<b>Port Elizabeth</b>

Drum fishing turned on at Tussy’s Slough and the Pin Top, and good catches were boated, probably starting toward the end of the week or maybe mid week, said Sharon from <b>The Girls Place Bait & Tackle</b>. They seemed to bite around the changes of the tides, both during the day and night, not just a nighttime catch like sometimes. Some of the fish were big, too, including 75-pounders and even ones pushing 90 pounds. One group of anglers hauled up four that weighed a total of 200 pounds.  Striped bass were bagged toward the 32 and 34 buoys on bunker and herring, also around the changes of tides. Flounder season opens Saturday, and the flatbacks already seemed to swim the bay. A charter who fished for striped bass caught and released a big, 32-inch flattie that inhaled a bunker chunk near the 32 and 34 buoys. But fishing for flounder in the early season is usually best toward Miah Maul, Cross Ledge and the Southwest Line. The staff at the shop has been preparing for flounder season, including stripping and salting herring for bait. Stripped, salted bunker is also stocked, and so is mackerel, and strips of such dark, oily fleshed baitfish works great on flounder, especially in the early season. But the old faithful minnows and squid are also stocked for flounder. The shop’s commercial netter was finding big weakfish in the catches, so some were around. They might not be easy to find, but anglers should be able to target them if they put their minds to it. Spots including off the E.P. Tower, the No. 1 buoy and Thompson’s Beach are likely places, and try dunking bloodworms or shedder crabs for a bite. Shedders might be available at the store by the weekend, and Sharon will try to find them. The crabs are always small at this time of year, but they’re the favorite weakfish forage. Weaks will bite more aggressively as waters warm, and they can bite quite lightly in the current cool bay. Nothing was heard about bluefish in the bay in the past week, though anglers talked about some catches before the storm last week on Monday. Blues probably swam the southern bay, but they didn’t seem to be found in the mid bay. Fresh bunker and fresh clams are stocked, and both baits are now in large demand, especially on weekends, so call and order to ensure you can grab enough. The Girls Place is located on Route 47 just after Route 55 ends, and it’s the long, one-story, yellow building on the right. There’s a large parking lot with plenty of room for trailered boats.

<b>Newport</b>

Last week started windy and wet with the storm Monday, and the boats at the dock hardly moved, but the shop’s roof did, blowing off at 11 a.m., an e-mail from Mike and Mickie from <b>Sundog Marina</b> said. But a new roof was back on by Thursday. Water levels rose so high that the crew was thinking about changing the web site to say “Delaware Bayfront Slips,” because nothing but water was between the marina and the bay. But striped bass fishing got going by Wednesday, when a couple of customers checked in the linesiders, including a fat one that Lewis Patrick and friend nailed, and others also reported catches. A rental boater returned to the dock with half a cooler full of the slabs, and the small ones were thrown back. Small stripers chased bait around the docks. Rough weather returned by the end of the week, but reports about good drum fishing rolled in Friday night, and Joe Kampf and crew drilled a bunch of the fish on a charter Saturday at Tussy’s Slough. Fresh bunker is stocked, and a new batch of fresh clams arrives every Thursday, and call to ensure a supply. Salted clams are also carried, and so are grass shrimp, especially for perch fishing. Minnows should be carried for the opening of flounder season on Saturday. Rental boats are rigged and ready for perch fishing and early season crabbing along Nantuxent Creek. New docks were added to the marina this season, making great rates available for slips. Be sure to stop by and pick up Sundog’s spring catalog of marine and fishing supplies. The boating safety course required in New Jersey will be held at the marina’s café in two sessions from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. June 4 ands 5, and call to reserve.  

<b>Dividing Creek</b>

Crabbing season kicks off along the bay this weekend, because that’s when <b>Wildlife Boat Rentals</b> re-opens. The hours will be 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays at first, and hours are usually extended later in the year. The boats won’t be in the water until later in the season, but the area is chock full of spots for roadside crabbing at creeks and ponds, and the staff can point you in the right direction. Small crabs were skittering around so far, typical of the early season. The blueclaws grow with each shed, about once a month, often around the full moons. The full moon took place yesterday, probably triggering the year’s first shed, after the crustaceans crawled out of the mud in spring. Speaking of the shed, shedder crabs, popular for bait for weakfish, flounder and even drum, and also a delicacy for human consumption, will be sold if available. Wildlife is also known for selling live hardshells and is the place to grab the tasty critters to boil them up. Crabbing supplies will be fully stocked, including traps, handlines, weights, nets and bunker baits. The shop also carries everything needed for a day of crabbing, from sunglasses to bug spray and rain gear. It’s your one-stop crabbing supply center. Fishing tackle is also on hand for wetting a line in all the back waters for everything from catfish to short striped bass.

