Boats that worked rough bottom surrounding DB Buoy had good catches of big croakers over the past week. These golden beauties are a much nicer class of fish than what was here earlier in the season. Some of the "Cadillac" sized specimens have been as large as 20 inches. Captain Carey's anglers aboard the Grizzly culled 245 chunky hardheads from many they caught on the obstruction northwest of DB Buoy Saturday. Clams, squid, shrimp, bloodworms and Fishbites were all productive offerings. Keeper size flounder have been hard to come by, but flukers picked a few from the Old Grounds and Delaware Bay reef sites. Peter Luketic landed a 4.07 pounder on the Angler Sunday. Some impressive flounder were pulled from Indian River Inlet by guys drifting live spot and mullet. The big flatties stage in inlets this time of year gorging on migratory schools of mullet and spot. Mullet showed up thick along Lewes Beach and inside Cape Henlopen the past couple days. The abundance of baitfish attracts gamefish to near shore areas, and some nice flatfish came from shallow water along the shore and in Roosevelt Inlet. Mike Shockley managed a 6.9 pounder while casting a Gulp! from the beach Saturday evening. Angela Wallace checked in a 4.42 pound flounder she took from Roosevelt Wednesday using a minnow and Gulp! combo.

The multitudes of mullet drew attention from bluefish too, and snappers were plentiful inside Cape Henlopen and around the Inner and Outer Walls. Offshore boaters reported a few yellowfin tuna among masses of false albacore in Baltimore Canyon over the weekend. White marlin action was decent for those targeting billfish. Rick Fischer and his crew went 3 for 5 on whites at the 461 Lump Saturday. They also filled the box with 37 dolphin that they bailed from a weedline in the area. There was a good white bite in the Washington Canyon Sunday, and marlin were reported during the week at the Rockpile as well. Normally, the period leading up to the September full moon kicks off some good swordfishing. Squid and tinker mackerel bunch up in the deep and are available for swords to work over by the moonlight. Wes Olson found that to be true Friday night when he and his son hooked four swordfish aboard his "Bad Habit", while drifting live squids through the Bight of Baltimore Canyon. They put one nice swordy in the bag to take home, and released the others. Deep water bottom fishermen had a successful trip Saturday aboard the "Skipjack". Captain Chris Thurman had a decent drift on the edge of the Baltimore, despite strong current, and got the tilefish good. The anglers ended up with 20 tilefish, many in the 20 pound range. Captain H.D. Parsons ran a productive headboat tile trip to the Baltimore on "Thelma Dale V" over the weekend. Fares loaded up on good sized golden tilefish. Sea bass have been gathering on inshore structure. Patti Schneider earned a citation for the 3.45 pound knothead she wrestled from the Triple Wrecks aboard "Patient Lady".