Fishing Report

Striper action really kicked into gear the past few days. What's likey a fresh batch of bass has been working over scads of sandeels schooled up at the Bay mouth. Anglers report stripers coughing up sandeels when brought aboard, with stomachs stuffed full of the slender lances. Several flounder were caught with stripers, and the flatties had bellies packed with sandeels too. Captain Ted on the Pirate King told me that when the current slacked up Tuesday, stripers pushed sandeels to the surface southeast of Overfalls, and bass were boiling on the baitfish. He instructed his customers to cast unweighted eels into the feeding frenzy, and they were immediately gobbled up by hungry rockfish. His group ended up with a boat limit of 20 big rock. Captain Brian's bassers aboard Lil' Angler II drifted eels in the Overfalls area late Tuesday afternoon to capture a limit of 10 quality keepers. Captain Brent's crew on Katydid trolled Stretch 25+ plugs to take home their limit of 14 linesiders to 25 pounds Tuesday. There was a good troll bite at 8B Buoy Tuesday morning. J.D. and Connie Miller, and John Whelen towed chartreuse Bomber CD25s there for a quick limit of 6 bass to 27.9 pounds. Dave Potter fished up the Bay a little ways at Brown Shoal both Monday and Tuesday, remarking that there were other boats around. Stripers were active there due to light traffic and pressure, and Dave's guys enjoyed good catching both trips. On Tuesday, they kept 7 fish to 39 inches and released several others while pulling Stretches. There were signs that things were about to bust loose at the end of last week. After a little shot of northeast wind, boaters were able to get back on the Bay Friday, and there seemed to be more fish around than in previous days. Keith Orendorf and the boys on Miss Five O found a school of stripers on structure south of Overfalls Friday, and proceeded to troll up their limit of 8 big beauties. Mike Trestka drifted spot at Overfalls Friday to take a 28.6 pounder. Tom Kirk was eeling at Overfalls Friday when he hooked a 27.6 pound rock. Bill McMahon braved marginal conditions on Overfalls Thursday, but ended up boating a 42.8 pound trophy using an eel. Tom Lobozzo used a jumbo spot to tempt a 41.5 pound whopper from 8B Buoy Friday. Bruce and Josh Buchalter, Alex Wartman and Jerry Wert chunked bunker near #2 Buoy for 3 bass to 20 pounds Friday. Just when things were shaping up, cold temps and strong winds shut down activity over the weekend. It was still quite chilly and breezy Monday morning, but diehard John Joe Kabino made his way out to the rips, where he had his hands full with hungry stripers. There were no other boats around, and fish pounced on his trolled Stretch plugs, even during slack water. John Joe said often he had two or three bass on at a time, and figured he'd caught 25! News of the wild bite was welcomed by other anxious anglers after the windy weekend. As noted earlier in the report, many fishermen got out Monday and Tuesday to take advantage of the fish that are here now. Another front blew in Wednesday, and it's still crankin' 20 knots out of the WNW as I'm writing this Thanksgiving morning. But, good weather is forecasted for Friday through Monday, and with the word out, the Bay mouth will be a busy place! It might be beneficial to check out lumps and rips where there's not as much boat traffic. Jig fishing should be good with all the sandeels around. Diamond jigs mimic sandeels, and tube tailed AVA 27 or 47 models are favorite choices. Soft plastic imitations by Storm or Savagear should be effective, as should jerk shad or Slug-Go style plastics, with their slim profile. A sandeel-like teaser fly on a dropper rigged ahead of a bucktail should get a look from stripers too. The annual Lewes Harbour Striper Tournament ended up November 26th, and here are the final standings. Evan Falgowski finished First with his 47.2 pound bruiser bass. Brian Seglem secured Second with a 41.6 pound slob. Tom Lobozzo landed a 41.5 pound lunker to wrap up Third. Congratulations, and of course, bragging rights, go to the winners, and many thanks to all who competed. Striped bass have been getting most of the attention, but tautog are still available too. A recent trip with Captain Pete aboard Top Fin produced a 30 tog limit for Mr. Chung and friends. Captain Carey's toggers on the Grizzly also returned with a limit of 30 keepers last Friday. There's plenty of fishing left this fall, so get out when you can to put some fillets in the freezer. They'll taste especially good this winter. Hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!

