Fishing Report

Good sized bluefins have come from traditional tuna structure such as Massey's Canyon, the Chicken Bone, Hambone, Nineteen Fathom Lump and Hot Dog. Most boats have been trolling spreader bars and skirted ballyhoos, but chunkers have started to take some fish as well. Last Thursday morning, Bill Swords and his buddies aboard Swords Fish ran to the northeast corner of the Dog, and before the third trolling line was in the water, they were hooked up. The tuna nailed a pink and white Joe Shute Lantern and ballyhoo combo, and after a lengthy battle, the 135 pounder was brought aboard. The boys were back at the Dog the next day for a repeat performance. As they were letting lines out, three tuna crashed the spread, and one came tight, again on the pink and white. Andrew Earle kept the pressure on for over four hours before the 72 1/2 incher was put in the boat. Back at Lewes Harbour the brute weighed 200.1 pounds. Bobby Bryant and his buddies trolled the Hot Dog Sunday aboard Katydid. John Schnaitman wrestled with a 75.2 pound bluefin, and the guys released two other 50 plus inch tuna. Tom Richardson reeled in an 11.8 pound dolphin. Canyon trollers encountered a good number of bigeyes in 75 degree water at the 800 Square of the Washington. The crew of Moore Bills landed a 247 pounder there Sunday. The area also held yellowfins and dolphin. Deepwater bottom bouncers had catches of Blueline and Golden Tilefish. Brandon Brown battled a 37.3 pound Golden from the depths of Poor Man's Canyon on Swords Fish. Inshore bottom action was decent too. Continuous southwest winds mad for challenging conditions some days, but the Old Grounds between DB and DA Buoys yielded a fair number of flounder. John Yoder was fishing there with Captain Ricky on the Thelma Dale IV and returned with his limit, including flatfish of 5.17 and 5.5 pounds. A ball jig with 6 inch Gulp! was John's ticket to success. Steve Kiibler kept a 6.04 pound fluke from the Grounds on Lil' Angler II. Mike Octavio got a 5.03 pounder on Martha Marie. Reef Sites 9 and 10 also produced flounder. Last Friday, flukers on Katydid captured 32 keepers up to 6.76 pounds. Katydid went back to the rubble Saturday and came in with a limit of 28 flatfish, including a 6.1 pounder that captain Brent put in the box himself. On Monday, anglers aboard Katydid had 22 keeper fluke while drifting structure. Ricky Mills managed a 4.93 pound flattie from Site 9. Tony Vansant took a 6.15 pound doormat off Site 10. The inshore wrecks harbored a variety of summertime species. The gang on Katydid worked some inshore snags Tuesday for 37 triggerfish, 3 spadefish and 80 kingfish. With hot weather, triggerfish have shown up around the Outer Wall. Andrea Monetti and Mike Surowiec anchored near the lighthouse Tuesday for a great catch of 31 triggers to nearly 3 pounds. Sandfleas were the bait of choice. Aaron Brommer hooked a 2.96 pound trigger at the Ice Breakers on Martha Marie. Tim O'Connell was casting a pink bucktail with light spinning gear along the Outer Wall for trout he felt a heavy hit. Three hours later, he boated a 65.6 pound black drum. Warm weather has attracted other exotics to the Bay. Bud Posey had the uncommon catch of a 7.61 pound cobia aboard the Pirate King II. Bay boaters contiuned to enjoy good catching with croakers, spot, kingfish, blowfish and trout. Reefs 5 and 8 and The Shears held plenty of the scrappy panfish. The hardheads have been small for the most part, but some 12 plus inchers are mixed in. Bloodworms, Fishbites and clams as baits ensured lots of bites. Flounder catches have been improving on Bay reefs. Captain Carey reported 11 keeper fluke, 4 legal trout and all the croakers you wanted during a Bay trip Tuesday. He said they released many good sized brown sharks too. Captain Brent's group on Katydid kept 14 nice flounder in the Bay today. Flounder are still coming from Lewes Canal. Fred Robinson tempted a 4.3 pounder and 2 other keepers from the Canal with pink Gulp! Kenny Dear captured a 24 inch 5.48 pound flatfish in the Canal using minnows. Stripers are active in the Canal too. Slot size fish were concentrated between the drawbridge and train bridge and could be caught with pencil eels, clams, Rat-L-Traps, soft plastics and swimming plugs. Working poppers along the marsh banks also resulted in bites from rockfish. Tautog season reopens July 17, and we'll have green crabs and sand fleas on hand for baits.

