There's been some great flounder fishing on the Old Grounds over the past several weeks, but a blast of northeast wind early this week may have prompted fluke to start moving out. Boaters plying the Grounds in recent days report keeper flatties harder to come by. Flounder will continue to stage along channel edges as they migrate offshore, offering flukers a few more shots at good catches, but the bulk of the best action is probably behind us. Prior to the blow, Captain Brent's anglers on Katydid scored 26 keepers to 6 pounds on a trip to the Old Grounds last Thursday. On Sunday, Michael Davis decked doormats of 7.08 and 6.08 pounds, and "Beaver" Ruff reeled in a 6.01 pounder near DB Buoy. Adam Legg, "Striper Killer" Steve Kiibler and Scott Riniker limited out on quality flounder while drifting the Old Grounds Sunday. Captain Carey's flukers aboard Grizzly put 20 keeper flatties in the box Sunday. Mason Newsham nailed a 7.4 pound trophy fluke Sunday on Local Girl, with his dad, Captain Mike Newsham. Doug Mickowski brought in the whopper of the week, an 8.25 pound beauty he boated Sunday near DB Buoy. Early week wind dirtied Delaware Bay water, and slowed the bottomfish bonanza that had been taking place all summer. Croakers continued to be caught around the various artificial reefs, but not in the volume of past weeks. Big spot remained plentiful in Lewes Canal, Broadkill River and around Cape Henlopen Pier. Mullet are active along Lewes Beach and the Ocean shoreline. Castnetters have been stocking up on fresh bait, and a supply for the freezer. Snapper bluefish have been roaming the surf working over schools of the shiny baitfish. Some legal trout came from the Bay surf, around the Walls, and on the Reefs for anglers using cut fresh mullet. On the offshore scene, the tuna bite just keeps on going in Washington Canyon. Whales have been working on squid and baitfish there for the last several weeks, and bigeyes and yellowfins have been feeding with them. Nighttime chunkers, and recently those fishing in the daytime both did well. The trick to catch tuna in daylight was to use light fluorocarbon leaders. Butterfish, sardines and peanut bunkers were effective offerings. The same worked after dark, but crews were usually able to catch live squids to use for bait as well, which tuna found irresistable. Jig fishermen also had good success with yellowfins. Often in the daytime, skippers marked fish on their machines 100 feet down below the whales. Butterfly and diamond jigs could be dropped right into the zone by counting seconds, watching metered line colors change or seeing the jigs fall on the depth recorder. The erratic motion of the lures forces a reaction strike and is deadly on tuna. It has been one of the most amazing bigeye seasons most offshore anglers ever remember. Crews that are able to be on the scene for the last hours of daylight or at dawn seem to do best. Some boats are really dialed in on eyeballs. Jim Hukill said he and the guys aboard No Quarter caught their 20th bigeye of the summer this past week. Steve Moore mentioned that he fished with Captain Chad Meeks on the Playmate Wednesday afternoon for some incredible action in the Washington. Between 6 and 9 pm, they trolled up 4 bigeyes to 226 pounds. At 9, they set up to chunk, and by 10 pm had put their limit of 24 yellowfins in the box and were headed back to the dock. Billfish and true albacore also made appearances in the canyons. Hank Draper and his crew trolled 76 degree water in 70 fathoms along the 090 line of Poor Man's Sunday. They released a 108 inch Blue Marlin estimated at over 400 pounds. The fish had been previously tagged and Hank retrieved the tag to find out the marlin's history. The boys also boated 4 longfins and 5 gaffer dolphin. Ed Sigda and his group on Snow Goose iced 3 longfins while trolling in the Baltimore Sunday. On a sad note, the local fishing community lost a well respected friend with the passing of Joe Walker. Joe was a regular at the dock every summer, in pursuit of his passion, catching flounder. Through many years of learning by paying attention to elements that make fish bite, Joe had become a very proficient angler. His intuition put him where he needed to be at the prime time, telling him to stop the boat "when the water was right". Joe's skill led to many citation-size fluke each season, earning him the reputation as a Flounder Guru. His most prized accomplishment was landing a 32 inch, 13.6 pound flounder from a Delaware Bay reef site back in July of 2006. Even though Joe dished out a little good natured ribbing to his fishing buddies when he'd have the biggest flattie of the day, he was a modest man, willing to share knowledge he'd gathered. Joe cherished his family and friends, and was quite generous. His sons Joe, Dave and Michael benefited greatly from the example of their father. Joe honored and loved his wife and daughters. He enjoyed countless good times with his fishing and hunting cronies "Uncle Tom" Coyle and Bobby Bryant. Joe delighted in taking his grandchildren fishing, even when they were no longer little kids. He fretted whenever he invited members of his Gun Club for a day on the Bay, trying to make sure everything was taken care of so they'd experience the best trip possible. Joe's attention to details made him a very successful business person too. His family run Marcus Hook Florist has always received praises from customers who describe it as exceptional in every respect. Joe will truly be missed by all who had the privilege of knowing him. And, there just might be a record flounder out there Joe hadn't gotten to yet, sighing with relief.