<b>Port Elizabeth</b>

A couple of customers scored well on summer flounder on the bay Saturday, said Sharon from <b>The Girls Place Bait & Tackle</b>. One limited out on the fish in three hours. The shop’s netter took a flounder trip on the bay, fishing with hook and line, bagging five keepers, tossing back lots of shorts. So flounder fishing seemed good that day, and the fish were around lately. The couple of anglers and the netter fished between the E.P. Tower and Miah Maull. Anglers landed flounder on baits including minnows, big strips of bunker and mackerel or usual baits. They used the usual rigs including tap dancers, floaters or a plain hook with a minnow. A few spike weakfish were picked here and there. A customer kept beaching croakers off the jetties in the surf on the southern end of the bay. So a few different fish were around. Triggerfish were pulled from along the ocean jetties. Crabbing was good, quite a few customers said. Crabbing seemed to be improving, and should improve more after the full moon later this week. All the baits, a large supply, are stocked.  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 great at <b>Beaver Dam Boat Rentals</b>, Paul said. Customers averaged a half-bushel on up, and the number of the blueclaws kept increasing, and the sizes kept getting bigger. The catches were phenomenal in the past 1 ½ weeks. The keeper ratio improved, probably to 1 in 3, compared with 1 in 4 previously. Lots more 5- and 5-1/2-inchers were seen, and a few 6-inchers appeared. A few customers fished, and the heat probably affected angling, and little was heard about fish hooked. But the heat is good for crabbing. A few big white perch 1 ¼ pounds were caught in crab traps. Baitfish including peanut bunker were around in the back waters. A commercial fisherman said lots of adult bunker schooled the bay. Customers at Beaver Dam crab and fish from rental boats towed up Oranokin Creek, running past the shop. The staff checks on them every hour, and if customers want a break in the meantime, they cell phone the shop to get picked up. Reserve ahead to ensure a boat. Take advantage this week’s <a href=" http://www.crabulousnj.com/Specials_.html" target="_blank">July Half-Day Madness Special</a>: A 4-hour rental boat for four people is only $35 from 6 a.m. to 12 noon from today to Thursday. Ask the shop if future specials will be offered. Kayak and canoe rentals are available to paddle the scenic creek. Live crabs for eating are for sale when available.

<b>Fortescue</b>

A few summer flounder, and a few snapper blues, were around, said Capt. Ralph from the <b>Buccaneer</b>. The flounder hovered all over the bay, from shallow to deep. Charters are fishing for flounder, and the trips on the Buccaneer are only $400, compared with $500 or $600 on other vessels.

Trips for summer flounder during the weekend were tougher than before, said Capt. Howard from the <b>Salt Talk</b>. Previously the numbers of the flatfish and the sizes of them caught seemed to be increasing. The fish during the weekend measured up to 22 inches, and previously 4- and 5-pounders sometimes came up. Whether some weather affected the bite, like a couple of storms in the past week, including a deluge of rains Friday, couldn’t be known. A few blues were mixed in. Trips aboard mostly fished at the stakes and the Miah Maull rips, and waters were 82.7 degrees on Sunday. Open-boat trips are fishing for summer flounder daily when no charter is booked, and call to confirm.

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