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2012 Big "D" spring fishing reports(post here)

108K views 381 replies 49 participants last post by  mu fish 
#1 ·
Our river in 2012....... Post ur reports here. Wet'em if u got'em hook'em land'em.....catch'em if u can. Cheers to the 2012 spring run.
 
#298 ·
The wife and i where at the rancocus yesterday as well. we caught a lot of shorts 12-15 inch fish on clam in the morning, nothing on herring at all. The best thing that happened was we ran out of clam, cause this time i brought some bass rods. we picked 3 good slot fish and 1 over 30inches under a few area bridges.
 
#300 ·
Holy sh**, one hell of a thread. Thanks for the wealth of knowledge. I'm staring at the big D right now and its taking every ounce of my willpower not to say the hell with work and go chase some stripers. I'm above Lambertville and with any luck will contribute a report or two to this awesome thread.
 
#301 ·
Just got back from a little kayak fishing in slow water above Lambertville. There were lots of smallies and small stripers feeding on the surface. Caught one small striper on a spook in eight feet of water as the sun set. Guys anchored up nearby caught a few large cats on chunks of sucker. As the water temp warms up the topwater action should get better.
 
#302 ·
I have not heard much in the way of Stripers up north(nin tidal) dont mean they didnt get up there but This year with herring off the table I don't think many guys r heading up tht way most reports for tht area coming from locals. And it's been a mixed bag all season from wht I've heard. As far as Easton is concerned I again havent heard much others may be able to chime in but it just doesn't seem tht this year the bass pushed tht far north prob due to the water temps. No cool water run off this year because of mild winter prob kept them further south this year. Jus my guess as I don't have many reports for tht area to go by but Thts wht I would figure with or without reports from up there.
 
#303 ·
hey all. I wanted to bring my kids out this weekend and pursue perch. Any suggestions for location and teqniques between trenton and burlington in a boat? Thanks for any responses i never pursue em and the kids have a short attention span, i figure fast action would keep em interested.
 
#306 ·
Weekly fishin report from Brinkmans bait and tackle shop:

