Hi folks,

Flounder action continues to be fair to good with most

fish short of the legal limit. Something to think about is that

if all the boats out there would taking their limit of flounder

every day we would have no fish before the end of one season.

Just give it some serious thought and I think you will be happy

to be fishing and trying to safely release as many fish as you

can. Most of flatties being taken in the back bays seem to

feeding on the incoming tide, which is normal for this time of

year. Look for deeper holes and places there may be some

sort of structure and you may find some bigger fish. Trying

to stay away from heavy boat traffic should increase your

chances. Paul Ferenzi has been reporting flatties to 21.5

inches being taken in Rehoboth Bay. Capt. Aaron Hurd of Gale Force

Carters took Carl and Corri Weinberger along with Dan and Erica

Shultz to Indian River Inlet and Bay to score 8 bluefish and a 28.5

Inch striper using live spot.

Brandon Davidheiser of Douglasville, Pa. scored flatties of 21.5

and 19.5 inches and 2 keeper seabass while soaking squid

and minnow at DB Buoy. Site # 10 and Site #11 along with

DB Buoy and DA Buoy have been producing various species

for anglers soaking baits near the bottom. Capt. Brent Weist and

Dave walker had the Bob Marinelli party on the flounder Saturday

with over 50 flatties caught and 9 keepers.

Offshore action has moved a bit closer with less action

In the canyons and more activity around the Hambone, Hot Dog,

and Massey’s Canyon areas. Capt. Tony Bariligo on “PIPE DREAM”

took Dan Yinger to the Hambone to troll up some yellowfin. Ron

Airey used a live spot at Massey’s Canyon to entice a 26.5-pound

cobia to come on board. Scoring the fish has worked for those trolling,

chunking, and jigging. Be sure to sign up for the 4^th Annual Rick’s Bait

and Tackle/ SeaSide Gas and Grill Offshore Tournament.. Tournament

runs July 30^th to Aug.6^th. You can sign up at Rick’s or at SeaSide.

Capt. Bill Baker of Bill’s Sport Shop told us that he and Bill, Jr., Kevin Baker and Sue Baker Killen went to the Baltimore Canyon yesterday and boated dolphin and skippies. Captains Steve Peterson and Mike Davidson fished both Sunday and Monday and boated their limit of blue fin tuna, 5 dolphin and an early wahoo. Matt and Dan Langdon on the "Ofishal",  trolled ballyhoo and spreader bars in 50 to 70 fathoms at the Poorman’s and managed 2 yellow fins,  2 bonito, some dolphins and went 0 for 4 on marlins. Cas Hans of Lewes caught a 9-pound,  24-inch citation tautog at the Outer Wall using blue crab for bait. A  little dirty water in the surf produced some king fish for Joe Noel and Bill Weiss near the Life Saving Station and with the turn of the tide, croaker and small sharks were also being beached on kingfish rigs tipped with fresh mullet. Capt. Bill received an email from Dave G, Silver Spring,MD. "Bill,  Just wanted to tell you that your advice paid off. I caught two Flounder of 19 and 20 inches. Now I know who to come to next time I need gear! Again, thanks for all the help and will be by again soon. Those Spec rigs with the Gulp and the spray worked like a champ!! Don’t give too many of your secrets away!! LOL"
We're getting reports of black drum being caught at IRI up to 20#.  Sand fleas and peelers did the trick. Chuck Nagle of Bill's Sport Shop used some fresh mullet and caught his first keeper flounder of the season at Massey's Landing.  It was a 24 incher and he followed it up with a 21 incher  plus 5 throwbacks and 4 croaker as well. Jon Kitchen sent us a report on his trips last week:  Jon Kitchen, Tim Mazol, Jen Raup, Jason Raup, and Sam Raup ran to B-Buoy to shark fish.  Although no sharks actually came to the party, Sam released one short flounder, two skates, one sea robin, and a pile of lingcod.

