<b>Port Elizabeth</b>

Croakers, kingfish and weakfish were hooked at the Punk Grounds and toward the number 1 buoy, said Sharon from <b>The Girls Place Bait & Tackle</b>. Not much was heard about summer flounder. Wind blew strongly Saturday, and Sunday wasn’t great for boating either. The ocean held a swell Sunday, leftover from the wind. A couple of customers reported taking a few flounder, no great numbers, from the bay, though. Friends fished for flounder on the ocean 30 miles from the coast, far from shore, the previous weekend, scoring well on 12 good-sized keepers. They heard about no big piles of flounder at reefs closer to shore yet, they said. Sometimes flounder stack up at reefs, when they begin to migrate offshore this time of year. Crabbing was good, and many customers bought supplies for crabbing. Shedder crabs are still stocked for bait, and September is usually the final month they’re available. Crabs shed maybe three to five times a year, from spring to summer, and stop shedding in fall through winter. Lots of frozen shedders are carried, and they fish well, and that’s what Sharon fishes. Baits stocked also include minnows and bloodworms. Fresh, shucked clams are usually carried on weekends. Bait like fresh clams in the shell are carried when in demand. 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>Money Island</b>

A couple of customers boated up Nantuxent Creek, bagging 40 white perch, on Sunday, said Bruce from <b>Money Island Marina</b>. Perch are schooling up the river. Another customer boated three keeper summer flounder about 20 inches apiece from the bay. Another who boated the bay landed a good-sized bluefish and a 4-foot shark. The marina features a boat ramp, boat slips, dry-dock boat storage, gas, bait and a few items of tackle. Anglers also fish from the shop’s docks on the river for perch, croakers and small striped bass, during seasons when those fish are in. A new family fishing dock was currently being launched that features a top cover, an open area for casting, benches and rod holders. Bait stocked currently usually includes minnows and frozen bait, like spearing and mackerel. Live grass shrimp are usually carried on weekends. A bushel of fresh bunker is normally kept on ice on weekends to sell. A 12-foot aluminum boat with a 6 h.p. outboard is available to rent to fish the creek. The rate is $40 for 3 hours and $80 for a full day.

<b>Newport</b>

At <b>Beaver Dam Boat Rentals</b>, crabbing wasn’t as good as Linda expected this weekend, she said. Some rental-boat trips nabbed three-dozen keepers, but some totaled five keepers. Even some experienced crabbers found the catches spotty. Commercial crabbers also said catches dropped off, for unknown reasons. The sizes of the keepers was great at Beaver Dam. A 6-3/4-inch crab is the largest this year at the shop, and the rental-boater with the year’s biggest wins a free boat rental next year. Crabbing currently is much better than last year at this time, though. “Last year, we couldn’t put out an APB for a crab,” she said. Crabs are keying in on different baits at different times or are fickle. On Sunday, most were trapped with a combo of chicken and bunker. The shop doesn’t usually recommend that, but that’s what happened. At other times, bunker might catch best, and so on. The shop’s crew noticed that crabs preferred chicken around full moons this season. No customers fished this weekend, but Linda assumed white perch and small striped bass swam the creek. Weather was phenomenal for crabbing this weekend, and also for kayaking and canoeing. 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 store to be picked up. Rental kayaks and canoes are available to paddle the scenic creek, and all these vessels should be reserved ahead of time, because rentals are still pretty busy. The vessels are currently available on Saturdays and Sundays, starting at 6:30 a.m., and the store is open for supplies daily. The shop stocks everything needed for crabbing, from bait, traps and nets to snacks, drinks and suntan lotion.  Visit <a href=" http://www.crabulousnj.com/Home_Page.php" target="_blank">Beaver Dam’s website</a>.

<b>Fortescue</b>

Summer flounder were still cranked from the bay, and not a lot of time remains in flounder season, said Capt. Tom from <b>Erica Leigh Charters</b>. Flounder season will be closed starting September 27, and a trip that another angler, who captains and mates for the boat, ran recently bagged five flounder to a 6-pound 6-ouncer from the bay.

<b>Cape May</b>

Boated summer flounder were heard about from the bay toward the number 1 buoy and Fortescue, said Joe from <b>Hands Too Bait & Tackle</b>. Tiny weakfish 8 or 10 inches schooled throughout the bay at different places. Spots sometimes showed up in Cape May’s surf. Red drum, the southern species, appeared in the surf at times. Lots of dog sharks haunted the surf. A few more blackfish than before began to snap along jetties. Anglers actually tried for them, unlike before. The one-blackfish bag limit had discouraged them. On the ocean, boaters picked away at flounder at Cape May Reef. A few flounder were still caught from the back bay, and more were located in Cape May Inlet. Around either slack tide was fished for them, because that’s when currents were fishable. Flounder began to appear at places they didn’t before, so maybe they began the migration that will take them offshore for winter.

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