Article by Larry Jock
Already into the back half of August, this summer has really flown by, but there is still plenty of fishing left this season and from the looks of it, we could have plenty of good days ahead of us, especially for flounder and cobia.
Right now, the big news is the cobia bite off the Delaware coast. Avid angler, John Burbage of Ocean View, DE was out on Friday and found several good size fish cruising the surface around schools of bunker only 1.5 miles off the Bethany coast. John had caught some bunker earlier in the day, so he tossed one to a big fish and the fight was on. It took John, who is an excellent angler and was fishing alone, over an hour to get the fish to the boat and stick it with a gaff. The big “man in the brown suit” tipped the scale at 79.4 lbs.
The question is, “Does Delaware have a state record classification for cobia?” I guess it depends on who you ask, because when you look on their website there isn’t a category for cobia, yet state representatives have told folks that they added one. They did send a person out to verify the weight of the fish so perhaps they will start recognizing the state record for cobia with John’s fish.
We also saw cobia caught off the beach in Fenwick Island. One of Matt?Shoup’s customers at Fenwick Bait & Tackle reported catching a cobia on 2 consecutive days last week. I also received pictures from Nicky and Cross Ferrara, who like to fish for cobia from their rigged-up jet skis. They captured another two over the weekend while fishing with eels off the Fenwick coast.
From the multiple reports I have received, the cobia are following schools of bunker and are heading south. Some very big fish have been seen, so it could be a perfect time to do a little searching. You won’t have to go far, since it looks like they are mainly staying within 2 miles of the coastline. Fish have been caught on live eels, bunker and bucktails tipped with Gulp artificial baits.
At Rick’s Bait & Tackle, Capt. Mike was excited about this weeks Paradise Grill Flounder Tournament that starts on Wednesday. This year, it is a 5-day tournament and Mike said that the Spro bucktails have been flying off the shelf. Chances are the winning fish is going to come from “B” Buoy or somewhere around the Old Grounds.
Capt. Mike said that the flounder bite has picked up on ocean structure with most of his flounder pounders forgetting about the bays and inlets and just heading out to “B” Buoy and the Old Grounds with Gulp, minnows and strip baits. Not only are flounder becoming more plentiful, but they are getting larger as well. Several fish over 5 lbs. were caught last week with a couple in the 7 lb. range and one reaching 8 lbs. On Sunday, Mike weighed a 7.2 pounder (26”) that was the largest flounder to come into his shop this season. It was caught at the Old Grounds.
Anglers on the headboat, “Thelma Dale IV” out of Lewes, DE have caught some big flounder lately, led by Steve Kiibler’s 8 pounder hooked with a strip bait on ocean structure.
Flounder fishing in the Indian River Bay has been decent but anglers have had to deal with a lot of throwbacks.
Mike said that croakers have started to show up on the south side of the Indian River Inlet and just outside by the can. Some of his customers also complained about how thick the hardheads were around Site 10 where they couldn’t get their baits down to the flounder.
Mike’s customers fishing in the Indian River Inlet also found short stripers mixed in with shad and snapper bluefish at night under the lights near the Coast Guard Station. Triggerfish were also caught along the rocks by anglers using sand fleas for bait. A few triggers were also hooked at the Massey’s Landing Pier.
In the back bays last week, anglers mainly caught croaker and spot on bloodworms or Fishbites.
At Fenwick Bait & Tackle, Capt. Matt reported kingfish in the Fenwick surf in addition to bluefish and loads of sharks. The good news is that there are some decent size bluefish mixed in with the snappers. A few surfcasters hooked into bluefish in the 18 to 20-inch range while fishing with meat.
Matt also said that the striper bite in the Fenwick Ditch has improved. Anglers who were mainly catching small fish when they finally showed up are now seeing fish in the 30-inch range interested in their offering of live eels.
Inshore, Matt’s customers are finding good flounder fishing on ocean structure. Matt took some time last week to head to Russell’s Reef where he and a buddy caught 6 nice flatties.
Capt. Bert at Hook’em & Cook’em Tackle Shop in the Indian River Marina said that he had a few anglers catch their limit of flounder last week while fishing along the rocks in the Indian River Inlet. Flounder fishing isn’t hot in the inlet, according to Bert, but it has improved.
Headboats fishing out of Indian River found mixed results for flounder fishing on ocean structure, but the one thing that has been consistent is the number of throwbacks that are being caught. However, patience is rewarded, like on Friday, when the full-day headboat, “Capt. Bob” returned with 48 keepers.
Offshore, the bite is slow right now. Anglers looking for tuna have mostly been chunking in Massey’s Canyon at the 12 Fathom Lump. Billfish action is scattered with fish caught in the Wilmington and Baltimore Canyons. Dolphin are all over with some of the bigger fish coming in from the Poor Man’s Canyon.
Until next week, have fun and tight lines!
