Article by Larry Jock
It hasn’t been a great start to the fishing year in Delaware, but I’m confident that once we start getting some consistently good weather, anglers are going to light it up because when the weather is nice we are seeing some excellent catches hit the dock.
At Lewes Harbour Marina, Matt reported that the black drum bite in the Delaware Bay, specifically at the Coral Beds, slowed last week. Boats were still hooking one or two per night, but not the five we were seeing. Captains are reporting that they are marking a lot of fish, but the black drum are just not eating.
Timing has been everything for anglers looking to tangle with big chopper bluefish. For the most part, the action has been sporatic, but runs of 10 to 15 lb. gators have been there for lucky anglers tossing plugs and spoons at the Roosevelt Inlet, the beaches off Cape Henlopen and at the Cape Henlopen Pier.
Anglers have caught a few keeper weakfish around the Inner Wall, including Rob Grodzicki’s 7 lb. 8 oz. fish, mixed in with some throwbacks, but the good news is that there have been a load of small, 9 to 10-inch, weakies caught at the Coral Beds recently. This has anglers excited, just not for the rod bending action but also as a sign that this stock could be on the rebound. Unfortunately, they are just too tasty to striped bass, so the population has been decimated, but positive signs are beginning to be seen.
Action in the Lewes Canal has not been stellar. Water temperatures are only around 64-degrees and Matt said they only saw a couple of keeper flounder caught in the Canal last week. Anglers also hooked a few keeper bluefish there last week as well.
If you are looking for striped bass, the Outer Wall has produced a few schoolies, but no keepers. If you fish out of Lewes and want one or two for the cooler, your best bet is still to try to catch one heading up the coast. Chances aren’t great, but probably better than anywhere else.
At the Hook’em & Cook’em Tackle Shop in the Indian River Marina, Capt. Bert Adams said that stripers of all sizes are being caught in the Indian River Inlet by anglers fishing in boats or from the rocks at the end of the incoming tide. To make things interesting, bluefish in the 8 to 9 lb. range are mixed in with the linesiders.
A whopper bluefish was caught by junior angler, Brenn Scott last week while fishing from the beach on Savage Ditch Drive. Brenn’s bluefish measured 35-inches and tipped the scale at 15 lbs. 13 oz.
Unfortunately, Bert said that they haven’t seen many flounder being caught in the Inlet yet, but the good news is that they are starting to show up on ocean structure. Janet Ruhl caught a 26-inch, 7 lb. 6 oz. flattie on a squid and minnow combination while fishing at Site 10 last week and anglers on the headboat, “Judy V” are starting to see some pop-up during their sea bassing trips. The Old Grounds should be ripe for flatties in the coming weeks for anglers drifting cut bait, flounder belly, Gulp! and minnows.
Speaking of sea bass, Bert said that ocean structure close to shore has been fished pretty hard over the last couple of weeks, so sea bass fishing hasn’t been great at these locations, but coral bottom further offshore and the Del-Jersey-Land reefsite were the best spots last week to drop squid and clams for knot heads.
Mako sharks were found at the Sausages and deeper in the canyons. Threshers were caught around “A” Buoy where the group on the “Keepin’ It Reel” boated a 477 pounder on Saturday. During the Mako Mania Shark Tournament in Ocean City, Mike Moss on the Indian River charter boat, “Capt. Ike II” had the crowd buzzing when he arrived at the scale on Friday with a 407.8 pounder caught on a bunker fillet, inshore of Massey’s Canyon. Mike’s thresher ended the tournament in 2nd place in the Thresher Division.
Boats that headed offshore in search of yellowfins and mahi gravitated to the area around the 461 Lump where the bite was exceptional during the back half of last week. Sunday was slow, but Thursday through Saturday was smoking hot with boats returning with double-digit catches. The yellowfins are still in the 30 to 45 lb. class but the mahi are definitely getting larger.
Upcoming Tournament
After calling off the tournament last year due to a horrible weather forecast, the Indian River Marina Kid’s Catch-All Tournament is back in full force, scheduled for June 25th and 26th. The first year of the tournament, in 2014, was fantastic and there is no doubt it will grow into one of the top tournaments in the area, just like the Ocean City Marlin Club Kid’s Classic. Anglers, age 3 to 18, are allowed to fish both days with lines in at 6:00 AM and out at 3:00 PM. Weigh-ins are at Hook’em & Cook’em from 3:00 PM to 6:30 PM on Saturday and 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM on Sunday.
Until next week, tight lines!
