New Jersey Fishing Reports

A trip on the river beat up a mess of striped bass on Wednesday morning, said Capt. Chuck from Angler Sportfishing. None was big, but they weighed up to 28 pounds and were plentiful. That’s a large striper, but not the size of the large migrators that can arrive in the Hudson. Previously the fishing had dropped off but seemed to begin turning around by that morning. The fish moved to the shallows, following the bait. Normally Chuck’s anglers hook up in 20-foot depths. Skinny waters must’ve become more comfortable, for some reason, he said. Waters became a little warm or 59.6 degrees. That meant trips would soon start fishing at night or during early mornings. Live and chunked bunker were the baits. More rains fell along the coast than around Saugerties where the boat is fishing or farther upstream, so runoff was no issue. Not at all, Chuck said. The boat’s anglers fish for trophy stripers from Saugerties during the Hudson’s spring migration. The run is one of the biggest concentrations of large, mature breeders, one of the best chances to land stripers of a lifetime. Chuck’s been fishing the run 30 years, and targets the angling through the first week of June. The fish will still be around then, but catches will become less reliable. Angler Sportfishing held New York’s record in 2001 for the largest striper hooked on inland waters with a 54.6-pounder, Chuck said. That fish also tied the year’s record for the largest bass caught anywhere from the state, he said.

Staten Island

Bluefish took over the waters on the weekly open-boat trip Wednesday with Outcast Charters, Capt. Joe said. They won the battle, his brother, Capt. Rob, said, but two striped bass, a 28-incher and a 15-pounder, were decked. Blues swarmed no matter where the trip went. “Just one of those nights,” Rob said. Joe said the blues were 6 to 9 pounds, and the three anglers aboard fished with chunked and whole-dead bunker. A trip last week fished with live bunker, and the menhaden currently seemed tough to find in the waters. Bottom-fishing is now an option on the boat, and loads of ling carpeted the pieces. A few sea bass were around, and sea bass during most years migrate to inshore waters by Mother’s Day. But they were a little late last year and seemed so this year. But plenty of ling were in. Open-boat trips are sailing every Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. or so, whether one angler or six show up, and call to reserve.

Striped bass fishing improved by the day, and the fish were cookie-cutter-sized 14- to 18-pounders, but sometimes in the mid to high 20s, said Capt. Anthony from Barbara Anne Fishing Charters. Plus lots of 6- to 10-pound blues stormed the waters, some of the best bluefishing. A bluefishing charter on Tuesday actually topped off the catch with a half-dozen stripers. Charters are sailing, and so are open-boat striper trips every Tuesday and Thursday from afternoon to evening. Barbara Anne refunds bridge tolls with a receipt.

Laurence Harbor

Rough weather forced striped bass trips to be cancelled since the weekend, said Capt. Kyle from Evening Tide Charters. A charter for the linesiders today looked like it would be weathered out, too. The last trip pummeled 20 stripers 20 to 36 inches and four blues on the bay on Saturday. Trolled shad rigs got swiped the most on the boat in recent trips. Fishing for the bass with livelined bunker is a specialty with Evening Tide, and more bunker schooled around than before. But bluefish galore, like 8- and 10-pounders, crammed the bay. Could be difficult to get a bunker past them. But that could change, and maybe the baits will be able to be dropped to the bottom, underneath the blues, to big stripers lying in wait. The boat is fishing every day on either charters or open trips, and contact Kyle to get on the open list.

Atlantic Highlands

The afternoon trip on Wednesday was the first of the boat’s ling-fishing trips to head out since Sunday because of the weather, said Capt. Tom from the Atlantic Star. A good catch was looted, and only one drop had to be made. The high hook waxed 19 of the fish, and the average was probably 10 to 15 per angler, and a couple probably belted six or seven. A couple of out-of-season tog were hooked and released, and the boat fished at Scotland. Joe McKay won the pool with a big baseball bat that wasn’t weighed. The fish on the trip were mixed sizes from a few small ones to some beauties, and none was tiny. Ling fishing held up on all trips lately, and everybody kept going home with dinner, including on this trip. The angling was especially great if anglers wanted fish to eat. Rough weather with rainstorms kept the boat from leaving port Monday and Tuesday, and Wednesday morning seemed fishable, but rains fell, apparently scaring off anglers. A little ground swell was on the ocean during the trip that sailed Wednesday afternoon, but seas were somewhat better than expected. The Atlantic Star is bottom fishing for ling daily from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Fluke trips will leave port daily when the flattie season opens May 23.