Jon, Carol,  Austin and Madison Kitchen ran to the Hotdog late  Wednesday and went  1 for 2 on mahi and picked an amberjack off of a buoy. Jon Kitchen, Tim Mazol, Jason Raup, and Dean Reedy ran to the Wilmington and fished in 50 FA of water where they went 4 for 5 on YFT with only one keeper.  They also landed several skipjack tuna throughout the day.  Jon Kitchen, Tim Mazol, Jen Raup, and Jason Raup ran to the Poorman’s on Sunday and went 2 or2 on

yellowfin and 1 for1 on white marlin.
Matt Knowles of Shamokin Pa, caught his first keeper flounder of 19", on Gulp bait in the Roosevelt Canal. Jeremy Woolsey, Jeff & Tom Bailor caught 2 bushels of large male crabs using a trotline & chicken necks. They were crabbing at  Peppers Creek just off of the Indian River Bay. Captain Aaron Hurd of " Gale Force Charters" reports that they had a charter Friday evening and caught a 39-inch and a 28-inch striper at the IRI just before the storm hit. One was on a shiner and the other on a spot.

Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said yellowfin action moved closer to the beach, with good catches coming from twenty-fathom structure. Trollers found numbers of tuna at the Hot Dog and Massey’s Canyon. Bluefins had been frequenting Massey’s, but water temps and an abundance of bait inshore drew yellowfins to the area as well. It’s great to hear of them nearer to shore and within the range of more boaters. Tony and Diana Vansant, Steve Millman and John Davis trolled the Hot Dog Wednesday for eight yellowfins, including Diana’s 40 pounder. The crew also had a gaffer dolphin and a white marlin. Captains Brent Wiest and Dave Walker worked the Dog aboard Katy Did Wednesday, and wound up with 9 yellowfins in the bag. Keith Orendorf and his crew pulled spreader bars, black and purple Zukers, and ballyhoo at Massey’s Friday for a 45-pound bluefin, 3 keeper yellowfins and 3 gaffer mahis. They released many yellowfins just shy of the 27-inch fork length minimum. Scattered yellowfin catches were reported between the Dry Docks and 19 Fathom Lump too. Captain Vince on the Miss Kirstin towed cedar plugs near the Twelve Fathom Lump Monday for his keeper bluefin and 3 dolphin. In other inshore trolling, small bluefish were plentiful between South Shoal and Five Fathom Light. Captain Chris on the Skipjack kept his Saturday large charter group busy by pulling Clarkspoons through the region for 96 choppers. Bottom fishermen had flounder on the Old Grounds and at Reef Sites 9 and 10.

Jeff Scurti scored a 6.5-pound fluke near DB Buoy Friday on the Katy Did. Despite full moon tides, flounder fishing in Delaware Bay was pretty decent. Barry Gerhard and his crew drifted shiners and squid at the Brown Shoal Reef Saturday for 8 quality flatties. Among the catch were three keepers to 4.13 pounds landed by Barry’s Grandson, Sam Hazlett. Captain Carey’s flukers aboard the Grizzly culled 14 keepers out of many they landed at the Brown Reef Saturday. Jack Henriksen and John Deiner took 4 keepers to 4.16 pounds out of 9 they had on the Star Site Saturday. Ginger Henriksen got a 3.89-pound flounder that moved her into Second Place of the Lewes Yacht Club Tournament. Julian Weaver wound in a 5.54-pound flatfish at the Star Site aboard Top Fin. Harry Laws was using a live minnow near the Beach Ball when he hooked a 4.65 pounder. Todd Meredith fished Gulp! and minnows near the Cape Henlopen Pier Friday for 3 keepers to 21 inches. Tog and triggerfish were hanging out around the rocks of the Outer Wall and Ice Breakers. “Booker” Bookwalter boated a 7.56 citation tautog at the Wall while baiting with box crabs. Stripers were also attracted to the Wall. John Forestieri reported catching rockfish most evenings while tossing topwater plugs along the Wall. Striped bass also hung around docks lighted at night on the Lewes Canal, and the lights at the Roosevelt Inlet Coast Guard station. Fin-S-Fish and other small artificials resembling silversides cast to the dividing line between dark and lighted water resulted in fish that fell within the 20 to 26 inch slot limit. Croakers were caught with bloodworms and clams at Roosevelt Inlet. Folks at the rails of Cape Henlopen Pier had spot on Bloodworms and FishBites.