Well the weather was much better but the fishing just sucked. Helen and myself hit the river a bit later this week waiting for the tide to change. We hit it perfect and fished for about 6 hours. Over the day we caught 6 stripers 4 to 14 inches, 5 catfish 1 to 4 pounds, 6 white perch and a eel. And this was not for an effort. WE must have moved 10 times from the Rancocas down below the Tacony Bridge. Just could not find a decent fish. Wednesday I got out myself since it was raining, cold and damp. I hit my two best spots and fished for 3 hours. I caught one catfish about 2 pounds and that was it. This just was not my week. Will give it another shot next week but I will only have one day off. May try and golf in the morning and hit the river late in the day. Now my luck is not how the river has been for most guys. Now there are no big numbers of fish being caught but still some real big fish are being caught. Jim was in a couple of my honey holes and caught one big fish out of each. He had one fish 43 inches and another one just hitting the 40 inch mark. He caught these fish with fresh bunker. Now in both spots these were the only 2 fish caught and the only 2 hits he had. One other fisherman fishing just above the Tacony bridge picked up a 48 inch fish that was in the mid 50 pound range with a bunker tail. JR has been out several time not doing much so he was heading to Trenton this weekend looking for some fish throwing lures. I had one other customer fishing in front of Maggie's catching one fish 43 inches on a fresh clam and last night he picked up a 39 inch fish with a chunk of bunker. He has also caught a few smaller fish. Up Station Avenue there were a few smaller fish caught with a bunch of catfish. Most these guys have been fishing clams and bunker. Camer Drive has also been fair with a few slot fish caught and one decent 37 inch fish caught with bunker. These guys are also doing well with catfish and white perch. Up off the Neshaminy state park there were lots of smaller stripers and catfish caught this week with bunker, clams, herring and bloodworms. Here they seemed to catch several slot fish. One fisherman had a great day at the Burlington Bristol Bridge. He walked in and fished all day without being chased. He fished clams and bunker and landed 4 slot fish 22 to 24 inches, 1 fish 34 and another 37 inches with lots of throw backs, catfish and white perch. I have talked to several guys fishing at the turnpike bridge up to Buoy 80 and these guys are saying the fishing has been real slow. They are saying the river up here is just full of herring. Now off Princeton Avenue and off the Northern Metal pier there have been some decent stripers with lots of catfish, perch and eels. These guys have done best with bunker and bloodworms. At the airport they are doing well on smaller stripers with a few slot fish to keep most guys interested. But what they have been doing great on have been big white perch. These guys have been doing best with bloodworms. Off National Park there were a few bigger stripers caught over the weekend but all week long the fishing has been slow. The weekend fish were a 38 and 41 inch fish caught on bloodworms and chunked eel. Paul has not been getting out much himself but his buddies have said the striper fishing has been very slow for bigger fish but plenty of fish 12 to 22 inches. Also tons of white perch and big catfish are being caught on bloodworms and bunker. Down at Salem these guys have been catching lots of nice white perch and stripers with bloodworms, nightcrawlers and chicken livers. The stripers are closed here. Just had another customer tell me about a 51 inch fish he caught fishing out of Bridesburg. He caught this fish with bunker.
The upper Delaware has been a real mixed bag. The shad fishing has been slow in the lower river from Trenton up to the Water Gap. Mike had a fair day at Bull's Island during the week catching fish with shad spoons. One other fisherman at Lamberville had a pretty good day landing 6 fish also with spoon. Up at the Water Gap there have been a few fisherman catching 10 to 15 fish a night with spoons and small dart. Here the water level is up a bit which has spread the shad out a bit. Narrowsburg a few guys were up on Saturday landing a bunch of shad and smallmouth bass. These guys fished minnows and grubs for the bass trolling small darts for the shad. Bill was up to Callicoon fishing the upper part landing 19 shad on Saturday and another 15 on Sunday. All these fish were caught between 5 at night till dark. Spoons and small darts have been working the best. Other than shad most guys have been smallmouth bass fishing the river. Tom was in at Stockton landing over 50 fish this past week. He was out several different days. He did best with Rapala's, grubs, tubes and spinners. He also caught 3 walleyes over 18 inches. Charlie found the river very good at Point Pleasant. He worked minnows, nightcrawlers, grubs and plastic worms to landed 9 smallies, 2 walleyes, 1 musky and 2 catfish. The bass were all 12 to 15 inches and the musky was 23 inches. A few guys fishing off the New Hope wing dam picked up lots of smaller bass with minnows and jigs. They caught most all these fish below the dam on the New Jersey side. Now at Lamberville one fisherman is still doing great with stripers. He has been dead sticking eels up in the rocks above the 202 bridge. This past week he caught 6 stripers 31 to 37 inches. While waiting for the striper bite he works grubs, tubes, top water lures and shallow crankbaits. Mixed in he also caught 5 smallmouth bass up to 17 inches.
