Article by Larry Jock
I had the pleasure of covering the 1st Annual Indian River Marina Kids Catch-All Tournament. They had 75 junior anglers, age 18 and under, register for the tournament which is a fantastic turnout, and identical to the first year of the Ocean City Marlin Club Kid’s Classic which has become a huge success with over 350 anglers participating last year.
With Saturday’s weather being undesirable for offshore boats, most of the action we saw centered around the Indian River Inlet where the young anglers brought in a lot of .4 lb. croaker, spot, bluefish, weakfish and oyster crackers. A couple of boats hit some inshore structure and weighed cod and sea bass.
On Sunday, the forecast improved and we saw a few yellowfin tuna, mahi and white marlin releases come in from the Baltimore Canyon, some sea bass from inshore structure, a smorgasbord of fish from Fenwick Shoal and flounder, croaker and spot from the Indian River Inlet.
All of the anglers received a rod and reel and 1st place finishers received trophies. Teresa and her staff at the Indian River Marina did a great job and I’m sure the tournament will grow in future years. All you had to do is look at all the smiling faces on the junior anglers to know that more are going to participate in future years.
Outside of the tournament, the highlight of the weekend at Hook’em & Cook’em was the 10 lb. 6 oz. flounder caught by Danny Cox while fishing at Site #10 on the “Fish Whisperer”. This is the largest flounder we have seen so far this year.
On Sunday, we also saw the first bluefins caught in quite some time by anglers fishing at or near the Tea Cup. The “Reel Escape” weighed a 106.6 pounder caught just south of the Tea Cup.
Anglers fishing in the Indian River Inlet saw excellent action over the weekend for striped bass, although most were too small to keep. Good catches of flounder also arrived from anglers drifting on the south side of the Inlet and along the Coast Guard Wall. Hunter Selby landed a nice 5.4 lb. flattie while drifting shiners in the Inlet on Sunday and his fishing partner, Joshua Blume followed that up with a 3.6 pounder. Those looking to just bend a rod had all the croaker they wanted after baiting their hooks with Fishbite bloodworms.
Further north, Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said flounder were the main game this past week. When conditions were favorable, crews working ocean structure on Site 11 and the Old Grounds did fairly well. Shallow water flukers continued to pick away at flatties in the Lewes Canal, Broadkill River, Roosevelt Inlet, near the Ferry Jetty and Inner Wall and around the burned out section of the Cape Henlopen Pier. Some respectable specimens have come from both deep water and near shore areas. Gary Ebling was drifting a white Gulp! and minnow combo near “DB” Buoy on Friday when he had a distinctive bite from a flounder that didn’t commit. He dropped back, and a few seconds later, the fish couldn’t resist returning for another bite of the tasty offering. That’s when Gary drove the hook home, and fought the big fluke to his boat. Gary was fishing by himself, and said the one handed net job was a little scary, but all ended well. The 8.47 pound trophy joined three other keeper flatties in the box, and Gary headed back to Lewes Harbour sporting a big smile.
Pat McGovern also had a good fish story. Pat had spent all of Saturday in search of flounder in the Delaware Bay to no avail, so he wrapped it up and ran back to his slip on Lewes Canal. After tying the boat up at the dock, he decided to make one last cast with a white Gulp! Swimming Mullet, and BAM!, it got grabbed by a 7.2 pound doormat! Guess he might not even untie the mooring lines next time he decides to do some flounder fishing.
