Article by Larry Jock
This Week Last Year
•Spot, croaker and a steady flounder bite in the Lewes Canal.
•DE Bay flounder bite improving at Sites 6, 8 & 9.
•Triggerfish and an occasional sheepshead at The Walls.
•Improved ocean flounder bite at Sites 10 & 11, “B” Buoy and Old Grounds.
•Small croakers, short stripers and snapper bluefish in the Indian River Inlet.
•Triggerfish at Fenwick Shoal.
•Cobia along the coast off Bethany Beach.
•Windy conditions made offshore fishing tough, but bluefins were caught in Massey’s Canyon, the 12 Fathom Lump and at the Hot Dog.
•White marlin were hooked deep outside the Poor Man’s and Baltimore Canyons.
Well, it’s White Marlin Open Week so offshore boats will be looking for big whitey and a possible multi-million dollar payoff. Others are finding some pretty good fishing right now at locations closer to home.
Capt. Bert at the Hook’em & Cook’em Tackle Shop in the Indian River Marina said that flounder fishing has improved greatly in the Indian River Inlet. Several anglers caught their limit of flatties last week and kept even busier hooking into a load of throwbacks. The best action came on live spot around the Coast Guard Wall.
Inlet anglers weren’t just dealing with flounder though. Bluefish were found in good numbers during the incoming tide chasing spoons tossed by anglers on the rocks. Stripers and sheepshead were also caught by jetty anglers. Stripers hit better at nigh,t while sandfleas during the day were the ticket for sheepshead. Anglers also found triggerfish at the jetty interested in sand fleas and artificials.
Inshore anglers out of Indian River found bluefish and Spanish mackerel still snapping around Fenwick Shoal. Others searched for cobia and found them not far off the coastline chasing big schools of bunker. This has been the case for several weeks now and some good size cobia have been caught, mainly on tossed bucktails.
Headboats out of Indian River are finding an improved flounder bite anywhere from 10 to 16 miles off the beach. On Friday aboard the “Capt. Bob II”, anglers ended up with 28 keeper flounder and a ton of throwbacks. Saturday’s trip wasn’t great due to a lack of drift, but on Sunday anglers whacked them good, returning with 46 keepers and a lot of action on throwbacks. Most were fishing with bucktails tipped with either Gulp or cut bait.
In the surf off Indian River, kingfish and small bluefish are creating some action during the daytime and sharks, rays and skates continue to dominate the nighttime hours.
At Lewes Harbour Marina, Capt. Tommy said that fishing is good in the Lewes Canal. Flounder fishing has improved and is pretty decent right now. Anglers are also finding slot stripers at the Roosevelt Inlet and by the drawbridge. Good size spot have also shown up. Tommy called them “eaters”.
The Delaware Bay is filled with croakers right now and anglers are finding them at any of the reef sites and The Shears. Clams and Fishbites usually work well for this species. Snapper blues are also being caught on any flashy lure or any cut bait and nice size flounder are being picked up on top-and-bottom rigs at several sites containing structure.
Triggerfish continue to be hooked by anglers fishing at The Walls and several cobia were spotted last week cruising waters in the bay.
Inshore flounder fishing still isn’t as hot as we typically see this time of year, but we are seeing good size fish hooked at the Old Grounds, around “B” Buoy and at inshore wrecks. Action at Site 10 has been very inconsistent.
Capt. Mike at Rick’s Bait & Tackle said that he has received good reports from his customers who recently flounder fished in the Lewes Canal. They also found some slot stripers looking for presentations of swim shads, cut bait or Gulp.
In the Delaware Bay, Mike said that spot are thick and they are everywhere! He can’t keep Fishbites in stock with everyone looking to get in on some of this action, which is always a great time for kids.
Croakers have shown up in the Indian River Bay and on the south side of the Indian River Inlet. Mike said they aren’t huge fish, typically in the 9 to 10-inch range.
Mike’s customers who are fishing in the Indian River and Rehoboth Bays are catching flounder, spot and barely legal size croaker.
Mike said that the best ocean flounder fishing has been at the Old Grounds on open bottom. He hasn’t heard much coming in from around Site 10. Anglers are still heading out to the DelJerseyLand reef site and catching sea bass which shows you how cold the water on the bottom must be for them to still be out there on deep wrecks.
Offshore, most of the action came from those who were marlin fishing last weekend, warming up for this weeks White Marlin Open. The best bites came from deep outside the Baltimore and Poor Man’s Canyons in 1,000 fathoms of water. We also saw some released in the Wilmington and Washington as well. Although overshadowed by the marlin bite, the noticeable increase in the size of dolphin really caught some eyes around the dock. Several fish over 30 lbs. were caught last week, with a couple that weighed in the upper-40s.
The other fishery that has seen good results this season has been tilefishing. Deep dropping squid in the Washington Canyon is still producing some good size golden tilefish and anglers have returned with some bluelines from the Baltimore Canyon.
Upcoming Tournament
The next tournament on the schedule is the big Paradise Grill Flounder Pounder on August 14th to 18th. Prize money increased to $300,000. Cost is $300 per boat or $150 per angler.
Until next week, have fun and tight lines.
