Fishing Report

Continual southwest wind has made it tough for tuna fishermen. Catching had been good along the edge of the canyons, but several days of southwesterly flow broke up warmer water that had been holding baitfish and gamefish in the Wilmington, Baltimore and Poor Man's. Inshore water turned green, and offshore water became void of life. Up until this weather event, trolling boats had done well with yellowfins. Last Friday, Hank Draper and his buddies had 7 yellowfins to 40 pounds in the Baltimore. Captain Ed and his crew on Snow Goose overnighted in the Baltimore Friday where they tangled with sharks during the darkness. They released a large scalloped hammerhead, an oversized blue shark and a half dozen big duskies. They also put 5 yellowfins to 58 pounds in the box and let go 4 others while trolling the East Wall. Geoff McCloskey, Phil Falgowski, Josh Loose and Mark Spence had hot trolling action in the Wilmington Saturday. They hooked 28 yellowfins, keeping a limit of 12 to 69 pounds, and releasing the other 16. Captains Brent and Dave trolled the Baltimore Saturday for six tuna to 40 pounds, then capped the day off by dropping for a mix of 35 blueline and golden tiles. Inshore bottom fishermen found sea bass and ling on the Del-Jersey Land Reef Site. Site 11 held bass too, but the quality of fish and number of keepers was better at DJL. Gladdy Dcruz decked a 4.16 pound knothead there aboard Martha Marie. Before all the southwest breeze and the effect of the recent full moon, Site 11 yielded some decent flounder. Bob Kauffman and his group fished there with Captain Brent on Katydid last Thursday and returned with 18 keeper flatfish to 4.9 pounds. Brent took the Katydid back to 11 on Saturday, but only ended up with 8 in the box, however, the largest was a 6.33 pounder that Brent boated himself. Captain Pete on Top Fin worked Sites 9 and 10 Saturday and brought back 12 flatties to 4.5 pounds. The Old Grounds southeast of DB Buoy has been producing some flatfish too. Captain Ricky on the Thelma Dale IV has been drifting that region for fluke and sea bass and he reported that there were schools of small mackerel all over the place. He's been deploying sabiki rigs to catch the little macks whenever he sees them on the screen. The mini mackerels make excellent bait, and are candy to flounder and other species as well. In Delaware Bay, croakers, spot, kingfish, blowfish and spike trout were caught on the rubble of Reef Sites 5 and 8. Strong currents from the big moon made flounder fishing challenging, but some flatties came from artificial structure. "Fishin' Ricky Mills" and Jack Henriksen had 3 keepers to 22 inches at Site 5 Monday. Flounder continue to come from Lewes Canal. Eileen and Gary Smith had keepers of 18,19,20 and 22 inches using 6 inch white Gulp Saturday. Eileen used a speck rig with pink Gulp to tempt a 4.57 pounder Sunday. Cris and Mala Teeter took home 4 fluke from the Canal using pink Gulp Saturday. Chuck Hazel checked in yesterday with a limit of nice flatfish he caught in the Canal using minnows and shiners on "Nick's special rigs". Stripers were also roaming the Canal. Keepers were caught around the drawbridge by boaters using eels or clams. The striped bass slot limit goes into effect July 1st. Anglers will be able to retain 2 rockfish between 20 and 26 inches per day in Delaware Bay and it's tributaries until August 31st. The minimum size for the Ocean and Indian River remains at 28 inches.