‘Til next week, have fun and be safe!

Hi folks,

It is summertime and the fishing is pretty much following

the normal pattern. Plenty of small flounder with a few keepers

in the bunch. Croakers are starting to appear in great numbers

and the crabbing is good. Minnows, squid, GULP!, and cut bait

are still doing the trick. Spot are plentiful and bloodworms or the

FishBites artificial bloodworms will get you plenty of spot to use

for bait. Some nice flounder can be found along the rocks on the

south side of the inlet at the condos. The deeper holes throughout

the back bays also hold better-sized fish. Five-year-old Ticen Willey

of Milton fished Massey’s Ditch and fooled a 21 ½ inch flounder onto

the boat. Chuck Dougharty fished Indian river Inlet and score a 27-inch,

7 pound 6 oz flattie. Capt Dave Carroll took Lennie Farrall to the inlet

to score a 7.8 pound 28 ½ inch flounder. Capt. Chuck Cook of “First

Light Charters” had Clayton Horuath of Lewis Center, Ohio in Indian

River Bay to boat his 7.6-pound flounder. Cheyenne Peet fished Indian

River with George Harvey to score a 7Lb 7oz flattie.

Offshore action continues to be fair to good with anglers scoring

A mix of tuna, dolphin, white marlin and wahoo. Most action is still on

the troll with a few having success chunking and jigging. Mike Duval

took Charles Hodgson to the Wilmington Canyon to troll up a 16 Lb 8oz

dolphin that measured 45 inches. Most of the inshore areas are providing

bluefin tuna and dolphin.

In close on the various wrecks and piles of rubble you will find

A mixed bag of flounder, sea bass, tog, and some ling. There seems to

Be plenty of fish but finding fish of legal size is a task. Site #10 and the

Old Grounds seem to be providing the most activity.

At Rattle and Reel Sports Center on Long Neck Road we talked

to Pat and he informed me there are lots of croakers in the back bays. Lots of short flounder and a few keepers seems to be the norm. Pat told

me about 11 year-old Gianna Abbott of Havertown, Pa. who was not

going to give up on landing a keeper flounder. She was fishing Massey’s

Ditch using minnow when she hooked a 20-inch flattie. While reeling it

In her reel failed and she brought in by hand. Great job Gianna!

From Bill’s Sport Shop on Rt. #1 in Lewes we find that Ed Lewandowski reported an offshore trip aboard the "Reel Dreams" with his father (Ed Lewandowski, Sr.), Capt. Ron Savidge and his son Steve to Massey's Canyon where they put a 45-pound bluefin in the box within the first 30 minutes. They picked up just as the rain started and ran southeast towards the tip of the Baltimore and found 75 degree water on the west wall and had a couple of knockdowns soon after they got the baits in the water, but lost the fish. They eventually hooked up on a couple skipjack tuna and a small yellowfin within the first 20 minutes.
Tom Costa of Pa caught a 3.5 pound, 23 inch flounder using a spec rig and Gulp! at Roosevelt Inlet. Bucktail Bob nailed 2 slot stripers on sand fleas and 5 keeper tog at the Outer Wall using green crabs. Michael Davidson aboard the "Outlet" fished the Baltimore Canyon and limited out on yellowfin, five white marlin and a bunch of dolphin. He also released a large shark. Richie Goodman, two Tony's and David went to the Inner Wall and came away with 20 tog in 2 hours. The largest weighed in at 6.25 pounds and 23 inches long. All were caught on green crabs. Captain Aaron Hurd runs "Gale Force Charters" at the Indian River Inlet and he reported that a Lancaster Pa family caught 6 keeper flounder on one trip and that the Weingold family landed 5 keeper flounder on another trip. Capt Aaron also runs "In Shore Charters" and will also be targeting tautog and striper trips at the near shore reef sites.
John Mutz & Tom Bailor filled two large bushels baskets with fat male crabs at Gull Point on a trot line with chicken necks. Mike Rivera, "On Delivery Charters", called to report 3 white marlin at Poorman's, 3 yellowfin tuna to 50 pounds, 2 mako releases and 1 hammerhead.
Bill Jr. fished Massey's Landing prior to the fireworks on Monday night and caught a short flounder and a 14" croaker. Capt. Oak Thompson, Mike Thompson, Jeff and Matt Sherwood and I caught over 30 flounder, keeping 5. The largest keeper was 23 inches, weighing in at 4. 8 pounds. They also released 7 rockfish up to 25 inches and several 3 pound blue fish using cut eel and minnows.

Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said although few keeper flounder were taken on open bottom, catches have been pretty good for guys who know how to work rough structure. The rocks, coral and sea trees of the Old Grounds between DB and DA Buoys, and the rubble of Reef Sites 9 and 10 have been holding fluke, and savvy fishermen have found that modifications to standard rigging helps them catch more flatties amongst that kind of cover. Shorter leaders are the key. A 3 to 4 ounce bucktail with a hair teaser on a 4-inch dropper about a foot above the jig works well. Flukers also had success employing a rig with a sinker heavy as necessary to maintain contact with the bottom and a hair teaser hook on a short leader about 6 to 8 inches above the weight. The jigs or hooks get sweetened with a strip of squid, shark or bluefish, shiners, smelt, finger mullet, Gulp! or any combination of these. Anglers should constantly bounce the rigs as they drift through the chunky bottom, and be alert for the quick strike of a flatfish lying in ambush. The jigging action seems to provoke more aggressive strikes than when baits are drug casually across the bottom, and flounder just hang on, deciding whether to swallow or not. The short leadered setups are also less likely to get snagged. Some days when the drift was too fast or in a bad direction, crews that anchored and cast offerings up current so they walked across the structure did well. Jigging produced some nice specimens, like Dave Walker’s 6.21 pounder bucktailed at Site 10 on the Katy Did. Jim Woods wound in a 6.97-pound doormat on Katy Did. Guys on the Grizzly culled 11 nice keepers out of 53 they hooked Saturday on the Old Grounds. Flounder came from Delaware Bay artificial reefs as well. Lisa DiVincenzo and Laura Kemper used Gulp! at the Star Site for 3 flatties to 22 inches. Jamie Moore managed a 3.92 pounder with minnow and shark sandwich at the Star Site. Harriet Paul put a 5 pounder in the box aboard Lil’ Angler. Curtis Hawkins captured a 6.02-pound trophy on the Angler. Clayton Horvath had a 7.6-pound welcome mat while working a wreck with Captain Chuck Cook of First Light Charters. Joe Walker and his crew scored 8 quality keepers Wednesday on the Star Site. Among the catch was a 5.39-pound beauty boated by Joe’s granddaughter, Candace Way. Wade Bondrowski boxed his limit of fine flatties to 4.17 pounds at Site 7 on Thursday. Flounder continue to bite in Lewes Canal. Garrett Shipley checked in a 4.09-pound fluke from there. Dillon Peden got a 20 incher at Roosevelt Inlet using Gulp! Slot sized stripers ate eels and clams near the drawbridge on the Canal. Boaters tossing Rat-L-Traps, Storm Shads or live spot to the Ice Breakers and Wall in the evenings got into rockfish too. Tautog fishermen had decent catches at the Ice Breakers and Outer Wall using green crabs, sand fleas, shrimp and box crabs. Triggerfish were mixed in. Faith Roth reeled in a 7.29-pound citation tog at the Wall. Fishermen at the rails of Cape Henlopen Pier had plenty of spot on bloodworms and FishBites. Tuna action between the Baltimore and Poor Man’s Canyons was spotty, but a good bite developed in the Washington Canyon. Captains Brent Wiest and Dave Walker took Katy Did on a long ride from Lewes to the Washington Saturday, and it was worth it. They found schools of bait, birds and many whales in Canyon’s Bight, and trolled up 19 yellowfins in just an hour’s time. The guys put seven fish to 52 pounds in the bag, and released the others. Billfishing was good offshore. “Doc” Roberts released two blue marlin and had shots at a couple other whites in 70 fathoms of Poor Man’s on Wednesday. Warm water has also attracted dolphin. Craig Lester landed a 28.2-pound mahi in the Baltimore aboard Swords Fish.

