Article by Capt. BJ Pietryak
This past week in Delaware brought strong winds and storms. Despite these conditions, many anglers braved the conditions and headed out in search of fish. Back bays and the inlet are producing better catches of flounder as the water warms to its summertime temperatures. The nearshore coral grounds and wrecks are still holding good numbers of keeper bass and are showing signs of summer life, with a few flounder being caught. In the DE Bay, the first couple of sheepshead have been caught off the ice breakers and wall. The Fenwick Shoals are loaded with bluefish, which should mean that the Spanish mackerel and spadefish are not far behind.
Back Bays and Inlets
The Indian River Inlet continues to produce keeper flounder during the day, as well as blues and rockfish in the evening hours. Further back in the bay near Massey’s Ditch, the action has started to get better, with anglers catching a lot of short fish along with the occasional keeper. Small Gulp and squid strips are proving to be the most reliable baits recently. The Delaware Bay still has a few black drum on the shoals, but most of these big fish have left the area after spawning and are further north, out of our area. Michael L. Marcon fished the rocks of Indian River Inlet using live minnows and captured a nice flounder. Greg Allen also fished the inlet and caught his first sheepshead of the year while using sand fleas. Buddy Bragg fished his 16 Jon boat at the inlet and brought two fluke to Hook’Em and Cook’Em Tackle to be weighed in. The fish were 3.5 and 4 pounds. Thomas Cline fished with friends Scott and Cheryl last week and found a doormat flounder to invite home for dinner. Daniel Hamm fished off the south side rocks of the inlet, only managing to catch a 15-inch flounder. The fish was safely released. Daniel Hamm fished the south side of the inlet, catching a few small rockfish on live sand fleas. Stephen Seewald spent his birthday on the jetty of IR and was rewarded with a big blue as a birthday present.
“MandaLu Sportfishing” fished the DE Bay and started out catching drum, but only managed a few rays. The group ended up landing several croakers and a few undersized flounder. Chase Hyser was fishing in Rehoboth Bay when he caught a big 34-inch, 10.6-pound bluefish. Nice work, Chase. Emi and Oliver outfished their dad in the Lewes Canal and ended up landing a 22-inch fluke, which was brought to Lewes Harbour Marina to be weighed and photographed. Randy also fished the canal, landing a big flatty on Gulp. “Salty Boys” YouTube channel fished the Lewes Canal targeting flounder with Gulp and squid. The duo of Cody Reeves and Nate Seeley hooked fish after fish when filming their show about lower Delaware, including several keeper flounder. Check out their channel for a variety of local fishing and instruction. Wiker Restoration group fished the canal, reeling in a limit of flounder, even with the size change. The biggest fish was 5.4 pounds. John Spence caught 20 flounder and a striper in the canal, catching a total of 34 flounder with 9 keepers in two days. It's really sounding like the canal is still on fire.
Nearshore Coral and Wrecks
The deeper wrecks, such as the NJ/DE reef, are still producing limits of sea bass along with a few slammer blues. The nearshore coral grounds are continuing to show signs of life as the flounder begin to show up. Many of these fish are undersized; however, the steady action makes the day enjoyable. Small sea bass are also on the coral, with a few keepers thrown in as well. Bobby Knight fished the Old Grounds and checked into Rick’s Bait and Tackle with a pair of flounder up to 24.5 inches. Brandon Hoey was fishing the Old Grounds when he hooked a big 6-lb, 25-inch flounder on a CJ Tackle flounder rig. Nice fish for this early in the year! Captain Brin, out of Fisherman's Wharf, had a great drift on his first trip of last week and caught a decent amount of keeper fluke, with most being around 20 inches. Captain Ikelli had some quality fish last week, despite the wet weather, bringing home some big sea bass for his clients. Steve Kuhlam stated that fishing is improving. He fished Site 11 and hooked 25 short sea bass with a ratio of 13 to 1. He also caught 4 short flounder and a few sea robins. Ocean Arsenal Tackle reports their squid thing is getting the job done on both sea bass as well as flounder on the nearshore coral grounds. After limits of fish in the past, “Action Jackson Sportfishing” stated they could not crack the code on fish this past week. They did manage a few nice keepers for their clients with some fluke making the 17.5 minimum. “Jay Sea 2” ended their day with 15 flounder and 15 sea bass. Despite sorting through several undersized fish, the group had a plethora of fish to bring home for dinner.
Surf Fishing
Surf fishing is steady but slower than the past few weeks. Many anglers are reporting a lot of sharks and rays in the surf, which are more aggressive than the targeted species. Bluefish are the main catch right now, and mullet rigs are the best bait. Adam T. Solum fished 3 Rs for the first time and caught an undersized flounder and ray, both of which were safely released. Patrick Skelly fished the DE beaches last week, landing 3 nice-sized bluefish on Fishbites. John Bolduc fished 40 minutes after low tide at Navy Crossing using a Hi-Lo rig, landing a nice rockfish, which did not make the slot. Brent Douglas talked his son into his first surf fishing day and despite catching only dogfish and skates, he says his son is now hooked and can't wait to go again. Mike Asborne went 4 bites on 10 casts, catching undersized stripers from the beach. He stated that, as fast and furious as the bites were, when the blitz ended, he did not get another bite the rest of the day.
Clams and Crabs
Clamming continues to remain strong with rakers pulling up tons of steamer clams along with their larger chowder clams around. The Rehoboth Bay, as well as the sand bars near the inlet, are the best spots for the smaller clams. The larger chowder clams are prevalent throughout the bay. Crabbing is getting better with larger males being caught in traps and pots. Many pots still contain pregnant females, which must be released; however, the catch ratio is around 6-8 keepers per pot.
Until next week,
Tight Lines and Fins Up
