<b>Port Elizabeth</b>

Weather was so rough in past days, said Sharon from <b>The Girls Place Bait & Tackle</b>. Nothing was heard about anglers fishing on the bay or anywhere in the gale. A couple of striped bass were reported beached from the ocean surf at Ocean City on Saturday. One customer reported hooking a big striper that got off at Townsend’s Inlet. Autumn’s southern migration of stripers might arrive late this season in South Jersey, and Sharon will keep the shop open as late as possible. Quite a few green crabs were sold for blackfish bait. Shore anglers talked about good blackfishing including at Cape May’s jetties. The supply of fresh bunker, favorite bait for stripers in the bay, should be okay for this holiday weekend. That depends on weather, and weather is supposed to be calmer than the gale during the beginning of the week. Telephone ahead to order the bunker to ensure a supply. Bunker suppliers don’t usually sail on Thanksgiving, so any bunker on Friday will probably be from Wednesday. The store is usually open about 6 to 11 a.m. on Thanksgiving, if weather is calm enough for anglers to be likely to stop by. Forecasts had been calling for possible rainstorms that day, but that might’ve changed.

<b>Money Island</b>

Wind is supposed to calm today, and boaters are likely to fish the bay tomorrow, <b>Money Island Marina</b>’s Facebook page said. No fresh bunker were expected to be stocked for tomorrow, after the gale since Sunday kept local bunker boats docked. If anglers want the store’s fresh-frozen bunker for the day, they can telephone the shop, so the bunker will be thawed properly. “That way the texture is the same as just netted bunker,” it said. An angler fishing from the docks Saturday reeled in 12-inch stripers and white perch two at a time from Nantuxent Creek, running past the store. The marina will be closed beginning Dec. 15 for a winter break and reopened starting March 25. Need your boat winterized? Get the marina to prep the vessel for the season. The marina features a bait and tackle shop, a boat ramp, boat slips, dry-dock boat storage, fishing docks and gas. The fishing docks, $5 per adult and free for kids, can offer angling for white perch, small striped bass, croakers and more, at different times of year. A 12-foot aluminum boat with a 2.5 h.p. outboard is available to rent to fish the creek.

<b>Cape May</b>

Wrecks in the bay, on the Delaware side, gave up blackfish, the last Nick from <b>Hands Too Bait & Tackle</b> heard, he said. The fishing was good at Reefs 6 and 7, and is always good at Brandywine, when the fish are in. Nothing else was heard about the bay, including about bunker-chunking for striped bass there, or eeling or fishing other live bait for the bass at the Cape May Rips, two types of angling that can turn on in fall, when the migration arrives. A few stripers seemed to begin to be picked from the ocean, on the troll or on bunker snagged and then livelined. Back-bay striper fishing was good for throwbacks and a couple of keepers, mostly on soft-plastic lures. Not much was heard about surf fishing, including for stripers, except about blackfish caught along jetties. The blackfish bag limit was pulled up to six beginning Wednesday, from one previously.

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