<b>Brooklawn</b>

Fishing for weakfish kept producing in the bay toward the Maurice River Cove and the E.P. Tower, said Rick from <b>Big Timber Bait & Tackle</b>. Flounder season closed yesterday, but the flatties before then were found in the southern end of the bay, as they moved to the ocean. No striped bass showed up yet, except resident, non-migrating schoolies that get taken from the mouth of the bay, such as on plugs at the rocks and lighthouses toward Ship John, and up the Delaware River throughout the season. The river near the shop was full of bait, including small shad and small herring, and fishing for both catfish and largemouth bass was improving on the waters as fall approached. The mouths of Big Timber, Mantua and Raccoon creeks were the three predominant largemouth fisheries. The bucketmouth anglers fish the edges of grass beds and the docks and pilings, casting top-water plugs early in the day and subsurface jigs and plastics as the day wears on. A few customers headed out for big game on the ocean yesterday for the first time after Saturday’s tropical storm but reported back no results yet. Before the storm bluefin tuna kept hitting at the inshore grounds, and quite a few mahi mahi were trolled at the Misty Blue wreck and the East Lump area or in 20 to 30 fathoms. White marlin fishing was phenomenal farther from shore at the canyons, and swordfish began to be fought at night at the canyons, nothing consistent yet. But overnight angling for swords and yellowfin tuna should get going at the canyons any time. Big Timber Bait & Tackle carries bait and tackle for all fishing from freshwater to offshore. That includes a complete supply of lures and baits for rivers and lakes; rigs, tackle and frozen bait for bays; and offshore lures, rigs and baits.

<b>Pennsville</b>

Catches were pretty much the same, and weakfish were boated from Sea Breeze to the 6 buoy, and croakers, mostly small ones but a few large enough to keep, roamed the same area, said Matt from <b>Shag’s Bait & Tackle</b>. Shedder crabs were scarce for weakfish bait, but a couple of dozen were stocked each day. In the Delaware River schoolie striped bass, white perch, catfish and sometimes spots could always be caught, and to play the stripers, dunk bloodworms or shedders along oyster beds, sandbars or structure like bridges. Crabbing dropped off a little for the moment but was decent.

<b>Newport</b>

<b>Beaver Dam Boat Rentals</b> had to close Saturday because of the storm, like everyone did, but the weather dumped no huge amount of rains, and the freshwater seemed to have no affect on crabbing, Linda said. Catches of the blueclaws remained surprisingly good, and two-thirds of a bushel apiece were nabbed on two out of three boats rented yesterday. This time of year is excellent for crabbing, and waters were still warm, and theoretically crabs are the largest now, because they’ve gone through sheds and grown all season. Linda believes the crabs will probably shed one more time this year. They shed on the full and new moons, and the next full moon takes place Monday. That means that now and the next days are usually one of the better times for crabbing, because no moon will affect them. Crabs stop eating when they shed, but not all crabs shed at the same time, so the effect of the moons isn’t always the same. This time of year is also great for renting Beaver Dam’s canoes and kayaks to paddle up Oranokin Creek, where the shop is located, for sightseeing. Ducks and birds begin the fall migration and become more numerous, and the ducks were already starting to be seen. Crabbers at Beaver Dam are towed up the creek on rental boats, and the staff checks on the crabbers every hour. But if crabbers want to take a break in the meantime, they simply call the shop, and the staff comes and gets them. Crowds become lighter after Labor Day, but calling ahead to reserve the rental boats for weekends is recommended. Beaver Dam is gearing up for duck season and rents duck blinds to hunters. The first duck season is October 18 to November 1, and the second is November 15 to 18. During the first season, the blinds will be open when crabbers stop crabbing, so call the shop to find out when that will be, and that depends on the weather. But the blinds will be available the entire second season. Beaver Dam is also a deer check-in station, and the region’s deer hunting kicks off with the fall bow season October 4. For fans of the radio show Sportsman’s Hotline on WFNJ at 5 p.m. Fridays at 1240- and 1440-AM , the crew from the show will crab at Beaver Dam on Tuesday, September 23. Feel free to stop by and meet them, and go crabbing. Beaver Dam Boat Rentals provides everything needed for crabbing, including trap sales and rentals, bait, crab spice, crab crackers, suntan lotion, drinks, snacks and ice cream. The shop is still open full-time seven days a week, although it’s opening a little later now at 6 a.m. or 6:15 a.m., only because the sun rises later, and crabbers and the staff need to be able to see.

