<b>Port Elizabeth</b>

Sharon from <b>The Girls Place Bait & Tackle</b> was motoring back from a trip on the bay today when she gave this report on the phone from the boat. Six keeper flounder and probably 25 throwbacks were landed. So that was a nice day, she said, and the weather was beautiful. The trip at first fished probably a mile inshore from the 19 buoy. When currents became too strong, and the fish stopped biting, the trip moved to shallower waters. Three keepers were bagged in the deep, and three were grabbed in the shallows, and an equal number of throwbacks bit at both places. Sharon and crew fished with a Blackie’s Tackle floater rig with a chartreuse teaser that worked well. They used minnows, shark belly and bunker for bait, and all caught. No weakfish, blues or croakers showed up, and Sharon heard about none from customers lately. Flounder were pretty much all she heard about from the bay. A couple of sharks were pulled in during the trip. Sharon brought bunker for bait on the trip, but saw lots of bunker in the bay. She also sailed for drum on the bay Wednesday, not traveling far, fishing south of the 1 buoy. A 25-pound puppy drum was caught, and so were large sharks and cownosed rays. White perch fishing was good on the rivers for customers, and shedder crabs and bloodworms got strikes. Shedders are productive for perch this time of year. Quite a few customers crabbed, and catches were better at some places than others. But crabs were trapped, and customers crabbed for the past month. Minnows, fresh bunker that arrives frequently, a few fresh clams, a large selection of frozen baits, and all the baits are fully stocked. Offshore baits like flats of baitfish for sharks and tuna are available when anglers call ahead to order. 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 was somewhat slow during the weekend, but that was expected, because of the full moon Wednesday or Thursday, said Paul from <b>Beaver Dam Boat Rentals</b>. But catches began to pick up Sunday, and will probably be fine by today, and will probably be considerably better this weekend, compared with last week. Full and new moons often trigger crabs to shed, and the blueclaws refuse to eat when shedding, so are difficult to catch. Crabs did shed on last week’s moon, but not all crabs shed at the same time, so some can always be caught. The effects of the moons usually last four or five days. Sunday’s catches were better than Saturday’s, and the rebound seemed to be happening. Customers on Sunday probably averaged two to three dozen keepers, throwing back two or three for every keeper. The keeper ratio seemed to be improving like it should during the season, as the crabs grow. Earlier in the season, the ratio was probably one keeper for every four or five crabs, but was now probably one in three or four. Customers seemed happy with the action, so the population of crabs seemed numerous, and the outlook for crabbing this season looked great. A couple of customers fished during the weekend, but nothing was heard about results, so Paul assumed not much was caught on hook and line. A small school of striped bass was seen a week ago. Customers crab and fish on Oranokin Creek, running past the shop. Crabbers are towed up the creek on rental boats, and the staff checks on them every hour. If customers want to return in the meantime, they simply cell phone the shop to get picked up. Call ahead to reserve, to ensure a rental boat. Look for a special on weekday rentals to be announced as the season gets going. Kayak and canoe rentals are available to paddle the scenic creek. Beaver Dam stocks everything needed for a day of crabbing, from traps and baits to suntan lotion. Live crabs for eating are stocked.

<b>Foretscue</b>

Seven keeper summer flounder were pounded Saturday on the <b>Buccaneer</b>, Capt. Ralph said, and shorts were let go. The keepers were sizeable, including fish 25, 23 and 20 inches, and a couple of small blues were reeled in. The trip fished near the 6 buoy, and most of the fleet flounder fished at the Fortescue rips that day. They also caught that day, but fishing seemed slow for everyone Sunday, and was slow on a trip on the Buccaneer Sunday. Conditions were poor that day, or winds and tides created poor drifting. The Buccaneer will keep flounder fishing.

A charter on the party boat <b>Salt Talk</b> swung aboard eight keeper summer flounder, including three that topped 4 pounds apiece, and released shorts Saturday, Capt. Howard said. On the boat Sunday, with fewer anglers aboard, fishing was slower, and four keepers were angled up, and shorts were tossed back. Drifting was perfect Saturday but not so good Sunday. Catches on the trips were made where deeper waters 30 feet drop off south of the Fortescue rips. Saturday’s trip tried fishing shallower at the stakes, but that was unproductive. A few bluefish were mixed in during trips lately. The bay was in the mid 70s or 75 or 76 degrees. Open-boat trips are sailing daily for flounder when no charter is booked, and call ahead to confirm.

<b>Port Norris</b>

Boaters from the docks scored good catches of summer flounder at the Fortescue stakes, north of Miah Maul and east of buoy 19, said Harrison from <b>Port Norris Marina</b>. Customers returned from trips happy, and one of the anglers brought in an 8-pound flounder Saturday. A few of the keepers seen were 18 inches, and most were 20 to 24 inches. Many were landed on minnows or Gulps. A few weakfish, kingfish and blues were plucked, and one customer caught croakers Sunday. A striped bass was checked in from the Maurice River the other day, and the river’s white perch fishing began to come on. Harrison’s dad reeled in catfish from the docks on the river all day one day. Plenty of minnows are stocked. Frozen Pro Cut squid, tube squid, bunker and surf clams are carried.

<b>Villas</b>

Weakfish were beached from the surf at Cape May Point on bloodworms or FishBites artificial worms, said Mike from <b>Budd’s Bait & Tackle</b>, located in the Villas, and the <b>Ho-D-Doe</b>, from <b>Budd’s Tackle Charter Service</b>, sailing from Cape May, in the blog on the shop’s Web site. Lots of croakers were reported banked at the point Sunday on strips of clam. Summer flounder were reeled from along the jetties at the point on Gulp swimming mullets in green or pink. In a report last week, Mike said he heard about a good  keeper ratio of flounder taken from the Punk Grounds Tuesday, and a few of the flatfish pumped aboard around the 9 and 10 buoys.

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