Article by Larry Jock
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said it may sound like a broken record, but flounder action is as good as it gets! Strong full moon currents made for tough fishing in the Delaware Bay, but it didn’t bother ocean flatfish, and fluke fed hungrily through the end of the week. Not only were there big numbers of fish caught, but severable sizeable specimens were brought back as well.
Steve Friend and Price Lindsay worked the popular Reef Site 10 on Saturday, and were rewarded with an impressive limit. Their take included a 9 pounder for Price and Steve’s awesome 10 pound doormat (see picture on right). Gulp! and strips of cut mackerel proved to be the downfall of those big fluke. Reef Site 11 off the Delaware coast yielded many flatties during the week too. Captain Brent ran the “Katydid” to that location regularly and returned with boat limits just about every trip. Those catches increased the growing amount of flounder brought in by the boat so far this summer, and Saturday’s group helped Captain Brent hit the 1,000 mark. They added another 40 fish limit to bring the total number of keepers aboard the “Katydid” this season to 1,008. Captain Brent recorded flatfish of 6.2 and 6.8 pounds himself from Site 11 in the past few days. Congratulations to the crew.
Many limit catches hit the cleaning table at Lewes Harbour during the week, with numerous nice fish. “Top Fin” Captain Pete Haines had a 6.9 pounder. Art Shapiro scored one weighing 6.07 lbs. and Scott Ayars had a 5.5 pounder at Site 10. John Jacobs used a minnow at the Outer Wall for his 6.6 pounder. Bobby Bryant boated a 5.6 pounder. Robert Karpovich captured a 5.88 pound fluke from an ocean reef and Renee Pergeorelis put a 5.5 pounder in the cooler.
In addition to reef structure, live bottom of the Old Grounds was pretty productive. Captain Brian worked the Old Grounds Saturday on the “Lil’ Angler”, and had his 24 flounder limit after only a few drifts. With perfect drift conditions on Sunday, Wayne DeMarco, Paul, Joe and Renee Pergeorelis and Josh Wilkers jigged a limit of fat fluke on the Old Grounds and were back at the dock by lunchtime. Renee was on a roll, and after catching the largest fish Saturday, she did it again with flatties weighing 5.12 and 5.63 pounds. Bucktails adorned with a 6-inch Gulp! or a smelt did the trick.
In the Delaware Bay, reefs 5 and 8 held croakers, spot, spike trout, blowfish and kingfish. Paul Matthews checked in a chunky 1.22 pound citation kingfish. Some decent triggerfish also came from the sites, such as Sarah Canale’s 3.38 pounder caught on the “Angler”. Flounder bit on reefs during slack water and the first half hour of moving current, but then it was over. Tog action was slow, but some triggers came from the Ice Breakers and Outer Wall. Snapper bluefish chased silversides in the rip at the north end of the Wall and in current swirls around the Lighthouse. They would respond to bucktails and flashy metal lures like Kastmasters and Stingsilvers.
Offshore, yellowfins were caught late in the day among the whales in the Wilmington Canyon. Geoff McCloskey and his crew aboard “Tutta Benne” found the whales at dusk in the Wilmington on Saturday, and deployed live spot to hook three husky yellowfins weighing 56, 68 and 69 pounds. Captain Brent had the “Katydid” in the Wilmington Canyon on Sunday and also found yellowfins with whales. His guys chunked butters and sardines to connect with 5 stout tuna weighing up to 72.7 pounds. They already had the big fish box filled with blueline and golden tilefish up to 25 pounds, so with yellowfin icing on the cake, they headed for the dock, in anticipation of a long night at the cleaning table.
Upcoming Tournament
The 2nd Annual Paradise Grill Flounder Pounder will be held this Saturday, August 16th in Long Neck, DE. The 1 day tournament has a grand prize of $5,000 plus calcuttas. There will be separate divisions for ocean, bay, women and kids. You can register up to 10:00 PM on Friday, August 15th. For more information, call 302-945-4500.
Until next week, tight lines!