<b>Fortescue</b>

Small bluefish were the main catch, said Capt. Ralph from the <b>Buccaneer</b>. Sometimes anglers got lucky and landed weakfish, and croakers swam local waters, but they were all small. Big ones were supposedly in the ocean off Cape May. Spots sometimes bit in the bay and were used for bait. The Buccaneer will probably start targeting striped bass toward late October.

Weakfishing was fine before the storm for anglers with <b>Andrea Charters</b>, Capt. Dave said, and the boat did no fishing afterward. He figured the bay was like chocolate milk on Sunday, and apparently it was, from what he heard. Before the storm the trout had started to spread out to new places. While the number 1 buoy had given up the best catches, other waters including off False Egg Island Point and areas off the Club House started to produce. That meant Fortescue boaters could stick closer to port. Dave always fishes with shedder crabs, but he heard about weakfish catches lately on bloodworms and even on Gulps. Dave’s anglers tipped the shedders with strips of croakers, spots or bluefish landed on the trips. Those baits also attracted plenty of blues that were mixed in. Croakers were numerous in this area of the bay, but they were all small. Dave and others through the seasons noticed that the populations of weakfish and croakers are cyclical in the bay, or sometimes the populations are thick for a number of years, and other times they become scarce, for unknown reasons. But they’ve also noticed that when weakfish are abundant, croakers are not, and vice versa. Maybe the large number of small croakers in the bay this season and the somewhat better weakfishing meant the cycle was reversing. Croaker fishing was solid in previous years recently, lots of large ones caught. Andrea Charters will keep weakfishing, one of Dave’s specialties. His striped bass charters should start in earnest around October 15.   

Waters around the 6 buoy served up weakfish, and bloodworms, stocked at the shop, actually seemed the best bait recently, said Dave from <b>Al’s Bait & Tackle</b>. The bay was full of 2- to 4-pound blues, and croakers that were around were small. Fortescue surf anglers beached lots of blues, an occasional keeper weakfish and small croakers. All kinds of bait schooled, including lots of bunker in the bay and peanut bunker at the marina. The bay’s striped bass fishing should kick in after about a month. Small ones might start biting before then, but the large, migratory fish will arrive then or a little later. Customers fish for them with fresh bunker chunks.

A few people hopped aboard Sunday after the storm on the <b>Salt Talk</b>, boated a handful of weakfish and several blues, and released small croakers, Capt. Howard said. The fishing was slow, but the weakfish were a welcome sight, because the weather apparently failed to cause them to depart. The weather was a little windy, but not bad for the party boat. Flounder season closed yesterday, and a few tiny flounder that were hooked mid week were the only ones that showed up lately anyway. Trips will now target weakfish and whatever else bites, like blues. Striped bass fishing on the boat usually begins around the last week of October. The vessel either anchors while patrons bunker chunk for the linesiders or, when lots of the fish are schooling, drifts while the anglers swim live eels. The bay on the trip Sunday was 77 degrees, still warm, but rain water from the storm should flow from the Delaware River any day, cooling the bay a couple of degrees, and also pushing debris into the bay. Open-boat trips are fishing 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, and charters are also available.

The blow turned out to be nothing much, more like a nor’easter than a tropical storm, said Capt. Mike from the <b>Bonanza</b>. So maybe the weather had little effect on the bay’s fishing. Now that flounder season ended, the boat will sail for weakfish, blues and croakers, maybe until striped bass season. Striper trips will begin running sometime in October, fishing with fresh bunker and live eels, supplied on the vessel. The trips are usually limited to 15 or 17 anglers to keep plenty of room to help avoid tangles and crowding when anchored. That helps the anglers all fish from the stern. Striper trips also leave earlier than the boat’s summer schedule, usually 6 or 6:30 a.m., because of shorter days and clocks set back after daylight savings time.  Open-boat trips are fishing the bay daily 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and charters are on tap.