<b>Fortescue</b>

Things improved a lot, and fishing for drum kicked off Thursday, putting out excellent catches since, and the fish were hefty, sometimes up to 70 pounds, said Dave from <b>Al’s Bait & Tackle</b>. Tussy’s Slough and the Pin Top were the spots, and late afternoons to early evenings usually produced, and boaters were launching around 1 p.m. Striped bass fishing was good at times at the 32 and 34 buoys, and the bite slowed in the past few days but was going strong toward the end of the week, and use bunker chunks for bait. A bunch of stripers, mostly undersized but a few keepers, were beached along the Fortescue surf, and so were perch, both on bloodworms. Very few blues were reported caught in the bay. Flounder seemed to hug the bottom of the bay, good news for the opening of flounder season Saturday. Striper anglers sometimes hooked the fish, including big ones, by mistake. Minnows, spearing, mackerel, herring, mullet and all the varieties of squid, including pre-cut, boxed-whole, and tubes are stocked for the flatties, and so is an impressive selection of flounder rigs, one of the area’s largest. Fresh bunker, fresh clams and bloodworms are also carried, and even weakfish baits like frozen shedder crabs and chicken strips are on hand, though little was heard about weakfish biting, except reports about a handful of catches last week.

Drum fishing took off on the bay, said Capt. Ralph from the <b>Buccaneer</b>. “Everything’s fine,” he said. “They’re biting like they should.” Good catches started coming up on the vessel Saturday night, and a few started getting boated by others in the days before. Nobody can know how long the fishing will last, but the Buccaneer will focus on the boomers while the fishing’s on. Ralph’s been chartering for the behemoths since 1961, when few of the fleet bothered with the fish. Now they all drum fish. He runs 10-hour trips for drum, at a very reasonable rate no less, because he aims to fish two tides. He compares drum fishing to deer hunting, saying boaters need to park at a spot where drum come through, and wait, and not move, unless someone says the fish are biting elsewhere at that moment. Schools of the fish will swim past while feeding, but nobody can know when. The boat’s drum trips are usually combo drum and striper charters, but stripers were scarce. Private anglers were boating stripers in the northern bay, including around the 34 and 35 buoy, but they would catch one or two or a few during specific tides, impractical for charters. Ralph heard about a 19-pound weakfish, incredible large, that an angler reeled in with other big tiderunners on a trip off Cape May.

“Drum are on the bite,” said Capt. Dave from <b>Andrea Charters</b>. For him the fishing last week started with a 56-pound drum boated Thursday night, but the good catches really began Friday night, though he didn’t fish that evening. But the boat headed out Saturday night, and eight drumfish to 70 pounds were reeled up, and the charter was satisfied and came back early. Anglers onboard also did some striper fishing, bagging a 38-1/2-incher Saturday, and releasing 22 shorts Sunday. The linesiders were hitting far up the bay, and Andrea Charters was fishing both bunker and clams for hook-ups. Charters will probably stick mostly with drum and striper fishing for the moment, but flounder trips will be available as soon as flounder season opens Saturday. Dave’s anglers have already pulled up and released a few flounder that sucked down striper baits. Andrea Charters also specializes in weakfishing, and although the trout have been scarcer in recent years than in the past, Dave’s charters target them and do get into some good catches. Weakfishing lately hasn’t kicked in till the end of June or July, and actually late August and early September seemed prime time in the last couple of years, later than usual. But a few larger weakfish are usually roaming the bay by now and are normally caught around structure. Dave would imagine that croakers, related to weaks, should start to appear in the bay soon.

A pretty good catch of drum to 80 pounds came up on the <b>Albatross</b> on Friday, and the fish averaged 40 to 50 pounds, Capt. Ziggy said. Then they kept biting straight through the weekend, and practically everyone who fished for them caught. On daytime trips late afternoons were best, like starting at 4 to 6 or so, and by 8 or 9 the fishing was largely done. The full moon was yesterday, and fishing sometimes shuts down on the moon. Charters will probably continue drum fishing another couple of weeks, and openings are available, mostly on weekdays. Flounder charters will be on tap when flounder season opens Saturday.  