Offshore trollers have had success with tuna. Yellowfins were reported scattered along the edge, with catches coming from the Wilmington Canyon, the West Wall of Baltimore Canyon and the 800 square of Washington Canyon. Willie and Art lodge teamed up for the heaviest yellowfin brought in to Lewes Harbour so far this season. They boated the 77.7 pounder after it pounced on a squid chain in the Bight of the Baltimore. Bubba Hastings checked in with his report of 5 yellowfins his crew caught while trolling ballyhoo in 70 to 80 fathoms inshore of the Baltimore Bight. In addition to tuna, billfish have shown up. The first white marlin of the year was released Saturday from the charter boat No Quarter, out of Ocean City, in 1000 fathoms outside of Poor Man's Canyon. Tim Hawn had the honor of winding on the highly coveted first whitey. Offshore bottom bouncing was good for tilefish. Last Saturday, the gang aboard Katydid scored a load of gray tiles to over 15 pounds, plus a bunch of rosefish and several golden tile. Sam Scott landed the largest golden, that tipped the scales to 36.4 pounds. Bill Swords and his buddies on Swords Fish also enjoyed good deep dropping Saturday, putting a nice batch of golden tile in the box. Inshore bottom fishing has has been pretty good too. On Tuesday, Captain Brent's group on Katydid had 120 sea bass, several ling and three nice flounder. Flounder have been roaming the Old grounds southeast of DB Buoy. Mike Newsham and friends had 10 keepers in 80 feet of water there on Monday. Fluke activity has also improved in Delaware Bay. Flukers aboard Katydid captured 20 keepers to 3.6 pounds while drifting Site 5 on Wednesday. Some flatties continue to come from Lewes Canal and Broadkill River. Eilene Euston and Peg Proctor checked in with 4 flounder from the Broadkill caught using pink Gulp and smelts. Mike Smith and Mike Smith, Jr celebrated Father's Day by taking 4 quality flatfish betweeen 3 and 4 pounds from the Canal with Gulp! Panfish are plentiful in Delaware Bay. Croakers and spot seem to be just about everywhere, and will hit bits of bloodworm or Fishbites on small hooks. There have been more kingfish in the Bay than there have been for some time. They are concentrated on live bottom along the western edge of The Shears and on the Coral Beds, but casters on Lewes and Broadkill Beaches, and in the Cape Henlopen surf have also encountered kings. Striped bass are hanging out in Lewes Canal. Rock were hooked using clams or peeler crabs on bottom rigs. Boaters casting eels, RatLTraps or Storm Shads around the drawbridge also got bit.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission approved a coastwide recreational summer flounder harvest limit that allowed for changes in Delaware's flounder regulations. As of June 11, anglers catching summer flounder in Delaware waters will be able to retain smaller fish, with no closed season. Under previous regs, legal flounder had to be at least 18 inches long. The new minimum size is 17 inches, and anglers may keep four fluke per day. This should mean more in the box for summertime fishermen, and less wear and tear on the flounder population, since anglers won't have to cull through and handle as many fish prior to releasing them if they don't meet minimum size. Flatties continued to come from Lewes Canal and Broadkill River. Terry Euston and Scott Proctor stopped by with 5 nice keepers caught with smelts and chartreuse Gulp!. Chris Teeter was casting a chartreuse Gulp! from Lewes Beach when he connected with a 4.4 pound flounder and a 15 inch trout. Delaware Bay structure is also yielding some flatfish. Captain Brent's afternoon group put three in the box yesterday, along with a bunch of croakers, while working reef 5. Matt Adams managed the largest flounder, which weighed in at 4.63 pounds. The resurgence of weakfish has been a bright spot this spring, and many good sized trout have come from the same spots that produced years ago. The submerged jetties at Roosevelt, the Ferry Wall and Inner Wall were likely haunts. Soft artificials like Gulp!, Bass Assassins and paddletail worms were effective offerings. Francis Walsh was tossing a Pink Ghost Bass Assassin Shad at the Ferry Wall when he hooked a beautiful 4.05 pound weakie. Dustin Schell captured a 4.1 pound seatrout while working a jig and bunker strip combo from a pier inside Cape Henlopen. Kingfish are another Bay species that seem to more plentiul this year. Numerous kings have been caught on live bottom in The Shears and on the Coral Beds, and also from Broadkill Beach. Bloodworms, Fishbites and bits of clam were favorite baits. Patrons on the Angler headboat have done well with kings, returning with buckets of the tasty panfish. The Bay is also holding plenty of spot, croakers and blowfish. These should offer great action for anglers of all skill levels this summer, especially kids. Some uncommon species have made an early appearance in the Bay this spring. Taylor Deemer spotted a big Spadefish swimming around the pilings of Cape Henlopen Pier, and tempted the 4.72 pound beauty with a small piece of clam. Striper fishing has been good in Lewes Canal. Guys baitng with clams or peeler crab on bottom rigs got into bass. Many were shy of the 28 inch minimum, but some were keepers. "Rick" weighed in an 11.9 pounder he took from the Canal using frozen peeler. Drifting eels or casting RatLTraps around the drawbrdge resulted in legal rockfish too. The 20 to 26 inch slot limit for stripers goes into effect July 1. Sea Bassing was fair at Site 11, but better for those willing to travel farther off to structure in 120 foot depths. On Sunday, bassers aboard Katydid had a banner trip. They boxed 240 quality blueheads, and nearly 60 ling. Bernie Smelstoys and friends had their limit of 140 bass and 26 plump ling Sunday on the Grizzly. Offshore trollers found yellowfin tuna in the past few days. On Monday, the charterboat Moore Bills out of Ocean City returned to the dock with 15 yellowfins they landed while trolling 200 fathoms in the Baltimore Canyon. Other crews reported tuna catches from 50 to 70 fathoms of the Washington.

