Hi Folks,

Fishing continues to be good in both the back bays and the ocean.

Overall this has got to be one of the best bottom fishing seasons in recent history. In

the Indian River and Rehoboth Bays the croaker fishing is fantastic. The flounder

fishing is still good with a few less keepers being taken. Overall numbers remain strong.

To find the bigger flatties you want to fish the deeper holes and drop-offs. Squid and minnow is still the most popular offering but the GULP! products sure are providing

catches to many anglers.

Jim McGill and daughter Michelle fished the Rehoboth Bay

and just hammered the croakers. They also boated 3 keeper flounder. Barry Kemp also fished Rehoboth Bay and boated 4 keeper flatties to 21.75 inches. Inshore ocean action continues to improve with real good catches of flounder at Reef Site #10 and Site #11.

The DB Buoy area as well as the Old Grounds are giving up flounder and the size of the

sea bass is improving. Seven year old Jordan Price of York Haven, Pa. was fishing the Old Grounds with Grampop John King and boated a 22 inch flattie. Heather Preece was fishing Site #10 using squid and minnow to boat a 4.75-pound flattie. Dylan Registar fished Brown Shoal in Delaware Bay to trick a 9 pound 8 ounce flattie using squid and minnow.

Offshore fishing has been tough if you are looking for tuna. The boats trolling for tuna are scoring more dolphin than anything else. Rick Rothenberger on the “Shooting Star” trolled up spanish mackerel, bonita, and bluefish while trolling the Lightship. Gary Aughenbaugh on the “Empty Hook” had the Jeff Boertner crew offshore to troll up a wahoo. Capt. Robin Quann & his charter boat “Contagious” took Dave Bargerone & his Saltfish buddies offshore to the Baltimore. The bite was slow all day but
the group did go 2 for 2 on gaffer dolphin. We heard from Capt. Mike Baniewicz on Reel Escape, he had a party from Ohio out to the Baltimore where they scored 2 White Marlin & 2 gaffer Dolphin! Capt. Mike Rivera took local Kent Schiner & his buddy, Moishe Smith from
Ottawa Canada out to the Old Grounds for some Flounder & Seabass action.
Moishe caught his all time best Flounder at 5.5lb.26"! Later Capt. Mike took anglers Mark Stiener, Bill Anderson, Birthday Boy Brett Salkeld & his buddy John Ziegler, out to the Elephant Trunk for a day of trolling. The ocean was teaming with whales & porpoise everywhere, a few
sea turtles & birds. The signs were right but the fish weren't cooperating & the boat returned to the dock with a nice 15.5ib Mahi Mahi caught by Brett Salkeld. Bobby Haas and Mike Bender scored another cobia east of the Lightship with a 32 pounder.

The Sea Side Gas & Grill / Rick’s Bait and Tackle Flounder Tournament

Ended Saturday and in the money was Mickey Payne in 1^st and 2^nd with catches of 10 lb 9oz and 6 lb 2 oz. John Marmer was in 3^rd with a flattie 5lb 5 oz. It was a good Tournament and keep checking on info about our Striper Ganza Tournament starting October 21^st. We also had some nice fresh water catches brought in. Eric Bristol weighed in a 5 lb 1 oz largemouth bass he took while fishing Millsboro Pond. Michael Austin took a 6 lb 5 oz largemouth while fishing at Burton’s Pond.

While talking to Ron at Rattle and Reel Sporting Center on Long Neck

Rd. he informed us that DB Buoy in giving up much better numbers of keeper size flounder. A long strip of squid and minnow combo seems to be doing the trick. Massey’s Ditch is providing plenty of croaker action. If it is spot you are looking for Ron tells us

That Gull Island is the place to try your luck.

At Henelopen Bait and Tackle on Savannah Road in Lewes, Dan reported good flounder action in the Delaware Bay. The Reefsites and the Anchorage

are giving up lots of flatties with pretty good numbers of keeper size fish. Croakers

are still roaming the waters anywhere you try in the Bay. Bluefish action improved over

the past week for those soaking bait in the surf.

