Article by Rick Willman
Hi Folks. Fishing remains pretty much the same. Flounder fishing continues to be better in the back bays rather than in the ocean. Anglers tell us that they are catching plenty of fish but the keepers are tougher to come by. Squid, minnows, frozen shiners, and GULP! artificial baits all continue to produce fish.
Striper action in the Indian River Inlet seems to be best for those fishing the nighttime hours. Live eels, bucktails tipped with a white curtail worm, live spot, and Storm or Tsunami shads will do the trick. Shad are appearing in large numbers along with some big schools of bluefish on the incoming tide. Small bluefish can also be found scattered around the back bays. If you are fishing in the bay, the outgoing tide seems to be the most productive due to warmer water temperatures. Steven Goff of Delmar, DE fished in the Rehoboth Bay and caught a 7 lb. 7 oz. flattie while fishing with Bruce Lynch.
This year, our annual Flounder Tournament will be held the weekend of June 27th and 28th. You must sign up in person by 8 am on June 27th. We will begin taking registrations on Saturday, June 20th.
Sea bass are being taken on the reefsites and along the open bottom. Reefsite #11 is producing large numbers of fish, but few keepers. The area near “DA” Buoy seems to be giving up some larger sea bass. A few flounder are also being landed along the Shipping Channel.
Thresher sharks have been a hot target lately, but I have not had reports of any big catches. Thresher sharks are an interesting fish. Remember to be safe when fishing for these creatures, as their tail can be as dangerous as any other part of them. The thresher shark is characterized by its large upper caudal fin. This tail fin may often be 50 percent of the total length of the shark. It has a short snout and large eyes placed forward on the head. The second dorsal fin is much smaller than the first. The thresher is a strong swimmer and can leap clear out of the water. The jaws are small with tiny, curved, sharp teeth without basal cusps or serrations. Color varies from brown to black with metallic hues from above and irregular white markings on the underside.
The thresher shark eats schooling fish, such as herring and mackerel and cephalopods such as squid. The large caudal fin is used to slap the surface of the water forcing fish to form tighter schools. The tail can then be used as a whip to stun or kill the prey. This shark is ovoviviparous, with the eggs being hatched inside the female, and 2 to 6 live pups being delivered at a size of 5 feet long. During development the young may cannibalize their siblings within the uterine chamber. The thresher ranges through all warm and temperate areas of the worlds oceans. Its northernmost range in the western Atlantic is eastern Newfoundland and it ranges all the way down the Atlantic to the West Indies and northern South America.
Bill’s Sport Shop Flounder Tournament is winding down and ends on June 12th. The standings thus far are as follows:
1st Place - Randy Jensen 7.87 lbs., 26.75 inches
2nd Place - Tom Bailor 7.35 lbs., 28 inches.
3rd Place - Dillon Mitchell 6.1 lbs., 25.25 inches.
Bill also reports that Louie Sartori caught a 168 lb. thresher while trolling a Stretch 30 east of the Lightship. Chad Tingle brought in two rockfish from the Indian River Inlet, weighing 21.30 lbs. and a 19.35 lbs., caught on a Bomber while fishing at night. Anglers on the “Just Right IV” landed 11 bluefish between 10 and 12 lbs. just outside the 19 Fathom Lump. Dennis Chidester, from Newark, DE fished the rocks at the Indian River Inlet with a rigged eel and nailed a 28.75 lb. striper.
Makos and blue sharks are being taken from the 20 fathom line out past the 100. Trey Parker and Kevin Taylor on the “Playn’ Hooke” weighed in the first mako of the season at the Indian River Marina. The shark was hooked by Jim Larson at the 500 line in the Baltimore Canyon and weighed in at 98 lbs.
At Hook’em & Cook’em Bait & Tackle at the Indian River Marina we received reports of fantastic striper action in the Indian River Inlet. Blues are plentiful during the incoming tide. Flounder activity has been good in the inlet and in the back bays. Ocean fishing has been producing lots of sea bass but many are too small to keep. Thresher fishing has been pretty good between “DA” Buoy and “DB” Buoy.
Dan at Henlopen Bait & Tackle tells us the word is flounder, flounder, flounder! All the usual spots are producing with the Anchorage in the Delaware Bay giving up some nice fish. Blues have been coming from the beaches at Cape Henlopen State Park and stripers from the beach at Gordon’s Pond.
Ron at Rattle & Reel Sporting Center on Long Neck Road reports lots of bluefish in the Indian River Inlet. Plenty of flounder in the back bays are being caught using minnows or spec rigs tipped with GULP! artificial baits. Live spot have been the ticket for stripers in the Indian River Inlet.
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said Delaware Bay flounder action has been good. Flatfish made a strong showing in the Anchorage, on mussel bottom in 60 to 70 foot depths near “G” Buoy being the popular spot. Captain Ted’s group on the “Indian” returned with 10 plump keepers from their Saturday trip. Other productive areas included bottom changes at “A” and “D” Buoys. Fluke also came from the reef sites in the bay. Captain Pete Haines, Mike Junck, Bob Witte and Allen Quillen scored a limit of 16 fluke, weighing up to 4.9 pounds while drifting the Brown Shoal reefs aboard “Top Fin”. Evan Falgowski weighed in a 5.41 pounder he pulled from Reef #6. Bait choices among Bay fishermen included squid, minnows, shiners, smelt, strips of mackerel, shark and bluefish, and Berkley Gulp!.
Flounder also continued to come from the Lewes Canal, Broadkill River and Roosevelt Inlet. Butch Emmert nailed a 6.52 lb. doormat using a Gulp! Swimming Mullet in the Canal. Jeff Purdy got one 5.17 lbs. while drifting minnows and shiners.
Flatties also remained active in shallow water along Broadkill and Lewes Beaches, and around the Cape Shores, Port Lewes and Cape Henlopen Piers. Shad darts, speck rigs, 2 and 3 inch Storm Shads and Gulp! baits worked well in the shallows.
The black drum bite slowed after several weeks of good catches. Some nice fish were taken early in the week like Charlie Goodermuth’s 70 pounder, but the numbers of drum dwindled as days went by. The June full moon usually marks the end of the run.
Striped bass have taken up residence along the Outer Breakwater off Lewes. Boaters drifting the rocks at night caught nice bass while casting Bomber Plugs, bucktails and Storm Shads. Striper slayers, the Falgowski brothers, have been putting a hurtin’ on rockfish lately. Evan checked in a 21.7 pounder, Cory caught a 22.8 pounder and Ryan landed a 31.3 lb. lunker. Captain Alan Steele bucktailed at the Wall on Sunday morning and came back with a 42-inch, 24.5 lb. striper. Rockfish were also beached from the surf at Herring Point by casters using clams and bunker.
Shark fishermen reported sighting threshers between “DB” and “DA” Buoys, with some big long tails taken in the Fingers. Large numbers of blue sharks have been hanging out on twenty-fathom structure this spring.
According to Captain Jeff Stewart, bluefish were plentiful on the northeast corner of the Hambone, and he had good catches of slammers trolling Hoochies and Pony Tails there during the week.
Bottom bouncers encountered lots of sea bass at Reef Site #11, but only a small percentage met the 12-½ inch minimum. The Old Grounds gave up some sea bass too. The “Skipjack” had 25 keepers Saturday.
‘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.
