North Del Bay/Ship John

[ddonalds13]

heading out of Salem NJ to hit the Del Bay and looking for some reports of fishing the northern part of the bay. anything hitting around Ship John? also - how far have stripers come into the bay this time of year with this water temp?

[DaddysToy]

Sorry for late reply:lower and mid-bay reports have been few due to recent weather. Those that have put forth the effort have hit some stripers to almost 40". Only reports I've heard from upper bay have been shorts. Lower bay rips around Cape May always tend to produce, recent water temp report have been around 64.

[ddonalds13]

going out tomorrow. i'll see what i can hit and post back. thanks for the info.

[DaddysToy]

A few updates from some local websites: still nobody hitting the upper bay too hard but middle and lower bay have been producing alot while chunking bunker. 1 guy in 20' water had all shorts but alot, next guy in 40' had a few but all 34"-40", both chunking bunker again. Another buddy of mine working Indian River Inlet with lead and rubber had non-stop action on shorts but he won't tell me weight or color until after I go. (what a pal) [grin] I'm going Saturday, will chunk and throw lead, I'll post back if I do any good. Also water temps were in the mid to high 50's but may inch back up after this week.

[ddonalds13]

actually did get out over the weekend, but ended up turning back bacause of the chop. it was 2-3' with some stiff winds. threw some lures at the back end of the salem river, but missed the tides and wasn't hitting anything. it was short trip. will be attempting to get out this weekend again. the shops up here did indicate bunker was pulling them in from other anglers from early this week. thanks for the info.