Article by Rick Willman
Hi folks! It has been a pretty good week on the fishing front. Back Bay flounder action remains relatively steady, and anglers continue to bring flounder in to the scales. Minnow and squid combos, shiners, smelt and, of course, Gulp! are all working to fool the flatties.
Massey’s Ditch is still producing flatties and we weighed in a bluefish from Massey’s that was just under 9 pounds.
Bluefish are still being caught in the back bays and it shouldn’t be much longer until we see the croaker make their appearance.
The Indian River Inlet is holding stripers, bluefish and flounder. Fish are being taken by both jetty fishermen and those angling from boats. Live eels, bucktails and flies seem to be doing the trick.
Inshore activity has picked up this past week, and it looks like the sea bass bite is starting to turn on. Bob Cleveland on the “Deputy Dawg” had a great Saturday with four keeper flounder and sea bass measuring 15 to 18-inches. Bobby Bryant of Nottingham, PA fished the Old Grounds aboard the “Nervous Wreck” to bag a 7 lb. 3 oz. flattie. Chad Steiner of York, PA also fished the Old Grounds aboard the “Sidewinder III” to boat a citation 3 lb. sea bass.
In the Rick’s Bait & Tackle/Sea Side Gas & Grill Flounder Tournament, we had some very good competition. In the end, Joe Lombardo took the top prize of $150 with his 7 lb. 15 oz. flattie. Christopher Keller won second place and $75 with a 5 lb. 3 oz. flattie, while Bill Wiest took 3rd with 4 lb. 14 oz. fish. Way to go guys!
Don’t miss out on the upcoming Rick’s Bait & Tackle/Sea Side Gas & Grill Inshore Tournament! It is $25 per person and the categories are flounder, sea bass, croaker and bluefish. It will be plenty of fun, and the awards will be presented on Saturday, July 24th at Sea Side Gas & Grill with entertainment by the nationally-known blues band, ”Pork Roll Project”. Don’t miss out!
On a sad note, our prayers go out to the family of Ed Watcheski. Ed fell from his boat at his dock and was found the next day. Ed was an avid fisherman and just a very nice guy who was always pleasant to speak with. We will all miss Ed.
From Ron at Rattle & Reel Sporting Center on Long Neck Road, we were told that the flounder action in the Indian River Inlet as well as Massey’s Ditch has been pretty good. Minnows and shiners seem to be the baits of choice.
Buoy #15 off of White House Beach has been very productive. Ron also reported good striper action in the Inlet on bucktails and large flies in dark colors.
Bill’s Sport Shop in Lewes reported to us that Capt. Bill Baker, Bill Jr., Joey Neely and Nick went east of the Hot Dog and released 7 makos. John Morole and a friend fished the Poor Man's Canyon and caught 17 mahi trolling with lures. Ed Lewandowski and his father, Ed, fished aboard the "Reel Dreams" with Capt. Ron Savidge and his son Steve yesterday at Poor Man’s Canyon trying for yellowfin. Instead, the crew caught a few peanut dolphin and an estimated 75-80 lb. white marlin on a naked ballyhoo. The crew had another white marlin around 50 lbs. in the spread for a few minutes, but couldn't get the hook-up after the fish made several short-strikes.
Capt. Steve on the "Four Play" and crew had 5 yellowfin up to 48 lbs. on the 920 line in 70 fathoms of south Poor Man’s Canyon. He was using a mix of spreader bars, ballyhoos and green machines. Capt. Billy on the "Stacey" caught 12 yellowfin, using the same mix: spreader bars, ballys and daisy chains. Customers are reporting a good yellowfin bite with tuna ranging from 30 to 50 lbs. fishing the Poor Man’s and the Washington using ballyhoo.
Capt. Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina reported some nice catches of flounder during the week. Bobby Bryant and the crew aboard the “Nervous Wreck” worked Reef Site 10 this past Monday for ten quality keeper flatties. Most of the action occurred while drifting strip baits at the beginning of flood tide. John Schnaitman scored an 8 lb. doormat, Tom Richardson reeled in a 7.68 pounder and Bobby boated a 6.14 lb. flatfish. Bobby Bryant, Sr. and Michelle Schnaitman put good-sized fluke in the box as well. On Tuesday, Joe Walker, Tom Coyle, Tom Richardson and Bobby Bryant, Sr. teamed up for another fine catch of fluke. Joe’s 8.08 pounder was the top fish for the day. It took a strip bait with a green hair teaser on Site 10.
The guys aboard the “Lil’ Angler II” had 6 keepers at Site 10 on Wednesday, including a chunky 6.29 pounder for John Fryer. Captain Pete on the “Top Fin” hosted flounder regulars George Slick, Grant Aulenbach and Art Shapiro on Thursday. They combined for 7 keeper flatties weighing up to 5 lbs., plus a bonus codfish. Captain Ricky Yakimowicz drifted the Old Grounds for decent fluking Saturday. Many anglers had success using 3 and 4 oz. bucktails tipped with strips of mackerel. Paul Pergeorelis ended up with 3 keepers measuring up to 20-inches on mackerel strips. Scott Ayars won the pool with a 5 pounder.
