Article by Larry Jock
Fishermen really had to earn it last week with several days getting blown out due to windy conditions that made for rough seas. Even the days that were “fishable” would not be classified as pleasant. Fortunately, at least for tuna fishermen, the rough trip was worth it for many making the trip to offshore canyons.
Capt. Bert Adams at the Hook’em & Cook’em Tackle Shops reported very slow fishing in the Indian River Inlet last week. A couple of flounder were caught on the south side of the Inlet by those fishing from a boat and anglers off the rocks. Bert said that both bluefish and striped bass action has been very sporadic. There were some big blues caught during the day last Friday with fish measuring up to 30-inches.
The consistent winds and occasional rain has really created dirty water conditions in the Inlet, back bays and even in the surf, but interestingly, one of the biggest problems anglers are having, especially for flounder fishing, is that the Inlet is absolutely loaded with horseshoe crabs. They are so thick that flounder fishermen are having difficulty bouncing their baits along the bottom. Bert said that they have even infiltrated the marina where divers working on props are having to step all over them just to get their work done.
In the surf around Indian River and Bethany, Bert said that there hasn’t been much going on. A few flounder have been caught along with some short stripers, kingfish, sharks and skates.
Inshore, flounder are showing up more often on ocean structure and along coral bottoms. Action at the Old Grounds is picking up steam. Anglers on the charter boat, “Katydid” had a stellar day on Saturday, picking up 34 keepers at “B” Buoy. Also on Saturday, anglers on the “Fish Bones” headed out to the Old Grounds, just outside the Shipping Channel, and returned with 15 keeper flounder and 13 sea bass.
Bert said that they are seeing a lot of short flounder and sea bass at “A” Buoy and the bites they are getting are coming on top-and-bottom rigs tipped with cut bait and from jigging with Gulp! artificial baits.
With black sea bass fishing being slow on inshore ocean structure, the headboats, “Capt. Bob II” and “Judy V” have both flipped from targeting sea bass to going for flounder. If you‘ve only flounder fished in the Inlet or bay, and have never experienced the ocean bite, you may want to give it a try. Flounder fishing off the coast is only going to get better over the next few weeks so now would be a good time to book a trip. You have plenty of options to choose from.
As mentioned earlier, sea bass fishing has slowed considerably for those wishing to stay closer to the shoreline. Bert said that the best bet for keeper knotheads would probably be at the DelJerseyLand reefsite, but that wreck is 26 miles southeast from the Indian River Inlet, so you need to want it bad to make that trip.
Shark fishing wasn’t stellar last week since most boats stayed in the slip. Anglers looking for thresher sharks around “A” and “B” Buoys unfortunately found good numbers of brown sharks.
The offshore action was really the star of the show last week. Boats heading down to the Washington Canyon, and more specifically to the 461 Lump, returned with some excellent catches of yellowfin tuna. Most of the fish are in the 35-45 lb. range, but we started to see some pushing into the mid-to-upper 50’s last week. Most of the yellowfins were caught in anywhere from 70 to 200 fathoms where water temperatures ranged from 67 to 73-degrees.
A few bigeyes were also caught last week. Out of the Indian River Marina on Saturday, anglers on “Da Chief” were fishing in 200 fathoms, just south of the Washington Canyon when they hooked into 3 bigeyes weighing up to 84 lbs. They also caught 4 yellowfins and 4 mahi during their trip.
A few boats took overnight trips to the Washington Canyon, leaving on Friday and returning later on Saturday. One of those boats was the “Fish Whistle”. Capt. Charlie Horning went down to the Washington Canyon and brought back 14 yellowfins and a mahi. They also released a blue marlin during their trip.
Up at Lewes Harbour Marina, Matt also said that fishing was slow last week due primarily to the nasty weather.
Matt did report that the black drum bite in the Delaware Bay has slowed dramatically but anglers were catching good size bluefish (10-15 lbs.) from the Henlopen Pier and Roosevelt Inlet right up until the blow pushed through on Wednesday. Unfortunately, they haven’t seen the fish since.
Flounder fishing in the Lewes Canal is getting better. Matt said that when they do see flounder being caught, the average size is definitely on the upswing, with more coming in over 18-inches. No particular tide has dominated the action and most fish are being fooled with Gulp! artificial baits in the colors of white, nuclear chicken and pink
A few weakfish were caught at the Henlopen Pier last week, but most of the trout have been too short to keep.
Everyone is waiting for the arrival of croaker and spot to the Canal to provide more options and give the kids a chance to bend a rod.
Upcoming Tournaments
The 8th Annual Pier Point Marina Founder Tournament starts on June 24th and runs until July 30th. For more information you can call 302-227-2808.
Also on the schedule is the Indian River Marina Kid’s Catch-All Tournament. This event covers bay, inshore and offshore fishing for anglers 3 to 18 years old. The tournament is scheduled for June 25th and 26th with weigh-ins at Hook’em & Cook’em from 3:00 PM to 6:30 PM on Saturday and 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM on Sunday.
Until next week, tight lines!