Article by Larry Jock
Well, it’s definitely the doldrums of summer, but there is some glimmer of hope for some better weeks to come. Everyone is consumed with this weeks White Marlin Open for the offshore folks and the buzz about the Paradise Grill Flounder Tournament and it’s $100,000 grand prize has bay and inshore anglers licking their chops.
At the Hook’em & Cook’em Tackle Shop in the Indian River Marina, Capt. Bert Adams reported that some nice size flounder were caught in the Indian River Inlet on Wednesday and Thursday. Jimmy Dove caught a couple of 3+ lb. flatties on Wednesday and came back and caught a couple weighing up to over 4 lbs. on the following day. Jimmy had luck with bigger Gulp! artificial baits, with 6-inch pink shine grubs working on one day but not the next. He needed to switch to 5-inch Gulp! Swimming Mullets to get his bites.
Bert said that the end of the incoming tide has been producing most of the action in the Inlet with anglers finding a few small stripers, small bluefish and even some shad interested in offerings.
Just outside the Inlet, anglers are starting to find small croakers interested in their small hooks tipped with Fishbite bloodworms. Most of the fish are in the 6 to 8-inch range, but a couple have been closer to 10-inches. Anglers fishing in the surf are catching a few kingfish during the day and the typical menu of sharks and skates at night.
Out on the inshore lumps, such as Fenwick Shoal, Bert said that trolling little spoons could get you some snapper bluefish and even some Spanish mackerel.
Further offshore, in the 8 to 12 mile range, headboats had a great day on Sunday keeping their anglers busy catching a load of flounder, but they had to weed through a lot of throwbacks to find their keeper. Capt. Chris Adams on the “Judy V” reported non-stop flounder action on Sunday, which was a reprieve from Saturday’s rough conditions. The Old Grounds continues to produce some of the top flounder catches of the season. Bert reported some of his customers having their best luck at Site 10.
Sea bass fishing continues to be inconsistent. Bert said that the fish are moving with scattered bait looking to find patches of water with suitable temperature.
Nothing much besides some good crabbing is happening in the back bays of Indian River, according to Bert. He hasn’t heard of any croakers moving in, but it should be any time now.
Offshore boats out of Indian River continue to pound the areas around the Hot Dog and Massey’s Canyon, looking for tuna and dolphin. Last week was very slow with boats only returning with a few in the box each trip. The bigeye bite so far this season has been a big disappointment. Those who predicted the downside of a cyclical bite may be proven to be right.
Those looking for marlin found both whites and blue marlin down in 50-60 fathoms in the Washington and a few were hooked in the Baltimore Canyon as well.
At Fenwick Tackle, Matt Shoup said that most of his customers are heading down to Ocean City to drift the main East Channel, the Thorofare and the bay behind Assateague in search of flounder, but most are coming back empty handed. The throwback-to-keeper ratio continues to run exceptionally high with some boats reporting 40 throwbacks to every keeper.
The croaker bite around Rt. 90 Bridge slowed down a little last week but a few were caught on Sabiki rigs tipped with Fishbite bloodworms or small chunks of cut bait. The red drum bite around the bridge also slowed last week, but like croaker, if you were there on the right day you could pick up one or two on cut bait or shads. Closer to Fenwick Island, anglers are finding a few flounder and some short stripers in The Ditch.
Up in Long Neck, DE at Rick’s Bait & Tackle, Mike Behney said that the flounder bite improved for his customers last week with the Old Grounds near “A” Buoy and Site 11 being the top spots to catch flatties. On Sunday, anglers fishing on the charter boat, “Katydid” returned to Lewes Harbour Marina with 40 keepers up to 4.91 lbs.
He also heard that on Sunday, anglers fishing the rips at the mouth of the Delaware Bay were finding a number of flounder going after the Gulp! and minnow combinations they were drifting. Site 8 produced some nice catches over the weekend with fish up to 6 lbs. Mike said that the flounder bite in the Lewes Canal continues to be subpar this season with anglers complaining about the large number of throwbacks.
There continues to be a good triggerfish bite at both Walls in the Delaware Bay and anglers are even picking up a few sheepshead and tog along the way. However, the biggest sheepshead of the week was caught by Hillard Head of Millsboro who picked up a 9 lb. 3 oz. citation sheepshead while fishing from shore along the rocks in Pots Net.
Anglers fishing at the pier at Massey’s Landing are finding small croaker, spot, flounder and even triggerfish that are being hooked on sand fleas.
Those breaking the inlet are catching Spanish mackerel on inshore lumps and around the Delaware Lightship. As always, this species can’t resist a trolled spoon. The Del-Jersey-Land reef site, an early season hot spot for sea bass, has cooled down considerably but a few knotheads are still there for those fishing with clams and squid.
Upcoming Tournament
The next big tournament in Delaware is the Paradise Grill Flounder Pounder Open on August 18th, 19th and 20th. Anglers can fish 2 of 3 days with lines in the water at 7:00 AM and out by 5:00 PM. Anglers can fish in both Delaware and federal waters and leave from Ocean City to Cape May.
This year, the tournament is adding a 4th and 5th place to the standing with 4th place worth an estimated $10,000 or a new jet ski from Short’s Marine. Fifth place will earn the angler $5,000 or a new jet ski. The winner of the Flounder Pounder Open will win $100,000 or opt to receive a new boat from Short’s Marine.
Registration started on August 1st and is $100 per angler if you register before August 7th. Registering from August 8th to 13th will cost $125.
The tournament will donate $50 per boat to the Beebe Tunnel Cancer Center.
Until next week, tight lines!
