Article by Larry Jock
It was another tough week weather-wise up and down the Delmarva coast. Air temperatures dropped over the weekend but the problem continues to be the wind. Too strong and relentless. Unfortunately, it looks like it will continue throughout this week.
Last Friday, the Joe Morris Memorial Canal Flounder Tournament was held with 335 anglers competing in the flounder-only event. The tournament is expected to make a donation to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network of over $14,000. The tournament was won by Jason Steele with a 4.3 pounder caught on a One-Eye-Jack fluke killer tipped with a shiner.
Outside of the tournament, Tommy at Lewes Harbour Marina said that the flounder bite in the Lewes Canal is just decent. Nothing red hot by any stretch. There was no bite at slack tide. Water has to be moving. The best bite has been on Gulp! artificial baits and any kind of meat such as minnows, squid or mackerel strips.
The Coral Beds finally heated up for those looking to tangle with black drum. The fish are there, but windy conditions have kept the pressure on them at a pretty low level. Most of the fish are in the 30-40 lb. range but there also was one released that was estimated to weigh around 80 lbs.
Weakfish have also been caught around the Coral Beds and the Cape Henlopen Pier by anglers fishing with spec rigs, swim shads and worm combinations.
Most of the action around the Pier has continued to center around bluefish. Choppers have been caught on everything from plugs to swim shads to metal lures and meat. Fish are a nice size, averaging in the 8 to 12 lb. range.
Stripers are still a mystery this spring. The typical run north in the surf just hasn’t materialized. Good size linesiders are being caught in the suds off the Jersey coast, so it looks like the fish may have scooted by us a little further off the beach than we are used to seeing.
At Fenwick Tackle, Rick said that they didn’t see much over the weekend except for the results of a great bluefish bite from Fenwick to 3R’s Road on Sunday. Surfcasters found 24 to 36-inch fish all day willing to take any tossed lure or chunk of bunker being offered.
On Saturday, Rick received reports of a good kingfish bite in the surf for anglers fishing with bloodworms.
Capt. Bert Adams at the Hook’em & Cook’em Tackle Shop in the Indian River Marina said that they did see a flurry of stripers in the Indian River Inlet on Friday night. Most of the fish were slot fish, measuring between 37 and 43-inches.
Bluefish continue to bounce between the Inlet and the surf for Indian River anglers. On Saturday, the best chopper bite was in the Inlet but on Sunday the action moved to the beach.
Shelby Burton had the surprise catch of the week when he boated some speckled trout behind Burton’s Island. He hooked the 2 lb. specs on soft shell crabs and left them biting.
A few striped bass were caught each night by anglers tossing SP?Minnow lures off the Indian River Jetty, but most were slot fish.
Flounder have been very scarce so far this spring, but Alex Price boated a 23-incher that weighed 4 lbs. 5 oz. while drifting a white Gulp! just south of the Indian River Marina entrance.
Like Rick at Fenwick Tackle, Bert also reported an excellent bluefish bite in South Bethany and off 3R’s Road over the weekend. Eamonn Carey caught a 14 lb. 3 oz. gator on fresh bunker while fishing off the beach in Bethany on Sunday.
Bert said that sea bass fishing slowed a bit but weather kept boats closer to shore than desired. The better bite is further offshore in 90 to 120-feet of water, but conditions made it too rough to get there. Most anglers chasing knotheads ventured out to Site 11 or the Radford wreck.
Until next week, keep those lines tight and have fun! That’s what it’s all about.
