Article by Capt. BJ Pietryak
Weather raised its ugly head again last week with not one, but 2 hurricanes stirring things up! Sure feels like strong winds have been a theme this summer. Still there were a few days that allowed some of our more hearty anglers to try their luck. Big flounder continue to come up from the inshore reefs & wrecks. Sea bass are still being found with some days offering anglers their limits of keepers. The back bays are yielding a surprising number of sea trout and even some redfish are beginning to show up with the rockfish bite remaining consistent.
Nearshore Reefs & Wrecks
The sea was very angry the past week my friends, with the high winds from the hurricane just off our coast! Then the one to the south really turned up the northeast wind and added to the mayhem. Most of our beaches have seen massive erosion and often the beach started and ended at the dunes with big drop offs of up to 6 feet. The point at Cape Henlopen opened this past week, however, many times, there was no way to get to it with the beaches washed out. However for those that found an open window of weather to venture to the near shore wrecks and reefs, the fishing remained strong with big flounder still being caught both at the Old Grounds as well as on the wrecks. Big Gulp baits remain the best along with squid and minnow combos. Spot are all over the back bays and in the surf. When used as live bait, the produce some trophy sized fluke.
Captain Brin on the “Thelma Dale IV” out of Lewes had to contend with the strong winds and rough seas but when they did get out, they found flounder and even some big sea bass ready to eat. The “Judy V” and the “Captain Bob” at the Indian River Marina also spent days waiting for the seas to calm but did manage a few trips with good catches of sea bass and flounder. They reported when they got on to the Old Grounds the fishing was pretty steady and fast with fish constantly biting. White Gulp was the best bait for them this past week. The boat “Surface Tension' had a fantastic day for flounder fishing. Nick and Jumeira had the hot hands bringing in a limit of fluke with several over 20”. The fish were weighed in at Lewes Harbour Marina. “Rooster Sportfishing” showed that the mahi are still here when they went to the Fenwick Shoals and brought home some of the delicious pelagics. 27 mahi and around 70 pounds of meat made Jefferson Fort and his group very happy. Kris Hanggi got a nice bluefish on chunk bait on an ocean structure. The big bluefish put up a great fight but Kris managed to bring the brute to the boat and home for dinner. “Ocean Arsenal Tackle” was out with Tommy Dennis and used Berkley Gulp! Saltwater Grub in Pink Shine to manage a few nice sea bass as well as a couple flounder. Pink seems to be the color of choice this year and has always been mine and Samantha's first choice when targeting an area. “Bad Wind” charters was at it again this past week when they had longtime customers Mark and his buddy Ron fishing. The crew had to contend with a few “Hawaii 5-0 swells” but did still manage a bunch of mahi off the bass pots. Small chunks of squid tossed to the pots markers have been the most productive this past week with the big swells. Ginger Hanriksen was very excited when she saw her 3 pound & 20 inch flounder come to the surface and breathed a sigh of relief when it was finally netted and brought onto the deck.
Ginger fished a pink top and bottom rig tipped with a minnow and squid. Always good to see the girl power prevail! “Bottom Line Sportfishing” had a few good days pot hopping and came home with several large dolphin for the dinner table. The boat also had a nice mahi and sea bass combo trip later in the week. The cleaning table at Lewes Harbour Marina looked like 20 people had been on the trip instead of the small crew that actually fished. Don Smith also checked into Lewes Marina with a big 8.51 pound 22.5 inch sheepshead he caught using sand fleas on ocean structure. “Rippin Lips Fishing” had a good day catching sea bass as well as a few flounder. The key bait? Pink shine Gulp! Mike Kapsak was fishing with Captain Bob Etzweiler at the Old Grounds and retired with keeper fluke up to 19” along with a few 15 and 16 inch sea bass. The 5 inch Gulp did the trick of fooling these fish. Chet Townsend's 60th birthday continued with an ocean trip on the “Paka” returning to Hook-Em and Cook-Em Bait & Tackle with a cooler full of fluke and sea bass. Happy birthday Chet, and we miss the lobster sales you had on Rt 26!
Back Bays & Inlet Fishing
Brody Onley was out with the “Lady D” and caught his first 17” keeper fluke using a white Gulp bait. He fished with his uncle and captain Bob Stokes along with his aunt and first mate Donna Stokes. Nick Garcia was out on the Delaware Bay with his Pop Pop and picked up 5 keepers measuring 19-23 inches. The fish were caught in water between 18-25 feet. Nick reports the bay temperature is still 75 degrees. Tom Passwater was with his buddy (6 Pack) Sturgill and got a few more slot rockfish out of the Lewes Canal. As the water cools the rockfish should become more aggressive and hopefully cooperate with the new smaller slot limits.
Crabs and clams in the bay remain very strong with pots averaging 10-13 keepers per a 3 day soak. Clams are deeper in the sand but still very easy to rake up. Many clams are now the bigger soup size as many areas have been picked over despite the 3 week closure. §
Until next week...
Tight Lines and Fins Up
