Article by Larry Jock
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said he checked in a real nice mako on Saturday. Ed Sigda and his crew aboard the “Snow Goose” drifted in 82-degree water in the deep of the Wilmington Canyon on Friday night. They deployed a chum slick of ground tuna and bunker, and baited with false albacore fillets, using 20/0 circle hooks on 400 pound mono. Mike Fritz hooked up a shark, and boated the blackeye after an hour battle. The circle hook mono rig had done it’s job, lodging right in the corner of the jaw. Back at Lewes Harbour, the male mako was weighed in at 272.5 pounds. At the cleaning station, a deteriorating longline J-hook on mono was discovered lodged in the back of the stomach. Evidently the shark swallowed and bit off the bait some time ago. Had a circle been used, the hook would like have ended up outside the cutting teeth.
Wilmington Canyon trollers hooked bigeyes while pulling ballyhoos behind Joe Shutes and Iland Lures between 6 and 11 pm. Other offshore reports told of a chunk bite for bluefins and yellowfins at the 19 Fathom Lump. Captain Brent’s Sunday crew on the “Katydid” chunked the Lump to bring home 11 yellowfins. Captain Carey set up the “Grizzly” there as well on Sunday, and his chunkers put a 45-inch bluefin, 7 yellowfins and a 16 pound mahi in the box. They also released several small yellowfins. Evan Falgowski chunked at the Hot Dog on Sunday and said light fluorocarbon leaders were necessary to get bites. Finesse fishing paid off for Evan’s crew with three yellowfins, weighing up to 50 pounds, and a pair of gaffer mahis.
Trollers picked up a few tuna and good numbers of mahi around Massey’s Canyon, the Hambone, Hot Dog and the Fingers. Back inshore, flounder action was decent on the Old Grounds, and over Reef Sites 9, 10 and 11. S&S Bucktails with Gulp! teasers, and hair skirted rigs sporting strips of fresh meat like cut sea robin, bluefish or croaker have worked well.
Smelts and shiners were also popular baits. Captain Brent’s flukers on the “Katydid” had quite a catch of quality flatfish while working ocean structure on Saturday. They put 34 keepers in the box, with several between 5 and 6 pounds. Ron Mistretta added a 7.33 pound citation earner, and Tom Wood topped the take with his 8.19 pound doormat. Conditions were tough on Friday, but persistent anglers on the “Katydid” managed 20 keepers. Wednesday’s regular “athletes” had an early bite for 24 keepers. Flounder poundin’ brothers Joe, Dave and Michael Walker teamed up to bring back 10 fine flatties weighing up to 4.75 pounds from ocean structure on Wednesday. On Monday, Joe Walker, Ron Mistretta and Bob Murphy made the circuit of Sites 9, 10 and 11 to assemble their limit of 12 flounder weighing up to 5 pounds.
Captain Ted took the “Pirate King II” to the Old Grounds on Monday and returned with 18 good keepers for his party of flounder seekers. On Sunday, Joe Pergeorelis, Josh Wilkers and Doug Mickowski drifted the Old Grounds for their limit of flatties to 4.5 pounds. Fred Robinson, Joe McNeal and Daryl Mergenthaler decked their limit of 12 fine fluke by bucktailing the Old Grounds on Sunday.
In the Delaware Bay, boaters had to contend with hard running currents, but caught some flatties at the end of the tide around Reef Sites 5 and 8. Alex Robertson reeled in a 20-inch flounder, and her Uncle Kirk Robertson captured a 22-incher during their morning trip to Site 8 on the “Lil’ Angler II”. Landon Burkhart and Dalton Stanley scored four flatfish to 23- inches while drifting Nuclear Chicken Gulp over Site 5 at the beginning of flood tide on Sunday morning. Wes Grove and his guys pulled 5 chunky keepers off Bay structure on Sunday. Bob Bryant and his crew also drifted Bay reefs on Sunday to capture 10 stout flounder to nearly 5 pounds. Croakers and kingfish continued to come from reef rubble as well.
The Roosevelt Inlet is still giving up flatties. Larry Taylor and Lou Chudnofsky had five keepers while fishing minnows during the incoming tide on Saturday morning. Mike Buczik boated a 23-inch fluke while working a pink Gulp! in the Broadkill River.
Some of the nicest croakers around came from the Canal. Edward and Jason Miller had a batch of 12 plus inch golden beauties while using small bucktails tipped with Fishbites, between the Drawbridge and the Train Bridge.
Slot striper action has been good on the Canal. Drifting eels or bottom fishing with squid heads and clams near the bridges worked well. For those who prefer artificials, casting swimming and topwater plugs and soft baits along the marsh banks is also effective. Jake Mundok stopped by with his two rockfish limit that fell for Yozuri plugs.
The first few spot were caught in the Lewes Canal on bloodworms and Fishbites.
Tautog season was off to a slow start. Only a handful of keepers were taken by toggers along the Inner and Outer Walls and Ice Breakers.
At the Indian River Marina, there were a couple of notable catches last week.
On Friday, the dock was buzzing with excitement when angler Christian Ostrowski and his crew on the “Ocean Drifter” arrived at Hook’em & Cook’em with a 667 lb. mako shark. The guys had just wrapped up their day of tuna fishing at the Fingers, and were in the process of cleaning up their gear when the beast showed up looking for something to eat. They tossed it a ballyhoo, but the shark didn’t have any interest. The same happened when they threw it a bunker. However, the third time was the charm when they tossed out a frozen squid and on the second pass, the shark took it and ran. Christian fought the shark for 45 minutes after hooking it on 400 lb. mono with a wire leader in 110-feet of water. Rounding out the “Ocean Drifter” crew was David, Carmean and Capt. John Ostrowski.
The “Fish?Whistle” had another great trip fishing for bigeye tuna. On Friday night, they headed to the Baltimore Canyon and ended up with 6 bigeyes weighing 111, 140, 141, 143, 174 and 186 lbs. The 111 pounder had 3 bites taken out of it by a shark during the fight. All were caught at night on trolled ballyhoo in 200 fathoms where Capt. Charlie Horning found 70-degree water. Fishing with Capt. Charlie was Mike Horning, Bill Pino, Aussie Matt and mate John Horning.
Finally, on Sunday, the crew on the “Dream Girl” boated a big 84.2 lb. wahoo while trolling skirted ballyhoo inside the 30 fathom line, just north of the Hot Dog.
Until next week, tight lines.