Article by Larry Jock
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said area anglers took advantage of the Slot Striper Season opening up, and worked the Lewes Canal and Broadkill River for keepers within the 20 to 25-inch legal range. Dustin and Brad Schell checked in with their limit of four rockfish landed by drifting eels around the drawbridge. Mike Slaughter and Charlie Booth brought in some nice slot bass as well. Tony and Diana Vansant limited out on slots while drifting eels at the Drawbridge during the end of flood tide on Sunday. Other fishermen told of success with stripers while tossing Zara Spooks, Chug Bugs, Pop Rs and other surface plugs along the marsh banks. Swimming Storm shads, Gulp! and RatLTraps also took their share. Rigs on the bottom with clams, squid heads or cut bunker caught bass for bait soakers too. Croakers have been numerous in the Lewes Canal and would bite bloodworms, clams or Fishbites.
Flounder continue to come from the Canal, as well as off shallow water structure along Lewes Beach and inside Cape Henlopen. Steve Warren scored a 3.5 pound Canal keeper while jigging a Nuclear Chicken Gulp! from the Town Dock. Marty Riley was casting a Storm Shad near the Train Bridge for stripers, but it was inhaled instead by a 4.5 pound flatfish. Craig Goebel drifted the Canal three times during the week for a total of 10 keeper fluke, while using squid, minnows and cut croaker. Jack Ostroski used Gulp! to tempt a 22-incher from the Canal.
Small boaters drifting around the pilings of the Cape Henlopen Pier encountered flatties. Young kayakers, A.J. Wiles and Colby Bealing had five fine keepers during one trip while deploying minnows near the Pier. A.J. went back another day, and returned with his limit of four keepers. Julie Stevenson used her canoe to get close to Pier structure and pulled in a pair of 20+ inchers. Nearshore rock piles also yielded fluke. Rob McMann said Gulp! outfished everything else he threw at the Ferry Wall and put three nice keepers in the box for him on Wednesday evening. Kyle Falgowski landed his limit of four at the Ferry Wall on Friday morning with Gulp! and minnows.
Bay reef sites held flounder, but conditions were tough around the full moon. Captain Brent about wore out the shifters keeping the “Katydid” over rubble on Tuesday, but his flukers managed 15 quality fish, including a 5.43 pounder for Greg Kratzer. Josh Bauman boated a 5.22 pound fluke aboard the “Katydid” on Thursday.
Bay artificial reefs also produced croakers, kingfish, blowfish, snapper blues and spike trout. Spot haven’t shown up yet, but some better sized croakers have been caught. Anchoring right on reef debris was best for bigger fish. Chaz Tennermann checked in a 1.25 pound croaker from Site 5. Some other species showed on structure as well. Andrea Monetti managed the first triggerfish, a 2.65 pounder, from the Outer Wall. Diane Foster fought an 8 pound black drum while fishing for croakers at the Star Site aboard the “Lil Angler II”.
Ocean bottom bouncing has been pretty good. A group of “Katydid” regulars decided to try for sea bass last Monday since most boats had recently been concentrating on flounder. The decision paid off, and they returned from their wreck trip with a pile of big knothead bass, ling, codfish and flounder. Another gang of frequent flyers on the “Katydid” fished ocean structure with Captain Brent on Wednesday for 26 fine flatties, including a 6.25 pounder for Lou Pennella, plus a 7.21 pound lunker for Joe Lee. John Christopher captured a 7.25 pound citation earning fluke from the Old Grounds on Tuesday aboard the “Grizzly”. Dave Walker, Bob Bryant and Al Riberio drifted ocean wrecks on Wednesday for their limit of 12 chunky flatties, including Al’s 5.5 pounder. Captain Carey’s Sunday group aboard the “Grizzly” had a great catch on the Old Grounds, limiting out with 32 keeper flatties. Dave Angstadt decked the heaviest fluke of the week, a 7.9 pounder he boated over the Old Grounds. A ball jig with a 6 inch Nuclear Chicken Gulp! was responsible for the downfall of that dandy doormat.
Good water quality on the Old Grounds offered up some bonuses for boaters, with fish not usually found in close. There were several reports of mahi among flounder fishermen, and some crews spotted schools of bluefins busting in the area. Jack Henriksen landed a 7 pound dolphin while fluking the Old Grounds on Sunday.
Tuna action was pretty good between 20 and 30 fathoms. Mostly bluefins, and some yellowfins, mingled at Massey’s Canyon, 19 Fathom Lump, the Tea Cup, Hambone and Hot Dog. Trolling Flippy Floppy Things, spreader bars, green machines and skirted ballyhoos enticed tunas to bite. Cory Falgowski trolled up a 55.2 pound yellowfin near the Dog on Thursday. Ed Sigda and his crew aboard th “Snow Goose” pulled spreader bars between the 19 Fathom Lump and Massey’s for their two 40 pound bluefins and a yellowfin. Keith Beebe, Chuck Gooding and Taylor Deemer trolled spreader bars at the Tea Cup on Thursday for three bluefins and a mahi. Captain Brent’s trollers on the “Katydid” boated two 40 pound bluefins on Friday morning by trolling ballyhoos with Ilanders. Keith Orendorf and his gang aboard the “Miss Five O” trolled up several bluefins at Massey’s Canyon on Friday, keeping a 45 pounder.
In addition, they decked 5 gaffer dolphin. Geoff McCloskey and the boys on “Tutta Benne” were at the 19 Fathom Lump first thing Sunday morning and trolled up 3 bluefins while towing Flippy Floppy Things. They put a 40 pounder in the cooler and released the others.
Captain Jeff Hoepfl and his trollers aboard the “Joint Venture” also hit the 19 Fathom Lump on Sunday morning for plenty of bluefin action. They boxed their pair of under 47-inchers, and released others. Bill Swords and his crew on the “Swords Fish” worked the Baltimore Canyon on Friday, where Brandon Brown boated a 20 pound dolphin. They also deep dropped for a nice batch of golden tilefish, including Brandon’s 30.2 pounder.
Bigeyes have been frequenting the 800/800 in the Washington Canyon. Pods of whales have been working over schools of squid in the area, and boaters that found feeding whales, often hooked tuna lurking below. Best bites occurred in the evening, with eyeballs attacking trolled offerings well into the darkness. Charlie Horning and his crew on “Fish Whistle” trolled until 11 pm Thursday, and boated a pair of bigeyes in the 150 pound class. Ballyhoos dressed with Joe Shutes did the trick. Larry McDonald and his buddies had a terrific trip to the Washington on Monday afternoon aboard the “Pumpin’ Hard 58”. They trolled up four eyeballs with a total weight of more than 900 pounds. The heaviest tipped the scales to 296 pounds. Seven gaffer mahis topped off their catch. Congratulations on an awesome excursion!
Until next week, tight lines!
