Hi Folks,

Hope everyone had a great Forth of July weekend. Fishing was very productive in the back bays and inshore sites. The results of the previous week’s Rick’s Bait and Tackle Flounder tournament finished with Wes Grove taking 1^st place with a 5 Lb 4 oz flattie. Kevin Ludwick took 2^nd with a 3 Lb 8 oz flounder and Tom Wise took 3^rd with a 3 Lb 4 oz fish. We hope everyone involved had a great time. For the July 4^th weekend we held an Inshore Tournament together with SeaSide Gas and Grill. The categories for this contest were flounder, bluefish, sea bass, and tog. Scott Fluharty took 1^st in the flounder division with a 6 pound 9 oz winner. In the bluefish division it was Ken Smith taking the bragging rights and the money with a 9 pound 2 ounce fish. The sea bass award went to Jackie Robinson with a 1 pound 13 ounce fish. Mike Haas took the tog division money with 3 Lb 14 oz wreck dweller. Once again we hope all involved had a great time. For all you offshore guys, be sure to get in on the Offshore Tournament that runs July 23,24, and 25. The categories are marlin, tuna, dolphin, and wahoo. This contest again will be a combined effort of Rick’s Bait and Tackle and Sea Side Gas and Grill.

Other catches this past week include Joe Yochis of Bay City taking a 4 Lb 7oz flattie from Massey’s Ditch. Joe Vascuglia of White House Beach fished Indian River on his boat “Julies Toy” to boat a 39-inch, 21.75-pound striper. Chip Illian took a 19-½ inch flattie from the Indian River Inlet. Ridge Larak took a 5 lb 14 oz sea trout while fishing the inlet on the “KAJA”. Tom Breen and daughter Kelly Blizzard of York, Pa. took 5 flounder to 5 pounds while fishing the “Old Grounds” using minnow and squid. In the Pot-Nets Flounder Tournament Ron Soltes and Chuck Cook are tied for the lead with flounder of 6 pounds 2 ounces. The offshore fishing has been on the slow side with Dominick Davis of Wilmington took a 15 pound dolphin while fishing Massey’s Canyon on the “Pro-Dog” with Dave Pruitt at the helm.

For those of you in need of some squid or nightcrawlers after most shops are closed you can stop at the Giant Grocery Stores in Long Neck, on RT #1 in Rehoboth, or the Millville store. Rick’s bait and Tackle is supplying these stores with bait, some rigs, grabbing supplies, and some combos. We hope the selection will continue to grow.

From Bill’s Sport Shop on RT #1 in Lewes we received the following reports. Roger Gross was on the Reel Hard south of the Poorman's Canyon, and caught 25 yellowfin with one keeper. Ron Dawson, of Robesonia, Pa., caught a citation striper at 21.1 lb., 39" long on a white Zoom at IRI. Bobby from the Pier called and said they are catching a lot of spot.  A few croakers are showing up including a couple keepers. Jon Kitchen fished the Poorman's and reports that Carol and Madison Kitchen caught their first ever YFT, at 38" and 20 lbs. After hearing rumors of puppy drum being caught at Massey's Landing, Bill Jr. fished with clams and came away with a nice sized triggerfish. Captain Kenny G., on the Just Right IV, caught dolphin with crew Jerry Morris, Paul Freeburg, Danny, Kevin and Sleeper at the Fingers. Louie Satori and crew aboard the Quest caught a129lb mako, released 2 other mako and 1 blue shark while fishing the 20 Fathom Line. Fishing at Three R's Rd. on Sunday, Jim Parrett and Bill Weiss caught blues all afternoon on whole mullet rigs. The best bite came on the outgoing just before dead low tide. Obie-Wan's crew caught lots of yellowfin, mostly short, in the Poor Mans Canyon. Wilmington’s Tom Parisi landed a 5.05lb. 24" flounder caught on a squid and minnow combo at B Buoy. Tom Griffin, of Bills Sport Shop, caught a 19" flounder and some throw backs at Roosevelt Inlet on smelt. Sean Kane, of Rehoboth, brought a 32.5", 17.67 lb striper to the scales after fishing at IRI on eels. According to Shirley Donovan of Donovan's Dock, the charter boat, Reliable II, out of Bowers Beach, caught a few croakers and some flounder up to 25".

At Rattle & Reel Sporting Center on Long Neck Rd., Ron tells us there are lots of flounder and sea bass being taken around the DB Buoy area on squid and minnows. The flounder action in the Rehoboth Bay and Indian River has been real good with more keepers being caught. Minnows, squid, GULP!, and Triggerbait have been working well. The guys have been fishing the Triggerbait on bucktails or spec rigs.

