Article by Rick Willman
Hi folks! Fishing the back bays continues to be quite productive. The croakers are still plentiful and there seems to be larger fish in the mix. Flounder are also providing plenty of action, but most of them are throwbacks. The baits of choice remain to be the Berkley Gulp! products and of course the old reliable squid and minnow combo. Frozen shiners and smelt are also producing bites.
Bruce Kidd of White House Beach used a live minnow to boat a 7 lb. 1 oz. citation flattie from the Indian River Bay. Gary Gerber and Cameron Gladfelter used squid and minnow to trick flounder of 5 lbs. 13 oz. and 4 lbs. 15 oz. Mike Smith soaked some Berkley Gulp! shrimp in the Indian River Inlet to fool a 3 lb. 6 oz. flounder.
Ocean fishing is picking up at spots such as Reef Site #10, the DB Buoy and Old Grounds areas. Bob Kinsley, Glenn Clark and Taylor Clark fished the Old Grounds aboard the “Uncle Bob” and boated 3 flounder and 8 sea bass. Scott Heiland fished the DB Buoy aboard the “Bushwacker” using squid & minnow to bag a 4.75 lb. flounder.
Offshore fishing has been relatively spotty, with dolphin providing much of the action. Capt Bill Burkhart on the “Toss Em Back Charters” boated a white marlin and a dolphin while trolling the 40 line.
I would like to thank John Ratliff, owner of the boat the “NO WORRIES” and Donnie Culver for inviting me along to fish one day of the White Marlin Open. It was a pleasure to fish on a fine boat with a great group of guys. Also a “thumbs up” to Capt. Chris Corbi for doing a great job of piloting the boat in not so great conditions. We managed to bring home three dolphin and the boat was on the board in the dolphin division until day three. Best of luck to the gang for the rest of the year, and I sure hope to fish with them again.
Ron from Rattle & Reel Sporting Center on Long Neck Rd. informed me that there are loads of croaker and spot being caught near Gull Island using Fishbites artificial bloodworms. The croakers are improving in size. Flounder action is also picking up in the ocean from the DB Buoy to the DA Buoy, as well as the Old Grounds. Ron says minnows and Gulp! are the ticket to catching fish.
At Henlopen Bait & Tackle on Savannah Rd in Lewes, Dan reported good flounder action on the Delaware Reef Sites, the Brown Shoal and the Anchorage. Spot and croaker can be found just about everywhere. Bloodworms are the bait of choice for the spot and croakers. Action from the surf is pretty slow, which is typical for this time of year.
Bill’s Sport Shop in Lewes reported successful anglers. Drew Osberg fished Site 10 using squid and minnows and caught 3 flounder ranging from 25.5-inches to 19.5-inches. He was fishing on the vessel "O' Buoy" with Capt. Mike Osberg and Hunter Patton, who boated a 20 1/2-inch flattie. David Eisenhower and crew boated over 20 flounder with 4 keepers using white bucktails tipped with Gulp!. Mark Stiegler called from the beach and reported that bluefish to 14-inches and kings to 13-inches were keeping him busy in the suds using fresh mullet and cut bluefish.
Felitia Perrin, age 9, caught 6 croaker and spot while fishing the Pier with bloodworms under the guidance of her uncle Steve Perrin. Matt Langdon and his friends Mark and Mark fished the Baltimore Canyon aboard the "Ofishal". They caught 5 dolphin ranging from 10 to 19 lbs. while trolling between 500 and 1000 fathoms. Michael Davidson on the "Spoiled Three" caught a 62-inch, 137 lb. and a 46-inch, 80 lb. bluefin tuna with Capt. Angelo Delapo. The guys also got spooled on an 80TW at the Tea Cup.
While talking to Bert at Hook'em & Cook'em Bait and Tackle at North Shore Marina, I was told the Indian River Inlet has been giving up some flounder, tog, sheepshead, blues and stripers. Minnows, squid, sand fleas, and of course the Berkley Gulp! products have all been winning baits. From just outside the inlet to the Buoy Lines anglers have been finding a mix of croakers, trout, flounder and sea bass. The headboats have been putting their fares on flounder and sea bass. In the suds along the beaches anglers will find some croaker and kingfish with a few spot and blues in the mix. Dolphin have been taken by folks trolling anywhere from the Buoy Line and east. A blue marlin weighing in at 443 lbs. was brought in aboard the “Miss Donna”. Lori Irelan was fishing aboard the “Out of Line” and boated a 42 lb. wahoo.
