Article by Capt. BJ Pietryak
Last week in our Delaware waters we saw a ton of big fish coming back to the docks. Tautog season opened July 1st with a minimum size 16”, creel limit of 4.
Sea Bass & Flounder
A Buoy
Daryl Barthelmess took his daughter Grace along with Katie Noel out last week for a test run on his new boat and were rewarded with several keeper sea bass up to 3 lbs as well as a few keeper flatties. The big catch for them was when Katie pulled in a double header of ribbonfish. The ribbon fish have been very thick this year and the size of these fish are very large compared to the ones we typically catch. Daryl said the girls caught all the keeper fish. Ways to show girls can often out fish the guys. Out of Lewes Harbour Marina, the boat “Surface Tension” fished the ocean structure in this area bringing home quite a few of the prized flatfish. The fish were caught on Gulp baits and weighed up to 5 lbs. Also out of Lewes, the Freeman family was fishing on the “Jay Sea 2” and were a few shy of a limit for black bass. Nomad jigs, clams, and squid did the trick to bring the fish on board. Chris Marker was out at the reefs fishing and returned with several nice fluke for dinner. Also on the reef was Frank Tucker coming back with 5 keepers 16.5 lbs at 25” along with a few blackfish. Dylan Patrick reported he found them when returning to Indian River Marina with his first limit of the year. Lorne Seifert showed her husband how it was done returning with 2 big keepers. Her husband reports she even carried the cooler. Great job!
Old Grounds
David Wagoner was out at the Old Grounds and took home a few nice keepers measuring 17 and 17.5”. David also reported several short fish to keep the action constant. Daryl Mergenthal, Jr. was at the Grounds and returned to the docks with limits for his crew. Kevin Flaherty managed a few nice fish to take home for dinner last week. This fishing spot is really turning on for flounder and will only get better as the weeks continue. Josh Tavenner literally snagged a beautiful 21” fish on a bucktail. Snagged or not, that's a great catch and will make a great dinner. The boys at Hook ‘em and Cook ‘em Tackle told me the bite is really heating up at the Old Grounds. They reported that Bill Klemkowski and Will Emmert returned to the dock with six nice keepers. Great job guys. Hook ‘em and Cook ‘em Tackle also reported that the Elizabeth Ann was on the fish with limits of sea bass and spanish mackerel. The “Judy V” out of Indian River Marina was out on the water this past week and reported that although lots of the fish were undersized, they did have several good catches of keeper bass and fluke. Jacob Dunn and Andy Powell were some of the lucky ones on the “Judy V” returning with a couple big flatties. The “Katydid' showed up to the dock in Lewes Harbour Marina with a 7 man limit of fish. The largest was 4.97 lbs with several other fish also near 5 lbs. Great job guys!
Back Bays
Nick Garcia was on the back bays last weekend and brought home 4 nice fish measuring 17-20”. Nick always has a way of finding quality keepers. Keep it up! Ronald Roosevelt was out with his son and caught a nice keeper off the pier in Lewes. Old Inlet Bait & Tackle reports that the rocks at the inlet are holding small rockfish and blues at night along with some decent size flounder during the day.
Sheepshead
Sheepshead have been coming on strong with some real quality fish being brought back to the docks. Grady Falgowski was fishing the “Ice Breakers” with his parents and hooked into a mammoth 10 lb fish. The fish gained young Grady a Delaware citation. Just goes to show, you take your kids fishing and they will show you how it’s done! I know of many long time sheepy anglers, myself included, that have never caught a ten pound trophy. Way to go Grady! Billy Mister was also looking for these fish and brought home 5 nice keepers. Steve Andrews was using sand fleas and brought home a nice sheep from off the rocks at Indian River Inlet. Hook ‘em and Cook ‘em reports that Osama, Amin, and Mo fished the “Reel Deep” out at the Fenwick Shoals and caught big sheepshead, triggerfish, and spanish mackerel. Osama caught a citation 8.8 lb sheepy. Further north Jacob Webb was cheered on by his sons, Ryan and Luke when he brought in a huge 11.43 lb. one he caught on sand fleas. Paul Matthews also got a big 11.04 lb. one on sand fleas. There are some really big sheepshead coming in this year, so if you're searching for the trophy of a lifetime now is the time to hit the water.
Spanish Mackerel & Other Fish
Looking back to the Fenwick Shoals, spanish mackerel have come on strong this past week with some real quality fish coming on board. Brandon Miller reported it was a rare week when he could fish 2 days in a row and was rewarded with a box full of macks as well as several other species of bottom fish. The “Savannah Lynn' returned to the docks last week with bluefish, macks, bonita, and even managed to hook a sand tiger shark. “Miller Time Charters” were trolling the shoals and came home with a boat load of fish. Small Clark Spoons are taking most of the fish out at the Shoals. Start by slow trolling them behind the boat, and then adjust your speed to see what the fish prefer. Bluefish are still pretty thick out there and love those shiny spoons.
Until next week...
Tight lines and fins up §
