Black drum have arrived at the Jersey Shore with solid reports popping up all over from down on the Delaware Bay on up to the Barnegat Bay. The spawning run for these big boomers gets a lot of attention later into May and June down Cape May and Fortescue, but for dinner-table size drum stretching north – by boat or by bank – the time has come to hit the back waters! In the first 10 minutes of this week’s report we run through striped bass and black drum reports, with another lunar look at bluefish and weakfish in the days ahead as water temps warm. Part two of this week’s report spotlights a serious issue with our 2026 regulations for fluke, sea bass and porgies – particularly for the for-hire fleet! Also, what you need to know about the new bluefish bag limits, and who actually qualifies for that seven-fish bag limit. Canyon Runner is back with another weekly spotlight on the offshore grounds, George has your freshwater report, Capt. Benn checks in from the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, and we wrap up the week out at Spring Lake from this past Saturday’s kids trout fishing tournament.
