Article by Rick Willman
Hi folks! Fishing remains steady with fair catches of flounder in the Indian River Inlet and the back bays.
When the flounder are not cooperating, you can count on the croakers to keep the rod tip bouncing. The number of croaker coming in have all been high and the sizes have varied. Some folks reported several small fish, while others said most are of nice size.
In the ocean, the areas ranging from the “DB” Buoy to the “DA” Buoy, as well as the Old Grounds, have been giving up flounder and sea bass. The areas from the Lightship east and south have been offering dolphin, bluefish and bluefin tuna.
Some of the weigh-ins at the store included a very nice flounder from the Indian River Inlet that weighed in at 11 lbs. 10 oz. and measured 31 ½ inches. The doormat was caught by Jody McCullough of New Providence, PA while he was fishing a live spot aboard the “Harry Herr”. James Downey and Ed Holland fished the “DB” Buoy area using squid and minnow to produce a nice catch of 8 flounder ranging from 2 lbs. to 6 lbs. 10 oz. Tony Dambro towed his boat to Wachapreague, VA to head to the 21 Mile Hill in order for angler Kenny McNulty to troll up a 40 lb. bluefin and some dolphin.
Ten-year-old Hunter Culver of Milford, DE fished with his dad Donnie, John Ratliff, Mike Ratliff, David Smith and Steve Smith east of the Hot Dog. The group had a doubleheader white marlin bite. Both fish were caught and released with the largest estimated at 80 pounds. The group also caught 7 gaffer dolphin. A few days later, the same group fished inside the Poorman’s Canyon and caught 3 yellowfin up to 55 lbs. and a gaffer dolphin.
Rattle & Reel Sporting Center on Long Neck Road. tells us that flounder fishing remains steady in the back bays with plenty of throw-backs and some real nice keepers. He also reported lots and lots of croakers around Gull Island. The “DB” Buoy area is producing 23 to 28-inch flounder.
Dan at Henlopen Bait and Tackle on Savannah Road. in Lewes, DE reported plentiful spot and a few bluefish being caught off the beaches. Croaker fishing remains good, but most fish are on the small side. Dan said that it is typical summertime fishing.
Hook’em & Cook’em Bait and Tackle at North Shore Marina reported flounder to 5 lbs. in the Inlet. Blues are in and out but will hit anything thrown at them. A few stripers were taken on spot and Tsunami lures. In the surf it is spot, kingfish and a few blues with the usual sharks and skates.
Offshore action has dolphin and small bluefin biting from the Lightship to the 20 fathom line. The yellowfin action is great at Poorman’s, as long as the angler is at the right place at the right time.
Bill’s Sport Shop on Rte. 1 in Lewes, DE, reported plenty of action. Todd Buchanan caught a 110 lb. mako at the 20 Fathom Fingers on a mackerel/bunker combination. John Troiani and Mike Alden fished 2 miles out of the Indian River Inlet and caught 3 keeper flounder up to 22-inches on green bucktails with squid and minnows. Aaron Bromer caught a 15” tog at the Indian River Inlet on sand fleas, and also caught 4 undersized tog which were released. He also released 14 shorts this past Wednesday and two on Thursday.
Kenny G., Skip Mosiej, John Don, and Joey on the “Just Right IV” caught a 58 lb. bluefin and released a smaller one trolling ballyhoo northeast of the 19 Fathom Lump. Bluefin to 80 lbs. have been reported at Massey’s Canyon. Capt. Scott Reed, Randy Gooner and Kendal fished the “Ta Dah” at the Outer Wall and boated 1 trigger fish and 2 tog at 15 and 20-inches. The trio then drifted the canal and hooked several throw back flounder and had one keeper at 19 ½-inches. Louie Satori, Capt. Roy and the crew on the “Outrageous” out of the Indian River Inlet caught 8 dolphin to 20 lbs. and had 2 white marlin releases trolling ballyhoo in the Baltimore Canyon.
The Langdon family called to report that they boated two 70 lb. bluefin at the 19 Fathom Line and Mary Beth Langdon caught her first one. All were fooled by ballyhoo. Will Geppert, age 10, landed a couple of largemouth bass and some very large sunfish at Burton’s Pond. Chuck from Bill’s Sport Shop reports that he was fishing at Massey’s Pier and lost a huge flounder. While he was there, he also saw 3 keeper flatties and 3 triggerfish being landed.
Gene from Cedar Creek Marina stopped in to say he and his buddy Jim Kris were fishing Sites 6 and 7 and had 7 flounder with 3 keepers using cut bluefish and minnows. Capt. Paul Henninger of the “Amethyst” out of Indian River Marina was fishing south of the Tea Cup headed toward the Hot Dog when he had a huge run off. He also caught blues at the Five Fathom Bank and a bonita at the Old Grounds. The “Reliable II” is fishing daily from Bowers Beach. They reported a “croaker catching frenzy”. Other fish that are coming over the rail are flounder, weakies, blues and sea bass.
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said flounder action remained steady. Artificial structures at Brown Shoal gave up nice flatfish like Larry Coyle’s 7.0 and 6.76 pounders. Larry’s fish were caught using Gulp! Sand Eels. Tony Zdrojewski and Tony Zdrojewski, Jr. had seven keeper flounder to 4.47 lbs. at reef site #6 on Friday. Flatties came from the Star reef site as well. Boaters casting to the rocks of the inner and outer breakwaters and the ferry jetty found fluke too. Shad darts tipped with minnows or Gulp! Swimming Mullets were effective. Steven Grove got a 6.57 lb. flounder at the mouth of Roosevelt Inlet. Todd Manning was surprised when a 3.67 lb. sea trout grabbed a Gulp! he was tossing to the inner wall. Flounder also hung out around the piers inside Cape Henlopen.
In the ocean, reef site #10 was productive. Ken Teufel took a 6.8 pounder from the rubble there aboard “Lil’ Angler II”. Groups fishing on the “Grizzly” enjoyed good catches at the ocean reef sites as well. Frank Pogue used a Spro jig to tempt an 8 ½ lb. doormat out of the junk. Jim Skyman scored a 6 lb. 14 oz. flounder. Alex Lewantowsky landed and released a monster 16 lb. 4 oz. tautog. The Old Grounds between the “DB” and “DA” Buoys held fluke. Chris Dispoto and family returned with 7 nice keepers from there Saturday. Lots of sea bass were mixed in, but few were of legal size. Anglers fishing from shore at Roosevelt Inlet caught flounder, croakers, spot, snapper blues and stripers. Guys fishing eels around the Lewes Canal drawbridge and railroad bridge hooked slot-size stripers. On the tuna front, big bluefins came from structures between twenty and thirty fathoms. Wes and Shane Olson teamed up for a 112.4 pounder at Massey’s Canyon. That bruiser ate a sardine on the bottom. Christopher Harmon was trolling ballyhoo at the Hambone aboard the “Tranquila” when he boated a 135.4 lb. bluefin. Trollers also encountered nice dolphin. The Davis family had a half dozen gaffers at Massey’s Canyon on the “Skipjack”, including a 16.4 pounder for Alan Davis, and a 17.5 lb. mahi for Clay Davis.
‘Til next week, have fun and be safe!
Rick and his wife Deb are owners of Rick’s Bait & Tackle in Long Neck, DE.
