Hi Folks,

Another fishing season is under way and so far it seems like if

the weather cooperates we should be in store for an exciting season.

Fishing has been pretty good to this point.

The Delaware regs on flounder remained the same size and creel

as last year with a closure October 13 to December 31. I know there

are lots of people who did not want to see a closure but the State

received less than 100 responses to the options that were available.

That is not a very good showing good showing by the fishing community.

Considering the fact that somewhere in the area of 88,000 licenses were

sold, that is no response at all. We should not continue to gripe about

the regs and not give our input when given the chance. So please do

your best in the future to voice your opinion so we get an overall idea

of what most people want. I am not saying it has to be what I think, it

should be the voice of the majority. Check the Delaware Fish and Wildlife

website and ask at your local bait and tackle for phone #’s to call and

have your say. Thank you very much. Another favor I would like to ask

of everyone is to say a prayer for Joel Thompson and his family. Joel

disappeared from the Indian River Inlet jetty and has not been found.

Joel was an jetty and kayak fisherman and was always in search of a

monster striper. I knew Joel and his family and always looked forward

talking fishing with him. We wish his wife and son strength in these

tough times they are enduring. Lets get to some fishing reports.

At Henelopen Bait and Tackle on Savannah Rd in Lewes, Denise

reports stripers being taken at Herring Point on bunker. Flounder and

blues are at the State Park pier. She also said some stripers are

coming from Broadkill Beach.

At Rattle and Reel Sports Center on LongNeck Rd., Joe tells us

the flounder fishing in the back bays has been quite productive. Lots of

people are chasing the flatties.

Bill’s Sort Shop on Rt #1 in Lewes gave us the following report.
Spring fishing has started to heat up as water temperatures climb into

the 50’s. Nick Pasillo, Bob Primus, Fred Fien and Joe caught 4-keeper tog to 5 lb on the Outerwall on green crabs. Bud Trainor was also fishing the Outerwall with green crabs and brought a fat 8.55lb tau tog to the scales. Ryan Falgowski nailed a huge 11.15lb tautog while fishing his favorite secret Delaware Bay spot. Two other local anglers hit the "Wall" and boated their limit of blackfish to 5 lbs on crabs. Richard Lynch was using bloodworms at Roosevelt Inlet and caught a keeper 19 1/2" flounder. Scott Reed and Becky Towers fished the VFW Slough and boated 3 flounder up to 22 inches and 3.78 lbs using smelt. Ryan Halverson caught a citation striper at 20.6 lbs, measuring 38" at 3R's Road on fresh bunker. Lou also beached several blues to 22". Dustin Schell hammered 4 blues up to 20" on fresh bunker in the suds. Rich Johnson, alias Tarzan, was using a bucktail at IRI and brought a 15.15 lb striper out of the inlet. Kelley Franklin came to the store with her first striper caught on a bucktail at IRI. Kelley's fish was 8.85 lb and 30.5".
Scott Aiken Sr. of Lewes caught a 43", 24.85 lb citation striper on cut herring at Fenwick Island. Capt. Cary Evans of "Grizzly Sportfishing" harvested their limit of tog in the ocean.

From Burt at Hookem’ and Cookem’ Bait and Tackle at North Shore Marina we hear of great fishing. The back bays are providing

plenty of flounder action. The prime baits seem to be herring of GULP!

with minnows starting to be taken as well. The VFW Slough has been a

real hot spot. A few bluefish have also been scattered around. Indian River Inlet is giving up stripers and tog, along with some bluefish. A few flounder have also been taken in the inlet. From the surf, anglers are scoring on stripers, flounder and blues. And of coarse there are always plenty of skates and sharks. Burt tells us the inshore wrecks are holding

tog.

Here at Rick’s Bait and Tackle we have seen plenty of flounder action from the back bays. The VFW Slough has been a real dandy spot to bag a doormat flounder. Herring, smelt, minnows, and GULP! are the baits to have. Just before I starting writing this week’s report we had some real excitement. Chris Bledsoe was fishing with Capt. Chuck Cook on First Light Charters and targeting tog on a fly rod. They almost

had the world record tog on a fly. The record is 4 Lb 11oz and Chris’s fish weighed in at 4.11 pounds. Capt Chuck says they will get it next time!

Brian Wirts fished the VFW SLOUGH on his boat “Producer” to score a real doormat flounder that weighed in at 11 pounds 5 ounces and measured 31 ½ inches. They also had a few other nice flatties taken using GULP!. Denny Stetz just missed a citation with his flattie of 6 pounds 15 oz. Denny and fishing partner Jim Pyle have been doing a real number on the flounder. Allen Dubois of Delmar took an Indian River flounder of 7 Lb 8 oz to earn a citation. John Albabese was fishing the VFW Slough when he bagged his 7Lb 11oz citation flattie using smelt.

Indian River Inlet striper action continues to improve. The stripers are hitting a variety of baits. Bucktails, herring, bloodworms, GULP!, shad body artificials are all working quite well. Darla Hilton scored a citation with her 23-½ lb 38inch striper taken on a bass assassin.
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said stripers showed in the surf this week. Trevor Gouert used cut herring on Lewes Beach to catch a 16.5-pound rockfish. Curt Stephens, Drew Stuchlik and Charles Fouraker found the bass at Cape Henelopen Saturday May 1^st. Curt captured a 19.7 pounder, Drew had a pair of 38 inchers, and Charles landed a 22.1 pound citation linesider while soaking clam and bunker baits. Joel Robinson was casting a Storm lure from the jetty at Indian River Inlet when he hooked a 22.4-pound striped bass. Other reports of rockfish came from Indian River and Rehoboth Bay as well. Bubba Hastings told of some nice stripers he caught while casting Purple Demon MirrOLures near Burton’s Island. The first big black drum of the season came in to Lewes Harbour Marina Sunday morning. Lucas May boated an 85.5-pound boomer at the Coral Beds, while using clam aboard Jam-Man Saturday night. Black drum activity will continue to improve through May, and usually peaks around Memorial Day weekend. Joe said the shop will have fresh surf clams during the season, but suggests reserving bait in advance. Tautog action remained good. The rocks of the Inner and Outer Walls and Ice Breakers seemed to be more productive than the Bay reef sites, although those structures did yield decent blackfish. Tossing a jighead tipped with green crab in close to the Walls was a productive and fun way to tempt tog. Captain Chris Ragni caught a 9-pound tautog and Rick Shelton had a 7.26 pounder while togging aboard Jam-Man. David Sipple earned a citation for an 8.8 pounder. Sam Reed got an 8.5-pound blackfish on the Indian. Jeff Saylor took an 8.11 pound tog on the Lil’ Angler II. Charles Minehan managed a 7.4 pounder at the Outer Wall. Flounder fishing was fairly good in the Lewes Canal, when the water was clean. Jigs tipped with minnows, shiners or smelt worked well. Anglers on the Cape Henelopen Pier caught flounder too, with some of the better bites at night. A leadhead tipped with a Gulp! Swimming Mullet and a strip of fresh herring or bunker did the trick. Pier casters also had bluefish. The Annual Lewes Harbour Canal Flounder Tournament will take place May 21^st. Call 302-645-6227 for details. ‘Til next week, Have Fun and Be Safe !!!!