Newport

Boats were just beginning to go in the water at Sundog Marina, Mike said. But stripers were being caught off Fortescue, and loads of white perch were being reeled in at Nantuxent Creek at the marina. Clams are the usual bait for the stripers, and fresh clams should be stocked in two weekends, but salted ones are carried now, and so are Berkeley Gulp artificial clams and other types of Gulp. Fresh bunker is currently stocked, and some died-in-the-wool anglers insist on bunker for stripers. Bloodworms and grass shrimp are the baits to toss for the perch, and bloods are carried. Rental boats are in the water, and perch anglers are sailing them, and crabbers will start running the skiffs soon. Mike was seeing a few crabs swimming around already. He heard no first-hand reports about black drum boated in the bay, but he heard second-hand ones about a few starting to bite in the southern bay. Be sure to enter Sundog’s season-long fishing tournament from May to September that awards monthly prizes for the biggest flounder, perch and weakfish caught.  Grand prizes will also be awarded at the end of the season for the biggest three of those species caught during the year. The entry fee is only $20, and anglers can win as many of the monthly and yearly prizes as they can earn with their catches. The fuel dock is open, and Sundog’s hours are currently Wednesdays through Sundays and will expand to seven days a week in May.

Fortescue

The first trip of the season on the Buccaneer sailed Saturday on the bay, and the anglers nailed nine stripers to 35 inches and an 18-pound puppy drum, Capt. Ralph said. So it was a good day, and this was the beginning of the season, and nobody could say what’ll happen now. But the boat’s striper fishing is underway, and fishing for bigger drum should kick off soon, and combo striper/drum trips on the Buccaneer usually run May 1 to June 15.

The Miss Fortescue will start sailing this coming Saturday, and then open-boat trips will leave the dock 7 a.m. every day, an e-mail from the vessel said. Afternoon trips that run Fridays and Saturdays should begin during mid May. Eight-hour, afternoon charters are also on the slate on Mondays through Thursdays, and many are already booked. Striped bass and black drum are already being caught, and flounder season opens May 26. The crew is looking forward to another great year, seeing familiar faces and meeting new customers.

Port Norris

Port Norris Marina opened full time for ramp boaters on Sunday, Jeff said. The marina was supposed to open for rampers on Friday, but last week’s nor’easter did a lot of damage and caused a delay, but everything’s now back in action. Striper fishing was good, and many of the fish were throwbacks, but some were keepers, and the run of bigger, migrating bass was yet to begin, but it should start soon. Places like Bug Light and shallows from 15 to 18 feet sometimes gave up the fish, because the shallows are warmer. Puppy black drum 30 to 35 inches were sometimes caught, and the major run of bigger ones should begin very soon. Fresh clams, fresh bunker and all baits should be stocked by the weekend.

Bivalve

The LegalEase should launch by the end of the week, and then striper and drum charters will begin, Capt. Marty said. The trips usually target the stripers with bunker, but a bucket of clams is usually onboard. When drum fishing kicks in, clams will always be on deck for drum bait. Marty saw lots of stripers caught in the bay as early as three weeks ago. At that time, he was in Bowers Beach in Delaware and came across a commercial boat at the dock with lots of boxes of stripers apparently landed in the bay. Marty looked into the legality of the catch, and he said the stripers were apparently legal. “Out of Work Early Specials” are sailing at a discounted price, leaving port around noon and returning at dark.

Plenty of stripers were boated near Bug Light and the E.P. Tower, said Connie from Longreach Marina. Customers and their catches included: George Banks and Skip Manero, 20 stripers including 3 keepers; Mark and Sandy Wilson, 30 stripers including 4 keepers; Bob Hines, Ben Williams and Lenny, a limit of 6 stripers; John Doyle and Jason and Barry Coverly, 4 keepers; the crew on the Batman from Gloucester City, 18 stripers including 8 keepers and a 55-3/4-pound, 47-1/2-inch black drum; and Capt. Ben Fisher and mate Gotchmo from the Fishman, 15 stripers including 5 keepers. Longreach is now open full time, seven days a week, and fresh bunker and frozen clams are stocked.

Dennisville

Kevin Kreutzer nailed an 82-1/2 pound black drum Sunday east of Brandywine, said Tim from Captain Tate’s Bait & Tackle. That was the biggest drum reported caught from the bay on this site so far this year. Other drum catches were also reported at the shop, such as four that one gang boated. Tons of striped bass blanketed areas like the Horseshoe, Pin Top, Tussy’s Slough and Bug Light. Fresh herring will nab the bass very well, and the bait fish are being stocked almost daily. Fresh clams and fresh bunker will also do the trick and are also stocked when available. In other news, a few stripers, including keepers, were reported beached from land in the back bay behind Stone Harbor.

