Fishing Report

We've decided to postpone the Flounder Tourney until Saturday May 17th because of the bad forecast. Keeping safety in mind, we wouldn't want any issues due to weather hazzards. We also realize sompe people will not be able to fish because of scheduling conflicts, and we apologize to those who arranged for vacation time on Friday. However, we want it to be a fun event, and feel it would be safer and more enjoyable for most anglers by moving the Tourney back a day. If you cannot attend, we will gladly refund your entry fee, but please let us know before the 7am start time Saturday. Also, if anyone has not registered yet, but wants to participate Saturday, they can sign up at our store Friday from 6am to 7pm, or Saturday morning from 5am until 7am. It was a difficult decision and we're sorry that it may not work for everyone, but we thank you for understanding.

The Annual Canal Flounder Tournament takes place Friday May 16th. This year's sponsors include the Dewey Beach Lions Club and Martek Marine Electronics. This is a flounder tournament only, and all State and Federal Regulations regarding fishing and boating apply. A cash entry fee of $25 per angler is to be paid at Lewes Harbour Marina Bait & Tackle Shop before 7am May 16th. Five dollars of each entry will be donated to the Camp Awareness Youth Program. Boundaries are from Rehoboth Bay Canal entrance to Roosevelt Inlet entrance, and Broadkill River to Oyster Rocks Road. Anglers must fish from a boat that is not moored to land. Fishing time is from 7am to 3pm Friday May 16, 2014. All fish weighed must have been caught on hook and line by a registered contestant. Fish must be weighed at Lewes Harbour Marina's scale any time after 7am, but no later than 4pm by Lewes Harbour Marina's clock. It is recommended that contending fish be weighed soon after they're caught, preferably alive. In the event of a tie for weight, the fish weighed earliest takes the higher prize. A Lewes Harbour Marina Official has the right to disqualify a fish if evidence suggests it was not caught during the Tournament. Value of the cash prizes is determined by the number of entrants. Anglers continued to pick away at flounder during the week through tides with clean water. Some of the more notable catches included Melanie Bowden's 7.34 pound citation winner, Chuck Hazel's 6 pound doormat, Kara Teat's 5.2 pounder, Mike Cannon's 4.35 pound fluke, and Ed Yingling's 4.19 pound flattie. The minimum size for flounder in Delaware will drop to 16 inches on May 11th. More trout have shown in recent days. Marty Riley got a 6 plus pound tiderunner on a Storm Shad at the Railroad Bridge. Paul Hazzard had a 5 pound weakfish, and Amanda Frey decked a 4 pounder while pitching pink Zooms from Cape Henlopen Pier. Cary Rutherford used a chartreuse Gulp! to tempt a 4.74 pound trout from Roosevelt's north jetty. Paul Weckerly wound in a 3.15 pound weakie, and Bruce Carlson captured a 4.2 pounder in the Canal. Black drum have started to turn on. There was a real good surf bite for those fishing clams and sandfleas from Broadkill Beach. Harold and Dan Martin and Dave and Lois Rehkamp checked a limit of 12 drum to 35 pounds from the Beach Sunday morning. Boaters have also started to have success with drum. Bob Zak and Cecil Bailey kept a limit of 6 to 24 pounds and released 6 others while anchored in the tip of Broadkill Slough. Danny Selby decked a 59 pound drum Friday, then teamed up with Larry Taylor today to take a limit of 6 boomers, including Larry's behemoth 70.5 pounder. Josh Buchalter was drumming in Broadkill Slough yesterday, and reported catching several croakers, the first hardheads of the season. It's encouraging to see them this early. Spring tog season ends Sunday May 11th, so tog aficonados have been hitting the Walls hard to put some in the freezer. The bite has been good, as tautog feed aggressively prior to spawning. Limit catches were common from the Inner and Outer Walls, as well as from Bay Reef Sites. Bob Meyers brought in an 8.03 pound blackfish. John Little landed a 7.22 pounder on Katydid. Jesse Rodriguez reeled in a 7.16 pound citation tautog aboard the Indian.