The slot size striper season kicked in July 1st, and until August 31st striped bass between 20 and 26 inches may be kept from Delaware Bay and it's tributaries. Anglers are allowed to retain 2 per person per day. The minimum size along the Ocean coast and in Indian River remains at 28 inches. Lewes Canal is home to numerous summertime stripers, and many fall within the slot size. Most of the waterway is sheltered and can be fished even in windy weather, so it's a good plan B if you can't get out on the Bay due to strong breezes. Boaters drifting pencil eels around the drawbridge and train bridge did well with rockfish. Rock were also caught on clams, RatLTraps and Storm Shads. Bass were active at daybreak and could be tempted with topwater poppers. Last of incoming tide and first of outgoing were usually best times to try. The Canal continued to produce flounder. William Rybinski reeled in a 2.83 pound flattie he hooked from the Town Dock on a chunk of soft crab. Other fluke were caught by guys using Gulp! and minnows at Roosevelt Inlet. John Giblin was casting a white Gulp at Roosevelt when he connected with a 3.67 pound weakfish. Spot and croakers were plentiful in the Canal and also along Lewes and Broadkill Beaches. Bloodworms and Fishbites were most effective. Spot and hardheads were found out in the Bay on structure as well. Reef Site 8 and live bottom on The Shears held them, along with kingfish, blowfish and spike trout. Collin Delauten checked in a 1.2 pound citation kingfish he decked on the Indian. Samuel Key kept a 1.02 pound citation king on the Fish Hawk. Grant Bobbit was surprised when he landed an 18 pound black drum while fishing for croakers at Site 8 aboard the Grizzly. George hanstein had a 5.75 pound flounder on the Grizzly. Ocean bottom fishing was pretty good. The inshore wrecks yielded a good mix. On Monday, Captain Brent's group on Katydid worked some snags close to the beach for a boxful of triggerfish, spadefish and kingfish, plus a 4.86 pound lunker sea bass landed by Mike Surowiec. Captain Brent's Saturday group of flukers aboard Katydid captured 7 keeper flatties from the Old Grounds. John Yoder used a Tsunami Ball Jig tipped with a 6 inch Gulp for his limit of fluke while fishing the Old Grounds on Thelma Dale IV Saturday. His two heaviest weighed 5.17 and 5.5 pounds. Ernie Stone also limited out with nice flounder Saturday on the TDIV. Tuna trollers took some big bluefins while pulling skirted ballyhoos way back at the Hot Dog and Hambone.

