<b>Port Elizabeth</b>

Some weakfish were still around, but not a lot was being heard about them anymore, especially since live shedder crabs for bait were no longer available, said Sharon from <b>The Girls Place Bait & Tackle</b>. A few frozen shedders were still stocked, and chicken will also attract bites and is stocked, and so are bloodworms, and they’ll work, too. One customer said he was catching croakers in the back bays along the coast, but nothing was heard about croakers in Delaware Bay. Spots in the bay were thinning out, and customers usually start fishing for striped bass in the bay after Columbus Day, which is Monday, and during the second week of October. Fresh bunker arrives at the store daily for striper bait, and clams, both in the shell and fresh-shucked, will be on hand starting Thursday for the weekend and are another good striper bait. Surf fishers along the ocean were supposedly starting to beach a few stripers.  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>Dividing Creek</b>

The final weekend of the season at <b>Wildlife Boat Rentals</b> produced good crabbing, and customers nabbed a dozen to nearly a bushel of the blueclaws on Saturday and Sunday, Ann said. Saturday was windy and rough, so one customer only picked up a half-dozen that day. But most grabbed at least one to two dozen, and one filled a bushel basket halfway with the hardshells, and another almost topped off an entire basket. So it was a good way to end the season, and lots of good-sized crabs were still around, and they’re out there, if somebody still wants to go crabbing along Delaware Bay’s creeks and marshes. Ann will try to give updates on the crabbing from friends as long as possible, even though the shop is now closing. The crustaceans will start looking to spend the winter burrowed in the mud when air temps drop to the 50s. The season was a good one for crabbing, and they’re not all good, but this one produced. Wildlife will now be closed through winter and will reopen in May for all crabbing needs.

<b>Fortescue</b>

Two anglers on a charter on the <b>Buccaneer</b> tackled 38 bluefish near Miah Maul on bucktails, and small blues were schooling the area, Capt. Ralph said. Weakfish, but only small ones, were also hooked, and patrons on party boats sometimes landed keeper weaks in the area, but 40 or 50 people on a party boat increases the odds. Reports might be heard about a half-dozen weakies caught here, or a limit bagged there, and a private boater might find weaks in shallower water like in the grass, but weaks were generally scarce. A few croakers could found at the Anchorage and the crossover buoys. Ralph and the charter fleet are waiting for the fall striped bass run, but the water was 70 degrees, and those fish won’t arrive until it cools down.

Bluefish from snappers to 3-pounders swam below Miah Maul, said Dave from <b>Al’s Bait & Tackle</b>. Weakfish could still be hooked close to shore off Fortescue, and kingfish hovered around the first drop-off from the town. Fortescue surf anglers could also scare up kings, blues and weaks. No shedder crabs were available for weakfish bait anymore, and the supply seemed finished for the season, though rumors circulated about maybe one more shot of shedders coming. Striped bass will probably invade the bay in a few more weeks or in mid October, and the water’s still warm. The temps were in the upper 60s and need to drop to the low 60s and high 50s before the migration begins. Fresh bunker will be stocked for striper bait as soon as a few linesiders start to poke their noses up the bay.

<b>Bivalve</b>

Weakfish were out there, and customers boated them near the 2 and 3 buoys and off Thompson’s Beach, and kingfish were sometimes caught in the same areas or close in, said Pat from <b>Longreach Marina</b>. Shedder crabs were practically unavailable, and Pat carries them if any become available, but the popular weakfish bait was hardly worth mentioning by now. Frozen shedder is carried, and fresh bunker is on hand for striped bass. Longreach’s Striped Bass Tournament takes place October 13 to 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. The Atco Hookers Striper Tournament is slated for October 27 at the marina. Anglers and their catches included: Jerry Hoffman and Doggie, 5 weaks, 8 kings; Tony Scarpa and Steve Horvath Sr. and Jr., 20 weaks and a king; and Ben McDonald, Joe Pierce and Wayne Lutz, 12 weaks, 12 kings, 6 blues and a bunch of spots and sharks.

<b>Dennisville</b>

Tim from <b>Captain Tate’s Bait & Tackle</b> expects striped bass to start arriving within 10 days, and with night temps in the 40s, it shouldn’t be long, he said. The shop will probably begin stocking fresh bunker for striper bait this weekend, depending on the weather. Plenty of weakfish to 19 inches kept biting off Thompson’s Beach and at the stakes north of Bug Light. Blues were around in the bay, and so were croakers, and a bunch of croakers held in the ocean off the Wildwood Ferris wheel. Andrew Castor bailed a mess of weakfish at Townsend’s Inlet at 11 p.m. yesterday. Surf fishing in the ocean was starting to pick up, and stripers were beached, and most were shorts, but a few were keepers. Sea bassing at the ocean reefs and wrecks was okay, and there were a lot of the fish, but anglers had to pick through the small ones to score keepers. Tuna fishing was excellent at night on the chunk when the weather allowed boats to sail.

<b>Cape May</b>

Reports were being heard about weakfish boated at the 2 and 3 buoys, and good numbers were bagged on some days, and the fishing was slim pickings on others, said Matt from <b>Jim’s Bait & Tackle</b> in a fax. The fish ranged from just keepers to 19 inchers, and shedder crabs on top and bottom rigs got the strikes. Kingfish bit at Poverty Beach on bloodworms, clams and FishBites artificial worms on small hooks. Surf fishing also produced blues and stripers, but small ones. No one spot was best for blues, and it changed from day to day. Along Cold Spring Inlet’s northern jetty was the only decent place to catch keeper stripers, and the fish could be hooked when they pinned mullet against the rocks. Mullet were still running, but the schools were becoming sporadic. Still, mullet was the bait of choice for both the stripers and the blues.

<b>Jaftica Sportfishing</b> was catching a bunch of 5- to 8-pound blues at the Cape May Rips on mullet under working birds, Capt. Ray said. Charters will start to chase striped bass during the third week of October, fishing the rips with bucktails or live bait and targeting the bay with bunker chunks. Charters recently were also pulling up lots of croakers in the ocean off Wildwood, and the boat was still tuna fishing, and a tuna charter was on the books for later this week. Tuna trips will probably continue until striper fishing kicks in.

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