Article by Rick Willman
Hi folks. What a beautiful weekend. The weather was great and the fishing was trying real hard to match the sunny skies.
Back bay flounder action continues to be the most productive. Striper action in the Indian River Inlet is also hot. Some really nice fish have come out of the Inlet recently. Ocean activity has consisted of mainly sea bass with a few reports of keeper flounder. Big bluefish have been taken on the troll between “DA” Buoy and the Delaware Lightship. A few threshers have been reported near the Shipping Channel.
Julie Stevenson of Lewes, DE fished in the Indian River with her dad, Joe Viscuglia, and caught a citation flattie weighing 7 lbs. 12 oz. Don Montgomery came all the way from Myrtle Beach, SC. and boated a 5 lb. 6 oz Indian River flattie using a minnow for bait. Bill Taylor of Kennett Square, PA also used a minnow to fool a 5 lb. 13 oz. Indian River flounder. Jim Beam of Palmyra, PA fished the “DB” Buoy area and caught a 4 lb. 6 oz. flattie using a squid and minnow combo. Mickey Payne of Georgetown, DE had a great day in the Indian River Inlet, boating his limit of stripers weighing up to 23 1/4 lbs.
Capt. Eric Ludwig of “Hook & Cook” Charters had a great day shark fishing the 20 fathom line and released 2 threshers estimated at 250 lbs.
At Rattle & Reel Sporting Center on Long Neck Road, Ron reports good flounder action in the Rehoboth Bay and in the Indian River for anglers using minnows and squid along with GULP! tipped Spec rigs. Striper action in the Indian River Inlet is also improving.
At Henlopen Bait and Tackle on Savannah Road in Lewes, DE, Dan said stripers, measuring up to 38 inches, have come from the surf at Cape Henlopen to those soaking fresh bunker. Flounder action continues to be good in all the usual spots such as the Lewes Canal.
Bert at Hook’em & Cook’em Bait and Tackle told us that striper fishing in the Indian River Inlet has been good. Shad have also been plentiful in the Inlet. Josh Mummert of New London, PA took a 12 lb. striper from the Inlet. Blues have also been invading the Inlet along with flounder up to 22 inches. Headboat fishing has been fair-to-good for those bottom fishing in the ocean. Capt. John Nedelka on the charterboat “Karen Sue” has been putting his parties on some nice sea bass. Sharks and short stripers have been coming from out of the surf.
Thresher sharks are starting to be caught. The “#1 Hooker” brought in a 156 lb. thresher caught by the party of Josh Bentz, John Bentz, John Swietzer, Mike Drobick, and Vince Skimski, of Gettysburg, PA. A 201-pound thresher was captured by Jack and Mike Barrow, Drew Jones and Sean Fisher. They used a live bluefish to fool their catch. On the “Rock On”, Tim Tribbitt and Josh Moran of Ocean View, DE fished in the Poorman’s Canyon and caught the 1st bluefin of the year out of the Indian River Marina. It weighed in at 25.5 lbs. The “Stress Relief” had a great day of dolphin fishing with 7 year old Colby Hook catching a 13.1 and 11.6 pounder.
Bill’s Sport Shop in Lewes gives the standings in his ongoing flounder tournament.
1st Place - Tom Bailor 7.34 lbs. and 28 inches.
2nd Place - Dillon Mitchell 6.1 lbs. and 25.25 inches.
3rd Place - Michael Bott 6 lbs. and 25 inches.
4th Place - Billy Rawlings 5.99 lbs. and 25.5 inches.
Elsewhere, Bill Keyser of Rehoboth, DE caught a 14.90 lb. striper at Herring Point on fresh bunker. Victor Thao of Lititz, PA caught a citation striper on a Storm Lure at the Indian River Inlet that weighed 23.52 lbs. and measured 39 inches. Eddie Kim of Silver Spring, MD caught a 24-inch, 6.78 lb. flounder in the Indian River Inlet on a Storm Shad. Kerry Lodsh was fishing the rocks in the Indian River Inlet and landed a citation 24.20 lb. striper that measured 40-inches and had a 24-inch girth. Isaiah Ross beached trout up to 27 inches on peeler crab at the Broadkill. Andrew and John Snyder, along with Matt Hamilton, caught 20 blueline tilefish and 12 cod weighing up to 20 lbs. on clams and squid in 2,000 feet of water. Captain Mike Rivera, on the “On Delivery” out of the Indian River Marina, brought in the first Delaware thresher this year. The shark weighed in at 158 lbs. and was caught on light tackle while trolling for blue fish off the NJ coast. He reported that it took more than 4 hours to boat. Captain Carey Evans on the “Grizzly” reported that drum fishing was excellent over the Memorial Day weekend. Black drum fishing should remain good thru early June.
‘Til next week, have fun and be safe!
Rick and his wife, Deb are owners of Rick’s Bait & Tackle on Long Neck Road in Long Neck, DE.
