Bluefins have taken up residence at the Hot Dog, and crews working the east side of the structure caught some nice tuna. Anchoring and chunking with butterfish and sardines proved productive. Fish responded to baits presented at different depths, but those closer to the bottom got bit most. Butterfly and hammered diamond jigs sent deep in the water column were effective too.

Yellowfins were mixed in, but it seemed they stayed higher in the slick, and preferred hand fed chunks. Captain Carey hosted Brian Arnold's group aboard the Grizzly for some great tuna action on July 1. They boxed 2 yellowfins, a 90 pound bluefin, and their under 47 inch bluefin. They also fought and released several 100 plus pound bluefins before calling it a day. Carey said the trick to tempting yellowfins was offering baits on 50 pound fluorocarbon. Bruce, Brad and Josh Buchalter, and Gerry and Scott Wert enjoyed fine fishing at the Dog on July 2nd. They kept 3 yellowfins and Scott's 88 pound bluefin, and released other bluefins as well. Captain Carey on Grizzly returned to the Hot Dog July 3rd with just one angler. Jim Weidman had a banner day, reeling in a pair of yellowfins and 8 bluefins up to 100 pounds. Other captains told of good bluefin chunking at the Dog, and still some trolling catches too. Boats pulling ballyhoos way, way back on the Hambone and Chicken Bone hooked bluefins, many over 50 inches. Yellowfins continued to pop up in 40 fathoms southeast of the Dog, but not in the numbers of previous weeks. Phil Falgowski and his buddies fished in the Baltimore Canyon where they had 5 gaffer dolphin, a 50 pound yellowfin and a 300 pound blue marlin release. In addition to good tuna fishing, inshore bottom bouncing was hot too. Flounder were taken from the Old Grounds between DB and DA Buoys, and on reefs 9 and 10. Anglers drifting squid, mackerel strips, smelts and shiners did well. Flukers also had success jigging bucktails tipped with Gulp! Kevin and Tammy Parker, Lance Cochran and "Flint" Sherman had their limit of 16 fine flatfish to 5.7 pounds on a trip to the Old Grounds. Buckwheat and Bobby Bryant, Bob Fleming and Steve Reynolds rounded up 13 keepers to 5.75 pounds at Site 10. Captain Brent's fares on Katy Did kept 28 flatties to over 5 pounds while rubble bouncing on July 3rd. A couple days earlier, Brent's anglers came back with 33 quality keepers. Dennis Fish and friends iced 19 fluke aboard the Grizzly. Several big flounder were weighed in during the week. Steve Parseghian pulled in a 9.42 pounder. Matt Shoup scored a 9.3 pounder using a bucktail tipped with Gulp! Matt Baker boated a 6.25 pound fluke. Diana Vansant decked one weighing 6.22 pounds. Matthew Maskell fooled a 5.04 pounder with a squid and minnow sandwich.

Flounder catching is improving in Delaware Bay. Steve Warren used live peanut bunker to get his limit near the Ferry Jetty. All the fish were over 4.25 pounds, and the heaviest was just under 9 pounds. Jack Henriksen and friends on his "Legal Eagle" had 11 keepers while drifting a reef site on July 4th. Bay reefs have also started to produce legal sized croakers. Using clams, bloodworms or Fishbites on small hooks at Site 5 resulted in hardheads that mostly ranged 8 to 12 inches. Blowfish, kingfish, spot, snapper blues and triggerfish were found on reef junk too. The slot size striped bass season is now open in Delaware Bay and it's tributaries. Anglers may keep 2 stripers between 20 and 26 inches per day until August 31. The slot limit does not apply to coastal waters, Indian River Inlet or the Inland Bays, where a 28 inch minimum size remains in effect. Striper were plentiful in Lewes Canal. They could be seen working baitfish in the evenings between the Drawbridge and Train Bridge. Anglers casting Storm Shads or Rat-L-Traps caught their slot size keepers. Other keeper bass fell for clams, squid heads or eels fished on the bottom.