Article by Capt. BJ Pietryak
The 2022 fishing year has finally begun. After a long cold winter everyone looks forward to the early season as well as a season without Covid and more businesses open full time. This season starts with much colder temps than in past years. So welcome back and let's see how the season is shaping up so far.
Bluefish, Rockfish & Black Drum
Water temps are still cool with bay temps around 55° and ocean temps in the low 50’s. As the water temps begin to warm the rockfish are starting to show up. Not many keepers can be found but the numbers are definitely increasing. Delaware Bay, a big spawning area, is starting to have staging stripers getting ready for the spawn. Gage Taylor caught a very nice fish in the 50 lb. mark. Reyn Davis fished the Delaware River last Thursday and caught a few nice rockfish including a keeper slot fish. Reyn stated he would not give up his secret keeper location. Dan Kramer said the surf has plenty of small stripers but no keepers so far. Bloodworms and surf clams are the best baits for this time of the year both on the surf as well as in the bay areas. No reports of anything but small rat rockfish at Indian River Inlet so far, but if the temps ever warm up even a little, we hopefully will see a spring blitz. Black drum are here and ready to be caught. The big numbers haven’t arrived yet to spawn in the bay, but those being caught are all large fish. Michael Deller came up with a nice drum caught off the beach north of the inlet. He stated there’s not a ton of fish, but if you put the time in they are here. Natashia Wheatley also pulled a slob of a black drum off the beach well over 50 lbs. fish was returned to the water unharmed to be caught again. Mike Chambers used blood worms to entice a nice 30 inch drum onto his surf rod. This is the perfect eating size. As these fish get over 50 lbs. they develop worm parasites, that although harmless, are not appealing to the dinner plate. Over the next few weeks the drum will arrive to spawn on the shoals in the Delaware Bay. For many, this is the time to target a trophy fish over 50 lbs. that can be caught on daily light tackle including spinning gear. The 2 drum I caught this season, one 55 lbs. and one 35 lbs. were both caught with clam on a spinning reel with an Okiaya rod.
Tog & Flounder
The wind has been pretty tough over the past few weeks making deeper wreck run very uncomfortable. The anglers that have made it offshore have been rewarded with some big tog , many in the double digits. The “Katydid” left Lewes Harbour on a chilly morning last week and returned with a limit of blackfish for their clients. Several spawning size fish were returned to help with population. “Gale Force Charters” also returned to the docks with some nice tog as well. Fresh clam is the best bait for this time of the year. “No Limit Sportfishing” said when you hit the right piece of structure out in the ocean it was drop and reel many times bringing in some trophy tog. Captain Jon reported many were 12-14 lb. fish. Jon stated a quick picture was taken and the fish quickly returned to the water. I find it very nice to see our captains as anglers looking out for these breeder fish. This time of year many bigger fish are filled with row for the new hatchlings and should be returned. There are plenty of smaller eating size fish around that will not upset the balance of the new hatchlings this year. The tog keep anglers occupied as the angling world waits for the start of sea bass season which begins on May 15th. The anglers this year will be greeted with a season limit of 13” and a creel limit of 15. We got very lucky with the limits of both sea bass as well as summer flounder this year. Flounder will remain 4 per person but the size will drop to 16”. Speaking of flounder, not many reports have come in of flatties being caught yet from the Delaware waters. A few of them are around, but reports are slow and fish are spread out mankind it hard to target any specific area. Anthony and Robbie did have some luck fishing the Lewes canal and managed a couple of nice big keeper flounder. Joe Ribinski managed a nice pair of 19” flounder in the Indian River Bay. As the water warms we should begin to see much more consistent catches of flounder both in the bays as well as the ocean. Flounder will take many baits with the two most popular being squid and minnow combinations, or the ever popular Gulp baits in the larger size. You will have to decide which color works best as is seems Gulp is now up to 4,500 colors...ha ha! Many local lure makers have their versions of the flounder rigs but I have found that the traditional top and bottom rig with an extra long leader on the bottom line works best. If you don't want to tie your own, Aqua clear rigs are very dependable and available at most tackle shops and area stores including Hockers and Bethany Auto Parts.
So as we start our season of 2022 remember to keep those lines tight and the fins up! §