Five anglers on a drum charter Friday bagged four drum to 70 pounds on the party boat <b>Salt Talk</b> in winds and rains, Capt. Howard said. Another five anglers pulled aboard six drum on a charter Sunday night in rough conditions with a squall, heavy rains and winds. Lots of sharks and skates bit on both trips. Both groups said they planned to book another trip for drum. The boat was supposed to run for drum today and the next two days. No striped bass trips sailed recently, though the vessel had been fishing open-boat for stripers before, and Fortescue boats got into good striper fishing Thursday at the 32 and 34 buoys, but catches of the linesiders were otherwise slow. Daily, open-boat trips for flounder start Saturday, when the flattie season opens, except when drum charters are slated on weekdays. But the flounder trips should at least always sail during the daytime on weekends, and no drum trips will probably be scheduled then, because demand for flounder fishing will probably be greater.

Drum fishing was on fire on nighttime trips, said Capt. Mike from the party boat <b>Bonanza</b>. Catches started Thursday night, when the American Legion Post 507 charter boated two drum. On Friday night the Calgary Assembly of God charter tackled six drum to 80 pounds and lost a few, and seas on the ride home were fierce, with 30-knot, north/northwest winds. On Saturday night an open-boat drum trip produced five of the fish bagged and 10 lost, and, if Mike remember correctly, Jim Dooley from Bridgeton subdued a 65-pounder, and Ed Mulhoney from Pennsville took down a 60-pounder. Another open-boat drum trip will sail 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday. Space is available, and reservations are required, and call 609-381-2978 to book. Drum charters are available, and daily, open-boat flounder trips will begin Saturday, when the flatback season kicks off, leaving at 7:30 a.m.

<b>Bivalve</b>

Fishing picked up, became a lot better, and stripers got boated at areas like Cross Ledge, and a mess of drum were pulled from Tussy’s Slough, said Pat from <b>Longreach Marina</b>. Leon Miller, Franklinville, brought back a 35-inch striper, and George Wengert, Gary Wilson and Frank Przelomiec, also from Franklinville bagged two 41- and 40-inch stripers and hooked a load of spiny dog sharks. Nels Peterson and Travis Hal from Millville scored a 29-inch striper and a bunch of blues. On the drum front, Antony Albano, Millville, put the skids on a 40-pounder, and Ron and Don Roswald and John Syderski from Vineland got a workout from nine drum to 75 pounds. Tony Rizzo Sr. and Jr., Burt Morgan and Brett DiDemenico bailed 10 drum to 70 pounds. Longreach should be fully supplied for the opening of flounder season Saturday, and Pat hopes minnows will be available, and plenty of frozen squid and mackerel are stocked. Fresh bunker is carried, and so is frozen bunker, clams and chum. Boat slips are available, and grab them while you can, before the summer rush.

<b>Dennisville</b>

Drum catches were better than owner Tim Hand from <b>Captain Tate’s Bait & Tackle</b> had ever seen in 12 years in the tackle-shop business, he said. Some boaters landed 30 of the fish in a tide, and many drum were good-sized, up to 70 and 80 pounds, and the small ones were only 30 or 40 pounds. The bite continued through today, and one angler called from the water this morning and said he already fought two, and a few charter boats fished last night, despite rough seas, and loaded up. Both northern and southern Tussy’s Slough, the Pin Top and the Horseshoe produced lately, and so did Slaughter Beach on the Delaware side. Striped bass anglers were connecting, including with big ones to 40 and 50 pounds, in the northern bay, beyond Miah Maul, all on fresh bunker. No bluefish catches came from the bay to speak of. Blues swam the back bays behind the barrier islands along the Jersey Coast, and flounder also held there, and the shop will be stocked for the opening of flounder season Saturday. Minnows should be available, and all the different varieties of squid are carried, and so is “meat” for strip baits, such as vacuum-packed herring. Short stripers swam the creeks like Dennis Creek and Bidwell’s Ditch, and dunk clams for fun with catch and release, and perch were also up the creeks. Fresh clams are stocked, and fresh bunker is on hand when available.

<b>Cape May</b>

Drum charters slammed catches, including big fish to 70 and 80 pounds, Saturday and Sunday on the bay with <b>Jaftica Sportfishing</b>, Capt. Ray said. Double digits of the fish were landed each day on the vessel. Fish were hooked non-stop for about two hours at one point on Sunday’s trip. “Phenomenal,” he said. Anyone who wants to catch drum should go now. The boat should sail for drum another three weeks, and striped bass charters are also running. 

