Article by Larry Jock
It was a rough weekend of fishing for anglers all along Delmarva due to a Nor’easter bringing windy weather to the coast.
Flounder
Flounder fishing was tough due to dirty water conditions. According to Bert at Hook’em & Cook’em, a few flatties were caught on Saturday by anglers fishing at Massey’s Ditch and near the Coast Guard Station. The Gulp! artificial baits, cut herring and minnows were the baits of choice.
Up in Lewes, Capt. Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said that the Canal Flounder Tournament was a great success with 360 anglers participating. This was the most anglers ever in this tournament with fishing limited to the Lewes Canal and Broadkill River. Twenty percent of the fees were donated to the Camp Awareness Youth Program that promotes education about outdoor activities to young people in the area.
Zach Becker took first place with a 6.11 lb. flounder, while Jim Joseph won second place with a 5.48 pounder and Dan Baldwin’s 4.82 lb. flattie ended up in third place.
Striped Bass
Although striped bass action from the surf between Gordon’s Pond and Cape Henlopen was down a little from the previous week, it was still excellent for anglers fishing with fresh bunker and clams. Capt. Joe said that the morning hours remained the best time.
Bill at Bill’s Sport Shop and Bert at Hook’em & Cook’em both reported good striped bass action in the Indian River Inlet prior to Thursday night. Stripers continued to be hooked every night up to Thursday, then the Nor’easter really kicked up the wind. On Friday night, a few more stripers were caught, but not much happened over the weekend.
Capt. Joe said that some stripers were landed along the Outer Wall and the Ice Breakers in the Delaware Bay. Anglers tossing Bombers, bucktails, Rat-L-Traps, Storm shads and Stretch 12 plugs right before sundown did well.
Bluefish
Capt. Bruce at Capt. Mac’s High Performance Tackle in Fenwick said that the front-end of the storm on Thursday some larger bluefish were caught by surfcasters off the beach. The fish measured between 28 and 32-inches. Capt. Bruce said that a couple of stripers were also mixed in.
Black Drum
The weeks leading into June’s full moon are typically the best weeks for drum fishing in the Delaware Bay and it looks like it is right on schedule for this season, especially around the Coral Beds.
The big news was Colby Hastings’s 124 cm (48.8-inches) black drum caught while fishing on the “Lil’ Angler II” that is now a pending I.G.F.A. All Tackle Length Live Release World Record. The fish beat Dr. Julie Ball’s previous record set at 122 cm.
The heaviest black drum weighed in at Lewes Harbour Marina came at the hands of Kyle McLaughlin with a 69.3 pounder muscled in at the Coral Beds while using clams for bait. Right behind Kyle was Kathy Rodgers’ 67.7 lb. bruiser that was also caught at the Coral Beds on a chunk of clam.
Trout
According to Capt. Joe, weakfish have been more plentiful than in past seasons, especially for anglers fishing the shallow water in small boats and off the beach between Roosevelt Inlet and Broadkill Beach. Most of the fish are between 12 and 16-inches and are being caught on artificials such as, Bass Assassin, Tsunami, Fin-S, D.O.A. and Gulp! soft baits.
Joe Ribinsky at Whitetail Taxidermy & Outdoor Supplies emailed me to report anglers catching weakfish off Broadkill Beach while using peeler crabs and “good ole’ Delmarva Chicken”.
Lewes Harbour Marina’s own Mac McNaught caught himself a 20-inch speckled trout while fly fishing inside Cape Henlopen.
Tautog
Delaware’s tautog season is closed right now and reopens on July 17th.
Sea Bass
On May 18th, an emergency regulation was issued by DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara to open the sea bass season in Delaware on May 19th, three days earlier than scheduled. Unfortunately, the horrible weather prevented anglers from taking advantage of the situation, but kudos to the State for putting the measure through, giving Delaware anglers the same opening day as those in Maryland and Virginia. The minimum size has been set at 12.5-inches with anglers allowed to keep 25 fish per day.
Until next week, tight lines!