Article by Rick Willman
Hi folks. I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July weekend.
Fishing was very productive in the back bays and inshore sites. The results from the Rick’s Bait and Tackle Flounder Tournament are:
1st place - Wes Grove 5 lbs. 4 oz.
2nd place - Kevin Ludwick 3 lb. 8 oz.
3rd place - Tom Wise 3 lb. 4 oz.
We hope everyone had a great time.
For the July 4th weekend we held an Inshore Tournament together with SeaSide Gas and Grill. Scott Fluharty took 1st in the Flounder Division with a 6 lb. 9 oz. flattie. In the Bluefish Division, Ken Smith won the bragging rights and the money with a 9 lb. 2 oz. fish. The Sea Bass award went to Jackie Robinson with a 1 lb. 13 oz. fish. Mike Haas took the Tog Division with 3 lb. 14 oz. wreck dweller. Once again we hope all involved had a great time. For all you offshore guys, be sure to get in on the Offshore Tournament that runs July 23, 24 and 25. The categories are marlin, tuna, dolphin and wahoo. This contest again will be a combined effort of Rick’s Bait and Tackle and Sea Side Gas and Grill.
Other catches this past week include Joe Vascuglia of White House Beach, who caught a
39-inch, 21.75-pound striper. Ridge Larak landed a 5 lb. 14 oz. weakfish while fishing in the Indian River Inlet on the “KAJA”. Tom Breen and daughter Kelly Blizzard of York, PA caught 5 flounder weighing up to 5 lbs. while fishing the “Old Grounds” using minnow and squid for bait.
In the Pot-Nets Flounder Tournament, Ron Soltes and Chuck Cook are tied for the lead with flounder weighing 6 lbs. 2 oz.
Offshore fishing has been on the slow side. Dominick Davis of Wilmington, DE captured a 15 lb. dolphin while fishing Massey’s Canyon on the “Pro-Dog” with Dave Pruitt at the helm.
For those of you in need of some squid or nightcrawlers after most shops are closed you can stop at the Giant Grocery Stores in Long Neck, in Rehoboth on Route 1, or the Millville store. Rick’s Bait and Tackle is supplying these stores with bait, rigs, crabbing supplies, and some combos.
Some of our reporting stations gave us the following fishing reports:
Bill at Bill’s Sport Shop said that Roger Gross was on the “Reel Hard” south of the Poorman's Canyon, and caught 25 yellowfin tuna with one keeper. Ron Dawson caught a citation striper at 21.1 lbs., 39" long on a white Zoom at the Indian River Inlet.
Bobby from the Pier called and said they are catching a lot of spot. A few croakers are showing up including a couple keepers.
After hearing rumors of puppy drum being caught at Massey's Landing, Bill Jr. fished with clams and came away with a nice sized triggerfish. Sean Kane of Rehoboth brought a 32.5-inch, 17.67 lb. striper to the scales after fishing in the Indian River Inlet using eels for bait.
At Rattle & Reel Sporting Center on Long Neck Road, Ron told us that there are a lot of flounder and sea bass being taken around the “DB” Buoy area on squid and minnows. The flounder action in the Rehoboth Bay and Indian River has been really good with more keepers being caught. Minnows, squid, GULP! and triggerbait have been working well. The guys have been fishing the triggerbait on bucktails or spec rigs.
Bert Adams at Hook’em & Cook’em Bait and Tackle at the Indian River Marina reports plenty of flounder in the Indian River Inlet. A few nice stripers are also being caught on live spot. The headboat “Judy V.” is finding lots of sea bass and some flounder fishing in the ocean. The sea bass are thick at the Old Grounds and along the Buoy Line, but it is tough finding the keepers.
Offshore action consists of dolphin up to 22 pounds and small yellowfin tuna from the Baltimore to Poor Man’s Canyons. The “Undertaker” caught yellowfin tuna of 45 and 55 pounds while fishing the Norfolk Canyon.