Cape May

A 64-pound black drum was the first fish of the season hauled in on the Heavy Hitter in Delaware Bay on the boat’s first charter of the year Saturday morning, Capt. George said. A 72-pound drum was also nailed, and these were the first two big drum from the bay reported on this site this year. A few puppies were reported previously. The charter, the Kevin Driscoll group with Dave Muntz Sr. and Jr. and “Yocum,” also scored plenty of stripers in the bay and limited out on the linesiders, and the fishing was very good. George himself also hooked a puppy drum on the trip. In the afternoon the Andrew Mayburg charter also limited out on stripers at the same spot and hooked no drum. Justin Naperkowski’s gang on Sunday bagged five keeper stripers and reeled in a load of throwbacks at a different spot in the bay. So the fishing was somewhat less productive Sunday, and lots of shorts bit, but the bay’s striper fishing seemed to be on fire now, and George hoped it would last a while. It doesn’t always last long, and last year the action kept up until the end of April, and then black drum took over. Drum fishing should last until mid June. The fish on the trips bit clams, and broken clam shells and old clams were sometimes thrown in the water when the crew was changing bait, but no concentrated effort to chum was necessary. The water was 47 to 48 degrees, and debris floated around from last week’s storm. Tires and trash were even seen, and on Sunday stretches of sod grass were bobbing around that had broken off from the land.

The Down Deep is back in action, and striped bass fishing was red hot in Delaware Bay, Capt. Bob said. Tons of keepers were biting, and smaller ones also hit, but lots of good-sized stripers swam the bay.  The Martin Booth charter limited out on the linesiders Saturday, and loads of the fish bit, and all the stripers anyone could want could be hooked. A charter also limited out Sunday, and the stripers were bigger that day. The boat had been fishing around the Horseshoe, but on Sunday the trip came across a mess of stripers several miles from shore, so the boat was parked there, and the anglers bailed them. Black drum including a few big ones already started to be caught, and dates remain for striper and drum charters, and call Bob to book. The fishing is in full swing.

Probably 25 striped bass per day were hooked with Copacetic Sportfishing in the bay from Friday through Sunday, Capt. Mike said. The fishing was probably peaking, and maybe 6 or 7 of the bass per day were keepers, and the keepers reached about 36 inches or 17 pounds. Patrons also boated a few puppy drum to 25 pounds, and others sometimes started to haul in drum that were larger. Clams caught the fish in 23 feet of water, and sometimes pieces of clams were tossed in the water for chum, and both incoming and outgoing tides were productive, but fish were also landed on slack tides. The best dates for striper and drum charters were going fast, so act fast to book.

On the Sea Fox the Nocella Roofing Company from Philly limited out on stripers to 18 pounds Saturday in the bay, Capt. Gary said. Throwbacks were also hooked, and one puppy drum was boated. On Sunday the Will Saunders group from Philly bagged nine keepers, not quite a limit, and hooked lots more throwbacks than Saturday’s charter did. Two 19-inch, out-of-season summer flounder, the first flounder of the year reported on this site, were also hooked and released Sunday and bit clams on 9/0 hooks, and maybe those flatties were a good sign for the coming season. Probably half the stripers caught Sunday were keepers, and most of the keepers seemed 28 ½ to 29 inches or just larger than the legal size. Clams caught all the fish, and the water was 47 to 48 degrees Saturday and 49 degrees Sunday. Debris from last week’s storm was everywhere in the water Sunday but was scarcer Saturday, and rafts of reeds and grass floated by Sunday. The height of striper season seemed to be here, and Gary couldn’t say how long it would last. Openings are available for striper and drum charters in the coming weeks.

The Canyon Clipper’s season will really launch next week, but the crew’s been clamming decent catches of stripers at Bug Light in Delaware Bay, Capt. Stan said. He saw a couple of drum caught but hooked none himself. Most of the bass were throwbacks, but bigger ones seemed to be arriving Saturday, and Capt. Tim from the boat grabbed four nice ones that day. Dates for charters are becoming booked for May, but some dates remain for striper and drum trips. Afterward charters will sail for flounder, sea bass and sharks, and tuna charters should be reserved now for the best dates. Tuna fishing usually starts in June with trips to the inshore structure such as the Elephant Trunk. In other news, Stan heard about no mackerel migrating yet, and even the commercial fishermen saw none, and none of the party boats were catching them.

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