In the Delaware Bay, a few flounder were found around Reef Sites 5, 6, 7 and 8. Boaters picked at flatties along the edge of the Anchorage near G Buoy, but not many were of legal size. Once tidal currents surrounding the full moon subside, bay catches should improve. Flounder continue to be caught in the Lewes Canal, the Broadkill River and the Roosevelt Inlet. Gulp! Swimming Mullets in white, pink and chartreuse have been the hot offering. Shallow water close to Lewes Beach and on the Cape Henlopen Flats yielded fluke as well. Stripers have been active at night around rocky structure at the mouth of the bay. The Ferry Jetty, Inner and Outer Walls and Ice Breakers gave up bass. Guys casting Storm Shads, Rat-L-Traps and Bomber plugs got bites. Live eels also produced some nice fish.
The striped bass slot limit goes into effect July 1, when anglers can keep two fish between 20 and 26-inches per day from the Delaware Bay and its tributaries. July 1st also marks the opening of tautog season. The Outer Wall and Bay Reefs should hold good numbers of blackfish. Triggerfish have already been reported from the Wall. At the Cape Henlopen Pier, folks fishing from the rail had flounder, spot, croaker and also a few triggers that had been grazing on barnacles and other growth clinging to pilings. Thresher sharks were still roaming the outside edge of the Buoy Line.
Kevin McCambley, Derrick Wilbert, Brian Fitzgerald and Paul Kiley joined forces to best a 287 pounder aboard the “Indian” on Saturday. The big longtail took a mackerel bait near Reef Site 11. Earlier in the week, sharkers reported action with makos in 30 to 40 fathoms northeast of the Hot Dog. The offshore bite improved after a short dry spell when the initial shot of yellowfins that showed up between Poor Man’s and the Washington disappeared. Water temperatures have risen, and several white marlin were reported in the Poor Man’s. Dolphin have started to gather on lobster gear and other floating structure. Tuna have popped up again at various spots along the edge. Captain D.J. Churchill, mate Nick Psaroudakis and the group aboard the “Banshee” trolled up 8 yellowfins on the 250 line of the Baltimore in the afternoon and the following morning, during an overnighter Thursday. The gang on “Tranquila” returned with a 50 lb. yellowfin and a pair of gaffer dolphin from a trolling trip to the East Wall of the Baltimore Canyon on Saturday. The boys on the “Big Herring” fished way south at the Parking Lot for their 60 lb. bluefin. Then, Captain Alan Steele trolled off to the Washington, where Larry Wilson hooked into a 27.7 lb. bull dolphin.
Deep water bottom fishing has been productive. Bill Swords and his buddies returned Tuesday with a nice batch of big sea bass and gray tilefish they got deep dropping hard bottom between 300 and 400-foot depths. They topped off the box with 30 dolphin that they bailed from some floating gear in Poor Man’s Canyon.
Deanna at Hook’em & Cook’em Bait & Tackle at North Shore Marina gave us the following surf report:?skates and sharks are still the main catch out there, but word has it that at night you can get a nice catch of kingfish while fishing with either live or artificial bloodworms. Most people are using the surf king fish rigs or a top and bottom rig with small hooks.
Flounder fishing continues to be a good choice for the Inlet. There have been lots of throwbacks with some keepers in the mix. A first time fisherman, Terry Stough, of York, PA came into the shop on Friday and asked for some advice on what to use and where to go. We suggested a 6" Pearl Storm lure and sent him out to the Inlet to try his luck. Two hours later, he returned with an 8.8 lb. flounder. Sonny Maio of Northern Virginia caught a 6.5 lb. flounder while fishing over on the VFW Slough. He was using a minnow on a plain flounder hook. Striper fishing has slowed down considerably since last week. The water temperatures have risen and fish are being caught at night with Poppers or other artificial lures such as black Bombers, Tsunamis or black bucktails with black worms. The bluefish are still around in the inlet; they are running on the incoming and outgoing tides. Just look for the birds and the choppy water and throw out a bucktail, Hopkins lure or a Kastmaster. They like anything shiny, and they do not require live bait.
The offshore bite has slowed down if you are looking for yellowfin in the Poor Man's. The fish seem to have followed the edge of the warm water that has pushed north.
Boats that did try their hand at it came back in with mostly dolphin, gaffer-sized to peanuts, and there were a few lucky ones that had a bluefin tuna.
The best catch of Saturday was on the boat “Liquid Handler” with Anton Burr, Larry Watson and Howard Deaughtry. They left at 5 pm on Friday night and came back to the dock with 3 big eye tuna. They weighed 170, 155.2 and 103.5 lbs., along with a 40 lb. yellowfin. The crew were fishing way out at the Lindenkohl Canyon.
The head boat “Judy V.” continues to see improvement in the black sea bass fishing with more keepers showing up on the wrecks. The half-day trips have been seeing on average 2-3 fish per person.
The full day trip on the “Capt. Bob II” saw a lot of keeper black bass and a flounder as well.
Flounder fishing in the ocean is starting to improve with a few more flounder coming in to the scales.
From everyone here at Rick’s Bait & Tackle, we would like to wish you a happy and safe July 4th holiday! Until next week, have fun and be safe.
Rick and his wife Deb are owners of Rick’s Bait & Tackle in Long Neck, DE.
