Article by Larry Jock
After a very rough spring, it’s starting to feel like we are into the fishing season with good action in the canyons, improved bites on inshore structure and the arrival of species in our bays and inlets.
At Lewes Harbour Marina, Matt said that the flounder bite continues to get better at the Old Grounds, around “B” Buoy and at Site 10. Anglers are still dealing with a large number of throwbacks, but some really nice size fish are showing up in the mix. The number of throwbacks varies, but some wrecks have been as high as 15 throwbacks to every keeper. Those fishing with shiners and squid or jigging Gulp! artificial baits are having the best results.
Weakfish continue to be caught at Delaware Bay reef sites, but anglers are only allowed to keep 1 fish per trip. Matt said that Site 5 has been a good spot to pick-up a keeper size trout.
Croaker are just showing up in the Lewes Canal and around Cape Henlopen. Most of the fish are in the 7 to 8-inch range with Fishbite bloodworms getting the nod for most effective bait.
Also in the Lewes Canal, anglers are finding striped bass in the 15 to 25-inch range so the timing is good since the regulations in Delaware change to 2 fish per person, 20 to 25-inches in the Delaware Bay, Delaware River and their tributaries. These regulations are in effect from July 1st to August 31st.
Flounder fishing in the Lewes Canal is getting better but is far from phenomenal. Most are in the 16-inch range, with throwbacks far outnumbering keepers. There has been a good pick on flounder at the Cape Henlopen Pier recently and anglers have found thick schools of kingfish and short stripers there also.
Anglers out of Lewes that are heading to ocean structure in search of sea bass have struggled with a ton of small fish.
Offshore, it was a great week for tuna fishermen who ventured to the north end of the Poor Man’s Canyon and up into the Baltimore. The bite was extremely strong throughout the week , but like we often see, heavy boat traffic coupled with rough seas put a damper on the action.
At the Hook’em & Cook’em Tackle Shop in the Indian River Marina, Capt. Bert Adams said that a decent number of flounder finally showed up in the Indian River Inlet on Sunday. The “Gale Force” had 5 keepers and several others were caught on minnows by guys fishing off the rocks near the tackle shop.
Anglers are also finding a lot of short stripers in the Inlet at night. Most are in the 12 to 14-inch range and are being caught by anglers dropping spec rigs. They are also catching a large number of shad, also on spec rigs. Below the shad, a few smaller bluefish are still lingering in the inlet.
A few sheepshead were caught off the Indian River Jetty last week, highlighted by the pair landed by Ken German of Pottstown, PA. Ken’s fish weighed 5 lbs. 5 oz. and 7 lbs. 11 oz. and were both caught while using sand fleas for bait.
Headboats out of Indian River are finding a good flounder bite when conditions allow for good drifting. Those who jumped on the “Capt. Bob II” on Sunday’s 4-hour trip ended up with 35 keepers up to 6 lbs. 5 oz. They also stayed busy with over 60 throwbacks. On Monday, no-show anglers on the 4-hour trip missed out on a good bite that produced 16 keeper flounder for the 6 anglers who ventured out on the headboat. As usual, the Old Grounds has been a hot spot for flatties and even a few keeper sea bass. The best have come from cut bait, such as bluefish or sea robin, but Bert also said that the AquaClear flounder rigs with the holographic fish behind the green skirt has produced exceptionally well.
Anglers fishing at Fenwick Shoal have found a mix of small bluefish, spadefish, triggerfish and a good number of kingfish.
Bert said that the northeast wind over the weekend pushed the good kingfish bite further off the beach, but surfcasters are still finding short stripers, sharks and skates.
Offshore, the weekend saw rough seas that kept most Indian River boats at the dock or close to the beach. The best bites throughout the week came from between the Baltimore and Poor Man’s Canyon in 70 to 200 fathoms. Mixed in with the yellowfins have been decent numbers of gaffer dolphin. No wahoo for any Indian River boats yet.
A few bluefin tuna were caught on Monday morning by anglers who ventured out to just inside the Baltimore Canyon.
Until next week, tight lines!