Forecasts for strong winds and all-day rains were wrong today, but kept anglers from jumping aboard, said Capt. Ron from the Fishermen in an e-mail. But for the few who were on deck, striped bass fishing was non-stop! Roger Johns also landed the biggest on the boat so far this season: a 28-pounder. Rains stopped early, unlike predicted. A healthy population of the fish was spread around, unlike last year, when the boat “searched a new spot every day,” he said. The weather looked good for Friday, with light winds, and Ron hoped the full moon failed to slow things up. Monday’s trip also put out a great catch in the morning. “Fishing is good, weather stinks,” Ron said. He e-mailed no reports Tuesday and Wednesday, so apparently no trips got out. He also noted that anglers should take advantage of ling fishing this year. He hadn’t seen ling so abundant in years. The Fishermen is sailing for striped bass 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily and on Magic Hour Trips 3:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Fridays through Sundays.

Striped bass flooded the waters from the bay to the rivers to the ocean, and so did bluefish, said Jimmy from Julian’s Bait & Tackle. Boaters caught them, but so did bayshore anglers, who fought lots of blues but could locate stripers. Beach anglers on the ocean did the same. A few big, tiderunner weakfish showed up in the rivers. Not many bunker were around, for unknown reasons, maybe because of the rains. Party boats drilled loads of ling. All the baits are stocked.

Highlands

Striped bass anglers had to weed through 5- to 10-pound blues on the bay, but many of the bass weighed 20 to 25 pounds, said Capt. Derek from Fisher Price Charters. His trips started fishing for the linesiders with bunker last weekend, but bunker sometimes became scarce. A trip on the boat Wednesday had to revert to dunking clams. Was absolutely a good time for bluefishing, if anyone wanted to sail for the slammers. Fisher Price is mostly striper fishing, and a few openings remain in May and June. Open-boat trips are running whenever Derek can squeeze them in. He’s also up for bottom fishing, and ling carpeted the bottom, with a few sea bass mixed in. Out-of-season tog kept swimming around the bottom structure.

Neptune

Clamming for striped bass dialed in solid catches at the clam beds off Sandy Hook and in Raritan Bay on a trip to scope out the fishing last Friday, so individual-reservation trips will begin striper fishing every Wednesday, said Capt. Ralph from Last Lady Fishing Charters. Charters are also available, and weekends are going fast.

Belmar

Bottom-fishing began on the Big Mohawk after blackfising ended on the boat when the tog season closed May 1, and the bottom-trips mostly mugged ling, a good amount, including large ones, Capt. Chris said. Sea bass were sometimes reeled aboard, and of course all the tog anyone could want were willing to bite. The ling were targeted in 60-foot, shallow waters with clams or bergall strips. Anglers just needed a break from all the stormy weather. The Big Mohawk is sailing 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.

The weather mostly kept the party boats docked through the week, but one of them slammed something like 30 striped bass and some bluefish in the ocean early in the week, said John from Fisherman’s Den. The Golden Eagle was set to take the season’s first nighttime bluefishing trip on Friday. Other head boats from Belmar were fishing for ling and sea bass. Customers kept buying clams for striped bass fishing in the surf, so they must’ve been catching a few. One angler said he was bloodworming stripers from the surf at Sandy Hook. A handful of blues probably appeared around Shark River Inlet at times, but not like the huge numbers at Manasquan Inlet.

Brielle

Trips steamed for striped bass and blues on the ocean during the weekend on the Jamaica, covered in the last report, but the trips will again run this weekend, until daily fishing for the fish begins on the boat by at least next week on Friday, May 15, an e-mail from the boat said. During last weekend plenty of striped bass and a few blues were smoked on Saturday, and the angling turned slow on Sunday. An 18-pound striper was the pool winner Saturday. The Jamaica will leave port for stripers and blues 7:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Nighttime bluefishing will begin Friday and Saturday, May 15 and 16, on the boat.

Point Pleasant

Most patrons pounded out 20 to 40 fish apiece, excellent catches of mostly ling, on Wednesday on the Dauntless, Capt. Butch said. The fishing was good lately, and the catches he reported in the last weeks kept amping up. Trips fished in 60 to 80 feet, shallower than before, because dog sharks were horrendous deeper, but also because the fish moved closer to shore. A few sea bass bit, and so did a bunch of out-of-season blackfish that were released. One cod was clubbed on Wednesday, and cod likely swam deeper waters. More should be caught when the boat fishes deeper for sea bass later in the season, after ling move offshore and more sea bass migrate inshore. Schools of blues and striped bass were seen on the way to and from the grounds. Waters where the boat fished were 50 to 51 degrees or cold. No stretch of sun in the past five or seven days. The Dauntless is bottom fishing 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily.

