Article by Larry Jock
If it wasn’t for Hurricane Arthur, it could have been one heckuva week, but the good news is that when the storm blew through, fishing picked right back up in the bay and in the ocean.
The big news on the Delaware Fishing scene last weekend was Butch Emmert breaking the Delaware state record for dolphin with a 56.9 pounder caught in 60 fathoms at the tip of the Baltimore Canyon. On Sunday, Butch was fishing aboard the “Elizabeth Jane” with his son, Will Emmert, Jamie King, Greg Catts and Capt. Jason King when they had 2 white marlin and the big mahi all hooked at the same time. After releasing the first white marlin, Butch and the crew were able to get the 54 1/4-inch mahi into the boat after it was hooked on a blue and white Ilander/ballyhoo combination.. Butch’s catch breaks the old record of 52 lbs. set back on August 18, 2003 by Charles Ciociola who caught his big mahi at the Hot Dog.
Capt. Bert Adams at Hook’em & Cook’em reported a great catch, early in the week, by the crew on the “Fish Whistle”. Capt. Charlie Horning took his anglers on an overnight trip to the Washington Canyon last Monday where they caught 3 bigeye tuna on trolled ballyhoo skirted with Joe Shute lures. Their bigeyes weighed 182, 201 and 253 lbs. on the scale at Hook’em & Cook’em.
Bert said that yellowfins were caught in both the Washington and Baltimore Canyons last week and bluefins are still being seen around the Tea Cup where a few were landed the previous week.
Mako sharks are still hanging around, with a 210 pounder caught at the Hot Dog.
In the Indian River Inlet, Bert reported flounder fishing picking up after the storm blew through the area and the water had time to clear up a bit. The south side of the Inlet and along the Coast Guard Wall have been the best spots for keeper flatties.
Anglers are also getting into decent numbers of short stripers in the Inlet and those who are willing to put in the time can go home with a keeper in the cooler.
The Indian River Inlet is loaded with little croakers that are keeping anglers busy while fishing with Fishbite clams, bloodworms and squid on small hooks. Some anglers are even using small hook surf rigs with floats to keep them from getting stuck in the rocks. Those not wanting to deal with Inlet traffic have also found croakers in Massey’s Ditch.
A few bluefish are being caught along the Coast Guard Wall. Most are small snappers, but Bert did see a 9 pounder caught there last week.
Surfcasters are finding typical summer fishery conditions with kingfish, spot and croaker dominating the action.
Further off the beach, Indian River headboats are banging croaker pretty hard with anglers having a very good trip on Saturday afternoon. Flounder fishing on ocean structure is definitely picking up, although Bert said that there are still a lot of throwbacks mixed in with some big fish.
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said that flounder continued to capture the spotlight this past week. Drifting structure changes along channel edges between “DA” and “DB” Buoys, and live bottom of the Old Grounds has produced some of the better catching seen in past years. John Yoder fished early in the week and was limited out with fluke to over 4 pounds before the first drift ended. At one point, he landed a doubleheader of keepers. Dave Furio also checked in with his limit of flounder from the ocean, including quality specimens weighing 5.3 and 5.5 pounds. Todd Sizemore scored a 5.9 pound flounder from the Old Grounds while fishing aboard the “Martha Marie”.
Ocean flatfish action has been good, but Delaware Bay fluking recently perked up as well. Lower Bay Reef Sites 5 and 8 yielded good numbers of flatties last week. Jack Henriksen and “Fishin’ Ricky” Mills drifted the Star Site on Monday for just a short time and brought in 5 keepers. Jack returned to the same spot Tuesday to score a 4.5 pounder. Conditions really got right on Wednesday, and fluke fanatics aboard the “Katydid” boxed a boat limit of 36 chunky flounder weighing up to nearly 7 pounds, and were back at the dock before 11:30 am. Bob Murphy had the pool winning 6.92 pounder. Captain Mike Newsham and the boys on the “Local Girl” burned up the flat ones on Delaware Bay reef structure, icing a 20 fish limit. Young Alex Daskalakis was top hook Thursday on the “Top Fin” with Captain Pete Haines. Alex decked a pair of nice flounder weighing up to 4.4 pounds.
Bay flounder were trembling at word of the Walker Family being back in town, and true to form, Dave Walker, Joe Walker and Rob Karpovich hit the Star Site on Saturday for a limit of fluke, including Dave’s 7.26 pound citation earner. The Walkers did it again Sunday, this time with the help of brother Michael. Dave, Joe, Michael and Rob Karp kept a limit of 16 quality flatties, most over 20 inches. George Finn only caught a single flounder Sunday morning at Site 8, but it was a good one, weighing in at 7.5 pounds. J-Rod Johnson decked a 5.07 pound fluke aboard the Indian Sunday. The crew aboard the “Katydid” captured their limit of 28 keepers on Sunday at Site 8, including a 6.18 pound lunker caught by “Chewy”. Bobby Bryant said the bite was very good up the Bay on Sunday too. He and his dad Bob, John Schnaitman and Al Rebierio had their limit on Reef Site 3 by 11 am. Lily Baker landed a 3.71 pound flattie on Reef 5 using a Mason’s Mauler custom bucktail.
Even though shallow water has warmed up, the Lewes Canal is still producing nice flounder. Mala Teeter started her first Canal flounder trip of the season off right by besting a whopping 7.93 pound doormat using chartreuse Gulp! on a Maw’s Tail rig. Pat McQuate was fishing a minnow and squid sandwich from the Canary Creek Bridge when she connected with an impressive 5.34 pound fluke. Taylor Deemer tossed Gulp! Swimming Mullets while kayaking around the burned out end of the Cape Henlopen Pier to secure a limit of flounder and released several others.
Slot Striper season is now open, and anglers may keep 2 striped bass between 20 and 26-inches per day from the Delaware Bay and it’s tributaries. Slot sized fish came from the Lewes Canal for folks drifting pencil eels around the drawbridge, bottom fishing with clams or casting plugs, jigs and soft plastics along the banks. Marty Riley hooked a 25-inch red drum while casting a Storm Shad along the Canal bank in search of stripers. Some rockfish were also caught in the Broadkill River, but croakers were a lot more plentiful. Hardheads were caught all the way up to Oyster Rocks Road by bank and boat fishermen soaking bloodworms.
Brown sharks have been abundant in the Delaware Bay, offering a fun catch and release fishery. The sharks are strong and fast, and a blast on light tackle.
Offshore boaters picked at tuna, dolphin and billfish, but it seemed like best action was in the Washington Canyon. Shawn Gallagher and his gang aboard the “Free Spool” trolled a temperature break on Wilmington Canyon’s West Wall on Sunday and released a white marlin and put 6 gaffer mahi up to 15.2 pounds in the cooler. Shawn said several whites were released by other boats in that area.
It’s time for bluefins to show on twenty fathom structure. Scallopers have been working in the vicinity of the Hot Dog and their activity usually attracts tuna. Trollers trying the Dog, Hambone and Massey’s might find bluefins willing to bite as well.
Until next week, tight lines!
