Article by Capt. BJ Pietryak
Last week in Delaware we saw more heat and west wind. I'm not sure what is worse, the heat or the flies. Fishing was not stellar but definitely worth the trip. Flounder remains the big catch of the week with deeper wrecks producing some very nice size fish. Sea bass are surprisingly still around and I finally have reports of mahi mahi on the near shore reefs.
Flounder, Sea Bass & Tog
Old Grounds
The flounder bite at the Old Grounds has really begun to turn on. The ratio of smalls to keepers is around 5 small to one keeper. The keeper sizes are getting bigger with lots of 5-7 lb. flatties showing up. If you put in the time, limits can be found on most days. Joseph Austin was out last week and his crew managed 6 keepers with all the fish being in the 20” range. Nicolas Asencio managed a couple real nice fish using Fluke Candy rigs. Many anglers including myself are using the Fluke Candy style floating rigs in search of flounder. The rig floats a little off the bottom, keeping it from getting snagged up as well as providing lots of action for the fish to zone in on.
Carley Starkey pulled in a real nice 24 incher on a red pick jig head. Nice fish Carly! Nick Garcia and his buddy Kaelin were out targeting big fish and were rewarded with 4 keepers up to 20”. Ricky Mills also got in on the action bringing home flatties for dinner along with a nice size triggerfish.
Although triggers are very hard to clean due to their tough leathery skin, they are a delicious white meat that makes great table fare.
Ryan Oberholtzer was out at the grounds last week and while targeting flounder found the pots loaded with small mahi. The reports on mahi are that they are very picky and will not just chase down a bait thrown in front of them. Fresh squid and small jerk baits are having the best results at hooking these prized fish. As the next few weeks progress, I suspect the fish will be more aggressive and bite more regularly. Aaron Brommer finally got his citation flounder while fishing ocean structure on the “Surface Tension”. The fish measured 27 ¾” and weighed 7.34 lbs. at Lewes Harbour Marina. Nice catch! Also coming into Lewes Harbour Marina was Croix Rust with a beauty measuring 21¾”. Again, take a kid fishing and he will show you how it's done!
Bay & Lewes Canal
Ryan Sullivan caught a nice 3.6 lb. flattie while his fishing partner nailed a sweet 4.88 pounder from the Lewes Canal using minnows on a top and bottom rig. Ronald Rawley got a nice 24” fish in the Indian River Bay. Captain Carey and mate Josh managed to put their clients on the fish and returned with a boat load of flounder. At the Indian River Inlet, Lindy Bumbaco managed a big ribbonfish off the jetty at night. I haven't seen many around on my trips of late but nice to know they are still here. John Candeloro was fishing the Indian River Bay and managed a nice keeper for dinner. The main entrance as well as the slew in front of the VFW are your hotspots. Last week in the bay Dave Pierce hooked a nice 22” 5.3 lb. flounder.
Sea bass has slowed up but some good catches are still being made. “3 Amigos Charters” had the Larry Hogan group out for the day and put together a nice box of keeper bass. The fish were cleaned at their home port of Indian River Marina at Hook’em and Cook’em Tackle. They do a fantastic filleting your fish catch!
Sheepshead
Fred Robinson was all smiles as he brought in a nice 9.3 lb. sheep while using sand fleas. The big fish have been around the Outer Wall and Ice Breakers the past few weeks. Jack Dixon and his dad fished with Captain Dave on “True Life Charters”. Jack caught a citation convict weighing 10.37 lbs. using sand fleas. I can’t get over how many citation sheepshead are being caught this year. Dallas Johnson was not to be out done with his citation 10.6 pounder, also caught on sand fleas.
I surf fished the beach at 3 R’s last week and found the surf full of big sand fleas ready to be raked up. Various tackle and hardware stores around have sand flea rakes, and at low tide you can easily fill a bucket with big fleas. Digging just inside the water will produce the best catches. This is also a great way to keep children occupied and having fun. The kids have a blast and you get to go catch a big sheepshead after a nice day on the beach.
Surf Fishing
The surf has been a mix of spot and kingfish in the surf with a few pompano thrown in. Sand fleas and Fishbites are the main bait for surf fishing right now.
Lots of rays and sharks are also just off the beach and will take cut bait, especially right at dark.
George Frigm said what a difference a day makes. His first trip last week was slow, but the next time was loaded with over 30 kingfish up to 13” all caught on the incoming tide at Fenwick State Park between 2-6 pm.
Spot are also in the surf and will readily take Fishbites on a pompano rig. A few short stripers are being caught mostly at night.
Clams & Crabs
Crabs are averaging 7-10 keepers per pot, however I'm getting a number of reports of pots being stolen or emptied in the bay.
Clamming is excellent! On a recent outing, myself and Carl Littleton raked our limits of 100 clams in about 1.5 hours. Many of the clams are just below the sand and easily found. The areas near the VFW as well as the sand bars near the inlet are great spots to target.
Until next week...
Tight lines and fins up §
