<b>Brooklawn</b>

A customer walloped three striped bass 57 pounds, 55 pounds and 39 pounds in 10 feet of water in the bay off the Maurice River, said Rick from <b>Big Timber Bait & Tackle</b>. Catches often came from the shallows, especially because strong winds prevented boaters from sailing farther. Stripers were also hooked at the stakes north of Bug Light, the top of 20-Foot Slough and the bottom of 60-Foot Slough. Bunker chunks were the bait. Linesiders were also landed at the Cape May Rips on spots, but that fishing depends on clear waters, so the windy weather lately made the bite a little slow. Bass were also boated in the ocean at the Cuma Lumps and Sea Isle Lump. Closer to the shop, large numbers of largemouth bass actively fed around the Delaware River at places like the island off National Park and any of the creek mouths including at Big Timber Creek and Mantua Creek. Few anglers fished for them in the weather, but that only meant less pressure. Big Timber Bait & Tackle carries bait and tackle for all fishing from freshwater to offshore. That includes a complete supply of lures and baits for rivers and lakes; rigs, tackle and frozen bait for bays; and offshore lures, rigs and baits.

<b>Fortescue</b>

Small striped bass bit, and dropping water temps with the recent cold front can often affect fishing a moment, said Capt. Dave from <b>Andrea Charters</b>. But the fish don’t leave, and they take a moment to get acclimated. Bigger stripers that previously chomped on his trips seemed to get lockjaw when the cold days pushed in, but anglers will see whether they turn back on. In the meantime, fish with circle hooks, and enjoy catch and release action with plenty of throwbacks. Dave was going to try fishing with clams instead of bunker to see whether that made a difference. Striper charters will sail at least through the weekend, and then Dave will watch what the weather does. 

A keeper striped bass and a bunch of shorts were reeled up Sunday on the <b>Buccaneer</b>, Capt. Ralph said. That trip was postponed from Saturday, when strong winds blew. Another slew of shorts were landed on a trip Friday that began at noon in calm seas and fished until seas kicked up in the afternoon. All the fish were socked inshore of the shipping channel toward the Elbow and were resident, non-migrating stripers. Plenty were around, provided lots of action, and anglers could catch keepers if they put in the time. Bunker and clams were used for bait, and many bay anglers only use bunker, but clams also do the job on the Buccaneer. The Buccaneer is on the wait for migrating bass that should move up to waters toward Fortescue from the southern bay soon. The migration in recent years seemed to happen later than in the past, and last year the charter fleet took their boats out of the waters by early December, but private boaters who kept vessels at the slips just started to clock big bass then. So Ralph is going to leave the Buccaneer in the waters until December 16. If you think striped bass angling is coming to a close, think again. It should be just starting, and the best catches of the year should happen soon. If you want to connect, book a trip now. See the boat’s ad under the Inshore Charters link for info on the unusually reasonable rate for striper trips. Capt. Ralph’s been running trips on the bay since 1961, is one of the originals and is a retired teacher. He fishes for the love of the bay’s angling as much as anything.

An open-boat trip will run for striped bass 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Friday on the <b>Bonanza</b>, and that might be the last open trip of the year, Capt. Mike said. A charter is slated to sail for the bass Saturday. A few stripers, mostly shorts, were hooked on the boat last Friday, and a keeper and shorts were stuck on a trip with two families Sunday. The report on the boat’s web site said the trip Sunday began in 19-degree air temps, and the first short was hooked within 15 minutes, and one after another was landed as the morning went on, and a 28-incher was creeled. It said the families had a great time, and the weather was picture-perfect, and the heated cabin remedied the cold. The boat was tied to the dock in the strong winds Saturday. All the fish were bunker chunked.

<b>Bivalve</b>

Most customers were too cold after trips to check in striped bass catches, but Scott Rohrer, Rick Quinn and Scott Scott (that’s his name) showed off four stripers to 32 inches they boated south of the turn buoys, said Pat from <b>Longreach Marina</b>. Others talked about knuckling in the fish at places including Bug Light and the Horeseshoe. Waters were cold, and three customers said the bay was 46 degrees on Sunday. Fresh bunker is stocked for bait when available, and winds sometimes kept bunker boats from sailing.  The marina will be open full-time, seven days a week another week or two. But the doors will be closed Thanksgiving Day.

<b>Dennisville</b>

The ocean probably gave up more striped bass catches than anywhere, and bay temps seemed to drop drastically, and a couple of customers said they had difficulty finding waters as warm as 40 degrees in the local bay, said Rusty from <b>Captain Tate’s Bait & Tackle</b>. So deeper waters were probably a better place to locate bass in the bay, but dog sharks also held there, and anglers would have to go through lots of bait to pick through them and hook stripers. But keep in mind that temps on the upper bay might be different. Plenty of customers said the fishing wasn’t great, but one said he boated four keeper stripers and released a mess of throwbacks while fishing bunker chunks and spots. He didn’t say where he fished. Stripers were sometimes claimed at the Cape May Rips on spots, eels or bucktails, and lots were taken from the ocean, including on clams at the Wildwood Lump and off the Wildwood Ferris Wheel. Trollers also cleaned up on catches in the ocean, and Rusty trolled 16 that were mostly keeper-sized. Only one bluefish showed up on the trip, and it was jigged. More blues might’ve swam closer to shore, and blues were still caught farther north, so more should migrate down. Rusty heard about a few stripers beached in the surf but no blitzes. Nobody mentioned striper fishing in the back bays along the coast, maybe because everyone chased them in the ocean. Tog fishing at the ocean wrecks seemed okay, plenty of the fish but no concentration of huge ones. White leggers, a favorite tog bait, are stocked. Fresh clams are carried, and bunker is on hand when available. Eels are carried. The shop will be open until 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day. Be sure to check out Captain Tate’s new meals. Anglers can call ahead and order bait, breakfast, lunch and dinner to have it all waiting for them when they arrive. Convenient!