On the Cock Robin the first trips of the season will launch for striped bass and blues 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily beginning Friday on the ocean, Capt. Jim said. Patrons will probably mostly jig, and the fish were around

Bluefish swarmed around Manasquan Inlet at some time every day, and striped bass could be socked in the surf from Bay Head to Ortley Beach, and also at Spring Lake, said Chuck from Gates Bait & Tackle. The bass honed in on clams, and the blues--some of them long, but all thin racers, apparently not feeding because of cold waters--attacked any metal like Deadly Dicks or Ava jigs with teasers. Small stripers supposedly got plugged at night on the Manasquan River at the Route 35 Bridge and at the mouth of the Point Pleasant Canal on lures like Bombers or Fin-S Fish. Out-of-season blackfish lined the canal. Winter flounder were out, chased away on the offshore migration when blues came in.

Fishing at the 25- to 50-mile wrecks mostly got weathered out on the Gambler, Capt. Bob said. But the most recent of the trips sailed Sunday. Patrons ran into a shot of cod right away, five fish hooked before the boat came back on anchor. Then a few more cod and pollock came up, until dog sharks became terrible. So the boat was moved to two more drops, and the fishing was about the same, although the first spot was best. A few more fish were taken, but the dogfish eventually took over at both spots. The dogs on the trip were the biggest kind. The Gambler is fishing the wrecks 25 to 50 miles offshore 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays for cod, pollock, ling, hake and sea bass. No reservations are required. A special, 24-hour trip will fish the 50- to 90-mile wrecks, leaving at 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 19, limited to 30 or fewer passengers, reservations required. Wednesday, May 20, is the rain date. Nighttime striped bass trips might run later this month. Two half-day trips daily will begin fishing for fluke when the summer flounder season opens May 23.

All kinds of bluefish 5 to 13 pounds tore around Manasquan Inlet, said Ronnie from Fisherman’s Supply. Try the hot new lure the Indestructible from Ron Muccie. The pencil popper, only available in white, is made from PVC, holding up to toothy blues. No striped bass really got active in the surf yet, but plenty could be drilled in the bays and rivers, especially at night or in the early mornings before sunrise. Many anglers tossed rubber lures to them. The new 9-inch Got Striper Lure worked well, and so did 9-inch Tiki worms. Stripers could also be clammed in the bays during the day. The Point Pleasant Canal gave up stripers at night and blues during the day. A few big, tiderunner weakfish were supposedly hooked on northern Barnegat Bay. Ron even heard about a couple of out-of-season fluke reeled up and released from Manasquan Inlet in the past day or so. The party boat Voyager, docked at the shop, is slated to run a sea bass trip at 4 a.m. Saturday and an overnight tilefish trip at 10 p.m. the same day. More of the trips are scheduled for May, and so is a two-day cod, pollock and hake trip. Daily, ¾-day fluke trips will begin in early June, lasting through most of summer, but trips for tilefish, pollock and hake will be mixed in during summer. Tuna fishing will begin in late August, potentially lasting into November. See the <a href="http://www.voyagerfishing.com/html/trip_calendar.html" target="_blank">trip calendar</a> on the boat’s Web site for the full schedule.

Seaside

At Grumpy’s Tackle plenty of customers talked about beaching short striped bass from the surf when the weather failed to scare the anglers away, but some keepers were also weighed in, the report on the shop’s Web site said. Some also said they battled good-sized blues in the wash at times. On Wednesday six striped bass from 7 to 10 pounds were weighed in, and all of them sucked in Grumpy Clams. Two different anglers weighed in two bluefish 7.2 pounds and 8.1 pounds that day. The two blues also chomped clams, oddly enough. An 11.6-pound drum was also checked in from the suds. On Friday the shop’s summertime hours will begin: 4:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. The store’s Bass Pool Tournament will also launch that day. Anglers can enter the tournament for $2 every time they weigh in a striper, and $1 goes to a pool for random drawings for cash prizes, and the other $1 goes to the New Jersey Beach Buggy Association’s Kids Fishing Tournament. <a href="http://www.grumpystackle.com/fishingreports/" target="_blank"> Click here</a> for updates.

