It has been a pretty good week on the fishing front. Back Bay
flounder action remains fair to good. Day in and day out folks are bringing
flounder in to throw on the scale. Minnow / squid combo, shiners, smelt,
and of course GULP! are all working to fool the flatties. Bluefish are still
being caught in the back bays and should not be much longer until we see
the croaker make their appearance.Massey’s Ditch is still producing flatties
and we weighed in a bluefish from Massey’s that was just under 9 pounds.
Indian River Inlet is holding stripers, bluefish, and flounder. Fish are
being taken by both jetty fishermen and those angling from boats. Live eels,
bucktails, and flies seem to be doing the trick.
Inshore activity has picked up this past week with more reports of
increased flounder action and the seabass are starting to turn on. Bob Cleveland
on “Deputy Dawg” had a great Saturday with four keeper flounder and seabass measuring 15 to 18 inches. Bobby Bryant of Nottingham, Pa. fished
the Old Grounds aboard “Nervous Wreck” to bag a 7Lb 3oz flattie. Chad Steiner
of York, Pa. fished the Old Grounds aboard “Sidewinder III” to boat a citation
3-pound seabass.
In the Rick’s Bait & Tackle / Sea Side Gas & Grill Flounder Tournament
we had some real good competition. In the end, Joe Lombardo took the top prize
of $150.00 with his 7 pound 15-ounce flattie. Christopher Keller took the #2 spot
and $75.00 with a 5 pound 3 ounce flattie and Bill Wiest took 3rd with 4 pound 14
ounce flattie. Way to go guys! It was a very poor turnout for the tournament with just 20 some entries. But as you can see it was not a bad payout for a $15.00
fee. Hopefully next year more folks will get involved and it will be bigger and better. Don’t miss out on the upcoming Rick’s / Bait & Tackle / Sea Side Gas & Grill Inshore Tournament! It is $25.00 per person and the categories are flounder,
sea bass, croaker and bluefish. Lots of fun and to be had and awards will be presented Sat July 24th at Sea Side Gas & Grill along with entertainment by
the nationally known blues band,”Pork Roll Project”. Don’t miss out! On a sadder
note, our prayers go out to the family of Ed Watcheski. Ed fell from his boat at his
dock and was found the next day. Ed was an avid fisherman and just a rally nice
guy who was always a please to speak with. We will miss Ed.
From Ron at Rattle & Reel Sports Center on Long Neck Road we
are told the flounder action in Indian River Inlet as well as Massey’s Ditch
has been pretty good. Minnows and shiners seem to be the baits of choice.
Buoy #15 off of White House Beach has been real productive. Ron also reported
Good striper action in the Inlet on bucktails and large flies in dark colors.
Bill’s Sport Shop on RT#1 in Lewes reports to us that Capt. Bill Baker, Bill Jr, Joey Neely and Nick went east of the Hot Dog and hooked and released 7 mako. John Morole and a friend fished the Poorman's Canyon and caught 17 mahi- mahi trolling with lures. We got an email from Ed Lewandowski: "Hey Capt. Bill- Just wanted to share the following.. My father (also named Ed Lewandowski) and I fished aboard the "Reel Dreams" with Capt. Ron Savidge and his son Steve yesterday. We made a run to Poor Man's Canyon hoping to find a good yellowfin bite. We didn't get any tuna action, but instead, caught a few peanut dolphin and a 75#-80# white marlin! Ed (senior) brought the white marlin to the boat on a naked ballyhoo. We had another white marlin (~50#) in the spread for a few minutes, but we couldn't get the hook-up after the fish made several short-strikes." Edward A. Lewandowski, Executive Director, Delaware Center for the Inland Bays. Tom Bailor from Bill's Sport Shop caught his limit of blue claws up to 6 1/2" using a trotline topped with chicken necks. He was crabbing in the back of IR Bay near Gull Point. Capt. Steve on the "Four Play" and crew had 5 yellowfin up to 48 lbs on the 920 line in 70 fathoms of the south Poormans Canyon. He was using a mix of spreader bars, ballys and green machine. Capt Billy on the "Stacey" caught 12 yellowfin, using the same mix-spreader bars, ballys and daisy chains. Customers are reporting a good yellowfin bite with tuna, 30-50lb, fishing the Poormans and the Washington using ballyhoo. Our prayers go out for Ed Watcheski, who disappeared Wednesday night. He was later found. The accident occurred while he was cleaning his boat at his dock in Pot Nets.