It looks like we're in for a blustery Saturday and Sunday. Supposed to blow northwest 15 to 20 knots Saturday, then 25 to 30 Sunday. We've lost a lot of days to wind, and this weekend might be a blowout too. There have been reports of a real good striped bass bite off Barnegat the past couple days, in spite of wind. Sounds like there's a load of bait inshore, with butterfish, sand eels and bunker right on the beachfront. Limit catches were common among crews working metal jigs. Maybe some more stripers have slipped into Delaware Bay after yesterday's northeast? When it's been fishable, anglers had some beautiful bass, just not many of them. Whopper of the week was a 49 pounder, boated by Mike Ambler. The 50 inch long behemoth inhaled a live spot at 8B Buoy Saturday. Striper specialist Evan Falgowski had linesiders of 35, 40.2 and 47.2 pounds while trolling plugs at the end of last week. Rick McCoy managed a 32.7 pounder while eeling aboard the Quintessa. The Lewes Harbour Striper Tournament runs through November 26th, and as of this writing, Evan Falgowski had the First and Third place spots with his rock weighing 47.2 and 40.2 pounds. Brian Seglem held Second with a 41.6 pound fish. The chunking fleets up the Bay have been anchoring in Tussey's, the Horseshoe, Miah Maull and the Egg Island Flats, and catching considerable amounts of stripers, but almost all of them have been undersized. They're probably resident fish, and as more migratory bass move in, keeper sized specimens should go in the box. We're expecting a delivery of fresh bunker this morning for guys who want to try some bait fishing. Togging has also been affected by wind. The boys on Katydid braved crappy conditions yesterday, and returned from the Brown Shoal reefs with 13 keeper tog, including Bob Murphy's 6.7 pounder and Dave Walker's 8.7 pounder. On days with decent conditions, tautog action was pretty good. Mr. Hong and his group of tautog regulars fished with Captain Pete on Top Fin Sunday, and put together a limit catch of 30 chunky blackfish. Toggers on the Grizzly had 29 keepers during Friday's trip. With Bay water temps in the upper 40's, tog should cooperate for awhile yet. Surf fishermen have not had much success along the Ocean beach, although, we had a customer in over the weekend who had a 32 incher and several shorts while using cut bunker from Broadkill Beach.

A strong cold front blew through the area over the past couple days, with gusty winds and sub freezing temperatures at night. Water temp had fallen to 44 degrees. Light southwest winds began warming things back up today, and several boats were out trying for both tog and stripers. We already weighed in one trophy striper this morning. Brian Seglem brought back a 41.6 pounder he captured while trolling a pink Stretch 25 plug at Overfalls during ebb tide. There were a few other reports of rockfish caught by crews drifting eels and spot on structure at the Bay mouth this morning. Brian's big bass moved him currently into First Place of the Lewes Harbour Striper Tournament. Jacob Webb holds Second with his 39.8 pounder, and Evan Falgowski's 35 pound striper has Third Place. Tautog action has been pretty good on days with decent conditions, and clean water. On Monday, ahead of the frontal system, toggers aboard Katydid put 32 keepers in the box while fishing the Brown Shoal reef sites. Scott Levering landed a 7.6 pounder on that trip, and captain Brent Wiest wound in one weighing 9.2 pounds. Bert Long anchored on the Star Site Monday, where he hooked a 9 pound citation winner. Joe McNeal nailed a 7.2 pound tog on the Katydid Sunday. On Saturday, anglers on Katydid kept 26 tautog and released 52 others. Captain Carey's patrons on Grizzly took home 26 tog on Monday. Saturday's group on Grizzly had 25 blackfish and a striper. George Cyhan caught an 8.23 pound blackfish aboard Lil' Angler II on Saturday. Paul Hertzog was togging with Captain Ted on the Angler Monday when he had a 7.62 pound citation tautog. Tog came from the Inner and Outer Walls as well as from the reef sites. Jim Meyers and Sheila Stohler fished the Outer Wall Saturday for their limit of plump tog. Jay Lightner pulled a 10.34 pound blackfish off the Inner Wall Sunday. Still not much from the surf, but we did see quite an impressive bluefish caught in the suds between Herring Point and Gordon's Pond Sunday. J Ehrlich beached a 38 inch long slammer there that weighed 17.8 pounds.