Fishing for drum finally turned on in the bay Saturday and Sunday, said Capt. Rob from <b>First Cast Sport Fishing</b>. He knew that it would, and even said so in a report, and it did. Catches were excellent on the boat over the weekend. No stripers were mixed in, but striper charters are sailing, and a charter Saturday especially wants to fish for a combo of stripers and drum. All trips usually fish for both, but this charter will head to a specific area to give stripers a shot, because the anglers especially requested linesiders.

Twenty drum, including a couple of big ones that probably pushed 90 pounds apiece, were landed Saturday night with <b>Daisy May Sport Fishing</b> in only 4 hours on the bay, and the anglers had enough and went home early, Capt. Dave said. Ten of the fish were kept, and 10 were released. All the boomers were spawned out, a good sign, because they go on the feed after the spawn. Two and three were hooked at a time, wild action. Another drum trip Sunday night was cancelled because of forecasts for rough weather. The bite really kicked in Saturday, and Dave fished Friday night in the Middle Township Drum Tournament, pulling up a 68-pounder before returning to the dock after 2 hours, because of wicked seas. He thought the winner weighed 77 pounds, so he missed by only 9 pounds. Drum fishing should last through mid June after the late start.

About six drum to 60 pounds, a decent catch of the fish, were decked Friday night at Tussy’s Slough with <b>Legal Limit Charters</b>, Capt. T.J. said. The fishing was just starting, “so we’re in good shape,” he said. Dates are available for charters and also for shared charters or open-boat trips for drum. Striped bass charters are pretty much finished for the season on the boat. Stripers were certainly getting boated in the far northern bay, but anglers might only catch one or maybe a few, and they have to know what they’re doing, how to hook them, not so practical for charters.

Sixteen drum were bailed on the <b>Fishin’ Fever</b> on Saturday, Capt. Tom said, and he took his girlfriend on a trip for the fish Sunday, and she drilled 10 by herself! Absolutely ridiculous fishing, he said, and go now, because it’s crazy. All the boat’s fish were found on the southern end of the Jersey side of the bay. Striper trips are also coming up and will either fish the bay or the Cape May Rips.

On the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> a mess of drum, 12 that were kept and probably another 12 thrown back, were pinned down on a charter Saturday on the bay, Capt. George said. Steven Conley’s group landed the 25- to 70-pounders. A trip Sunday wrestled up eight at a different spot in deeper waters toward the channel, because others said they nailed the fish there. But those fish, caught by Steve Harris’s gang, were bigger, weighing 50 to 65 pounds, taking a half-hour each to fight to the boat. Another trip Friday with Dave Rook’s charter also put the brakes on eight that were kept and a couple thrown back. The anchor was pulled at 6:15 p.m., and seas became nasty that night. Fishing in the afternoons seemed best. No stripers were hooked, and only a few dog sharks stole baits. George knew about boaters who kept 19 of the fish, and the drum are fine to keep if they’ll be eaten, but 19 seems too many. Drum are probably the best fishery on the bay, and nobody wants to see the boomers wiped out. The fishing seemed to turn on Thursday for the first time, and George fished for them Wednesday, but catches were slow. He didn’t fish again till Friday, and the action was on. He could’ve limited out each day if he had wanted.

Drum fishing was incredible on the bay on Saturday, said Matt from <b>Jim’s Bait & Tackle</b> in a fax. They were big, too, with small ones mixed in. Winds let up enough for boats to sail by mid morning, and double digits of the fish were caught on quite a few vessels. The Tussy’s Slough area was best, and reports came in about catches made within 1 ½ miles on either side of the hole. The boomers were also hauled aboard from the sloughs from the Pin Top to Brandywine. The tides didn’t matter much. The crew on the Dreamer landed 30 drum, releasing all but three, at Tussy’s on Saturday. Anglers on the Full Ahead scored 25, and a gang on the Chasin’ Tail ran a trip only 2 ½ hours and tackled eight of the fish.  Arson Tillis was trying to catch stripers at the Cape May Rips when he clammed a 70-pound drum. Surf fishing was producing pretty well, doling out stripers on clams, and weakfish along the jetties, including at Cape May Point, on bloodworms and artificials, including bucktails, Fin-S Fish, Gulps and small Storm shads.  Andrew McCasen nailed a 13.82-pound weak from the jetty at Diamond Beach. The numbers of speckled seatrout were also increasing along the jetties, and Jim Saskel grabbed a 5.25-pounder, and Pete Sikora nabbed a 6.13-pounder. Reports were heard about stripers boated on bunker in the bay off the Maurice River Cove and at the Fish Trap area north of Bug Light. 

Back to Top