Continual southwest wind has made it tough for tuna fishermen. Catching had been good along the edge of the canyons, but several days of southwesterly flow broke up warmer water that had been holding baitfish and gamefish in the Wilmington, Baltimore and Poor Man's. Inshore water turned green, and offshore water became void of life. Up until this weather event, trolling boats had done well with yellowfins. Last Friday, Hank Draper and his buddies had 7 yellowfins to 40 pounds in the Baltimore. Captain Ed and his crew on Snow Goose overnighted in the Baltimore Friday where they tangled with sharks during the darkness. They released a large scalloped hammerhead, an oversized blue shark and a half dozen big duskies. They also put 5 yellowfins to 58 pounds in the box and let go 4 others while trolling the East Wall. Geoff McCloskey, Phil Falgowski, Josh Loose and Mark Spence had hot trolling action in the Wilmington Saturday. They hooked 28 yellowfins, keeping a limit of 12 to 69 pounds, and releasing the other 16. Captains Brent and Dave trolled the Baltimore Saturday for six tuna to 40 pounds, then capped the day off by dropping for a mix of 35 blueline and golden tiles. Inshore bottom fishermen found sea bass and ling on the Del-Jersey Land Reef Site. Site 11 held bass too, but the quality of fish and number of keepers was better at DJL. Gladdy Dcruz decked a 4.16 pound knothead there aboard Martha Marie. Before all the southwest breeze and the effect of the recent full moon, Site 11 yielded some decent flounder. Bob Kauffman and his group fished there with Captain Brent on Katydid last Thursday and returned with 18 keeper flatfish to 4.9 pounds. Brent took the Katydid back to 11 on Saturday, but only ended up with 8 in the box, however, the largest was a 6.33 pounder that Brent boated himself. Captain Pete on Top Fin worked Sites 9 and 10 Saturday and brought back 12 flatties to 4.5 pounds. The Old Grounds southeast of DB Buoy has been producing some flatfish too. Captain Ricky on the Thelma Dale IV has been drifting that region for fluke and sea bass and he reported that there were schools of small mackerel all over the place. He's been deploying sabiki rigs to catch the little macks whenever he sees them on the screen. The mini mackerels make excellent bait, and are candy to flounder and other species as well. In Delaware Bay, croakers, spot, kingfish, blowfish and spike trout were caught on the rubble of Reef Sites 5 and 8. Strong currents from the big moon made flounder fishing challenging, but some flatties came from artificial structure. "Fishin' Ricky Mills" and Jack Henriksen had 3 keepers to 22 inches at Site 5 Monday. Flounder continue to come from Lewes Canal. Eileen and Gary Smith had keepers of 18,19,20 and 22 inches using 6 inch white Gulp Saturday. Eileen used a speck rig with pink Gulp to tempt a 4.57 pounder Sunday. Cris and Mala Teeter took home 4 fluke from the Canal using pink Gulp Saturday. Chuck Hazel checked in yesterday with a limit of nice flatfish he caught in the Canal using minnows and shiners on "Nick's special rigs". Stripers were also roaming the Canal. Keepers were caught around the drawbridge by boaters using eels or clams. The striped bass slot limit goes into effect July 1st. Anglers will be able to retain 2 rockfish between 20 and 26 inches per day in Delaware Bay and it's tributaries until August 31st. The minimum size for the Ocean and Indian River remains at 28 inches.

Offshore trollers have had success with tuna. Yellowfins were reported scattered along the edge, with catches coming from the Wilmington Canyon, the West Wall of Baltimore Canyon and the 800 square of Washington Canyon. Willie and Art lodge teamed up for the heaviest yellowfin brought in to Lewes Harbour so far this season. They boated the 77.7 pounder after it pounced on a squid chain in the Bight of the Baltimore. Bubba Hastings checked in with his report of 5 yellowfins his crew caught while trolling ballyhoo in 70 to 80 fathoms inshore of the Baltimore Bight. In addition to tuna, billfish have shown up. The first white marlin of the year was released Saturday from the charter boat No Quarter, out of Ocean City, in 1000 fathoms outside of Poor Man's Canyon. Tim Hawn had the honor of winding on the highly coveted first whitey. Offshore bottom bouncing was good for tilefish. Last Saturday, the gang aboard Katydid scored a load of gray tiles to over 15 pounds, plus a bunch of rosefish and several golden tile. Sam Scott landed the largest golden, that tipped the scales to 36.4 pounds. Bill Swords and his buddies on Swords Fish also enjoyed good deep dropping Saturday, putting a nice batch of golden tile in the box. Inshore bottom fishing has has been pretty good too. On Tuesday, Captain Brent's group on Katydid had 120 