Article by Larry Jock
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said the offshore passage of Hurricane Cristobal made for crappy conditions most of the week. But, things started to settle down on Friday afternoon, and fishing action perked up again.
Joe Walker and Rob Karpovich caught the late ebb tide at Site 7 in the Delaware Bay on Friday and put together a limit of eight chunky flatfish.
Ocean fishing was productive too. Chris Stoner and family joined Captain Charlie on the “Tranquila” for some Old Grounds fluking on Friday, and returned with 13 nice keepers. George Finn got only one flounder during his Friday trip aboard the “Katydid”, but it was a good one. The citation earner weighed in at 7.37 pounds. Mike Ambler and John Markey used cut bluefish and Gulp! artificial baits to secure their limit of flatties at the Old Grounds on Friday. David Parsons drifted the Old Grounds with cut bluefish on a hair teaser to tempt his 7.47 pound fluke. Rick Cornell deployed a jig and teaser with cut bait at Site 10 off the coast of Delaware to take his 7.4 pound trophy. Captain Carey’s flukers on the “Grizzly” got into some real nice flatties on Saturday. They ended up with a boat limit, with fish weighing up to 6.25 pounds, and ten of those fish were over 4 pounds. Joe Walker and Rob and Robert Karpovich also found some quality flatfish while drifting squid strips at Site 10. They iced their limit of big fluke, including double citation doormats of 7.0 and 9.5 pounds for Rob. Ted Luczka traveled from Ohio to sample some Delaware flounder fishing and he wasn’t disappointed. Ted joined Tony and Diana Vansant for a trip to Site 10 on Saturday, and they returned with a dozen hefty flatties weighing up to 6.5 pounds. Mike Weaver and his crew enjoyed good flounder fishing on Saturday aboard the “Top Fin”. Captain Pete Haines topped off the catch with a 7.5 pounder he put in the box himself. Herman Troyer took a 7.48 pound citation fluke on Saturday at the Old Grounds on the “Fish Hawk”. The Falgowski’s fished on the “Katydid” on Sunday and that fishin’ family filled up the cooler with a limit of 44 flatties weighing up to 6.5 pounds. Larry Colatriano, Robert O’Neal and Dale Miller used ball jigs with 6-inch Gulp! artificial baits and smelt for a two day take of 23 keepers from the Old Grounds on Saturday and Sunday. Ted Garman and Greg Pearson really got into the flatfish at Site 10 on Sunday and brought back their limit of 8 good fluke. Robert Karpovich took a lot of ribbing for catching the smallest flounder on his previous trip, but redeemed himself on Sunday with an impressive 6 pounder from Site 10.
In addition to flounder, bottom bouncers encountered croakers, snapper bluefish and a few keeper sea bass. Croakers gathered in good numbers near #4 Buoy at the mouth of Delaware Bay. Kingfish and spike trout mingled with hardheads, and some of the kings were pretty stout. Mike Burkholder boated a 1.11 pounder on the “Pirate King”. Chloe Collier checked in a 1.16 pound king she caught on the “Angler”.
Wrecks at the Bay entrance held triggerfish, where, despite lumpy seas on Monday, Captain Brent set-up the “Katydid” over a snag where his anglers pulled in 37 triggers, plus a bunch of porgies and sea bass.
Schools of finger mullet have shown up inside Cape Henlopen and the bait fish have attracted bluefish. Surf fishermen along the beach hooked snappers that ranged from 10 to 15-inches using cut fresh mullet. Snapper blues also roamed the rip outside the Outer Wall chasing bait fish, and could be caught with shiners or strips of mullet. Casting bucktails or spoons and other metal jigs also got the attention of ravenous little choppers.
Jumbo spot and bigger than average croakers continued to come from the Lewes Canal. Bloodworms and Fishbites were the baits of choice.
Boaters trolling inshore structure found false albacore and dolphin. Travis Brown was pulling ballyhoo at the East Lump when he connected with a 12.5 pound mahi.
Offshore, the billfish bite was heating up in Washington Canyon. Shawn Gallagher and his crew on the “Free Spool” fished there on Saturday and released a white marlin in addition to putting a pair of 45 pound yellowfins and several dolphin in the box.
Canyon bottom dropping produced tasty specimens for those fishing deep. Captain Brent drifted the Baltimore Canyon on Saturday aboard the “Katydid” and his anglers cranked on a variety of species including golden and blueline tilefish, rosefish, oversized bergalls, chub mackerel and hake. Matt Sherwood muscled in a pair of goldens weighing 25 and 26.5 pounds.
Capt. Bert Adams at Hook’em & Cook’em Tackle Shop in the Indian River Marina reported bad weather resulted in slow fishing during the week, but things picked up over the weekend.
Anglers fishing in the Indian River Inlet are finding croakers, a few trout and short striped bass and flounder.
The much better bite, especially for flounder, can still be found in the ocean. The Old Grounds and Site 10 and 11 continue to produce quality catches of flatfish. It’s not a given though, with boats needing to find the right drift conditions to maximize results. Anglers are starting to find a lot more short flounder on ocean structure, but there are still PLENTY of larger fish to make the trip worthwhile.
As mentioned in the Lewes report, the offshore bite is currently being dominated by white marlin with boats coming back with many flags flying after trolling in the Poor Man’s and Washington Canyons. Dolphin are plentiful and the occasional wahoo and bigeye have also been seen at the scale.
Until next week, tight lines!