Trout have still been hot at the Pennypack Creek. Most guys have been doing best with wax worms, meal worms, earthworms, power baits, Berkley power worms, spinners and salted minnows. Fly fisherman are now starting to hit the creek and have been doing very good with bead head, cone heads, wooly buggers, dry flies and nymphs. Most guys have still been doing good at Rhawn Street, Roosevelt Boulevard, Woodward Avenue, Veree Road, Pine Road and Lemur Park. Some of the biggest fish are coming from Lemur Park with the stocking from Trout Unlimited for the tournament last weekend. I have seen some pictures of fish 18 to 24 inches. The rest of the creek most guys have been catching fish 13 to 17 inches. Most of the fish have been rainbows. Core Creek has still been just fair for trout but the panfish are still hitting in pretty good numbers. Minnows, wax worms and meal worms have been working best. There are a few bass fisherman doing fair with spinner baits and plastic worms. One fisherman had a good day with carp in the lower end of the lake. He was fishing corn and pips. He landed 5 fish up to 8 pounds. He also last several other fish. Jim has been hitting Levittown Lake for trout and Fall's Township for bass this past week. He was at Levittown Lake 3 morning landing 19 trout, 25 bluegills and a nice largemouth bass. Power bait, wax worms and spoons have been working best. In Fall's Township he picked up 6 largemouth bass, 9 crappies and 14 bluegills fishing 4 inch purple power worms. He also said there are several guys doing well on smaller crappies, perch and bluegills fishing with minnows, meal worms and jigs. John had another real good day on largemouth bass fishing Noxamixion. He picked most of these fish up with plastic worms and lizards, spinner baits and crankbaits. Most of the fish were 12 to 16 inches. He had several big schools of baitfish breaking water with stripers under them. So on Sunday he spent most of the day working the main lake with crankbaits, rattle traps and top water lures only to catch one pickerel. He did see a picture of a hybrid striper caught the week before 31 inches 17 pounds caught on a Cordell Boy Howdie. This fisherman was out looking for either smallmouth or largemouth bass. With that striper he also caught a bunch of pickerel. A few guys have been down the Fish Hatchery doing pretty good with bass, carp and catfish. They are working on the upper ponds and when they drained them they took all the fish and put them in the back 2 ponds. They have been doing best with nightcrawlers, minnows, corn, poppers and plastic worms. The pond back at Eden Hall has started to pick up again. This was a great little lake back in the day but someone poisoned the water killing all the fish. But the past year they have started to catch come bluegills, bass and catfish again. Minnows and nightcrawlers have been working the best. Lots of nice catfish are hitting in the lower Schuylkill River. These guys are doing well on channels as well as flat heads. Most of the channels have been up to 8 pounds with most of the flat head ranging 12 to 18 pounds. Chunked bluegills have been working best but I had one fisherman do real well on fresh bunker. Ron himself did not get out this past week but did talk to his buddies that were up smallmouth fishing at Gladwyn in the Schuylkill river. They said the river is the right level and the fish have been hitting minnows, shiners, grubs and crayfish. These guys have also been fishing the mouth of the Wissahickon Creek doing quite well on bass and trout. Some of these trout have come down the creek and have been hitting minnows and nightcrawlers. The bass again have been biting on minnows and grubs.
Flounder season opens this coming Saturday. With all the stripers still around I'm not sure how many guys will be out looking for their first flounder. Most all the boats up north are going to stick to striper fishing. These boats have been crushing stripers 28 to 45 inches. I have talked to some guys coming home with 2 30 + pound fish. Big spoons, diamond jigs have been working the best on the head boats. The smaller boats are fishing the same way but have also been bait fishing with bunker and clams and also trolling bunker spoons and umbrella rigs. The Raitian Bay has also been hot with clams, bunker and shad bodies. These guys have been catching lots of fish 24 to 36 inches. Anthony was up late last week fishing with old clams and shad bodies boating 21 bass. He had 9 fish legal and the rest were down to 20 inches. He was fishing in 10 to 15 feet of water which was holding smaller fish. Most of the bigger boats were out in deeper water landing some bigger fish. Down the coast at Brick there were a few nice bass caught off the beach. These guys landed 2 striper 29 and 31 inches. They also caught 3 bluefish 3 to 4 pounds. These fish were all caught on chunk bunker and live eels. A nice striper was caught off Long Beach Island on Monday. This fisherman was there over the whole weekend without a single hit. On Monday his first cast landed him a 36 inch 19 pound striper. Later in the day he caught 2 more bass but both were under sized. Out of Barnegat Inlet there have been several nice stripers caught off shore. These guys have all been using diamond jigs. On the return trips the guys have been hitting the jetties doing well on blackfish. Fred took his last trip off shore for the time with flounder season opening this weekend. The last trip he was out 12 miles and caught plenty of nice sea bass, blackfish and even had a few smaller ling. He caught all these fish with clams and jigs. He has also been doing well on the inshore wreaks for blackfish. Once flounder opens he will be fishing the inlets and back bays. Down off Cape May there have been lots of guys out looking for stripers. The only place they have been doing fair has been the Cape May rips. Here they have been catching fish 24 to 36 inches. Most of these fish have been caught with clams, bunker, eels, jigs and shad bodies. Up the bay is usually hot but has been quite slow this past year. They are still catching some big fish but far and few between. Also lots of guys are looking for the drumfish to show up but so far nothing. The two better beaches in the Delaware Bay have been dead the past couple weeks. Bruce picked minnows up this week and talked to the guys at Dividing Creek. The boats here have been catching a half a bushel of crabs each trip out.
Well that is all I have time for this week. I hope everyone has a great weekend. And please if you do any good please let us know, the fishing reports are coming from the same 10 guys.
Bill
 
