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Delaware Bay Fishing Report 7-26-16


<b>Port Elizabeth</b>

Anglers scored summer flounder pretty successfully on the upper bay, like toward Miah Maul and at the Southwest Line and toward Fortescue, said Sharon from <b>The Girls Place Bait & Tackle</b>. Weather was exceptionally hot. Ocean flounder fishing seemed hit and miss, or anglers would bag a couple one day, not on another. Sharon fished the back bay for flounder at Corson’s Inlet on a trip Thursday 3 or 4 hours, a short time. Lots of throwbacks, including double-headers, and a 20-inch keeper were landed. A number of the throwbacks were probably 15 and 16 inches, and the angling kept an angler busy, not bored. Some customers caught flounder okay in the back bay at Avalon and Stone Harbor. Back in Delaware Bay, lots of kingfish schooled. Weakfish were around in the bay. A surf angler said triggerfish bit along jetties in the ocean. Crabbing was pretty good, and many customers crabbed. Baits stocked include plenty of minnows. Shedder crabs arrived almost daily. Customers can telephone ahead to ensure a supply of shedders. 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>

A few boats fished, bagging a few summer flounder, said Bruce from <b>Money Island Marina</b>. A break in the heat could’ve been used to encourage more anglers to head out. Depths where flounder were hooked probably averaged 22 to 25 feet. A few small croakers and fish like sharks were reeled in. Enjoy a pig roast and fishing tournament, <a href="http://moneyislandmarina.com/pigfish-2016/" target="_blank">Pigfish 2016</a>, from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday, August 6, at the marina. Food will include roasted pig, crabs, oysters, corn on the cob, salads and dessert. 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 stripers, and croakers, 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. Baits stocked currently include plenty of minnows and a full frozen selection.

<b>Newport</b>

Crabbing was coming off the full moon this weekend that triggered crabs to shed, said Paul from <b>Beaver Dam Boat Rentals</b>. Crabs won’t eat while shedding, but not all crabs shed on every moon. Catches mostly ranged from two dozen to a half-bushel of keepers per trip. Lots of sizable crabs were around by this time of year. A few 7-inchers were landed the past few days, and some had shiny shells that were obviously new after the shed. Full and new moons can trigger crabs to shed during the warm months, and they shed to grow, of course. General sizes of crabs can increase throughout the warm months, because of shedding. Each shed usually lasts only a few days. The sizes in the baskets was definitely on the way up, he said. A 7-1/2-incher is biggest at Beaver Dam so far this year. The customer with the year’s biggest crab wins a free rental of a boat next year, an annual prize. Chicken was best bait around the weekend, and the shop’s crew has noticed that chicken often works better than bunker around the moons. That seems hormonal, and by Monday, crabs seemed to nibble on chicken and bunker equally. Nobody fished from the boats in past days. Customers crab and fish on rental boats towed up Oranokin Creek, running past the shop. Rental kayaks and canoes are also available to paddle the scenic creek. Reserve rentals ahead, because they can book up. Beaver Dam carries everything needed for crabbing, from bait, traps and nets to snacks, drinks and suntan lotion. The shop hosts groups like scouts for an educational day on the water.  It also hosts events like birthday parties and reunions.  Visit <a href=" http://www.crabulousnj.com/Home_Page.php" target="_blank">Beaver Dam’s website</a>.

<b>Avalon</b>

Three or four keeper summer flounder were scooped up, and throwbacks were released, on a trip on the bay with <b>Fins and Feathers Outfitters</b>, Capt. Jim said. He was glad for the bay’s 17-inch size limit, compared with 18 in most of the rest of the state, and the angling fished toward the number 1 buoy and Maurice River Cove. A trip yesterday was going to fish for flounder at Wildwood Reef on the ocean, he said before the outing. A trip earlier last week looked for flounder at Avalon Shoal and Ocean City Reef on the ocean, but the angling was slow. A trip Thursday might troll along lobster pots on the ocean and see if mahi mahi bite.

<b>Wildwood</b>

<b>Fins & Grins Sport Fishing</b> plucked aboard kingfish and weakfish that schooled the bay off Cape May Point, Capt. Jim said. Bluefish 1 ½ to 2 pounds, typical summer size, good-eating, gathered off the point, in the ocean off Hereford Inlet and at 5-Fathom Bank. Trips chased them, too, and sometimes cranked triggerfish from ocean wrecks. This was mixed-bag fishing for different species, typical in summer. Catch-and-release sharking was good on the bay.  Summer flounder gave up lots of throwbacks and a few keepers on the ocean. Fins fishes every day, and reservations aren’t required but suggested. Telephone for availability.

<b>Cape May</b>

Unconfirmed rumors said good summer flounder fishing took off on Delaware Bay near Fortescue at the stakes, said Joe from <b>Hands Too Bait & Tackle</b>. Flounder fishing became tougher at ocean reefs two weeks ago, and the back bay’s flounder fishing became better than the ocean’s. Sometimes croakers appeared in Delaware Bay toward Cape May and the surf. Kingfish, small weakfish, blues and flounder were sometimes banked. So they probably also schooled off Cape May Point off the town’s surf, like usual in summer. The blues were snappers that appeared in the surf and in the back bay. Sometimes bigger like a pound or ¼ pound showed up in the waters. Sizable triggerfish were yanked in from along surf jetties. Sand sharks and brown sharks could be dragged from the surf at dusk or nighttime for fun. Release browns by law. Crabbing was excellent the past two weeks, practically anywhere crabs are found around Cape May. Catches might’ve slowed because of shedding during the recent full moon. But catches usually pick back up within a few days.

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