Article by Larry Jock
This Week Last Year
•9.8 lb. flounder wins the Paradise Grill Flounder Pounder
•Indian River Inlet flounder fishing was spotty and anglers caught short stripers at night.
•Spanish mackerel and bluefish at Fenwick Shoal.
•Cobia still being caught along coastline, south of Indian River.
•Good numbers of croaker were found 2-5 miles off the beach.
•Lewes Canal fishing tapered off. Really warm water temperatures.
•Croakers on a lot of Delaware Bay reef sites.
•Cape Henlopen Pier holding flounder, spot, snapper bluefish and croakers.
•Billfish bite was good in the Baltimore and Poor Man’s Canyons
It turned out to be a nice week of fishing and the big news, of course, was the big money flounder tournament, the Paradise Grill & Short’s Marine Flounder Pounder. They were down around 19 boats versus last year, but the prize money was still large. The “El Nino” got on the board early and stayed there to the end with an 8.6 pounder caught at McCrie Shoal off the Cape May Point, earning them $100,000 in award money. “Builders Choice” came in 2nd place with a 7.9 lb. flounder and a 7.2 pounder caught on the “Mac Attack” finished in 3rd place. This was the second year in a row that the winning fish was under 10 lbs. which is very surprising. Last years winner was a 9.8 pounder, but the prior year had a 11.4 lb. flounder in the winners circle. By presstime on Monday, we weren’t able to get photos of the winners, so look for them in next weeks issue.
At Lewes Harbour Marina, Capt. Tommy said that flounder fishing in the Lewes Canal is decent right now with no particular hot spot. Most of the fish are in the 16 1/2 to 19-inch range. He hasn’t seen many slot stripers being caught, but he did say that spot are getting larger and are being caught on Fishbite bloodworms.
The action around the Walls has been slow, but a few triggerfish are still being caught along with the occasional throwback tautog and a few flounder on flat bottom.
Croakers are all over the Delaware reef sites and especially in the Shipping Channel and at Brown Shoal. Flounder fishing has been the best at the Star Site Reef and at Sites 6 & 8. A?few weakfish are being caught, but the bite is nowhere near as good as it was earlier in the season.
Those looking for flounder in the ocean are mostly heading to McCrie Shoal off the Cape May Point. Overall, the ocean flounder bite continues to be disappointing with a noticeable lack of larger fish. It has started to pick up at the Old Grounds, but everyone has told me that Site 10 has been dead. There has been some decent bites around “B” Buoy.
Inshore, anglers trolling spoons around the 19 Fathom Lump and between Fenwick Shoal and Massey’s Canyon are still catching Spanish mackerel, king mackerel and even some dolphin. This is the time of year when anglers can pick-up some peanut dolphin around some inshore lumps and pots.
The sea bass bite continues to be spotty, but some good action was found last week at the DelJerseyLand Reef Site where the “Grizzly” had 80 keepers.
Capt. Mike at Rick’s Bait & Tackle survived the onslaught of customers from the Flounder Pounder and reported that the Indian River and Rehoboth Bays are loaded with spot and some small croaker. His customers found some short stripers and small bluefish at night in the Indian River Inlet.
Outside the inlet, anglers fishing around the Delaware Lightship found dolphin around the pots and king mackerel at the Jackspot. Some dolphin were also caught at the Old Grounds.
Capt. Bert at Hook’em & Cook’em said that cobia are still being caught along the coastline on bucktails and eels. Nick Ferrara had his souped-up jet ski along the Bethany coast and caught a 72 pounder on a live eel.
In the Indian River Inlet, flounder fishing has been better for anglers fishing by boat than off the rocks. Mostly short fish are being caught from the shore. Live spot is the best flounder bait right now, but Gulp artificial baits also work well. Triggerfish and sheepshead are being caught off the South Jetty.
Outside the inlet, croakers and triggerfish are being caught from right off the beach to outside Site 10. Bert also said that his customers had a good time bailing dolphin around the sea bass pots near “A” Buoy and the Lightship.
In the surf, the kingfish and bluefish bite are pretty good with sharks, rays and skates at night.
Until next week, have fun and tight lines!