The first few big striped bass have been taken from structure at the mouth of Delaware Bay in recent days. Those crews proficient in trolling rips on Overfalls Shoal hooked some real nice fish. Mann's Stretch 25+ and Bomber CD25 plugs have been the weapons of choice. The lures dig in and go where rockfish are living, and their wobbling action often causes a reactive strike from fish, even if they're not actively feeding. Popular color patterns have included Cabo Sunset, Chartreuse, Red Head, Gold and Black, and Pink. Jacob Webb was pulling a plug on the Shoals yesterday when he connected with a 39.8 pound linesider that put him in the lead of this year's Lewes Harbour Striper Tournament. Evan Falgowski trolled plugs to capture the first lunker striper weighed in for the contest Saturday. It tipped the scales to 35 pounds, currently putting Evan in Second Place. Ryan Falgowski captured a 34.8 pounder while trolling Overfalls which put him in the Third spot for now. Trolling plugs has produced striper action up the Bay too. Burt Betts towed Stretch 25's near Miah Maull lighthouse for 6 keeper stripers, and several shorts. Catching should pick up soon for chunkers and live bait fishermen too as more rock make the right turn into Delaware Bay on their way down the coast. Water temp now is 57 degrees. Stripers have been active in Indian River Inlet. Dave Sallac drifted spot there yesterday and landed a 30 inch keeper, plus several shorts. There haven't been any legal striped bass reported from the surf yet. Last year, there was a run of rockfish on the beach around November 15th, so maybe they'll show then. Togging has been up and down, depending on favorable conditions and clean water for success. Water was dirty along the Walls yesterday until the end of flood tide. Nate Evans said he and his buddies had a window when there was clean water on the tide change at the Inner Wall, and they capitalized by putting 10 keepers in the box. Reefsite action was spotty yesterday too, but tog fishermen on the Pirate King also managed 10 keepers. Captain Pete's toggers on Top Fin took home 14. Jesse Byler's group had 23 tog on Top Fin the day before. Sea Bass season reopened, and despite lumpy seas, Captain Brent worked some inshore snags in search of bass Tuesday. The result was a limit of 125 knotheads, plus triggerfish, bluefish, porgy and an Atlantic Bonito.

Delaware Bay tautog action has been good this week, and many nice tog have been brought to the dock. However, none quite compare to the bruiser that hit the scales yesterday. Claude "Cool Yul" Benner was togging aboard the Angler with Captain Ted Moulinier when he boated the blackfish of a lifetime. While baiting with green crabs at Reef Site 6, Yul hooked and landed a 32 inch long behemoth that weighed 20.0 pounds. It was a real Togzilla, just in time for Halloween. The Lewes Harbour Tog Tournament finishes up today, and Yul sits comfortably in First Place. Another brute of a blackfish caught yesterday on the Angler by Kenny Greigg, and weighing 11.20 pounds, holds Second Place. As of this writing, Charlie Breitenbach's 8.85 pounder has the Third spot. Some other quality tautog taken recently include Alex Levantovsky's 8.83 pounder, and an 8.68 pound specimen for Tony Zdrojewski, Jr. Captain Carey on the Grizzly reported consistent tog catching on reef sites in the Bay, with limits or near limits for his patrons each trip. Captain Brent on Katydid told of similar results, with boat limits common. His group of regulars returned with 50 quality keepers yesterday. The rock breakwaters have been productive too. Chip Graves, Nate Evans and Aaron Hurd fished the Outer Wall yesterday morning. They had their limit of 15 plump tautog in the box by 8:30 using green crabs. Several crews have been trying for stripers at the Bay mouth the past few days by trolling Stretch Plugs and livelining eels and spot, but no keepers have been checked in here. It could turn on any time now. Stripers have been plentiful in Indian River Inlet. Dave Sallac drifted live spot there yesterday to catch 18 bass, two of which were legal size. Surf casters had a few small blues. Mike Flemming hooked a couple keeper flounder and several short stripers while tossing jigs in the suds near the Gordon's Pond jetty.