Article by Larry Jock
The Labor Day weekend weather was nasty, with windy weather wreaking havoc on the bay, inshore and offshore fishing.
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said ocean anglers continued to enjoy good flounder action. Flatties came from Reef Sites 9, 10 and 11, as well as natural bottom between “DB” and “DA” Buoys. Divers report most inshore wrecks are surrounded by fluke as well. Flatfish responded to offerings of squid strips or other fresh cut baits, usually combined with smelts or shiners. Gulp! soft artificials have proven deadly, especially when added to bucktail jigs. Jig and teaser rigs have been responsible for many nice fish, and work well on either heavy structure or open bottom.
Lots of undersized flounder were released by boaters during the week, but some very respectable specimens were brought in. Whopper of the week was landed by Mary McElhone. She wrestled her 8.54 pound doormat from ocean structure while drifting aboard the charter boat, “Katydid”. Burt Betts boated a 7.9 pound beauty at Site 11. Mate Chris Vann took a little break from his duties on the deck of the “Katydid” and pulled in a citation worthy 7.7 pound fluke. Joe Ryan jigged a bucktail and Gulp! combo at Site 10 to put an impressive limit in the box, including three mats weighing 5.6 pounds each and a fourth scaling 7.4 pounds. Dan McGeady managed a 6.4 pound flattie on the “Katydid” on Wednesday. The crew from Hazzard Electric joined Captain Carey on the “Grizzly” to harvest a limit of flounder on Tuesday, including three citation fish over 7 pounds, plus two more over 6 pounds.
Croakers remained thick between Site 10 and “DB” Buoy. Flounder diehards considered hardheads a nuisance, but those looking to put lots of eaters in the cooler loaded up on tasty panfish.
More legal sized sea bass showed among catches. They were mixed in with flatties on Old Grounds structure, and at Site 11. Bottom bouncers still sent back loads of shorts, but the ratio of keepers seemed better. Sea bass season will shut down on September 18th, then start up again October 18th.
In the Delaware Bay, fishermen had to contend with strong tidal currents, and it was the same old story. A few flounder came from Reef Sites 5, 6, 7 and 8, but bites were limited to the very beginning and end of the tides. A mix of croakers, puffers, porgies, kingfish and snapper blues gathered around Reef Site 8. The largest hardheads hung tight to reef rubble. Clams, squid, bloodworms, shrimp and Fishbites were favored baits. Snapper blues were hooked around the Ice Breakers by those tossing bucktails tipped with squid or flashy metal jigs.
Land based casters got good news. The Cape Henlopen Fishing Pier reopened on September 4th, just in time for Labor Day weekend. The first phase of repairs to 108 pilings was recently completed, and the pier was considered safe for traffic again. The second phase, which entails decking replacement, plus work on the superstructure and fencing, is scheduled to be done during the winter. Over the weekend, anglers lining the rails caught croakers using bloodworms and Fishbites.
Down at the Hook’em & Cook’em Tackle shop in the Indian River Marina, Capt. Bert Adams reported good snapper bluefish action on the north side of the Indian River Inlet last week, especially during the incoming tide. Fish up to 4 lbs. were caught from the Handicap Pier to the Coast Guard Station. Inlet anglers also found a lot of short stripers hanging by the old bridge pilings, during both day and nightime fishing. Bert said that a few keeper sized linesiders were mixed in. Flounder fishing in the Inlet continues to be slow.
From the beach, a small cobia was caught late in the week by a surfcaster fishing with a chunk of bunker on a mullet rig. Other than that, surf anglers are contending with some kingfish and a lot of sharks.
Inshore, croakers moved closer to shore last week, with hardheads hooked anywhere from 2 to 5 miles from the coastline. Flounder fishing on ocean structure continues to be stellar, especially at the Old Grounds.
Offshore, small yellowfins finally showed up, mainly in the Washington Canyon. A few were also caught in the Poor Man’s Canyon as well. The bigeye bite keeps chugging along with fish caught in the Washington Canyon and also up in the Wilmington Canyon where fish were caught on Wednesday night. The bite in the Wilmington was short lived, with anglers heading out on Thursday returning with nothing. Dolphin are all over, both inshore and offshore, and can mainly be found cruising under structure.
Until next week, tight lines.