<b>Bivalve</b>

Bill Ehrler and Jim Feeney from Franklinville got out Friday before Saturday’s storm to boat four weakfish, 16 blues and two kingfish, said Pat from <b>Longreach Marina</b>. Tim, John and Pete Plummer from Millville also fished before the storm, landing two weakfish and 15 white perch. They usually fish for the perch up one of the creeks. Two or three boats fished Sunday after the weather, but none checked back in to report results. Anglers should probably look for weaks at the same spots where they were hitting before: from the 1 buoy to the 2 and 3 to Bug Light. But the trout might’ve moved because of the weather, and if so, deeper waters would be the place to start searching. Shedder crabs, the favorite weakfish bait, are stocked, and minnows are on hand, but now that flounder season is closed, minnows will probably only be carried until they run out. The marina experienced no damage from the storm, and the area lucked out.

<b>Dennisville</b>

Weakfish anglers hooked up at the usual spots before the storm, including at the oyster bed stakes, off Thompson’s Beach and at the number 1 buoy, said Rusty from <b>Captain Tate’s Bait & Tackle</b>. Boaters also found a few toward Higbee’s Beach, the Cape May Ferry and off the Cape May Lighthouse, mixed in with croakers and kingfish. Surf casters also reeled in weakies at Reed’s Beach. But no customers mentioned how the fishing was going after the blow. The bigger croakers swam the southern end of the bay, like around the Cape May Rips, but really big ones, 2- and 3-pounders, were stacked up in the ocean from fairly close to the beaches to Cape May Reef. Weakfish also held among them but were small. Again, all this fishing was before the storm. Surf fishers along the ocean sometimes beached good catches of kingfish, if they could get through loads of spots in the waters. Tog, including impressive ones, hovered around the reefs and inshore wrecks. The tog bag limit is one per angler until increasing to six on November 16, but the slipperies were there to drop a line for. No word was heard from offshore anglers post-storm so far, but tuna fishing was okay before. Decent catches of bluefin tuna were sometimes made near the Elephant Trunk and Lobster Claw, and small yellowfin tuna were picked up just offshore of the Claw and along the west wall of Wilmington Canyon. A weed line at the Indian Arrow gave up mahi mahi, and white marlin were abundant at Wilmington and Baltimore canyons. Looking ahead, customers from the shop usually start catching striped bass from the bay in mid October, sometimes a little earlier, sometimes later. The season might be early this year, because the ocean stayed relatively cool this season. When the bite begins, the anglers mostly bunker chunk for the fish from mid October into November. Toward the end of November they often switch to livelining eels or spots at the Cape May Rips, when small bass sometimes flood the area. But some anglers fish the rips the whole time. Captain Tate’s carries all these baits. Shedder crabs for weakfishing are currently scarce and out of stock. Check this out: The shop now includes breakfast, lunch and dinner, so anglers can load up on bait, tackle and food or all supplies in one stop. They can even call ahead, order bait and meals and have it ready to go on arrival. Is that convenient or what? Look for combo bait and food specials to begin, including for striped bass season.  

<b>Cape May</b>

Weakfish, mostly 10- to 16-inchers but a few 20-inchers, swam north of Bug Light to Erickson’s Stakes, said Matt from <b>Jim’s Bait & Tackle</b> in a fax. Large croakers, including 2- and 3-pounders, were hooked from McCrie’s Shoal to Cape May Reef. John McFarland checked in a 2.67-pound croaker that came from the reef Thursday. Flounder season ended, and when all was said and done, the fishing never really kicked into high gear locally. The tropical storm made for a dismal last couple of days of the season, and boaters headed out to give the fishing a shot on the final day Sunday, but a lingering swell probably shut down the bite. Frank Trifiletti tackled a 10.34-pound flatback, his largest-ever, at Reef 11 in the ocean Thursday.  Offshore boaters kept battling bluefin tuna early last week at the Lobster Claw. Small yellowfin tuna and some wahoos could be found at the lumps inshore of the Elephant Trunk. The best marlin and tuna fishing at the canyons took place far south, between the Washington and the Norfolk. Maybe the storm stirred up waters and pulled the fish closer to Cape May.

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