Newport

Bob Gamber weighed in a 33-inch, 20-pound striper, and other stripers were also checked in, said Mike from Sundog Marina. Bob didn’t say where he caught the fish, but it wasn’t far from the marina. Other boaters tried to find stripers at the 34 buoy Saturday but had no luck except run-offs. No drum were weighed in, but Mike expects drum catches to pick up this coming week. Perch and catfish bit in Nantuxent Creek, and rental boats are available to fish the creek. A customer said he never before saw catfish in the creek near the marina in the 15 years he’d been coming there. Mike thought the spring was wet and apparently lowered the salinity in the creek and brought the catfish downstream. Don, Ed and Ed’s son fished the creek Saturday and boated three perch and two catfish. Ed and his son returned Sunday and boated two short stripers and a 5-pound catfish. Three rental boaters tried for crabs and landed short blueclaws and reeled in two perch. So crabbing was becoming an option on the rental boats. Fresh bunker, fresh surf clams, bloodworms and the usual frozen baits are stocked. Be sure to enter Sundog’s season-long fishing tournament that lasts through September 10 and awards monthly prizes for the three biggest weakfish, flounder and perch and a yearly grand prize for each of those categories. The monthly prizes are $25, and the yearly ones are $50, and the entry fee is $20 per person, and entrants can win as many of the prizes as they earn. The marina is open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day.

Fortescue

The cold snap and terrible winds apparently shut down striper and drum fishing by the weekend, and most of the fleet seemed to catch nothing, said Capt. Ralph from the Buccaneer. He spent 12 hours Saturday searching for the bite but found nothing. But drum fishing was just beginning, so he wasn’t deterred, and drum are usually pulled onboard until mid June. Some small bluefish might be around in the bay, but no big ones were reported.

Port Norris

Bug Light seemed best for striper fishing, and Tussy’s Slough seemed the hot spot for drum, and the fishing seemed to be just starting, said Jeff from Port Norris Marina. He thought lots of fish should roll in during this coming weekend, if the weather’s good. Fresh clams and fresh bunker are stocked for bait. Chris Derr of Reading, Pa., checked in a 38-inch striper and a 36-inch striper. Bob and Mary Bailey tackled four 38-inch, 37-inch, 34-inch and 32-inch stripers. Barbara Kerrington drilled a big, 44-inch, 32.15-pound linesider, and Phil Brosious fished Tussy’s Slough to nail a 60-pound drum.  

Bivalve

Boaters from Longreach Marina caught stripers and drum at Tussy’s Slough, 60-Foot Slough, Bug Light and the E.P. Tower, Pat said. Fresh bunker and frozen clams are stocked for bait. The Atco Hookers Striper Tournament takes place this coming Saturday, and the top prize is $1,000. Entrants can sign up at the marina, including on Saturday morning before the event begins, and the entry fee is $60 per boat, and there is no captain’s meeting. Customers and their catches this past week included: Anthony Marducci, Mike Vance and Mike Carney, 5 stripers 34 inches or larger; Jack Calhoun, 29- and 37-inch stripers; Rob Battelini and Albert Giovanazzi from Landisville, 33-, 35- and 39-inch stripers; Rich and Clare Andrus from Millville, 2 keeper stripers; Ray Maurer, 63-3/4-pound drum; Bob Vertolli and Steve Schelder from Vineland, 42-inch, 30.5-pound striper; Tom Jordan from Ocean City, 16-1/2-pound drum; Frank Przelomiec, Rich Jillard and Gary Wilson on the Bite Me III, 4 stripers to 40 pounds; and Joe Musso, Pete Ballinger, Chris Buznardo and John, 3 drum 35 to 40 pounds.

