<b>Port Elizabeth</b>

Striped bass fishing seemed to be improving every day, and the population wasn’t thick, but reports were heard about catches of good-sized ones all the way up to Ship John, said Sharon from <b>The Girls Place Bait & Tackle</b>. The fishing was good at 60-Foot Slough and 20-Foot Slough, and nobody reported catches from the Horseshoe, but one customer said he scored at the Punk Grounds near the Horseshoe. Fresh bunker is being stocked for bait every day, but calling to reserve the bait is recommended, because demand is high, and the menhaden haven’t always been readily available. Fresh clams are also stocked. The tog bag limit increases to eight on Thursday from the current limit of one, and green crabs, the favorite bait for the blackfish, are being stocked every week. 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>Fortescue</b>

On the <b>Buccaneer</b> anglers on a trip over the weekend reeled in 10 short stripers 23 or 24 inches, Capt. Ralph said. Some keepers were being caught, but a boat might’ve landed one or two, and other times none. The fishing was nothing consistent yet, and the stripers were residents coming out of the back waters and not the migrators from the ocean that should show up. The Buccaneer was fishing the sloughs around Miah Maul that the Fortescue fleet traditionally targets. But maybe the big, migrating stripers will make an appearance on the boat’s trips this weekend.

<b>Bivalve</b>

Steve McMahon hauled aboard a 61-1/2-pound, 52-1/4-inch striped bass! said Jessie from <b>Longreach Marina</b>. Quite a few stripers were included on the marina’s list of weigh-ins this past week, and customer were saying the fish were coming from 60-Foot Slough, 20-Foot Slough and off Reeds Beach. Anglers and their catches included: Bill Mills Sr. and Jr., 38-, 36-, 33- and 30-inch stripers that they landed but only kept two; John Boxter and Stanley Clark, 42-inch striper; Bob Black, 46-pound and 30-1/4-pound stripers; Mike Guy, 29-1/2-pound and 22-pound stripers; Bob Zera, Tom Zera and Tom Schorr, 28-inch striper that Bob boated; Ron Rabe, 30-1/4-pound and 29-1/2-pound stripers; Joe Dunn, 31-3/4-pound striper; 10-year-old Zack Smith, 13-pound striper; Dave Beirt and John McGarrity, 42-inch striper; Travis and Brad Phillips, 40-, 37- and 36-inch stripers on one trip and 46- and 47-inch stripers on another; Pete Smith and Ron Krawoskie, 5 stripers including a 21-1/4-pounder and a 20-1/4-pounder; Steve Pierce and Dan Griffiths, 44-, 42- and 38-inch stripers; Bill Lewis, 36-inch striper; Jim Wood Jr. and Kyle Gleason, 3 stripers to 38 inches; and Benjamin Spiewak, 17-3/4-pound striper. The Atco Hookers Striper Tournament was weathered out Saturday for the third time in a row and was rescheduled for this coming Saturday at the marina. Longreach’s Striped Bass Tournament is under way and takes place through Thursday. The entry fee is $30 per boat, and the crew from the boat who checks in the heaviest striper wins 80 percent of the fees, and anglers can still enter. Fresh bunker is stocked for striper bait.  

<b>Dennisville</b>

Striped bass fishing was pretty good this weekend, despite strong winds at times, said Rusty from <b>Captain Tate’s Bait & Tackle</b>. A number of tournaments were taking place, and boaters in the competitions fished no matter the weather. The fish were scattered, but the lower bay seemed to produce best, although anglers also fished a little farther north and caught. In the lower bay the bottom of 60-Foot Slough seemed most popular, but anglers also fished places including the Cock and Balls, the bottom of Brandywine Shoal, the bottom of 20-Foot Slough, the Punk Grounds and Joe’s Tip. Places somewhat farther north like the Punk Grounds, 14-Foot Light and Miah Maul also gave up bites. Bunker chunks were the bait, and some dunked clams, but croakers were still nibbling clams. Striper fishing at the Cape May Rips was spotty, but sometimes anglers connected there, and bluefish were still a problem at the rips at times. Stripers could also be landed in the back bays, and some were clammed behind Avalon, and the fish also came from behind Stone Harbor, North Wildwood and along Grassy Channel. A few speckled sea trout, a southern fish that shows up in the back bays in fall, were reported taken behind Stone Harbor, but only a few. Capt. Frank Breakell from the Brynnie B scored a 5-1/2-pounder.  Along the coast surf fishing for stripers and monster blues was sporadic, and pods of the fish seemed to move through, but the fish were definitely coming through. For example, a surf tournament was held at Stone Harbor, and reportedly only one short striper was entered, and the next day fish were all over the surf surrounding Stone Harbor but not at Stone Harbor itself. So one day the fish would blitz someplace like Ocean City, and the next North Wildwood would turn on, and so on. Anglers just had to put in the time, but the fish were appearing. Boaters were also beginning to grab stripers and blues while running and gunning along the ocean beach front and chasing schools of fish and working birds. Freddy Ochs reeled in 12 stripers Friday while tossing bucktails around working birds off the beach front. The tog bag limit gets hiked up to eight fish Thursday from the current limit of one, and a ton of the slipperies were covering the ocean structure. Green crabs are a must for tog bait, and the crabs are stocked. Fresh bunker, live eels, live spots and surf clams are also stocked.