From Capt Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina; some nice catches of flounder were checked in during the week. Bobby Bryant and the crew aboard “Nervous Wreck” worked Reef Site 10 Monday for ten quality keeper flatties. Most of the action occurred while drifting strip baits at the beginning of flood tide. John Schnaitman scored an 8-pound doormat, Tom Richardson reeled in a 7.68 pounder, and Bobby boated a 6.14-pound flatfish. Bobby Bryant, Sr. and Michelle Schnaitman put good-sized fluke in the box as well. On Tuesday, Joe Walker, Tom Coyle, Tom Richardson and Bobby Bryant, Sr. teamed up for another fine catch of fluke. Joe’s 8.08 pounder was top fish for the day. It took a strip bait with a green hair teaser on Site 10. The guys aboard “Lil’ Angler II” had 6 keepers at Site 10 Wednesday, including a chunky 6.29 pounder for John Fryer. Captain Pete on the Top Fin hosted flounder regulars George Slick, Grant Aulenbach and Art Shapiro Thursday. They combined for 7 keeper flatties to 5 pounds, plus a bonus codfish. Captain Ricky Yakimowicz drifted the Old Grounds for decent fluking Saturday. Many anglers had success using 3 and 4-ounce bucktails tipped with strips of mackerel. Paul Pergeorelis ended up with 3 keepers to 20 inches on mackerel strips. Scott Ayars won the pool with a 5 pounder. In Delaware Bay, a few flounder were found around Reef Sites 5, 6, 7 and 8. Boaters picked at flatties along the edge of the Anchorage near G Buoy, but not many were of legal size. Once tidal currents surrounding the full moon subside, Bay catches should improve. Flounder continue to be taken from the Lewes Canal, Broadkill River and Roosevelt Inlet. Gulp! Swimming Mullets in white, pink and chartreuse have been the hot offering. Shallow water close to Lewes Beach and on the Cape Henlopen Flats yielded fluke as well. Stripers have been active at night around rocky structure at the Bay mouth. The Ferry Jetty, Inner and Outer Walls and Ice Breakers gave up bass. Guys casting Storm Shads, RatLTraps and Bomber plugs got bit. Live eels also produced. The striped bass slot limit goes into effect July 1, when anglers can keep two fish between 20 and 26 inches per day from Delaware Bay and its tributaries. July 1 also marks the opening of tautog season. The Outer Wall and Bay Reefs should hold good numbers of blackfish. Triggerfish have already been reported from the Wall. At Cape Henlopen Pier, folks fishing from the rail had flounder, spot, croaker, and also a few triggers that had been grazing on barnacles and other growth clinging to pilings. Thresher sharks were still roaming the outside edge of the Buoy Line.