‘Til next week, have fun and be safe!

Hi Folks,

I hope everyone had a happy and safe July 4^th Holliday!

Fishing and crabbing was a great way to spend the weekend.

Back bay reports consisted of throwback flounder with a few

keepers in the mix. A few croakers and some blowfish also

gave it up for anglers. Minnows, squid, and Berkley GULP! again

seemed to be the hot baits. Dave Carroll of Wilmington, De fished

Indian River Bay on his boat “Weekend Warrior” and used a minnow

to trick a 7.6 pound citation flattie to come aboard for a ride home.

Bob Leader of York, Pa. fished Site #10 aboard “One More Drift” with

Capt. Tom Breen to score his 6.2-pound flattie using squid.

Offshore action continues with white marlin activity just getting

Better and better all the time. Capt. Mike Rivera of “On Delivery

Charters” took the Jack Donavon party to the Baltimore Canyon on an

overnighter and brought plenty of fish to the boat. They had 1 mako, 1

brown shark, 17 duskies, 3 yellowfin tuna, and 3 gaffer dolphin. Capt.

Bill Burkhart on “Toss em Back Charters” has providing his parties with

plenty of bluefin and dolphin action. Gary Aughenbach and crew took

their first trip of the year to Massey’s Canyon and scored bluefin and

dolphin.

Inshore action has been improving for those soaking baits on

the ocean bottom. Sea bass action is still slow but flounder activity is

picking up. Lots of short flatties are being caught and the number of

keepers are improving. Site #10, the DB Buoy and DA Buoy areas are

the places to be along with the Old Grounds. Try to find areas with

some sort of structure on the bottom to make the most of your efforts.

Indian River Inlet is still producing stripers. The most productive

times are the end of an early morning incoming or late night incoming

tide. Flounder and blues are also being taken in the inlet.

Capt. Bill Baker at Bill’s Sport Shop on RT. #1 in Lewes reminds

us the striper slot season opened Friday in the Delaware Bay and its tributaries. Anglers can catch 2 fish between 20 and 26 inches only. Tog season is open July 1st until August 31st.  The size limit is 14 inches and you may keep 10 per angler per day.  Bill's Sport Shop will carry a complete line of baits and tackle. Including green crabs and sand fleas. 
Fred Gears of Ocean City went on his first tuna trip aboard his boat, "Murphy's Law" to the Jackspot. Using green machines and cedar plugs, he boated his first bluefin weighing 30 pounds. Received an email from Jim Berry:  "Stopped by for some bait and advice Tues. eve. Just wanted to let you know that it paid off today.  My wife Maureen and I landed a 37lb Blue Fin at Massey’s’ Canyon."  Thanks for the report, Jim.
Bill Jr., of Bill's Sport Shop, fished Massey's Landing and on his third cast he landed a 22" flounder using Marty's bucktails and flies. The last cast of the day produced a 20" flounder on a spec rig and Gulp!
Tom Bailer of Bills Sport Shop and friend, Ernie Longo went to Gull Point with a trotline and chicken necks and had no trouble filling two bushel baskets with fat crabs.
Surf fishing was a little on the slow side with the crabs stealing the bait but Joe Noel and Bill Weiss managed to beach spot and croaker by the old Life Saving Station using Maws Tails #6 hooks tipped with bunker.
Dallas Dressler and friends drifted IRI with white bucktails and squid and caught 4 keeper stripers between 32 and 36" and also 3 blues in the 20" range. Peggy Bashore, Port Royal Pa., caught her first striper, 13.10 pound,  34 ½ inch at Indian River Inlet on a Storm Lure David Souders, Harrington, DE, nailed a 24.5 inch, 5.45 pound flounder at Indian River

Inlet on a fly. Ryan Corsiatto, Middletown MD, caught his limit of flounder, all over 20 inches. He went to the Inner Wall, the Pier and Roosevelt Inlet fishing chartreuse and pink Gulp. Captain Mike Davidson on the "G Force", reported that on his last trip he landed two white marlin, 8 yellowfin tuna , 1 mako and lots of dolphin all while trolling. A fishing report from "High Hook Charters" out of Indian River Marina for the last week. Got an invite to fish on Wed. on the "Jenna-Lynn" and went to the Wilmington to boat 3 yellowfin tuna. Had the Steve Kitchen group out on Sunday and fished west of the Baltimore boating two yellowfin and two nice dolphin. They're still out there-it's been a great month.

