Article by Rick Willman
Hi folks!!! Back bay fishing seems to be a bit slow right now and I am not sure what the reason is. It could be the huge difference in water temperature between incoming and outgoing tides. Maybe once the temperature stabilizes, the feeding habits will get back to normal.
A few folks are still having some success chasing the flatties. One angler stopped in the shop and said that he had two 20-inch flounder and three throwbacks near the Indian River Inlet Bridge. John Loudon scored a 3 lb. 2 oz. flattie and Gus Myers caught 2 flounder, weighing 3 lb. 5 oz. and 3 lb. 10 oz., on back-to-back days. Taylor Madison Straub, of Robisonia, PA showed everyone how it’s done when she scored a 6 lb. 10 oz. flattie using a Gulp! minnow.
Striper fishing in the Indian River Inlet is still strong and a live eel or white bucktails with a white worm are working well. Debbie Hannum fished from the rails to land an 18 pounder that measured 38 inches and Donn Uhlhorn took a 19 lb. 9 oz. striper from the Outer Wall while spearfishing.
Offshore fishing is keeping a good pace and I sure hope it is a sign of the season. Bluefin, yellowfin and dolphin are all providing action to those taking the long ride.
Capt. Bill from Bill’s Sport Shop told us that Colin McCann of West Bay Park caught a 23.5-inch, 4.17 lb. flounder at Massey's Ditch on a black bucktail with pink Gulp!. Bill Jr., Ellen White, Capt. Bill Baker and his grandson, Joey Neely went to Massey’s Canyon and boated 8 bluefish and 2 false albacore. Cody Shirk of Grantville, PA fished the south side of the Indian River Inlet, using Calcutta Flash foils, and came away with 16.55 lb. 37-inch striper. Captain Michael Davidson on the "G Force" went to the Washington Canyon and kept a 190 lb. mako and an 85 lb. bluefin tuna and also released a hammerhead shark.
From Hook’em & Cook’em at the Indian River Marina, Deanna reports that through the week the temperatures heated up and so did the tuna bite offshore in the Wilmington and Baltimore Canyons. Boats are coming back with good catches of yellowfin tuna. The “Reel Passion” went out to the Baltimore Canyon and returned with 8 yellowfins and 2 dolphin caught on ballyhoo. Jim Semerteen of Dagsboro, DE caught a 17.3 lb. mahi while fishing out at the 40 Fathom Line.
Our first bigeye tuna were brought to us from the boys on the “Stress Reel-lief”. Don Wingate, Brant Hart and Fred Winward, of Roxanna, DE caught their two eyeballs out in the Wilmington Canyon. One was hooked on a cedar plug and the other on a ballyhoo. They weighed in at 137 and 150 lbs.
On Friday, our heaviest yellowfin of the season was brought to us by Tony Burr on the Liquid Handler. Tony and C.C. Lee went to the Wilmington Canyon where they hooked a 90.6 lb. yellowfin, a 157.6 lb. bigeye tuna and a 23.1 lb. mahi.
The inshore bite is picking up with more black sea bass and some flounder showing up. The head boat “Judy V.” has been running 4 hour trips out to Site 10 and 11 as well as fishing open bottom and have had some luck with the flatties.
Some reports have been coming in about the Old Grounds producing some nice keeper flounder also.
The Indian River Inlet is still bringing us some nice keeper rockfish from anglers fishing with eels or spot. Some have been caught on bucktails, but live baits have produced most of the keeper sized fish.
Flounder are starting to come in from the Inlet as well. These fish are running anywhere from 18 to 23-inches. One angler caught a 7.8 lb flounder while drifting in the Inlet on Friday.
Bluefish are also being caught in the Inlet by anglers throwing almost anything.
The surf is still the best place to catch a tan and a nap, although you might get lucky enough to see some small kingfish and blowfish.
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said flounder action this past week showed promise for a fine summer of fluking. The Old Grounds between “DB” and “DA” Buoys yielded good numbers of keepers on days with favorable drift conditions. Anglers working 3 and 4 oz. bucktails tipped with strips of squid, shark, skate, bluefish, mackerel or bunker did well. On Thursday, flukers aboard the “Grizzly” put 9 keepers in the box, seven of which were over 22 inches, and released 32 more. The “Grizzly” group on Friday ended up with 6 keepers and 47 throwbacks.
Flounder catches are shaping up in the Delaware Bay as well. Flatties were pulled from Reef Sites 5, 6, 7 and 8. Dennis McCoy checked in a 5.13 pounder he caught Thursday at Site 5 on the “Katy Did”. Dennis and friends had 5 keepers out of 34 that trip.
Bay fishermen also reported decent numbers of kingfish and blowfish, along with the first few croakers from the Coral Beds and Broadkill Slough. Bits of bloodworm or clam on small hooks will result in hookups with these tasty panfish.
Flounder continued to come from Lewes Canal, although the amount of legal sized fish has dwindled. Brad Pecoraro weighed in a 4.93 lb. flattie he fooled with a white Gulp! in the Broadkill River.
A few black drum were caught during the week on the Coral Beds. Some boaters told of seeing large schools of drum spawning on the surface this week, and usually, after that happens, the boomers make their exit.
Stripers have been active in the evening and at night around the Ice Breakers and Outer Wall. Anglers casting bucktails, Storm Shads and Bomber plugs caught bass that ranged from 20 inches to 20 pounds. Evan Falgowski was surprised when he hooked and released two large drum while using Stretch plugs for rockfish at the Breakers. Many striper fishermen are looking forward to the slot size season beginning July 1, which allows anglers to retain two striped bass from 20 to 26 inches per day from the Delaware Bay and its tributaries.
Boats trolling the Five Fathom Bank got into small bluefish. Bob Wilson and his buddies on the “AJ” had their limit of 40 snappers there while pulling Clark spoons.
Tuna fishing is holding up offshore. Yellowfins were taken by trollers in the Baltimore and Wilmington Canyons. Alan Steele and the crew of “Big Herring” brought in four yellowfins in the 40 lb. class and 3 gaffer dolphin from a trolling excursion to 400 fathoms off South Heyes Canyon.
Some big blue marlin were released this week by boats in the Baltimore. Darryl Boyer and his crew had a great trip to the tip of the Baltimore on Saturday. They put a gaffer mahi in the box, released three white marlin, and got spooled after quite a show from a very large blue marlin. The fish were hooked on ballyhoo and Iland lures.
Bluefin tuna were found on the Hambone and Chicken Bone.
Sharking is still going on. The boys on the “Tighten Up” boated a 418 lb. thresher between “DB” and “DA” Buoys. Captain Tom Smith put Herb Guest and the guys aboard “Port-A-Bella” on makos of 120 and 148 pounds during two days of drifting the Elephant Trunk.
Rick and his wife Deb are owners of Rick’s Bait & Tackle in Long Neck, DE.
