Article by Larry Jock
It was a great week to be a duck but a horrible one for fisherman. We seem to be stuck in a wet and windy weather cycle that doesn’t seem to let up. It has really put a damper on the start of the fishing season and have left a lot of frustrated anglers at the dock. On the bright side, once this cycle breaks, the fishing scene is going to explode!
At the Indian River Marina, Bert Adams from Hook’em & Cook’em Tackle Shop reported that tog fishing has been very good for anglers fishing on the headboat, “Judy V”. Capt. Christopher Adams put his anglers at the right spot on Saturday with a boat limit caught and many more fish released at Site 10. The action was excellent until the first stormfront rolled through and the bite turned off. Bert said that there have been a lot of female fish being caught and released and it looks like they are on the brink of spawning. Although Site 10 has been very productive for anglers dropping green or white crabs, other structures between Site 10 and the beach seem to be holding nice fish.
On a side note, the trips to Site 10 produced no hook-ups of black sea bass. With the season opening up on the 15th, it looks like anglers are going to have to move further offshore for some action.
In the Indian River Inlet, a few tautog were caught last week by anglers fishing with crabs off the Coast Guard Wall and on the south side rocks.
The “Fish Whisperer” ventured out on Saturday and Sunday, returning with limits of tautog on both days.
Striped bass have been surprisingly few and far between in the Indian River Inlet A few were caught last week at the South Jetty and by the Coast Guard Station. Aside from a few stripers, anglers fishing in the Inlet have found a small mix of bluefish and shad.
Bert didn’t see any flounder last week but he said that he heard of a couple caught in the back bay in the VFW Slough and in Massey’s Ditch. This is the time of year when pink Gulp! Swimming Mullets are a good thing to add to your arsenal. Where white is usually the best color during the summer months, early season flounder fishing can be good with white, pink and chartreuse colored artificial baits.
Surfcasters battled rough conditions on most days last week, but those that put in the time were able to capture striped bass, chopper bluefish, kingfish and puffers from Fenwick up to Cape Henlopen.
At Lewes Harbour Marina, Matt said that most of the action they saw last week came in from surf fishermen, boaters and kayakers who hooked into big bluefish off Cape Henlopen. Several weighed between 10 and 15 lbs. with the largest tipping the scale at 17.7 lbs.
Only a few black drum were caught on clams but they showed up at the Coral Beds, which is always a “go to” spot for black drum in the Delaware Bay.
Tautog fishing was decent for anglers fishing out of Lewes with the best action coming from the Outer Wall and other Delaware Bay structure.
The first tilefish arrived at Lewes Harbour Marina on Saturday when Chip Graves, Jeff Drury, Nate Evans and Matt Baker on the “Sea Tiger” headed out to the Wilmington Canyon and caught bluelines and goldens on squid. Their largest golden tilefish weighed in at just over 23 lbs.
A few flounder were caught in the Lewes Canal, but it all took place before the rainstorms created dirty water conditions. A 5 lb. 2 oz. flattie was caught on Saturday by an angler who was tossing a Wind Cheater from the beach next to the Henlopen Pier. The Lewes Canal Flounder Tournament is scheduled to take place on May 20th.
Until next week, tight lines!
