<b>Brooklawn</b>

Striped bass fed heavily in the local Delaware River, said Rick from <b>Big Timber Bait & Tackle</b>. Up to 46 inchers were angled off the Gloucester Pier and near the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge. Bloodworms and fresh herring got the bites on moving tides. Some truly monster channel catfish scarfed down chunked eels or herring on the Big D, and a 10- to 15-pounder come in almost every day. A 19-pound whiskerface topped the scale this week. 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>Pennsville</b>

Fishing for striped bass on the Delaware River dried up in the local area, said Matt from <b>Shag’s Bait & Tackle</b>. Jeff, the shop’s owner, said most of the fish now resided up north in the river. But little by little the bass were trickling down, re-entering the bay. Big, bruiser channel catfish sucked in chunks of herring or eels on the river near Alloway Creek and other locales. Matt said boaters caught stripers in the upper bay around Ship John on bunker. Fresh bunker is stocked when available, usually daily unless the weather keeps bunker boats from sailing. Customers were set to begin flounder fishing on the bay when the flattie season opens Saturday. Ship John is about as far up the bay as any sizeable flounder are usually hooked, and many customers look for the fish at places like the 6 buoy out of Fortescue. Crabs were yet to be plucked from the local tributaries, and the streams and back waters along the bay were the more likely place to begin picking them. Jeff was already harvesting crabs commercially. Besides fresh bunker, the shop is stocking bloodworms, and fresh clams can be ordered, and all the frozen baits are carried. Shag’s is open every day including Memorial Day but will be closed on Tuesday, the day after the holiday.

<b>Port Elizabeth</b>

Drum fishing kicked in, with more bites and bigger boomers landed Friday and Saturday, an improvement, said Sharon from <b>The Girls Place Bait & Tackle</b>. The weather was rough Sunday and Monday, keeping news to a minimum. One boater said his trip belted 12 drum to a 90-pound whopper. The Pin Top and waters near the 16 buoy gave up catches, so Tussy’s Slough probably also produced. Striped bass were reeled up from the upper bay, like at Blakes Channel on the Delaware side, probably mostly on bunker or herring. Surf casters also beached the bass, including at Cape May. Commercial netters picked up a few weakfish from the bay, but nobody mentioned catching any on rod and reel in the waters. Some were probably taken along the surf jetties or along the bulkheads from the back bays. The shop will be fully supplied for the opening of flounder season on Saturday, carrying all the rigs and baits, including salted herring strips, a great choice for the flatties. Minnows, squid and other flounder favs will be on hand. Fresh bunker ran out at the shop during the strong winds that kept boats from catching them in the past days. But the menhaden will now be carried again and is stocked whenever available. Fresh clams arrive almost daily. Bloodworms are stocked, and so are sandworms. Sandworms, popular up north but less common in South Jersey, are about half the price of bloods and are a similar, highly effective bait. The shop also carries a large selection of just about every bait. 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>

Crabbing will get under way this weekend for the season at <b>Beaver Dam Boat Rentals</b>, Paul said. A friend nabbed a dozen keepers the other day, and Paul doesn’t expect catches to be great yet, but some of the blueclaws should be around. Waters were warm enough or in the low 60s, and 80-degree weather forecast for the next several days should help. But rough weather this spring, with low average temps, fluctuating temps and storms is a factor. People also crabbed from the dock recently, picking up small crabs. But that was at the dock, and crabbers on the rental boats will try for catches farther down Oranokin Creek, where Beaver Dam is located. The rental boats are towed down the creek to spots where the staff scoped out the crab population. Then the staff checks on the boats every hour, and if crabbers want to return beforehand for a break, they simply cell phone the office, and the staff picks them up. Kayaks and canoes are also available for rentals for sight seeing. The creek is a wildlife wonderland with all kinds of waterfowl, other birds, critters and plants. Crab boats should be reserved to ensure they’re available, so call ahead. People were already calling to ask about crabbing this season, and the boats do all get rented when the season kicks in. Reservations probably aren’t crucial for kayaks and canoes until later in the season, but it’s not a bad idea. Beaver Dam carries everything needed for a day of crabbing, including all different types of traps, hand lines, nets, bait, bug spray, suntan lotion, drinks and snacks. The doors open at 6 a.m., and crab boats must return by 3 p.m.