<b>Cape May</b>

Capt. George from the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> knew that strong winds would cloud the Cape May Rips along the southern bay by the weekend, so he chose to fish along the ocean front instead, he said. Fortunate choice, because striper fishing there took off those days. Dan Radar’s trip Saturday fished in 30 m.p.h. winds but boxed 16 keepers with bonus tags. Alex Limbonounos’ crew on Sunday put the skids on 11 keepers, including a big, 44-inch 30-pounder. They had their fill and came back early. Some of the bass on the trips were clammed, but most were trolled on Stretch 25 lures. Clamming seemed to attract smaller fish, and the clamming grounds got crowded anyway. The fish were scattered all over, and trolling seemed the better option to keep covering waters. Striper fishing on Steve Weiss’ charter on Thursday was much more difficult, and waters from Delaware Bay to Sea Isle Ridge were fished, and one keeper was bagged. Catches on the southern bay seemed slower lately in somewhat dirty waters. He heard from anglers who fished the rips anyway during the weekend and seemed to land a few shorts and a few keepers, not many fish.  

<b>Fine Line Fishing Charters</b> bunker chunked for striped bass at 60-Foot Slough on Sunday, and five throwbacks 21 to 26 inches were released, Capt. Dave said. Waters were a little dirty and 42 degrees. The trip began fishing at the southern end of the slough, but spiny dogfish bit, so the boat was anchored midway up the slough, and the shorts grabbed the baits when the tide changed.

Dirty waters kept trips on the <b>Fishin’ Fever</b> from targeting the Cape May Rips for stripers, but Capt. Tom was sure that catches would turn back on when the rips cleared, he said. Anglers aboard previously bailed the fish at the rips. But the boat fished along the ocean front instead this weekend. Six keeper striped bass, 30-some throwbacks and a few big blues were battled on the vessel there Saturday on jigs and spots. Bluefish started departing the waters for the season. On Sunday a trip lambasted 19 keeper stripers and released 16 throwbacks in the ocean on trolled Stretch 25 plugs. Lots of large stripers swam the ocean near the shore this year, and it’s been great, and Tom was thrilled with all the keepers Sunday. Tom heard from someone who fished Delaware Bay over the weekend for a catch of three shorts, and the angler said he heard about a few keepers boated in the area. A couple of trips on the boat also did a job on tog, plenty bagged, in the ocean.

The Cape May Rips were fished with <b>Legal Limit Charters</b> on Sunday for a catch of nine keeper striped bass and probably 30 throwbacks, Capt. T.J. said. The keepers were 29 to 33 inches, nabbed with eels and spots in the 44- to 45-degree waters. No particular place at the rips gave up most of the fish, and they seemed to be everywhere. T.J. heard nothing about striper fishing on Delaware Bay, but he heard that striper fishing along the ocean front was cooking 2 miles off Wildwood on trolled Stretch 25 lures. Interestingly, a friend hammered big stripers, all an angler could want, near Staten Island. T.J.’s brother ran a bottom-fishing charter from T.J.’s smaller boat, docked at Tuckerton, on Sunday, and a quality catch, including 8- and 9-pound slipperies, was socked. The bay at Tuckerton was a frigid 36 degrees, and the ocean there was 45. 

Another wonderful week of weather, with all the winds, said Matt from <b>Jim’s Bait & Tackle</b> in a fax. But striped bass fishing was good regardless. When seas were favorable, the Cape May Rips produced mostly schoolie stripers, the same fish as along the beach front, but sometimes big bruisers, 40-pounders that were weighed in. Eels, spots, bucktails and even drifted clams got attention. Fish sometimes blitzed the surf at the cove at 2nd Street in Cape May and along other beaches in the town on different days, and also at Hereford Inlet. A few sizeable stripers also grabbed clams or bunker from the suds at Poverty Beach. Bill Berry threw a Storm shad to nail at 31-pound bass from the cove, and Jimmy Kershaw bunker-chunked a 22-pound striper at Poverty. Mostly short stripers, but plenty, and big bluefish swam around the lumps along the ocean front and off the inlets, attacking a variety of lures, including bucktails, rubber shads, Storm lures, diamond jigs and Hopkins Crippled Herrings. The stripers also sucked up clams and bunker fished on the bottom. Blackfish hung thick along the inlet rocks and the inshore wrecks, and the shop just stocked white-legger crabs, a great bait for them. Joe Stabone drilled a 13-1/4-pound blackfish, and he and his crew limited out, at the South Jetty. Capt. Lyle Rutty tried blackfishing for the first time, limiting out his boat.

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