The guys at Bill’s Sport shop on RT# 1 in Lewes have been kept busy with the fishing being quite good. Scott Aiken was fishing the surf in South Bethany and beached 11 kingfish, many croaker and spot. Ed Pilling of Lewes, DE. Caught a 7.45lb flounder at the Haystacks using a squid and minnow combo for bait. Mark and Carol Stiegler and Bill Weiss were fishing south of Savages Ditch with fresh mullet and reported a steady afternoon bite of small blues and kingfish. Dwyane Powers hauled in a tautog tipping the scales at 12lbs. with a length of 29" using fleas and green crabs. Ben Neff caught a 24" flounder, 5.5lbs drifting in the Rehoboth Bay on scented pre-cut squid. Chuck Nagle nailed two flounder up to 23" at Masseys Ditch on Gulp. According to Oakey Thompson, lots of flounder were caught in the IR bay and the inlet on minnows. Mike Thompson had 2 nice keepers 20.5" and 18.75". Phil and Paul O'Conner had lots of croakers in the ocean in front of the Old coast guard station. They did manage to catch 2 17" croakers in front of the North Jetty. Fish bite bloods was the best bait.
years. When conditions are right for these flat fish we can really catch them. We finally have seen some quality croakers in the bay. We will begin our tuna season this week".

Captain Carey Evans of the "Grizzly" reports "flounder fishing has been the best we have seen in years. When conditions are right for these flat fish we can really catch them. We finally have seen some quality croakers in the bay. We will begin our tuna season this week".

Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said area anglers continued to enjoy fine bottom fishing. Croakers are plentiful in Delaware Bay, with larger hardheads hanging out around structure. The Star and Broadkill reef sites were productive, but small boaters casting around the inner wall and ferry jetty had some big croaks as well. Fishbites, bloodworms, clams and shrimp were favored offerings. Hand-size spot were mixed among croakers in shallower areas. Spot action was best around the Cape Henlopen pier, and in the Lewes Canal and Broadkill River. Bloodworms and Fishbites on small hooks or sabiki rigs did the trick. Flounder catches remained good, with the largest flatties taken around heavy cover of the artificial reefs. Sites 6 and 7 at Brown Shoal were productive, as well as the number 8 Star Site. Reef site 10 in the ocean gave up good numbers of flounder too. Drifting boats caught fish, but sometimes, when drift conditions weren’t right, anchoring worked well. Walking rigs along the bottom, or casting bucktails upcurrent and bouncing them along were effective techniques. Some crews racked up decent numbers of keepers. The guys aboard Lil’ Angler II returned with 20 flatties from a reef site Tuesday. Captain Pete’s group on the Top Fin limited out with 20 keeper flounder Saturday at site 10. Citation fluke are still being checked in regularly. Matt Millman scored an 8.9 pounder, and John Brackbill brought back an 8.74-pound flounder. Shawn Williams decked a 6.05-pound flatfish at site 10. Flounder favored fresh meat, and strips of spot and bluefish were producers. Shiners and smelt got attention too. Bucktails tipped with Gulp! Belly Strips, Sand Eels and Jerk Shads also took their share. Matt Jester jigged up a 6.57-pound fluke at DB Buoy. Boats working the Old Grounds had flounder and sea bass. Most of the bass were below the 12-½ inch minimum, but increasing numbers of keepers were reported. Triggerfish were found on many of the inshore wrecks. Sand fleas, shrimp or pieces of clam on small hooks tempted triggers. Cobia have also been reported around Delaware Light, the Weather Buoy and DA Buoy. They’ll respond to live eels and spot, or a bucktail tipped with a Gulp! Eel. Tuna action was slim, but fair numbers of dolphin were available between twenty and forty fathoms. Pete Russo landed a 16.7-pound Mahi on the Skipjack, and John Ribinsky got a 17.8 pounder on Tranquila. Dan Iacangelo trolled up a 16.8-pound dolphin in the Wilmington Canyon aboard the Black Bart. Captain Chris on the Skipjack said that the 19 Fathom Lump was “covered up with Atlantic Bonito.” The striped speedsters are a blast to catch and quite tasty. They can be taken by trolling Clark Spoons and small feather jigs, or by casting Stingsilvers or similar metal lures. They’ll also move into a chum slick and will grab a free-lined spearing or live minnow.

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