Dennisville

Winds were blowing, but some drum were caught, and stripers were mixed in, said Rusty from Captain Tate’s Bait & Tackle. Tussy’s Slough, the Horseshoe, the Pin Top, the Banana Peel, the northern end of 20-Foot Slough and places between were holding the fish. Evenings were probably best last week, because that’s when the tide took place, but the tide was during the daytime this week. “So we’ll see what happens,” he said. Fresh clams are stocked for bait for both fish throughout the week, and fresh bunker is carried for stripers during weekends. The surf at Poverty Beach was also giving up decent striper fishing last week, and so was the whole ocean beach front, including at Wildwood Crest, Strathmere and a few other spots between, and bluefish schooled around the inlets. Tog fishing was good at the jetties and bridges along the whole coast, and bottom-fishing boaters seemed mostly unable to sail in the winds and rough seas. The shop was trying to stockpile green crabs for tog bait, although the available supply was somewhat scarce.

Cape May

Windy weather kept Fishin’ Fever Sportfishing from fishing Delaware Bay on Sunday, but a charter Saturday evening nailed 12 drum to 35 pounds on the Jersey side of the bay, Capt. Tom said. Drum fishing seemed to be improving, and larger stripers just seemed to be starting to return to the bay after heading up the Delaware River to spawn. A charter Saturday morning landed five stripers to 21 pounds, and a charter Friday morning boated something like 10 stripers and a 64-pound drum. In the afternoon a charter reeled in about eight stripers to 15 pounds. On Wednesday morning a charter nailed 20 stripers to 22 pounds. Charters have been fishing with clams in depths from 15 to 30 feet in 55- to 60-degree water. Fishin’ Fever targets the bay until about the third week of June, when the boat moves to Brigantine to sail for sharks, tuna and bluefish.

The bay sometimes produced nice fish, and sometimes the fishing had its struggles, and it was up and down, said Capt. Bob from the Down Deep. Pete Rowan’s got into some good fish on Saturday, when a 65-pound drum was nailed on 15-pound line, and Pete’s buddy Roy scored a 25-pound striper and a 23-pound striper, and they landed a few throwback bass. Bob thinks good fishing is still coming after last week’s full moon and then the strong northeast winds over the weekend, and fishing seemed to be running a little behind, and the water was 57 degrees. A few openings remain for striper and drum charters, and drum fishing will probably last until the second week of June. Sea bass and tog can also be caught in the ocean, and charters do fish for them on the boat. Bob heard reports about bluefish running along the ocean beach front.

Copacetic Sportfishing fished the bay Saturday, moved around to a few different spots, and pulled up a 32-inch striper, one throwback and lots of junk fish while clamming, Capt. Mike said. Plenty of fish were marked, but they refused to bite. Other anglers he talked with all said the fishing became slow. If it doesn’t improve, he might switch to bottom fishing for sea bass and tog in the ocean at the inshore wrecks and reefs, and those fish are supposedly biting. Shark trips are now being booked that will probably begin in late May or early June.

Rocco and Mike from Data Forms in Milford put together a great day of fishing Friday on the bay with Jaftica Sportfishing, landing stripers to 31 inches, including throwbacks and nice keepers, Capt. Ray said. On Saturday Mike and John from JRC Assets from Waretown reeled in 30 stripers to 30 inches. Also on Saturday, Dave, Jason, Jerry and Tom from Dublin, Pa., reeled in a good mixed bag of drum and stripers, including two stripers around 20 pounds and 38 inches apiece. Drum fishing seemed to be improving somewhat, and Ray heard that both the Jersey side and the Delaware side of the bay were producing. The trips fished on the Jersey side in different depths from 20 feet to 28 feet in 56- to 57-degree water, and all the fish were hooked on clams. Drum fishing should last until at least the second week of June.

A charter with Da Plumbers from Philly on the Sea Fox clammed striped bass to 30 inches on Friday in 19 feet in the bay, Capt. Gary said. The fishing was tough, and so were the conditions, with northeast winds against incoming tide in the morning and southeast winds against outgoing in the afternoon. The stripers were biting lightly and only mouthing the baits, instead of hammering the clams and running off with them, and holding the rods to feel the bites was important, instead of leaving the rods in the rod holders. The bay was 52 degrees and had cleaned up a lot, compared to the dirty and debris-filled water of the previous week. No drum were caught on the trip, and Gary hoped drum fishing would continue to improve, and openings for striper and drum charters are available. A charter was weathered out Sunday from stiff winds and seas.