Other quality flatfish were checked in as well. Dion Bryan boated a 6.75 pound fluke while drifting the Old Grounds aboard the “Martha Marie”. Captain Brent Wiest wound in a 5.15 pounder, and Mike Crouse captured a 4.65 pound flattie as part of a catch of 11 keeper flounder, 11 triggerfish, 5 spadefish and 25 kingfish from an ocean wreck aboard the “Katydid” last Friday. Steven Miller managed a 5.8 pound fluke by deploying a 6-inch chartreuse Gulp! Grub and minnow sandwich over Old Grounds bottom. Mike Davis decked a 4.78 pound flattie while drifting a 6-inch Gulp! near “DB” Buoy. Pink Gulp! was the downfall of a 4.75 pounder Ryan Womax captured in the vicinity of “DB” Buoy. Captain Carey Evans reported a fine trip to the Old Grounds on Saturday aboard the “Grizzly”. His flukers put 17 keepers in the box, four of which were over 5 pounds. The guys from Lighthouse View Bait and Tackle joined Carey on the “Grizzly” on Sunday for 15 flounder weighing up to 5.5 pounds. Captain Chuck Cook of “First Light Charters” hosted Ralph and Deborah Mast and Philip Glendenning on Sunday for some fluking on the Old Grounds. That group returned with a limit of 12 chunky flatties up to 4.5 pounds. Captain Brent’s Sunday patrons aboard the “Katydid” brought back 15 good keepers, including Jack Henriksen’s 4 pounder. Daryl Mergenthaler, Steve Kiibler, Wayne Demarco, Joe and Paul Pergeorelis and Doug Mickowski worked ocean structure on Sunday for 16 keeper fluke.
Some inshore locations saw good flounder action also. James Dent drifted a minnow in the Lewes Canal for his 5.81 pounder. Chris Teeter took a 4.44 pound specimen using chartreuse Gulp! Matt Morse tossed an artificial Zoom Fluke at Roosevelt Inlet to catch a 4 pound fluke. Jacob Webb fooled a 4.4 pounder into eating a Gulp! at the Ferry Wall.
Few keeper flounder came from Delaware Bay, but the occasional one was found around Reef Sites 6, 7 and 8. Four-year-old Ella Groff caught a 20-incher at Reef 8 aboard the “Indian”.
Hardhead and kingfish action was spotty during the week, but Delaware Bay anglers still encountered the occasional surprise catch. Tony Visco was croaker fishing aboard the “Katydid” when he hooked a 13 pound black drum on a small hook and little piece of clam. Croaker and king catches perked back up on Bay reef sites on Sunday.
Guys working early morning and evening tide changes at the Roosevelt Inlet hooked a few good weakfish. Adam May connected with a 29-inch, 6.06 pound tiderunner while tossing a white Gulp! Swimming Mullet from the jetty rocks.
Stripers were plentiful in Lewes Canal. Matt Loughin landed a 32-incher while soaking a clam in the Canal, prior to the legal size change. With the opening of the Slot Striped Bass Season on July 1st, anglers will be allowed to keep 2 fish between 20 and 26 inches per day from Delaware Bay and it’s tributaries. The majority of rockfish around this time of year fall into that size range, so bassers should be able to take some home for dinner. Floating eels around the Savannah Road drawbridge or casting plugs, jigs and soft plastics along the Lewes Canal marsh banks and lighted boat docks is the way to do it.
Crews running offshore had success early in the week. Shawn Gallagher and his guys on the “Free Spool” overnighted Sunday in the Baltimore. Trolling produced four yellowfins to 50 pounds, 6 gaffer mahi and a hefty white marlin that was released. They turned loose a big hammerhead while sharking in the darkness. Highlight of the night was a triple header of makos that hit all at one time. Unfortunately, all the blackeyes evaded capture. As the week wore on, tuna were harder to come by. Rick and Richard Fischer and Hank Draper had a 45 pound yellowfin while trolling in the Wilmington on Saturday. David Swisher decked an 18.4 pound dolphin in the Baltimore aboard the “Quintessa” on Sunday. A few yellowfins and dolphin were located in the Poor Man’s and the occasional bigeye was boated in Washington Canyon, but overall offshore catching was better earlier in the month. It’s possible that easterly winds moved some fish inshore. Yellowfins and bluefins were caught in 30 Fathoms at the Tea Cup on Sunday.
Canyon deep dropping remained an option for offshore anglers. Captain Brent’s fishermen aboard the “Katydid” bounced bottom in the Baltimore on Saturday, and put a big pile of gray tile and several good sized goldens, weighing up to 25 pounds in the box.
Until next week, tight lines!