Kevin McCambley, Derrick Wilbert, Brian Fitzgerald and Paul Kiley joined forces to best a 287 pounder aboard the Indian on Saturday. The big longtail took a mackerel bait near Reef Site 11. Earlier in the week, sharkers reported action with makos in 30 to 40 fathoms northeast of the Hot Dog. The offshore bite improved, after a short dry spell when the initial shot of yellowfins that showed up between Poor Man’s and the Washington disappeared. Water temperatures have risen, and several white marlin were reported in the Poor Man’s. Dolphin have started to gather on lobster gear and other floating structure.Tuna have popped up again at various spots along the edge. Captain D.J. Churchill, mate Nick Psaroudakis and the group aboard “Banshee” trolled up 8 yellowfins on the 250 line of the Baltimore in the afternoon and following morning, during an overnighter Thursday. The gang on “Tranquila” returned with a 50-pound yellowfin and a pair of gaffer mahi from a trolling trip to the East Wall of the Baltimore Saturday. The boys on “Big Herring” fished way south at the Parking Lot for their 60-pound bluefin. Then, Captain Alan Steele trolled off to the Washington, where Larry Wilson hooked into a 27.7-pound bull dolphin. Deep water bottom fishing has been productive. Bill Swords and his buddies returned Tuesday with a nice batch of big sea bass and gray tile they got deep dropping hard bottom between 300 and 400-foot depths. They topped off the box with 30 dolphin they bailed from some floating gear in Poor Man’s.
Deanna at Hookem’ & Cookem’ Bait & Tackle at North Shore Marina
says let's start this report in the surf.... the skates and sharks are still the main catch out there, but word has it that at night you can get a nice catch of kingfish while fishing with either live or artificial bloodworms. Most people are using the surf king fish rigs or a top and bottom rig with small hooks. Flounder fishing continues to be a good choice for the inlet. There have been lots of throwbacks with some keepers in the mix. I would say that for every 10 fish you catch you might find 1 keeper. A first time fisherman, Terry Stough, of York, PA came into the shop on Friday and asked for some advice on what to use and where to go. We suggested a 6" Pearl Storm lure and sent him out to the Inlet to try his luck and two hours later he returned with an 8.8lb flounder he landed. A lot of people are jealous of a first time fisherman that lands a fish that big. Sonny Maio, of Northern Virginia, caught a 6.5lb flounder while fishing over on the VFW Slough. He was using a minnow on a plain flounder hook. The rock fishing has slowed down considerably since last week. The water temperatures have risen and any that are being caught are being caught at night with Poppers or other artificial lures such as black Bombers, Tsunamis or black bucktails with black worms. The bluefish are still around in the inlet; they are running on the incoming and outgoing tides. Just look for the birds and the choppy water and throw out a bucktail, Hopkins lure or a Kastmaster. They like anything shiny, and they do not require bait. The offshore bite has slowed down if you are looking for yellow fin in the Poor Man's. The fish seem to have followed the edge of the warm water that has pushed north. Boats that did try their hand at it came back in with mostly dolphin, gaffer size to peanuts, and there were a few lucky ones that had a blue fin. But the best catch of Saturday was the boat Liquid Handler with Anton Burr, Larry Watson and Howard Deaughtry. They left at 5pm on Friday night and came back to the dock with 3 Big Eye Tuna. They weighed 170, 155.2 and 103.5, along with a 40 yellow fin. Two more big eye broke off and a story of a midnight Mako fight that was at least 250lbs. They were glad that it broke off because they weren't prepared for that big guy. They were fishing way out at the Lindenkohl Canyon. That is one heck of a ride, but was all worth it to those guys. Congratulations!! The head boat Judy V. continues to see improvement in the black sea bass fishing with more keepers showing up on the wrecks. The half-day trips have been seeing on average 2-3 fish per person. Some times the morning is better, sometimes the afternoon is better. This all depends on the tides and the winds. I guess that is why it is called fishing and not catching. We are fishing everyday both morning and afternoon. Reservations are recommended. The full day trip on the Capt. Bob II saw a lot of keeper black bass and a flounder as well. The full day trip runs on the Capt. Bob II and is limited to 25 people, and reservations are required for this trip. Flounder fishing in the ocean is starting to improve with a few more flounder coming in to the scales. Now don't think that they are setting the world on fire, but they are starting to bite more. From everyone here at Rick’s Bait & Tackle we would like to wish you a happy and
safe July 4th Holiday! Until next week, have fun and be safe.
