Fishing continued to be fairly steady with Back Bay catches of
flounder and bluefish. The flatties are moving around and taking a
variety of baits. More catches are being reported on squid and minnow
which is the “go to” flounder bait. Bluefish are falling for just about any
cut bait or any small lure you might toss out there. Massey’s Ditch has
been holding flounder, striper, and bluefish. In the ocean, sea bass
action has been fair to good. Capt. Brent Wiest on “Five 4 Fighting”
scored a 4Lb. 8oz sea bass while fishing near B Buoy. Reef Site #11
has also been holding some good numbers of bass. Squid, minnows,
clams, or sand fleas are a great way to trick these tasty critters. A few
flatties have also been found in the mix. Flounder action should pick up
in the ocean as water temps rise. Indian River and Rehoboth Bay action
was consistent and Tom Wise took the opportunity to fool a 7 Lb flattie
that earned him a state citation. Marta Morrow of Mechanicsburg, Pa.
fished Rehoboth Bay and fooled a 4pound 1oz flounder using a minnow.
Niki Treat of York, Pa. also fished Rehoboth Bay and scored a 3Lb. 12oz
flounder using a squid / minnow combo.Donald Ruth of Wellsville, Pa.
used the same bait and took a 2Lb. 11oz. flattie.
Stay tuned for information on the upcoming tournaments we will be
holding in conjunction with Sea Side Gas & Grill. The “Inshore
Tournament” will be held July 17th to July 24th. At the awards
presentation we will be having the “Pork Roll Project” performing.
This a great blues band that will also be playing at the Pavilion on the
Boardwalk in Rehoboth.
From Bill’s Sport Shop on RT# 1 in Lewes we received the current
standings in their flounder tournament. In first place is William Rawlings
@ 9.45 ponds, second is Don Ruth @ 9.12 28 pounds, third is John Goethe @ 8.05 pounds, fourth is Don Ruth @ 6.66 pounds, fifth is John Rupp @ 6.45 pounds, sixth is Kwan Chon @ 6.20 pounds, seventh is John Goethe @ 5.56 pounds. Eighth place is George Trout @ 5.29 pounds and ninth place is Robert Scharmer @ 3.35 pounds and tenth place is Trevor McCarthy @ 3.3 pounds. In other fishing news from Bill’s, linesiders in the Indian River Inlet, non-stop action on seabass on ocean wrecks, drum and flounder fishing in the Bay dominated this week's news! Shawn Carpenter nailed a 17Lb, 39" striper on rubber fish at IRI. Drew Martin hoisted a 19.6Lb, 39" striper over the rocks at the IRI using a rubber fish. Kerry Lodish caught a 26.5Lb, 42" striper at IRI on rubber fish. On another trip, he landed his second citation 32.85Lb, 47" striper also caught on a plastic fish. Maria Hemming used a bloodworm to tempt a 2.48Lb flounder on the Rehoboth Beach surf. Shawn Baynard caught seabass to 5Lbs with Capt. Ben on the "Wreck Stalker" and a 3Lb lingcod using clams on a wreck south of IRI. David Markey of Lewes reported 16 seabass to 3Lbs, two 4' sharks, and a 21.5" flounder at site 11 on minnows aboard the "Reel Addiction". Bill Love caught a 58.10Lb citation black drum in the DE Bay on clams. George & Judy Hinkel beached 2 stripers to 19.60Lb at Savages Ditch using fresh bunker for bait. Aaron Brommer wrestled a 13.75Lb, 35" striper from IRI on a Storm Lure. Bryan Schiller caught a 19.75Lb, 38" striper at Conquest Rd. on clams. Jon (age 11), and Geoff Harper pulled 2 flounder up to 3Lbs at Massey’s Ditch on a jig and chartreuse Gulp. Tim Wallace caught a 42", 27.5Lb striper at IRI on bucktail. Oakey Thompson reports good fishing for blues in IRI last weekend, catching and releasing 51 blues from 1/2Lb to 3Lbs using white bucktail and small Hopkins. Captain Chris Thurmon of "Skipjack Charter boat" out of Lewes Harbor Marina reported that he caught 300 sea bass with 130 keepers using clams and squid. He said this was the best bass trip in three years. Heard from Capt. Steve Peterson, "Pandemonium Charters", out of Indian River Inlet, "Ran our first charter with the Carpet Guys from New Castle fishing for sea bass. The bite was non stop with the guys catching over 300 bass." They also added a few nice cod. Captain Chris of "Jam Man Charters", Lewes Harbor Marina, reported they went 8 for 8 on drum scoring an 84.6 and 65 pounder using surf clams for bait while fishing at the Coral Beds.The seabass opener was good on the "Grizzly". Black drum and flounder fishing continues in the Bay, harvesting a good number of drum to 76Lbs. They also had some nice cod.
