Crappy weather put a crimp in fishing activity most of the week. It was fishable on the Bay last Monday, and boats that ventured out found a mix of croakers, kingfish and blowfish in Broadkill Slough. The best concentration of fish was found on Reef Site 5. Patrons aboard the Angler had good catches of hardheads Monday, and then again when the weather let up Saturday and Sunday. Some flatfish activity has started in Delaware Bay as well. Flukers aboard the Martha Marie returned with 7 keepers to 24 inches, after drifting Bay structure Saturday. Small boats were able to fish Lewes Canal and Broadkill River despite the weather. Some flounder were pulled from the waterways at the end of flood tide and the first of ebb, when the water was clean. Nicks Rigs tipped with shiners and minnows, or Gulp! on a jighead were popular offerings. John Mitchell stopped by Monday with his limit of 4 keeper Canal flatties taken with Nicks Rigs. Joe Pergeorelis pulled a 5.7 pound fluke from the Canal Friday. Matt King captured his limit of flatties Saturday while working white Gulp from his kayak, near the Ferry Jetty. Canal anglers also found some stripers around the bridges. Casting RatLTraps, Storm Shads or Zara Spooks at the top of flood tide generated rockfish bites. Bottom fishing with clams or cut bunker in the evenings also produced stripers. Tom Stachorowski was trying to catch a flounder in the Canal, but a 28.5 inch keeper striper grabbed his fluke killer tipped with squid instead. When striped bass aficionados made it to the Outer Wall at dawn or dusk, they connected with keeper and short rock by casting Bomber plugs. Prior to all the wind, action with sea bass and cod was decent at Site 11. Some flounder have begun to bite on Ocean bottom of the Old Grounds too. Scott Ayars and Liz Short had exact twin 4.49 pound flatties to take the pool on Judy V Saturday. Offshore bottom bouncers targeting tilefish should be aware of regulations changes that went into effect June 4th. MAFMC implemented an emergency measure to temporarily constrain fishing effort and reduce mortality on Blueline Tilefish, while a long term management plan is established. Through December 1, 2015 in waters north of the Virginia/North Carolina border, the possession limit for anglers on private or charter and party boats will be seven Blueline Tilefish per person per trip. The possession limit for Golden Tilefish remains at eight per person per trip. Recreational fishermen returning to Delaware ports through State Waters may retain a limit of each species per trip. However, Maryland and Virginia may have different regulations regarding a combination of the two, so it would be best to check with enforcement agencies in those states before landing a catch. Sharking has been pretty good. Herb Guest and the guys on Port-A-Bella drifted a depression near Site 11 Saturday to tangle with a 212.5 pound Thresher during the Mako Mania Tournament. Captain Ted Moulinier's sharkers aboard the Indian returned with the largest Thresher seen in quite some time. Mark and Mitchell Butler, Dan McCoy and Michelle Ballance, Cameron Powell and Chris Huk teamed up to tame a 509.5 pound monster along the channel edge north of DB Buoy. The big whiptail ate a mackerel fillet and was brought to the boat an hour and a half later. It took awhile to get home since the shark had to be towed alongside, because the crew wasn't able to muscle the massive critter over the rail and into the boat.
Monster Thresher
Lewes Harbour Marina - 6/8/2015 12:00:00 AM