Deanna at Hookem’ and Cookem’ Bait and Tackle in North Shore marina

Wants to let you know the flounder still remain steady with more keepers coming to the docks. Charter boat Gale Force has been coming back from the Inlet with a lot of nice keeper flounder. Most are using squid and minnows, Gulp baits as well as live spot. The minnows and the Gulp will get you more of the smaller variety and the live spot are getting you bigger ones. We have still seen some rockfish. They are either being caught with flies or live spot and mostly at night. The Canyons have been producing a lot of nice yellow fin tuna this year. They seem to be closer to us this year and not as far south. The boats are generally going to the Wilmington to the Baltimore. Some are stopping in the Poor Man's. There have also been some nice sized mahi seen. Kelly Horning, from the Fish Whistle, was fishing with her father Charlie and caught a beautiful 42.6lb fish. The inshore bite has started to pick up with more keeper sea bass coming in, as well as the return of triggerfish. The charter boat “#1 Hooker” went fishing Friday and Saturday and brought back a mixture of sea bass, tautog and triggerfish. The surf fishing remains the same old same old. Small king fish and an occasional blowfish on bloodworms. No one has seen much more action than that.
Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said tuna action was still a hot topic at the dock. The yellowfin bite was good in Baltimore Canyon at the beginning of the week, but shifted south as the week wore on. By the weekend, tuna seemed to be more plentiful in South Poor Man’s. Captains Brent and Dave on the Katy Did had an awesome offshore trip Monday. Their group trolled up a limit of 21 yellowfins to 51.7 pounds and released a white marlin near the 250 line in 75 fathoms. Ed Sigda and the gang on Snow Goose kept 5 good-sized yellowfins and released 8 others between the Baltimore and Poor Man’s Saturday. Bill Swords and his buddies on Swords Fish worked Poor Man’s Friday for 5 nice yellowfins, a gaffer dolphin and a hundred pound plus mako on mono. Saturday, the boys on Knot Right had 5 keeper yellowfins in South Poor Man’s. Numerous billfish were reported mixed in among tuna. “Rockfish Ed” Healy released a pair of blue marlin during a single trip to South Poor Man’s. Rick Fisher and crew kept a pair of yellowfins and some dolphin, and released a 300-pound class blue marlin after an extended battle on a 30-pound outfit in Poor Man’s Saturday. Big dolphin have shown up in warm water too. Chris Ragni and Jimmy Kersey brought in a pair of magnum mahi weighing 38 and 32 pounds that they trolled on the 461 lump. Inshore trolling boats found bluefins at the 19 Fathom Lump, Hambone, Jackspot and as close as the 12 Fathom Lump outside Delaware light. Dolphin and triggerfish were also hanging out around Delaware Light. Bluefins were landed by crews anchored and chunking butterfish at Massey’s Canyon as well. Boaters drifting rough bottom of the Old Grounds between DB and DA Buoys had success with flounder. Reef Sites 9 and 10 gave up flatties too. Dave Johannes and Steve Myrtbold scored their limit of quality flatfish at Site 10 on Saturday aboard the Katy Did. Captain Brent’s Thursday party on Katy Did put 24 keeper fluke in the box. Dave Walker used a bucktail tipped with squid to fool a 6.21-pound doormat. Captain Carey’s fishermen on the Grizzly got 13 keepers at Site 10 on Thursday. Flounder were found on Delaware Bay reefs as well, but the bite was not consistent. Drift conditions in the Bay were tough around the new moon. Joe Walker, Tom Coyle, Larry Coyle and Barry Gerhard managed 12 keeper fluke at the Star Site on Tuesday. Flounder continue to come from Lewes Canal and near the Ferry Jetty and Inner Wall. Gulp! was the hot bait. The slot size striper season for Delaware Bay and it’s tributaries opened July 1, and allows anglers to keep 2 fish between 20 and 26 inches per person per day. Linesiders in that range were caught in Lewes Canal around the drawbridge using eels, clams, cut tuna bloodline and top water poppers. Rockfish were hooked by boaters casting Rat-L-Traps and Storm Shads, or live eels and spot around the Outer Wall and Ice Breakers at night. Tog season also reopened July 1, and good numbers of tautog were pulled from the rocks of the Outer Wall and Inshore wrecks. The Grizzly returned from a wreck Friday with 25 tog and 15 triggerfish. Bill Bonniwell boated an 11.69-pound bruiser blackfish aboard the Indian on opening day. Aaron Brommer celebrated the first day of the season with a 10.59-pound tautog he took aboard Martha Marie. Sheepshead have shown up with warm water. Kyusok Yi captured a whopping 12.54-pound sheepshead using crab at the Ice Breakers. Folks on the rails at Cape Henlopen pier got into spot and croakers using bloodworms and Fishbites.

