Article by Capt. BJ Pietryak
This past week in Delaware saw the start of the much anticipated Paradise Grill Flounder Pounder Tournament and it’s $100,000 top prize. With 390 boats fishing the tournament, all the action was absorbed into the event with the near shore Coral Grounds packed with anglers all searching for that money making fish. Finding a wreck that had not been worked over a hundred times became rough as the week came to a close. All season I have talked about how this year’s fluke population has been so strong and how many big fish have been caught. The first day of the weigh in for the tournament proved my point with a stud 7.8 pound fish on top of the leader board. The action was so strong that the spread between 1st and 15th place was only 2 pounds. It’s pretty good fishing when the smallest fish in the money on the first day of a 5 day tournament is 6 pounds. Day 2 however saw most of the positions change, especially when a once in a lifetime fish just shy of ten pounds was weighed! More on that tourney in a little bit.
The end of the week, especially Friday, saw windy weather making trips off shore a bit gnarly. The back bays continued to remain fishable, however the heat we have seen lately has been causing the water oxygen levels to drop, driving the fish into deeper water.
Nearshore Wrecks & Coral
The nearshore wrecks and coral had been very productive, but with the pressure the number of boats fishing the tournament put on the fish as the week wore on, fish of any kind were harder to find. Some however found a little success. Kevin Sweeney was fishing on the “Thelma Dale IV” and pulled in a few doormat fluke early in the week from the Star Site. Capt. Adam reported nice catches of sea bass and flounder last week. Several fish were well over 20 inches and anglers showed their pleasure by the smiles back at the docks. Christopher Donahue fished with Captain Rodger on the “Judy V” out of Indian River Marina and was quickly put on the fish. The group caught several big flounder as well as a few keeper sea bass. Despite rougher seas later in the week and a few anglers getting sea sick, the trips remained very productive for flounder, with big fish coming over the rails and several anglers getting their limits of the delicious flat fish. Michelle Gehman and Barry Edwards also had great trips on the “Capt. Bob II”, bringing home 10 keeper sea bass and a few flounder from inshore ocean structures. Kevin and Cheryl Szyman were also on the boat and returned with 4 big fish for dinner. Captain Rodger reports the conditions got rougher later in the week, but anglers fished hard and still managed some trophy fish.
Cathay and Bill joined “Bad Wind Charters” for an inshore charter, and although fishing started off a bit slow, the group managed several nice keepers over 5 pounds to bring home. They reported trying a few Bass Pots for mahi but struck out. I have received reports that the water to the north is clearing up to a nice shade of blue and a few mahi have come off the Bass Pots near the NJ line. Hopefully the clean water will come further south and bring more mahi with it. Duane Bowman was just one shy of a limit this past week fishing the Old Grounds with Gulp. The crew stated that although there were many undersized fish, some nice ones could be found if you put the time in. Frankie Paul fished with Rick Strauss and came back with some big sea bass and got to work on his savage tan in the process. Ted Poseus trolled the humps for spanish mackerel this past week and caught one of the biggest cutlass fish I have ever seen. The fish looked more like a wahoo than it did a ribbonfish. The ribbonfish are still all over the Coral Grounds.
“Bottom Line Sportfishing” found the mahi ready to bite and returned to Lewes Harbour Marina with a plethora of peanuts. The crew even got a few larger fish that required a gaff. Braden Pomoni was at the Old Grounds and got his limit of fluke using Gulp baits. Chase Tyler and Gavin Burton were there as well and got a six man limit in less than 3 hrs. You can’t ask for a better day than that! Matt Snook from Pa. used Gulp bait to hook a 7.8lb flounder measuring 27”. The fish was weighed at Hook’Em & Cook’Em Bait & Tackle. Drew Mongeluzo caught two beautiful fish at the Old Grounds measuring 21” and 22”. The preferred bait? You guessed it, Gulp! Charles Corrar caught his first citation flounder off an ocean structure weighing 7.4 lbs. Jayde Tyson and Cody Kaufman brought home a limit of fluke from Site Ten. Alex Artese said his daughter got her first flounder measuring 21¾” and 4.47 lbs. The young Athena Artese used a ball jig and Gulp to land the big fish at Massey’s Landing. Great job young lady! Lisa Mutter fished the Old Grounds using Gulp and weighed a 6.2 lb, 24 inch fish at Rick’s Bait and Tackle. Also weighed in at Rick’s was an 8.4 lb. sheepshead caught while wreck fishing inshore by Jerry Petrucci.
As promised, here are the final results of the Paradise Grill Flounder Pounder!
1st Place worth $100,000 was Me Boat at 9.9lbs.
2nd Place was Shooter Dog at 9.8lbs.
3rd Place was Grizzly at 8.7lbs.
4th Place was Mac Attack at 8.3lbs.
5th Place was Mojo at 7.8lbs.
6th Place was DBD at 7.7 lbs.
Back Bays & Inlet Fishing
The back bays are doing well with some big fish being hooked. Deeper water due to the excessive heat is the ticket to finding fish ready to bite. Steve Patts bounced around the Lewes Canal and found a nice citation fish measuring 25.25 inches. EJ Turner also fished the canal and got a doormat fish close to 27 inches. Mike Smith fished Indian River bay using a bucktail and strip baits along the sand bars bringing home a few big fluke for dinner. Steve Dey fished the 8s out of DE bay last week and returned with a nice flounder. Anthony Vega fished the Cape pier and pulled in a huge stingray using cut bait. Holly Hubert got a big 25” 5.8 lb fluke using squid and shiner combo.
Until next week...
Tight lines and Fins up §
