Article by Larry Jock
The weather last weekend was spotty with windy conditions making it tough to get out. Upcoming cool weather should make for better fishing, bringing down water temperatures in the bay and inshore waters.
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said it may sound like a broken record, but ocean flounder catching remained steady again last week. Artificial structure at Sites 9 and 10 held staging flatties, but fluke continued to move along open natural bottom between “DB” Buoy and “DE” Light as they get ready for a fall migration offshore.
Seems like flounder have started to push out of the Delaware Bay. Captain Ted of Anglers Fishing Center said he intercepted fair numbers of flatfish mid-week in “The Valley” area at the Bay Mouth, between #8 and #8A Buoys. He also mentioned numerous croakers had gathered in deep water at the head of “The Pit”, between #4 and #6 Buoys, which is normally a sign they’re preparing for a movement as well. Captain Brent found more fish for his flounder pounders on recent trips aboard the “Katydid”. Bill and Charlotte Hughes joined Brent and Chris Tuesday to assemble a limit of 16 quality fluke from the Old Grounds. The Wednesday All Stars have been on a streak, and this outing was no different. The “Katydid” regulars boxed a boat limit of 44 flatfish to bolster their stock of freezer fillets for the winter. On Thursday, Captain Brent’s flukers surpassed the 2,000 keeper mark for this summer when they put 29 in the cooler. Conditions were a little tough Saturday, but Ernie Stone and his gang ended up with 21 to take home from their trip on the “Katydid”, topped off by Ron Mistretta Jr.’s 6 pounder. On Sunday, seas were a little lumpy again, but the guys on the “Katydid” captured 20 keeper fluke and a dozen nice bass. Steve Kiibler took big fish honors with a 7.06 pound citation earner, plus another weighing 5.5 pounds. Wes, Shane and Sean Olson endured rough water on the Old Grounds on “Sunday”, but returned with their limit of flatties to 4.5 pounds.
Boaters told of sea bass mixed in with flounder on structure, and were glad to have a few more for the table before bass season closes September 18th.
In the Delaware Bay, a mix of late season small species including croakers, spike trout, kingfish, blowfish, spot, porgies, pigfish, lizardfish, banded rudderfish, snapper blues and triggerfish was available around Reef Site 8. Wade Guinn got a 3.34 pound trigger at Site 8 on Saturday aboard the “Angler”. Other anglers told of some hefty hardheads around the Ice Breakers, and bluefish off Cape Henlopen Point. Snappers could be seen crashing through pods of silversides and anchovies in current rips, and would strike at flashy lures like Kastmasters or Sting Silvers, and bucktails tipped with shiners.
Folks at the rails of the recently reopened Cape Henlopen Pier reported croakers and snapper blues on bloodworms and fresh mullet. Mullet have started to move along both the Delaware Bay and ocean beaches, and gamefish in the region have been keying in on mullet as forage. Not much in the way of sizeable predators, but 10 to 15-inch blues and kingfish were beached by surfcasters soaking mullet baits at Herring Point. Quite a few small black drum have been roaming the wash too. The 6 to 12-inch puppies bit on clam, bloodworms, Fishbites or shrimp on small float rigs fished close to the beach.
At Hook’em & Cook’em Tackle Shop in the Indian River Marina, Capt. Bert Adams reported a lot of bait (spot, shiners & mullet) in the Indian River Inlet, but unfortunately the action is still slow. Some small bluefish, in the 12 to 14-inch range, have been caught during the incoming tide by anglers casting Tsunami Midwave jigs, Kastmasters or any other type of metal lure.
Some keeper flounder were caught over the weekend, but the pickings continued to be slow. Anglers had to fish all day, and weed through throwback flatties to get their keepers. Short stripers were also caught, with a few keepers mixed in, primarily under the Indian River Bridge. Croaker fishing in the Inlet is very sporadic. Bert feels that the fish have moved out of the bay and can be found anywhere out to 4-miles off the beach.
The most interesting catch in the Inlet last week was a small cobia hooked on Sunday. The anglers ended up throwing it back because they weren’t sure what it was or whether they could keep it.
In the surf, small bluefish and small black drum are being caught along with some kingfish.
Those fishing within a few miles of the coast are mainly finding croakers and some triggerfish on wrecks located 4-miles out. Flounder fishing continues to run strong, particularly on ocean structure at the Old Grounds. Further south, anglers are having good results at the Bass Grounds and at the African Queen wreck.
Offshore action has been dismal, except for the exceptional mahi bite going on in the canyons. Mahi have also been found closer to shore, but the canyons are producing the vast majority of the action. A few white marlin continue to be caught in the Baltimore Canyon along with an occasional wahoo.
This is the final issue of the Coastal Fisherman for the 2015 fishing season. Keep an eye on our online fishing reports at www.coastalfisherman.net.
A special thanks to Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina and Capt. Bert Adams at Hook’em & Cook’em Tackle Shop for their reports each week.
Until next season, tight lines.