Article by Rick Willman
Hi folks! This season has been pretty good overall. Weather has been on our side most of the time, and the fish have been biting. The fish are mostly throwbacks, but there is still action on the end of the line.
Early in the season, the place to be was in the back bays, but now the “DB” Buoy and the Old Grounds are the spots to be for keeper flounder. The Delaware Bay seems to be holding all the croaker action, with a bit showing up in the Indian River and the Rehoboth Bay. Spot are plentiful in the Indian River, along with little sea robins. Some of the minnows in my bait tank are larger than the critters we are catching!
Offshore fishing seems to be hit or miss with fish scattered everywhere. Mahi mahi are being taken in fair numbers as close as “DB” Buoy. What a thrill for the small boat angler!
Ken Clelland took 5-year-old Brady Stallkand to the Delaware Bay at the ferry jetty and scored a bunch of croakers up to 12-inches. They then went to Buoy 19 and 20 to catch more croaker and 3 10-inch trout. Kevin Ludwig fished the Rehoboth Bay on “Hook & Cook” to land a citation 1 lb. kingfish. Dick Reel took 10-year-old Tyler Locklear to the Rehoboth Bay to score his first keeper flounder, measuring 19.5-inches. Brandon Price of Reading, PA tricked a 5.8 lb. flounder in the Rehoboth Bay using minnows. Jessica Boyer fished “DB” Buoy to bag a 4.8 lb. flattie using squid and a strip of sea robin. Mike Gabnet fished Site #10 to score a 6.2 lb. flounder.
Scott Fluharty of Sea Side Gas & Grill had been fishing for 40 years and never got to fight a blue marlin. The other day, he decided to take a stab at it with son Ryan and his friend Dominic. I guess Ryan knew what spread to put on the table and got his dad hooked up with his first blue marlin. Way to go guys!
As many of you probably know by now, the Walton family, (Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club), has made a contribution of 36 million dollars to the ANTI-FISHING battle. From a huge company that profits from the sale of fishing related items, we are being choked with our own money.
These people are playing a game from all angles and we are helping to fund the demise of a sport we love. I realize that shopping at Wal-Mart is a great convenience and is usually a great way to save some money. We, as fishermen, cannot with any real respect for the sport we love, allow any of our money be used to put an end to the sport. I fully understand that any business strives to grow and grow to its fullest potential. This cannot be allowed to happen by deceiving the people who pave that path. We see this happen time and time again by big businesses, and yet because of their low prices, consumers get lured into the web. Brave men and women, hard working individuals, and honest and fair small businesses are what made this country prosper and become the strongest country in the world. Please do not allow yourself to be a part of this disgrace. Remember that all monies spent at Wal-Mart are part of the whole picture, not just fishing goods. The only way we can have an impact on this situation is if we all band together. Talk to your friends, your neighbors and your coworkers, get them on board, and let’s fight for our right to fish!
At Rattle & Reel Sporting Center, Pat told us that there are plenty of croaker and spot in the back bays. There are still plenty of short flounder with a few keepers mixed in. Stripers measuring up to 32-inches came from the Inlet on live spot. Jason Schlosser used peanut bunker to fool a 24-inch, 6 lb. flattie. Matt Grebe used live spot in Massey’s Ditch to boat his 23-inch flounder.
Capt. Bill Baker of Bill’s Sport Shop reported that John Oh of MD caught 4 dolphin up to 42-inches and 28.10 lbs. at the Hot Dog using squid. He also boated black sea bass and ling cod. Chris Jackson, John Jackson, Dave Markee and Bob out of Rehoboth fished on the "Reel Addiction" at "B" Buoy and managed 5 keeper flounder up to 3.5 lbs., 10 lingcod and 30 throwbacks using squid and minnows. Bob Adams, Dave Ritonda, Jim Shafer and Tom Bailor had a great day catching over 30 flounder (5 keepers), 3 large sea bass and several ling cod at the Old Grounds. Capt Aaron Hurd of "Gale Force Charters" called to report that the Henry/Johnson party caught 26 flounder with 3 keepers to 23-inches at the Indian River Inlet. On another trip, the Stepke party nailed 15 flounder with 2 keepers at the same location.
Capt. Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said bottom fishing has been very good, with plenty of croaker action, and some nice catches of flounder as well. Croakers were captured in big numbers on the Star Reef, but hardheads were also found in Broadkill Slough, around the Outer and Inner Walls and the Ferry Jetty, and in Roosevelt Inlet. Most of the fish have been less than a foot long, but some “Cadillac” sized specimens were found among the masses, such as Joe Walker Jr.’s 1.75 pounder. Any moving tide was productive, and they bit especially well in the evening into dark. Clams, bloodworms, shrimp, squid and FishBites all drew strikes from hungry hardheads. Blowfish, kingfish, snapper blues, spot, porgies and small trout mingled with croakers, serving up a nice summertime mix.
Flounder fishermen had fair success on the Delaware Bay Reef Sites when drift conditions were good. Joe Walker and his group had 8 keepers on the Brown Shoal reefs on Saturday, including a 6.6 pounder for Joe Walker, Jr. Flatfish catches were better in the ocean, with flukers enjoying success at Reefs 9, 10 and 11, and on live bottom of the Old Grounds. On Monday, anglers on the “Skipjack” scored 10 chunky flounder and a bunch of nice ling and sea bass between “DB” and “DA” Buoys. Wes Olson, “Beaver” Ruff and Barney and Matt Gallagher teamed up for 13 fluke to 5.6 lbs., plus a bonus of 13 dolphin while drifting southeast of “DB” on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the guys on the “Katy Did” captured 30 quality keepers while jigging ocean rubble. Among the take were a 7.88 lb. doormat for “Bully Bob” Trento, a 7.42 pounder for Captain Brent Wiest, and one weighing 6.68 lbs. decked by Captain Dave Walker. Bobby “Buckwheat” Bryant checked in a 6.39 lb. beauty that he boated while working an ocean reef. Lex Robertson said he and his crew kept 10 flatties out of 51 caught while fluking southeast of “DB” aboard the “Spectacle II” on Friday. The “Katy Did” pile-hopped in the ocean on Saturday for 10 nice flatfish to over 6 lbs. Captain Mike’s buddies on the “Sea Note” had 8 keepers on Saturday. Inshore trollers found some dolphin and wahoo in 20 to 30 fathoms. Paul Guris got a 47.8 lb. wahoo while trolling east of the Elephant Trunk aboard the “Lewestown Lady”. Boats picked at yellowfins in the canyons, but there was a decent bigeye bite in the Baltimore. Several nice “eyeballs” were boated by crews trolling among whales feeding on bait in 100 to 200 fathoms of the Bight on the Canyon’s east side. Many fish were hooked in the middle of the day. Ryan Cene’s bigeye struck a ballyhoo skirted with a black and red witch at 2 p.m., aboard the “Finomenal” with Captain Fred Wick. The 182.5 pounder wasn’t put in the boat until after 7 pm. Ryan’s group had already had a great day prior to that, releasing a white marlin, and icing a pair of nice yellowfins and several gaffer dolphin. Captain H.D. Parsons ran a very productive long-range headboat bottom fishing trip on Saturday, resulting in a load of ling, big sea bass and nice tilefish, and surprisingly, several impressive snowy groupers. The largest was a pool-winning monster at 49.2 lbs., and was landed by Steve Kiibler. Ralph Driscoll took the tilefish pool with a 14.4 pound blueline.
‘Til next week, have fun and be safe!
Rick and his wife Deb are owners of Rick’s Bait & Tackle in Long Neck, DE.
