Article by Rick Willman
Hi folks! Another fishing season is underway and so far it seems like if the weather cooperates we should be in store for an exciting season. Fishing has been pretty good to this point.
Flounder regulations remained the same for size and creel with a closure from October 13th to December 31st. I know there are lots of people who did not want to see a closure, but the state received less than 100 responses to the options that were available. That is not a very good showing by the fishing community, considering the fact that somewhere in the area of 88,000 licenses were sold. We should not continue to gripe about the regs if we aren’t going to give our input when given the chance. So please, do your best in the future to voice your opinion so we get an overall idea of what most people want. I am not saying it has to be what I think, but it should be the voice of the majority.
Another favor I would like to ask of everyone is to say a prayer for Joel Thompson and his family. Joel disappeared from the Indian River Inlet jetty and has not been found. Joel was a jetty and kayak fisherman and was always in search of a monster striper. I knew Joel and his family and always looked forward to talking fishing with him. We wish his wife and son strength in these tough times they are enduring.
Now, let’s get to some fishing reports.
At Henlopen Bait & Tackle on Savannah Rd. in Lewes, Denise reports stripers are being caught at Herring Point on bunker. Flounder and bluefish are being hooked at the State Park pier. She also said some stripers are being landed from Broadkill Beach.
At Rattle & Reel Sports Center on Long Neck Rd., Joe told us that flounder fishing in the back bays has been quite productive.
Bill’s Sport Shop on Rt. 1 in Lewes gave us the following report: Spring fishing has started to heat up as water temperatures climb into the 50’s. Bud Trainor was fishing the Outer Wall with green crabs and brought a fat 8.55 lb. tautog to the scales. Ryan Falgowski nailed a huge 11.15 lb. tautog while fishing his favorite secret Delaware Bay spot. Scott Reed and Becky Towers fished the VFW Slough and boated 3 flounder up to 22 inches and 3.78 lbs. while using smelt for bait. Ryan Halverson caught a citation striper at 20.6 lbs., measuring 38" at 3R's Road on fresh bunker. Lou also beached several blues measuring up to 22". Dustin Schell hammered 4 blues up to 20" on fresh bunker in the suds. Rich Johnson, was using a bucktail at the Indian River Inlet and caught a 15.15 lb. striper. Scott Aiken Sr. of Lewes caught a 43", 24.85 lb. citation striper on cut herring while fishing off the beach in Fenwick Island.
Bert at Hook’em and Cook’em Bait and Tackle reported great fishing. The back bays are providing plenty of flounder action. The VFW Slough has been a real hot spot for flatties. A few bluefish have also been scattered around. The Indian River Inlet is giving up stripers and tog, along with some bluefish. A few flounder have also been caught in the inlet. From the surf, anglers are scoring on stripers, flounder and blues. And of course there are always plenty of skates and sharks.
Here at Rick’s Bait and Tackle, we have seen plenty of flounder action from the back bays. The VFW Slough has been a real dandy spot to bag a doormat flounder. Herring, smelt, minnows, and Gulp! artificial baits are producing the best catches.
Just before I started writing this week’s report we had some real excitement. Chris Bledsoe was fishing with Capt. Chuck Cook on “First Light” Charters targeting tog on a fly rod. They almost had the world record tog on a fly. The record is 4 lb. 11 oz. and Chris’s fish weighed in at 4 lbs. 2 oz. Brian Wirts fished the VFW Slough on his boat “Producer” and scored a doormat flounder that weighed in at 11 pounds 5 ounces and measured 31 ½ inches. They also had a few other nice flatties caught while using Gulp! artificial baits. Denny Stetz just missed a citation with his flattie that weighed 6 lbs. 15 oz. Allen Dubois of Delmar boated an Indian River flounder of 7 lbs. 8 oz. to earn a citation. John Albabese was fishing the VFW Slough when he bagged his 7 lb. 11oz. citation flattie while using smelt for bait.
Striper fishing in the Indian River Inlet continues to improve. The stripers are hitting a variety of baits. Bucktails, herring, bloodworms, GULP!, shad body artificials are all working quite well. Darla Hilton scored a citation with her 23 ½ lb., 38-inch striper, caught on a bass assassin.
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said stripers showed in the surf this week. Trevor Gouert used cut herring on Lewes Beach to catch a 16.5-pound rockfish. Curt Stephens, Drew Stuchlik and Charles Fouraker found the bass at Cape Henlopen on Saturday May 1st. Curt captured a 19.7 pounder, Drew had a pair of 38-inchers, and Charles landed a 22.1 pound citation linesider while soaking clam and bunker baits. Joel Robinson was casting a Storm lure from the jetty at the Indian River Inlet when he hooked a 22.4-pound striped bass. Other reports of rockfish came from the Indian River and Rehoboth Bay as well. The first big black drum of the season came in to Lewes Harbour Marina Sunday morning.
Lucas May boated an 85 lb. 8 oz. boomer at the Coral Beds, while using clam aboard the “Jam-Man” on Saturday night. Black drum activity will continue to improve through May, and usually peaks around Memorial Day weekend. Joe said the shop will have fresh surf clams during the season, but suggests reserving bait in advance.
Tautog action remained good. The rocks of the Inner and Outer Walls and the Ice Breakers seemed to be more productive than the Bay reef sites, although those structures did yield decent blackfish. Tossing a jighead tipped with green crab in close to the Walls was a productive and fun way to tempt tog. Captain Chris Ragni caught a 9-pound tautog and Rick Shelton had a 7.26 pounder while togging aboard Jam-Man. David Sipple earned a citation for an 8.8 pounder.
Flounder fishing was fairly good in the Lewes Canal, when the water was clean. Jigs tipped with minnows, shiners or smelt worked well. Anglers on the Cape Henelopen Pier caught flounder too, with some of the better bites at night. A leadhead tipped with a Gulp! Swimming Mullet and a strip of fresh herring or bunker did the trick. Pier casters also had bluefish.
The Annual Lewes Harbour Canal Flounder Tournament will take place May 21st. Call
302-645-6227 for details.
Til next week, have fun and be safe!
Rick and his wife Deb are owners of Rick’s Bait & Tackle in Long Neck, DE.