sea bass, several ling and three nice flounder. Flounder have been roaming the Old grounds southeast of DB Buoy. Mike Newsham and friends had 10 keepers in 80 feet of water there on Monday. Fluke activity has also improved in Delaware Bay. Flukers aboard Katydid captured 20 keepers to 3.6 pounds while drifting Site 5 on Wednesday. Some flatties continue to come from Lewes Canal and Broadkill River. Eilene Euston and Peg Proctor checked in with 4 flounder from the Broadkill caught using pink Gulp and smelts. Mike Smith and Mike Smith, Jr celebrated Father's Day by taking 4 quality flatfish betweeen 3 and 4 pounds from the Canal with Gulp! Panfish are plentiful in Delaware Bay. Croakers and spot seem to be just about everywhere, and will hit bits of bloodworm or Fishbites on small hooks. There have been more kingfish in the Bay than there have been for some time. They are concentrated on live bottom along the western edge of The Shears and on the Coral Beds, but casters on Lewes and Broadkill Beaches, and in the Cape Henlopen surf have also encountered kings. Striped bass are hanging out in Lewes Canal. Rock were hooked using clams or peeler crabs on bottom rigs. Boaters casting eels, RatLTraps or Storm Shads around the drawbridge also got bit.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission approved a coastwide recreational summer flounder harvest limit that allowed for changes in Delaware's flounder regulations. As of June 11, anglers catching summer flounder in Delaware waters will be able to retain smaller fish, with no closed season. Under previous regs, legal flounder had to be at least 18 inches long. The new minimum size is 17 inches, and anglers may keep four fluke per day. This should mean more in the box for summertime fishermen, and less wear and tear on the flounder population, since anglers won't have to cull through and handle as many fish prior to releasing them if they don't meet minimum size. Flatties continued to come from Lewes Canal and Broadkill River. Terry Euston and Scott Proctor stopped by with 5 nice keepers caught with smelts and chartreuse Gulp!. Chris Teeter was casting a chartreuse Gulp! from Lewes Beach when he connected with a 4.4 pound flounder and a 15 inch trout. Delaware Bay structure is also yielding some flatfish. Captain Brent's afternoon group put three in the box yesterday, along with a bunch of croakers, while working reef 5. Matt Adams managed the largest flounder, which weighed in at 4.63 pounds. The resurgence of weakfish has been a bright spot this spring, and many good sized trout have come from the same spots that produced years ago. The submerged jetties at Roosevelt, the Ferry Wall and Inner Wall were likely haunts. Soft artificials like Gulp!, Bass Assassins and paddletail worms were effective offerings. Francis Walsh was tossing a Pink Ghost Bass Assassin Shad at the Ferry Wall when he hooked a beautiful 4.05 pound weakie. Dustin Schell captured a 4.1 pound seatrout while working a jig and bunker strip combo from a pier inside Cape Henlopen. Kingfish are another Bay species that seem to more plentiul this year. Numerous kings have been caught on live bottom in The Shears and on the Coral Beds, and also from Broadkill Beach. Bloodworms, Fishbites and bits of clam were favorite baits. Patrons on the Angler headboat have done well with kings, returning with buckets of the tasty panfish. The Bay is also holding plenty of spot, croakers and blowfish. These should offer great action for anglers of all skill levels this summer, especially kids. Some uncommon species have made an early appearance in the Bay this spring. Taylor Deemer spotted a big Spadefish swimming around the pilings of Cape Henlopen Pier, and tempted the 4.72 pound beauty with a small piece of clam. Striper fishing has been good in Lewes Canal. Guys baitng with clams or peeler crab on bottom rigs got into bass. Many were shy of the 28 inch minimum, but some were keepers. "Rick" weighed in an 11.9 pounder he took from the Canal using frozen peeler. Drifting eels or casting RatLTraps around the drawbrdge resulted in legal rockfish too. The 20 to 26 inch slot limit for stripers goes into effect July 1. Sea Bassing was fair at Site 11, but better for those willing to travel farther off to structure in 120 foot depths. On Sunday, bassers aboard Katydid had a banner trip. They boxed 240 quality blueheads, and nearly 60 ling. Bernie Smelstoys and friends had their limit of 140 bass and 26 plump ling Sunday on the Grizzly. Offshore trollers found yellowfin tuna in the past few days. On Monday, the charterboat Moore Bills out of Ocean City returned to the dock with 15 yellowfins they landed while trolling 200 fathoms in the Baltimore Canyon. Other crews reported tuna catches from 50 to 70 fathoms of the Washington.