Fishing Report

With nighttime lows in the 40's recently, Bay water temperatures have dropped to 60 degrees. This cooldown should prompt tautog to feed more actively, and also move stripers along in their Fall migration. There have been some decent tog catches in the past week form the Inner and Outer Walls and the artificial reefs. Captain Carey's Sunday group on the Grizzly put 26 keepers in the box. Jim Thomas took home the lunker of the trip, a near record sheepshead weighing 14.5 pounds. Toggers on the Grizzly captured 28 tog Monday. Captain Pete's anglers on Top Fin kept 17 tautog Sunday. Mark Stover was togging at the Outer Wall Monday when he hooked into an impressive sheepshead that weighed 14.5 pounds, exactly the same as the one caught on Grizzly Sunday. With conditions starting to change, Captain Brent on Katydid tried three different Ocean wrecks Tuesday, and found blackfish chewing at each spot. His crew of regulars culled through many tog during the day, and ended up with a limit of 50 keepers. The Lewes Harbour Tog Tournament finishes up October 31st. Currently, Dave Walker is in First with an 8.83 pounder. Brent Wiest's 7.56 pound tautog was bumped to Second. Rodney Shoemaker has Third with a 7.50 pound tog. Although no migratory have shown at the Bay mouth, they should soon. The Lewes Harbour Striper Tournament begins October 26th and runs through November 26th. Resident stripers have been active in Lewes Canal and Broadkill River. Some of legal size were caught around the drawbridge on live pencil eels. Short stripers were often seen busting on baitfish along the marshbanks of the Canal and River, and could be tempted into striking RatLTraps, small poppers, Storm Shads and other plastic swimbaits. Stripers mixed with good sized white perch in Petersfield Ditch. Small minnows, grass shrimp and bloodworms were effective for both. Some big spot remain in the River and Canal. Red drum are still around too. Harry Aiken worked shallow water of Rehoboth Bay Saturday with MirrOLures and caught 5 puppy drum, 5 short stripers and a surprise 8 pound flounder. Boats that made it offshore still found tuna, wahoo and dolphin. The boys on Not Right trolled 100 fathoms between the 175 and 190 lines south of the Baltimore Saturday. They reported bait everywhere in 71 degree water. The result was one yellowfin, 4 longfins to 41 pounds and a wahoo cutoff. Chris Adkins and his crew fished around some lobster gear in Poor Man's Canyon Tuesday, where they captured 18 mahis.

After more than a week of relentless northeast wind, the weather finally broke, allowing fishermen back out on the Bay the past few days. Water temps have not dropped much, with readings still 64 to 65 degrees. Clarity has improved, compared to roiled conditions following the blow. Tog catches have been getting better each day. Blackfish were taken from the Walls and Ice Breakers, and also off the artificial reefs. Wes Olson and Barney Gallagher worked the Inner and Outer Breakwaters yesterday for 7 keeper tautog and a nice triggerfish. Captain Brent's toggers aboard Katydid put 38 tog and a sheepshead in the box Wednesday while anchored over some mid Bay rubble. Reef structure yielded a limit of 50 tog to Brent's group on Katydid yesterday. Captain Carey's guys on the Grizzly got 27 keeper tog and a black drum Wednesday. Anglers on the Grizzly harvested their limit of 40 blackfish yesterday, including Billy Guzman's 6.33 pounder. They also had a bonus 9.25 pound sheepshead. With increased fishing activity, standings shifted around in the Lewes Harbour Tog Tournament. Brent Wiest is still on top with a 7.56 pound tog, but Billy Guzman's 6.33 pounder got him the number two spot. Dave Walker is currently Third with his 6.23 pound tautog. It's likely rankings will continue to change as more folks fish through the end of the contest on October 31st. Bigger tog seem to be more active as the water cools down. Mullet have been scarce since last week's wind, but spot were still caught in the Bay and Lewes Canal. Kingfish and trout were still around too. Migratory stripers haven't reached the mouth of Delaware Bay yet, but big bass were reported between Long Island and north central New Jersey. Effects from today's full moon and approaching cold fronts could push the rockfish our way soon. Some resident rock remain in Lewes Canal. Harry Sheing checked in a 29 inch linesider he hooked near the railroad bridge. The annual Lewes Harbour Striper Tourney starts October 26 and runs through November 26.

