Weather is still the biggest factor affecting our fishing. Fish are here and fish are biting. Massey's Ditch is providing action on Tog and and a few small stripers. Indian River Inlet is giving up a fair amount of nice size bluefish along with stripers and flounder. Tog are also being taken in the inlet. Most of the stripers are still throwbacks but larger fish are beginning to show up. Dwayne Krebs and his son fished frozen spot in the inlet to score some real nice blues to 30 inches. Dave Gilmore fished just inside the inlet to boat 2 keeper flatties and a 29 1/2 inch striper. In the ocean, Reefsite #10 is providing some good tog action along with some triggerfish. Larry Range on the "Silver Bullet" fished Site #10 and scored tog to 24 inches along with some triggerfish. In the Rick's Bait & Tackle/ Sea Side Gas & Grill Striper Tournament, Jim Fluharty leads the pack with an 18 pounder.

                             Joe Morris at Lewes Harbour Marina said it sounds like a broken record, but once again, high winds kept boats tied to the dock over the weekend. However, the arrival of stripers after last week’s northeast blow was major news. On Tuesday, Kris Battaglini brought in the first big bass of the fall, a 28.1 pounder taken in the rip outside the Outer Wall. Kyle Falgowski and Jacob Webb trolled Stretch 25+ and Stretch 18+ plugs on Overfalls Shoal for three nice rockfish, including Kyle’s 27.6 pounder and Jacob’s 22.2 pound rock. Sean Olson chunked up a 33.2 pound linesider at the “C & B” using bunker. Joey Fiorentino was drifting an eel at 8A Buoy when he connected with a 20.5 pound striped bass. John Floyd and K.B. Brittingham were pulling Stretch plugs in the Outer Wall and Ice Breakers rips when they landed stripers weighing 21.8 and 20.7 pounds. Boaters reported seeing schools of baitfish and numerous diving gannets working on Hen and Chickens Shoal and around the Outer Wall on Friday. The signs likely herald the arrival of more stripers. There were definitely big blues mixed in and feeding under the birds. Patrons on the Angler had several choppers hooked up Friday afternoon while drifting the shoal. While sharp teeth cut off the hooks of most fishermen, Andrea Monetti managed to hang on to her 9.7 pound bluefish. More bluefish and bass should be moving in daily, and taking up residence on usual striper structure across the mouth of the Bay. Joe said the store has plenty of live eels and spot on hand now, and that he will try to have fresh bunker when it’s available. The Annual Lewes Harbour Striper Tournament has begun and runs through November 24^th. Anglers can register to fish by the day, or pay one fee that covers them for the duration. The event offers cash prizes for the three heaviest stripers weighed in by properly registered contestants. Tautog action was good during the week. The bite was most consistent along the Outer Wall and Ice Breakers for guys using green crabs, sand fleas and Gulp! artificials. Many toggers told of limit catches, and some big blackfish from the rocks. Bill Fintel brought in an 8.8 pound tog from the Wall. Richard Guretsky got a 7.5 pounder, also at the Wall. Dr. Mike Junck, Bob Witte and Allen Quillen iced their limit of tog at Wall Friday aboard Top Fin. Bay water was dirty early in the week due to previous windy weather, and the reef sites weren’t as productive. Towards week’s end, with better conditions, reports of some catches came from Sites 6 and 7 near Brown Shoal, Reef 5 in Broadkill Slough, and Reef 8, the Star Site. Water temperatures had dropped to the mid 50s after last week’s continuous northeast, but were back up close to 60 at this writing. With cooling temperatures and clean water, more tog should come from the Bay reefs. Ocean wrecks and reefs gave up tog. Mason Newsham nailed a 6.11 pounder on a wreck at the Bay mouth. Captains Dave Walker and Brent Wiest fished a snag Tuesday for a limit of 20 blackfish, and released at least that many more keeper sized tog. Dave and Bruce Bennett kept 17 more nice fish from the same spot Wednesday. Captain Tony Vansant, Larry Burkins, Larry Pleasanton and Joe Pisarski had their limit of 40 tautog while anchored on an ocean reef Wednesday. Kevin Blouch was surprised with an uncommon catch for the Lewes area while togging on the Angler. Kevin captured a 5.5 pound red drum. Tautog specialist Herbie Shorthose took the lead in the Lewes Harbour Tog Tournament with a 9.98 pounder. Mike Newsham is currently Second with his 9.54 pound tog. Terry Popowski caught a 7.82 pounder aboard the Grizzly that moved him into Third Place. The Tourney ends October 31^st. Offshore sharking is good when you can get there. The Skipjack overnighted in the Baltimore Canyon, where Randy Doyle landed a 275 pound Mako. The crew also released two other blackeyes, along with six blue sharks. In addition, they had a 52 pound yellowfin and a half dozen golden tiles to 20 pounds.  ‘Til next week, Have Fun and Be Safe !!!!!