Article by Capt. BJ Pietryak
Summer is here, it’s heating up and catching fish is in full swing! We had 95 degree days every day last week along with steep humidity levels. Unfortunately we also experienced gusty winds for several days due to the remnants of Hurricane Elsa. Fishing when you could get out though has gotten really good.
Flounder, Bluefish, & Rockfish
Flounder season is in full swing this week with most anglers coming back to the docks with limits or near limits. The bay areas of Indian River have been producing some nice flounder with Ryan West catching a 19”and a 21” from the inlet area near the Coast Guard station. Bruce Hambrick got a nice 23” and a 21” flounder from the Indian River Bay along the main channel. Luke Horney was entered in the Indian River Marina tournament and was the big winner. He took first with a 5 lb. 13 oz., Ben Macpherson took second with a 5 lb. 1/2 oz. flounder and Aaron Hurd captured third with a 4 lb. 9 oz. one. Congratulations to all the winners!
John Pescatore got a nice flounder and a few weakfish on Monday just inside the bridge. Nick Garcia got a 23” and 18” flounder from the back bays of Delaware Bay. On the near shore, flounder were even stronger. Rick Paskowski was on the Old Grounds and caught a limit up to 20”. Sam Piascik hit several wrecks and reported a lot of throwbacks but did manage a few nice 20-24” flounder and several sea bass to go along with them. Deric Pry was out at B Buoy and managed a few nice flounder on large Gulp baits. Drifting the bottom with live spot, squid and Gulp baits seemed to work about the same whether you were in the inlet back bays or offshore. On the rockfish side, the ocean has been producing a few. however, most of them are not keepers. James Fletcher was fishing at the beach and did catch a nice striper but not big enough to keep. Still a great catch for as warm as it's been. Several small stripers were taken at the mouth of the inlet although I received no reports of any keepers. Several bluefish were taken off the surf and at the inlet at night mostly on cut bait and bucktails. Most of the blues are keepers but not the big slammers. Weakfish are strong in both the bays and along the rocks at Indian River. Michael Steffy got a huge 27” weakfish on Sunday. Great catch!
Sea Bass, Cobia, & Triggerfish
Sea bass remains pretty good despite the warmer water. Many of the fish caught are undersized but you can still manage a few nice keepers if you work hard at it. On Monday Rick Rothenberger got a nice limit of sea bass. He then came in and potted for crabs and that too was successful. That is one good dinner, sea bass and crabs! The lone wrecks seem to be producing the best chance for a few keepers of sea bass with clam being the go to bait and squid a close second. The coral around the shipping channel are producing some sea bass but the main fish here now are flounder. Many anglers fishing the wrecks are now finding them full of triggerfish. They are an excellent table fare and easy to catch. Put a piece of squid in front of them and they are ready to strike! Once you hook one, look for others to follow it to the surface. Hook ‘em and Cook ‘em at Indian River Marina offers fillet services for a very reasonable fee. If you have ever tried to fillet this species you will find that the skin is like thick leather and will quickly dull even the sharpest of knives. Bringing your triggerfish to a professional cutter will assure that you get the best fillets. Cobia is also starting to get real good. Many anglers are doing site fishing just outside of the Indian River Inlet or setting up with chum around the Fenwick Shoals. Live small eels on a 4/0 or 5/0 circle hook remains the best at hooking one of these fine tasting and hard fighting fish. Artificial eels and crank baits also work well but will not be anywhere near as productive as live eels. Early morning or late afternoons will be the most productive times when targeting these fish. This week also produced some nice spadefish and sheepshead. These fish can be found on nearshore wrecks as well as the rocks at the inlets. Sand fleas, cut crab, and shrimp are the best baits. Remember to use small hooks for these fish as their mouths are soft and small.
Surf Fishing & Crabbing
The surf remains a great place to catch some northern kingfish. Small kingfish rigs with bloodworms work best. At night small blues as well as rockfish can be caught in the surf using peeler crabs and cut bait. Jonathan Martinez was out with the family and reported the bite is on. They caught several nice sized kingfish along with a big ray. Crabbing is back to normal after last week's storms. Samantha and I averaged 10-12 keepers per pot with several big males showing up this week. Regarding bait, we have found that fresh bunker is superior over chicken in the pots.
Until next week...
Tight lines and fins up
