Article by Rick Willman
Hi folks! Sure is great to be writing a fishing report again. I hope everyone did well over the winter. It was too cold and too long for my liking. It’s over and time to get into a great fishing season.
Things started off a bit slow, but catches are really starting to happen. If the wind stops blowing all the time we should be in for a great season.
There are some changes to fishing regulations this year. Delaware’s flounder regulation is 18 ½ inches with a daily limit of 4 fish. This will change to 18 inches and 4 fish a day starting May 11. The season will close October 24. Sea bass will open May 22 with a size limit of 12 ½ inches and 25 fish per day.
Local catches have been on the rise and should continue as the water temperature increases.
Anglers are hitting the water, and some notable catches have been made. Kenny Gregg was drifting through Massey’s Ditch for flounder using cut herring and a minnow when a hungry 10 lb. 10 oz. striper decided he wanted to be at Kenny’s dinner table. George Mood was soaking fresh bunker at the Cape Henlopen beach when a 33 lb. striper decided he wanted to dine with George. Jerrod Briddel of Selbyville was fishing the North Jetty in Indian River Inlet using Storm lures when he did battle with a 32-inch striper.
Flounder activity is picking up in Massey’s Ditch and the Indian River. Alex Raptapolus of Harrisburg, PA took an 18-½ incher from the Inlet using cut herring on a bucktail. Paul Ferenczi fished the outgoing tide in Massey’s Ditch using a spec rig and GULP! and caught an 18 3/4 inch flattie. Tina Thomas of New Providence, PA used a GULP! artificial bait in the VFW Slough to trick a 19-inch flounder. Denny Stetz and Jim Pyle fished the VFW Slough using GULP! on a jig head and caught 5 keeper flatties and had 8 throwbacks. Denny had the big fish of the day, tipping the scales at 6 lbs. 10 oz. Many of the fishermen that have been having success catching these early fish are reporting that fish are beginning to scatter and move throughout the back bays. If you find yourself in a position to be able to fish on a sunny afternoon with an outgoing tide, the more shallow spots should be the place to score some flatties.
Remember to handle the throwbacks as little as possible and return them to the water as soon as possible. If they are hooked deep, please cut your line and allow the fish a chance to survive. Be safe on and around the water and be conscience of the fish we take so that we can have a great season and many more to come!
Capt. Bill at Bill’s Sport Shop told us that stripers are being caught at Cape Henlopen State Park, right off the beach, and also at Massey's Landing, both during the day and also at night! Aaron Brommer caught his first keeper flounder this year, a 19.5-incher, on a shiner and Gulp! combination at the Cape Henlopen Pier at night. He also reported catching a 20-inch bluefish.
From Capt. Mac’s Bait & Tackle in Fenwick, Capt. Bruce tells us there are flounder being taken from the back bays. GULP! and minnows seem to be the ticket to trick these flatties. Folks fishing around the RT. 90 bridge are being rewarded with good catches of flounder with clean water being the key. When the water is clear the fish are active, when it’s murky there just is not much happening. Stripers, black drum, and snapper blues are keeping the surf fishermen busy on the beaches.
Mickey at Rattle & Reel Sporting Center on Long Neck Rd. reported stripers up to 22 lbs. being caught from Massey’s Ditch. Bloodworms or GULP! are the baits that are working best. Flounder measuring up to 22-inches are being caught on minnows from the the VFW Slough.
From Hook’em & Cook’em Bait and Tackle at the Indian River Marina, Deanna informed us that with the warmer weather setting in, people are definitely getting the itch to fish despite the winds that came with that warmer weather. Flounder are being caught on jig heads tipped with Gulp! swimming mullet around the VFW Slough. You have to be patient, because there are a lot of throwbacks. Stripers are also being caught near Massey's Ditch and around the Power Plant as well.
