Welcome to the first Delaware Bay Report of the year!

<b>Brooklawn</b>

Striped bass fishing exploded in the Delaware River, said Rick from <b>Big Timber Bait & Tackle</b> in Brooklawn. Anglers at stretches such as at National Park, the DOD, the mouth of Big Timber Creek and the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge whacked up to 10 catches per day, linesiders to 45 inches, on bloodworms. Jersey regs allow catch-and-release fishing only in the area, with certain types of hooks. Click here for a press release about the laws. Nighttimes seemed best for the larger fish or 20-plus-pounders.

<b>Pennsville</b>

Bank anglers bagged stripers from the Delaware River at Elsinboro Point, said Matt from <b>Shag’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Salem. The regs allow bass to be kept at Elsinboro, because it’s below the cutoff line at Salem. On some days 15 to 20 keepers were tackled, and on other days only shorts bit. Bloodworms were best bait, and white perch and catfish started to be in the mix.

<b>Fortescue</b>

Fortescue surf fishing for striped bass was probably the best in three years, said Dave from <b>Al’s Bait & Tackle</b>. Lots of the fish--mostly shorts 24 to 27 inches, but quite a few keepers, usually 28 to 30 inches, none huge--were banked. White perch, big ones, were pulled in from along the jetty rocks where Fortescue Creek meets the bay. All the fish sucked in bloodworms, but fresh bunker could be dunked for the bass, and both bloods and the fresh menhaden are stocked. When more of the bigger bass migrate to the local area, bunker will become the go-to bait, especially for boaters. A few boaters were starting to launch trips from Fortescue, usually running south for stripers, like around Bug Light, where clams drew most hits. Boaters sometimes fished along the beaches at Fortescue, reeling up the same sizes of stripers that surf casters did. A few drumfish probably began to swim the bay, but no customers reported catching the boomers. Al’s Bait & Tackle is open 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesdays through Fridays and 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends. The doors are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays but will be open seven days a week starting in May.

<b>Bivalve</b>

Customers boated striped bass in close or in 10- to 12-foot depths from Egg Island Point to Reeds Beach, sometimes on clams, other times on bunker, said Pat from <b>Longreach Marina</b>. She’ll try to stock fresh bunker by the weekend, and frozen bunker and clams are already carried. Lots of people started fishing, seemed eager to shed cabin fever, and the linesiders were in. The boat-launch ramps are open, and the docks for slips should be in the waters soon. The marina is open at 6 a.m. daily but is closed on Tuesdays and on Thursdays. It should be open seven days a week in another week or so.

<b>Cape May</b>

The first drumfish of the year, also the first confirmed catch of one on this site this season, was hauled in from Delaware Bay on a trip Friday with <b>Schmedley Charters</b>, Capt. Joe said. The drum was a 20- to 25-pound pup, and 11 striped bass, including one keeper, were also reeled up, and all the fish sucked in clams along the Egg Island Point flats. Waters were 49.7 degrees, and the bay became nasty later in the day in strong winds. A trip was weathered out Saturday because of the storm, and Sunday was very windy. Boaters fishing the bay generally seemed to struggle around Thursday and Friday, maybe because of the full moon. But Schmedley lambasted stripers, lost count at 50 hooked, on a trip the previous Sunday, its first charter of the year. The keepers ranged 28 to 35 inches, and clams were soaked for bait in 12-foot shallows north of 60-Foot Slough.

A trip on the <b>Fishin’ Fever</b> on Monday had so far put a 25-pound striped bass, a 20-pounder and a 35-pound drum in the box on the bay, Capt. Tom said on the waters, while the charter was still under way. Those were the only fish caught by the early afternoon, and no short stripers ate the clam baits, and the fishing sounded slow on the other boats he heard about, and the fish his anglers caught were the only ones he heard that anyone landed. A trip Saturday in the storm and stiff winds shellacked 50 stripers including 20 keepers to 36 or 37 inches on the bay. A trip Thursday produced 15 short bass, no keepers, on the bay. The fishing seemed slow for everyone at first that day. But friends who fished later that day bailed 30 or 40 bass. All the fish on the Fishin’ Fever sucked up clams in about 10- to 17-foot depths, and some, the 20-some pounders, were surprisingly large for this time of year, occasionally hooked among the other bass.  The bay on the trip Monday was 48 to 51 degrees, depending on the tide.  With a few drum turning up, drumfishing might get hot around the new moon in two Saturdays, Tom said.

The <b>Heavy Hitter</b> got splashed Saturday, and the year’s first charter is slated for this coming Saturday, Capt. George said. Winds and weather were rough through the weekend, so no news was heard about fishing then. Some anglers reported that striped bass fishing on Thursday became slower on Delaware Bay, maybe because of the full moon, although at least one crew reportedly said they caught plenty that afternoon. A few puppy drumfish began to be tackled on the bay, but one crew supposedly muscled in three or four large ones, 60-pounders. George has caught drum at this time of year through April, and sometimes the fish then turned off for a period, refusing to bite, until the fishing kicked in a little later.

Surf casters beached striped bass, including keepers, around Cape May, said Jim from <b>Jim’s Bait & Tackle</b>. Mike Clymer, 9, checked in a 30-incher he dragged from the suds at Higbee’s Beach. Other anglers connected at Poverty Beach, the Concrete Ship and Cape May Point. Clams were the usual bait. Boaters also clammed bass on the bay, usually around Bug Light. One crew boated six keepers and released 30 shorts on Saturday north of Bug Light. A few puppy drum, not many, inhaled clams around Bug Light. Fresh clams, bloodworms, green crabs and frozen baits are stocked. The shop is open daily, unless the weather’s rough.

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