At Henlopen Bait and Tackle on Savannah Road in Lewes, Dan reports good action on the slot stripers in the Broadkill River and Lewes Canal until excessive boat traffic shut them down. Flounder action in the same areas was also good until the boat traffic had the same effect. The Delaware Reefsites are starting to produce more flounder activity. Action on the beaches has been slow according to Dan.
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said artificial reef structures yielded good numbers of flounder during the week. In the Delaware Bay, sites 6, 7 and 8 proved productive. Plenty of flounder came from sites 10 and 11 in the ocean as well. Drift conditions had a lot to do with success rates. With wind and tide together, boats traveled too fast to effectively work the bottom. In that scenario, some crews found that anchoring was the ticket. Casting bucktail jigs tipped with shiners, cut bait or Gulp! up current and walking it over the rubble worked well from a stationary vessel, when you couldn’t catch anything during a fast drift. Captain Chet on the “Lil’ Angler II” is a proponent of anchor fishing for fluke, and has had good success, as evidenced by last Sunday’s trip when his guys decked 11 keeper flounder. They also had 27 triggerfish, including Linda Bennett’s 3.52 pounder.
Flounder specialists, the Walker family and crew, enjoyed fine action while working the reef sites this past week. They had limit catches varying from 12 to 24 flatties each day. Some of their bigger fish included Joe Walker’s 6.95, and 6.31 pounders along with a 6.76 pounder for Joe Walker, Jr. Bobby Bryant had a 6.6 pounder, and Larry Burkins caught a 6.42-pound fluke.
Bottom structure changes between “DB” and “DA” Buoys held fluke too. Flounder also continued to come from shallow water. Frank Lenihan landed an 8.02-pound doormat in the Lewes Canal. Sand bottom near the Ferry Jetty was good, and guys casting jigs tipped with minnows, shiners and Gulp! along the rocks of the Inner and Outer walls caught some nice flounder. Joey Fiorentino nailed a 5.23 pounder using a Gulp! grub in less than three feet of water along Broadkill Beach on Sunday morning.
Bottom bouncers had croakers between the Shears and the Star Site, and on the Broadkill Reef. Clams, bloodworms and Fishbites were favorites of the hardheads.
The opening of a slot-size season offered the opportunity for striper fishermen to take home two striped bass between 20 and 26 inches per angler per day until August 31. The season applies to Delaware Bay and it’s tributaries only. The 28-inch minimum is still in effect for ocean coastal areas and Indian River Inlet. Anglers can retain rockfish in the Lewes Canal from the Route 9 Bridge to Roosevelt Inlet, and in the Broadkill River. Rock responded to eels, clams, bunker, and a variety of artificials including plugs, jigs and soft plastics. Boaters casting to the Inner and Outer Walls caught stripers too.
Tog season re-opened as well, and blackfish were reported from the Inner and Outer Walls and Ice Breakers. Wrecks and reefs gave up tautog too. Water temperatures have risen, and triggerfish were mixed in.
Tuna action that had been good, cooled off. When it was still happening last Sunday, Angelo DeLapo and crew returned from the 461 Lump with three yellowfins from 38 to 42 lbs. and a 14 lb. dolphin. During the week, other boats fishing in the Poor Man’s reported scattered catches of gaffer dolphin, makos and several trollers told of hookups and bite offs from blackeyes. There seems to be more makos around this year than in the past, and they’re still hanging out in twenty fathoms. Michael and David Walker had a 190 lb. mako at The Sausages.
There’s a lot of life in thirty fathoms, with whales, porpoises, birds, baitfish and bluefish all along the line. However, the initial shot of bluefins seemed to push on through the area. But, it looks like more are coming. Joe said he had scattered reports of bluefin bites at Massey’s, and he had customers check in a nice bluefin they caught at the 26 Mile Hill off Wachapreague on Friday. Those fishermen said all the boats trolling around them were hooked into tuna too, so we should see more bluefins soon.
Until next week, have fun and be safe!
Rick and his wife Deb are owners of Rick’s Bait & Tackle in Long Neck, DE.
