Article by Capt. BJ Pietryak
This past week in Delaware we had fairly good sea bass fishing on the near shore wrecks along with good inlet fishing for flounder and rockfish. The rest of the bays and inlets are improving as the water warms up with the arriving summer heat. Flounder have become more frequent in this past week, although not to the level that Ocean City has once produced. Large storms ravaged our area during the week, churning up the water and causing it to become very muddy. The rains also caused our temps to dip into the low 60s at night, cooling off the water. With warmer weather on the way next week and less storms predicted, hopefully the water will again stabilize and flounder fishing will improve. The Delaware Bay is still producing big black drum. Many of these fish are loaded with eggs and should be returned to help keep the fishery consistent with new life. Surf fishing is slowing with tons of horseshoe crabs dominating the region. A few rockfish and drum are still being caught however most drum have made their way to the DE Bay to spawn.
Back Bays and Inlets
The back bays and inlets had a slow down last week due to the storms and cooler air temps in the area. Flounder are still being caught at the inlet and main channels along with Massey’s Ditch. Fishing in deeper water between 6-10 feet is the most consistent depth to find fish. Squid and minnow combinations have been successful, but some are now being caught on Gulp baits. On evening tides, rockfish can be found along the rocks with smaller bluefish thrown in. Swimbaits and jigs are working best when thrown near the rocks after dark. Mellissa and Olivia Brozefsky spent the day fishing the DE Bay and landed a beautiful black weighing 47 lbss. Joe Norvell caught a 44”, 49 lbs. black, while fishing the bay using fresh surf clams. The fish was weighed in at Rick's Bait and Tackle. Dean Correll also checked in at Ricks and showed off his 29” black drum. “Never Satisfied Charters” had a great evening on the bay going two for five on Black drum. Josh and Tiffany fished on the “Crab Burner” with Captain Newsham and landed five nice drum on their charter.
Riley Jones had a good day at IR Inlet landing three big togs using sand fleas. Lane Goode fished the pier and landed a nice 22” fluke.
Near Shore Wrecks and Reefs
Sea bass is the main focus now on our nearshore coral grounds and wrecks. Anglers are having to work hard and pick though smaller undersized fish to fill a cooler. The NJ/DE Reef is, as usual, the best location for targeting these fish but has already become very crowded with boats and anglers. Finding smaller wrecks and drop offs will soon become necessary as anglers continue to plunder the more well known wrecks. Fresh clam as well as small vertical jigs are your best bet when targeting these bass. As the water warms in the upcoming weeks we should begin to see both bluefish as well as spanish mackerel on the Fenwick shoals along with the triggerfish. For both blues and macks trolling small spoons behind the boat at around 4-5 mph in the early morning hour will produce the best strikes. The “Angler" headboat stated that despite the slower bite they did manage to catch some really nice sea bass on their past trips delighting anglers with a plethora of fish to invite home for dinner. “Wreck Dog Fishing” checked into Fisherman's Wharf By 10 am with a quick caught grocery list of 90 fish. Many fish were near the 5 lbs. mark. It's a pleasure when you get on a group of fish that don't even have to be measured. Great job guys! The boats at Hook'em and Cook’Em Tackle reported that although a slower bite than usual, the anglers are still finding plenty of fish to fill their coolers. “Skipjack Sportfishing” also returned to the dock with coolers full of tasty sea bass with several double headers being reported.
Surf Fishing
Surf fishing has slowed with only a few anglers catching the big black drum we had seen in previous weeks. Fresh surf clams and fish bites are still working best and an early morning bite appears to be the best time. As a reminder, this past holiday weekend began the start of a reservation being needed to surf fish on the weekends and holidays. My understanding from the state officials was that the permits were sold out for the weekend within one hour. For those of you planning on surf fishing on a weekend, you should be ready to snag your permits online very soon after they go on sale or you will be left wanting. Jim Thompson caught and released a big 44" rockfish while fishing the Fenwick drive on using sand fleas tipped with fishbite. Officer Majewski also fished Fenwick and landed a nice 34” rock using sand fleas and fishbites. 9 yr old Ronin Jehl from Willmington caught a nice 10 lbs. bluefish off the beach at Fenwick while fishing a bucktail lure in the surf. Chase Haugh had barely gotten his second rod set up when he hooked, landed, and released the biggest drum he had ever caught off the beach. Early morning definitely appears to be the best time of the day for drum fishing. Mark Lucas had another good day on the beach landing an over slot rockfish that put up one hell of a fight. Frank Sima, Jr got in on the beach bite, landing a slammer bluefish on a mullet rig. Suzanne Martin dropped a gator blue using a mullet rig at Cape Henlopen.
Clams and Crabs
Clamming continues to improve with Holts Landing and the VFW being the targeted spots this week. Many spots are still untouched due the colder than normal water and are producing good quantities of steamer clams along with the bigger chowder clams. Crabbing remains about the same with very large crabs or undersized ones in the pots. 4-6 keepers per pot has been average. One or two more sheds should put us in the thick of the bounty. Fresh or frozen bunker perform better than chicken. Finding the snails appears to be the key to finding the best keepers. If you find snails in your pots then you are targeting the right place.
Until next week,
Tight Lines and Fins Up!