Burt Adams at Hookem’ and Cookem’ Bait and Tackle at North Shore Marina reports plenty of flounder in the Indian river Inlet with keepers being caught. A few nice stripers are also being taken on live spot. A 1-pound kingfish was taken just off the beach at Bethany. The Headboat “Judy V” is finding lots of sea bass and some flounder fishing the ocean. The sea bass are thick at the Old Grounds and along the Buoy line but it is tough finding the keepers. Offshore action consists of dolphin to 22 pounds and small yellowfin tuna from the Baltimore to Poorman’s Canyons. The “Undertaker” took yellowfin tuna of 45 and 55 pounds while fishing the Norfolk Canyon.

At Henlopen Bait and Tackle on Savannah Rd in Lewes, Dan tells us there was good action on the slot stripers in the Broadkill River and Lewes Canal until excessive boat traffic shut them down. Flounder action in the same areas was also good until the boat traffic had the same effect. The Delaware Reefsites are starting to produce more flounder activity. Action on the beaches has been slow according to Dan.

Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said artificial reef structures yielded good numbers of flounder during the week. In Delaware Bay, sites 6,7 and 8 proved productive. Plenty of flounder came from sites 10 and 11 in the ocean as well. Drift conditions had a lot to do with success rates. With wind and tide together, boats traveled too fast to effectively work the bottom. In that scenario, some crews found that anchoring was the ticket. Casting bucktail jigs tipped with shiners, cut bait or Gulp! up current and walking it over the rubble worked well from a stationary vessel, when you couldn’t catch during a fast drift. Captain Chet on the Lil’ Angler II is a proponent of anchor fishing for fluke, and has had good success, as evidenced by last Sunday’s trip when his guys decked 11 keeper flounder. They also had 27 triggerfish, including Linda Bennett’s 3.52 pounder. Flounder specialists the Walker family and crew enjoyed fine action while working the reef sites this past week. They had limit catches varying from 12 to 24 flatties each day. Some of their bigger fish included Joe Walker’s 6.95 and 6.31 pounders, 6.76 pounds for Joe Walker, Jr, Bobby Bryant’s 6.6 pounder, and a 6.42-pound fluke for Larry Burkins. Tony VanSant and friends pulled a limit of 16 quality flatfish from an ocean reef Monday. Bottom structure changes between DB and DA Buoys held fluke too. Flounder also continued to come from shallow water. Frank Lenihan landed an 8.02-pound doormat in the Lewes Canal. Sand bottom near the Ferry Jetty was good, and guys casting jigs tipped with minnows, shiners and Gulp! along the rocks of the inner and outer walls caught flounder too. Joey Fiorentino nailed a 5.23 pounder using a Gulp! grub in less than three feet of water along Broadkill Beach Sunday morning. Bottom bouncers had croakers between the Shears and the Star Site, and on the Broadkill Reef. Clams, bloodworms and Fishbites were favorites of the Hardheads. The opening of a slot-size season offered the opportunity for striper fishermen to take home two striped bass between 20 and 26 inches per angler per day until August 31. The season applies to Delaware Bay and it’s tributaries only. The 28-inch minimum is still in effect for ocean coastal areas and Indian River inlet. Anglers can retain rockfish on the Lewes Canal from the Route 9 Bridge to Roosevelt Inlet, and in the Broadkill River, and those areas gave up numerous keepers. Rock responded to eels, clams, bunker, and a variety of artificials including plugs, jigs and soft plastics. Boaters casting to the inner and outer walls caught stripers too. Tog season re-opened as well, and blackfish were reported from the Inner and Outer Walls and Ice Breakers. Wrecks and reefs gave up tautog too. Water temperatures have risen, and triggerfish were mixed in. The Grizzly had an excellent week of wreck fishing, with a nice mixed bag of triggers, tog and flounder. Captain Carey Evans said Rachel Henry had a 12 pound 4 ounce tautog, and Alex Lewentowsky landed a 9 pound 12 ouncer. Ken Brittingham boated a 6 pound 14 ounce flounder. Paul Berrier boated a 10.63 pound blackfish aboard the Lil’ Angler II. The Guys on Martha Marie celebrated July 4^th with 19-keeper tog. Tuna action that had been good, cooled off. When it was still happening last Sunday, Angelo DeLapo and crew returned from the 461 Lump with three yellowfins from 38 to 42 pounds and a 14-pound dolphin. During the week, other boats fishing Poor Man’s reported scattered catches of gaffer dolphin. Makos frequented Poor Man’s too, and several trollers told of hookups and bite offs from blackeyes. Overnight boats also tangled with makos. There seems to be more makos around this year than in the past, and they’re still hanging out in twenty fathoms too. Michael and David Walker had a 190 pounder at The Sausages. There’s a lot of life in thirty fathoms, with whales, porpoises, birds, baitfish and bluefish all along the line. However, the initial shot of bluefins seemed to push on through the area. But, it looks like more are coming. Joe said he had scattered reports of bluefin bites at Massey’s, and, he had customers check in a nice bluefin they caught at the 26 Mile Hill off Wachapreague Friday. Those fishermen said all the boats trolling around them were hooked into tuna too, so we should see more bluefins soon. ‘Til next week, Have Fun and Be Safe!!!!!!!!!!!