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Delaware Bay Fishing Report 6-21-16


<b>Port Elizabeth</b>

One customer limited out on summer flounder on the bay between the 1 buoy and the drop offs at Miah Maul, said Sharon from <b>The Girls Place Bait & Tackle</b>. That was the only flounder report from the bay, but customers talked about catching flounder on back bays like crazy. Weakfish schooled Delaware Bay, and bit along surf jetties. Nothing was heard about drum fishing on the bay, though fresh clams, favorite bait for drum, became more available this weekend than before. Better weather allowed clam boats to sail, after a windy week previously. The past week’s wind diminished opportunities to sail for catches including flounder and drum on Delaware Bay. White perch were reeled from Maurice River. Crabbing improved, and customers who talked about crabbing during the weekend all said so. Crabbing seemed to keep improving lately. Baits stocked include plenty of minnows, and many minnows, favorite flounder bait, were sold. Shedder crabs were carried when available, and the supply was okay. Some arrived every week. 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>

This was the time of year and the type of weather for summer flounder fishing to begin on the bay, <b>Money Island Marina</b>’s Facebook page said. Minnows, the different types of squid and bucktails were stocked for the angling. White perch swam abundant in Nantuxent Creek, running past the shop. 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 stripers, and croakers, 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. Bait stocked can include minnows, live grass shrimp and more, when in season and in demand. <b><i>***Heads up:***</i></b> a new promotion is being tested to introduce boaters to the convenience and level of service at the marina. The boat ramp will be free to first-time users who purchase bait, a minimum of $8 worth, from the marina. The ramp fee is usually $15 for boats up to 18 feet and $20 for larger, because the larger typically require assistance. Boaters should avoid using the ramp within 90 minutes of low tides.

<b>Newport</b>

Excellent crabbing was pounded during the weekend at <b>Beaver Dam Boat Rentals</b>, Paul said. Three to four dozen keepers per trip might’ve been average, and lots of small crabs, including many 3- to 4-1/2-inchers, skittered around. Four-and-a-half is the legal minimum size to keep the hardshells. Still, a few big were trapped, and many of those were 5 and 5 ½ inches, and some were 6. Paul had an idea that “something was up” when a good crabber landed 10 keepers in the first hour of crabbing this weekend. Crabs seemed to prefer bunker for bait, mostly. One trip that fished tugged in a half-dozen sizable white perch. Lots of small, schoolie striped bass swam the creek, almost a nuisance, if stripers can be a nuisance to anglers. Customers crab and fish from rental boats towed up Oranokin Creek, running past the shop. The boats have been available on weekends so far this season, and will become available daily beginning this weekend. That’s a typical schedule each year. Rental kayaks and canoes are available to paddle the scenic creek, when the boats are available. Reserve rentals ahead, because they can book up. Beaver Dam stocks everything needed for crabbing, from bait, traps and nets to drinks, snacks and suntan lotion. Visit <a href=" http://www.crabulousnj.com/Home_Page.php" target="_blank">Beaver Dam’s website</a>.

<b>Fortescue</b>

A photo was posted Sunday showing eight sizable summer flounder on the dock from a trip that day on the bay, on a local marina’s Facebook page. The two anglers on the trip reportedly limited out on the flatfish and released a few additional keepers. A few other keepers were also weighed at the marina that day. This showed that flounder swam the bay, the post said about the photo. The flounder fishing picked up a bit, a local party boat’s Facebook page said this weekend. That post included a few photos of the fish aboard then on the bay.

<b>Cape May</b>

Some anglers still drum fished on the bay, said Capt. George from the <b>Heavy Hitter</b>. A buddy’s trip landed six Saturday night, and headed back Sunday for the fish. George waited to hear results, when he gave this report. He stowed away the drum rods and tackle for the season. Tuna trips are booked to fish offshore canyons this weekend, and a trip might be slated to fish for them Wednesday, aboard. George had told anglers calling about tuna trips to jump aboard when the fish showed up, and yellowfin tuna, good catches, began to be trolled at the canyons that the Cape May fleet fishes.

Drum probably still swam the bay, and nothing was reported about them departing, Nick from <b>Hands Too Bait & Tackle</b> said Thursday in a phone call. Few tried for them. No summer flounder were heard about from Delaware Bay yet, he said at the time. But he guessed flounder were picked from the back bay. A few flounder were heard about from the ocean. Bluefish sometimes schooled Delaware Bay and Cape May Rips. A couple of striped bass, mostly throwbacks, a couple that were just keeper-sized, were still slid from the surf last week, mostly along jetties. Shore anglers also angled them from inlets then. A few kingfish were plucked from the surf, and two customers hung two sheepsheads along jetties. Bluefish 5 to 10 pounds occasionally piled through the surf last week. Some dusky sharks and brown sharks began to be fought in the surf. No sandtiger sharks were reported from the surf yet, and each of those species is prohibited and must be released.

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