Forked River

Blues and striped bass served up action throughout Barnegat Bay, and big, tiderunner weakfish were sometimes creamed on the bay, said Grizz from Grizz’s Forked River Bait & Tackle. One customer said he scored some 25-inch weakfish from the dock at Berkeley Island Park on pink Storm shads. The stripers on the bay were willing to pounce soft-plastic lures like pink Fin-S Fish, Slug-O’s or Hogies, preferring pink during the day and black at night. Clamming for stripers started to provide steady catches along the sedges of the bay, and incoming tides seemed to give up most, and outgoing seemed to trigger more blues to appear. The blues, probably averaging 5 or 6 pounds, punched nearly any lure, like Bombers or poppers. Customers kept buying bait like worms for winter flounder, so they must’ve been catching, even if the season was late for the bottom huggers.

Barnegat Light

In the surf striped bass and blues started to intermingle, and sharpies got into a pick of the fish this morning, said Mike from Barnegat Light Bait & Tackle. A 40-pound drum was also banked at 8th Street today. Clamming for stripers picked up on Barnegat Bay along the sedges and at Oyster Creek Channel. If any winter flounder remained in the bay, try looking for them at Meyer’s Hole near Barnegat Inlet. But once blues invaded the inlet and bay during the warm weather before all the rainstorms this week, the flatties probably got frightened out of the bay and into the ocean for the offshore migration for the most part. Fresh clams are stocked, and fresh bunker ran out but might be re-supplied Friday. Bloodworms and sandworms are carried. Live spots that had been in the tank, leftover from last season, finally ran out.

Barnegat

Barnegat Bay’s fishing began to pick up—bluefish came in, and striped bass fishing got better—but then the week’s stormy weather seemed to shut down the bite, said Capt. John from Perfect Drift Sport Fishing. Everybody he talked with said the fish got lockjaw when the weather rolled in. John had been putting the finishing touches on boat maintenance like painting, but the rains and weather kept preventing him from the work. He expects to launch the boat Friday. The bay was dirty from the conditions, and several days of better weather were probably needed for fishing to rebound. When the boat is splashed, trips will begin bluefishing and striper fishing, and sometimes weakfish might be caught, all in the bay. John’s anglers will troll Ponytails or cast soft-plastic lures or popper plugs to the blues. Weaks will also hit the ponytails or plastics. Striper fishing at first will be done with clams on the bay, and sailing for the linesiders on the ocean will begin later in the season, when big migrators school up the coast. Perfect Drift also does lots of fluke fishing when the summer flounder season opens May 23.

Mystic Island

Anglers at Pebble Beach and Graveling Point in the past couple of days seemed to find slower striped bass fishing than before, but some were caught, according to the report on Scott’s Bait & Tackle’s Web site. A 15-pounder that was the biggest at the shop Wednesday was weighed in. Two other anglers checked in a 13-pounder and a 12-pounder that day. A 67.9-pound, whopper black drum was angled in from the banks at Graveling on 17-pound line. A 70-pounder was also checked in that was boated, probably from Grassy Channel. A half-dozen customers said they each reeled in one blowfish. Blowfish? Early for them. Striper fishing was busier through the beginning of the week, and both boaters and beach anglers picked away at them all day Sunday.

Port Republic

Bluefish schooled Great Bay, and most customers wrangled them up on mackerel while anchored and chumming, and frozen mackerel are stocked, said Violet from Chestnut Neck Boat Yard. Anglers landed striped bass on the Mullica River and at Graveling Point, but the fishing was slowing down. Bloodworms got strikes on the river, and either clams or bloods drew bites at Graveling. Fresh clams and bloodworms are carried. Plenty of perch were plucked from the river, and try fishing bloods or frozen grass shrimp for them, and the shrimp are also carried. The shop is going to try stocking a new bait: salmon belly. Strips of the salmon with one side silver and the other side pink should be a bait for flounder, weakfish or just about anything. Live eels, minnows and frozen clams are also stocked, and live herring ran out, and the commercial herring season closed on the first of the month, so no more of the baitfish will be kept at the shop this season.

