Article by Larry Jock
It’s amazing what happens when you finally get some sunny, warmer weather on a weekend... folks go fishing!! You could tell this past weekend that anglers were itching to get out on the water and as a result some nice fish started hitting the scales.
Capt. Bert Adams at Hook’em & Cook’em in the Indian River Marina told me that tautog were caught by anglers fishing with green crabs under the Indian River Bridge. Other anglers fishing in the Indian River Inlet saw short stripers, with the occasional keeper caught from the rocks by anglers tossing shads. The only keeper flounder Bert saw was caught right at the entrance of the marina. The night bite hasn’t been much in the Indian River Inlet.
Further north, Mike Behney at Ricks’ Bait & Tackle reported good tautog fishing at Site 10 in the ocean. Mike told me that he weighed in a nice 8 pounder from that location on Saturday. Mike also said that a few founder were caught off Massey’s Landing. He was most excited about the surf bite with pufferfish showing up along with a few 24-inch bluefish, small stripers (15”) and kingfish at 3R’s Road. Mike said that surfcasters at Broadkill Beach have been hammering black drum recently.
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said rain and wind made it tough for area anglers during the week, but conditions straightened out for the weekend. Lewes Canal anglers caught flounder through tides with clean water. Gulp!, minnows and shiners were favored baits. Melanie Bowden boated the biggest fluke of the season thus far from the Lewes Canal on Sunday, weighing in at 7 lbs. 5 oz.. Ed Yingling checked in a 21-inch flattie and a 4 lb. 3 oz. flounder he also pulled from the Canal. Ron Roark reeled in a 3 lb. 5 oz. flounder and Mike Cannon captured a 4 lb. 6 oz. mat. Steven Thompson had quite a surprise while drifting the Canal for flounder on Sunday afternoon. He and his dog “Duke” were fishing in a small aluminum boat when something heavy grabbed the pink Gulp! and minnow combo Steven was using. After quite a battle on light gear, he had the big fish splashing at boatside. Guys on another nearby boat noticed Steven didn’t have a net, and they pulled up close so one of them could hop aboard and dip the catch with their net. The fish turned out to be a 24 lb. striper, and after congratulations were exchanged and cheers went up from spectators on the dock at Lewes Harbour Marina, the Good Samaritan dipper got back in his boat and motored away.
There’s always a chance of more surprises like that during the upcoming Canal Flounder Tournament on Friday May 16th. Entry fee is $25 per angler, payable in advance at Lewes Harbour Marina. Five dollars of the entry fee is donated to the Camp Awareness Youth Program. Cash prizes will be awarded for the seven heaviest flounder caught by entrants during the event. Complete details can be found on Lewes Harbour Marina’s Facebook page or by calling 302-645-6227.
John Davis was tossing Chartreuse Gulp! on a jighead from the rocks at Roosevelt Inlet Friday when he tied into a 4.38 pound flatfish. Flounder were also taken at night by anglers on the Cape Henlopen Pier. Casting speck rigs and other small jigs tipped with fresh bunker, cut shad or shiners worked well there.
Pier casters encountered numerous small stripers that pounced on lures meant for flatfish.
Tog action has been good on Reef Sites 6 and 7 in the Delaware Bay and around the Inner and Outer rock breakwaters off Lewes. Best bites took place with clean water for toggers deploying green crabs, shrimp and clams as bait. Pitching a jighead tipped with crab to warmer shallow areas along the Inner Wall resulted in some nice sized blackfish. Joe Jelks and Joe Ryan used that method to cull their limit of tog weighing up to 7 lbs. 15 oz. from the 30 fish they caught on Saturday morning.
Captain Brent’s charter on the “Katydid” took a 30 fish limit in short order at the Wall on Saturday. Brandy Timmons Parker, Suzanne Martin and Paul Pergeorelis joined Capt. Brian on the charter boat, “Lil’ Angler II” for a tog trip to the Brown Shoal reef sites, and returned with their limit of nice fish. The limit of 3 tautog with a 15-inch minimum per person remains in effect until the Spring season closes May 11th.
Commercial netters in the Delaware Bay had plenty of black drum over recent days. Surfcasters on Broadkill Beach caught drum between 15 and 50 lbs. on Friday and Saturday evenings, along with a few keeper stripers on bloodworms and clams. Harold and Dan Martin, and Dave and Lois Rehkamp fished the beach on Saturday evening for their limit of 12 black drum weighing up to 35 lbs. John Goode got a 35-inch, 18 lb. 10 oz. rockfish using fresh bunker off Broadkill Beach on Saturday night. Bob Zak and Cecil Bailey anchored in 14 feet of water near the tip of Broadkill Slough on Saturday afternoon, where they caught 11 drum, keeping a limit of 6 fish between 20 and 24 lbs.
Drum should be caught soon by boaters soaking clams on the Coral Beds and the pilings off Slaughter Beach as well.. The ocean surf at Herring Point yielded some short stripers, plus an occasional kingfish or blowfish to anglers baiting with bloodworms. Curt Stephens was soaking fresh bunker there during the beginning of flood tide on Friday morning when he connected with a 23.7 lb. keeper rockfish.
Until next week, tight lines!