Article by Rick Willman
Hi folks. Flounder fishing in the Rehoboth and Indian River Bays remains good although keeper size flatties are more difficult to find. Fishing near the Indian River Inlet and the normal flounder holes will bring you a fair amount of fish, but most will be shorts. Try moving off to an area where there is less boat traffic and you should increase your chances of scoring a keeper size fish. Squid, minnow, shiner, smelt and Berkley Gulp! are still the magic baits.
Croakers are now moving in and numbers should steadily increase. The croakers are on the small side for now, but size should also increase quickly. Bloodworms, FishBites and white or chartreuse GULP! cut into small pieces on a #6 hook will all work. If you are targeting spot, you should probably use a #8 or #10 hook. Blowfish are being taken in the Rehoboth Bay and clams are the bait of choice.
Inshore fishing continues to be quite slow with reports of a few sea bass and a few flounder here and there between the “DB” Buoy and “DA” Buoy.
Offshore action has been hot and cold. A few bluefin tuna and plenty of dolphin can be found at Massey’s Canyon, the 19 Fathom Lump, Chicken Bone, Hambone and the Hot Dog. A few yellowfin were reported at the Hambone and Hot Dog. The Baltimore Canyon has been producing some yellowfin and good numbers of white marlin. Some real nice blue marlin have also been mixed in.
Capt. John Ratlif and Donnie Culver trolled the Baltimore where they released 1 white marlin, a 400 pound blue marlin and caught 3 yellowfin. They also fought a blue marlin, estimated at about 700 or 800 pounds, for 1 hour before breaking off.
At Rattle & Reel Sporting Center on Long Neck Road, Eric reported that flounder are still active in the Indian River Inlet and in the back bays. Shiners, squid and chartreuse Gulp! are the baits to use.
The Outer Wall in the Delaware Bay is still holding plenty of triggerfish.
From Bill’s Sport Shop in Lewes, we hear that flounder are being caught 3 miles south of “B” Buoy on chartreuse and white Gulp! baits in addition to shiners and sand fleas. Dustin Schell, his father Brad Schell, and friend Bill Lux fished a few miles past Site 11 and landed a 6' brown shark and a 7' blacktip. Jim Jones fished Massey's Canyon and boated 4 gaffers and 1 peanut dolphin. Matt Langdon went 6 for 8 on white marlin and caught 2 yellowfin tuna in the 50 to 60 lb. range in the Baltimore Canyon. John Truesdell of Lewes, DE used clams to pull a 12 lb., 35-inch striper from the Indian River Inlet. Joshua Greenberg, age 13, and Jake Franklin, age 8, from Richmond, VA, fished the Pier and came away with 24 croaker up to 14-inches and 4 spot using bloodworms and squid combo.
Bluefish and a few keeper rockfish were caught in the Indian River Inlet on bucktails and Kast Masters.
Puppy drum are starting to show up at Massey's Ditch and triggerfish are being caught at the Outer Wall.
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said nice yellowfin tuna were caught between the Baltimore and Poor Man’s Canyons last week. Crews pulling a mix of skirted ballyhoos, green machines and spreader bars found fish ranging from 40 to 70 lbs. Much of the action took place between the 150 and 175 lines, in 75 to 100 fathoms. White marlin were reported in the same area. Other billfish came from warm water in 500 fathoms deeper in the Baltimore Canyon.
Bluefin tuna were caught at the Hambone during the week. Boats trolling the structure at first light hooked some impressive specimens while towing ballyhoos way back.
Unfortunately, most were larger than the 59-inch upper size limit and had to be released. Some fish were estimated in the 200-pound class. Bluefins popped up on other lumps too. Julie Nelson decked a 55.8 pounder Saturday at the Chicken Bone. The tuna grabbed a green machine spreader bar trolled behind the “Spoiled III”. Trollers also encountered dolphin inshore. Vince Sheivert and the boys on “Black Bart” got into mahi along the thirty-fathom line, northeast of the Hot Dog on Saturday.
Back in the Delaware Bay, croakers were the big news. Schools of hardheads took up residence on Reef 8 and the Star Site where boaters enjoyed good catches of feisty panfish in the 8 to 12-inch range. The big golden “Cadillac” size croakers should show up soon. Clams, bloodworms, shrimp and FishBites worked well as baits.
Numerous spot showed up in the Lewes Canal this past week as well. Bits of bloodworms or FishBites on sabiki rigs attracted spot that varied from a few inches to hand-sized. Spot were also caught from the Cape Henlopen pier.
The flounder bite was fair during the week, with tough drift conditions and dirty water causing trouble most days. Often, anglers had only a small window to properly present baits to fluke before hard running currents made it too difficult. However, some nice catches were recorded. Eric Burnley stopped by Monday with three flatties weighing up to 5.3 lbs. He said that he and his fishing buddy, Mike, had made the rounds, taking one fluke at Site 6, one at Site 7, and another at “G” Buoy. Captain Pete’s Friday group on the “Top Fin” had 5 keepers, including Larry McDonald’s 5.06 pounder, while rubble bouncing the Brown Shoal reefs. The guys fishing with Captain Les on the “Martha Marie” had 3 keeper flatties and 50 croakers at the Star Site on Saturday morning. The “Flatfish of the Week” was an awesome 10.7 pounder, landed by Edwin Maxwell while drifting an artificial reef. The big doormat ate a teaser tipped with a bluefish strip, rigged ahead of a 3-ounce bucktail.
Fresh meat is the downfall of many flounder, and in addition to bluefish, strips of fresh croaker, spot, bunker, sea robin and shark are very attractive to fluke.
Tautog action cooled off somewhat in the hot weather. A few blackfish continue to be taken along the Inner and Outer Walls and at the Ice Breakers by toggers using sand fleas, green crabs and box crabs. Herbie Shorthose celebrated his birthday on Wednesday by bringing back a 7.32-pound citation tog from the Ice Breakers.
Triggerfish were common on the rock piles too.
Slot sized striped bass were pulled from the Haystacks by guys tossing Rat-L-Traps and Storm shads around the structure. Fishermen using clams near the Drawbridge in the Lewes Canal got legal stripers too, and also told of having to release oversized bass.
At Hook’em & Cook’em Bait & Tackle, Bert reported that there are plenty of flounder in and around the Inlet. Bert said that the keeper ratio is slowly improving. Minnows and live spot are working well. White Spro bucktails tipped with Gulp! are also attracting some flatties. A few stripers are being taken in the Inlet as well as a few tautog.
Bluefish are making their appearance known just about every day.
In the surf, kingfish are plentiful off South Bethany. Bloodworms, bunker or FishBites will work well. The kingfish have been staying south due to some cold water that keeps traveling from the Delaware Bay.
Inshore fishing shows Capt. Bert’s half-day boat finding improved fishing for both seabass and flounder. The full-day boat is picking up more seabass.
Offshore action along the 20 line is showing lots of dolphin and some bluefin mixed in. The yellowfin bite in the Baltimore and Wilmington Canyons slowed but plenty of white marlin and a fair amount of blue marlin were released.
Until next week, have fun and be safe!
Rick and his wife Deb are owners of Rick’s Bait & Tackle in Long Neck, DE.