At Henlopen Bait & Tackle on Savannah Rd in Lewes, Denise
reports stripers being taken at Herring Point on fresh Bunker.
From Rattle & Reel Sports Center on Long Neck Rd. Ron tells
us the Indian River Inlet is holding blues and shad. The VFW Slough
is still producing flounder using squid and GULP!.
Burt at Hookem’ & Cookem’ Bait & Tackle at North Shore Marina
Informs us that the Indian River Inlet has given up stripers to 40 inches
and blues in the 2-4 pound range. Flounder in the inlet and back bays are being tricked by anglers soaking minnows and GULP!. Sea bass fishing has been good but not great. Site #11 has been producing some
fish and the DB Buoy area has also been providing some fish. Between the Lightship and the Fingers some big blues have been taken by anglers targeting sharks. Burt said a few anglers assured him they would
be in Sunday to weigh-in some shark and some bluefin tuna. Let’s see if
they hold up their end of the deal. Stripers, blues, and skates are tugging
the lines of guys fishing the surf.
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said drum fishing was good, but the bite was better in the evening and nighttime hours during the period around the full moon. Catching had been consistent on the Coral Beds off Fowler Beach, however, drummers found good numbers of fish after midweek at the Pin Top, and in Tussey’s Slough, east of Brandywine. Thursday evening, Captain Carey on the Grizzly hosted Jim Weidman for a one-man drum party at Tussey’s. Jim was pretty tired out after winding in 12 big boomers by himself. A limit of 60 pounders was harvested, and the rest released unharmed. Carey suggested handling fish that are to be returned to the water by using a gaff in the upper lip. The fish can be held boat side in the current until revived, then set free with minimal damage. The group aboard Grizzly had 10 drum during another good bite at Tussey’s Saturday night. Several nice drum were checked in over the weekend. A couple of the larger included a 76.3 pounder landed by Phil Spare aboard the Joint Venture, and a 65.5 pounder for Richard Frederick. Shelly Giuffie got a 67.8-pound drum. Joe reminded those interested in surf clams to reserve bait early in the week, because they go fast. Sea bass were active at Reef Site 11, and on the Old Grounds. Bass were taken by both anchored and drifting boats, with guys using clams and squid for bait. Jolly Paily had a 3.73-pound bass, and Travis Traut took a 3.93-pound flounder at Site 11 aboard the Martha Marie.Kenny Kerchner caught a 3-pound knot head. Plenty of flounder continued to come from the Lewes Canal, although, the keeper ratio remained low. Minnows, shiners and Gulp! were popular offerings. An occasional doormat did show among small flatties, like the 6.18 pounder Jeff Timmons took from Roosevelt Inlet. Bill, Karen and Gary Revis had 4 quality flatfish from the Broadkill River. Flounder also came from shallow water surrounding the fishing pier inside Cape Henlopen. Some of the Bay’s artificial reefs began to yield fluke as well. The crew aboard Lil’ Angler II had four keepers Saturday while working reefs 6 and 7, and several throwbacks that were just shy of legal size. Stripers roamed the rocks of the Outer Wall and Ice Breakers. Boaters casting Bomber, Stretch 12 and Bunka Boy plugs at sunset got into some nice linesiders. Storm Shads, bucktails and Gulp! Jerk Shads were also effective. Striped bass were still available from the surf too. Judah Lynam checked in a 20-pound class bass, taken near the Herring Point jetties with bunker.
