Article by Larry Jock
This Week Last Year
•Torrential storms ruined weekend fishing.
•Shad, short stripers and bluefish were caught in the Indian River Inlet.
•Flounder fishing in the ocean was slow, but keepers were caught at Rt. 90 Bridge.
•A lot of stripers were caught in the Fenwick Ditch.
•Mainly kingfish in the surf.
•Flounder fishing in the Lewes Canal turned on.
•Black drum bite in DE Bay slowed dramatically.
•Threshers were caught by “DB” Buoy.
•First longfins were caught in the Wilmington.
•Bigeyes were caught in south Wilmington.
•Yellowfin bite improved in the Baltimore & Wilmington.
We won’t even talk about the weekend because it was just nasty. Strong steady winds with some occasional rain. Not good.
At Fenwick Tackle, Matt reported mainly kingfish in the surf from North Ocean City up to above Fenwick. Fishbites in the sand flea flavor are working the best. Surfcasters are also seeing some smaller bluefish interested in their offering of small pieces of cut mullet.
If you are looking for some fun light tackle action then you may want to head to the Fenwick Ditch where anglers are still finding short stripers biting on rubber shads and bucktails tipped with Gulp Swimming Mullets.
Tommy at Lewes Harbour Marina reported a slower flounder bite in the Lewes Canal with a very high (10-1) throwback ratio. Tommy said that the water is warming up so the fish are moving out, but those caught are being hooked on top and bottom rigs and spec rigs tipped with Gulp artificial baits or minnows and squid. The ocean flounder bite has started. Anglers on the charter boat, “Katydid” had an incredible day last Thursday, ending up with 40 keepers. Capt. Brent was also happy with the size of the fish, with half of them measuring 18-inches or better and the largest coming in at 24-inches. Usually this time of the season the fish are smaller, so this could be a good sign.
Sea trout are being caught at the Walls with larger fish coming at night. Smaller weakies were found on Delaware Bay reef sites mixed in with some kingfish.
At the Cape Henlopen Pier, flounder are still in the mix, but like in the Canal, the throwback ration is high. A few stripers are also being caught and the bluefish bite is hit or miss.
In the surf, sharks are beginning to dominate with sand tigers, brown sharks and dusky’s leading the charge.
Capt. Mike at Rick’s Bait & Tackle also said that flounder action in the Lewes Canal has slowed considerably with a lot of throwbacks. Mike said that this is not uncommon for this time of year. Mike also echoed Tommy’s report of a good start to the ocean flounder bite. Mike said that some of his anglers found flounder mixed in with sea bass around Site 11 and had success with bucktails tipped with 5 or 6-inch Gulp artificial baits.
Mike said that in the Delaware Bay, weakfish are being caught at both the Inner and Outer Walls, but the black drum bite at the Coral Beds has slowed down and bluefish seem to have moved on.
At the Hook’em & Cook’em Tackle Shop, Capt. Bert said that short stripers are being caught off the north side of the Indian River Inlet by the Coast Guard Wall by anglers tossing swim shads and bucktails. They also saw weakfish caught in the Inlet last week, but the flounder and bluefish bites were sporadic. Some flounder are being caught in the back bays in very shallow water where the bite is gaining consistency. Shad were caught during the incoming tide in the Inlet.
Headboats out of Indian River found flounder off to a decent start 10 miles from the Inlet. The fish are a nice size, with a 5 pounder hooked last week.
Offshore boats got in on the bigeye bite on Friday in 500 fathoms between the Baltimore and Poor Man’s Canyons. Yellowfins were brought in from the same area. Mako sharks were released in the Poor Man’s Canyon, Massey’s Canyon and outside the Hot Dog.
As this report was being written on Monday, the State of Delaware announced that they are limiting the number of surf fishing permits to 17,000 and has reduced the number of locations where permits can be purchased. Right now, they have sold approximately 15,000 permits for the season and will continue selling them until the 17,000 cap is reached.
Upcoming Tournament
The Indian River Kids Catch-All Tournament is scheduled for June 22nd and 23rd with registration on June 21st. This is a great tournament and the Indian River Marina does a fantastic job for the kids. There are many categories for fish caught in the bay, inshore or offshore, so there are plenty of opportunities for the junior anglers. If you have kids who are interested in fishing, don’t miss this one! It’s a great time.
Until next week, have fun and tight lines.