We've had hard northeast wind the past few days, it's blowin' a gale again today, and the forecast calls for more rain and 20 knots of northeast through the weekend. Needless to say, fishing activity has come to a halt. This weather will likely push the remaining mullet out of the area, and spot and croakers might be hard to come by after it gets out of here as well. It's possible the consistent northeasterly flow may prompt migratory stripers to start their move, and keep them closer to the beach. Rockfish normally show after the October full moon. Some of the season's largest bass stage on shoals at the Mouth of Delaware Bay during the last week of October and first week of November. Their arrival offers up some good opportunities for crews trolling Stretch Plugs or drifting live baits to connect with some lunker linesiders. Bunker chunkers begin to get into big fish too in mid bay sloughs. Once the winds subside and Bay water clears up, the tog bite should resume. Blackfish should be available on the Breakwaters and artificial reef sites. Don't know if triggerfish will stick around. Saturday was one of the last fishable days, and Captain Brent took Katydid to the Wall and wrecks for some togging. The take included 23 tautog, 4 triggerfish and an 11.5 pound sheepshead landed by Ed Winkler. Tog came from the Wall Sunday, ahead of the weather change. Dan Lauer wrestled a 10.4 pound bruiser from the rocks then. Current standings in the annual Lewes Harbour Tog Tournament have Brent Wiest in the Lead with his 7.56 pounder. Dave Walker's 6.23 has Second, and Charlie Breitenbach holds Third with a 6.15 pound tautog. The contest runs through October 31st. Red drum have been more and more common over the past two years, and there have been fair numbers around this Fall. Some were caught on artficials in Roosevelt Inlet and on cut mullet in the surf. Drum came from Rehoboth Bay and Indian River inlet as well. Matt Brittingham and Tyler Bryan were casting Storm Shads in Assawoman Bay Sunday, and captured 7 beautiful keeper puppies in the 25 inch range. Offshore anglers will be anxious to get back out and see what's available after the blow subsides. Perhaps tuna fishing may be even better...

Tautog season reopened last Sunday, and toggers have been working the Walls off Lewes in search of tasty blackfish. Catching has been decent, but will improve as water temperatures drop from their present readings in the mid 60's. Triggerfish and sheepshead are still mixed with tog. Bay wrecks and reef sites have started to give up tautog, but fish only bit for a short time due to strong running currents around the new moon. Captain Brent on the Katydid fished a wreck last Sunday, and his patrons took home 26 triggers, 12 tog and 2 bass. The trip also produced keeper flounder number 801 of the season, a 6.5 pounder landed by Dr. Luis Mispireta. On Wednesday, Katydid captured 27 tog and 12 triggers while wreck hopping. Captain Brent did a four hour trip to the Wall Thursday for 15 tog and 2 triggers, and the Wall yielded 22 tog to Brent's Friday group. He said the best bite was during the slower parts of incoming tide. Brent currently leads the annual Lewes Harbour Tog Tournament with a 7.56 pounder. The contest runs through October 31st. Barry Downs boated an 8.75 pound bruiser blackfish aboard the Angler, but he wasn't entered in the Tourney. Bay bottom bouncers are still finding a mix of trout, spot, croakers, blowfish and kingfish. Lewes Canal continues to give up jumbo-sized spot. Snapper blues have been active around the Outer Wall and in the Cape Henlopen surf. Guys casting Bass Assassins and other soft artificials from the Roosevelt Inlet rocks had a few weakfish, speckled trout and red drum. Ryan Kroh checked in a 4.25 pound trout he got at Roosevelt using a strip of squid. Ocean flounder action has faded, but a handful of nice fish were still landed on the Old Grounds and at Site 11. Michael Davis decked a 5.54 pound flatfish near DB Buoy yesterday. Sea bassing has been fair, but hopefully they'll be more keepers in the latter part of the season. Offshore fishermen are still enjoying success with tuna. Ron Baker said he and some buddies had an awesome trip to the Washington Canyon Tuesday aboard the Restless Lady with Captain Todd Kurtz out of Ocean City. They chunked up 21 yellowfins in the afternoon using spinning gear and other light outfits. Then they trolled just before dark, and boated bruiser bigeyes weighing 227 and 310 pounds! Wes and Shane Olson chunked 6 yellowfins in the Washington yesterday. Geoff McCloskey and his crew trolled 100 fathoms along the 150 line between Poor Man's and Baltimore Canyons yesterday. They scored 7 longfins, incluing a 36.7 pounder for Mark Spence, plus 20 dolphin. True albacore have shown in the Wilmington too. Jerry Schmidt landed a 36.1 pound longfin and Stan Twardus took a 33.4 pounder during a recent trip on Lil' Angler II. That outing also yielded a 21.7 pound dolphin to Jeffrey Pinero. Ed Sigda and his guys trolled the Baltimore yesterday for a pair of longfins and some dolphin. They finished the trip with some deep dropping that produced tilefish and a not so common 14 pound snowy grouper for Mike Fritz.

