<b>Port Elizabeth</b>

Mostly small striped bass, throwbacks, were heard about from the bay, said Sharon from <b>The Girls Place Bait & Tackle</b>. But not much was heard about striper fishing on the bay yet. Weather – strong west wind that roughs up the bay on the New Jersey side – didn’t help in the past week. But anglers seemed mostly to wait for autumn’s southern migration of stripers to arrive. Good reports about striper fishing were heard from farther north in the state toward Long Beach Island and beyond. A few anglers might’ve trolled for stripers on the ocean off South Jersey and hooked one or two. Fresh bunker, favorite bait for stripers in autumn, were stocked when in demand. The baitfish seemed difficult to obtain from the bay, and seas seemed to keep commercial boaters from sailing for them there. But Sharon traveled north to obtain the menhaden. A few customers still crabbed, and participation slowed, but a few crabs were trapped. Business picked up somewhat at the shop, and anglers began trying to striper fish. The Girls Place, located on Route 47, just after Route 55 ends, carries a large supply of bait and tackle, and is the long, one-story, yellow building on the right. It’s on the way to the bay.

<b>Money Island</b>

The season’s first sizable striped bass were boated from the bay last Tuesday, <b>Money Island Marina</b>’s Facebook page said. Or those were the first known about at the marina. Photos of the fish were texted to Tony, the shop’s owner. A couple of boaters attempted to fish the bay in past days, but returned to port quickly, because of seas from wind, Bruce from the marina said in a phone call. Plenty of white perch and small stripers were angled on Nantuxent Creek, including from the fishing docks at the marina. The creek runs past the marina. One boater headed up the creek Saturday and cleaned his catch of perch for an hour when he returned. Perch began to move into shallows upstream. Another angler fished from the dock Wednesday instead of taking his boat out, and was also busy cleaning a catch of perch, as a result. The few commercial boaters who still crabbed this season docked huge catches. 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. Fresh bunker, favorite striper bait in fall, are stocked when in demand. There was no demand recently.

<b>Fortescue</b>

A photo of three striped bass bagged aboard the bay was posted on the Facebook page from one of the Fortescue party boats Saturday. It’s a start, the page said, and will only get better.

<b>Cape May</b>

Whether anybody tried for striped bass yet on Delaware Bay was unknown, or nobody who did was heard about, said Nick from <b>Hands Too Bait & Tackle</b>. Plenty of bunker schooled the bay, and the baitfish are usually a prerequisite for finding stripers there. Sounded like a few stripers began to appear in the ocean locally. One customer returning from a sea bass trip farther from shore ran into fish busting on bait near the coast, began chucking a bucktail and nailed a good-sized striper. Boaters began searching for the striper migration, starting at about Wildwood on the ocean. If they found none there, they kept working north. They occasionally hooked one of the fish, so the migration seemed to be trickling down. The full migration seemed farther north in the state, like at Seaside Park, where a friend beached the fish from the surf. Not much happened in Cape May’s surf yet that Nick knew about. He tried the fishing himself. But blackfishing was good at surf jetties. Small stripers were slid from the surf a little farther north at Ocean City. In the back bay at Cape May, good catches of small stripers to 28 inches were played in early mornings.

Back to Top