Hi Folks,

Fishing the back bays continues to be quite productive. The

croakers are still plentiful and there seems to be a few better sized fish in the

mix. Flounder are also providing plenty of action with a very large number of them

being throwbacks. The baits of choice remain to be the Berkley GULP! products

and of course the old reliable squid and minnow combo. Frozen shiners and smelt

are also producing bites. Bruce Kidd of White House Beach used a live minnow to

boat a 7 pound 1 ounce citation flattie from Indian River Bay. Gary Gerber and

Cameron Gladfelter used squid and minnow to trick flounder of 5 pounds 13 ounces

and 4 pounds 15 ounces. Mike Smith soaked some Berkley GULP! shrimp in the

Indian River Inlet to fool a 3 pound 6 ounce flounder.

Ocean fishing is picking up at spots such as Reef Site #10 and the

DB Buoy and Old Grounds areas. Bob Kinsley, Glenn Clark, and Taylor Clark fished

the Old Grounds aboard the “Uncle Bob” and boated 3 flounder and 8 sea bass. Scott

Heiland fished the DB Buoy aboard “Bushwacker” using squid & minnow to bag a

4.75 pound flounder.

Offshore action has been spotty with dolphin providing a lot of the

Action. Capt Bill Burkhart on “Toss Em Back Charters” boated a white marlin and

a dolphin while trolling the 40 line. Last but not least I would like to thank John Ratliff,

owner of the boat “NO WORRIES” and Donnie Culver for inviting me along to fish one

day of the White Marlin Open. It was a pleasure to fish on a fine boat with a great group

of guys. Also a “thumbs up” to Capt. Chris Corbi for doing a great job of piloting the boat in not so great conditions. We managed to bring home three dolphin and the boat was on the board in the dolphin division until day three. Best of luck to the gang for the rest of the year and I sure hope to fish with them again.

From Rattle & Reel Sporting Center on Long Neck Rd. Ron informed

me that there are loads of croaker and spot being caught near Gull Island using Fishbites

artificial bloodworms. The croakers are also improving in size. Flounder action is also

picking up in the ocean from DB Buoy to DA Buoy and the Old Grounds. Ron says minnows and GULP! are the ticket.

At Henlopen Bait & Tackle on Savannah Rd in Lewes, Dan reports

good flounder action on the Delaware Reef Sites, Brown Shoal, and the Anchorage. Spot

and croaker can be found just about everywhere. Bloodworms are the bait of choice for

the spot and croakers. Action from the surf is pretty slow which is typical for this time of

year.

At Bill’s Sport Shop on RT# 1 in Lewes we received information of some successful anglers. Drew Osberg fished Site 10 using squid and minnows and caught 3 flounder ranging from 25.5 inches to 20 inches to 19.5 inches. He was fishing on the vessel "O' Buoy" with Capt. Mike Osberg and Hunter Patton who boated a 20 1/2"
flattie. David Eisenhower and crew boated over 20 flounder with 4 keepers using
white bucktails tipped with Gulp. Mark Stiegler called from the beach and reported that blues to 14" and kings to 13" were keeping him busy in the suds using fresh mullet and cut bluefish. Felitia Perrin, age 9, caught 6 croaker and spot while fishing the Pier with bloodworms guided by her uncle Steve Perrin. Matt Langdon and his friends Mark and Mark fished the Baltimore Canyon aboard the "Ofishal".  They caught 5 dolphin ranging from 10 to 19 lbs. while trolling between 500 and 1000 fathoms. Michael Davidson on "Spoiled Three" with Captain Angelo Delapo caught a 62", 137 lb. and a 46", 80lb. BFT.  The guys were also got spooled on an 80TW at the Tea Cup.
While talking to Capt. Burt at Hook'em & Cook'em Bait and Tackle

at North Shore Marina I was told the Indian River Inlet has been giving up some flounder, tog, sheeshead, blues, and stripers. Minnows, squid, sand fleas, and of course

the Berkley GULP! have all been winning baits. From just outside the inlet to the Buoy Lines you will find a mix of croakers, trout, flounder,and sea bass. The Headboats have been putting their fares on flounder and sea bass. In the suds along the beaches you will

