Article by Rick Willman
Hi folks! Saltwater fishing is always interesting due to the fact you never know what you might catch.
Last week, Josh Edmund and crew were trolling near the Lightship and caught three very unusual fish. Josh brought them in to be identified but I had no idea what they were. I called Mr. Doug Messick from the Fish & Wildlife Department, and he was happy to help us out. We found that these fish were “barrelfish” and are a very rare species. After doing a bit of research I discovered that they are a rare fish of which little info is available. Scientists are not even sure of the reproduction habits of this fish due to its rarity. It seems to be mainly found in deep water off the New England coast. It just goes to show you that the fun sport of fishing can also be an educational experience.
Back bay fishing continues to produce plenty of action for most everyone. Flounder are still abundant, but you will have to work your way through the throwbacks to be able to take one home for dinner. Croaker are also plentiful and reports say that sizes are starting to increase. Blowfish are being taken in the Rehoboth Bay along with spot. Massey’s Ditch is giving up a few flounder along with some bluefish, striper and spot. Catch a spot and rig him up, and toss him back as bait for a big ole’ linesider. The incoming tide in the Indian River Inlet is the time to be there to score on bluefish and stripers. The last two hours of the incoming tide seem to produce the most fish. Flounder are also being caught in the inlet.
Inshore fishing seems to be picking up, as reports of keeper flounder from Site #10 and the buoy line increase. The Old Grounds are also starting to produce more keeper flounder and sea bass.
Offshore action just continues to be hit or miss. Trolling is still earning anglers a few tuna and dolphin, but things are not consistent. A few anglers are starting to chunk, and we will see if this approach produces more fish. Gary Auchenbach and the crew on the “Empty Hook” trolled up 6 dolphin near Massey’s Canyon.
Some of this week’s catches included Jeff Eisenbise from Elizabethtown, PA fishing aboard the “Deputy Dog” with Bob Cleveland putting him on 2 nice fatties that tipped the scale just over 5 lbs. while drifting near A Buoy. Capt. Chuck Cook of “First Light Charters” took Dave and Bethany Santon of Northern VA to the inshore wrecks to score a catch of flounder. Capt. Chuck then took Eric and Logan Stegal along with Scott Preston to the wall to score some stripers using MirrOLures and Berkley rigged eels. Charlie Culley and Tom Greene of York, PA fished Site #10 aboard Tom’s boat, the “One More Drift”, to boat 4 flounder weighing up to 5 lbs. 3 oz. using Gulp! and squid. Frank and Stephanie Miller of Middletown, DE fished the B Buoy area using white bucktails tipped with squid. Stephanie scored a 6 lb. 10 oz. flattie and Frank boated a 5 lb. 8 oz. flattie.
I want to give a huge “THANK YOU” to both John Radliff and Donnie Culver for allowing me a spot aboard John’s “No Worries” for the White Marlin Open. It was a rough day, but I got to fish with a group of really great guys. Thanks again guys!
Bill’s Sport Shop in Lewes, DE reported that Butch Emmert boated a 28-inch, 8 lb. flounder while drifting the Indian River Inlet on Gulp! and a strip of fresh bait. Lou Sartori and Anthony Cichocki fished the Indian River Inlet last Saturday and caught 5 keeper flounder, with the biggest weighing 8.2 lbs., 28-inches along with another at 26-inches, 7.1 lbs. using bluefish fillets. Brian Lambie of Dundalk MD and Charlie Flaig of Pasadena MD fished the Delaware Bay and boated a 5.20 lb. flounder using a minnow and squid combo.
A customer, John, was out overnight in the Wilmington Canyon, and caught a 60 lb. yellowfin and 4 gaffer dolphin. He also hooked a shark and fought for hours before losing it. Joe Yochis of Bill’s Sport Shop pulled up a 33 ½-inch, 13 ½ lb. striper from Massey’s Ditch using live spot. Vinnie Hogan of NJ fished the Poor Man’s Canyon on Saturday and caught 5 yellowfin tuna in the 70 lb. range, released 4 white marlin and boated a 30 lb. dolphin. Matt Langdon aboard the "Ofishal" reported that they caught plenty of dolphin at the Baltimore and gaffer dolphin at the Elephant's Trunk all on ballyhoo, and then had a couple of hard knock downs trolling spreader bars. Capt. Carey Evans of "Grizzly Sportfishing" noted that flounder fishing remains good. Croakers and triggerfish have shown up with the hot weather as well.