Absecon

A final milestone of spring at Absecon Bay Sportsman Center: Frank Siderio from Williamstown checked in the season’s first striped bass over 30 pounds on Wednesday, winning the $100 gift certificate the shop annually awards for the first, Ray said. Frank beat the bass on Delaware Bay and also weighed in the shop’s first striper over 20 pounds on April 2, whacking the fish on Delaware Bay. He also won the shop’s $100 gift certificate for that. All the shop’s prizes were now awarded for the first through third keepers, the first over 20 and now the first over 30. Striper fishing gained steam in the bays near the shop. Live herring seemed to catch the bigger ones, and clams seemed to nab more of the fish but smaller. Vicky Pepperato—the spelling of the last name might be incorrect—weighed in a 22-pound striper she boated on a live herring while fishing with husband Bob on the Intracoastal Waterway near Brigantine. Ray and Tony Genovese clammed six stripers including one keeper on the bay. Ronel Cruise fished Lakes Bay for a 13-pounder. On a trip to the Great Egg Harbor River, Matt Walker yanked in an 18-pound striper, and Haley Walker waffled a 13-pounder. Matt usually fishes poppers and plugs, so that was probably what they used. Drumfish were sometimes knocked down at Great Bay and Lakes Bay. Ray heard about no bluefish swimming locally in the past week, although blues appeared a couple of days some time before. He also heard about no weakfish picked up locally. White perch fishing on the rivers seemed to put out big slabs but fewer of them than before. Curt, who works at the shop, found that to be the case while fishing the Mullica River, and he’s a perch angler. Nobody mentioned fishing in the Brigantine surf, but anglers there before bailed striped bass and probably still did. A few live herring remained in the shop’s tanks. Fresh clams, bloodworms and eels are carried. Nearly every bait is on hand, except fresh bunker. Anglers fishing this weekend’s American Striper Association Tournament in Cape May kept calling to ask about bunker.

Brigantine

Brigantine’s surf anglers had already been plundering large numbers of striped bass, a great season this year, but now the sizes of the fish started to increase, said Jim from Riptide Bait & Tackle. Stripers 34 to 36 inches, the sizes anglers had been waiting for, began to be beached. Joe Curinga banked a 34-1/2-inch 14-pounder on the island’s north end. Two other anglers weighed in three bass to 33 inches that came from the north end. Tom Krzaczyk fished the south end to mug a 32-inch striper and two 12-pound drumfish. Drum sometimes sucked in clam baits meant for stripers. Clams or Riptide Rotters were the bait of choice, and many anglers “played the tides,” Jim said, or mostly scored at high tide. Bluefish were occasionally fought from the beaches, but they were big when they appeared. In addition to fresh clams, the shop is carrying fresh bunker and frozen baits.

Longport

Sea bass were “tight,” said Capt. Mike from the Stray Cat, lots of them covered the bottom on the boat’s daily, open-boat trips Monday through Wednesday. The new size limit, larger by half an inch, made things tougher, a big difference, but patrons managed to keep a few. Seas were flat calm, despite what the weather might’ve looked like on land. The trips fished 7 to 10 miles offshore and went through loads of bait. Anglers started using butterfish and cooked shrimp in addition to the usual clams and mackerel. The lumpheads loved the shrimp, and shrimp might appear expensive, $7 a bag at the grocery store, but plenty of bait could be gotten out of a shrimp. Open-boat trips will keep sailing daily through May 30, when charters will take over the schedule. Lots of shark charters are coming up, the first slated for May 15, “with an appetite for tuna,” Mike said. Bluefin tuna should begin to appear inshore. In other news, bluefish schooled all along the ocean front and the inlets. Striped bass turned on at the inlet bar two or three days ago.

Ocean City

On the beaches surf casters could clam striped bass, and a couple of drum were weighed in from the suds, said Bill from Fin-Atics. Bluefish were among the missing. Stripers could also be played on the back bay, like around the Parkway Bridge, on lures such as soft plastics, Yozuri darters or Mir-O-Lures. Surface poppers failed to get attention yet. Sea bass had been boated at the ocean wrecks before rough weather kept vessels docked this week. Fresh clams, bloodworms and all the frozen baits are stocked.

Sea Isle City

Surf fishing for striped bass somewhat kicked up a notch, and drumfish occasionally got muscled from the suds, all on clams on low tides, said Wes from Gibson’s Tackle. Kingfish were sometimes picked in the wash on the north end toward Ocean City on low tides. A scattering of bluefish began to be wrestled from the back bay on soft plastic lures on jigs worked along the bottom. An occasional weakfish got plucked from the bay, but out-of-season flounder mostly filled the bay. A great opening of the fluke season on May 23 is expected like usual. Small craft advisories in the past several days kept anyone from wreck fishing, but sea bass hovered around the pieces. All the baits, including fresh clams and fresh bunker on weekends, are carried.