#310 ·
been out twice by belvidere, getting tons of shad, and some trout. I park my boat before the rapids by del hallow. So far theres no sign of stripers in the Delaware. went out on a charter boat near sandy hook (Dorothy B is a great party boat) 3 keepers were caught, but there in NJ, and theres rumors of alot of striper at bulls island on the delawere. but there coming good luck
 
#313 ·
I got a 36" tiger musky out of the river, forever ago 1990 i think but that was at burlington city.

Anyway the wife and i are heading out again this morning, thinking about heading down to the talcony bridge area first then back up to rancocus. we are due for a good day, hopefully the clouds help. I will be on channel 9. I'd rather be fishing!!!
 
#317 ·
Sorry for the delay been busy.
Pulled and overnighter on the river sun-mon. Then went back out Monday afternoon til night. Well for tue first overnight trip of the year for me I was impressed at my ability to locate the fish we caught 5 bass before midnight all in the range of 29"-35" and then 4 bass 23"-26" between 3-5am. Maybe 12 catfish one was 36" 15lbs I'd say easy. Live creek chubs-drifting clams and live eels drifting and anchored up with clams and salt herring. All caught fish.
Monday afternoon fish 2pm-9pm couldn't find a big bass all day but we landed around 12-15 slots before it got dark then on eels we got 2 bass @28"&30". Did lose 3 bass both figured to be over 28" tho never saw them. Caught another 5 or 6 cats and 3 eels tht were chunked and produced 4 slots. All other slots came on chubs and herring. All cats were on clams and chubs.
 
#319 ·
Within the city limits of Philadelphia i prob only have 3-4 trips left on the river then I'm flippen the switch to bays and beaches only because I'm really starting to miss them both. If u pm me I'll give u an area tht has produced for me.
On another note: is it illegal to take big timber limbs tired to chains and cinderblocks out in the river and drop in same spot over and over to create a great feeding spot on the river? Not saying I've done this over the years (dont want to ruffle feathers) jus wondering wht the take is on these actions? I was just told it's not legal recently any truth and where can I find the regs.? I searched and couldn't find and ordances or regs to say it's illegal but maybe I'm missing something.
 
#320 ·
philly is hike for me cause i have 3 kids 8 months to 5 years old as fishing partners. But maybe i will make it down. I switchdd boats from an aluminum john to a whaler so the skiny water that i have been fishing is out and i am learning new spots south of trenton. So any direction woild be appreciated
 
#326 ·
Is tht a tripod video on front?
Yeah I fabricated a monopod camera mount on the center console. I usea gopro wide video. I actually need to order a small digital camera because I need to take a still photo of my catches for kayak wars and although my gopro shoots stills it would be too much of a pain to take the camera off the mount and to take a pic and then put it back.
 
#327 ·
Jus found a new creek chub spot lol thousands easy. Found it on my lunch break I'll have to set 2 traps Tomm they were some really big ones too I didn't see any under 6" truly big ones too like 8" were most abundant I'm just so excited jus had to post it. I haven't had many 6-8" ones this year my numbers of may Stripers is about to climb on saturday
 