Twenty fathom structure looks pretty sharky so far this season. Good numbers of Threshers have been reported from The Fingers over the past two weeks. Several have been sizeable specimens, over 200 pounds. Captain Ed Sigda and his crew aboard the Snow Goose drifted Massey's Canyon Friday for plenty of action with toothy critters. They battled a big Thresher for an hour before bringing it to the boat. When it was along side, the shark's fork length measured over 8 feet. They stuck a tag in the big girl and estimated her weight between 400 and 500 pounds before cutting her loose. They also released 16 blue sharks during the day. Captain Jeff Stewart sharked the Chicken Bone and Hambone Tuesday. His anglers hooked four makos. They fought and released 3 of the Blackeyes, and boated the largest, a 200 pounder. Regarding other Ocean opportunities, sea bass were available on reef and wreck structure between 100 and 150 feet of water. Captain Brent on Katydid said bass had been spotty since the season opening, but they finally showed signs of starting to stack up around certain spots. Brent bassed yesterday, and his nine guys returned with their boat limit of chunky knotheads, many close to 2 pounds. They also had several quality ling. A few days earlier, Captain Brent hosted the fishin' Falgowski family for a wreck trip. The group came in with 105 bass and 20 ling. Kenny Luckanish stopped by to weigh a 3.95 pound citation sea bass he decked aboard the Thelma Dale IV. Offshore bottom bouncers had success too. Captain Pete and the boys on Candy's Reel Choice deep dropped in Baltimore Canyon for 15 golden tilefish to 30 pounds, plus a mix of sea bass, ling and black belly rosefish. Back in Delaware Bay, drum fishing held up well through the past week. Fish continued to come from the Coral Beds area, but a good bite also developed northeast of Brandywine. Captain Carey had a one man charter there Friday evening aboard Grizzly. Wild man Jim Weidman wound in 14 drum by himself during a crazy bite. He kept one, and released the rest. Carey hosted Steve Henry and family for some drumming Saturday night, when they harvested 6 drum and released 4 others. The Knotts family from West Virginia fished on the Katydid Saturday evening. That's when young Karley Knotts captured her first black drum weighing 36.1 pounds. Captain Vince's drummers on Miss Kirstin decked 4 drum Saturday night. Lucas Stawarz landed a 51.7 pound drum on the Indian while visiting Delaware from Japan. James Jones got his 59.8 pounder aboard the Pirate King II. Madison Tober managed a 64.2 pound drum during an afternoon outing on the Angler. Some nice drum hit the deck aboard Local Girl. Zach Jackson got a 52.5 pounder, Brandon Jackson boated a 58.1 pounder, and Darby Klopp battled a boomer weighing 55.3 pounds. Robert Orton weighed in a 53.2 pound drum he hooked at the Coral Beds. Drum should be available through this new moon, but catches normally fade out by mid June. The return of weakfish continues to please Delaware Bay fishermen. Numerous seatrout have come from the submerged jetties at Roosevelt Inlet, the Ferry Wall and Inner Wall. Soft artificials such as Gulp!, Bass Assassins and paddletail worms worked well. Jeff Purdy used a purple and pink paddletail on a red jighead to tempt a 5.6 pound trout from the Ferry Wall. Not to be outdone, Jeff's Dad Vince Purdy took a 5.3 pound trout and a bonus 1.9 pound speckled trout using the same jig and paddletail combo at the same spot the next day. Glenn Barrett brought in a 3.5 pound weakie that swallowed a spot he was reeling in from the Cape Henlopen Pier. Chris Huk had a 28 inch trout that blasted a topwater plug he was working along the grass in Lewes Canal. Flounder catches in the Canal improved the last few days. Some flatties were also caught along Lewes and Broadkill Beaches. Karen Revis stopped by with a pair of keepers to 19 inches she got drifting minnows in Broadkill River. Croakers and spot have been plentiful around the Henlopen Pier and along Lewes Beach and will jump on pieces of bloodworms or Fishbites on small hook rigs. Kingfish and blowfish have been caught in the Ocean surf with the same baits.