<b>Port Elizabeth</b>

Not much was heard about fishing on the bay, said Sharon from <b>The Girls Place Bait & Tackle</b>. Even anglers from farther north toward Barnegat Light complained about scarce striped bass. Stripers were reported caught farther north in the state, and anglers from Barnegat and Delaware Bay waited for the southern migration to arrive. Boaters from Barnegat had been decking the bass earlier this season, but that dried up recently, for some reason. A big mass of the fish seemed farther north and yet to come down. Nothing was heard about white perch fishing on brackish rivers and creeks, though good perching was reported previously. Crabbing was pretty much finished for the year. Few commercial crabbers even crabbed anymore this season, and most seemed to pull their pots for the year. Green crabs will be stocked, whenever available, for blackfishing. The bag limit will be increased to six blackfish beginning Wednesday, from the current limit of one. The shop’s been stocking fresh bunker, favorite bait for stripers locally in fall. Sharon had to drive north to get them, but did. Fresh clams were difficult to obtain from suppliers but were stocked.  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>

An angler who wrote a post on <b>Money Island Marina</b>’s Facebook page reported landing a 25-inch striped bass, a 24-incher, a 19-incher and two skates from the bay. The 24- and 25-inchers were within the 24- to less than 28-inch size that can be bagged with a bonus tag. Another angler who posted on the page reported attempting to boat the bay Sunday, but nasty weather canceled the trip. The angler reported seeing a few stripers at Fortescue that were caught from the bay the previous day, Saturday.  Weather was beautiful Saturday, and crew from the marina knew that some boaters fished that day. “We just didn’t talk to anyone on the return,” the page said. Bruce from the shop in a phone call this morning said no further news was heard. Fresh bunker, favorite bait for the bay’s stripers this season, are stocked when in demand. The marina features a bait and tackle shop, a boat ramp, boat slips, dry-dock boat storage, fishing docks and gas. The fishing docks, $5 per adult and free for kids, can offer angling for white perch, small striped bass, croakers and more, at different times of year. A 12-foot aluminum boat with a 2.5 h.p. outboard is available to rent to fish the creek.

<b>Cape May</b>

A couple of customers tried bunker-chunking striped bass on the bay but got covered up with dogfish, said Nick from <b>Hands Too Bait & Tackle</b>. Blackfishing was good in the bay at wrecks on the Delaware side. Six blackfish will become the bag limit beginning Wednesday, from the current limit of one. The back bay served up good fishing for small stripers, lots of action. Little was heard about surf catches, but a few red drum and speckled sea trout, southern species, were reported seen from the surf. The water must’ve been warm. Blackfish bit along Cape May Inlet’s jetties. On the ocean, a few stripers were trolled toward Stone Harbor or Wildwood.

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