Although the Ocean flounder bite has been good recently, fluke action on Delaware Bay kicked in this past week. Boats working the artificial structure of reef sites 5,6,7 and 8 did well with flatties when conditions were right. Squid strips, shiners and smelts on bottom rigs worked, and bucktails tipped with Gulp! or cut bait caught their share.

Dave Walker checked in a 6.86 pounder he got with a jig. Flukers on Katy Did scored a great catch while rubble bouncing Sunday. Captains Brent Wiest and Dave Walker, Fred Robinson, Sam Scott, Richard Adams, Jeff Kerner, Bill Wiest, John Furbush, Clara Hollingsworth, Nancy Nortonheimer and Joe McNeal teamed up for 39 keepers, plus a black drum and a trout. Joe had the largest flatfish, a doormat weighing 9.28 pounds. Captain Brent hosted the Cannon and Sheffield families for some flounder fishing, returning with 25 keepers. Matt Baker, Chip Graves and Nate Evans used live spot to tempt 11 quality fluke from a Bay reef site. Chip caught a 5.76 pounder, and Nate nailed a 6.33 pound beauty. As mentioned earlier, flounder fishing in the Ocean has been productive too, with natural bottom structure of the Old Grounds giving up plenty of fluke, along with some decent sea bass. Reef 10 yielded flatties too. Pete Geng got an 8.4 pound trophy there aboard Top Fin. Michelle Schnaitman got a 5.2 pounder at Site 10, and John Schnaitman, Jr took a 6.06 pound flounder. John Mazzula muscled in a 7.96 pound citation aboard the Indian. Tuna fishermen continue to find success at the Hot Dog.

Chunking the northeast corner of the lump produced both yellowfins and bluefins. Yellowfins responded to hand fed chunks of butters or sardines on 50 pound fluorocarbon leaders, usually early in the morning. Bluefins ate baits deeper in the column, even on the bottom. Jigging with Butterfly or Hammered Diamond Jigs was effective as well. Bill McMahon, Steve Schad and Rick Peters chunked a 75 pound bluefin at the Dog, and released 8 other bruisers. Jim Weidman and friends had fast chunking action at the Hot Dog Tuesday aboard the Grizzly. Captain Carey Evans said they were hooked up constantly from the time the first butter went in the water at 6 am until he stopped for a break at 10:15. They kept 5 yellowfins plus their "over and under bluefins", and released numerous other bluefins. Back inshore, striper seekers fishing Lewes Canal found slot size specimens between the Drawbridge and Railroad Bridge. Casting Storm Shads worked well. Drfiting eels or bottom fishing with clams also produced rockfish.