Article by Larry Jock
The weather has been absolutely beautiful lately and anglers are flocking to the water. Luckily, we are seeing a large variety of fish being caught in the canals, bays, on the inshore lumps and out in the canyons.
At the Lewes Harbour Marina, Matt reported that there are a decent amount of spot and croaker in the Lewes Canal right now. Spot being caught are a perfect size to use for flounder and striper bait and croakers are in the 6 to 8-inch range. Flounder fishermen in the Canal are still pecking away at flatties and Matt said they are seeing 3 to 4 keepers a day being brought to the cleaning table.
It’s still slot season for striped bass and anglers fishing by the Drawbridge and the Research Station are finding some for the cooler. Those fishing at night are catching smaller ones as well. Anglers are mainly jigging, tossing topwater lures or flyfishing.
In the Delaware Bay, weakfish are everywhere, but they are small. The size of croaker in the Bay has definitely improved with fish being caught around the Inner and Outer Walls, in the Broadkill Slough and at Site 5. Matt said that they even saw a black drum brought in by an angler who was fishing with clams at Site 8 on Sunday.
Flounder fishing in the Bay is decent but you really have to work for them. One group of anglers on Saturday had to move between a half dozen spots to get their 16 keepers, but it was worth the effort.
Triggerfish and sheepshead are still being caught around the Outer Wall, the Haystacks and at the Ice Breakers.
Boats heading out to the ocean really pounded flounder last week at the Old Grounds and around Buoys “A” & “B”. Although minnows and squid are the old standbys, flounder and dolphin belly strips are an absolute killer when it comes to catching big flounder. In addition to the Old Grounds, both private and charter boats are returning with good catches from ocean structure in 120 feet of water.
For those looking for sea bass, Matt said that the DelJerseyLand Reef has been producing some nice catches of knot heads.
The tuna bite at Massey’s has really died off, but boats that trolled in the Wilmington Canyon late in the week found incredible white and blue marlin action. If you weren’t interested in billfish, there are plenty of good size dolphin from the Wilmington Canyon down to the Washington Canyon. In Ocean City, they weighed dolphin up to 54 lbs. last week.
Further south at the Hook’em & Cook’em Tackle Shop in the Indian River Marina, Lauren Adams reported that small, bait size spot are being hooked in the back bays along with only a few flounder around Can #19. Spot are being caught on small pieces of cut bait or Fishbites, while flounder are mainly being fooled with Gulp! artificial baits. No croaker yet in the back bays.
In the Indian River Inlet, short flounder dominated the action with one angler reportedly hooking 18 fish with only 1 keeper in the bunch. The keepers are mainly being caught around the Coast Guard Station and by the Red Roof House on the south side. Anglers are stumbling on a few shad in the inlet and striped bass are being caught at night during the incoming tide.
Action on Indian River headboats picked up last week with flounder dominating the rail. Cut bait, minnows, Gulp! and strips of dolphin or flounder belly are the top producers. Those looking for sea bass found them at the DelJerseyLand Reef. In addition, a few ling and cunners have also been hooked.
If you are looking to tangle with small bluefish on light tackle, Lauren said that Fenwick Shoal is the place you want to be.
Although a few yellowfin were caught while chunking at Massey’s Canyon, most of the offshore boats out of Indian River chased white and blue marlin throughout the week in the Spencer and Lindenkohl Canyons.
Until next week, tight lines!