<b>Newport</b>

Striped bass fishing was on fire this past week, and lots of stripers and some big blues were weighed in, said Mike and Mickie from <b>Sundog Marina</b> in an e-mail. On Sunday Phil Nagel and crew fished Blake’s Channel and returned with four keeper stripers, and Joe Kampf and gang fished the same place and came back with three stripers to 32 inches. On the same day Sam Hale and friends gave the waters between the 34 and 35 buoys a try and nailed four bass, including a 46-inch, 33-1/2-pounder, and George Boland, Mike DeMarco and Reiner Schmidt each nabbed a keeper. Customers on Friday and Saturday reported good catches of linesiders taken early in the day at the first drop-off from Fortescue, the 6 buoy and Blake’s Channel. Only one customer fished on Thanksgiving Day but found great fishing at Blake’s Channel, bagging two stripers 34 and 28 inches and a large blue. On Wednesday Lewis Patrick only hooked shorts, and Bill Penn fought healthy sized blues at the 34 buoy. Last Tuesday Ken Frazier and friend hit the jackpot at the 6 buoy, bailing four stripers 39, 38, 29 and 28 inches, and Val from the Waterfront Café and Jim fished the 34, had a run-off and also tackled a slammer blue. Space is still available for both indoor and outdoor winter boat storage, and boat winterization is offered, including power washing and shrink wrapping. Striper season slips are available starting at $50 till December 15, unless ice develops earlier, and ramp passes for hunting are available for $50 for the whole winter season. The marina is still open every day, and fresh bunker is stocked as long as the bunker boats can sail, and call ahead to reserve.

<b>Fortescue</b>

Several good-sized stripers and quite a few small ones were boated on the <b>Karen Jean</b>, so striper fishing was all right, pretty good, Capt. John said. Bluefish, big ones like 32-inchers, were sometimes fought earlier in the week, and afterward bluefishing tapered off. Charters will fish on the boat another couple of weeks.

Six big striped bass to 38 inches were hauled aboard the <b>Buccaneer</b> on Sunday, so that was great, Capt. Ralph said. The catch was one of the best among the fleet that day, and the stripers were residents and not migrators, so Ralph figured he had found where they had taken up residence. A few bites were also missed, and other boats fished the same place Monday and also connected. The weather was nice, a beautiful day to be on the bay. No blues were landed on the boat, but others hooked 10- or 12-pound slammers. More trips were sailing for stripers today, Saturday and Sunday. The Buccaneer will probably keep fishing until December 8, a little later than usual, because fishing seemed to be running later, and water temps were probably dropping later than some years.

<b>Bivalve</b>

Jessie from <b>Longreach Marina</b> reported a load of striped bass that customers checked in, and he was hearing a lot about catches from 60-Foot Slough, 20-Foot Slough and sometimes Bug Light and off Reeds Beach. Bill Lewis fished near 14-Foot Light and checked in three stripers 41 ½ inches, 38 inches and 34 inches, and Greg Penney and Gary Wilson sailed to Miah Maul, reeled in four stripers 36, 31, 30 and 29 inches and released 12 shorts. Jessie heard an unconfirmed report on the radio about a couple of anglers who boated a 55-pound striper near the 2 and 3 buoys. Other anglers and their catches included: Tim Lawler and John Graham, 28-1/2-inch striper and two 29-inchers; Scott Rohler, 38-inch striper and two 40-inchers; Gary Dagolfo and Brian Reese, 36- and 35-pound stripers and two 30-pounders; Ken Plummer, 38-3/4-pound striper; Don Cianianelli, 24-pound striper; Johnny Mayville, 21- and 20-3/4-pound stripers; Rich Crumin and Eric Grafton, 36-, 34-, 32-, 31 and two 29-inch stripers; Marty Dietz, Elliott Gruskin and crew on the LegalEase, five stripers including a 30-incher and lots of big blues; Cindy and Joe Pansner, 37-, 35 and 31-inch stripers; and Carmen and Dave Spievak, 17-1/2-pound striper and two 16-1/4-pounders.

<b>Cape May</b>

<b>Legal Limit Charters</b> bunker chunked for striped bass around Brandywine Light on Saturday and Sunday and boated some nice fish to 39 inches, and no bluefish showed up, Capt. T.J. said. Other boaters ran into pesky dogfish, but Legal Limit hooked none. The water was 50 degrees.