Bert also reported a few yellowfin tuna being weighed in. Justin Boyd was fishing on the “Jimmy’s Dream” and trolled up a 23.9 lb. dolphin. Jack Forrest took home a 28.7 lb. dolphin while trolling aboard the “Reel Passion”. Dan Iacangell was fishing the Old Grounds aboard the “Sea Hair” and boated a 7.5 lb. flattie. Bert said there is plenty of action everywhere.
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said if you can’t catch a croaker in the Delaware Bay now, you better take up golf! Hardheads of varying sizes are spread over most of the bay, and the marina cleaning station was busy with wheelbarrow loads of tasty panfish during the weekend. Small croakers were just about everywhere, but bigger specimens hung out around the concrete at reef site 5 in the Broadkill Slough. Clams, bloodworms, shrimp, squid, Fishbites and Gulp! bloodworms all attracted bites.
Flounder action continued as hot as the weather, with structure yielding some quite impressive flatfish. An 11.14 lb. doormat caught by Jake Knox topped the list of big fluke. Jake’s fish ate a chartreuse Gulp! swimming mullet at reef site 10. Billy Wright boated a 9.35 pounder, also at site 10. Scott Peterson was fishing the Brown Shoal reefs aboard the “Top Fin” when he connected with an 8.88 pounder. Chet Harer, Captain of the “Lil’ Angler II”, showed his patrons how it’s done by decking an 8.44 lb. flounder at site 10. Joe Walker added another citation fluke to his list for this year, an 8.14 pounder from an ocean reef. Cary Rutherford captured a 7.43 lb. flattie from site 6 in the bay. Captain Brent Wiest squeezed in a little fishing time between helping others catch fluke, and managed to put a 7.28 pounder in the box for himself.
In addition to the Brown Shoal and Star reefs, the open bottom gave up flounder as well. In the bay, the area between reef sites 6 and 7 in the hook of Brown Shoal was productive. Flatties were taken near the A Buoy also. The water was cleaner, and boat traffic was more spread out in the ocean. Bottom contours between the DB and DA buoys were productive. Flounder showed a preference for fresh meat, and strips of bluefish and spot were top producers. However, smelt, shiners, squid, live spot and minnows caught fish as well. Bucktail jigs tipped with Gulp! also did a number on flatfish. Inshore wrecks held triggerfish. Clam, shrimp and sand fleas were good offerings. Sometimes, triggerfish will follow others that have been hooked right to the boat. Alert anglers who drop baits to them can put extra fish in the box. Joe Walker, Tony Vansant and Joe Walker, Jr. got in on a good triggerfish bite at the Fenwick Shoal wreck. They kept 50 triggers, 9 flounder to 6.5 lbs., and a 5 lb. spadefish. Inshore trollers picked at small bluefish, king mackerel and an occasional dolphin between the A Buoy and the Delaware Light. Drones and Clark spoons behind an in-line weight or a planer were effective. Diving plugs such as Rapalas and Stretch 25s worked too. Some anglers reported cobia hanging out around the weather buoy. It’s good to have a rod ready with a live spot or eel, just in case you encounter a cobia on some floating structure. Tuna catches remained spotty. The most consistent action was with big bluefins at the Lobster Claw of the Thirty Fathom Line. Tuna were taken by chunking with butterfish and sardines, and on Butterfly and hammered diamond jigs. Barney Gallagher brought back a 117.6 lb. bluefin.
Fred Wagner checked in a 145 pounder from the Claw. Decent numbers of dolphin were available between 20 and 40 fathoms. The guys on the “Skipjack” chunked up 16 gaffers from 12 to 15 lbs. this past Thursday night. Garry Tilton got an 18.3 pounder while trolling the 19 Fathom Lump.
‘Til next week, have fun and be safe!
Rick and his wife Deb are owners of Rick’s Bait & Tackle in Long Neck, DE.