A charter picked up five drum, mostly 25- to 30-pounders and also a 65-pounder, and two stripers to 35 or 36 inches Saturday night on the Heavy Hitter, Capt. George said. The fish were hooked on the Jersey side of the bay, and the drum were the only ones boated on the vessel so far this year except some caught on a trip in April, and that’s unusual, because more drum are usually caught on the Heavy Hitter by this time of year. No drum hit until 9:45 p.m., when the trip was nearly finished, and the bruisers were hooked quickly in a row. The drum seemed spawned out, and George hoped that meant the fish would start feeding heavily.  Roy DeCrane, Dave Layton, Roger and Eric Beahr and Paul Bulifant Sr. and Jr. were the anglers onboard. On Friday John and Curtis Schofield, Chuck Star Sr. and Jr., Frank Heart and Frank Infante hauled in a catch of seven good-sized stripers from 37 to 42 inches and two throwbacks. Lou Nicolo boated stripers to 34 inches on Thursday night. The trips took place on the Jersey side in mostly 57- to 58-degree water, and George heard conflicting reports about fishing on the Delaware side.

Nighttime trips on the Miss Chris were producing good catches of drum to 65 pounds, and stripers to 30 pounds were mixed in, a fax from the boat said. George Malard limited out on drum to 66 pounds, and Harry Thohart limited out on drum to 55 pounds and nailed a 27-pound striper. Steve Knit hauled in a 68-pound drum and a 31-pound striper.

More and more drum were being caught in Delaware Bay, said Matt from Jim’s Bait & Tackle in a fax. Drum in the 60- and 70-pound range were getting boated more consistently, and some were landed at Deadman’s Shoal, Tussy’s Slough and on the Delaware side of the bay at Broadkill Slough. The new moon takes place during mid month, and the fishing should be in full swing by then. Dan Olivieri tackled a 75-pound drum, and Steve Keenan also nailed a 75-pounder, and both took the fish around Tussy’s.  Striped bass fishing in the bay now seemed better during mid week, when fewer boaters were pressuring the fish. Art Kushner and Fred Jacobs weighed in a 30.5-pound striper and a 15.75-pounder from the bay, and Gene Haskell checked in a 24-pounder from the bay. Striper fishing was good from the surf, and Poverty Beach at Pittsburg Avenue was best. Dusk and dawn gave up the bite on fresh clams, but Matt was sure bunker would also work, and bunker would also score bluefish that were beginning to show up in the suds. Greg Panas fished Poverty Beach and pulled in a 31-pound striper, and Mike Marra and crew fished there and landed several bass to 15 pounds on Friday night. Stripers were also pushing down the ocean beaches, following schools of sand eels, and the linesiders hit bucktails, jigs and Fin-S Fish on jigheads. Blackfishing was as good as it gets at the Cape May Inlet jetties and along the inshore wrecks and in the bay at Brandywine Light. The fish were loaded with roe, so if possible, try to release the females, Matt said. This will help future fishing, and plenty of males were around.

Drum were now biting well in Delaware Bay, said Capt. Fred from Harbor View Marina in a fax. The whoppers to 85 pounds could be caught at several places, and the Horseshoe, Bug Light and the Pin Top all gave up catches, and Forest on the Old Rose nailed an 86-pounder at the Pin Top. Stripers to 30 pounds were mixed in during nighttime trips. Daytime trips were producing smaller stripers on clams and fresh bunker. More and more sea bass to 4 pounds were showing up at the inshore wrecks every day, and fishing for blackfish to 7 pounds was improving at the inshore wrecks and at Cape May Inlet. Small bluefish were swimming around at the inlet.

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