Article by Larry Jock
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said ocean flounder action is on the upswing. Boaters working natural bottom of the Old Grounds and artificial structures at Reef Site 11 recorded decent catches during the week. One of the most notable came for flukers with Captain Brent aboard the charter boat, “Katydid” on Wednesday. His group ended up with their limit of 44 flatties to 5+ pounds while drifting Site 11. Ernie Stone checked in on Friday with 4 fluke to nearly five pounds from his trip to ocean structure.
The subway cars are still giving up sea bass, ling and cod. A group of hard fishin’ locals loaded up with bass, hake, codfish and fluke there aboard the “Katydid” on Thursday. Matt Mundok took big fish honors with his 5.75 pound flatfish. Rick Lawson landed a 5.11 pound flounder while drifting a minnow and squid sandwich at the Old Grounds on Saturday.
Farther offshore, tuna trollers found yellowfins and bigeyes in the Baltimore and Wilmington Canyons. It’s been all about that “Flippy Floppy Thing”! Crews pulling the crazy daiseys created by Bill Pino at Squidnation report the chain’s radical action drives fish wild, and both tuna and billfish find the lures irresistible. Shawn Gallagher and his guys on the “Freespool” trolled between the Baltimore and Wilmington Canyons on Wednesday for eleven nice yellowfins. and two that were released. Travis Clouse landed the 41 pounder.
Back inshore, Delaware Bay anglers encountered croakers, kingfish and blowfish around the artificial reefs. Sites 5 and 8 were productive. New moon currents created tough drift conditions for Delaware Bay flukers, but there was a small window of opportunity at the end of the ebb tide around Reefs 5 and 8. Small boaters and kayakers paddling through shallow water on Henlopen Flats between the pier and the Point found flatfish. Steve and AJ Wiles fished minnows near the burned out part of the pier from their two-man kayak for five nice keepers. Josh Stevenson used his canoe to get close to the pier and captured a 22 1/2-inch fluke.
Flatties also continued to come from Broadkill River and Lewes Canal. Drew Holladay decked a 22 1/2-incher while drifting Gulp! artificial baits in the Canal. Steve Warren landed three fine flounder weighing up to 5 pounds while casting a Nuclear Chicken Gulp! from the Town Dock.
Rockfish roamed the Canal as well. Joe Huk spent the day sharking but didn’t get enough fishing in, so he made a couple casts when he got back to the Canal. A 32-inch striper was waiting for him and inhaled the chunk of mackerel he soaked on the bottom. Matt Slauch scored a 16.4 pounder by jigging a bucktail near the Drawbridge. Boaters tossing Bomber plugs along the Outer Wall at dusk and dawn hooked keeper rock too.
At the Hook’em & Cook’em Tackle Shop in the Indian River Marina, Capt. Bert Adams is excited that the flounder bite has definitely picked up in the Indian River Inlet. They weighed a 5 pounder on Monday morning and most of the action is coming from anglers drifting shiners with those using Gulp! Swimming Mullets right behind.
Bluefish continue to roam the inlet with a good bite experienced on Sunday at the end of the incoming tide.
Stripers are also being caught by anglers tossing bucktails, eels and swim shads off the North Jetty early in the morning.
The headboats “Captain Bob II” and “Judy V” are definitely seeing an improvement in flounder fishing on ocean structure. A few sea bass are also being caught but there are also a lot of throwbacks right now.
Most of the boats that headed offshore out of the Indian River Marina went to the Wilmington Canyon where they encountered schools of yellowfin tuna and bigeyes. On Sunday, the “Boy’s Toy” had a great day, returning with a 215 lb. bigeye and 12 yellowfins from the Wilmington Canyon. Another group of anglers boated a 170 lb. bigeye in the Baltimore Canyon while trolling ballyhoo.
Finally, the crew on the “Risk Reward” boated a 340 lb. thresher shark while fishing around “B” Buoy. They lured the big shark in with Hook’em & Cook’em’s own special “Triple Threat” chum.
Until next week, tight lines!
