Article by Larry Jock
Just when it looked like fishing was going to really take off, especially the tuna bite, Mother Nature threw us a curve and the wind blew on Saturday and Sunday. That being said, we still saw some good catches during the week and a few over the weekend.
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said offshore action with tuna had his customers enthused, but the most exciting news this week was word of the first white marlin release in Delaware for 2014.
Captain Hank Draper and his crew on “Prime Hook” trolled 71.5 degree water in 80 fathoms in the Baltimore Canyon, where the billfish was hooked on a blue and white Ilander/ballyhoo combo. Angler Aaron Hood fought the fish to the boat where it was brought aboard for a photo op, and discovered that it carried a Billfish Foundation tag. That tag was clipped off before the 61-incher was returned to the ocean. It was later determined the white marlin had been originally tagged last September off Oregon Inlet, NC. Because it was his first billfish, Aaron went overboard for the obligatory ceremonial dunking in the deep blue. Will Emmert and Mark Layton were also on board for the awesome day where the guys also caught five yellowfins, weighing up to 50 pounds!
Bluefins, yellowfins and bigeyes showed sooner than usual this season, and Jason Massey reported that longfins were already taken in the Baltimore on Thursday. There was a real good yellowfin bite in 70 to 100 fathoms of the Poor Man’s on Friday. It seems so far, that like last year, tuna fed most actively late in the day. Ballyhoo skirted with Ilanders or Joe Shute Lures, and squid or Green Machine spreader bars were popular and effective offerings.
Back inshore, Delaware Bay anglers found good numbers of croakers, kingfish, puffers and small trout around Reef Sites 5 and 8. Many of the hardheads were between 8 and 10-inches, but bigger fish to 14-inches were found hanging tight on heavy reef rubble. Clams, bloodworms, shrimp and Fishbites worked well. Bottom bouncers were occasionally surprised by lingering black drum that grabbed small baits on little hooks meant for panfish. Ray Woods wound in a 24.1 pounder and Amanda Saxton tangled with a 33.3 pound drum while croaker fishing aboard the “Angler”. Dan, Drew and Cole Simpson had a busy Thursday of croaker catchin’ on “Katydid”, highlighted by an 18 pound boomer black drum that ate a little bit of bait on a hardhead rig.
Jack Henriksen’s niece Karen Maull was his good luck charm on Friday the 13th. They landed a 4-plus pound flounder and a 9 pound black drum on light tackle, plus a nice mess of croakers.
Quality weakfish continue to come from their old haunts. Bruce Benson bested a 5.65 pound tiderunner while tossing soft plastics to the inner Wall on Thursday. Andy Lano landed a 21-inch trout and a 21-inch flounder while working Tsunami baits in the Broadkill River prior to Friday’s afternoon storms.
Other anglers had flatties during the week too. Terry Hornberger checked in a 3.42 pounder, and Terry Neighbors nailed a 3.66 pound flatfish in the Lewes Canal. Shea Lindale and Chris Donaldson iced 5 good keepers while fishing shallow water along the beach.
Plenty of stripers have been hanging out in the Lewes Canal. Deploying live pencil eels around the drawbridge, or clams on the bottom will get their attention. They can also be caught by casting Storm Shads or Rat-L-Traps along the marsh banks. The Striped Bass Slot Season begins July 1st, when anglers may keep 2 rockfish between 20 and 26-inches per day from the Delaware Bay and it’s tributaries.
At Hook’em & Cook’em in the Indian River Marina, Capt. Bert Adams reported that he sees changes coming for those fishing in the Indian River Inlet, with the arrival of croaker, spot and sheepshead over the past week. A few bluefish and shad are being hooked and stripers are still being landed, but very few, and the majority are too small to keep. A few keepers were landed by anglers drifting live spot by boat and by shore anglers tossing Swim Shads, Bombers and bucktails tipped with favorite offerings. Sand fleas were also an effective bait last week. Nighttime anglers are having to weed through a lot of throwbacks to get their keepers. A couple of anglers hooked 28 linesiders to get their 2 keepers.
The flounder bite in the Inlet was good for anglers fishing with Gulp! artificial baits and live-lining minnows, but Bert looks for it to slow down after the last weeks full moon. Bert’s theory, passed down from older fishermen, is that flounder bite strong in the Inlet during the full moon and then migrate outside the Inlet on the new moon. This is a new one to me, but Bert swears by it so we will have to pay attention to see if it plays out this season.
As mentioned earlier, sheepshead were caught in the Indian River Inlet by anglers fishing the jetty rocks with sand fleas. Croaker and spot have also shown up for anglers fishing along the south wall of the Inlet.
The “Capt. Bob II” and the “Judy V” both had to switch gears over the weekend and fish for croakers. The boats had to stay tighter to shore but did very well catching smaller hardheads.
Unfortunately, Bert said that the windy weather kept most of the Indian River offshore boats at the dock so they didn’t see many yellowfins coming back to the scale.
Upcoming Tournament
Don’t forget to register for the 1st Kids Catch-All Tournament held at the Indian River Marina on June 28th and 29th. In addition to the fishing, a cook-out and awards banquet will be held for all who register. For details, call the Indian River Marina at 302-227-3071.
Until next week, tight lines!
