Article by Capt. BJ Pietryak
This past week in Delaware we saw the end of a great bay flounder tournament from Paradise Grill. Unfortunately, we did not see a cooling of the weather. Temps in the 90’s again last week made fishing tough on everyone. Both the fish and many anglers went for cooler areas.
Flounder, Sea Bass & Tog
Congratulations to both Brandon Groce with his first place $20,000 fish, as well as the top female angler and 6th overall, Laura Forester. I failed to mention the kids division last issue, so a big shout out to Brody Barroncliff with his first place winning 3.3lb flattie, Nicholas Warren with the second place at 3.1 lbs. and Hope Gensemer with a 2.9 lb. fish. All the kid anglers were from Delaware. Great job to all and let me say, that is some impressive fish caught by our youth!
Near Shore and Old Grounds
David Hopkins was fishing aboard “On A Rampage” out of Indian River Marina, and as always there was not a dull moment. Captain Hopkins and crew brought back several big flatties with the biggest at a whopping 10.4 lbs. with a length of 30” and girth of 23”. Fantastic job guys! Many anglers spend a lifetime on the water and never come close to a ten pounder. Truly a fish of a lifetime. Welcome to the double digits club. Jesse Norman was the angler that brought in the big fish. He reported this was his 5th season fishing with Captain Hopkins and says he always puts them on the numbers.
Anthony, from New Castle, checked into Lewes Harbour Marina with a beautiful 6.35 lb. fish he caught using Gulp in the deep at an undisclosed location. Mike was fishing with Captain Brent and mate Mike Cris on the “Katydid” when they got their first citation flat fish of the year weighing 7.99 lbs. caught on Gulp.
Captain Keith on the boat “Surface Tension” had a great week bringing clients back with big loads of keeper flounder as well as buckets of sea bass. The keeper sea bass were mainly caught on Nomad and Magic Tail Jigs. The guys also found a few stray mahi.
Billy Talbot caught his limit of flounder last week with some really stud fish. Wonder if he was using Gulp? Jeff Scurti was fishing the boat “Jay Sea 2” out of Lewes Harbour Marina and caught the biggest of the day with a nice 5.46 lb. fish measuring 26”. Jesse Lerch was fishing with Captain Christopher Keller and caught a nice 5.5 lb. flat one near A Buoy caught on a homemade jig. Always a record catch when you catch a nice fish like that on your own jig, of course tipped with what? Gulp! Mike Wido and sons, Jake and Mike fished with “Bad Wind Charters” over ocean structure, and although fishing was tough they managed to box 15 keepers and got 2 personal best for the young men. Great job guys.
Indian River & Lewes Canal
Sawyer Wall, 2 years old, and Knox Wall, 4 years old caught their first keepers at 16.5” on an incoming tide while targeting spot with Fish Bites in Indian River. The boys were fishing on their dad’s Carolina Skiff. Good to see families out enjoying all our area has to offer and teaching the kids at that young age. I have fished the ocean my whole life and don't think I caught a keeper flattie until I was about 8 yrs old. Great job boys as well as dad!
The back bays have been slow this past week as the high temps have pushed fish to deeper water. If you are targeting fish in the Indian River, try right along the rocks at the inlet where colder ocean water is coming in. The couple of degrees cooler water often makes the difference in your fishing outcome. On the Lewes Canal, fishing was again slow last week with the warm water, however anglers that fished the incoming tide near the mouth did catch a few nice fish. On the canal, squid and minnows are the preferred bait in this heat.
Sheepshead & Others
Sheepshead remains great this year with multiple citations being brought into Lewes Harbor Marina every day. The rock walls of the Ice Breakers are the prime spot for these big fish. Scott Davis was out with Duck Hunter Dave on “True Life Charters” and brought home a citation 8.03 pound, 22” sheephead caught on sand fleas. Allen Fedale was also out at the Ice Breakers and managed his first sheepie. With all of the big fish being taken off the Breakers this year, the sand fleas are sometimes hard to find.
Many tackle shops in our area have the rakes for sale. Going out at a low tide along the beach and raking at the waterline will produce all you could need for a great day on the water. I'm not sure why all these citation fish are around this year but if you have never caught one before, this is the year for it. The fish fight very hard and are excellent table fare. Contact Lewes Harbour Marina for more details on how to target these fish and who the best guides are at their marina.
Clamming & Crabbing
Clamming was in full swing with many anglers hitting the normal spots near the VFW as well as Holts Landing. The best spot last week was the leading edge of grass along the Rt. 1 roadway from Indian River up to Dewey. With the surging temps, many clams are just below the sandy bottom and easy to find.
Crabbing also remained good, but with the summer heat upon us you should pull pots every 2 days instead of 3 due to low oxygen in the water. I have been averaging 28-35 keepers per 4 pots every 2-3 days this past week. We are finding most are larger males with about third of the catch being over 7 inches.
Until next week...
Tight lines and Fins up §
