Article by Larry Jock
This Week Last Year
•bright spot was offshore tuna bite in 300-500 fathoms outside the Baltimore & Poor Man’s Canyons.
•surfcasters catching schoolie stripers, black drum and bluefish.
•flounder, weakfish and small stripers were caught in the Lewes Canal.
•black drum bite was good at the Coral Beds but much better on the Jersey side of the Delaware Bay.
•plenty of shad in the IR Inlet.
•larger stripers caught off the IR Jetty rocks.
•sea bass bite cooled down on ocean structure.
At Rick’s Bait & Tackle, Capt. Mike reported that the flounder bite in the Lewes Canal seemed to slow down last week, but some nice flounder were caught by those drifting squid, minnows and Gulp artificial baits.
Mike said that there are a lot of shad in the Indian River Inlet right now and snapper bluefish are being caught during the incoming tide. Shad are being hooked on shad darts and small spoons. Bluefish are eating anything thrown their way.
The black drum bite at the Coral Beds is still going strong, but those looking for boomers are finding better luck on the Jersey side of the bay.
Sea bass fishing was good on deeper wrecks for anglers fishing in 150-feet or greater with squid and clams. Mike said that he still hasn’t heard of any flounder caught yet on ocean structure.
Tautog season is closed from May 16th to June 30th.
At the Cape Henlopen Pier, anglers are tangling with bluefish and Mike did hear of some larger stripers being caught there as well.
Matt at Fenwick Bait & Tackle reported a few kingfish being caught in the Fenwick surf last week by anglers fishing with bloodworms. The bluefish bite was particularly good on Saturday with several fish landed that weighed over 10 lbs.
At Hook’em & Cook’em, Capt. Bert said that small bluefish are dominating the action in the Indian River Inlet. Unfortunately, Bert said that they didn’t see any flounder come in from the Inlet last week.
A few keeper striped bass were caught off the beach at night by surfcasters fishing SP Minnows in the suds north of the Inlet.
Tommy at Lewes Harbour Marina said that the flounder bite did slow down in the Lewes Canal, but if you put your time in you can return home with your limit in the cooler. Anglers in the Canal are still finding bluefish, stripers and weakfish interested in their offerings of both meat and plastic.
Tommy agreed with Mike that the black drum bite is still rolling along at the Coral Beds, but those who are taking night time jaunts to the Jersey side off Cape May are doing well.
As mentioned earlier, weakfish are being caught in the Lewes Canal and also at the Outer Wall and Delaware Bay reef sites by anglers using peelers, bucktails and clams. Dennis Connell from Townsend, DE caught a weakie at the Outer Wall that weighed a little over 5 lbs.
Big bluefish are roaming all over the Delaware Bay. Adam Michael caught a 15 pounder at the Inner Wall and teamed up with Luke Attanasi to catch 10 choppers measuring between 24 and 33-inches. Steve Stacharowski caught a nice pair of bluefish while fishing around the Cape Henlopen State Park. Steve’s heaviest gator weighed 13 lbs.
Around the Cape Henlopen State Park, bluefish are being caught in the surf along with some slot striped bass. Tommy said that an occasional flounder is even being caught at night off the Pier.
Offshore, weather conditions made it tough, but boats found bluefin tuna in the Wilmington, Baltimore and Poor Man’s Canyons. In addition, a few yellowfins were caught as well in the Baltimore and the Poor Man’s.
Boats trolling for tuna found small to medium size mahi in the Canyons going after their ballyhoo and spreader bars.
A few thresher sharks were caught in 20 fathoms at the Fingers by boats fishing out of Ocean City.
Upcoming Tournament
There aren’t any Delaware tournaments on the schedule, but the South Jersey Shark Tournament will be held out of Cape May on June 5th through the 8th.
Until next week, tight lines!