<b>Fortescue</b>

Surf anglers beached striped bass, good catches, including keepers, at Fortescue, said Dave from <b>Al’s Bait & Tackle</b>. Bloodworms were the bait, and boaters reportedly bunker chunked stripers at the 2 buoy on the Delaware side of the shipping channel across from Jersey’s 32 buoy. Drum fishing began to rebound or gain steam at the Pin Top, after catches had slowed a moment. The sizes weren’t the largest they might get, but some big ones began to be in the mix. Nothing was really heard about bluefish in the bay so far nor about weakfish in the bay lately. The shop will be fully stocked for the opening of flounder season on Saturday. Flounder baits will include minnows, spearing, sand eels, five different types of squid, frozen herring and frozen mackerel. The shop carries a huge selection of flounder rigs that anglers have to see to understand.  Catch the big sale through the month, featuring a wall of goodies up to 75 percent off, including rigs, leadheads and more.

Drum started getting boated, and four were beaten on a trip Saturday evening, and six were lost, and four were also shellacked on a trip Sunday evening, when probably 10 were lost, said Capt. Ralph from the <b>Buccaneer</b>. The anglers wanted to use their own tackle on that trip, snapping off lots of the fish. On the first night an 86-pound monster was the biggest boomer. On the next night the fish weighed 40 to 50 pounds, decent-sized. The top of the tide into ebb triggered the feed, and none of the fish ate at other times. Most boats caught, but some did not. But drum began responding, and that was great. Ralph reminded anglers to be reasonable about the number of drum they kept, and release the rest. A limit of three per person is too many, and the fish are big, providing plenty of meat, and anglers will pay if they keep killing limits. The population will decline, and the great fishery will end. Ralph’s been fishing for drum since the early 1960s, before the rest of the fleet chased them. Now everybody sails for drum. He offers a great rate for the trips, and see the boat’s ad for details.

The time of year is here: Daily, open-boat flounder trips will launch Saturday on the <b>Salt Talk</b>, Capt. Howard said. The trips run 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day so long as there’s demand and no charter is scheduled, so always call ahead to confirm. The boat is also drum fishing, probably only on charters, not open trips, once flounder season begins. But if drum fishing really takes off, open trips for the boomers are a possibility, and stay tuned. A drum charter is on the books for Saturday, and the boat is on tap for charters for drum, flounder or any species available through the season.

Fishing for drum opened up Friday evening, when a catch of 10 were cranked in aboard the <b>Bonanza</b>, Capt. Mike said. Three were hung Saturday evening, but eight probably would’ve been clubbed, because five were broken off. A trip Sunday was weathered out. The catches came from the Pin Top, but who knows where the fish will be next? Mike asked. The drum were medium-sized, but Mike heard about a few bigger ones boated, including a 90-pounder. Besides drum, a 29-pound striped bass was nailed on Friday’s daytime trip by “Fish Spit” Ted McDaniels, who won the pool with the fish. Open-boat drum trips are sailing 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. every Wednesday, and call Mike to reserve at 609-381-2978. Charters are also fishing for drum, and the schedule is packed, so act now to book. Daily, open-boat trips for flounder will kick off Saturday, the opening day of the season, running 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
 
<b>Bivalve</b>

Jamie Irvin and Wilson Torres Sr. and Jr. put the skids on two drum 55 pounds and 36 pounds, said Pat from <b>Longreach Marina</b>. John Price and Tony LaGrotta clobbered an 87-1/2-pound 56-incher, a big one. Drum began to chomp, after they had refused to take baits before, even though they were marked all over. Pat also started to hear about a few striped bass catches on the bay. Megan Przlemiec boated a 42-incher. Fresh bunker, the favorite striper bait, especially at this time of year, and frozen baits are stocked, and minnows, the popular flounder bait, will be on hand for the opening of the flattie season Saturday. Time to hit the bay for flounder.

