Article by Rick Willman
Hi folks! Fishing this past week seemed to slow a bit, probably due to the wind conditions. Flounder action in the back bays should be on the upswing and if the wind stops blowing we could get a better picture of things to come.
A few nice flatties have been caught during the past week. Joe and Patti Ribinski fished the VFW Slough where Patti landed a 20-inch flounder and Joe banged his 27-inch, 7 lb. 10 oz. citation flattie using a GULP! artificial bait on a jig head. Guy Sterlichi lll also fished the slough, but used a minnow to fool his citation 8 lb., 29-inch flattie.
Capt. Chuck Cook of “First Light Charters” took Chris Bledsoe to Delaware Bay to tangle with two stripers of 37-1/2 inches and 34-inches.
Bill Snover and Bill Steward fished the Outer Wall using green crab to boat a limit of tog weighing up to 6 lbs. I fished on the "Katydid" with Capt. Brent Weist and Mate Paul for a fun day of tog fishing. We came up a little short of our limit but sure had a bend in the rod most of the day. Capt. and Mate worked hard for us, but it was just one of those days when the bigger fish would not eat. Don’t forget that tog season closes May 11.
Massey’s Ditch is still giving up some flounder and stripers. Most of the fish are short but a few keepers are being taken. When fishing Massey’s Ditch, keep in mind that all fish found in the Rehoboth Bay and Indian River will travel back and forth through the ditch. This gives the opportunity to snag almost any species at any time. You should also note that while water temperatures are still a bit low, the outgoing tide should be more productive due to the water being a bit warmer.
Some of our reporting stations checked in with the following reports:
Capt. Bruce McGuigan at Capt. Mac’s on Rt. 54 said that stripers measuring up to 38-inches are being caught along the beaches. Cut bunker seems to be the ticket when choosing your bait. Bluefish and black drum action is also beginning to provide action to anglers fishing from the surf. Those fishing the back bays are seeing increased activity for flounder and bluefish.
Capt. Bill at Bill’s Sport Shop provided us with the following report. Sergejs Romaseckins fished the Cape Henlopen Pier and caught a nice 20-inch flounder while using a Gulp! artificial bait. Adam and Javier from Harrisburg fished the Indian River Inlet and picked up 3 keeper flounder measuring 20, 22 and 24 inches. All were caught on Gulp! artificial baits. Ben Shamburger, aboard the "Wreckstalker", fished an offshore wreck and had a great day. His party came back with 20 cod weighing up to 10 lbs., 1 ling and a pollack. They also caught and released 6 seabass. All the fish were caught on clams. Chris Wagner went fishing on Monday with family and friends in the Lewes Canal and came away with a 23" flounder caught on a Gulp! artificial bait. The rest of the crew caught 3 more keepers for the day.
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said the black drum bite turned on in the Delaware Bay. Some crews reported double digit catches while anchored in shallow water off Slaughter Beach on Saturday afternoon. Boats that set-up near the submerged pilings and baited with surf clams did well on Saturday evening too. Rebecca Hollingsworth had a 70.5 lb. boomer during her first drum trip aboard the “Martha Marie”. Drummers on the “Pirate King” scored four nice fish between 25 and 35 lbs. T.J. Dodge caught his first drum on Saturday aboard the “Grizzly”.
Will Wiedmann landed a pair of drum weighing up to 20.2 lbs. while soaking clams in the surf from Broadkill Beach. Drum action should continue through this month, with peak catching around the full moon. Joe said he’ll be carrying surf clams, but suggests reserving bait early in the week.
Togging was good before the season closure on May 12th. Captain Carey on the “Grizzly” returned with limits of tautog both mornings this past weekend. Captain Pete’s toggers on the “Top Fin” had a limit of tautog and were back at the dock by 10 am this past Saturday. Don Straughn sneaked in his citation tog before the end of the season, boating an 8.97 lb. bruiser at the Outer Wall. Sheila Stohler got a 7.16 lb. tog at the Wall. Chip Kelly captured a 16.6 lb. blackfish. The 30-inch brute ate a green crab at Reef Site 6.
Small boaters drifting in the Lewes Canal caught flounder during the week. Most flatties bit during the warmer water of ebb (incoming) tide, and it was better with clean water. Minnows, shiners and Gulp! were popular offerings. Scot Anderson decked a 4.63 lb. fluke from the Canal. Jay Fleming pulled a 4.33 lb. flatfish from the pilings of the Cape Henlopen Pier. The annual Lewes Harbour Canal Flounder Tournament takes place Friday May 20th.
Surf fishermen had a few stripers at Cape Henlopen on bunker and clams. Curt Stephens checked in a 16.3 lb. striped bass he beached while using clams for bait. Nice rockfish showed along the Outer Wall as well. Chad Tingle and friends drifted between the Lighthouse Eddy and the Elbow on Saturday night and hooked numerous rock measuring up to 38 inches while casting Storm Shads.
At Hook’em & Cook’em Bait and Tackle in the Indian River Marina, Deanna reported that fishing around the area continues to be on the same pace as last week. Just when you think it is going to start to get good it slows down again... then it picks up... then it slows down. We received reports of nice size sea bass being hooked at ocean wrecks and reefs. Too bad you cannot keep them yet, but just wait until May 22nd.
Tautog are still around on the wrecks but the numbers of keepers seem to have dropped some. Most are getting 1 or 2 keepers, some if they are lucky will get their limit of three. The “Miss Ene III” went out on Saturday and came back with around 20 lbs of tog. The headboat “Judy V.” went out as well and had a few keepers in addition to a cod.
A few cod in the 3-5 lb. range are still being picked up on the wrecks too.
A few hard-core fishermen are heading out to try their luck at either shark fishing or tuna fishing. They are heading south....way south....to get to the warmer water, but there have been no fish of that kind brought back to us yet. We will have to wait until the water temperature gets somewhat warmer.
The surf is producing some nice sized rockfish when you are lucky enough to hook up on one. We have weighed in a 38 pounder and a 19 pounder, both caught from the Fenwick surf last week. We have also heard of a few being caught from 3-R's and off Dewey Beach. They were caught with fresh bunker, which we have at both of our locations. Just cut the head off and throw it out there on a 6/0 hook. Small blue fish are also being caught in the surf.
Some days are better than others for people fishing in the Indian River Inlet. One day anglers will come in and say the fishing overnight was good, mostly on flies for rockfish. Then there are days when they'll say, "nothing is biting out there". Successful anglers are jigging white or chartreuse buck tails with white twister worms under the Bridge. They are also casting flies up by the Coast Guard station.
Fishing in the back bays for flounder has been slow but not too slow for Mark Lowman, of Bethany Beach. He caught an 8.8 lb., 28" flounder while fishing on the south side of the Indian River Bay. He was using a super sized minnow on a plain hook. Along with that big flattie he also landed a 20" flounder. He did tell me that there were other boats around him that had netted a couple of nice sized fish as well.
Some fishermen are also finding success using fresh herring or Gulp! artificial baits on a jig head to catch flounder. Flounder are still 18.5" and 4 keepers per day, per person. This regulation will change on May 11th when the size drops to 18".
Until next week, have fun and be safe!
Rick and his wife Deb are owners of Rick’s Bait & Tackle in Long Neck, DE.