#330 ·
Brinkmans bait and tackle report: 5-11-12

Only had one day off this week and that day Helen had to work. So it was me and the dog hitting the river on Wednesday. I was on the river about 9 in a misty drizzle. Had a great dropping tide and all kinds of fresh baits. The weather cleared and the river looked like a sheet of glass. Even had the perfect change through the low tide. Again not much to talk about. I landed 11 stripers 4 to 15 inches. 4 catfish all about 2 pounds. 25 to 50 white perch and a few monster eels. And again not for a lake of trying. I was in my favorite 4 spots and even hit several spots I heard customers talk about. Just for me no fish. I may give it one more week out here and start heading up river for smallmouth bass. Now my report should not discourage you from heading out. There are still lots of stripers being caught. And with all these stripers there have been lots of slot fish and bigger fish landed. Down around the airport the fishing has been the best. Everyone I talk to that is fishing these waters are catching plenty of fish 15 to 40 inches. Most of these fish are being caught off the banks at the UPS building, Fort Mifland and National Park. Most all these fish are being caught with bloodworms with a the bigger fish with clams and bunker. I even heard the wardens had a field day on Saturday and Sunday with guys keeping too many fish, small fish and even some fish 38 to 43 inches. It is about time they crack down. Now Paul is down below fishing and said he is catching plenty of fish but most of them are 15 to just a slot fish. He has been using bloodworms and clams. His main problem is the amount of perch. But some of these fish have been a pound or a bit bigger. Up at the Tacony a customer caught 4 slots on Sunday with one 38 inch fish. He caught all these fish with bunker. One fisherman out front of Maggie's caught a few slot fish this past week with a few up to 29 inches. He has been doing best with bunker but has also caught fish with clams. Out front of the Rancocas there are all the stripers you can catch. Problem is most of the fish are under 12 inches. I was there and worked a sabiki rig for about 10 minutes. With the 11 fish I caught on bait I landed another 10 stripers and 15 white perch with the sabiki rig. All these fish were super little. With bloodworms up there customers have been catching 25 to 50 fish. Most of these fish have been 8 to 15 inches. Up river in by the red buoy a nice 31 inch fish was caught on a chunk of herring. This customer also caught a bunch of smaller fish and lots of catfish. Dave hit the turnpike bridge on Saturday catching a few decent stripers and lots of catfish with clams and bunker. They went up to Trenton on Sunday and plugged for stripers all day and only had one single hit. Up at Trenton there are a few guys working black Bombers, poppers and shad bodies all night long and real early in the mornings catching a few fish 24 to 33 inches. But over all it has been extremely slow up there. One fisherman around the Burlington Bristol Bridge picked up a 36, 24 and a 12 inch striper on Saturday all caught with bunker. He also had several decent catfish. What he has been doing is getting dropped off and walking away from the bridge. He has fished here allot and has not been chased. The guys parking are the ones getting nailed real quick. Little Al will be having his monthly tournament this coming Sunday. Last month they caught a few nice stripers and lots of catfish. This is at the Frankford Arsenal. Up at the art museum they have still been doing great with stripers 15 to 30 inches with plugs, poppers and shad bodies. They are also still catching a few shad with darts and spoons. The walleye fishing here has dropped off the past couple weeks. A couple guys this morning told me that a few decent stripers have been caught up off Camer Drive. These fish were caught with fresh bunker. I heard on fish was in the mid to upper 30 inch class. Station has been slow but they are still catching a few smaller fish with bunker, clams and bloodworms. The Pennypack has still been very good for trout. The best fishing is still way up the creek at Lemur Park. These guys have been catching 3 to 10 fish a day with meal worms, wax worms, power baits and spinners. Here they are catching a few really nice fish 17 to 24 inches. Down at Pine Road a customer picked up a nice 21 inch palomino trout over the weekend. He caught this fish with a Panther Martin. He also had 9 other trout and a bunch of rock bass and bluegills. Down at the Boulevard several guys are still doing quite well with trout and have even caught a few nice carp below the dam. The carp were caught with corn and the trout have been hitting wax worms, earthworms and power baits. Down at Rhawn Street several guys have been doing great with wax worms, salted minnows, trout magnets and Berkley trout worms. Pete fished right behind Judge catching a limit of 13 to 15 inch trout on Monday with meal worms. He also caught a bunch of bluegills mixed in. Levittown Lake has still been fair for trout but the bass and crappies are starting to hit much better. The trout have been biting on power bait, wax worms, meal worms and spoons. The bass have