Article by Capt. BJ Pietryak
Last week saw the famous Flounder Pounder tournament out of Paradise Grill on Indian River. With over 280 boats fishing the largest flounder tournament in the world were full of anglers targeting the prize winning fish. The inshore coral grounds and bays were packed, and the scales for the weigh-ins were also packed. Some really big fish came to the stage and top positions changed every day.
Flounder
With all the boats fishing the tournament, the shipping channel was loaded with boats and anglers. Even with all the traffic, several big fish came over the rails and made it back to land! Robert Karpovich was out and brought back a citation 7.47 lb., 28” long citation flattie. The fish was weighed in at Lewes Harbour Marina for the citation. Captain Frank didn't enter the Pounder but did bring back a beauty of a fish weighing 8.8 lbs. and the rest of his crew had two more over 7 lbs. Flounder fishing really turned on last week! Andrew Dwarshuis was out on the “Judy V” and using a bucktail tipped with a white Gulp brought in a 24”, and over 5 lbs.
The “Audrey V” took out the Lambie family and brought back a load of fish, the biggest being 4.2 lbs. Tim Tribbits got a boat load of flat fish with several in the 5 lb. range but knew he needed at least a 7 pounder to be in the money of the tournament. Unique week when catching several 5 lb. fish isn’t good enough, but that is nothing new with the Flounder Pounder!
The big news in flounder fishing was the Flounder Pounder out of Paradise Grill. The scales changed daily with bigger and bigger fish coming in each day. Even with a strong blow on the first day of the tournament, some quality fish came to the scales. The next 4 days saw both the weather and fish getting better. For those of you that are unfamiliar with this tournament, to even make the leader board a fish of at least 5 lbs. is necessary, with the leader often being close to or over ten lbs. Anglers from NJ, PA, MD, and even VA, are drawn to this prestigious tournament. Even on day one, with a steady northwest blow and only a handful of boats fishing, the first place leader was team “Yahoos” with a 7.6 lb., 25.8” fish, and right behind that was “Top Notch” with a 5.3 lb., 23.75” fish. The competition is fierce, and for many, only a fish of a lifetime will make the cut. In the end the top prize winner of $107,000 was won by the team “Bankers Hours” with a fish weighing 9.1 lbs., 2nd place was captured by the team, “Big Bone” with a 8.3 lb fish, and 3rd place was the team “Little Yipps” with a 8.1 lb. fish. Team “No Limit” was the 4th place at 7.9 lbs. and 5th place was held by team “Flatty Wagon” with a 7.8 lb. fish. Congratulations to all the teams that placed either in the overall or daily prize money. Team “Yahoos”, who were in first place at the end of day one ended the tournament in 7th place. On the last day of the tournament, 16 year old Joe on the team “Reel Swim Shady” brought a big 6.4 lb. fish to the scales.
Bay Areas
Despite the heavy traffic, several nice fish came from the Indian River Inlet and bays this week. Jim Fisler was fishing the bay with a pearl white Gulp and brought in a nice 4 lb. fluke. The fish was weighed at Rick’s Bait & Tackle. Maddie and Ellie Milanese from Lutherville, MD, were fishing the inlet where Maddie caught her first keeper flounder at 17”, and Allie caught a nice 14” sea bass. The girls fished their family boat, the “Reel Salty”. The fish were caught on minnows and shiners. Mike Smith fished the Rehoboth Bay and caught a total of 7 fish, with a nice 21” fluke caught on cut bait, however he reported that many of the fish caught were short of keeper size. Robin Goodman from Lancaster, PA landed a pair of flatties from near Massey Ditch measuring up to 19.75” and weighing 3 lbs. The fish were caught on Gulp. Scotty Eckrote of Ocean View, DE got a nice 19.5” fish bottom bouncing along the inlet on his boat the “Minnow Too”. The best spot for flounder have been the areas along the rock jetty at the inlet as well as Massey’s Ditch. A few fish have come from the gut in front of the VFW but the activity here seems to have slowed down. Gulp baits and minnow/squid combos are your prime baits, and a full tide is the best time to target the fish.
Other Fish Near Shore
The tog bite has really slowed as we continue with the warm summer temperatures. Tony Walls managed a nice 16 1/4 “ tog but the fish are much harder to find in the heat. Michael Spencer found 2 keepers on the nearshore wrecks. He said the fish are very leader shy and you really have to pay attention to get a bite. Julia May Mister was fishing frozen sand fleas and managed to catch a keeper out on the outer wall.
Triggerfish are on many of the inshore wrecks with the Fenwick Boiler spot being a prime location. Squid strips and sand fleas are accounting for most of the hook-ups. Once you get one on the line many of its friends will follow it up, allowing you to hook even more of them.
Sheepshead continue to be great this summer. Chyya Muth was using peeler crab on the Pier and caught a nice 24” sheepy. Vee Sisounthone was out at the Breakwall and caught a 16 lb. fish along with a smaller one. She also caught 2 tog and a 19” flounder. That's one great day of fishing Vee!
Beach Fishing
Lots of sharks and rays in the surf along with several spot and kingfish. Tucker Loyd, age 9, was on the beach with his mom Kristen and caught a plethora of fish, including flounder, kingfish and sharks. Way to go Tucker! Angie Lawruk got a nice keeper flounder off the surf. I am getting more reports of keeper flounder coming in from the beach as the weeks continue into the end of the summer. Dragging the baits or Gulp along the bottom slowly will often entice these fish into biting.
Until next week ...
Tight lines and fins up
