<b>Brooklawn</b>

All the striped bass caught that were heard about came from the upper bay to Ship John, said Rick from <b>Big Timber Bait & Tackle</b>. The fish were up to 30 or 35 inches, none big, but keepers, and mostly clams and bloodworms socked them. But a few keepers were eeled farther down the bay at the Elbow. With the colder weather, more stripers should begin to be bagged, Rick hoped. In the Delaware River, a few fair-sized stripers and lots of small ones bit, and Rick saw none of the larger ones, but heard about a few. If a group of five anglers fished, they might total three. The river’s stripers should start to gather in large schools, then anglers will cream lots. A bunch of catfish to 8 and 10 pounds milled around the river. On the ocean, striper fishing somewhat picked up, on the troll on Mojo’s and Stretch plugs. Waters 2 to 3 miles from shore, like at lumps, gave them up, and the deeper, the better. Big blues could be found 8 or 10 miles from shore at the lumps and shoals. Plenty of tog chewed in the ocean, and the better-sized ones swam farther off. Kingfish were beached from the ocean surf. Big Timber carries bait and tackle for fishing on all waters from freshwater to bays to offshore.

<b>Port Elizabeth</b>

Few striped bass of size were heard about from the bay, said Sharon at <b>The Girls Place Bait & Tackle</b>. Lots of shorts could be found, and some anglers played quite a few. Otherwise something like a 36-pounder here, a 50-incher there, were heard about. Occasional sizeable stripers caught were heard about from the Bidwell Creek area, and around the 2 and 3 buoys. The ocean was warm or 62 or 63 degrees, probably keeping the migration of large bass from dropping down from the north. But the cooler weather will knock down water temps, and anglers at this time of year could hit the bay, suddenly finding a school of big stripers. Fresh bait including bunker is being stocked when available, and anglers should order ahead to ensure a supply. One never knows if the bunker boats will get the weather to sail, and winds today kept them docked. Plenty of bait like bunker was on hand at the shop this weekend, but bunker ran out. Nothing was heard about kingfish, but windy weather made reports scarce, so whether kings were around was difficult to tell. Lots were around a couple of weeks ago, but they might’ve departed if the time of year was becoming late, or the waters cooled too much. One angler’s trip ran into a mess of croakers toward the Punk Grounds and Horseshoe. The trip was fishing for stripers, discovered croakers, had squid on board, and had at the croakers with the squid. One blackfish is the current tog bag limit, but lots of the blacks were in. The bag limit will be increased to six of the slipperies on November 16. 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>Fortescue</b>

A charter reeled in short striped Saturday at the Elbow on the party boat <b>Salt Talk</b>, Capt. Howard said. The group released a couple of out-of-season summer flounder, and Howard thought they maybe decked a bluefish. So the fishing was nothing great, and Howard told the anglers the trip “could be a boat ride,” he said. But the anglers seemed happy, simply glad to get out. They fished with bunker and clams, and bunker seemed to catch best, though the baitfish were difficult to find, because winds kept bunker boats from sailing last week. Howard heard about a 44-inch striper that was caught on the bay, so maybe big stripers, the impending migration, was starting. Open-boat trips, usually on weekends this time of year, will target stripers when no charter is booked.   

On the <b>Buccaneer</b> striped bass trips are slated for next week on Friday and Saturday, Capt. Ralph said. He heard about throwbacks caught near Fortescue so far this season. Charters on the boat are only $400, compared with $500 or $600 on other vessels.

<b>Cape May</b>

Trips aboard finally got the weather to sail, and striped bass catches were under way with <b>Relentless Sport Fishing</b> for the season, Capt. Dave said. A trip on deck Saturday with three anglers limited out on stripers, not huge, measuring in the low 40 inches, and threw back probably a dozen keeper-sized stripers and a bunch of shorts. So that was a good catch, and striper fishing wasn’t as solid on a trip on the boat Sunday. But the five anglers bagged four stripers and let go 15 throwbacks. All the fish were bunker chunked on Delaware Bay, and Relentless was now going to move the boat to Fortescue to sail for stripers, after running the vessel from Cape May previously. More of the trips were booked for Monday and this coming Friday. Relentless is probably finished tuna fishing for the season, because trips will sail from Fortescue, a longer run offshore than from Cape May. But tuna fishing seemed to be going well. 

Back to Top