Article by Rick Willman
Hi folks. Flounder, croaker, bluefish, blowfish, stripers and sharks can all be caught in the back bays. Flounder fishing has picked up and the stripers are still providing action in the Indian River Inlet. Spot are also available around #19 and #20 buoys and are a good way to get yourself some fine bait for catching flounder and striper. If the spot you catch are too large to use for bait, try some in the pan or on the grill. They do make for some tasty table fare. Croakers are just starting to show up and hopefully be in full swing for the July 4th weekend. They sure provide a bunch of fun on light tackle, and not bad on the plate either.
The big flounder catch of the week was Sheri Harvey-Miller’s 9 lb. 3 oz. flounder caught on live spot on the south side of the Indian River Inlet.
Offshore fishing remains hot with great catches of yellowfin tuna going to those trolling the canyons. Bluefin and a few yellowfin can be found around the Hot Dog and Sausages. Capt. Barry Brittingham and crew went between the Wilmington and Baltimore Canyons for a great score, bringing home 8 nice yellowfins.
Capt. Bill at Bill’s Sport Shop informed us that the winner of their flounder tournament was Bob Scharmer from Baltimore, MD who received a $500 check for his 23.5-inch, 5.25 pound flounder from Bill's Sport Shop.
At Rattle & Reel Sports Center, Pat reported that Scott Swarter took his sons Kyle and Josh to the Indian River Inlet to drown some spot when Kyle scored two 30-inch stripers and Josh took home a 34 incher.
Deanna at Hook’em and Cook’em Bait and Tackle said that the west side of the Indian River Inlet is producing a lot of nice keeper flounder. These fish are generally being caught on live spot, squid and minnows and jig heads tipped with Gulp! baits.
Rockfish are also being caught, although anglers are finding mostly throwbacks during the day with more keeper-sized fish showing up at night to early morning. Some are throwing out flies, some are using live spot and some are now using poppers. You will find these fish up by the bridge pilings down to the Coast Guard Station wall.
There have also been many medium-sized bluefish running through the Inlet. These fish are being caught on bucktails, Hopkins lures or Kastmasters. They are running anywhere from 2 lbs. to 6 lbs. in size.
Offshore, tuna are still out to the Canyons, mostly from the Baltimore to the Wilmington. Yellowfin are being caught by boats trolling ballyhoo and some are having luck with green machines on a spreader bar.
The inshore bite is still pretty much the same as last week. There are good days and then there are some not so good days. Throwbacks are plentiful for black sea bass with some keepers in the mix and occasionally you will see a flounder or two come on board. These fish are still on the wrecks but sometimes if you get the right conditions you can see them on open bottom. We even saw our first triggerfish come in on Friday.
The surf report remains the same with small kingfish, small spot and some blowfish being caught. These fish are all getting hooked on live bloodworms or Fish Bites.
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said tuna fishing remained hot. Yellowfins were spread from 70 to 100 fathoms and popped up at several locations between the Baltimore and Wilmington Canyons. The “Grizzly” had a great overnight trip offshore. During the darkness, the guys released 7 large dusky sharks, then, when daylight broke, it was full on with tunas. They trolled up 19 keeper yellowfins and headed for home. The “Katy Did” headed out to 70 fathoms along the 380 line on Wednesday and found schools of yellowfins. While pulling ballyhoo and spreader bars, they landed 16 keeper yellowfins weighing up to 45 lbs. and released many more. The crew had some added excitement when a 10-foot long hammerhead ate two of the tuna right behind the boat.
Billfish have been mixed in with tuna and several whites and some big blue marlin were reported.
Inshore trollers had success with bluefins on traditional structure. The Hambone, Chicken Bone, Hot Dog, 19 Fathom Lump, Fingers and Jackspot all yielded bluefins to boaters pulling cedar plugs, green machines, spreader bars and skirted ballyhoo. It was common to capture a keeper bluefin within the 27 to 59-inch slot limit.
Ocean bottom bouncers found flounder on the Old Grounds between “DB” and “DA” Buoys. Reef Sites 9 and 10 started to produce flatties too. Flukers fooled fish by employing a 3 oz. bucktail tipped with squid and a hair teaser on a dropper about 18-inches ahead of the jig. Captain Brent on the “Katy Did” worked several piles of rubble on Saturday and managed to cull a limit of keeper flounder up to 5.6 pounds for his anglers. Reef sites in the Delaware Bay produced flounder also when drift and water conditions were favorable. Will Burdette wound in a 6.49 pound flounder, and Don Moss took a 2.74 pound triggerfish over a reef on the “Lil’ Angler II”. Flounder continue to come from the Lewes Canal. John Northeimer nailed a 5.26 pounder in the Canal using Gulp!. Some big flounder were landed from the jetties at Indian River Inlet. Ryan Wieber was tossing a Gulp! along the rocks when an 8 lb. 11 oz. doormat grabbed his lure. David Wyszinski was casting a Storm Shad for stripers and connected with a 6 lb. 4 oz. flatfish.
Fishermen at the Cape Henlopen Pier caught plenty of small spot, along with a few croakers.
Ron Smith told of good action with stripers in the 20 to 26 inch range, while throwing 4 inch Storm Shads along the rocks of the Outer Wall.
Until next week, have fun and be safe!
Rick and his wife Deb are owners of Rick’s Bait & Tackle in Long Neck, DE.