Bunker chunking at the Cock and Balls produced three stripers—one keeper and two throwbacks—on Saturday with <b>Fine Line Fishing Charters</b>, Capt. Dave said. Lots of dogfish moved into the area, and they seemed most prevalent toward the bottom of the bay, so a charter Saturday moved to midway up the west wall of 60-Foot Slough to avoid the sharks, and it worked. Three keeper stripers to 25 pounds were nailed, a nice catch, and two throwbacks were released, and bunker chunks were again the bait. The water was 48 degrees and cold.

Ten striped bass to 37 inches were boated with <b>O-Beth Sportfishing Charters</b> in the bay on bunker chunks Sunday, Capt. Eric said. On Saturday a trip produced a few of the fish, no big ones, and one 8- or 9-pound blue was hooked during the trips. Striper fishing at the Cape May Rips seemed very spotty, the reason Eric decided to fish the bay. The water was 50 degrees, and stripers were still migrating down the coast, so Eric thought the fishing should last a while.

Trips with <b>Jaftica Sportfishing</b> fished for striped bass at the Cape May Rips and along the ocean beach front both Saturday and Sunday and limited out on the fish each time, Capt. Ray said. The fish along the beaches were bucktailed and jigged, and blues were mixed in, and the rips were dirty from windy weather but were clearer Sunday than on Saturday, and maybe the fishing there would pick up once the water cleared. Striper fishing around Cape May this year seemed like anglers either got on the fish and caught well or didn’t, and the stripers weren’t spread out everywhere like in past years. Maybe the run was yet to peak, and the fish still seemed to be migrating from up north, so maybe the best of the run will take place in December or even January. The water was 51 or 52 degrees, and Ray knew someone who grabbed good catches of stripers in the bay over the weekend, going something like 9 for 11 on Saturday. On Sunday Ray spoke with the angler while the angler was on the water and had already hooked two stripers in an hour.

Striped bass trips managed to get out between the rough weather with <b>Copacetic Sportfishing</b>, and fishing was slower than during the previous week, but linesiders to 16 pounds were caught at the Cape May Rips, Capt. Mike said. But the water at the rips was dirty from windy weather, so a trip Sunday chased working birds in the ocean and bailed bluefish from 5-pounders to slammers on jigged bucktails and metal. The anglers could’ve fought blues until their arms wore out.

The Cape May Rips were like mud last week and through the weekend, and sometimes anglers would hear about a boat finding good catches of stripers there, but the fishing was generally slow, so charters on the <b>Heavy Hitter</b> clammed for stripers along the ocean beaches instead, Capt. George said. That fishing was nothing to get excited about but seemed better than at the rips, and Mike Sampinato’s charter from Samps Restaurant in Conshohocken fished there on Saturday and reeled in two keeper stripers to 32 inches, seven throwbacks and a few blues. A few big, out-of-season flounder to 8 pounds also bit. On Sunday a charter with Ron from Robinson’s Pallet Company also clammed along the beaches and picked up four keeper stripers to 35 inches, no throwbacks and probably eight or nine blues. A charter Friday was cancelled because of forecasts for strong winds. Striper fishing in the Cape May area’s been dismal this fall compared to usual in George’s opinion, and 31 stripers were landed on the boat during the whole season so far, and more of the fish were hooked on the Heavy Hitter’s first striper charter last spring. Charters on the boat will fish through the weekend, and afterward the marina requires boats to be hauled out.

Delaware Bay was dirty during the weekend, but some anglers fished deeper water near the shipping channel and scored decent catches of stripers, said Matt from <b>Jim’s Bait & Tackle</b> in a fax. Tom McCormick fished the Cock and Balls for two stripers 32 pounds and 26 ½ pounds and six big blues, and he hit Overfalls Shoal at the Cape May Rips for a 35-pound striper on a bucktail. The Cape May Rips were also dirty, and the offshore rips at Somer Shoal and Overfalls Shoal produced better fishing than the inshore ones, because the water was clearer. Big blues also bit alongside the bass. Stripers and blues held in the ocean at the lumps off Wildwood, and boaters fished clams, bunker chunks or jigs to land them. Five-Fathom Bank was loaded with big blues and also stripers, but those waters are way beyond 3 miles from shore, where striper fishing is prohibited. Customers also hooked bluefin tuna while jigging for blues in the ocean. Surf fishing was starting to get hopping at Cape May and along Cape May Inlet. Stripers were pushing bunker against the beaches, moving in and out through the day, and big blues were mixed in. Dave Cox pulled a 20-pound striper from the suds at Grant Street, and Gary Michaels fished Poverty Beach and clammed two stripers 21 pounds and 18 pounds. Carl and Mike Foltz fished around the inlet jetty and nailed two bass 37 pounds and 17 pounds and two big blues Saturday. Tog began to move farther offshore a little, and Cape May Reef was a good bet for a steady pick.

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