Article by Rick Willman
Hi folks. It is summertime and the fishing is pretty much following the normal pattern. Plenty of small flounder are being caught with a few keepers in the bunch. Croakers are starting to appear in great numbers and the crabbing is good.
Minnows, squid, GULP! and cut bait are still doing the trick. Spot are plentiful for those using bloodworms or the FishBites artificial bloodworms for bait.
Some nice flounder can be found along the rocks on the south side of the Inlet at the condos. The deeper holes throughout the back bays are holding better-sized fish.
Some notable catches last week were... Chuck Dougherty fished the Indian River Inlet and scored a 27-inch, 7 pound 6 oz. flattie. Capt. Dave Carroll took Lennie Farrall to the Inlet and caught a 7.8 lb., 28 ½-inch flounder. Clayton Horvath of Lewis Center, OH caught a 7.6 lb. flattie in the Indian River Bay and Cheyenne Peet landed a 7 lb. 7 oz. flounder in the Indian River.
Most of the inshore areas are providing bluefin tuna and dolphin. Closer to shore, on the various wrecks and piles of rubble you will find a mixed bag of flounder, sea bass, tog and some ling. There seems to be plenty of fish but finding one that is of legal size is a task.
At Rattle and Reel Sporting Center, Pat informed me that there are a lot of croakers and short flounder in the back bays. Pat told me about 11 year-old Gianna Abbott of Havertown, PA who was not going to give up on landing a keeper flounder. She was fishing Massey’s Ditch when she hooked a 20-inch flattie. While reeling it in, her reel failed and she brought it in by hand.
Bill’s Sport Shop reported the following catches last week... Michael Davidson aboard the "Outlet" fished in the Baltimore Canyon and limited out on yellowfin, caught a bunch of dolphin and released 5 white marlin. He also released a large shark. Richie Goodman took a couple of anglers to the Inner Wall in the Delaware Bay and came away with 20 tog in 2 hours. The largest weighed in at 6.25 pounds and measured 23 inches. All were caught on green crabs. Mike Rivera, captain of the "On Delivery", took a party to the Poor Man’s Canyon and released 3 white marlin and caught 3 yellowfin tuna weighing up to 50 pounds. They also released 2 mako sharks and a hammerhead.
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said although few keeper flounder were taken on open bottom, catches have been pretty good for guys who know how to work rough structure. The rocks, coral and sea trees of the Old Grounds between “DB” and “DA” Buoys, and the rubble of Reef Sites #9 and #10 have been holding fluke and savvy fishermen have found that modifications to standard rigging helps them catch more flatties amongst that kind of cover. Shorter leaders are the key. A three to four ounce bucktail with a hair teaser on a 4-inch dropper about a foot above the jig works well. Flukers also had success employing a rig with a sinker that was just heavy enough to hold bottom and a hair teaser hook on a short leader about 6 to 8 inches above the weight. The jigs or hooks get sweetened with a strip of squid, shark or bluefish, shiners, smelt, finger mullet, Gulp! or any combination of these. Anglers should constantly bounce the rigs as they drift through the chunky bottom, and be alert for the quick strike of a flatfish lying in ambush. The jigging action seems to provoke more aggressive strikes than when baits are drug casually across the bottom.
The short leadered setups are also less likely to get snagged. Some days when the drift was too fast or in a bad direction, crews that anchored and cast offerings up-current so they walked across the structure did well. Jigging produced some nice specimens, like Dave Walker’s 6.21 pounder bucktailed at Site #10 on the “Katy Did”. Jim Woods also wound in a 6.97-pound doormat on the “Katy Did”. Guys on the “Grizzly” culled 11 nice keepers out of the 53 they hooked Saturday on the Old Grounds.
Flounder came from Delaware Bay artificial reefs as well. Harriet Paul put a 5 pounder in the box aboard the “Lil’ Angler”. Clayton Horvath caught a 7.6 lb. welcome mat while working a wreck and Joe Walker and his crew scored 8 quality keepers Wednesday on the Star Site. Among the catch was a 5.39-pound beauty boated by Joe’s granddaughter, Candace Way.
Slot sized stripers ate eels and clams near the drawbridge on the Canal. Anglers tossing Rat-L-Traps, Storm Shads or live spot to the Ice Breakers and Wall in the evenings got into striped bass too.
Tautog fishermen had decent catches at the Ice Breakers and Outer Wall using green crabs, sand fleas, shrimp and box crabs. Triggerfish were also mixed in. Faith Roth reeled in a 7.29-pound citation tog at the Wall.
Tuna action between the Baltimore and Poor Man’s Canyons was spotty, but a good bite developed in the Washington Canyon. Captains Brent Wiest and Dave Walker took the “Katy Did” to the Washington on Saturday, and trolled up 19 yellowfins in just an hour’s time.
Billfishing was good offshore. “Doc” Roberts released two blue marlin and had shots at a couple other whites in 70 fathoms of Poor Man’s on Wednesday. Warm water has also attracted dolphin. Craig Lester landed a 28.2-pound mahi in the Baltimore Canyon.
‘Til next week, have fun and be safe!
Rick and his wife Deb are owners of Rick’s Bait & Tackle in Long Neck, DE.
