Article by Capt. BJ Pietryak
Last week in Delaware we saw windy days and tons of beach erosion. Many boats chose to stay at the docks rather than fight the angry seas. For those brave soles that ventured to the near shore wrecks and coral, the fish were very willing to bite. Flounder remains the best catch at the wrecks along with some big sea bass when you can find them. Ribbon fish are on most of the wrecks and have become a nuisance when targeting other more preferred fish for dinner.
Nearshore Wrecks & Coral
The surface water temps are still very warm for this time of the year and the water has that green tint to it, however the bottom water temperature is much cooler. If you grab hold of your sinker after you reel it up from the bottom, you can feel the coldness of the bottom. Sea bass are still being caught on deeper structures. Although limits are hard to find, several good size knotheads can be found on both the deeper wrecks as well as the taller coral.
I was out last weekend with Carl Gutberlet at the coral just east of A buoy and managed some really nice flounder on clacker rigs tipped with pink Gulp Pink Shine. The biggest of our fish was 24” and 4.8 lbs.
“Last Chance Charters” with Captain Matt Cook had a couple nice half day trips bringing home several fish in the 23”- 25” range from inshore structures.
The charter boat “Miss Ene III” stated he had a deep wreck all to themselves and slayed some big flounder, sea bass and even managed a nice lobster. On a trip later in the week Captain Cook reported that the spanish macks were eager to bite the trolled spoons, allowing their clients to bring home some big fish for dinner and provide a fast paced trip for the anglers.
Dale Owens Jr. was out at the Old Grounds and caught several fish over 20 inches with his biggest being a huge 26 inch 7 pound fluke that put up one hell of a fight.
“Ocean Arsenal Tackle” was out fishing also at the Old Grounds with their Squid Thing tipped with a meat strip and managed a few decent flounder. This was notable since the Coral Grounds were pounded the week before by all the Flounder Pounder tournament anglers. The outer edges of the coral beds are holding the best and biggest fish.
“Bottom Line Sportfishing” whacked the fish again last week bringing back 24 mahi, 18 sea bass and a huge flounder. The crew reported over 100 mahi in 3 days.
Good reports of mahi staging on the bass pot balls are coming in daily. The water to the north appears to be much cleaner and blue compared to the areas in the south. Trolling small chuggers or squid lures past the pots has been the most productive with chunking pieces of squid and minnows at the pots being a close second.
“Last Chance Charters” managed to put some nice Gaffer mahi in the boat this past week and will be out hitting the pots again this coming week. Walt Gazdzik said he found some truely big mahi on the balls, however, he couldn’t get them to bite so he jumped in the water and used his spear gun to capture a few for the dinner table.
“Bad Wind Charters” said the fluke did not cooperate so they hit the pots for some mahi. They stated they had a few nice sized ones on board until Ralph hooked into a monster 43 pound giant. After about a 35 minute fight they brought the beast on to the boat. Last year was a banner year for big inshore mahi and this year appears to be following the same trend of bigger mahi than we have seen inshore in years.
Jay Werner went out to Massey Canyon and using bucktails tipped with meat had a box full of dolphin. He stated they could have had over 50 of the delicious fish but stopped when they had enough for dinner and left the fish to be caught by the next anglers.
Captain Brent of the charter “Katydid” was out fishing an ocean structure by himself last week and landed a nice 7.28 pound fluke. The fish was weighed in at Lewes Harbour Marina.
“Jay Sea 2” charters with Captain Jamar hauled in a cooler full of flounder along with a few big sea bass this past week hitting the deeper wrecks.
Back Bays & Inlet
The back bays have started to calm down after the big rush of boats in and out fishing the Flounder Pounder Tournament. Some really nice fish are being caught with the arrival of the big schools of peanut bunker in the back bays.
Will McGrath from Lewes fished the Lewes Canal and caught a huge sea trout on his second cast. At 26.6 inches and weighing 5.72 pounds it earned Will a Delaware Citation! Frozen shrimp was the ticket for catching this trophy fish.
Jake Marsili caught his first keeper flounder on salmon Gulp while fishing the Lewes Pier with his father Danny James. The fish measured 17 inches and dad said he couldn’t contain his excitement of catching his first keeper fish.
Phillip Hurd caught his biggest fluke out of the Delaware Bay, that being a fish weighing 8.7 pounds.
Surf Fishing
Geaorge Frigm was out at Fenwick State Park and managed to hook a nice flounder with a 4” mullet strip on a bottom rig.
Joe Dinisio added another 3 kingfish to his freezer collection this past week. Pompano rigs and sand fleas accounted for these delicious treats.
Spot and mullet are all along the surf, and over the next few weeks surf fishing should begin to greatly improve.
Until next week,
Tight lines and fins up! §