‘Til next week, have fun and be safe!

Hi Folks,

Fishing in the back bays seems to be improving a bit compared to the

last few weeks. Flounder are being taken on both the incoming and outgoing

tides. A few more fish are being found in some of the deeper holes throughout

the bays. Massey’s Ditch has been a pretty good producer the past week or so.

Wyatt Smith used a minnow to trick a 20-inch flattie that weighed in at 2 Lbs. 10 oz. Seven-year-old Jamie Scott gave the big guys a lesson when he got his 4 fish limit while aboard the “I Have Fishuses” with Capt. Tom Scott. The largest of

Jamie’s largest keeper was 20 inches and he also used minnows. Michele Lombardo took a 2Lb 2oz flattie and Charline Logan took a 3Lb. 5oz flounder. Rick Melvin fooled two flounder of 3Lb.-15oz. and 2Lb.-12oz. Don Ruth scored a 4-pound 3oz fish. Phyllis Dinger fooled a 3 pounder and a 4-pound 6 oz. flattie. Richard Dinger took a 2-pound 8 ouncer for his score. George Wilder leads the way in the Rehoboth Shores Tournament with a 7-pound 9-ounce flounder. Bob Jones took a 2 pound 4 ounce flattie to get on the score sheet. Spot are showing

up in the back bays. Bloodworms or FishBites Bloodworms will do the trick.

Offshore action has been at least fair for those making the long haul. Gill

Waddington and his sons Cory and Dan have been putting friends on the fish.

Their boat, ”Another Bill” has been scoring yellowfin, bluefin, dolphin, and white

Marlin. Capt. John King of Lititz, Pa. took Dave Tkatch and his sons Chris and Colin to the Hambone aboard “Dolci Vita”. The boys releases 2 dusky sharks in

the 150-pound range and 1 dusky over 200 pounds. They also released 2 bluefin

tuna.

The news from Bill’s Sport Shop on RT# 1 in Lewes was that Skip Mosiej called to report a Sunday trip offshore to Massey's Canyon where they caught 6 blue fish, 2 false albacore, released one bluefin tuna and kept one weighing 50 pounds. All were caught trolling ballyhoo and lures. Stu Moore, Harrisburg, Pa sent us an email:  "Guys, Thanks for the shark gear, we were out in the nice blue water for 30 min and came tight on a Mako for the grill .We had the second one hit 30 min later- big fish but had our one fish.  Good bite on, but water is getting warm fast. " Tom Wise stopped in with 3 keeper flounder up to 4 pounds from Rehoboth Bay. Late report from the "High Hook Charters"  out of IR, " fished this weekend west of the Wilmington and went 12 for 15 on yellow fin, keeping 9 fish in the 30-45 pond range, then came inside and landed an 88 pound bluefin. Steve, Cody and Austin Shirk from Grantville Pa spent the night on the south side of IRI and came away with 5 stripers up to 21.65 pounds and 39 inches on Calcutta Flash Foils. The boat "1st Mate" out of Reading, Pa. went to the Hot Dog and boated 7 false albacore and 1 yellow fin tuna. Bill Weiss and his neighbor, Joe, fished the north beach with fresh bunker and wound up with a nice king and 9 throw back croakers. Bucktail Bob, a contestant in Bill's Sport Shop flounder tournament, brought in his limit of flounder. The weighed 6.7 and 6.3 pounds, which would have beat the  winners. Unfortunately, he did not weigh them in till 7pm., 7 hours after the close of the tournament.  Ryan Corsiatto, Middletown, MD, fishing at Roosevelt Inlet, caught a 3.25# flounder on Gulp.

