or more of strong wind seemed to end drum fishing early this season. The angling had turned on a couple of weeks this spring and then slowed, apparently because of spawning, like seems to happen each year. Drum fishing usually becomes good again for a time, after the pause, apparently because the fish are finished spawning. But the wind happened when the rebound would usually take place, and drum fishing never took off again this season. Good reports about flounder fishing came from the back bays toward Avalon and Ocean City. A good-sized weakfish was seen that Sharon believed was hooked along a surf jetty. Sizable weaks were supposedly caught along jetties and back bays on bloodworms fished on floats or bobbers. Striped bass were sometimes banked from the surf in the Brigantine area. Bluefish, fewer than before, but still some, popped up in different waters. Fish were around to be caught. Crabbing was slow for recreational and commercial crabbers, except a couple of good catches were talked about from back bays. Minnows are stocked, and shedder crabs are on hand when available. The crabs have been stocked almost daily. None was available on Sunday, and bloodworms are carried all fishing season. A few fresh clams are usually in supply, and nearly all baits are at the store. 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>

Freshwater from rain filled the creek, slowing crabbing during the weekend, said Paul from <b>Beaver Dam Boat Rentals</b>. That happened during the previous weekend, too, but crabbing this weekend showed signs of life. Catches were no good Saturday and Sunday mornings, but improved both afternoons. Many of the rental-boat trips totaled two dozen keepers then. One, for example, crabbed throughout Sunday morning without luck, but nabbed 2 ½ dozen keepers from 1 to 3 p.m. That was at the beginning of incoming tide, and crabbers said many small crabs, a few keepers, showed up in the afternoons, on incoming. That was apparently because incoming brought saltwater into the creek. The creek on outgoing tides looked red with cedar water. Fishing was no good in the freshwater influx, too. Low tides were exceptionally low, because of the new moon. Crabs didn’t seem to shed -- no shells were seen -- though new and full moons can often trigger the blueclaws to shed. The freshwater seemed to affect that, too. Customers crab and fish from rental boats towed up Oranokin Creek, running past the shop. The staff checks on them every hour, and if crabbers want a break in the meantime, they simply cell-phone the store to be picked up. Catch the Fathers’ Day Special this Sunday: Reserve a rental boat for that day, and get a party pizza and a 2-liter bottle of soda gratis. The boats must be reserved in advance to get the special, and the vessels completely sold out last year for the special. Rental kayaks and canoes are also available to paddle the scenic creek. Beaver Dam carries everything needed for crabbing, from bait, traps and nets to suntan lotion, snacks and drinks. The shop can host groups like scouts and family reunions, and can provide an educational day about the environment. The rental boats, kayaks and canoes are currently available every Saturday and Sunday, and will become available daily on June 29 for the season. The store is open daily for supplies. Visit <a href=" http://www.crabulousnj.com/Home_Page.php" target="_blank">Beaver Dam’s website</a>.

<b>Fortescue</b>

Summer flounder fishing wasn’t strong, at all, on the bay, said Capt. Tom from <b>Erica Leigh Charters</b>. A couple of boats docked two or three keepers, and another docked one, on Sunday at Fortescue. No particular place held many flounder. If a place held a concentration, the fishing would be good, after all. Trips fished Flounder Alley and near the number 1 buoy, and some fished along the wrecks, for the flatfish. Bluefish 2 or 3 pounds were the most abundant catch. They kind of schooled different places in the bay, but the New Jersey edge of the shipping channel was where local boats located them. That was from the Elbow to Miah Maul and the Ditch. Croakers were around in the bay. Drum disappeared, never giving up good fishing again, after the bite turned on a moment this season. After the good angling, the catches dropped off, apparently because of spawning, like the fishing seems to do each year. That usually lasts some days, and the catches usually kick back in, afterward, for a period. But the second round never materialized this year, except for a few puppies caught, 18 or 20 pounds, after the spawn.

<b>Avalon</b>

The bay was fished on a few trips in the last week with <b>Fins and Feathers Outfitters</b>, Capt. Jim said. Summer flounder fishing was tough on the outings, and 20 throwbacks were totaled on one of the trips, on Thursday. That was at the stakes near Fortescue and the number 1 buoy. Weakfish were also boated near Miah Maul on the trip. The trip also fished farther south, at Bug Light, but nothing was doing there. A trip last Tuesday fought a bunch of bluefish aboard the bay. The blues were hooked on chunks of bunker that were snagged from big schools of the baitfish. The blues were nowhere to be found on Thursday’s trip. A trip also fished the bay Saturday, at the stakes near Fortescue, the number 1 and the Maul. But northwest wind 10 to 15 knots and outgoing tide drifted the boat too quickly, though drift socks slowed the boat. Fish missed the hooks, biting the tails of bait and such. The water was dirty in the weather. The bay was 75 degrees on the trips, had warmed considerably. To fish the bay, Fins and Feathers trailers the boat to wherever’s nearest the fishing. Fins also fishes the back bay at Avalon, including for flounder. The boat sails from a slip at the town for that angling. Trips from the slip also fish the inshore ocean in summer, for catches from flounder to pelagics like mahi mahi, wahoos and bluefin tuna, if the tuna show up. Fins offers a variety of outdoor adventures, including saltwater fishing, duck and goose hunting on Delaware Bay and in nearby states, salmon and steelhead fishing on upstate New York’s Salmon River from Jim’s lodge, and fly-fishing for trout on Pennsylvania’s streams like the Yellow Breeches. Anglers can even enjoy a combo of striped bass fishing and duck hunting on Delaware Bay over a series of days in autumn. 

<b>Cape May</b>

Croakers began to appear in the bay and also along Cape May’s jetties and the back bay’s channels, said Joe from <b>Hands Too Bait & Tackle</b>. Weakfish were reeled from along the town’s jetties, and a few stripers remained in the town’s surf. Nick, the shop’s owner, and a buddy beached a couple of sizable stripers, when trying for weaks the other evening, with pink, soft-plastic worms on bucktails. Kingfish were reported from the Cape May surf, but whether that was accurate was unknown. One angler said a bunch of anglers reported the kings. Summer flounder fishing was okay on the back bay. Anglers who usually catch flounder scored them. Drum catches were no longer reported from Delaware Bay. What happened, he said, was that drum fishing lit up a couple of weeks this season. Then the fish seemed to spawn a moment, and not bite, and strong wind began, preventing the fishing. Next, a few drum were picked, and wind was still rough, until the angling slowed. Now nothing was heard about the fishing. A few drum remain in the bay all summer, don’t migrate away, and are caught. Joe knew about no drum catches that picked up in the ocean surf, when he gave this report. Because of that, drum that migrate away each year from the bay, were yet to leave, he thought. But since then, substantial drum catches were made in Brigantine’s surf. Those seemed to be drum departing the bay. Soon afterward, drum each year are caught on boats far north in the state, on the ocean, at places like off Belmar and Sandy Hook. Those seem to be the same drum. The northern boaters run across the drum by chance, among schools of the fish, on trips for other catches like blues. The anglers stop and take advantage, hauling in the drum.

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