<b>Port Elizabeth</b>

Big croakers apparently moved into the deeper water, probably on the southern end of the bay, said Sharon from <b>The Girl’s Place Bait & Tackle</b>. But if you fish for them, also put out bait for striped bass, because it’s time for stripers to show up. She heard about a few stripers caught, but nothing was heard about particular locations. Weakfish were sometimes picked in the shallows, like off Thompson’s Beach. Fresh bunker is stocked for striper bait every day, and the shop was vacuum packing some of the menhaden to keep frozen for whenever fresh bunker inevitably becomes scarce, like when the weather keeps bunker boats from sailing. Fresh clams, both shucked and in the shell, are being stocked, and they’re an all-around bait for nearly any fish, including stripers and croakers. Bloodworms are also on hand, and almost any fish, including weakfish, croakers and stripers, will bite them. The shop was looking into stocking green crabs this weekend, because customers were asking for them. The crabs are the usual bait for tog, but weakfish will also grab them when the crustaceans are cut into pieces, especially because live shedder crabs, the favorite weakfish bait, are now almost nonexistent. But three-packs of frozen shedders are carried. 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>

Fishing was a mixed bag while anglers waited for the water to cool and bring in striped bass, and a few keeper stripers were boated from the 32 buoy to the 34 buoy, but mostly blues, croakers and sea bass made up the catches, said Mike and Mickie from <b>Sundog Marina</b> in an e-mail. Nantuxent Creek cooled to 68 degrees along the marina and gave up perch that kept getting bigger, and stripers in the creek were also bigger than before, and fishing for both was never better. On Saturday Kenny Frazier found a 25-inch striper and the usual junk fish at the 6 buoy, and another angler got into a nice catch of croakers at his favorite spot offshore of Fortescue. Also on Saturday Ray Shadow left the dock to try for blues and returned with one after a short trip, and rental boaters on the creek reeled in fewer perch than before in the cooler water, but the perch were bigger than previously, and some weighed 1 ¾ pounds. On Sunday five boats sailed on searches for stripers, and the anglers put together mixed bags of the fish mentioned above, including snapper blues, and short stripers were mixed in. They also caught larger croakers than before.  A full supply of bait is stocked, including bloodworms, peanut bunker, and, most notably, vacuum-packed bunker for striper fishing. Striped bass season slips are available starting at $50, and duck season ramp passes are offered. The marina will be open 4 a.m. this Saturday for the start of duck season, and the restaurant will also be open, with breakfast sandwiches and coffee ready to go. The marina carries a complete line of marine supplies. The usual hours at Sundog are now 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day.

<b>Dividing Creek</b>

<b>Wildlife Boat Rentals</b> closed for the season this month, but Ann from the shop said crabbing was apparently still good around Dividing Creek. Crabbers can trap the blueclaws at Turkey Point or the pond on Maple Avenue. Crabbing is more popular earlier in the season, but crabbing can be great late in the season, because the hardshells have grown big since spring, and there’s less pressure. Wildlife will re-open for crabbing in May, when the critters will be crawling around again after spending a winter vacation in a cozy hole in the mud. 

<b>Fortescue</b>

Striped bass charters will begin this coming week on the <b>Buccaneer</b>, Capt. Ralph said. He ran a trip that tried for stripers in the past week, and only shorts were found, and blues were hooked. Other boaters reeled in a few croakers toward the Anchorage and the crossover buoys. Anglers could land a handful of weakfish if they ended up in the right place at the right time.

A few 28- to 30-inch stripers were hooked, but they were resident fish, not the big migrators that usually arrive by now, said Dave from <b>Al’s Bait & Tackle</b>. Warm water was the issue, and the bay was 70 degrees the last Dave heard, and the temp needs to drop to the low 60s for the fall run of stripers. Fresh bunker for striper bait will start to be stocked this weekend and will carried on weekends until it’s made available every day when stripers turn on. Kingfish, nice ones 14 or 16 inches, were biting near the Fortescue turn buoys, and so were weakfish. Bloodworms, stocked at the store, will catch both, and pre-cut, frozen shedder crabs are carried and seem to be working well on the weaks. Blues 2 or 3 pounds were pretty much everywhere, and Fortescue surf anglers were also nailing them. Perch fishing was excellent in Fortescue Creek, and bloods will get their interest. Tons of peanut bunker, mullet, spearing and all kinds of bait was still schooling the harbor and other waters.

<b>Bivalve</b>

Customers returned with lots of kingfish, some croakers and a few weakfish, and the 2 and 3 buoys were a place to hook the fish, said Pat from <b>Longreach Marina</b>. Brad Phillips and friend Carlos bagged 50 kingfish. A few tried to locate striped bass, but she saw none that were caught yet. Striper fishing would normally at least be starting by now, and usually it would begin to really kick off by next week, but with the warm weather this fall, there could be a delay. Fresh bunker is stocked for striper bait. Longreach’s Striped Bass Tournament started Saturday and takes place through November 15, and the entry fee is $30 per boat. The crew from the boat who checks in the heaviest striper wins 80 percent of the entry fees, and anglers can still enter the event. The Atco Hookers Striper Tournament is slated for October 27 at the marina.

<b>Dennisville</b>

Plenty of customers tried to catch striped bass this weekend, but there were no takers, said Rusty from <b>Captain Tate’s Bait & Tackle</b>. A few of the fish normally start getting boated by mid October, but the water was warm, and although a cold front blew through this week, warmer weather was forecast to return later this week, and that could hold off the fishing. But you never know. Tate’s is stocking fresh bunker for the linesiders, mainly on the weekends until the action turns on. A few weakfish still roamed the bay toward the Maurice River and off Thompson’s Beach, and some gathered around the stakes off Reed’s Beach. Every day was different, and the weaks showed up at a little different locations from trip to trip. A few croakers, kingfish and blues were also around. In the ocean surf a handful of resident striped bass showed up during a couple of days, and the fish were mostly shorts, but occasionally one was a keeper. Lots of blues also filled the surf and swam everywhere. Some nice bodies of kingfish were biting in the surf from Brigantine to Ocean City, Sea Isle City and Avalon, and they thinned out farther south. Back-bay fishing was fairly slow, but anglers there could sometimes hook stripers in the mornings and evenings or maybe weakfish.  Small sea bass and similar small fish piled up in the back bay. Sea bass fishing at the ocean wrecks and reefs was mostly slow, and lots of little ones hugged the structure, and fishing at those pieces was generally off, but a few keepers came up, and some nice porgies were taken. Tuna fishing was good when the weather was calm enough for boaters to sail, and Lindenkohl Canyon was a hot spot this weekend, and some of the other canyons including the Wilmington produced.

<b>Cape May</b>

The Cape May Rips were full of small blues, and a few hardy boaters went out at night and eeled a few striped bass at the rips at Middle Shoal, said Matt from <b>Jim’s Bait & Tackle</b> in a fax. Nothing much was heard about Delaware Bay’s striper fishing yet, and the only stripers reported caught in the bay came from all the way up at Salem and a little south. Surf fishing around Cape May was producing mostly small bluefish and an occasional striped bass, but not many keeper stripers. The jetty rock piles were loaded with blackfish and triggerfish. Croakers were still plentiful at the buoy off Hereford Inlet, and a few weakfish, kingfish and 1- to 2-pound bluefish were mixed in.

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