The Indian River Inlet is starting to heat up with stripers, tautog and a couple of bluefish making an appearance. Butch Emmert and Ralph Short caught their limit of stripers while fishing in the mouth of the Indian River Inlet. They were using chartreuse colored bucktails. Anglers have reported that most stripers are being caught on the beginning of the incoming or the end of the outgoing tides. Tautog are being caught in the Inlet along the rocks by anglers using green crabs, shrimp or salted clam.
In the ocean, tautog fishing is still going strong. The headboat “Judy V.”, charter boat “Karen Sue” and others continue to go out and find tog on Site 10 and Site 11. Green crabs, salted clam and shrimp are again the favorite baits.
The first ocean flounder of the season was caught on the “Judy V.” by Phyllis Blakney of Philadelphia, PA when she boated a 20” flattie fishing with green crab two Saturdays ago.
Cod are still around at wrecks that are 15 miles south east of the Indian River Inlet. Tony Burr caught 18 cod on one day and 10 cod and 6 tautog on the following day.
The surf was starting to look good last weekend but not much has been caught over the past week with the winds blowing so hard.
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said, thanks to warmer days and nights, water temperatures in the Lewes Canal have risen to the upper fifties, and flounder action has improved considerably. The best bites occurred during the last half of the outgoing tide (ebb tide), when the water was warmest. Anglers reported success using minnows, shiners, smelt, cut herring and Gulp! baits deployed on shad darts, speck rigs and other small jigs.
The nicest flattie of the week was a 5.33 pounder boated by Rebecca West in the Lewes Canal. Ronin Max used a green jig head tipped with a minnow to tempt a 21-inch, 3 lb. 8 oz. fluke. Isabella Robinson and Roisin Greer caught two keepers and released 10 other flatfish while baiting with shiners. Some flukers even scored four fish limits on days when conditions were right.
Flounder also came from the Roosevelt Inlet and the Cape Henlopen Pier. Some bluefish in the 1 to 3 lb. class were mixed in. Surfcasters continued to pick at stripers along the ocean beaches. Jack Austin landed a 28.6 lb. bass from the suds at Conquest Road while soaking cut bunker.
Will Wiedmann was surprised when a 14 lb. black drum grabbed the piece of herring he was using from Broadkill Beach in an attempt to catch rockfish. Commercial netters have had plenty of black drum in the Broadkill Slough, and the hook-and-line bite should come on soon. Lewes Harbour Marina will be carrying surf clams for drum season, but Joe suggests reserving your bait order early in the week.
Tog fishing remained good, with blackfish pulled from Reef Sites 5, 6, 7 and 8. Mike Barnes, Terry Myers and Mark Swift put their limit in the box at Site 7 on Sunday morning during the end of flood tide and were back at the dock by 10 am. Patrons on the “Lil’ Angler” had some nice tog during the week. Captain Chet Harer decked an 8.22 pounder himself. Michael Brown boated an 8.52 pounder and Austin and Tyler Brown took citation tautog weighing 7.3 and 7.14 pounds. Ok Chiu Kim captured a 9.88 lb. bruiser aboard the “Top Fin”. Toggers along the Inner and Outer Walls did well too. Bob Murphy and Edwin Maxwell culled a limit of quality fish from several they hooked at the Inner Breakwater, including Max’s 8.26 pounder.
In early shark news, Dewayne Fox from Delaware State University reported encountering two large thresher sharks over 200 pounds while doing sturgeon research this week in the ocean. That’s sooner than normal for the big longtails to show, so maybe it will be a good early season.
The annual Lewes Harbour Canal Flounder Tournament takes place on Friday May 20th. Entry is $25.00 per angler, and $5.00 of that fee is donated to Camp Awareness Youth Programs. Cash prizes will be awarded for the seven heaviest flounder weighed in during the event. Call 302-645-6227 for further details.
Until next week, have fun and be safe!
Rick and his wife Deb are owners of Rick’s Bait & Tackle in Long Neck, DE.
