Article by Rick Willman
Hi folks! It’s been pretty much the same old summertime fishing, and offshore action has slowed down except for anglers catching dolphin. Back bay activity continues to be full of throwback flounder with the occasional keeper.
Some good news is that the croakers have appeared in greater numbers, and are providing anglers with plenty of action and fun. The best way to tangle with croakers is to use light tackle and bloodworms or FishBites artificial bloodworms. Just a small piece on a #6 or #8 long shank hook will open the door to plenty of fun. If the croakers are over 12 or 13-inches, they make for some great table fare.
The Old Grounds and the DB Buoy areas are producing a few more keeper flatties. The Indian River Inlet is still giving up some stripers on the end of an incoming tide. Late night or early morning seems to be the best time to fish.
Fischer Edmondson was fishing at Massey’s Canyon with his dad aboard the “Miss Five-O” with Capt. Keith Orndorff at the helm, when he landed his first dolphin that weighed 2.2 lbs. Then his father, Josh, and friend Shawn Gallagher scored a 30 lb. wahoo and 3 dolphins weighing up to 15 lbs. Joe Hasselhan landed a gag grouper in the Indian River using Gulp!. Jessica Boyer of Frederica, DE used squid and a strip of sea robin to trick a 4 lb. 8 oz. flounder at the “DB” Buoy. Rine Duncan used live spot to score a 12 lb. 6 oz. bluefish in the Indian River Inlet. Wyatt Shatzer of Shippensburg, PA fished with a minnow and Gulp! to fool a 5 lb. 9 oz. flattie.
At Rattle & Reel Sporting Center, Mickey reported a slight increase in the number of keeper flounder being caught. In offshore news, Scott Swarther took his 22-foot “Reelentless” to the Baltimore Canyon to score 5 white marlin releases.
Capt. Bill Baker at Bill’s Sport Shop reported that Ellie Stull, age 7, of Newark DE, was fishing at Port Lewes with squid and came away with 6 croakers. Ellie and her sister Amanda were rewarded with a couple of new fishing poles from their dad. Don Coffin of New Castle, DE used spec rigs for the first time tipped with Gulp! shrimp, and he caught a 19-inch flounder at Massey's Landing. Bill received an email from a customer, Frank: “I fished at Site 6&7 with my brother and his friend and did pretty good. We got 9 keeper flounder, 33 croakers, 19 blues, 5 sea bass, 2 trout and 3 fish that we were told were barjacks. I have been fishing the Delaware Bay for over 40 years and have never seen a barjack. I'll stop in and see ya in your store again soon and show you a pic. THANKS again!!!”
James Nolt, age 8, from Leola, PA, caught a 2.83 lb., 20-inch flounder while fishing at the Indian River Inlet using minnows. Tom Bailor called in to say he took his nephew, 11-year-old Frank Bailor, IV, out to catch spot with FishBites on Sabiki rigs. They were just outside of Massey's Ditch and wound up with over 50 croakers and 2 keeper trout - they never did get to fish for the spot! Aaron Tharp caught a 21-inch pickerel at Red Mill Pond on a green and white jig.
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said if you can’t catch a croaker in Delaware Bay now, you better take up golf! Boats fishing Site 8, the Star Reef, had all the hardheads they could handle. Croakers were also found in the Roosevelt Inlet, along the Ferry Jetty, around the Inner and Outer Walls and in the Broadkill Slough. Some larger specimens have been showing, with more over 12-inches mixed in. Clams, bloodworms, shrimp and FishBites have been favorite baits for the scrappy panfish. Hardheads are fun to catch and are great table fare. They’re quite tasty fried, or can be turned into delicious fish cakes. When the bite is good, it’s easy to get caught up in the catching, so try to keep only what you can use. Patrons on the “Angler”, the “Indian” and the “Pirate King” had hot hardhead fishing all through the week. The “Hawkeye”, “Miss Kirstin”, “Top Fin” and “Martha Marie” got in on the croaker action too. Bottom bouncers also found spot, kingfish, blowfish, porgies and snapper blues with hardheads, making for a nice summertime mixed bag. Despite tidal effects from the full moon, flounder fishing was good for guys working the rubble of Bay reef sites.
Captain Carey’s flukers on the “Grizzly” got 10 keepers at Site 7 on Friday. The largest was a 6.25 pounder decked by Dennis Fish. Flounder specialist Joe Walker checked in an 8.77 lb. doormat that he also hooked at Site 7 on Friday. Ocean flattie fishermen had success as well. The rocky, live bottom between “DB” and “DA” Buoys held plenty of fluke. On Thursday, Edwin “Max” Maxwell scored his limit of quality flounder while jigging with Captain Ricky Yakimowicz. “Beaver” Ruff, Barney Gallagher and Wes Olson iced their limit of fine flatties and some nice sea bass southeast of the “DB” Buoy on Thursday aboard the “Bad Habit”. The Friday gang aboard the “Katy Did” caught 136 flatfish, putting 19 keepers weighing up to 6.8 lbs. in the box. Jigging was highly effective, and the majority of flounder fell for bucktails. The “Lil’ Angler” returned from Saturday’s trip with 7 keeper fluke. Wayne Wilson and his buddies on the “Reel Passion” had 8 for the box on Saturday, along with some chunky ling. Surface water over the Old Grounds has been pretty warm, and several fishermen encountered small dolphin, which made a nice addition to the day’s catch. Reef Site 11 also produced good numbers of flounder for boaters who located fish staging on underwater structure. Inshore trollers had scattered catches of mahi and wahoo between 20 and 30 fathoms. On Thursday, Captains Brent and Dave on the “Katy Did” found a floating tire in the Baltimore Canyon. The growth encrusted chunk of flotsam yielded 15 dolphin, including Brandon Border’s 17 pounder, and 31 triggerfish. They topped the trip off with 10 tilefish weighing up to 33 lbs. Captain John Schneider and his crew aboard the “Patient Lady” had some fun deep dropping in the Norfolk Canyon. Among their take was a 15 lb. gray tilefish for Andrew Schneider, and a 17.1 lb. pound gray tilefish for Bill Quirk. The highlight of the day was Bill’s 28.8 lb. snowy grouper.
‘Til next week, have fun and be safe!
Rick and his wife Deb are owners of Rick’s Bait & Tackle in Long Neck, DE.