There's been a good tog bite recently in Delaware Bay. Nice catches have come from reef sites 6 and 7 at Brown Shoal, and the Inner and Outer Walls. Best action occurred during tides with clean water. Crabs, clams and shrimp were choice baits. Using a jighead tipped with bait is a fun and effective way of fishing for Spring tautog. Tossing a jighead with a chunk of crab to the warmer shallow areas along the Inner Breakwater produced some quality blackfish. Captain Pete on Top Fin said it was fast and furious at the Outer Wall this morning. Mr. Jin and his group had a limit of tog averaging 4 pounds by 7:30am. Captain Carey on Grizzly limited his anglers out early today as well. Joe Jelks and Joe Ryan stopped by with their limit to 7.9 pounds, culled from about 30 they caught at the Inner Wall this morning. Captain Brent's toggers on Katydid took a 30 fish limit in short order this morning. The 15 inch minimum size and 3 fish per person limit will remain in effect until the season closes May 11th. Lewes Canal anglers continued to pick at flounder during the week. Isabella Robinson reeled in a 21 incher from the Canal. Ed Yingling landed a 21 inch fluke and a 4.19 pounder. Ron Roark had a 3.27 pound flattie from the Canal, Mike Cannon captured a 4.35 pounder. John Davis took a 4.38 pound flattie from the Roosevelt Inlet rocks while working a chartreuse Gulp! The current minimum size for flounder is 17 inches, but as of May 11th, the size will drop to 16 inches. The Canal Flounder Tournament will take place Friday May 16th from 7am to 3pm. Entry fee is $25 per angler, $5 of which is donated to the Camp Awareness Youth Program. Those interested can sign up at Lewes Harbour Marina in advance of the event. Complete details can be found on Lewes Harbour Marina's Facebook Page, or by calling 302-645-6227. Steven Thompson had an unexpected surprise while drifting the Canal Sunday. Something heavy grabbed the minnow and pink Gulp! combo he was using for flounder, and after quite a battle on light tackle, the big fish was splashing boatside. Two anglers on a nearby boat noticed Steven didn't have a net, so they pulled up close and one hopped aboard his boat with their net, then scooped up what turned out to be a 24 pound striper. After congratulations were exchanged, and cheers went up from spectators on the dock in front of Lewes Harbour Marina, the Good Samaritan dipper got back on his boat and motored away. Some keeper stripers were caught in the surf. Curt Stephens was soaking bunker during the first of incoming tide at Herring Point when he connected with a 23.7 pound striped bass. Other casters along Broadkill Beach caught keepers too using bloodworms, clams and bunker. Broadkill Beach anglers also caught black drum from 15 to 50 pounds with clams.

The dogwoods are beginning to bloom, the Laughing Gulls have returned, and normally those events signal that weakfish will be caught on hook and line. Commercial netters have had sea trout in shallow water near Delaware Bay's shoreline the past couple weeks, but true to form, we had the first trout taken by surf fishermen brought in this week. Chris Burke and his nephew 8 year old Tom Burke were casting from Broadkill Beach just before dark Monday evening when they connected with a pair of beautiful tiderunners that weighed 6.1 and 6.2 pounds. Hopefully that's a sign of what to look forward to when the water finally warms up. Broadkill Beach fishermen also found a few stripers willing to bite bloodworms, bunker and clams. Small stripers have been active at night around the Cape Henlopen Pier. Anglers on the rail caught rock ranging 12 to 22 inches while working a variety of artificials, including speck rigs, Fin-S-Fish and Gulp! Short striped bass were also caught along the Lewes Canal marsh bank by tossing 3 and 4 inch Storm Shads during early morning tide changes. Some decent flounder were pulled from Lewes Canal on days when the water was clean. Jesse Billings brought in a pair of nice flatties he hooked using pink Gulp! Rod Ross reeled in a 3.5 pounder that also fell for a pink Gulp! Anglers on the rail at Cape Henlopen Pier also had flounder while working speck rigs and other small jigs tipped with fresh cut bunker or shad at night. The Canal Flounder Tournament takes place Friday May 16th. Check the Lewes Harbour Marina Facebook page or call 302-645-6227 for complete details. Tautog action has been pretty good at Reef Site 10 in the Ocean, but Delaware Bay toggers have started to enjoy success over the past week. Reef Site 6 at Brown Shoal was productive, but blackfish have finally started to bite along the Breakwaters too. Captain Brent's toggers on Katydid captured a 21 fish limit in short order at the Wall this morning. The largest was Ken Seltzer's citation 7.1 pounder. Larry Frati landed a 10.34 pound brute of a tautog on a recent trip board Katydid.

Winter just will not let go. It's been cold and blustery in recent days, and we even had sleet and snow night before last. However, there are signs of hope. Following some warm days at the end of last week, Dave Chappell checked in the first flounder of the season. He caught the 19 incher Saturday while drifting a Gulp! lure in Lewes Canal. A few other short flounder were reported by fishermen working Cape Henlopen Pier at night. Some anglers have gotten a jump on flattie action while fishing to the south, on Virginia's eastern shore. Brett Jackson brought in a 6.83 pound doormat he took from Folly Creek Sunday morning. Local water temps remain in the 40's, but flatfish should become active once things warm up. Stripers should also begin to cooperate with rising temps. Bunker have been plentiful in the mid and upper bay, so there's plenty of forage available for migrating rockfish. Anglers fishing out of Collins Beach told of a good striper bite over the past weekend along the channel near 6L Buoy while soaking cut bunker. Perhaps rockfish will come on for surfcasters at Broadkill Beach soon. Commercial netters had good sized trout near there, so there's a possibility of some hook and line caught weakfish in that area soon too. Ocean bottom bouncers had success with tautog at Reef Site 10. Ernie Stone scored a 7.23 pound citation tog there aboard Katydid. Mr. Jin's group togged Saturday on Top Fin, and put 16 quality blackfish in the box. The largest was a 12 pound bruiser boated by Cho Seunghyun. Captain Carey's toggers on the Grizzly got limits of tautog to 8 pounds both Saturday and Sunday. No tog have come from the Outer Wall yet, but fish will likely bite on Delaware Bay structure soon with rising temperatures.