Article by Larry Jock
Welcome to another week of the Delaware Fishing Report. Although we had nasty weather during the week, the weekend turned out nice and anglers were able to get out into the bay and off the coast.
Striped Bass
In comparison to prior weeks when we saw a fantastic night bite in the Indian River Inlet, striper action slowed a bit last week. That’s not to say fish were caught, it just wasn’t as fast and furious as it has been in the Inlet.
The bite was very good in the inlet on Thursday night and in the surf on Friday morning, but weekend anglers didn’t fare well unless you were fishing off of the tip of the jetty. Jetty anglers tossing swim shads and bucktails off the tip continued to do well. Boat anglers had trouble getting close enough to the tip without having bucktails ricochet off their bow.
At Bill’s Sport Shop in Lewes, DE, Bill Jr. said that between Thursday afternoon and Saturday morning the striper bite between Gordon’s Pond, north of Rehoboth, to the Naval Crossing “was on fire”! Anglers fishing with clams, bunker chunks and bunker heads were landing fish upwards of 43-inches.
Unfortunately, surfcasters fishing along the beaches south of Dewey Beach saw a much slower bite, especially when compared to prior weeks.
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina reported that striped bass also showed up on structure at the mouth of the Delaware Bay and along the rocks of the Ice Breakers and the Outer Wall. Anglers throwing Bombers, bucktails and Stretch 12 plugs during early morning hours did well.
Sharks
Anglers chasing tuna in the canyons ran across their fair share of blue sharks and a few makos in the Baltimore Canyon.
Contrary to rumors, no thresher sharks were landed. There are all the sea bass you want to release around “B” Buoy, according to Bert at Hook’em & Cook’em. This means that thresher sharks aren’t far behind. Some have been hooked, but all were lost.
Bluefish
According to Capt. Bruce at Capt. Mac’s Bait & Tackle, bluefish in the 15 to 18-inch range showed up late in the week in the Indian River Inlet and in the surf along Delaware beaches.
Flounder
Fortunately, Delaware anglers are faring much better than Maryland anglers when it comes to flounder fishing. The water in the bays is a little cleaner and the slur isn’t anywhere near as bad as it is in Ocean City.
Joe at Whitetail Taxidermy and Outdoor Supplies said that flounder are being caught in Massey’s Ditch and Baker’s Channel on bare hooks tipped with bull minnows.
According to Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina, dirty water also hampered flounder fishermen in the Lewes Canal, but southerly winds predicted for this week should clear the water up just in time for the Lewes Canal Flounder Tournament on Friday, May 18th. Sign-ups will only be accepted up to 7am on Friday.
Tautog & Sea Bass
Delaware’s tautog season closed on May 11th and won’t reopen until July 17th. Sea bass season is scheduled to open on May 19th.
Prior to the tog season closing, anglers were having good luck fishing around the Outer Wall with green crabs.
As stated earlier, the area around “B” Buoy is holding good numbers of sea bass and the Great Eastern Reef has also produced some nice catches. Those fishing on the “Judy V.” released a lot of tautog and sea bass last week according to Bert at Hook’em & Cook’em.
Weakfish
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said that weakfish were the other exciting news from Broadkill Beach. Throughout the spring, commercial netters reported significantly more trout than in past seasons, and now that water temperatures have risen, hook and line fishermen are starting to catch some.
Black Drum
Quite a few boomers were weighed in according to Joe, with several coming in at more than 70 lbs. Black drum have settled into the Coral Beds and peak time should be right around the corner with the next full moon on June 4th.
Tuna/Swordfish
The warm water that stretched from the Baltimore Canyon down to the Washington Canyon had anglers anxious to chase yellowfin tuna.
Some boats returned with good catches from 60 to 100 fathoms in the Baltimore Canyon, where captains found water temperatures hovering around 65-degrees.
On Sunday morning, the “Cindy Sue II” returned from an overnight trip with a 151 lb. swordfish, two yellowfins and a 60 lb. bluefin. All were caught in the Baltimore Canyon.
Until next week, support your local tackle shops.
Tight lines!
