We had the first catch of black drum at the docks brought in after a Wednesday night trip aboard the Lil' Angler II. Captain Brian and his crew anchored up in shallow water on the Coral Beds, and boated four boomers to 35 pounds while baiting with surf clams on fishfinder rigs. Saturday's full moon should kick off a stretch of good drum action, that normally lasts through the early June full moon. We'll be stocking surf clams, but suggest you reserve them by Tuesday to make sure you get what you need.
Other big news is the striper bite that's been happening in the Cape Henlopen surf. Beach casters caught many nice bass during the week while using clams and bunker. Early morning seemed best, especially when it coincided with high tide. The beach near the Herring Point jetties was popular, and long casts weren't necessary for success. Often, rockfish were in close.
Several surf anglers stopped by the shop with limits of linesiders. Some of the better bass included a 19.5 pounder for Steve Fisher, a 22.1 pound striper for Jamie Kosiek, 24.1 pounder for Mike Popovich, a 24.5 pound rock for Chris Van, and a 25.4 pound trophy for Dave Popovich. Bill Love landed a 27.1 pound striper from the Cape wash. Mason Newsham managed a 31.6 pound lunker from the beach near Herring Point. A few stripers were hooked by boaters tossing plugs and jigs around the Inner and Outer Walls. Striped bass were also active in Indian River Inlet. Guys on the north and south rockpiles throwing Bombers and Storm lures at night connected with good sized bass. There was an epic striper run in Indian River Inlet during this same time last year, and jetty jocks are hoping for a repeat.
Togging remained good along the Walls and Ice Breakers. Anna Neely nailed a 9.5 pound tautog aboard the Katy Did. Another recent group on Katy Did returned with 5 citation fish, among their limit in the box. Sam Scott scored a 9.15 pounder, Bob Murphy a 9.07, Bill Wiest a 7.55, Steve Kiibler a 7.4, and Ben Strahl stuck a 7.24 pound tog. Tony Glen got a 9 pound 2 ounce blackfish as part of a limit take aboard the Grizzly. Tog should cooperate through the season closure on May 11th. The Lewes Canal yielded some flounder but most were shorts. Dirty water hindered catching. Water temps have risen to the upper 50's and the Canal and Broadkill River should come alive soon. On warm days with clean water, there have been decent flatties caught. Young Dylan Churchill captured his first keeper fluke measuring 18 and 24 inches while using a shiner tipped orange jig. Anglers on the pier at Cape Henlopen had flounder, but again, most were shy of the 18 inch minimum. Sonny McClure had one keeper out of seven he took from the pier Thursday night. Don't forget the Canal Flounder Tournament Friday May 18th.
Commercial netters continue to report good numbers of different year classes of weakfish in Delaware Bay, so perhaps we'll see a better hook and line fishery this season, even though the creel limit remains at 1 trout per person per day. Researcher Dewayne Fox came by to tell of several big thresher sharks he and his crew encountered while netting for sturgeon. He said they'd seen threshers to more than 400 pounds over the past week, while working south of Indian River Inlet. Sport sharkers should hook their first threshers soon. The crew of the Wrangler, out of Ocean City Fishing Center, landed the first bluefin tuna of the season. The 70 pounder ate a trolled ballyhoo in 500 fahoms of Baltimore Canyon. The season's first Mako, a 96 pounder, was taken between the Baltimore and Poor Man's Canyons aboard the Reel Life out of Indian River.