Article by Larry Jock
It’s that time of year when striper fishermen lose a lot of sleep, tackle shops sell a lot of rubber swim shad lures and anglers wrestle tautog from ocean reefs and wrecks looking to enter the coveted “20 lb. Club”.
STRIPED BASS
Last year at the beginning of May, anglers experienced what everyone agreed on was an “epic” bite in the Indian River Inlet. Once again, easterly winds have helped to move schools of bunker and shad into the Indian River Inlet, bringing with it good numbers of stripers. The bite hasn’t been super consistent, but when it is hot it is really on fire. Even on the “slow” nights, some anglers are still bringing in a few big fish measuring in the upper 40-inch range.
According to Bert at Hook’em & Cook’em, the best bites have come at night and at sunrise for anglers casting Storm and Tsunami swim shads. Anglers trolling into the tide with Purple Crush Bomber A-Salt CD lures have also done well and those casting swim shads and bucktails off the wall are catching their share of fish.
The striper bite in the surf from Fenwick to Indian River has been better than it has been in years. According to Capt. Bruce McGuigan at Capt. Mac’s Bait & Tackle, anglers fishing with fresh bunker and clams during the incoming tide have been hooking into good numbers of quality fish. Fish that he has seen have had bellies loaded with cobb mullet.
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said the beach between Cape Henlopen and Gordon’s Pond yielded many striped bass to anglers soaking clams and bunker. The stretch near the Herring Point jetties was particularly popular. The best bites happened near the top and bottom of the tide. Often, fish were close in, and a long cast was not necessary. Numerous rockfish had gobs of sand fleas in their stomachs, indicating that they were feeding right in the wash.
BLACK DRUM
Delaware anglers are fortunate to have the number of big black drum available to them this time of year.
Joe Morris reports that the weekend full moon also brought on the black drum bite in the Delaware Bay. Captain Brian anchored the “Lil’ Angler II” in shallow water at the Coral Beds and had 4 boomers weighing up to 35 lbs. while baiting with clams. Captain Ted took the “Angler” to the drum grounds Saturday night and caught three drum up to 40 lbs. Other drum were reported by boaters during daylight hours as well as after dark. Kenneth Raffensberger was surprised when he hooked a 62.9 pounder while togging at the Inner Wall on Saturday aboard the “Grizzly”.
FLOUNDER
Unfortunately, flounder fishing has been sporadic, but that seems to be mainly from the weather and not an indication of the number of fish in our local waters. Windy weather and dirty water plagued flounder fishermen all week.
Joe Ribinsky of Whitetail Taxidermy & Outdoor Supplies reported that a few keeper flounder were caught in the back bays during the outgoing tide on Gulp! and minnow combinations.
Capt. Bruce McGuigan said that the flounder bite in the Indian River Inlet and bays seems to be better than what he is seeing in Ocean City. The water is definitely cleaner and almost free from the slur Ocean City anglers are battling.
Joe Morris, inventor of the Lewes Harbour Marina Stretch, said that the Lewes Canal and Broadkill River have given up flounder, but in general the bite has been slow because of dirty water. However, Lex Robertson managed a 5.12 pound flattie while working a minnow tipped Spro jig in the Canal. Flounder also came from the Cape Henlopen Pier, but most were shorts. Sonny McClure stopped in with one keeper he caught on the Pier Friday night. He released six others while casting jigs sweetened with shiners.
Don’t forget the annual Lewes Canal Flounder Tournament on Friday, May 18th.
TAUTOG
Just a reminder that the Delaware tautog season closes from May 12th to July 16th.
According to Joe at Lewes Harbour Marina, tautog action was good along the Walls and Ice Breakers.
Bert from Hook’em and Cook’em told me that the head boat, “Judy V.” released a lot of tautog during a trip to Site 10.
IN THE SURF
As mentioned earlier, the striper bite right now in the surf is as good as it has ever been. Other than that, skates, sharks and the occasional bluefish and flounder have kept surfcasters busy.
SHARKS
Last Thursday, Jimmy Bunting and Zak Smith were fishing around “B” Buoy when they hooked into a thresher shark, estimated at 350 lbs. Unfortunately, after a good fight, the fish pulled the hook right at the boat.
TUNA
The first bluefin tuna out of the Indian River Marina this year was caught on Saturday by Tony Burr. Tony and his crew took a trip to outside the Baltimore Canyon and caught 6 bluefins on the troll. Largest weighed 38 lbs.
Until next week, please support your local tackle shops. Tight lines!