Article by Rick Willman
Hi Folks! The weather still is a bit uncooperative but the weatherman keeps telling us it is going to get better. When the water is clean and the winds are calm, flounder fishing has been good. With the regs now allowing an 18 1/2 inch flattie we should be seeing more keepers. The hot baits are still minnow and squid or the GULP! swimming minnow or mullet in white, pink, or chartreuse.
Striper action continues to improve in the Indian River Inlet. Herring, eels, bloodworms, fresh bunker, or just a bucktail tipped with a white worm have all been productive. A number of linesiders have also been taken on live sand fleas. James Henly and Mark Whitmer fished the middle of the Outer Wall using green crabs to boat 4 nice tog. Mikey Payne fished the Indian River Inlet using sand fleas to catch a 15 lb. 11 oz. striper. Capt. Eric Ludwig on “Hook & Cook Charters” had his party near Site #10 and caught 60 tog, putting 8 nice fish in the cooler.
Sea bass action has started and reports thus far show Site #11 to be the best producer. Guys fishing the open bottom are starting to see improvements in the activity. With the closing of the tog season there will be more pressure on the sea bass. It’s probably not for me to say, but even though the creel limit is 25 fish per angler, please don’t take more fish than you will eat in a short period of time. The pressure on these fish is tremendous and if fishing is good we are bound to see a huge decrease in the availability of this fish. Over the years I have seen many fish discarded and heard many stories of the same. We really need to police ourselves and think of the times down the road when the stocks of various species are gone and we are not able to enjoy fishing for them. This practice needs to carry through for all species. I know years ago this was not a generally accepted principle, but we must look ahead, self-included. I remember years ago going fishing with Dad and the guys and the plan was to bring home as much meat as possible. Fishing pressure has increased along with the number of those fishing. Commercial pressures have also increased, but our hands are tied when it comes to what they do. The only thing we can control is ourselves and it becomes more important each year.
At Rattle and Reel Sporting Center on Long Neck Road, Paul reported good flounder action in the Rehoboth Bay. The hot ticket is a white 3/8 oz. jig head tipped with a GULP! swimming mullet and a minnow. Flounder measuring up to 24 inches have been reported. Stripers are being taken from the surf using fresh bunker. Tog up to 5 lbs. have been brought in from the Indian River Inlet to guys soaking green crabs on slack tide.
At Henlopen Bait and Tackle on Savannah Road in Lewes, reports are of stripers being caught at Herring Point on fresh bunker. Keeper flounder are coming from the Lewes Canal for those drifting minnow/shiner combos. Plenty of shorts are in the mix. In the surf you will be greeted by plenty of skates and dogsharks.
The Bill’s Sport Shop Flounder Tournament is going on and thus far Bucktail Bob is the frontrunner with a 4.01 lb., 22-inch flattie. The contest goes until June 12th and pays $1,000 to the winner. Be sure to get in on the action! Leanne Anderson boated a 29-inch striper while drifting cut herring in Indian River Inlet. Mike Sturgill took an 8.93 lb. tog on green crabs while fishing the Inner Wall in the Delaware Bay. Bryan Halverson fished the surf at 3R’s Road and put a 29-inch striper in the cooler and released a 22-inch striper while fishing with fresh bunker.
Captain Cary Evans on the “Grizzly” said that tog fishing is still the best his charters have to offer. Anglers have boated the first sea bass of the year and this fishery should get even better in the next week or two. The migration of black drum is right on time with several schools of them being seen on the surface throughout the Delaware Bay. They should begin catching drum this week according to Capt. Cary. Flounder have even made an appearance on some inshore snags. On one of the recent trips aboard the “Grizzly”, the crew had their limit of tog weighing up to 10.4 oz. Cary then headed offshore and nailed 11 keeper sea bass along with 5 codfish. The folks at Bill’s also want to remind all Cub Scout leaders and parents of the Youth Day Camp that will be held for ages 8 to 14. This is a great chance to learn about boating, waterfowl, archery, air rifles, building bird boxes and feeders, deer management and fishing. The program will be run by Delaware Fish and Wildlife officers on Saturday, May 16th from 9am to 4pm, at Redden State Forrest Headquarters Tract. Registration forms are available at Bill's.
At Hook’em and Cook’em Bait and Tackle located at the Indian River Marina we received reports of stripers off the surf to those soaking fresh bunker. The pocket off the north side jetty has produced stripers weighing up to 30 lbs. when tempted by Storm or Tsunami lures. There has been some bluefish action off the beaches also. Flounder continue to be caught in the back bays. Tom Cline of Germantown, MD weighed in a 25.2 lb. striper. The “Capt. Bob” and “Judy V” are having some nice catches of sea bass on their headboat trips.
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said black drum came on good around the full moon. Captain Carey’s crew aboard “Grizzly” had 17 boomers during Saturday morning’s flood tide while soaking clams at Pin Top. They harvested eleven of the fish and released six. The largest was a 74.1 pounder landed by Jeff Lauer. Mike Wyatt checked in a 51.1 pounder he boated on the “Reel Passion”. Other good bites occurred in Tussey’s Slough and the Horseshoe on the Jersey Side of the Bay. Drum were also reported among much smaller crowds anchored on the Coral Beds off Slaughter Beach. Captain Neil Bupp landed three fish there on Friday evening and said he heard plenty of drumming in the area. The season is off to a good start and should hold up into early June.
Joe said the shop is carrying surf clams, but urges anglers to reserve baits in advance of their trip because the mollusks are sometimes in short supply due to delivery schedules.
Spring togging ended up with good catches coming from the Outer and Inner Breakwaters as well as the Ice Breakers. Captain Pete’s gang on the “Top Fin” enjoyed a fine Friday tautog fishing. Among their limit, Bill Haines had an 8.58 pounder and John Reed a 7.52. Captain Pete himself captured a 7.85-pound citation blackfish. Anglers on the “Jam-Man” hit the Ice Breakers on Saturday and ended up with a nice mess of tog including a 7.9 pounder for Christine Johnson and a 7 pounder for Captain Chris Ragni. Richard “Booker” Bookwalter brought back a 7.4 pounder from the Wall. Shrimp proved to be especially productive bait. Tog season remains closed during the spawn, until July 1st.
The Lewes Canal, Broadkill River and Roosevelt Inlet yielded good amounts of flounder, with increasing numbers of keepers, thanks to the reduced 18 1/2-inch minimum size, effective May 11th. Minnows and shiners on shad darts, spec rigs or other small jigs were productive, as were Gulp! Swimming Mullet and Gulp! Shrimp. The annual Lewes Harbour Canal Flounder Tournament sponsored by the Dewey Beach Lions Club will take place Friday May 22nd. The event offers cash prizes and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Camp Awareness Youth Fishing Program. Call 302-645-6227 for registration info.
Striped bass have settled in along the rock structures off Lewes. Guys tossing Bomber and Stretch 12+ plugs to the Outer Wall in the early morning and evening hours hooked stripers of varying sizes. Working soft plastics around the end of the Ferry Jetty at daybreak also produced rockfish. Bottom bouncers in the ocean found lots of sea bass on Reef Site #11, but most fell short of the 12 1/2 inch minimum.
Once again, Don’t forget your fishing license and be sure you get your FIN number before you go fishing, crabbing, or clamming. When you read this report the Delaware flounder limits will have changed to 18 1/2 inches with a daily creel limit of four fish. The sea bass are 12 1/2 inches and 25 fish per day and tog will be closed.
‘Til next week, have fun and be safe!
Rick and his wife, Deb are owners of Rick’s Bait & Tackle on Long Neck Road in Long Neck, DE.