find some croaker and kingfish with a few spot and blues in the mix. Dolphin have been taken by folks trolling anywhere from the Buoy Line and east. A blue marlin weighing in

at 443 pounds was brought in aboard the “Miss Donna”. Lori Irelan was fishing aboard the “Out of Line” and boated a 42-pound wahoo. Burt also reported a few yellowfin tuna

being weighed in. Justin Boyd was fishing on “Jimmy’s Dream” and trolled up a 23.9-pound dolphin. Jack Forrest took home a 28.7-pound dolphin while trolling aboard “Reel Passion”. Dan Iacangell was fishing the Old Grounds aboard “Sea Hair” and boated a 7.5

pound flattie. Burt says there is lots of action everywhere.

Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said if you can’t catch a croaker in Delaware Bay now, you better take up golf! Hardheads of varying sizes are spread over most of the Bay, and the marina cleaning station was busy with wheelbarrow loads of tasty panfish during the weekend. Small croakers were just about everywhere, but bigger specimens hung out around the concrete at reef site 5 in Broadkill Slough. Clams, bloodworms, shrimp, squid, Fishbites and Gulp! Bloodworms all attracted bites. Flounder action continued as hot as the weather, with structure yielding some quite impressive flatfish. An 11.14-pound doormat caught by Jake Knox topped the list of big fluke. Jake’s fish ate a chartreuse Gulp! Swimming Mullet at reef site 10. Billy Wright boated a 9.35 pounder, also at site 10. Scott Peterson was fishing the Brown Shoal reefs aboard Top Fin when he connected with an 8.88 pounder. Chet Harer, Captain of the Lil’ Angler II, showed his patrons how it’s done by decking an 8.44 pound flounder at site 10. Joe Walker added another citation fluke to his list for this year, an 8.14 pounder from an ocean reef. Cary Rutherford captured a 7.43-pound flattie from site 6 in the Bay. Captain Brent Wiest squeezed in a little fishing time between helping others catch fluke, and managed to put a 7.28 pounder in the box for himself. In addition to heavy cover of the Brown Shoal and Star reefs, open bottom gave up flounder as well. In the Bay, the area between reef sites 6 and 7, in the hook of Brown Shoal, was productive. Flatties were taken near A Buoy too. The water was cleaner, and boat traffic was more spread out in the ocean. Bottom contours between DB and DA buoys were productive. Flounder showed a preference for fresh meat, and strips of bluefish and spot were top producers. However, smelt, shiners, squid, live spot and minnows caught fish too. Bucktail jigs tipped with Gulp! also did a number on flatfish. Inshore wrecks held triggerfish. Clam, shrimp and sand fleas were good offerings. Sometimes, triggerfish will follow others that have been hooked right to the boat. Alert anglers who drop baits to them can put extra fish in the box. Joe Walker, Tony Vansant and Joe Walker, Jr got in on a good triggerfish bite at the Fenwick Shoal wreck. They kept 50 triggers, 9 flounder to 6.5 pounds, and a 5-pound spadefish. Inshore trollers picked at small bluefish, king mackerel and an occasional dolphin between A Buoy and Delaware Light. Drones and Clark Spoons behind an in-line weight or a planer were effective. Diving plugs such as Rapalas and Stretch 25s worked too. Some anglers reported cobia hanging out around the weather buoy. It’s good to have a rod ready with a live spot or eel, just in case you encounter a cobia on some floating structure. Tuna catches remained spotty. The most consistent action was with big bluefins at the Lobster Claw of the Thirty Fathom Line. Tuna were taken by chunking with butterfish and sardines, and on Butterfly and hammered diamond jigs. Barney Gallagher brought back a 117.6-pound bluefin. Fred Wagner checked in a 145 pounder from the Claw. Decent numbers of dolphin were available between 20 and 40 fathoms. The guys on Skipjack chunked up 16 gaffers from 12 to 15 pounds Thursday night. Garry Tilton got an 18.3 pounder while trolling the 19 Fathom Lump.

‘Til next week, Have fun and be safe !!!!!