The weather mostly kept trips from fishing, said Capt. Joe Hughes from Jersey Cape Guide Service, affiliated with Gibson’s Tackle. But he expected bluefish to keep hitting on the back bay when the storms and winds cleared. About 2-pounders put up fights for his anglers on soft-plastic lures or Clouser flies worked along the bottom in the somewhat chilly waters. Occasional weakfish were in the mix, and striped bass could be jigged or fly-rodded on the bay during the right tides at the right places. Abundant, out-of-season flounder paved the bay, and flounder fishing should be prime when the season opens May 23. It’s always best in the early season, and dates remain for charters around the opener, and reserve them. Jersey Cape is offering after-work special trips on the back bay from 4 p.m. to dark, a great time to fish, when nobody else is on the waters, and action can be best. Convenient, too. Delaware Bay’s drum fishing was on the upswing, and Joe runs trips for them on a 26-foot Regulator. His back-bay charters fish on his flats boat. When summer approaches, offshore trips will begin fishing for big game including tuna. Anglers should think about going tuna fishing in the early season, because Joe’s lambasted some of the best catches of yellowfins at the canyons in June and July. Joe will also offer mixed-bag offshore fishing, trolling for tuna in the mornings, then casting lures, bait or flies to mahi mahi in the afternoons. Offshore trips fish on either the Regulator or a 42-foot Liberty, depending on the number of anglers and type of fishing, like angling with conventional tackle or fly gear.

Cape May

A friend ran a trip with six anglers who clubbed 22 drum on Delaware Bay, said Capt. George from the Heavy Hitter. The fish weighed about 30 pounds apiece, and drum fishing turned out pretty good catches. He ran no trips in the past days, and stormy weather wouldn’t have helped, but his drum fishing schedule starts to kick in, get busy, this weekend. George heard about no striped bass boated anywhere locally and about no bluefish in the Cape May area. Sea bassing sometimes produced at the reefs, one trip good, another slow. Lots of out-of-season tog covered the wrecks.

Drumfish, 25- to 45 pounders, with 60- to 70-pounders mixed in, were creamed on Delaware Bay, said Capt. Tom from the Fishin’ Fever. Definitely happening, he said, and charters and shared charters will now put a bead on them. Striped bass began to drop back down to the bay after spawning in the Delaware River. Fishing for the linesiders on the bay might only last a short time while the bass migrate to the ocean, but the ones that come through are big breeders, one of the best chances to bag a trophy. Fishin’ Fever runs trips for them, chunking bunker at first on the bay, and later fishing with live bait or working bucktails with rubber swim baits at the Cape May Rips. Most of the stripers are 20 to 30 pounds, but bigger ones are among them. Bluefish started to appear along the coast, and Fishin’ Fever offers trolling for them. The slammers can be anywhere from along the beaches to 20 or 25 miles out, but 10 or 15 miles is common, and depths 80 to 110 feet often hold them. Sea bass, plenty of them, could be socked on the boat anywhere from 60 to 130 feet. Most of the keepers or bigger ones were on the deeper side. Tom heard about commercial boaters landing a few thresher sharks, and more of the monsters should appear in another week or so. The bunker they forage on began to filter in. Trips for threshers will launch soon, and charters for mako sharks should get going in several weeks.

Delaware Bay’s drum fishing really began to hike up, and most of the fish seemed to come from Tussy’s Slough, but some larger ones were tackled at the Pin Top, said Nick from Hands Too Bait & Tackle. He expected the full moon around Friday and Saturday to trigger even better fishing, so long as anglers could get fresh clams for bait. The shop will stock some of the clams Friday, and more should come in Saturday, and the supply should be fine by Sunday, when the weather was forecast to be best anyway. Surf fishing churned out excellent catches of striped bass. Nick and a friend fished Poverty Beach for a catch of seven striped bass, including Nick’s 34-incher, on salted clams. Stripers also swam the suds all around Cape May Point, and customers scored well at Stites Avenue. Drum were sometimes beached from the surf, and Nick knew about four landed at Poverty on Wednesday and one at the point on the same day. No bluefish appeared around Cape May, but anglers farther north in the state said they nailed the fish, so the slammers were yet t drop down to local waters. A few weakfish were reported caught in the back bay. Besides fresh clams that are currently stocked, bloodworms should be on hand by the weekend. Frozen baits are carried. Fresh bunker should be stocked a little later in the season.