Autumn officially arrived this past Sunday, and with it, the promise of continued good fishing both offshore and inshore through the coming weeks. As long as we don't have any hurricanes, wicked nor'easters or strong northwesterly fronts, anglers should be able to take advantage of a multitude of species making their way into and out of the area during Fall movements. Sounds like a broken record, but the Washington Canyon tuna bite just keeps going. Best recent action has occurred during daylight hours, as opposed to nighttime catching that was better before. Boaters sought out pods of whales still working over squid in the region, and concentrated their efforts in those locations. Most of the whales and tuna hung out around the 800 Square of the Canyon edge, and a little farther down along the eastern side. Whales didn't seem to be as numerous as in the past, but hordes of skipjacks have been frequenting the same spots, and their presence was a good indicator that yellowfins were there too. Chunking with butterfish, sardines, peanut bunkers, finger mullet and anchovies got the attention of tuna. Pieces of the same cut baits on fluorocarbon leaders ranging 20 to 50 pounds got bit. Some days, especially bright, sunny or calm days, the lighter the leader, the better. Many times when tuna wouldn't take a a baitfish chunk, a small whole squid would do the trick. On average, the tuna ranged 20 to 35 pounds, with an ocasional 40 plus. They're a great size to fight on spinning outfits or lighter conventionals. Jigging with Butterflies and other metals can generate reaction strikes from tuna too. Captains Brent and Dave made the long run from Lewes to the Washington yesterday. The ride was worth it, and their patrons returned with a limit of 21 yellowfins that they chunked up during the daytime. Captain Carey on the Grizzly chunked Washington Canyon Friday evening, and his group harvested 17 yellowfins to bring back home. Chris Ragni and his buddies limited out with a dozen yellowfins in the Washington Tuesday afternoon. Catching took place between the Canyon and the beach as well. The boys aboard Not Right were on their way home from offshore when they encountered a barrell floating in thirty fathoms. The find yielded a jackpot including a 45.4 pound wahoo caught on a jig, and 17 big dolphin to 24.8 pounds. Captain Jeff Stewart's crew aboard Ocean City Girl landed a whopper wahoo at the Hambone. The humongous 'hoo tipped the scales to 98.6 pounds. Shawn Gallagher and the guys on Free Spool hit the Hot Dog for 25 false albacore, then trolled the Chicken Bone where they boxed 14 gaffer mahi and a yellowfin. Closer to the beach, flounder were still being taken at Reef Site 11 and the southern old grounds. Flukers have had to ride farther and weed through more throwbacks, but still ended up with some flatties for the table. Captain Vince hosted Bill and Charlotte Hughes aboard Miss Kirstin for some flatfishing at Site 11 Tuesday, where they managed 3 keepers out of 55 caught, plus a dozen and a half nice sea bass. Last Sunday, Captain Brent's fluke aficionados on Katydid put 29 legal flounder to 5.7 pounds in the box. The fishin' Falgowski family was at it again Saturday, icing 19 keepers to 6.5 pounds on the Katydid. The mullet run is happening, and inshore species have been keying in on schools of the silver baitfish as they migrate through. Jacob Webb deployed live mullet around the rock walls off Lewes to capture a 17.6 pound striper, a 4.5 pound flounder, and some chunky bluefish on Saturday. Jacob joined Evan and Kyle Falgowski and Brian Seglem for a Wednesday afternoon jaunt, when they fished live mullet to score a 20.4 pound striper, four 25 inch red drum, a 3.5 pound flounder and 25 plump bluefish. Mason Newsham used cut fresh mullet in the Cape Henlopen Surf to beach a 23 inch redfish. Other surfcasters at the Cape baiting with mullet got into snapper blues and an occasional short striper. Jack Henriksen and John Deiner worked a wreck at the Bay mouth Wednesday for a keeper trout and 8 big triggerfish. Other Bay structure continues to yield a variety of species as well. The western edge of the Star Site and live coral bottom of The Shears held croakers, spot, kingfish, blowfish, porgies, bluefish and trout. Captain Ted's patrons on the Angler, Indian and Pirate King have done well with good numbers of keeper trout, plus other panfish. Captain Jack's group on the Fish Hawk kept a nice batch of 40 puffers, trout, spot, snappers, kingfish and hardheads yesterday. The Lewes Canal, Broadkill River and Cape Henlopen Pier have produced jumbo spot. Those slab sided goodies can't resist a piece of bloodworm or Fishbites. Tautog season reopens Sunday September 29th, when toggers will be able keep 5 blackfish with a 15 inch minimum, per person per day. The shop will be stocking sand fleas, green crabs and box crabs as tog baits.