Article by Larry Jock
We had some beautiful weather last week and the ocean and bay calmed down enough to get anglers out on the water on most days where they found plenty of flounder, weakfish, bluefins and bigeyes.
At Hook’em & Cook’em in the Indian River Marina, Capt. Bert Adams told me that the bite in the Indian River Inlet has been “semi-slow” recently. Anglers are catching some flounder, mainly around the Coast Guard Station on small spot and finger mullet. A few small stripers have also fell victim to offerings of small spot. Finding small spot is the problem, with most caught being too large to use for bait. On Sunday, those drifting in the Inlet caught good numbers of bluefish in the 3 to 4 lb. range. Small croakers were also caught both in the Inlet and just outside.
Speaking of croakers, fish cleaner extraordinaire Christopher Adams took a rare day off and annihilated the croaker while fishing with Fishbite bloodworms 1.5 miles from the bay, up in Cedar Creek.
The full-day head boat, “Capt. Bob II” had a great day on Saturday on ocean structure. The boat returned from its full-day trip with 32 keeper flounder, ranging from 3 to 7 lbs. They also had 18 sea bass as well.
The half-day head boat, “Judy V.” also had a good day on Saturday with 18 nice size flounder in the box topped off with 18 sea bass.
Offshore anglers fishing out of Indian River also had good days chasing tuna. On Saturday, Capt. Charlie Horning on the new “Fish Whistle” took his son, John on a trip to the Washington Canyon when he landed a 222 lb. bigeye. Also on Saturday, the “Rusty Reel” decked 5 yellowfins, ranging from 45 to 56 lbs. in the Poor Man’s Canyon.
At Capt. Mac’s High Performance Tackle in Fenwick, Eric reported that both red and black drum are still being caught in the Ditch by anglers fishing with peeler crabs. One fellow walked in on Monday with a 21-inch red drum that weighed over 4 lbs. In addition to drum, both croakers and flounder are being caught in the Ditch as well.
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said bucket loads of croakers continue to show up at the cleaning table. Better sized hardheads in the 10 to 14-inch range are mixed with multitudes of small fish, so you can cull through and end up with specimens that yield a decent fillet.
Numerous kingfish, hand size spot, blowfish and spike trout mingled among croakers for a nice mixed bag. This collection of panfish could be found on most structure in the Bay, including Reefs 5 and 8, The Shears and the rock walls off Lewes. Bloodworms, Fishbites or pieces of clam on small hook bottom rigs produced all the action you wanted. The constant catching pleases anglers of all skill levels and is especially fun for beginners. Many fishermen use really light tackle to make the most of the fight from scrappy hardheads.
Spot and croakers were plentiful in Lewes Canal and Broadkill River as well. Canal anglers also hooked slot stripers and puppy black drum near the Drawbridge and Train Bridge.
Roosevelt Inlet yielded trout and some legal flounder. Jason Mowery and Travis Habecker checked in 3 keeper flatties to 20 inches they got with Gulp! at Roosevelt.
Weakfish and Kingfish have been quite plentiful this season, and some quality ones have been brought in. Lou Papp landed a 3.04 pound trout, and Carol Timmons took home a 1.26 pound king. Leon Zimmerman told of catching several trout in the 15 to 18-inch range while tossing pink Gulp! Swimming Mullets along the Outer Wall. The Outer Wall, Ice Breakers and lower Bay wrecks held tautog, triggerfish, plus the occasional spadefish and sheepshead.
Flounder catching in the Delaware Bay has picked up since full moon tidal currents have subsided. Captain Pete’s guys on “Top Fin” bucktailed 7 keepers off Site 5 on Saturday. Bobby Bryant and his buddies put 10 fluke in the box at Site 5 last Monday.
Ocean fluking has been pretty good. Captain Brent’s flukers aboard the “Katydid” fished reef rubble last Sunday for 14 keepers, including a 6.03 pounder for Fred Robinson, and a 5.82 pound flattie that Capt. Brent himself added to the take. On Monday, the “Katydid” returned with 19 flounder, plus a bunch of kingfish and triggerfish. Richard Adams had the heaviest fluke, weighing 5.57 pounds. Sunday’s group aboard the “Katydid” kept 15 flatfish to 5 plus pounds. Eric Meck managed a 5.9 pound flounder, one of six nice keepers from Site 11 on Saturday aboard the “Quintessa”.
Wreck fishermen got into nice sea bass. Captain Carey anchored the “Grizzly” over an inshore snag on Wednesday to capture 39 bass weighing up to 3.75 pounds, 45 ling and a bonus pair of mahi-mahi. The “Grizzly” set up for some wrecking again on Saturday and ended up with 104 sea bass, 62 ling and a 9.4 pound cod. Captain Brian on the “Lil’ Angler II” reported his bassers had a nice batch of big blueheads on Saturday at the Radford wreck in Del-Jersey-Land reef site.
The tuna bite continued at the Hot Dog. Being there first thing in the morning was key for success. Trollers still took some fish with spreader bars and skirted ballyhoos, but crews chunking with butterfish and sardines seemed to do better. Fish responded to hammered diamond jigs and butterfly jigs too. Bluefins of varying sizes roamed the lump, and yellowfins and dolphin were mixed in. The “Katydid” was on the spot at daybreak on Saturday and connected to a couple quality tuna while baiting with butters. Ralph Driscoll decked a beast of an inshore yellowfin, that tipped the scales to 107 pounds. The guys also put a 75 pound bluefin aboard. Captain Brent then headed off to the Baltimore where they dropped for a load of gray and golden tilefish. Captain Pete and the boys on “Candy’s Reel Choice” deep dropped in the Wilmington on Saturday to capture 14 golden tiles. They spent the night in the Baltimore where they battled a very large swordfish for over two hours before it finally escaped.
Until next week, tight lines!