Bernie at Rattle & Reel Sporting Center on Long Neck Road reported that flounder in the back bays are falling for Berkley Gulp!, minnows and squid.
Plenty of flounder are being caught, but there are lots and lots of throwbacks. Spot and croaker are also roaming the back bays and are taking a liking to bloodworms or the FishBites artificial bloodworm. The Indian River Inlet is giving up some striper on live spot.
At Hook’em & Cook’em Bait and Tackle in North Shore Marina, Bert tells us the flounder fishing in the Indian River Inlet is very good. Having fun is no problem, but taking home dinner could be a challenge. The flounder seem to want minnows, mullet, spot, or Gulp!. One bait at a time seems to be working best, rather than a combo. Bluefish and stripers are also coming from the Inlet. Stripers measuring up to 31-inches have been caught on the south side. On the surf, it seems to be kingfish, spot and stripers. A 31-inch striper was brought in from the surf near Bethany. Big sharks are coming from the surf at night. Inshore wrecks are producing a few triggerfish, flounder, and sea bass. The “Capt. Bob II” took a 5 lb. and a 4.8 lb. sea bass. Offshore activity on tuna has been spotty. Dolphin can be trolled up anywhere from the Lightship on out. In the deep, there are plenty of white marlin and a few blue marlin.
Capt. Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said bottom action was decent, with a mix of flounder, croakers, kingfish, puffers and snapper blues. Fish continue to prefer the cover and availability of food offered by artificial reefs. Bay sites 5,6,7 and 8 have all produced fluke, but most flatties were shy of legal size. However, crews that persisted were able to cull enough keepers to make the trip worthwhile. Captain Vince’s guys on the “Miss Kirstin” put six nice fluke in the box at Site 6 on Thursday. Captain Pete had some pretty flatfish this past week while working the rubble aboard the “Top Fin”. Pete himself decked a doormat of 7.41 lbs. on Wednesday, and another weighing 8.44 lbs. on Thursday. Captain Les brought back five flounder weighing up to 5 lbs. and a pile of hardheads for his Saturday group. Evan Armstrong traveled from Pittsburgh to catch a 5 lb. Delaware Bay flounder with Captain Ted on the “Indian”. Neal Crosley captured a 5.72 lb. flattie while drifting a squid and minnow sandwich in the rips outside the Outer Wall. Captain Chet on the “Lil’ Angler” had some good morning trips during the week, returning with flounder and croakers before the afternoon heat. The better concentrations of hardheads were found on reef 8, the Star Site, and reef 5 in the Broadkill Slough. Croakers were also reported along the eastern edge of the Anchorage near F Buoy. Often, croakers were most active in the evenings and after dark. Clams, bloodworms and FishBites worked best as baits. Fluke fishermen found strips of fresh spot or bluefish, shiners and smelt, and Gulp! to be effective offerings. When a fast drift hampered proper bait presentation, some boaters did well with fluke by anchoring on structure and casting jigs tipped with bait or Gulp!, to stay in the strike zone. Ocean bottom fishermen found flounder and sea bass between the DB and DA Buoys. Bluefish were found in the same area. Trollers pulling Clarkspoons behind an inline weight or small planer caught bluefish and Spanish mackerel at Fenwick Shoal. Spot have been plentiful in the Lewes Canal and other shallow water areas. Spot fishermen also did well on the feisty panfish from the Cape Henlopen Pier. Pieces of real bloodworms or FishBites and Gulp! artificial worms on small hooks or sabiki rigs are the ticket for spot. Stripers were caught in the Lewes Canal by anglers using clams on bottom rigs during the last hour of incoming tide. Captain Chuck Cook reported nice stripers at night while casting Purple Demon MirrOLures to the Ice Breakers. The 20- to 26-inch slot size for Delaware Bay stripers is in effect until August 31.
Much of the marlin action took place early in the week in Poor Man’s Canyon. Tuna and dolphin catches were scattered throughout 40 to 50 fathoms between the Poor Man’s and Wilmington Canyons, but no big concentrations were found. Jay Leibforth and Pablo Alvarado stopped by the shop with mahi-mahi weighing 22.1 and 22.8 lbs. that they boated in 40 fathoms aboard the “Spoiled III”. Some crews told of true albacore caught in 500 fathoms of the Baltimore Canyon.
Until next week, have fun and be safe!
Rick and his wife Deb are owners of Rick’s Bait & Tackle in Long Neck, DE.