<b>Cape May</b>

The <b>Heavy Hitter</b> finally made it out on its first striped bass charter of the year Friday, a couple of weeks later than usual, because bad weather kept forcing trips to be cancelled, Capt. George said. The charter—with Larry Moon’s group of four anglers—bunker chunked five striped bass to 35 pounds in the bay. Most anglers had been scoring in the bay, so George suggested that the charter try for big stripers there, and fishing for the linesiders had been slow at the Cape May Rips, though a good bite seemed to happen at the rips Sunday, so George was planning to fish there yesterday. A charter Saturday was weathered out, and Roger Beaher’s charter on Sunday bunker chunked a 38-inch striper and a 35-incher, and the fishing was slow, but at least those two were bagged. Striper fishing wasn’t as heavy as usual in the bay and rips this year so far, but some were being hooked. Lots of the fish were schooling at the ocean lumps beyond 3 miles from shore, where striper fishing is closed.

Striper action wasn’t hot and heavy but seemed a little better every day, and that was encouraging, said Capt. Bob from the <b>Down Deep</b>. Charters on the boat were fishing both the bay and the Cape May Rips, and each place was producing a few of the linesiders. Roger Fulmer’s party Sunday bagged stripers to 18 pounds. On other days Carmen Valerio’s group pulled on stripers to 25 pounds, and on Bob Horn’s charter, Bob himself walloped a 40-pounder, his biggest to date. On Martin Booth’s trip Gregory Tate took a 30-pounder that was the biggest striper of the day.

Two charters on the <b>Fishin’ Fever</b> fished the Cape May Rips on Sunday and bagged seven striped bass in the morning and four stripers in the afternoon, and sea lice were on all the fish, so the linesiders had migrated from the ocean, Capt. Tom said. So that was good news, and the fishing seemed to be perking up, and other bites were also missed. A 30-pounder was the biggest boated, and live spots were the bait. Fishin’ Fever will also bunker chunk for stripers in the bay, but fishing seemed best at the rips for now, so trips would probably keep fishing there at least at the moment.

Striped bass fishing started to turn on at the Cape May Rips on Sunday, and nice ones to 38 inches, not a ton, but sometimes a half-dozen a trip, were boated, and short stripers were mixed in, said Capt. T.J. from <b>Legal Limit Charters</b>. He had started to fish there yesterday when he gave this report. Bunker chunking for stripers in the bay pretty much shut down in the past days, though it was good at the beginning of last week. A charter with Legal Limit bunker chunked stripers to 35 pounds in the bay Thursday night.

<b>Fine Line Fishing Charters</b> bagged two striped bass at 60-Foot Slough on bunker chunks Sunday, and a couple of other fish bit, Capt. Dave said. Seas were somewhat snotty in the morning, so the boat fished the bay, but charters will also hit the Cape May Rips for stripers when conditions allow. The water was cold and 51 degrees, and tons of boats fished the area, and lots of anglers on the radio said they were hooking nothing. So Dave was especially glad about the two that were hauled in with Fine Line.

Anglers with <b>O-Beth Sportfishing Charters</b> nailed a few stripers to 34 inches in the lower on bunker chunks Sunday, Capt. Eric said. The water was probably in the mid to low 50s, and the tide was outgoing. Another trip was heading to the bay yesterday. O-Beth had been offering fall sharking trips in addition to striper charters, but with the colder weather, sharking’s probably finished, and striper charters should be the focus the rest of the season.

Striper fishing seemed to pick up pretty well in the past week, said Capt. Mike from <b>Copacetic Sportfishing</b>. Charters on the boat tackled stripers to a 36-pound, 48-incher, and lots of quality stripers in the 20-pound class were around. His trips fished the Cape May Rips with spots and eels and the lower bay with bunker chunks, and outgoing tides seemed best in the bay. The water was 57 or 58 degrees, and Copacetic will target stripers as long as the weather holds.

Fishing for striped bass seemed to really start turning on hard at both the Cape May Rips and the bay for <b>Jaftica Sportfishing</b>, Capt. Ray said. A charter Friday afternoon with Fred Whitman’s four anglers chunked nice stripers to 41 pounds in the bay. In the afternoon Darryl Dawkins and four friends fished the rips 1 ½ hours and nailed two good-sized stripers 19 or 20 pounds and then chunked the bay and caught a bigger one that Ray thought was 29 pounds, if he remembered correctly. On Sunday a charter fished the rips in the morning till the top of the tide, and a great bite was going on, and three or four stripers were boated in 1 ½ hours. Then the anglers chunked the bay to look for a big one and scored, landing a linesider about 22 pounds. Seas were a little sloppy at first on Sunday until the tide changed, and Ray heard that the bay was also rough then. Charters on the boat will probably concentrate on striper fishing at the rips, because that fishing can be more exciting and involve more action while drifting around with live bait instead of anchoring in the bay on the chunk.

Striped bass fishing was in full swing, and the fish were coming from both the bay and the Cape May Rips, and stripers along with slammer blues were also jigged along Townsend’s Inlet, said Matt from <b>Jim’s Bait & Tackle</b> in a fax. Some of the better areas in the bay included the Horseshoe, Tussy’s Slough and 60-Foot Slough, and the best depth was 20 to 24 feet. Andy Shoal slammed his first-ever 50-pound striper in the bay Friday. Pat Kalius, 16, weighed in a 35-1/4-pound striper that he tackled on the Jaftica in the bay. Even in the bad weather last week, the Stalker scored 15 stripers to 42 inches on Wednesday, and the Noreaster II found 10 stripers at the rips Thursday. The rips started producing fish Wednesday around the top of the tides. Surf fishing started to pick up, and a couple of blitzes of stripers and big blues took place at Wildwood Crest during the week. Pete Hauser nailed a 32-pound striper at the Crest on Thursday on a yellow popper lure. The Avalon surf gave up a good run of bass and blues. The blackfish bag limit hops up to eight fish Thursday from the current limit of one, and the inshore wrecks and rock piles were loaded with the fish.

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