been caught with smaller spinner baits, spoons, plastic worms and nightcrawlers. The crappies have been hitting smaller minnows and spinners the best. Core Creek is back to summer time slow. One fisherman under the Woodbourne Bridge caught 2 decent trout and a few smaller bass early in the week. He caught all these fish with nightcrawlers. Anthony and Steve were up on Monday only catching a few bluegills and yellow perch. They were using spinners, jigs and minnows. In the spillway there are still a bunch of white perch being caught with small jigs, trout magnets, meal worms and small minnows. Fall's Township is picking up each week. Jim had another real good week with largemouth bass fishing plastic worms, small rattle traps and jigs. I have several other guys head up here fishing the shoreline with minnows and worms catching a few crappies, perch and bluegills. There are a few guys out looking for walleyes doing fair. These guys are out in boats or kayaks drifting minnows and nightcrawlers on spinner rigs. Most of these fish have been 15 to 21 inches. A few guys hitting the upper part of the Neshaminy have been doing great on smallmouth bass, rock bass and bluegills. Minnows have been working best here. The lower part of the Neshaminy there have been lots of catfish, carp and bass being caught. One fisherman right were the creek dumps into the river picked up 6 largemouth bass with plastic worms and jigs. He also caught a couple catfish on the lures. The carp have been hitting up around Hulmeville Road. These guys have been using corn, carp baits and boilies. At the Frankford Arsenal they have also caught a few bigger carp this past week. These fish were caught with corn, bagels and boilies. These fish were 20 to 25 pounds. The Perkiomen has also been real good for smaller bass, rock bass and bluegills. These guys have been doing best with minnows, small twister tails and spinners. Charlie fished both the Tohickon and the river this past week. In the creek he did well with smallmouth bass and bluegills throwing shallow crankbaits, Tiny Torpedo's and twister tails. In the river he fished white and chartreuse grubs to catch a few bass and a bunch of small stripers in the rapids below the Stockton bridge. Tom fished in the Lamberville section of the river doing great with smallmouth bass 12 to 15 inches and lots of stripers 14 to 21 inches. No walleyes this past week up in these waters. John had another real good morning at Noxamixion fishing with plastic worms and lizards. He boated 7 largemouth bass up to 19 inches. He did have one monster fish with a jig but never got to see it. He thinks it was a largemouth but was not sure. His buddies that have been doing good on stripers have switched to night fishing with alewives, big Zara Spooks, 5 3/4 and 7 inch Fin-s fish and bucktails. They caught a few fish 12 to 16 pounds this past week. Ron gave up on FDR park with only smaller bass and bluegills hitting now. He said working small minnows, meal worms and trout magnets will catch you all the 4 to 8 inch fish you can want to catch. Now he did head up the Schuylkill river this past week from Norristown down to Gladwyn. He caught lots of smallmouth bass with minnows, twister tails, Rapala's, Pin's minnows and spinners. He did not have any nice fish but said each trip he caught 8 to 20 bass 8 to 15 inches. Mixed in are lots of bluegills. His buddies have been fishing below the dam for catfish and have had some great success. They have been fishing chunked bluegills, bunker, nightcrawlers, herring and chicken livers. This past week they had channel catfish up to 7 pounds, white cats up to 5 pounds and flatheads up to 17 pounds. One fisherman out at Struble Lake in Delaware County had a great trip with crappies, bluegills and largemouth bass. He went out with minnows and worms only to catch fish with little tube lures and marabou jigs. He caught bass up to 3 pounds, crappies up to a pound and palm size bluegills. He said it took most of the night to fillet all the panfish. Another place some nice crappies were caught was Lake Galena. These guys caught these 13 to 15 inch crappies with shiners under a slip bobber. The fish were held up in 15 to 25 feet of water. Now I know I have mention Churchville the past couple week. One fisherman was fishing off the bridge and was told heavy fines will be given out if he was caught fishing there again. Before he got stopped he caught a few crappies and perch. But one other fisherman has still been catching some nice bass off the roadway with spinner baits and rattle traps. The lower part of the Delaware has picked up for largemouth bass. Steve told me that he is catching about 12 fish a trip with senko worms. He is fishing the back coves. Rick started to hit the main river with little success so he headed back into Dredge Harbor to boat 9 bass up to 15 inches. He caught most of these fish with slider worms and slider bass grubs. On the main river he only caught a few smaller stripers with rattle traps and top water lures. Down in the Susquehanna flats there are some good reports of stripers with top water lures, shallow crankbaits, rattle traps, shad bodies and Fin-s Fish. These guys have been catching allot of fish 24 to 35 