<b>Cape May</b>

Fifteen drum, a limit of the fish for the five anglers, were boxed on a trip Saturday, said Capt. George from the <b>Heavy Hitter</b>. On Sunday 12 of the fish, a limit for the four anglers aboard, were bagged. So the fishing was good, although some boats struggled. A trip Friday on the boat decked three of the fish to 70 pounds. Many of the drum on the charters were medium-sized, but up to 70- or 75-pounders were hauled in on each. Many of the fish landed seemed spawned out. Howard Bly headed up the trips Friday and Saturday. On Friday his group was made up of himself, Eddie, Red, Ricardo and Wayne. On Saturday he fished with Al, Larry, Ricardo and Ron. Ron Dyfus’s group from the Piney Hollow Gun Club fished on Sunday’s trip.

The bay seemed to warm, and eight drum were boated Wednesday with <b>Schmedley Charters</b>, Capt. Joe said in an e-mail. The 30- to 35-pounders, not big but good eating size, turned on fairly late, starting at 8:30 p.m. Thursday was too rough for a trip to sail, but the boat got back out for the boomers on Saturday, and nine of the fish, including a sizeable one 68 pounds, were knocked down. The bite began at 7:30 p.m. The bay was 61.7 degrees on the flats north of the Pin Top. Joe only expects drum fishing to get better from here on out.

Anglers went 4 for 8 on drum 40 to 55 pounds on Saturday afternoon’s trip, and another crew shoveled up two drum 30 to 35 pounds on the morning’s trip, said Capt. Tom from the <b>Fishin’ Fever</b>. The fish bit specifically at a certain stage of the tide, and the afternoon’s trip would’ve made out even better if winds against the current hadn’t kept swinging the boat all over during that period of the tide. A solid blanket of the fish, an incredible amount, was marked on the fish finder 10 minutes before the drum were caught on the afternoon trip. Waters were 62 degrees, pretty steady through both tides. Drum catches could really go off around Saturday’s new moon. Striped bass fishing on the bay sounded difficult during the weekend, and Tom heard about long trips that only came up with a couple of the fish.

The weather was beautiful on a trip for drum Friday, and lots of the fish were marked, and two of them around 40 pounds apiece were bagged, and most boaters in the area that day sounded like they did about the same, said Capt. T.J. from <b>Legal Limit Charters</b>. The trip fished in the afternoon until 9 p.m. during outgoing tide. No trips fished for drum Saturday and Sunday, but nine back-to-back trips for the boomers were about to begin now, with a break or two in between.

Drum trips fished all week except Thursday on the <b>Down Deep</b>, and all caught pretty well, Capt. Bob said. Smaller fish were landed toward the beginning of last week, but now bigger ones started to appear. Groups that each hauled up drum to about 55 pounds included the Randy Roach, Dan Hullings, Mike Gardner and Ron Duby gangs. On Sunday the Tom Hoban crew beat nine drum to 65 pounds.

Fishing for drum turned on, with better numbers and bigger fish to 70 pounds pumped in, said Capt. Ray from <b>Jaftica Sportfishing</b>. A few striped bass were reeled up, like far up the bay on eels near the lighthouses, but the fishing sounded slow Saturday. The southern bay where drum anglers fished was probably in the low 60s. Flounder season opens Saturday, and if space remains between drum trips over the weekend, Jaftica might mix in flounder fishing.

Waters around the Pin Top started giving up drumfish again on Thursday, said Matt from <b>Jim’s Bait & Tackle</b>. The deeper waters there, just on the Jersey side of the shipping channel, churned them out, and catches of up to a dozen a trip were heard about. Early last week the fishing was slow, and Slaughter Beach on the Delaware side was the only spot that produced then. An 88-1/2-pound boomer was the biggest at the shop so far this season, and Jim Young from Wildwood Crest subdued the behemoth. Lyle Rutty Jr., 7, wrestled in a 62-pound drum. Striped bass were yet to show up in the southern bay near the shop, after they spawned in the Delaware River. But bass 25 to 35 pounds were boated far up the bay from Blakes Channel to Ship John. The best local striper fishing came from the Cape May surf, all along the beach front. Two hours before and after high tides served up bites, and so did the evenings, no matter the tide. Hal Peters from Ocean City dragged 11 stripers to 23 pounds and a 15-pound drum onto the beach at Brooklyn Avenue. Sea bass gathered in 80 to 100 feet, getting picked over pretty well by now. Keepers were thinning out, getting harder to come by. Some anglers prospected for flounder in the back bay, getting ready for the opening of the flattie season Saturday. The fish were there, and anglers hoped they’d still be there then.

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