Stanley Mumford, Millsboro, caught a 17.95-pound, 39-inch striper at IRI on a Gulp! eel. Bill Baker Jr. caught a keeper flounder at Massey’s Ditch with a chartreuse Gulp! on a spec rig. Captain Chris Thurmon of "Skipjack Charters" in Lewes Harbor Marina, reported a flounder trip to B buoy catching lots of flounder with 5 keepers. On another trip, he went to the Canyons where he boated  8 yellowfin and one mako. Bill Vernon fished on “Four Play” Sunday in the Wilmington. They  caught three yellowfin, the biggest was 86lbs and they lost a blue marlin after a short fight. All fish were caught on ballyhoo in 70 fathoms.

Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said offshore tuna action was real good, with crews reporting nice catches of both yellowfins and bluefins. Jim Short and the guys aboard Knot Right arrived at the 100-fathom line between the Baltimore and Wilmington at sunrise on Saturday and found packs of hungry tuna feeding aggressively. They put out a mixed spread of ballyhoo and artificials, and it wasn’t long before they were into a series of multiple hookups. The bite continued through the morning, and before long, the fishermen were on their way back to the dock with a limit of 18 yellowfins ranging up to 60 pounds. Ed Sigda and the boys on Snow Goose got into the tunas too on Saturday. They scored 5 yellowfins between the Baltimore and Wilmington. Several boats had good catches in that area during the week. The Skipjack overnighted in the Wilmington and returned with a mako and 8 yellowfins. Bill Swords and his buddies on Swords Fish mixed it up Wednesday by putting 3 yellowfins and 3 gaffer dolphin in the box, then topping it off with a nice batch of tilefish. Numbers of billfish have been present in warm water in the Canyons as well. Angelo Delapo on Spoiled III told of going two for five on white marlin while working 81-degree water in 250 fathoms below the tip of the Wilmington. The whites pounced on Green Machines and spreader bars being pulled for tuna. Andy and Chuck Shelton released a pair of whites in the Wilmington Saturday. Bluefins were hanging out in twenty fathoms. The Hambone was productive for trollers towing cedar plugs and spreader bars. On the inshore scene, bottom bouncers found fluke on the Old Grounds between DB and DA Buoys. With favorable drift conditions, anglers using bucktail jigs tipped with strip baits caught good numbers of flatties. Flukers on Katy Did had 9 keepers and many just short, drifting southeast of DB on Saturday. In Delaware Bay, flounder catches were pretty good before the full moon, but fell considerably off with strong currents and dirty water following the lunar phase. Last Sunday, anglers on the Katy Did fished Reef Site 5 in Broadkill Slough and ended up with 10 keepers out of 57 caught. Mark Adams got the season’s first sheepshead on that trip, a 5.45 pounder. Flounder continue to come from Lewes Canal. John Davis checked in a 4.75-pound flatfish he fooled with a white Gulp! Folks at the rails of Cape Henlopen Pier caught a few keeper fluke, along with some spot and small croakers. Boaters drifting along the Outer Wall and Ice Breakers in the evenings and after dark hooked into stripers. Casting bucktails, Storm Shads, Bombers, Rat-L-Traps or eels was effective. Small boat fishermen had fun in the Lewes Canal tossing topwater poppers for stripers. The marsh banks between the Freeman Highway Bridge and Gordon’s Pond yielded plenty of strikes. Rick Bortz was in on the last hoorah for black drum this spring. He and a buddy had four from 25 to 40 pounds at the end of flood tide, while anchored and baiting with clams on the Coral Beds Tuesday night.

‘Til next week, Have Fun and Be Safe !