inches. I was hoping for more saltwater reports this week with the opening of flounder season. Up north they have still been crushing the stripers. I had one customer give me about 10 pounds of fillets that he caught on Tuesday. He caught most of these fish with big spoons and diamond jigs. He said over all the fishing was slow that day but to catch you limit is not hard even when the bite is off. Several other guys were out on the Mohawk catching stripers up to 30 pounds. These guys and all the guys on this boat were using 5 to 9 ounce silver spoons. We just got a fresh stock of these big spoons back in. Now there were a few guys our of Breele for flounder but all these guys said the fishing was real slow so they headed north and chunked bunker for limits of stripers. Out of Tom's River one fisherman had his first limit of flounder in over 10 years. Now he said most of these fish were just 18 to 19 1/2 inches. He caught most of the fish with bucktails and spearing. This same customer has been catching 12 to 25 keeper crabs each trip out. For these he has been baiting eels on hand lines. Fred had one great weekend. He was out both Saturday and Sunday for flounder, sea bass, blackfish and even caught several keeper stripers. Saturday they spent the morning fishing the back bay and right out front for fluke. They boated 8 keepers and also had 19 throw backs. These fish were caught with squid, minnows, spearing and bucktails. Fishing off shore in the afternoon they boated sea bass up to 3 pounds and blackfish up to 4 pounds. Most of these fish were caught on crabs and clams. Sunday they only spent a couple hours flounder fishing putting 6 keepers in the cooler. The biggest here was 6 pounds. He they hit a school of bunker so they got out the snag hooks and caught bait to land 9 stripers up to 32 pounds. Not a bad weekend. Out of Atlantic City several guys were out fluke fishing. These guys caught lots of keepers but also had tons of throw backs. Here again squid, minnows and bucktails were the hot baits. In the back there are some smaller kingfish starting to show up. I heard Brigantine there have been several nice kingfish caught off the beach. These guys have been using bloodworms and Fish Bites. The Cape May rips have still been pretty good for smaller stripers. Most of these fish have been 24 to 30 inches and have been hitting clams, bunker, eels and metal the best. Now the drum fish have shown up in the Delaware and Barnegat Bays. In the Delaware Bay I had one fish weighted in at 95 pounds on Monday. These guys said there were several other big fish on the same trip. One other fisherman told me a party boat landed 9 drum up to 65 pounds. Most all these fish are caught with clams. Off Cape May point one fisherman landed 2 throw back flounder and 1 throw back striper on Saturday. He was fishing with clams and squid. He did see one nice flounder 21 inches 4 1/2 pounds caught off Sunset beach late Sunday. Up the Delaware Bay for stripers has still been quite slow. Now they are catching a few big fish here and there but nothing to write home about. And the two hot beaches have been just dead. Now up off Long Beach Island there was a good bite for bluefish a couple late afternoons. These fish were on bunker, mullet and spoons. Russ was out of Brick and had a couple real good days on legal and throw back stripers. He has been doing best with clams and Deadly Dicks fished on a teaser rig. Island State Park has been another place for some good blues and stripers. Here it has been hit or miss on how close to the beach the fish are. Again mullet, bunker, clams and metal have been working best. One customer just back from the shore said there was a great bite on stripers off Cape May this morning with clams and sandworms. These fish were 22 to 30 inches. Most guys came home with limits of these fish. South Jersey has still been real good for pickerel, bass, crappies, white and yellow perch and bluegills. Union Lake was great for John both days on the weekend. He has been running up the main creek using smaller twister tails and live minnows catching some real nice yellow perch. Mixed in are 8 to 12 inch pickerel and a bunch of smaller bass. The main lake has been real good for pickerel but the bass are starting to move up to spawn and the bite is slow. Now Rich did catch a few big bass this past week. He said working 7 inch Culprit worms, 5 inch Senko worms and spinner baits landed him 3 bass 5 to 7 pounds. He also caught a bunch of smaller bass and pickerel. This was on Lake Lenape. Spruce Run has been good for smallies, crappies and perch with live minnows, Senko worms and spinners. A few guys were down fishing Manasquan Reservoir doing great on largemouth bass 2 to 6 pounds. These guys did best with rattle traps, rubber skirted jigs, spinner baits and grass frogs. They also caught lots of pickerel mixed in. Stone Tavern has also been real good for bass and pickerel. These guys have been doing best with live minnows but have also caught fish with plastic worms and spinner baits. Well that is all I have time for this week. Looks like a great weekend on it way and I hope all the mother have a great Mother's Day
 
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